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X.269 Nothing can compete with the splendors of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let nothing compete with the splendors of the Kingdom of Heaven!
X.270 The Kingdom of Heaven is an attaining unto joy; attaining to the Kingdom of Heaven is to be possessed by its King’s joy. X.271 The Kingdom of Heaven is its seekers seeking it—then finding that they were already found before they found it. X.272 Only one “selling of a soul” is needful here. X.273 The Kingdom of Heaven is broader than you can imagine; yet narrower, and narrowing, as its catch is drawn, hand over hand, toward shore. X.274 (We will never understand all that Jesus meant; means. And this is alright.)
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“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)
Consider the import of these oft-quoted words: When a man or woman comes to Jesus of Nazareth, takes the rest He is offering, finds His yoke to be light and easy, learns from Him, that man or woman then enters into a load-sharing, mutually-yoked work that is ALL Jesus, ALL the time, along His RESTFUL Way. No longer does that man or woman require the self-justification of pointing to their religious exhaustion as proof of their self-salvation. They can simply turn their head a little—under the yoke with Jesus—and absolutely delight that He is actually doing it all. He is pulling the whole weight of the whole Christian life. He is carving out new fields for simple planting of seeds. He is showing us how to plant those seeds most fruitfully. He is teaching us to take our noonday meal in the shade of yonder tree. He instructs us as we take each step-by-step. He is laughing at the mistakes we make along the way. He is pointing back over our shoulder at the work almost unconsciously done. And He’ll turn us for Home when the work is, at last, completed. In other words, Thank You, Jesus! Then, in the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a deserted place, and there he prayed. Simon and his companions went in search of him, and when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” “Then we will go somewhere else...” (Mark 1:35-38a, Phillips) * * * Did you know: it really is a fool’s errand to try to manage people’s response to your life? to try to “game out” what just might happen—in your absence—to your reputation? Here’s what I mean: Watching the life of Jesus, it becomes abundantly clear that He kept no eye on the “effect” produced by His life: on the way He was being, by others, perceived/received. In the Present, He simply did the will of the Father… and then, really and truly, left it at that. He wasn’t constantly preparing for potential ways the Future’s understanding might attach to Him: He hardly ever seemed interested either in His own reputation or, really, much in the Future.
So, the further and further we go into normalizing our current culture—where it’s thought normal to “curate” one’s daily life, as well as others’ perception of that life—it’s important that, every once in a while, we remember that it’s not particularly helpful to our hearts. It’s an attempt to stage-manage others’ understanding of one’s life, while actively mortgaging one’s own Present against some potential Future—but in other people’s minds! It’s a funny little thing that we’ve gotten very used to. Let us, instead, together, “go somewhere else...” “It is not we who can sustain the Church, nor was it our forefathers, nor will it be our descendants. It was and is and will be the One who says: ‘I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ … For us, the Church would perish before our very eyes, and we with it (as we daily prove), were it not for that other Man who manifestly upholds the Church and us.” Martin Luther
as quoted by Barth His Kingdom is a kingdom of glorious suffering, unrecognizable to the world whose broken ways He came to right: He will spread His arms to call all, to embrace all, to welcome all into the arms of the God who has always loved them.
His yoke, light and easy, rests upon His shoulders just as perfectly naturally as did the crossbeam which He carried up Golgotha’s hillside. He staggers not under the weight of your sin. He walks upward, heavenward, carrying it. His Holy Spirit trails along behind Him wherever He goes. Joy lights the path of this conquering King. His Kingdom conquers the world by His own perfect adherence to the will of the Father. In other words, “It is finished.” God, in his foreknowledge, chose us to bear the family likeness of his Son, that he might be the eldest of a family of many brothers. He chose us long ago; when the time came he called us, he made us righteous in his sight, and then lifted us to the splendour of life as his own sons.
