Be With Jesus

“May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi.” - First Century Jewish Blessing

HOW DO WE BE WITH JESUS?

John 14:16-17, 26

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you… But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

John 15:4-5

^“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

We ABIDE in him, as he ABIDES in us.

Abide is the ancient Greek word “meno”, and it can be translated: to remain, to stay, to dwell, or to make your home in. Think of abiding as your inner orientation, your default setting, or your emotional home base.

1 - Abiding is the place YOUR MIND GOES when you’re NOT BUSY with tasks.

Today’s “Big Idea”

MAKE DWELLING IN CHRIST YOUR DEFAULT SETTING.

“The fundamental secret for caring for our souls is to keep Jesus before our mind.” – Dallas Willard

2 - Take an AUDIT of your daily RHYTHMS and HABITS.

“Show me a person’s habits and I will show you what they are truly most passionate about, most dedicated to, most willing to suffer for, and most in love with, and I will show you who they will become.” – John Mark Comer

a) Being with Jesus may require some SOLITUDE and SILENCE.

Matthew 6:6-13

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”

b) Take into account your PERSONALITY and your STAGE OF LIFE.

“Without quiet prayer to God, your vine will wither, but with it, you will come alive to the greatest joy in life – a familiar friendship with Jesus.” – John Mark Comer

c) Ruthlessly scrutinize your relationship with YOUR PHONE.