Category Archives: Indwelling Christ

Indwelling Christ, Our Union with Christ, The Nearness of God

Our Highest Joy (God With Us)

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Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us (Matthew 1:23 NASB)

As our unusual 2020 comes to a close, we pause to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Immanuel. God with us. The Creator of the universe brought near. But what does this really mean? And how does God being with us change who we are, our approach to life and our purpose?

But what is most important about God’s nearness is how His strength and Joy gives us the courage to face any battle we’re in. He’s an ever present help in times of trouble.

What Does “God With Us” Really Mean?

From Eternity

  • Jesus was with God in the beginning and the world was created through Him and for Him. [1] [2]
  • In Jesus all things hold together.[3]
  • Jesus is the first place in everything and God’s fulness dwells in Him [4]

What Christ Gave up for Us

  • And although He existed in the form of God, He emptied Himself taking the form a bond servant.[5]
  • He set aside His splendor to enter this world in human likeness as a baby in simple circumstances.[6]
  • Fueled by the Joy of our redemption, He endured the excruciating pain of the cross to provide us a path to God[7]

How it Becomes Personal

We can allow another Christmas to go by, singing the songs, exchanging the gifts, and eating the food. We can miss the life changing significance of Christ actually being with us in a personal way.

Christ is always in full display in the beauties of the world around us, but “God with us” can become personal:

Recognize the gap

Without Christ we are do not have an intimate relationship with God, without hope in the world, destined to be apart from Him for eternity.[8] [9] [10]

Stop trying to live a good enough life

Eternal life can’t be earned. We don’t make it to heaven by our good works outweighing our wrongs. God’s economy doesn’t work that way.[11]

Believe God

Believing means trusting in Christ’s sacrifice on your behalf, committing your life to His care and relying upon Him for every concern.  

Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. (John 5:24 NASB)

What Changes When “Being With God” Becomes Personal  

Who We Are Changes Forever

  • We become loved children of God But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name (John 1:12 NASB)
  • God lives in us Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23 NASB)
  • We are complete, fully accomplished and filled to the brim in Christ For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete (Colossians 2:9-10a NASB)

 Our Approach to Life Changes

  • We Decrease and He Increases[12] For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3 NASB)
  •  We live by faith not by sight, trusting in God’s greater story [13] [14]  Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6 NASB)
  •  We live in abiding dependence upon God’s Holy Spirit within us [15]  I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me (Galatians 2:20 NASB)

 Our Goals and Purposes are New

  •  Our top goal is now to Delight in God’s great worth, not worldly happiness.  One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple (Psalms 27:4 NASB)
  • God Himself is now our greatest reward not things of the earth. After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward” (Genesis 15:1 NIV)
  •  Our higher Daily purpose becomes loving others not just getting things done. This is My commandment that you love one another, just as I have loved you (John 15:12 NASB)

Prayer

Lord, You are with me right now. Thank You for leading me to slow down and ponder what Immanuel really means. You set aside so much to be with me and to die for me. Please help me fully appreciate what Your nearness means to every moment of my life. I’m yours. I pray I will delight in You throughout the day, knowing that You alone are my great reward. In Your strength, may I love others as You’ve loved me.

In everything I’ve faced and will face, You’ve been my Strength, my Joy and my Courage. May I lean into You throughout life’s journey.

Amen.

[1] John 1:1-3

[2] Colossians 1:16

[3] Colossians 1:17

[4] Colossians 1:18-19

[5] Philippians 2:6-8

[6] Philippians 2:6-8

[7] Hebrews 12:2

[8] Romans 3:23

[9] Isaiah 59:2

[10] Ephesians 2:12

[11] Ephesians 2:4-10

[12] John 3:30

[13] 2nd Corinthians 5:7

[14] Colossians 3:1-2

[15] John 15:4-5

Previous posts in the series – Our Highest Joy:

Unmasking the Lie

Dealing with sadness and disappointment

Eternal Thanksgiving

Fueled by the Joy of Jesus

.Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Beyond Time

Hope Remains

Indwelling Christ, Union with Christ

Are You More Like Batman or Spider-man?

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In his book, Union with Christ, Rankin Wilborne asks us to consider two superheroes. Batman, a rich, strong man with “lots of cool gadgets” [1] and Spider-man, a superhero because of a bite from a radioactive spider. The encounter with the spider changed Peter Parker from within. He became Spider-man. Batman had to rely on his own abilities and possessions.

Who are you most like?

If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, you’ve become a new man. Jesus Christ now lives within you. You’ve been changed from within.