In face of all this, what is there left to say? If God is for us, who can be against us? He that did not hesitate to spare his own Son but gave him up for us all—can we not trust such a God to give us, with him, everything else that we can need? Who would dare to accuse us, whom God has chosen? The judge himself has declared us free from sin! Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us! Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, pain or persecution? Can lack of clothes and food, danger to life and limb, the threat of force of arms? Indeed some of us know the truth of the ancient text: ‘For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter’. No, in all these things we win an overwhelming victory through him who has proved his love for us! I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God’s whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 8:29-39, Phillips) This week, at Anchor, we considered how the Vineyard-owner from the parable of Matthew 20 might be hinting at something like the following:
“Isn’t it wonderful,” Jesus asks, “that just as I was wonderful to you, I’m always choosing to be wonderful… to everyone?! Look around,” He says. “Look at all the people I’ve got you rubbing shoulders with, every single day: these are the highest work of your work in my fields.” He smiles even more broadly. “Or were you starting to think that the moral-of-this story was only your personal morality, your self-righteous hardwork, or, even worse than that, promise of eventual reward. Oh, my friend—it is so much more than that! Back when I called you—back when you and I understood together where all this was going—did you misinterpret what we were doing? Yes, I sent you into the world; yes, I sent you into my vineyard—but what did you think we were doing there together? We were in the vineyard—you and I, together; shoulder to shoulder—not to talk about its fruit, not to be knowledgable about its potential eventual crops; even to constantly point to the fruit as if the fruit was the thing. The fruit is a part of the thing, yes. But the fruit, my dear friend… is not the thing. “The thing… is my calling you… your coming along with me… our going-together into the fields of this vineyard. The thing… is us… together. Just you and me, as we’re walking out every single moment of the moments that are making up your life: the thing… is our life together… together. “And do you wanna know what’s especially wonderful? “That the more you come to terms with just how wonderful what we’re doing together is…the more you’re celebrating being part of this glorious work-with-me… well… in the midst of enjoying the work, delighting in me, doing this together… that’s the moment when others start to wonder--these people doing their lives around you--why YOUR life is so full of wonder. As you’re walking around with me… learning to see the world like me… you’ll start to look, to others, like me. “And, you see,” He smiles now with the greatest affection it is possible to conceive of, “that is the thing. That’s why I called you in the first place. That’s the whole of the Kingdom of Heaven. My friend, that’s what we’re doing, here, together: living our whole lives together, so that everyone may have life in me.” We ask: How many times does Jesus call us to repent: to return to Him?
He answers: One more time than the number of times you’ve walked away! “The kingdom of God never comes by watching for it. Men cannot say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘there it is.’ For the kingdom of God is inside you.” (Luke 17:20,21)
Over this last week, I had the pleasure of going through all four Gospels and then simplifying, then collating, every single thing that Jesus ever said about the Kingdom of God. So, by way of reminder, everything you're about to read is, according to Jesus, now, permanently, today-tomorrow-forever, temporally and eternally, IN YOU. WITHIN YOU is a Kingdom that Has arrived; is the Good News; is still, and always will be, arriving; is a perpetual feasting; is pure power; and pure potential kinetic energy. INSIDE YOU is a Kingdom that is subtle and yet always growing; small but destined to become mighty; proven out by its final outcomes: a Kingdom of goodness, immeasurable value, the intensive seeking of which is also its joyous finding. THE KINGDOM WITHIN YOU is after every single person upon the earth; is the best of all that’s been—currently is—and all that’s to come; is utterly gracious; wide-WIDE-open; extremely intense; but also generous—like a living-breathing invitation. (An invitation to what, you might ask? Oh, I’m so glad you did!) Because WITHIN YOU is a Kingdom—a Kingdom of Heaven, don’t forget!—that is the wildest, most joyous, sort of PARTY! This KINGDOM INSIDE YOU is a perpetual call to attention; the pointing-to and arrival upon God’s secret; pure growth and pure growing, at one and the same time: it is right here, right now; a message entirely its own; requiring of your all; a worthy place to set one’s heart and closest focus. And, almost best of all, this KINGDOM WITHIN YOU has been given-to-you for your real-time experience—that is given to you; never, ever earned!—it is Paradise RIGHT NOW; it operates from the freshness of a twice-born spirit; brought to bear, in fact, by the Holy Spirit; meaning you yourself are holy, otherworldly, even as you live within this world! My friends, today, and all week along, and every moment until you draw your final breath, the Kingdom of God is inside you! “The new revelation of God in Jesus Christ, the new way of approach to the Infinite Father manifested in the appearance of the Son, had created for the primitive Christians a new life and had illumined them with a new light. It gave them a new insight into the relations between God and man, and a fresh manifestation of the bonds uniting our Father in Heaven with His children on earth. It made them see with new vividness the way of God’s salvation and the duties which God required of man.” Thomas M. Lindsey The Church and the Ministry in the Early Centuries I love these descriptions of the “early days” of the Body:
Jesus was their new revelation; the new way of approach to the Father; their new life; their new light; a new insight: He was the fresh manifestation of the new vividness of the way of God's salvation. What if you and I lived that new, new, new, new, new, fresh newness all week long, this week, so that others might get a glimpse of Him? Sounds to me like quite an adventure! “Now if Christ does live WITHIN YOU his presence means that your sinful nature is dead, but YOUR SPIRIT becomes alive because of the righteousness he brings with him. I said that our nature is 'dead' in the presence of Christ, and so it is, because of its sin. Nevertheless once the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives WITHIN YOU he will, by that same Spirit, bring to your whole being new strength and vitality.
