Author: Randy

In my first two posts for this year I talked about what we were carrying in our spirits and what we might be chewing or meditating on. So now that have some language for seeing things we are waiting for already accomplished in the eternal realm, and having looked at scriptural meditation, how do we build on this foundation? I believe meditating on scriptural truth is what shifts our view to see from an eternal perspective. After all we each have the ability to engage eternity built into us (Eccl. 3:11, ‘He has put eternity in their hearts’). So how do we engage?

We live in a very busy world where we are easily distracted. 150 – 200 years ago most people went to bed and got up with the sun. They engaged in the natural rhythm of life. Given we cannot do that I believe we need to intentionally build silence and quiet into our lives. I have a friend who very regularly tramps around the mountains and talks with our Father. He hears a lot because it is a dialogue. Given that is not an option for most of us how do we build it into our ‘busyness?’

The answer is simple, the practice often difficult. We need to create a spot and time to just sit with Jesus. Practically find a spot and sit and relax and focus on His presence (He is there whether or not we feel Him). Then hold a scripture or scriptural thought before Him (His throne of grace is also there).

We are to then hold this in our mind and deeply reflect until it becomes a reality in our spirit and then becomes externally visible. I’m not suggesting this happens immediately, the practice is the antithesis of rushing. Rather as we sit with His word in His presence we are changed (see 2 Cor. 3:18). As our inward reality changes our outward reality and experience change and others experience us differently.

I know when I began to function in spiritual gifts like a word of knowledge (⁸ for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:8 (NKJV) it was the fruit of praying, pondering and thinking about at times during the day. This meant I was regularly holding it before the throne of grace. An internal idea expressed in prayer became an external reality. I still needed to exercise faith to operate in the gifts but they were stirred up in me through holding them before Him.

I was basically doing what Jesus said, I was asking, seeking and knocking, expressing the desires of my heart. If you want to enter further into this how about bringing these two verses and your desires before Him, then meditating deeply on them while believing that, outside of time they are already accomplished?

⁴  Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. ⁵  Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:4-5 (NKJV)

I planned to continue on my perspectives journey with shorter posts, which I will do, but a friend emailed me a question that I thought deserved a broad response and is in fact about perspective. There is a false view that is circulating fairly broadly and seems quite popular in the body of Christ in the Western church. It seems to be primarily based on the misapplication of the two scriptures below.

³  But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 1 Corinthians 14:3 (NKJV)

⁴  Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4 (NKJV)

Tied to these scriptures is the oft repeated expression, “God is good all the time.” The scriptures and the statement in and of themselves are both true. However, we also need to interpret and apply them, which is where things often go wrong. In this case, because our Western church is so conformed to the surrounding culture we tend to interpret ‘goodness’ and ‘edification and exhortation and comfort’ as things that make us feel good. This gets further translated into any talk of ‘judgement’ being viewed as negative and false.

The problem with this view is that it is easily demonstrated to be wrong from even a cursory examination of scripture. I am not suggesting that prophetic words won’t make us feel good at times, I have had a few, in fact some very encouraging ones in a prayer ministry time just this past week that focused things in my life in a very good way. However part of the prayer time included a message of difficult trials that would strengthen me. So given that is not an enjoyable prospect do I throw that part out because it didn’t make me feel good? It did encourage me.

Let me go back to the scriptures above. In 1 Corinthians 14:3 the NKJV uses the term ‘exhortation,’ while the NIV says ‘encouragement.’ They simply translate a Greek word into English differently. The meaning of the word is just as it says. Below is another usage of it in the NT.

¹⁸  And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. Luke 3:18 (NKJV)

If you read Luke 3:1-17 you will find the exhortations referred to in verse 18. Not a lot of them were heart-warming and comforting but a proper response to John’s preaching would bring comfort, it just may have been painful to get there. John as a prophet was practicing what 1 Corinthians 14:3 encourages us to do.

What of Romans 2:4, does the ‘goodness of God’ lead to repentance? Absolutely! However, read the context. The verses before and after are warnings of judgment and wrath. The point is that God in His goodness convicts us of our sin (read, makes us feel guilty, not happy) so that we will repent and not experience judgement and wrath. That is the context.

