Friday, March 10, 2017

Stay Connected


"My food is to do the will of Him [God] who sent Me and to finish His work." -Jesus (John 4:34)

Though Jesus did many miraculous things during His time on earth, one of the things that I admire most about Jesus is His union with the Father.

John 17 in particular talks about how Jesus and the Father are One. They are so interconnected and in tune with one another. They work hand-in-hand. They are intertwined. You literally cannot have one without the other. They are One and they operate as One.


"I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father who sent Me." -Jesus (John 5:30b)

Anything that Jesus did, He did not do on His own accord, but only according to what the Father wanted Him to do. While He was on earth, He only walked in step with His Father who sent Him. He was only here to do the Father's will. He came to earth with a mission from the Father that He set out to fulfill.

As Jesus is in the Father, we should be in Jesus.


We don't need to go out in this world on our own agenda, doing our own thing, saying our own words, or thinking our own thoughts. We need to be in Him, for without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).


It's so easy to listen to what Jesus has to say, hear His instructions for us, and then go and attempt to do it in our own strength, in our own power, no longer relying on Him. While it is important that we listen and obey, it is equally (if not more) important, that as we obey that we continue to listen and rely on Him.

We never want to get to the point of our Christian walk that we feel that because we hear from the Lord, we don't need to depend on Him every step of the way as we accomplish the task He has set before us and allowed us to do. If He has given you a task, great! However, we must be sure that we are listening to the specific instructions and directions that He gives us along the way or we will find ourselves eventually wandering away from the mission of Christ we originally set out to do.

Not once did Jesus decide to just go and do what He wanted to do. He was here accomplishing the will of His Father; therefore, He only did things that the Father told Him to do. He was in constant communication with the Father and took time to pray and seek the Father even while He was on earth in the midst of accomplishing the will of the Father.

We cannot receive the call to go, and then go, only to leave the very Giver of our call behind.



"He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him." -Jesus (John 6:56)

What does it mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood? John 6:53 says unless we eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, we have no life in us. There is no life apart from Christ. Let me repeat that: There is no life apart from Christ. Seriously. There is NO life apart from Christ. Got it now? Okay.

If we aren't abiding in Him and partaking of Him, we are dead. To abide in Christ is to remain in Him. Abide does not mean to leave and then return, but to stay. Christ is our lifeline. We must stay connected because we need what comes from Him. He is our nourishment. Only Jesus has the words of eternal life (John 6:68).

We must drink of Him and stay connected so what flows out of Him can flow into us. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, we cannot bear fruit unless we are feasting on Jesus and letting Him be what waters us. As His blood/water flows from the vine to the branches, fruit is produced. As we feast on and partake of Jesus' flesh and blood, we ourselves are connected to Him, and we are able to produce the fruit that comes from living in His Will and accomplishing His mission.


The same way that blood does not just stay in our hearts, but flows to every part of our body through our arteries, Jesus' love and truth does not just stay with Him. He sends His love and truth to every part of the world– through us. Therefore, we have to stay connected. And again, like arteries, we cannot be full of junk or we'll be clogged and unable to deliver Jesus to the world. We must stay connected and we must stay pure. We must keep feasting on and partaking of Jesus. We must stay connected to Him by abiding in Him so that we may become one with Him, just like He is one with the Father.

Jesus tells us to abide in Him. To remain continually in Him. He doesn't tell us to leave and then return; He tells us to remain. To be. To exist. In Him.

Every step we take needs to be taken in Christ and with Christ. We need to remain in Him continuously, even (especially!) after we have answered His call. We need to be in Him. Let us not be distracted or disconnected. Abide in Him as He abides in you.


"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. 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."
-Jesus (John 15:4-5)



Prayer:

Lord Jesus, please help me to not wander off. Jesus I need to be with You. I need to be one with You just as You are one with the Father. Let me not go out alone, but let me go with You. Let me be with You. I need to be in You and with You and I need not to depart from You. Lord, You don't forsake me, so teach me not to forsake You. Teach me to remain in You, be one with You, and abide in You. I want to be One with you. I need to flow continuously with you. Remove the junk and filth that prevents the connection from me to You and You to me from being smooth. Let me walk hand-in-hand with You. I want unity with You like You have unity with the Father. You do not exist separately from the Father and the Father does not exist separately from You because You are One. Jesus, make me one with You.