“So then, my brothers, you can see that we have no particular reason to feel grateful to our sensual nature, or to live life on the level of the instincts. Indeed that way of living leads to certain spiritual death. But if on the other hand you cut the nerve of your instinctive actions by obeying THE SPIRIT, you are on the way to real living. “All who follow the leading of God’s Spirit are God’s own sons. Nor are you meant to relapse into the old slavish attitude of fear—you have been adopted into the very family circle of God and you can say with A FULL HEART, 'Father, my Father.' The Spirit himself endorses our INWARD conviction that we really are the children of God. Think what that means. If we are his children we share his treasures, and all that Christ claims as his will belong to all of us as well! Yes, if we share in his suffering we shall certainly share in his glory.” (Romans 8:10-17, Phillips) Remember, as you encounter this week: Jesus lives WITHIN YOU. He has already made YOUR SPIRIT alive. The power of the Resurrection is likewise WITHIN YOU. THE SPIRIT of Jesus is your ever-available Guide through life. By the Lord's work, you, right now, may enjoy A FULL HEART. For your INWARD sense, of His perfect love, is perfectly correct! “Jesus Christ signifies God, not without man or—which would be even worse—against him, but God with man, and indeed for him, as his Friend and Helper and Saviour and Guarantor. Jesus Christ signifies God Himself becomes man’s Neighbour and Brother, akin and alongside in order in his stead to redeem his ruined cause. Jesus Christ is in person the faithfulness of God which draws near the unfaithfulness of man and overpowers it as God Himself not only confirms and maintains His covenant with His creature but once and for all leads it to its goal and secures it against every threat. He is the reconciliation of the world to God which does not merely look and go beyond the sin of man but sets it aside. He is the effective justification and sanctification of sinful man, and indeed his honorable vocation to the service of God. He is the kingdom of God which with its comfort and healing has approached and invaded torn humanity suffering from a thousand wounds, and put an end to its misery. He is in the deepest sense the reformation, i.e., not merely the restoration but the disclosure or manifestation of the purpose and glory of all creation. He is the gift of what it has not merited, its liberation by the free love, the free grace and the free mercy of God in the purity of His will and with the superiority of His power. In a word, He is the goodness of God…” Karl Barth
Church Dogmatics IV.3.2 The key to the “Great Commission” (Mt. 28:18-20) is imagining that you’re the only person to whom He spoke it: that its fulfillment is entirely contingent upon your obedience. All at once, then, all of life becomes the most marvelous adventure alongside Him: He daily hands you His authority, sending you places for His purposes, calls up your courage, allows you to be the hands and feet and lips of His glorious Gospel.
