Do you--Know Him
in His Word?
Do you
know Jesus? Do you really know Him? Is He a part of your daily life; or just ‘there’
when you are available and its convenient?
This
week I was reading the Word of God in John, and in Matthew and it came to my
attention that we need to know Him, abide with Him, and abide in Him to get to
heaven. Its not just saying the ‘salvation prayer’ that gets us saved, it’s not
the work we do; it is truly knowing and being known by Him.
Not
everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on
that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did not we prophecy in your name, and in your name drive
out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never
knew you. Away from me you evildoers!’ Therefore everyone who hears these words
of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on
the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the wind blew and beat
against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the
rock. Matthew 7:21-25
Just
because we go to church every Sunday does not mean we are saved and going to
heaven when we die. Just because we call ourselves ‘Christians’ if we do not
truly know the Lord Jesus and abide in Him we are not of Christ.
I am the
true vine, ad My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch I Me that does not
bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that I
may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have
spoken to 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…He
who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do
nothing. ..If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you
desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you
bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. John 15:1-10.
So how
do you become one of those who ‘abide with Him’ and what does that mean?
To abide
with Him means to “put up with, stand for, bearing with, stomach, take, or
tolerate” according to the Thesaurus. It has also been defined as “to live
with, be joined to” in a dictionary.
Think
for a moment, do you live with Jesus in your life, truly in your life? Or would
you say you are more like the person who is there but not relational?
Personally I hope that I will be found as one who is living with Christ,
standing for Him, bearing with Him and tolerating His direction in my life.
To abide
with Christ, in Christ we must first make the connection with Christ. Ask Him
to be Lord of your life and admit to Him that you believe all that He is, and
does, is truth. Then don’t stop the communication. Connect with Him daily;
often as you think to do so.
So many
people accept Christ only to disconnect the line after they get the bonus of
Salvation. His talk of if you join with me and I join with you like a branch is
joined to the vines is the perfect example of staying connected to get the
nutrients.
However
you look at it Jesus is wanting us to be part of His life as much as He is a
part of ours, more so even! He wants us to be totally connected, standing for
Him, just as much as He is tolerating our misconceptions, our misunderstanding
what His Word is saying and following after the wrong leaders; He ‘stomachs’ or
‘swallows’ our problems and cleans us up because He becomes a part of us. He
becomes a part of our lives in a way that we are useless without Him. We can
only do this if we stay there in His presence; not many plants can stay alive
without the vine, or main body of the plant. If I abide in my home, it means
that is where I go each day when I am done with work or play.
This
means we also need to return to Him daily or often. The cool thing about abiding
in Christ is that it comes out in what we do, or in our ‘fruits’. A grape vine
produces grapes not apples, when it stays plugged in to the root-system.
Our
root-system is the Holy Spirit that keeps us plugged in. We also will have a
better chance of producing good fruit staying connected to Christ and His
people because they are our fertilizer and keep us healthy.
To
clarify;
1-
pray
to receive Christ
2-
talk
with Him daily
3-
follow
Him in His Word
4-
do
what He says
5-
Abide
in Him and allow Him to abide with you.
Then if
we make requests known to God they will come about. The thing is when we are
that connected we are not going to ask for anything that is not in His will.
The more you are around your friends the more you pick up their way of thinking
or doing things; the more you are around Christ the more you will do things and
think things the way He would have you do them.
Trust in
the Lord with all your heart and lean not in your own understanding. Proverbs
5:6
Get
connected, trust Him follow Him and He will not steer you the wrong way.
Meet up
with the Lord today; spend time talking to Him, listening for His still small
voice and read the Word to know what to do, where to go and how to follow His
commands.
Dear
heavenly Father, thank you for wanting to know us and for us to know you. Help
us to not just know of you but to truly know you personally by getting together
with him daily. Help us to share your presence with those around us also that
they too may be known by you. In Jesus name, amen
Suggested
reading John 15:1-27, John 16:1-33, 1Peter 1:1-25, James 2:1-26 and James
4:1-17.