If we apply our feel good theology to the NT we need to remove some of the writers. That John guy in Revelation sure predicted a lot of judgement, we better not listen to him. The other John, you know, the first Baptist, he wasn’t warm and fuzzy. In fact he was downright negative and abrasive, we better not listen to him. O yes, what about that Jesus guy? Well Matthew 24 certainly isn’t all that encouraging and uplifting, and in Matthew 23 He had the gall to call people fools, hypocrites and blinds guides! Far too negative, better not listen to Him.

Obviously I am being sarcastic but that is the end this false theology leads us to, we just don’t seem to see or realize it. I just read something this week from the editor of a large charismatic magazine who seemed to echoing the views I have just lampooned – do we not see?

How about some real life examples in our day?

I had an aunt who died a number of years ago. She had stomach pains and went to her Dr. who reassured her everything was fine, so she felt better, in fact even encouraged I think. However the pains persisted and got worse so she went back. The Dr. again reassured her everything was fine. However, this time she didn’t fell reassured and since she worked in a hospital she pulled aside a Dr. that she knew. He examined her and told her that he thought she had stomach cancer, which she did, and died of a few months later. Was the first Dr. being good when he reassured and encouraged her? Might she have lived if she had been given a proper diagnosis, painful news and the issue addressed when she first raised it?

I had a similar experience. At 23 I went to the Dr. with a strange lump. The Dr. reassured me it was an infection and put me on antibiotics. In fact the Dr. was nice and reassuring enough to say to me, “Don’t worry, it’s not cancer.” Now, to this point that idea had not occurred to me and I gave it little thought after. Someone messed up. I don’t know whether the Dr. or the pharmacist but I ended up on half the recommended dosage of antibiotics for twice the length of time. When I finally returned to the Dr. because the antibiotics had no effect I was referred to a specialist and had my first surgery shortly thereafter, because I did in fact have cancer.

My point in both stories is the issue could have been dealt with sooner with an accurate diagnosis. For our eternal condition the best diagnostic tool is the scriptures. However if we are fixated on only reading the parts that make us feel good, or reinterpreting the ‘negative’ parts so that we feel good, we will not arrive at an accurate diagnosis and thus apply the wrong remedy.

Current reality is that we as the Western church need to mature, and quickly. The moral compass of our culture is broken and sadly in many places it seems to be broken in the church as well. Our culture is desperately in need of effective salt and light. For too long we have abandoned our responsibility to be just that for our culture. There are many encouraging and comforting things in the scriptures, as we generally define encouragement and comfort, things that make us feel better. However, that is not all that is in the scriptures. We are in a season where we need to move beyond milk and partake of some solid food (see Heb. 5:12-14).

Are we in the time of which Paul wrote? Would we recognize it if we were?

²  Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. ³  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴  and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 2 Timothy 4:2-4 (NKJV)

My final exhortation in this post. Read the scriptures! However, first try to set aside preconceived notions and read them in the context in which they were written. In fact, pray first and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth in them so that we can bypass our biases!

What role does meditation on the Word play in new spiritual perspectives and our spiritual growth? I suppose the first step in answering the question is looking at scriptural meditation by examining some Old Testament verses.

⁸  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8 (NKJV)

²  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:2 (NKJV)

¹⁴  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 (NKJV)

We are clearly called to meditate on the word but how do we do that? The meaning of the Hebrew word meditate, or meditation, refers to pondering, imagining, muttering and speaking. In essence, biblical meditation includes thinking deeply on something, particularly scripture, and speaking it to ourselves. We essentially chew on the scripture until it becomes part of us. The best image is that of a cow chewing its cud. Since most in our modern culture may not be familiar with farm imagery let me explain. A cow has four stomachs so it thoroughly digests its food to get every bit of nutrition out of it. Initially it chews and chews a wad of food (a cud) over and over again to break down the plant material and release the nutrition. This is what we are called to do with the scriptures so that they move from our heads to our hearts. We are to ponder them and chew on them until they come alive in us.