The Holy Spirit--His own Spirit—will empower everything you do! And He Himself will be with you; beside you; within you! Never forget: Your witness for Him lacks for nothing. “To you whom I love I say, let us go on loving one another, for love comes from God. Every man who truly loves is God’s son and has some knowledge of him. But the man who does not love cannot know him at all, for God is love. To us, the greatest demonstration of God’s love for us has been his sending his only Son into the world to give us life through him. We see real love, not in the fact that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to make personal atonement for our sins. If God loved us as much as that, surely we, in our turn, should love each other!” 1 John 4:7-11, Phillips * * * * “The primacy of love in the spiritual life is not an arbitrary, imposed condition; it is inherent. If you have the Spirit, you have love, and if you do not have love, you do not have the Spirit.” E. Stanley Jones
Growing Spiritually 54.21 We labor and strive because of our hope; not toward it. Our living Hope is already beside us; with us; within us.
54.22 The Kingdom knows no hierarchy, no classes, no ages, no statures; only abiding in Jesus, union, unity, oneness. 54.23 Let your speech, life, love, faith, and purity be His, for His are what our Heavenly Father recognizes. 54.24 We end by absorbing what absorbs us. 54.25 The salvation of Jesus rides out upon my day today. 54.26 Give a great and growing attention to yourself, and you will quickly learn how fleeting are these particular diminishing returns. 54.27 Give only a sliver of the same, offering the rest to anyone/everyone: how great shall be your days! 54.28 Caring even a little leaves room for infinite growth. 54.29 (Not caring: a choice for death.) 54.30 Speak seldom of what you somewhat know. Speak never of what you know not. 54.31 Be reasonable. 54.32 Don’t be less fun than Jesus. "I do believe that the very angels have never wondered but once and that has been incessantly ever since they first beheld it. They never cease to tell the astonishing story, and to tell it with increasing astonishment too, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, and became a man. Is he not rightly called Wonderful? Infinite, and an infant—eternal, and yet born of a woman—Almighty, and yet hanging on a woman's breast—supporting the universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother's arms—king of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph—heir of all things and yet the carpenter's despised son. Wonderful art thou O Jesus, and that shall be thy name for ever." Charles Spurgeon
From a sermon 1858 A Christmas Carol
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter, long ago. Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain; Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign. In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day, Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay; Enough for Him, whom angels fall before, The ox and ass and camel which adore. Angels and archangels may have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; But His mother only, in her maiden bliss, Worshipped the beloved with a kiss. What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart. Christina Rossetti c. 1872 “My heart is overflowing with praise of my Lord, my soul is full of joy in God my Savior. For he has chosen to notice me, his humble servant and, after this, all the people who ever shall be will call me the happiest of women! The one who can do all things has done great things for me—oh, holy is his Name! Truly, his mercy rests on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has swept away the high and mighty. He has set kings down from their thrones and lifted up the humble. He has satisfied the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away with empty hands. Yes, he has helped Israel, his child: he has remembered the mercy that he promised to our forefathers, to Abraham and his sons for evermore!” (Luke 1:46-55, Phillips)
As we spend these next eighteen days meditating on the grandeur of the Incarnation, let me challenge us to mirror the posture of the mother of Jesus: OVERFLOWING with praise! FULL of joy! DELIGHTING to be noticed! HUMBLY serving! HAPPY with the heart’s true joy! EXULTING in His goodness! REVELING in His mercy! WATCHING IN WONDER all He can do! LIVING-INTO His plans! SATISFIED with His provision! ACCEPTING His help! REMEMBERING how He remembers EVERY SINGLE promise He’s promised! Never forget: WE are the ones privileged to SHOW THE WORLD that Christmas is, in fact, REALITY! At Anchor this week, rather than going back through, and teaching back through, many of the same words/phrases as occur in Matthew 6's similar "Do not be anxious" teaching, I wanted our group to hear Jesus’ argument a little more "philosophically." You see, if you trace His words in this section from the end to the beginning, you start to realize how He’s built His logic on a heavenly-spiritual logic. Every thought follows so beautifully, so invitingly, one to another.
