Jesus in us is the true experience of The Kingdom of God each day. Jesus does not control us without our faithful willing cooperation. Yet He can direct our lives step by step if we will listen for his voice. My Bishop, Charles Jones, emphasizes this saying, “Jesus doesn’t do grumpy, nor jealous, nor inpatience, and so on.” He will nudge us towards the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and most of all self control.
Moreover, His correcting voice is not accusatory. Also, we can prayerfully ask for guidance in moment we now can trigger negativity. For example, in traffic, when tempted to criticize another person’s driving, He might encourage us to consider all the positive reasons someone might feel the need to be in a hurry. A friend or spouse might be in trouble. A child might have been injured in the play ground.
Neither does Jesus worry. So by faith we can trust for tomorrow. All will work out for the good in His providence. I had a parishioner whose morning prayer was, “Lord, surprise me today.” that kind of crane of reference will indeed change the way you see our day unfold.
The Bishop has another common encouragment. Look at the person in front of you face to face and think, “This is the most important person Jesus in me wants to meet.” it can change our whole attitude and response. They will be blessed and so will we.
When trouble, hardship, or even disaster or tragedy come upon us Jesus is here with us. We can meet the events with faith and trust His Grace to help us over come. Complaining can make a bad sitteven worse. Faith can make it bearable or even redemptive. I recently lost a position that I really enjoyed. However, in time I have come to a much better outcome that I would have missed had I not lost that position.
Christ in us can be the beginning of revival for many. When we become more aware of His presence we become more full of the fruit, as I already mentioned. Others notice and think, “I want some of that. Recently our son was approached by a friend. He had noticed the change in him over the past few months since he became serious about his Christian life. The friend, up to this point an atheist, said something like, “I’ve been very depressed lately and I want to talk with you about Jesus.”
As we are more aware of Jesus in us we want to do the things Jesus would do. He told His followers, that is us, that they would would do even greater things than He was doing. Thus by faith we can pray for the stck and expect healing. I still remember the first time I prayed with laying in of hands. It happened in a hospital were I was participating in training for ministry. While in duty for the weekend I was called to the bedside if a man with hiccups that would not stop.
This was a serious problem as he had just had surgery. He had a long scare down his jest and each hiccup was very painful. The medical professionals I tried all their remedies to no avail. I told him that I was new to this but if he was willing I would lay hands on his chest and pray. He basically said he was open to anything that would stop the pain. I offered a brief prayer and before I was through the hiccups stopped.
So if you are a believer know that He is in you and life can be even better. If you are not yet a believer, Jesus can be in you too! Talk to Him as you would to a friend and invite Him into your life. Find a friend or pastor and share your new faith decision with them.
For more posts click here.