I closed my last post with the scripture passage below.
24 “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. 26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” John 17:24-26 (NKJV)
The context of the passage above is Jesus final teaching before He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane then arrest and the cross. He expresses His desire that we would be with Him where He is. Now, while we can relegate this to a future time, meaning when we die or when Jesus returns, we get to be with Him; what about the present? Can we be with Him where He is now? I have sometimes thought that if I were in a car accident where someone hit me and I was asked what had happened I would explain that the other driver failed to grasp a basic law of physics, two physical objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time! While that is true in the physical realm, it is not true when the spiritual and physical intersect. Jesus can be in two places at once.
13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. John 3:13 (NKJV)
While physically present and talking with Nicodemus Jesus was simultaneously seated with His Father in the Spirit realm, the real realm. What is true of Jesus is also true of us after our conversion. We are both here and in Him. As Paul wrote,
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:4-6 (NKJV)
1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NKJV)
Jesus also affirmed this truth before He went to the cross. In part of His last discourse before Gethsemane He said the Holy Spirit would dwell in believers and after His resurrection we would know that we are in Him in the Father (in the spirit realm) and He in us.
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:17 (NKJV)
20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. John 14:20 (NKJV)
As we develop the habit of sitting with Jesus and experiencing His presence where else can we find Him? As we become conscious of His presence before, with, and in us, a logical extension of knowing Him in that quiet time is becoming aware of His presence with us in other places. This could mean, being conscious of His presence with us in a coffee shop, at a meeting, or driving to work. The way we experience this is by learning to tune and keep our hearts and minds tuned to His presence. In short, we create an effective spiritual habit! In my next post I will talk about some of the things that can get in the way of developing this habit.