Lest we think this is only an Old Testament practice, Jesus was clear about our need to live by the word

⁴  But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 (NKJV) 

If we see the source of our life as the scriptures, as we move further into this new year, this new season, we need to consider something. What are we chewing on before Him?

Recently a friend shared something with me that I thought would be a great way to start the year. She shared that while doing some heavy weight training a few years ago she thought about time from God’s perspective. She concluded that if she was going to be able to lift a heavier weight, then from the Lord’s perspective, outside of our linear time (think of Jesus as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world) she had already accomplished it! She then went on to make such significant gains that her coach asked if she was using steroids or something. In fact she was in a very practical way simply applying her faith.

This story may sound simple but the underlying perspective has profound implications. Think about praying for healing for someone. If they are going to be healed, from His perspective they already have been. In Matthew 6:10 Jesus told us to pray “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Paul said in Ephesians 2:5-6 that we have been raised with and in Jesus and are seated with Him in heavenly places. Should we not then see and pray from this perspective?

This idea of viewing events in time from the perspective of non-linear experiences outside of time may be what Jesus was speaking of in Mark 11:22-24.

²²  So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. ²³  For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. ²⁴  Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Mark 11:22-24 (NKJV)

I believe to embrace this perspective we need to meditate on the significance of it. What does it mean to believe we have already received so that we can receive? I believe one application is that just as a baby grows in the womb and then is revealed in birth we need to learn to carry things in our spirits and nurture them until they are manifest in the earth.

What are you carrying this year?

So, I was thinking, “How did Jesus think?” I’m not asking what process He used, rather, I am looking at what He focused on in His thinking. After all we are told by Paul,

⁵  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Philippians 2:5 (NKJV)

Paul exhorts us to think like Jesus then describes his own pursuit of the high calling available in Christ, something he did not view himself as having attained when he wrote this later in his life.

¹⁵  Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. ¹⁶  Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. Philippians 3:15-16 (NKJV)

So we have something to pursue and it requires thinking like Jesus, laying down our agendas and picking up His – just as He laid down His desires and picked up His Father’s. I believe part of thinking like Jesus and having His mind is attending to what Paul wrote.

⁴  Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! ⁵  Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. ⁶  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. ⁸  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things. ⁹  The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9 (NKJV)

We need to replace fear and worry with faith and intercession, bringing our specific requests before the throne of grace and leaving them with Him. When we do His peace will guard our hearts and minds. To stay in that place we need to meditate (think deeply and reflectively) on that which is noble, just, pure, lovely, virtuous and praiseworthy. This is how Jesus thought. Part of thinking about things that are just is praying for Yahweh’s justice in the earth. Seeing His justice is also noble, pure, lovely, virtuous and praiseworthy for when we have His justice made manifest we have everything else because He is fair and just. As Abraham said, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25). Isaiah described it this way.

⁹  With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Isaiah 26:9 (NKJV)

Part of thinking like Jesus is praying for His justice to be made manifest in the earth so that our world will finally become righteous under His rule and reign.

I believe that thinking like Jesus involves embracing the whole counsel of God and this is the fruit of maturity. At present many in His body embrace one facet of truth to the exclusion of others. When we think like Jesus we embrace it all as Paul wrote.

¹⁵  But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. ¹⁶  For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:15-16 (NKJV)

In this statement in 1 Corinthians, though it may offend us, I believe Paul is saying we can assess our spiritual maturity by how we think. All of us as Christians have access to Jesus way of thinking. The mature are those who use that access to change their thinking to conform to His. When we do this we are practicing what the scriptures teach. Paul said we were to imitate Jesus and also to imitate or follow him the same way in which he followed Christ. They both embraced the whole counsel of God. A noble goal as we seek to grow in Christlikeness this year.

¹  Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. ²  And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2 (NKJV)

¹  Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NKJV)

I want to delve a bit into the passage below to give us yet another way to look at what it means to be in Christ and for Christ to be in us. Bear in mind that a metaphor is a message and we need to only get from it what the Lord has put into it. All metaphors break down at some point if we move beyond the message. Branches cannot move in an out of a vine, yet there is a sense in which while if we are born again we are in Jesus, we can choose whether or not to abide. The message of the metaphor below is fruitfulness, not conversion.