Back to front, consider what He says: - Your heart will be where your treasure is stored, thus - Store your treasure where moth and thief can’t tamper with it, meaning - In Heaven, where time is endless and values utterly changeless--in fact, - Learn to live like money hardly matters at all… because - Do you realize? You and I have already been given the entirety of a Kingdom! meaning - Fear nothing. Fear no one. Because - We will be given what we need in this Kingdom, because - Our Father always knows exactly what we need… and - He’d hate to see His sons and daughter frittering away their lives like the people who don’t know His heart… so - We must do business with our anxiety—stare it right in the face… so that - We set out hearts not on mere food and drink… because - If He has been faithful up-till-now, can’t we trust, today and forever, that His faithfulness will continue? For remember: - What He has done, He can do again… and - He is mindful down to the most minute detail… and - If we’re honest, do we actually believe—do we actually want to believe?—that we can somehow “make our own way” through these lives of ours? Or better: - Wouldn’t it be lovely to think our Heavenly Father loves us, and knows us better, than making life a mere fending-for-ourselves? Instead, - What if it is Him who has always fed us, and - Planned for our futures, and - Given us the minds and bodies and skills to participate in His heavenly-earthly plans? What if - Our lives are meant to mean more than their mere sustenance? Yes! - What if our body is more than clothing, our life more important than its feeding--for this reason: - That, we are being fed and clothed, we are invited not to be bothered… by - The One who tells us to worry about nothing. Why? - Because… He is… HE IS!… and He is with us… not just “back then”… but now… and forevermore. - Because He personally knows the pushes and pulls of money, work, time, stress, fear--and yet still, boldly, says to us: - “Do not worry about life.” - “You must not live in a state of anxiety.” - “Your Heavenly Father knows you need these things.” - “Don’t be afraid, you tiny flock!” Why? - Because “Your Father plans to give you… …the KINGDOM!” 100 He visits Mary & Martha in Bethany Luke 10:38-42 AS THEY CONTINUED their journey, Jesus came to a village and a woman called Martha welcomed him to her house. She had a sister by the name of Mary who settled down at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said. But Martha was very worried about her elaborate preparations and she burst in, saying, “Lord, don’t you mind that my sister has left me to do everything by myself? Tell her to get up and help me!” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, my dear, you are worried and bothered about providing so many things. Only a few things are really needed, perhaps only one. Mary has chosen the best part and you must not tear it away from her!” Just after… A MAN FINISHES a meeting on the other side of town, shakes his counterpart’s hand, walks out the door and into the freshness of the evening air. He takes a deep breath in; lets it out.
As he walks back home, he is at first totally unaware of the loveliness of the sunset: how its pinks and purples linger over the western hills and rises. But all at once he notices. He turns his full attention to the poetry of the night’s encroaching over the town: men and women are returning through the warm-lit doors of their homes; food is cooking; children play in the street, unconcerned. He is watching as he winds along through the alley into the straightaway that runs right up to the door of his shared family home. His sisters are standing outside at the open door. They are talking to a stranger. Both their faces are lit by a lovely warm glow. Even at a distance he can see that their eyes are moist. The stranger nods his head as the two of them pass by each another. “Who was that man?” Lazarus asks his two sisters, arriving home. “Come inside,” they say, “and we’ll tell you all about it.” As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9, ESV) * * * "The Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ, did not come to the world in order to bring a doctrine; he never lectured. Since he did not bring a doctrine, he did not try by way of reasons to prevail upon anyone to accept the doctrine, nor did he try to authenticate it by proofs. His teaching was really his life, his existence. If someone wanted to be his follower, his approach, as seen in the Gospel, was different from lecturing. To such a person he said something like this: Venture a decisive act; then we can begin. What does that mean? It means that one does not become a Christian by hearing something about Christianity, by reading something about it, by thinking about it, or, while Christ was living, by seeing him once in a while or by going and staring at him all day long. No... venture a decisive act; the proof does not precede but follows, is in and with the imitation that follows Christ." Søren Kierkegaard
Judge for Yourself! It is early in the day on a Monday—you’ve just woken from your sleep wrapped in your cloak—you and the other disciples, most still sleepy, all very hungry, start to realize that Jesus is nowhere to be seen. You had spent the night camped out a little distance from the main road; the only roof over your heads was the wide-spreading boughs of the tree above you. The morning breeze now faintly flutters its leaves; you and the others rise to go and look and find Jesus, wherever He happens to be.
