Abiding in Christ – is pursuing Him relationally

Passion is powerful. It literally catapults or fires the boosters of our soul in a specific direction. We need a passion to Know Christ

 

Most Christians know the essential facts about their Saviour’s life intellectually, but I think few know Him relationally and fewer know Him intimately. Some of us are so busy with activities and pursuits of life that they rarely think of Jesus until a desperate situation arises.

 

Yet those who know the Lord intimately have a continually deepening relationship with Him. He’s their top priority, and every possession, accomplishment, or pursuit is worthless compared to knowing Him. Let’s read Philippians 3: 3-11

Verses 8–10 of reveal the results of making Christ our foremost desire:

 

Is your life characterized by a deep, abiding passion for Christ, or is your relationship with Him shallow, seasonal and mechanical? Believers must not let worldly pleasures, opportunities, and responsibilities rob them of the treasure of knowing Jesus. It’s time to count all that as loss and pursue Christ.

Are we willing to suffer the loss of things the world counts precious in order to know Jesus?

Abiding in Christ – Gazing at Jesus in His Word
In the gateway Psalm 1 that reveals the pathway into “Blessedness”, the Psalmist reveals a non-negotiable, absolutely fundamental truth in verses 2 and 3: What you meditate on determines where you will be planted. This meditation is “focussed thinking”. Gazing is focussed thinking. The power of God’s Word is precisely what it is – “the foremost revelation of God. God speaks, reveals, teaches, corrects, shapes, renews, transforms, strengthens and builds us as we gaze at Him in His Word.

The apostle Pauls speaks about “gazing” (2 Cor 3: 1 -18) with unveiled faces into the glory of God resulting us being transformed into His image. Reading closely into the words of this chapter Paul is drawing a comparison of the people Israel unable to see the glory of God that shone on the face of Moses when he came down the mountain with the Words of the law written on stone. The people could not see the glory of the Lord because of a veil on their hearts.
But then Paul says that when we turn to the Lord that veil is removed. And so we look into God’s Word, the Spirit of God now writes His Word upon the tablets of our hearts. And so real and powerful is this transformation that the Apostle says we (our lives) become the “letters of Christ written by the Spirit of God”.

But how does this happen?
As we gaze into God’s Word with unveiled hearts.

Lord Jesus told His disciples
John 8: 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 

Abiding in Christ – Living united in His body

In His last prayers before He went to the Cross Jesus spoke these words in John 17

13 But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word;....

15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them [d]from [e]the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 

18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

20 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may [f]believe that You sent Me.

22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; 23 I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected [g]in unity, so that the world may [h]know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

25 “O righteous Father, [i]although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

A SYMPHONY TO GOD'S HEART
During seasons of prayer, when we unite for intercession or groups meet in homes to appeal to God, it is important we stay united in Spirit, supportive and passionate with the goal of touching the heart of God. Even though we pray differently or come together with different styles or burdens, our unity plays an important dynamic in obtaining spiritual success.

For instance, when my wife and I pray together, I like to pack all the meaning I can into a couple sentences. I might pray a simple prayer, “Lord bless and fill my child,” What I mean, is Lord touch them, forgive them, provide for them, guide them, use them and protect them. My prayer is like a “zip file.” It’s bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It appears small, but when God opens it up, there’s a lot of meaning in my prayer.

My wife’s prayers are longer than mine. She tells the Lord everything He needs to know about the kids, as though He were just meeting them for the first time. She explains what they need in life and offers suggestions to the Lord on how to get them into their future. She touches God’s heart because she is so compassionate.

The main thing is, we agree with each other when we pray. We don’t judge each other. We listen and appreciate our different approaches, burdens  and styles.

When we get together in a group at church, the same principles apply: we all agree with each other. It doesn’t matter if one person prays longer or with more detail than another. We pray for our nation along with other nations and their leaders. Some pray for the governmental leaders of nations; another might pray for gang leaders, while someone else will pray for business leaders. We’ll stand in repentance for the sins of our nation, asking God to forgive our national sins of pride, injustice and murder (especially concerning the unborn); we ask for mercy concerning our greed and national arrogance, and we ask for forgiveness for the immoral nature of much of our entertainment industry. We each may have a different burden or focus, but with passion we agree with one another’s prayer.

Jesus promised that whatever we agreed upon in prayer, it would be done for us by our heavenly Father (Matthew 18:19). Our agreement is as important as our prayer. It’s okay that we have different styles: I pace. A dear friend of mine rocks back and forth. Someone may Karate chop the air. Yet, even though our styles are different, our hearts burn together in strong agreement.

Interestingly, the word agree as used in the Gospels was the Greek word sumphoneo. From it we get the English word symphony. In other words, God hears our prayers of agreement not so much as a tolerance of one another’s quirks, but as a symphony of passionate voices – each voice as a unique instrument, yet all participating in the same glorious song.

Beloved, let us stay in agreement when we pray. Avoid strife at all costs. Whether our expression is one of weeping or rejoicing, warring or worship, our prayer of agreement can be symphonic to the listening heart of God. Abiding in Christ is being agreement with each other inspite of our differences however big or small they may be.

Abiding in Christ – Reaching out to the ones He is pursing

Jesus warned, "Many” will be offended; He said, "the love of many will grow cold (Matt. 24:14 KJV). Loveless Christians. We can have a warehouse full of doctrines yet, in reality, only possess a pocket full of functional love. Just having doctrines and talking about love is not the same thing as actually loving. As Jesus said, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. (John 13:17). Think about it. Who can you show the love of Christ to today? We are not called to merely “reach out” to people but to “pursue them in love”.

What kind of people did Jesus pursue?
Luke 5: 27 – 32 Sinners, the controversial ones of His day
the lost multitudes, the outcasts,

Jesus was and is on a mission and His disciples are in that same mission! Thta’s what it means to abide in Him!