¹  “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ²  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. ⁵  I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶  If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸  By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” John 15:1-8 (NKJV)

In this metaphor to be fruitful we must be abiding. So what images does the word abiding evoke? We can think of living somewhere, however living and abiding may be two different things. We can live somewhere and not ‘abide’ because abiding carries the idea of being settled or being at home where we live. When Jesus says ‘abide in me’ He is asking us to settle down and be comfortable with Him, like a branch well connected to a vine. While Jesus desires that we abide in Him, He also desires to be comfortable in us. This pattern of us in Him and Him in us is replayed for us earlier in John 14. Things are sometimes lost in translation. The verses below are a good example.

²  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:2 (NKJV)

²³  Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” John 14:23 (NKJV)

These verses are part of a longer teaching by Jesus and what is lost is that in verse 2 the word ‘mansions’ and the word ‘home’ in verse 23 are the same word in Greek. These are the only two occurrences of the word in the New Testament and the meaning of the word is place, dwelling, stay or abide (the first version of the NKJV had ‘dwelling places’ in it, as the NASB does now) Jesus wasn’t telling the apostles that by going to the cross He was going to go to heaven and take up home building. His sacrifice, death and resurrection were creating a dwelling place for them in heaven in Him and if the apostles (and by extension us) kept His word He would abide in them.

So in Jesus use of the vine metaphor we see that a grape branch produces fruit by dwelling or abiding, by being connected to and drawing life from the vine, the source. As we learn to abide, to live in Jesus (us in Christ) we draw on Him and His life flows through us (Christ in us) and fruit is produced. We abide in Him by learning to be at rest in Him and His word and the fruit flows forth brings glory to our Father.

Another important part Jesus addresses is pruning. Yes, it involves cutting. Have you ever looked at a branch on a tree or vine that has a lot of leaves but no fruit? It may look good but not only is it of no real value to the gardener, it is in fact drawing life from the vine that is being consumed on itself but producing nothing. These branches are useless and need to be removed so that the life that is going into them can be redirected to fruitful branches.

The other thing Jesus addressed in verse 2 was the ‘taking away’ of branches that have no fruit. This may seem to refer to pruning but Jesus clearly addressed pruning later. The alternate rendering in my bible is ‘lift up.’ This seems to better capture what Jesus is communicating. If you look at vineyards you see the vines are all staked so that the branches are raised up off the ground to fruit. Jesus seems to be saying is that if a branch is laying in the dirt (think carnality or sin) it is unfruitful and needs to be raised up from the dirt to produce fruit. If we are seeking to abide in Him but see no fruit in our lives it may be that we need to come to Him in repentance so that we are lifted up from the dirt and fruit is produced through our life in Him.

My prayer is that we as branches will be woven into a beautiful living tapestry that produces much fruit while shining in the Son!

In my last post I referenced the scripture below and wrote about how by being in Christ we have access to the throne room and by Jesus being in us He has access through His body to accomplish His purposes in the earth.

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)

I now want to look at another aspect of what this means. Many years ago I read a story of a young pastor who was struggling and when he presented his issues to a more mature pastor the older fellow asked him if he was using the armour provided in Ephesians 6. Since he had just graduated from seminary the young man started to describe what each piece meant and began to break down the text. The older man stopped him and essentially said, “I didn’t ask if you could describe it. I asked if you were using it.” A good question! So, below is the armour.

¹⁰  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ¹¹  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵  and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ¹⁸  praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints – Ephesians 6:10-18 (NKJV)

Paul tells us we are in a spiritual battle then exhorts us to put on the armour so that we may be victorious in this spiritual warfare that is part of the package of being a Christian. The armour takes us back to the idea of Christ in us and us being in Christ. The tense is important in capturing this. Starting from verse 14 we are told that the first three pieces; the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness and the footwear of the gospel of peace, are things we already have by virtue of our conversion. We have them in the present because we received them in the past.

In Jesus we have truth (Eph. 4:21, Jn. 14:6), He is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30, 2 Cor. 5:21), and He is our peace (Eph. 2:14, Jn. 14:27).  What we need to do is confess and believe these truths. We need them worked into our hearts to see them effective in spiritual battles.