It doesn’t take very long. He is just over the nearest rise, sitting and facing away in the direction of the western horizon. He, as so often in the early mornings, is perfectly still. You know that He is talking with His Father. Just the sight of Him there—so sitting and still and talking and, even, at times, smiling—is enough to make you wish for exactly what He has. So, today, you walk right up to Him. He opens His eyes; sees you. And, without missing a beat, you ask the following question: “Lord, John used to teach his disciples how to pray. Would you teach us how to pray?” Oh! how His eyes light up! how His lips take on the grandest loveliest smile you’ve ever seen! And looking you directly in the eye, and with the same beautiful smile, He says, simply: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. Here, by way of reminder, is just a taste of how "with you" the Lord will be this whole week:
Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you... (Gen. 26:24) Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go... (Gen. 28:15) Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. (Deut. 31:6) Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9) Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Is. 41:10) When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you... (Is. 43:2) Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord. (Jer. 1:8) They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you. (Jer. 1:19) Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord, spoke to the people with the Lord's message, “I am with you, declares the Lord.” (Hagg. 1:13) And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Mt. 28:20) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever... (Jn. 14:16) Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you... (Acts 18:9) As shared before, here are a few more of my Pointillisms -- these ones could be a mighty declaration over the week you're living (maybe even read them, over your week, aloud!)...
45.49 In Jesus, I shall never be condemned. 45.50 In Jesus, the Holy Spirit looses my life from death and the Fall. 45.51 In Jesus, the divide is bridged. 45.52 In Jesus, the former Law is already fulfilled within me. 45.53 In Jesus,—by His Spirit—I have His outlook ever available. 45.54 In Jesus, I presently have peace. 45.55 In Jesus,—by His righteousness—I am utterly, ultimately, alive. 45.56 In Jesus, my current life is contemporaneous with eternity. 45.57 In Jesus, I too am a son of God. 45.58 In Jesus, I too am an inheritor of the wealths of the Kingdom. 45.59 In Jesus, I am on display as one of His glories. 45.60 In Jesus, I am gloriously free—in order to free. 45.61 In Jesus, I know where this is headed. 45.62 In Jesus, the Holy Spirit is replacing my age-old spirit. 45.63 In Jesus, that Spirit translates my life, my thoughts, my prayers. 45.64 In Jesus, I have nothing at all to fear. 45.65 In Jesus, I have everything to hope for. 45.66 In Jesus, I am being made like Jesus. 45.67 In Jesus, I shall be sustained just as certainly as I was known; created; saved; called unto. 45.68 In Jesus, nothing separates this life from His life. I want you to imagine Jesus – just the way you imagine Him – see Him in your mind’s eye with all the details that come along with that: the look of His clothing, the set of His shoulders, the look in His eyes, and on His face, as He leans closer to you. He is sitting in a room where, just a few minutes ago, He’d stooped at your feet and washed and dried them; now He’s been speaking to you, very directly. Something in His eyes says that all these words are a valediction – a sort of farewell – like a father preparing to make his final earthly departure. You find your heart confused; sad. Why is He suddenly taking on a tone like this?
Then His features soften; His eyes gloss over with tears. “Peace I leave with you,” He says, “my peace I give to you.” In the last three years of following after Him, you have seen the nature of that peace: scenes begin to occur to your memory. Of the crush of the crowds pressing against Him from all sides. Of the approach of Legion, the man possessed by a thousand spirits. Of the night before that: His waking, in the storm, and standing up against the gunwale and pronouncing “Hush” into the night. Of the constant attacks of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Of the rumors of the fury of Herod. Of the whispering of the authorities unto the Romans. Of the day, even, when He’d cleared the Temple. The peace He is leaving you, His peace that He says He gives, is the most remarkable power you have ever seen. Jesus’ peace is not the absence of action – a vacuum where no problems may enter – it is a conquering force that dominates every situation. You have seen the way His peace can be as quiet as the light mellowing at dusk; you have seen it rise to confront all evil in its darkness. The peace that Jesus gives you, on this night, and forever, is the ability to abide in Him, no matter what. It’s the ability to conquer fear with love; hate with goodness; lack with abundance; death with life. Nothing can stand against the peace of Jesus. |
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