Jesus told His disciples, “And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever.” (John 14:16 NASB)

Paul confirms that the Holy Spirit of Jesus now lives inside of believers, fundamentally changing who we are. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, (Ephesians 1:13 NASB)

Spider Powers

Like Spider-man, we’ve been changed, but what are our spider powers? Although it would be fun, it’s not squirting webs to buildings and swinging through the air.

Consider the following powers: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 NASB)

These powers include a quality of love which is sacrificial beyond reason, joy and peace which transcend every circumstance, kindness and goodness which puts others first and looks past every offence, faithfulness and gentleness which becomes for others a soothing balm in all infirmities, and control to walk in these inner powers no matter how we’re feeling.

What Joy we’d experience if these powers of Christ continually flowed from within us.

But too often we forget about the powers within. We might ask God to give us patience and self-control, but that’s just asking God to change us.

He wants so much more. He wants to be our love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control from the inside out.

There’s a real difference between asking God to help me and relying on His Spirit within to empower me.

Real Life Example

My dad struggled with alcoholism for decades. It cost him his marriage and almost his life. But things changed. He ended up not drinking the last fifteen years of his life.

One day I asked him how he did it. “I tried everything,” he said. “AA and countless programs, but nothing worked. I’d been asking God to help me quit, but it just wasn’t working. Finally, I said, ‘God you have to do it, I can’t.”

After praying this prayer, he cut the grass and opened a beer. He said it tasted awful. He spit it out, poured out the beer and never had another drop. My dad learned to depend upon the power of God to deliver him when nothing else did.

Prayer

Lord, Your Spirit has changed me forever. Please forgive me for living on my own. You tell me that apart from You, I can do nothing.[2] I’m tired of wearing myself out in my own strength accomplishing nothing. Trying to live without you is like Spider-man not using his powers is. Never again I pray. Please teach me how to live every moment of every day in the Living Waters of Your Spirit within. Stop me quickly when I do life without You and teach me how to utterly depend on You. Have Your way with me I pray. Amen

[1] Union with Christ, Rankin Wilborne, David Cook, p. 52-53

[2] John 15:5

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

Novels by the Author:

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family. Hope Remains

Indwelling Christ, Overflow

The Christian Life is a Dance not a March

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So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).   

It’s easy to read the above verses and get caught up with the word “work” in the beginning and miss the incredible freedom at the end.

I’ve lived in the “work” part for far too long and just about missed the essence of the Christian life.

It started before I truly believed. Until I was 21 years old, growing up in a socially Christian family, I thought I was going to heaven because I “believed” in Jesus and thought my good “works” outweighed my bad.  In other words, I hadn’t killed anybody and performed some good deeds like walking little old ladies across the street. In my uninformed mind, this made me good enough for heaven.

Back then, my idea of being “born again,” was associated with being judgmental and living a life of rules which choked out all joy. I had no desire to live like that.

Just like everyone else, I was searching for joy in the world around me. I had no concept that the hole in my soul was eternal and could only be filled with God himself. A trip to jail brought me to my senses and turned my attention to my creator. Eventually I surrendered my life to my Lord Jesus Christ.

This was a marvelous day, but it took me years to realize the Christian life is not just something else to “work” at. Living as a Christian is so different than anything else I’d ever experienced.

Over time, and I must admit, I’m still learning it, the true nature of living the Christian life began to become clear. Christianity is not primarily about rules, it’s about a relationship with Christ.  He did the work. Ours is to respond to what’s he’s already done.

Our life is not an arduous march to a set of rules. It’s more like a dance; us responding to Christ our partner as he leads us in a  dynamic relationship.[1]

This changes everything.

“for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.[2]

Spiritually, we’ve  died and Christ, by his Holy Spirit, has taken up residence in our lives. The “work” we now do is a work of dependence, yielding to Christ as he produces the fruit of his Spirit in our lives.[3]

We don’t march around like robotic soldiers to a sheet of rules. We dance with God as he leads us through difficulties as his life is formed in us.

Prayer: Most gracious, heavenly Father. I’m sorry I spent much of my life totally misunderstanding the way you interact with me as your son. You’ve not left me alone to fend for myself. You’re involved in every dance step of my life and want me to enjoy being with you through every circumstance. Draw me ever closer to you as we dance together here. I praise you that one day, I’ll see you face to face.

[1] From a conference at the Cove by Pete Briscoe about Galatians 2:20

[2] Philippians 2:13

[3] Galatians 2:20

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

Subscribe below to get email notifications of new posts. We post a few times a month. Thank you for reading. 

 Novels by the Author:

Rob Buck

What happens when a professor figures out how to send messages to his younger self to try and avoid the suicide of his best friend? Did he change more than he bargained for?  Beyond Time

By finding two undelivered letters in a old shack deep in the woods, Cassie and Daniel unknowing set off a series of events which uncover a plot to wipe out a whole family Hope Remains