Once we recognize this reality we are to then actively take up our shield of faith, our helmet of salvation and our sword, His word, because we are in Christ. The first three pieces of armour, we have in Jesus and they are ours at conversion. The other three pieces we ‘take up’ by working them into our lives.

Faith literally shields us from attack and we all have some measure of it at conversion (Rom. 12:3). Through using our faith it grows (Gal. 2:20). The helmet protects our mind and by renewing our mind with His word we begin to have the mind of Christ (Rom. 12:1-2, Phil. 2:5). The sword is His word applied. Paul’s closing point is that as we are engaged in intercession we need to take the scriptures the Holy Spirit quickens to us (praying in the Spirit, or at the leading of the Spirit) and use them. We cannot simply find a scripture to suit our desires, rather we need to submit our desires to His purpose. This is His roadmap to victory.

In my last post included a sentence from a written prayer I developed. Here is another portion that demonstrates one way to apply Ephesians 6.

I thank You that Your word is truth and that as I commit to standing on truth and in truth the enemy is defeated. I thank You that You are my righteousness. Through You I come boldly to the throne of grace, drawing on Your mercy and help. I thank You that as in faith I present my requests to You, Your peace guards my heart and mind. I thank You that my faith in You is a shield that quenches all the attacks of the evil one. I thank You that by filtering my thoughts through the reality of Your salvation, my mind is guarded. I thank You that the proper use of Your word is a sword that drives back the enemy! Eph. 6:10-20, 4:21, John 14:6, Phil. 3:9, 4:6-8, Heb. 4:12, 11:1, 6, 12:2, Rom. 1:16, 8:14, Gal. 5:16, 18

I have provided a number of scripture references in this post when I referenced the pieces of armour. I recognize it takes time but I encourage you, look them up and reflect/meditate upon them so they live within you.

This is not a recipe for an easy life, rather is the way of discipleship. Remember, there can be no victory without a battle. The battle is before us – will we fight?

Have you ever wondered what it means, or what the distinction is between Christ in you and you in Christ? Does it seem like splitting hairs? Do the scriptures mean different things by the different terms? Let’s look at some scriptures and address the question from the perspective of access.

²⁶  the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. ²⁷  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:26-27 (NKJV)

⁵  Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you are disqualified. 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV) 

The two scriptures above point to the importance of Christ in us and the following ones to us in Christ.

³  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁷  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ¹¹  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, Ephesians 1:3-4, 7, 11 (NKJV, emphasis mine)

³  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3 (NKJV)

The verses above speak of what we have in Jesus. So we have two important aspects, us being in Jesus and Jesus being in us. Jesus addressed this in His last teaching before going to the Garden of Gethsemane then the cross.

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)

If we break down the two aspects we can see that addresses our access to throne room. Jesus is seated on the throne and because we are ‘in Him’ we can come boldly to throne of grace because in one sense we are already there (Heb. 4:14-16). The second is that by being in us Jesus has access through us to accomplish His purposes in the earth. While He has received all authority through His death and resurrection He has finished His work and commissioned us for the next phase.

¹⁸  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰  teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

This passage is our command to allow Jesus to walk and move through us to fulfill His purposes in the earth prior to the final consummation at His return (see also Mk. 16:15-20). I have things I pray spontaneously each day and I also have a prayer list of subject areas that I have developed over the years and regularly pray. One thing I regularly ask the Holy Spirit to do in me and many of you is –

• Release grace and supplication as You intercede in and through us to bring about Your strategic and corporate purposes in the earth. Zech. 12:10, Rom. 8:26, Eph. 6:18

We have an incredible responsibility and incredible opportunity if we are sufficiently awakened to our calling to respond. I pray we give Jesus our agendas so that we will see His fulfilled in the earth!

If you have read my blog or heard me teach a few times there is a recurring message in a lot of what I say, I talk about sitting with Jesus, sitting in His presence. Why do I do that and how do I do it?

