Cont’d: When we quit trying to be our own god and instead worship God and “find ourselves” in Him, and the hunger and thirst in our souls are satisfied by the Living Bread and the Living Water, we glorify Him by proving Him to be good – and thus begin to fulfill our purpose in creation.
We become “for Him.” Nothing matters to us more than Him. HE is our highest affection. HIS glory is our purpose, our joy, and our highest ambition. Every competing desire becomes tasteless to our souls, even rancid, and loses its power over us,
THE WAY IN
Jesus made the way into this Life clear. He said that we must follow Him, and it is a narrow path that leads to the narrow gate that opens into the Kingdom of God where His Life is found. We must be His disciples, and a disciple is one who is becoming like his Master.
We act as though we think that all was made for our earthly comfort and pleasure. Because we have become so much “of the earth” we have forgotten that we were created for the spiritual, emotional, and physical richness of life in the Garden, which is “of heaven,”
God intends that the Church embody and represent that Spiritual Life, which is available even today to all who hear, believe, and follow Jesus.
He is the Message itself because His words and His way of life show us the path into the Life He offers. However, as He left His home in glory to come to make the way, and to show us the way, and suffering was part of that way for Him, so we must “leave” and we must suffer. We are to “come out” from the world (II Cor. 6:14 – 7:1), set our eyes on Him, and make Him the Center of our life. https://biblia.com/bible/esv/2-corinthians-6-14–7-1
Today, those in the Church who take that seriously will suffer judgment and rejection by many “good Christians” who don’t. And those who proclaim that message will risk being charged with being harsh and of a critical spirit because their Biblical Christo-centricity judges the more popular earth-centered faith around them.
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, Ohio USA
Oct 19, 2022
CLICK HERE for a printable pdf.
Amen! You just confirmed what I have recently realized. There is a difference in believing in Jesus or following Jesus. Once you make a commitment to follow Jesus He will transform your life with new desires and a totally different way of living. And that’s when you start getting opposition from family and other church goers.
Jeff, I absolutely love that comment and wish that it represented the thinking of more of God’s people. Thank you! Ken