Homecoming!

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust in me also. "There are many rooms in my Father's house. If this were not true, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. If I go and do that, I will come back. And I will take you to be with me. Then you will also be where I am. "You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:1-3 NIRV) 

In Jesus we can live in the future place He’s prepared for us in the present moment. How? By living like Jesus lived with His Father. Jesus lived his daily life with/in His Father.  He only did what he saw his Father doing. He only said what he heard his Father saying. Likewise, where we live is intimately linked to our being (seeing/doing) in Jesus. And He shows us the way!

Jesus Is the Way to the Father

“Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. So how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father also. From now on, you do know him. And you have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father. That will be enough for us." (John 14: 5-8 NIRV)

Is the Father enough for you? Or do you live your life compartmentalized? Having a place for God, neatly tucked aside in your religion box, which you bring out as needed, while living the rest of life on your own? Heaven is not the destination, Father is!

"You've been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don't understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, 'Where is the Father?'  (John 14: 9, Msg) 

“Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren't mere words. I don't just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act. Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see - these works.” (John 14: 10-11, Msg) 

Are your faith eyes awakened? Or do you live most of your life by ‘leaning on your own understanding’? Our ‘own understanding’ is the same as the mind of the flesh. This mind is the result of the fall of Adam; when he and Eve ate from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil as opposed to the ‘tree of life’. We are called to live by the ‘mind of Christ’, which always originates by faith in the ‘tree of life’.

“Faith in Christianity is based on the work and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christianity declares not to be distinguished by faith, but by the object of its faith. Rather than being passive, faith leads to an active life aligned with the ideals and the example of the life of Jesus. It sees the mystery of God and his grace and seeks to know and become obedient to God. To a Christian, faith is not static but causes one to learn more of God and grow, and has its origin in God. In Christianity, faith causes change as it seeks a greater understanding of God. Faith is not fideism or simple obedience to a set of rules or statements.

 Before Christians have faith, they must understand in whom and in what they have faith. Without understanding, there cannot be true faith, and that understanding is built on the foundation of the community of believers, the scriptures and traditions and on the personal experiences of the believer. In English translations of the New Testament, the word faith generally corresponds to the Greek noun πίστις (pistis) or the Greek verb πιστεύω (pisteuo), meaning "to trust, to have confidence, faithfulness, to be reliable, to assure". The Bible says that faith is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) Jean-Baptiste Théodon (1646–1713)

Jesus believes so much in His investment in us that He is ‘now’ enthroned on The Sanctuary of our Inner Life; the ‘Kardia’ (our New Covenant Heart)! He has also shed abroad His blessed Holy Spirit in our new heart! From within, Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us into all the truth!  And Holy Spirit’s gentle voice within is the guarantor of Abba’s echo of adoption! There we can live by faith! Faith in the faith of the faithful one--Jesus!  He alone can be completely relied on and trusted! By faith we live from the inside out!

“The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.” (John 14: 12-14, Msg)

There is no greater request ‘along the line of who He is or what He’s doing’ than to go and tell all of God's estranged children that He loves them and He's made a way for them to return home. Call out to them! Come! Come! Come home to the Father's Heart! Compel them until all the prodigals come home at last and dance and the elder brothers finally take their fingers out of their ears.

"If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you.” (John 14: 15, Msg) The sum total of our life; all of our being, doing, hopes, dreams, desire and relationships find their essence in His love. This is too live our life by way of ‘Christ in us, our hope of Glory’! And this glory is living our life under the weight of his presence, instead of under the tyrannical weight of the cares of this world!

In His presence, His dreams become our dreams. In His presence, our motivation to bring His Kingdom is released from a place of intimacy. As this happens, GO! Be obedient! Keep it simple! What is God saying? Do it! Walking out the dreams of God becomes one simple step of obedience after the other. Hear His voice and step out! There is a cause worth living and dying for!--Sean Feucht

 

"I will not leave you orphaned. I'm coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you're going to see me because I am alive and you're about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I'm in my Father, and you're in me, and I'm in you. The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that's who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him." (John 14: 18-21, Msg)

"'Who am I?' asked the Trappist monk Thomas Merton, and he responded, 'I am one loved by Christ.' Herein lays the foundation of the true self. The indispensable condition for developing and maintaining the awareness of our belovedness is time alone with God. In solitude we tune out the nay-saying whispers of our worthlessness and sink down into the mystery of our true self. 

Our longing to know who we really are--which is the source of most of our discontent--will never be satisfied until we confront and accept silent solitary moments with the Lord. There we discover that the truth of our belovedness is really true. Our primary identity rests in God's relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ." REFLECTIONS FOR RAGAMUFFINS Brennan Manning

This knowing is too great for me! It is beyond human comprehension! “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (2 Corinthians 2:9, NKJV)  This knowing is also the only  source of true peace in this tumultuous world!  

"I am leaving you with a gift -- peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid. (John 14: 27, NLT) Hallelujah!

In the grip of Grace! Ron Ross