My favorite time of the year is anytime I am with my best friend, and my attention is focused on listening to him. He is always with me, but if I am not careful, I can become unaware of His presence with me and living inside of me. His name is Jesus.
“Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” –Jesus (John 11:40)
I believe that Christians are supposed to see the glory of God and behold the Lamb of God (John 1:29) throughout each day. We are supposed to look not at the things that are see but at the things that are unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18) and to continually fix our eyes on the invisible Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) who is always with us (Matthew 28:20) and always living inside of us. Paul declares that Christ in you is the hope of glory. (Colossians 1;27) No matter where Christians go there Christ is (Psalm 139:7-12) ready to reveal His glory to our heart. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) Yet it is very easy to be distracted from and unaware of Christ’s immediate presence the way the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were. (Luke 24:13-35) Christ in you, God the Holy Spirit, will never let you down, but we frequently ignore or overlook His presence and let Him down.
Christian leaders and churches are called to empower people to live out their faith fully aware of and obedient to the presence of Jesus so that they become dynamic doers of the word, not just passive hearers. (James 1:22) So, where can you discover a church that actually equips people to put the word into action, and that invests time and effort into training people to live out what they’ve learned from the sermon? Churches that embody James 1:22 and train people to be continually aware of and surrendered to Christ’s never-ending presence are a rare and precious find!
Dear Lord, help me not only believe all that I have just written. Help me to be constantly aware of, in awe of, and surrendered to Your never-ending presence both within me and around me. Help me to rely on and depend on Your presence more faithfully than on anything or anyone else. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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