The why? I desire to give Jesus the first part of my day as that sets the tone for the rest of my day. If I jump out of bed and frenetically engage in activity I have set the pattern for my day. I get up early in the morning to meet with Jesus for two reasons. One, He is worthy and I need to be with Him. Two, He is to be our pattern and a careful reading of the gospels shows that Jesus began His days getting up early to be with His Father. If Jesus needed to do this to be effective I certainly need to do likewise.

Sitting with Jesus is not a contest. The important factor is not whether I spend 5 or 50 minutes with Him, it is important to be at the place where my first desire is to get up and be with Him. This is not the case every day but that is my desire. I know of one well known preacher who speaks of spending the first hour or two of his day worshipping and interacting with Jesus before he gets out of bed.

I suspect that pattern would not work for most of us. However most of us can start our day with Him. If for some reason you cannot give Him at least the first few minutes of your day how soon can you get alone with Him? What is your first opportunity? Is it while riding the bus? We can get alone with Him in a crowd of people. While it is not ideal we can use this as an opportunity to train our attention and intention.

We are called to be with Him and His desire is to be with us. There is a key focus in both verses below.

¹²  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.” Exodus 24:12 (NKJV)

¹⁴  Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, Mark 3:14 (NKJV)

In both of the above verses there is a task given, however, the priority for both Moses and the twelve was first on ‘being with Him’ before doing anything for Him. Whatever we do for Him is to flow from our relationship with Him.

I have included a couple of images below that some of you may find helpful in focusing your hearts upon Him (we can think of one as Jesus and one as our Father). After all the descriptions of His throne in Isaiah, Ezekiel and Revelation are there for some reason! I do some of this although my own experience is that I sense/feel Jesus presence more than I see anything. Often His speaking comes in the form of a scripture, sometimes in the sense to do something like encourage or reach out to someone or to pray for a person or situation. The more frequent outcome of sitting with Him is that I simply experience His presence in and around me and find myself internally more focused and functional because I am very aware of Jesus with me and in me.

How many of us or how often have we felt genuine hunger? If we understand hunger what does it mean to ‘hunger and thirst for righteousness?’ We should want to know, as there is a blessing attached to it.

⁶  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 (NKJV)

The pronounced blessing is that our hunger and thirst shall be satisfied. A key factor here is the tense. In a literal translation the tense reads as hungering and thirsting. The idea being that we do not eat or drink once and remain satiated. Just as we naturally need to eat and drink each day to maintain our physical body, so too we need to spiritually eat and drink each day. Jesus says our hungering and thirsting is to be for righteousness. Given that, understanding righteousness will help us to direct our hunger and thirst. So what are we being directed to in Matthew?

δικαιοσύνη dikaiosunē noun, Righteousness, equity, justice.

The New Testament concept of justice is remote from the Greek doctrine of virtue and also from the Jewish concept of earning righteousness through keeping the Law. The term dikaiosunē is applied both to God and to people in the New Testament. In reference to people it is concerned with the imputed righteousness “in Christ” and the practical righteousness of everyday living and conduct.

Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary, The

The Greek word for righteousness is the one above, and as it states, we have an imputed righteousness by virtue of our relationship with Jesus that produces a practical righteousness in our conduct. What the definition does not address is that we also have an imparted righteousness, Jesus nature in our reborn spirit, which needs to be made manifest in our soul. This is what produces a practical righteousness, holiness. How do we walk in it?

One way is to satisfy our hunger and thirst each morning by sitting with Jesus with the fixed intention of encountering Him and knowing His heart. This expectation of encountering Him is a demonstration of faith. We can have communion with Him each morning, with or without the elements. The external elements merely symbolize an internal reality.

The Quakers, or Society of Friends, have been part of the broader Christian landscape since the mid-17^th century and their practice is to have communion not via external elements but via sitting with Jesus and experiencing His presence. This is available to all of us as believers. We simply need to make the choice and sit with Him, He is available.

I am convinced through practice that getting up and sitting with Jesus is the best way to start each day. To make it more effective it is best if it spills over into the rest of the day. Develop the habit of pausing and looking to Jesus at various points throughout the day and He will begin to spill over into all of your day. This is the practical application of hungering and thirsting. Not the expectation of some magical download that will change our life; rather the cultivation of a habit that shapes our eternal destiny!