OBSESSED WITH REALITY
You've spent three days wandering around in a forest trying
to find your way
out... looking for something to eat...
"Oh, hello! -
Didn't know anyone was out here.
As the man draws closer he can see you're half dead with fear and hunger. He gives you a drink from his canteen and some food from his knapsack.
"You're lost. Come on, I'll show you the way out."
Soon the man has
you walking on a white stone path you
"Down the way a bit," says the man, "is a patch
Conversation
continues as you enter a low spot shrouded
Several times he has to interrupt you.
"You're drifting away from me. Be sure to stay
Now you're telling the man about your problems and what it was that caused you to stumble into these woods in the first place and how depressed you've been in the past six weeks. Suddenly you stop and ask,
"How come you aren't answering me? I can't see anything in this fog. Are you still there?" "Hey! Where are you!"
Silence.
You look down at
your feet and can see you're on a path
Indeed I
count everything as loss because of in him. Philippians 3:8
For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
We'd probably all
agree that the Christian faith boils
certain body of
spiritual truth, but when he met Jesus.
But, as time goes
on, it's very easy to think we have a
There are two
ways we tend to allow our relationship
is when we allow
the person of Jesus in our lives to be
It's so easy to substitute ideas,
- You don't have
to open your heart to a doctrine.
So as time
passes, instead of walking under the yoke with
laboring with
him, we turn ourselves into walking legalism.
It's like a
husband who still lives in the same house with
a thing he tries
to manipulate, a voice which nags him. How long it has been since he looked upon this woman as his friend!
The other way we
lose touch with the living Christ is
- We utter Jesus' name. - We seem to hold fellowship with other believers.
But this Jesus of
delusion leads us away from real life
We are so wrapped
up in this warped vision of Jesus that
hear the cries of
the sick and shrug them off,
Our hearts,
instead of being tender toward God and man,
So, how do we
maintain a relationship with the crucified
Indeed I count
everything as loss because of
my Lord.
For his sake I have suffered the loss Philippians 3:8-10
We need to ask ourselves again and again,
"Do I, in fact, enjoy a relationship with Jesus
which I have with Jesus Christ right now
- Does it put me in touch with reality?
- Does it open my
eyes to people around me and
- Does it give me power over evil?"
The same Jesus
who called Paul called you and me into about our part of it.
1. If we want to stay in touch with Jesus we need to
I am the
vine, you are the branches. He who John 15:5
Each branch abides in the vine. No branch draws its
strength from
other branches. Thank God for the chance
Nobody can do your repenting for you,
your listening,
or your worshiping for you ... you do it!
In fact, our
gathering together week-by-week will become
I am the
vine, you are the branches. He who
2. If we want to keep our part of the relationship fresh,
- The cross is the place where the curse broke
- The cross is where Jesus did the thing he came
to do... ..and it is the place where we truly
When I came to you, brethren, I did not come pro- you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I Corinthians 2:1-2
For Christ
did not send me to baptize but to For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. I Corinthians 1:17-18
And I when
I am lifted up (on the cross)
"I just can't
seem to get to know Jesus."...Then take
"I have this load of guilt and all this bitterness in my soul which seems to keep me from approaching God." ...Take your guilt and bitterness to Calvary and bathe them in the Lamb's blood.
When John the
Baptist announced Jesus to the world he
"Behold the
greatest teacher the world has ever
He said,
Behold the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
God help us to
stay near the cross where the Lamb died
3. To keep our relationship with Jesus fresh, we need
We abide in the vine individually, but we function corporately.
For by the
grace given to me I bid every one among Romans 12:3-5
The Body of
Christ is not a gas station where we come and
Christ is
Heaven's Pot Luck Banquet where each of us who
into something
supernatural for others .., especially
God help us to function as part of the body, - Not as its critics. - Not as constant takers. - Not as patrons standing above it in aloof superiority.
God help us to come down from our high horse and
- fit in,
- open our
hearts,
And, as we fit
in, our vision of Jesus will come clear as
The glory which thou hast given me I have given to John 17:22-23
This prayer is being answered, but whether we as individuals are part of the answer is up to us.
God help
us to humble ourselves and fit in with brothers
4. To keep
our relationship with Jesus fresh, we need to
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second according to the word of the Lord. Jonah 3:1-3a
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them,
Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and
on the
third day rise from the dead, and that repentance to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24;45-48
Somehow when we
go out and do this, when we immerse our
The promise,
"Lo, I am with you always..." is tied to
We can sit around
inside church walls and hold hands and
As the Father has sent me, even so I send you...
with bread from heaven.
Indeed I count everything as loss because of he
For his sake I have suffered the loss of all
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
May God bring as
to the place where we count everything Christ Jesus our Lord.
As we gather
together around his name, may the Spirit
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