Following Jesus

Following Jesus means I allow nothing to come between us- not even His call on my life.  It may not make sense but we are so very religious at times and don't even know it.  I find myself following Him on a path that to my common sense seems to be leading me further and further away from doing what I know I have been called to and have always known.  Yet I know with absolute certainty that this is the path He has chosen for me today.  Think of how many ministers today are working for God yet in reality know little of His heart, little of being truly intimate with Him.  Their God is the calling on their life,  their ministry,  not Him.  The call of God is not the same as God himself but so many have this confused.  The call of God is always to Himself first,  unfortunately after 28 years as a Christian I have seen over and over again ministers who equate the call of God with God and they are not the same.   

God First

The main thing in Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the atmosphere produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to look after, and it is the one thing that is continually being assailed”.   Oswald Chambers- My Utmost For His Highest

 

Sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s ALL about Jesus.  God didn’t put me where He did for a job.  For a ‘job’ He could have put me anywhere, but to pour through me to those He wants to touch those He wants to draw to Himself through the Holy Spirit, He put me where He did.  Do we truly believe that our steps are ordered by God as the word says?  That we may plan our course but the Lord directs our steps? Jesus wants to pour through us but the devil wants to do everything he can to stop that or at the least impede the flow.  One of the ways he does this is through a religious spirit that gets our eyes more on what we are ‘doing’ for God than our actual relationship with God.

 

Jesus just needs me to yield so He can live through me, touch through me, heal through me, and establish His kingdom through me and sometimes it is without me saying a word.  My responsibility is to see to it that I stay rightly related to Him no matter what.  That is the whole of my life, my relationship with Christ, period.  Not just to go to heaven when I die but to be a clean vessel here and now, to walk in intimate fellowship and communion with the Son of God that is my fulfillment and satisfaction. 

 

Life is not found in the ‘perfect’ job, the perfect mate, perfect house, car or clothes, whatever….(yet how often does the enemy attempt to get us to believe this, even at times succeeding if only for a while?)Life is found in one place and that is in Christ and to the degree that I truly abide in Him and He in me, it is to that degree that I will have life, and life more abundantly which is what Jesus came to give us. I believe the times we find ourselves adding to that is when it is easier to add something rather than die to something of ourselves so that we may possess more of Him and He of us. 

 

Our jobs are not about the company we work for, the money we make, (even though we all know it takes money to live here) or the benefits of our job…. It is about one thing and that is Christ.  Do we work where we do because we believe it is where He has sent us or because it pays more or has better hours, etc. I believe without a doubt that If we make our relationship with Him our first priority the rest will take its proper place. Jesus said to take no thought for your life…but to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things (having our physical needs met) will be added to us. Matthew 6:33

Disillusioned

     I have come to the conclusion that sooner or later every Christian becomes disillusioned at some point. For some it is early on, for others it is later on, but eventually we find that we cannot reconcile being a Christian with the discontentment we feel, the disappointment, or dissatisfaction with life, but I don’t think we are suppose to. What is worse we feel horribly guilty for it, not to mention there is no shortage of preachers who in their lack of authenticity will tell you it’s your fault.

     Our inability to sustain the  fulfillment we do experience only adds to the guilt. Sometimes we suppose it is because we are not fulfilling our purpose, assuming we have even figured out what that is, sometimes and more often, we think it is because something is “wrong” with us. How many times have you asked yourself what is wrong with me? I should be happier, I should be ……… you fill in the blank. So many feel like they should be something other than what they are. We forget that we are a very long way from home and the way Father intended things to be for us. Being in relationship with Him at its best only gives us a glimpse of what it will be like one day and what it would have been like had sin not entered the Garden. We were made for so much more than we will ever experience while on this earth, and no matter how much of our purpose we are fulfilling, no matter how “right” we may be living our life, eternity calls out to us unconsciously reminding us this isn’t all there is, don’t forget that.    

     I have also found, the closer to Jesus I get, the more discontent I feel on this earth. Somehow I think rather than it being because something is “wrong” I believe it is because something is “right”.