“You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know You are near.”
Pastor Josiah began to sing this chorus by Michael W Smith while he was at a conference on February 16, 2023. It was a pivotal time for Pastor Josiah who was going to be interviewed by the church leaders the next day. His cry was “I want what you want, LORD.Your will is what is important not man’s will.”
Pastor said that he had to ask the LORD to forgive him for relegating the LORD to being his boss instead of his Father. He became an employer instead of the “affection of my heart.” He thought he was doing ministry, but he was not functioning as His Beloved. When we capture the heart of Beloved Identity more and more, we function/live differently. Jesus loves/d us so much that He gave His life for us. How can we help but fall more and more in love with Him?
As we fall more in love with Jesus, we want our culture like Christ which has several hallmarks: Jesus “remained in communion with the Father;” “followed what He heard the Father guiding Him to do;” “walked out life with His disciples;” and “modeled the kingdom of God lifestyle.”
The first hallmark of Culture like Christ is about Jesus remaining “in communion with the Father.” Matthew 14:23 reminds us that Jesus “went up by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.” (NLT) The LORD had just fed the crowds of over 5000 men and His disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. However, He knew He needed and desired time with the LORD. Do you want and need that time with the LORD? Can you carve out time in the early morning to let Him pour His love and care for you? He would love that.
The LORD also modeled how to pray and spend time with the LORD.
“Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished,
one of his disciples came to Him and said, ’Lord, teach us to
pray, just as John taught his disciples.’” Luke 11:1 (NLT)
The LORD taught them the LORD’s prayer and what a model it is for us. Dr. Robert Coleman from The Master Plan of Evangelism said that
“They could see the strength that it gave his life, and
though they could not understand fully what it was about,
they must have realized that this was part of his secret of life.”
He shared His secret to life with His disciples, and He shares it with us. We are free to go into the Holy of Holies to be with Him. Because at the crucifixion, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies was rent from top to bottom. We have access to the Almighty Father. We can sit at His feet and “know that He is God!” That is where you can ask Him to ready your heart to receive the message prepared for your heart. For Jesus showed His disciples where His life source was, and He shows us the power of communing with His Father.
In John 17:21, Jesus said, “I pray that they will be one, just as you and I are one-as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”(NLT) What unity they had, Jesus and His Abba Father. May He build the inner heart and person in each of us to be more like Him and less like us.
The second hallmark is that Jesus “followed what He heard the Father guiding Him to do.”
Jesus explained in John 5:19, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does also.”
The LORD was totally surrendered to His Almighty Father, and he showed us the power of submission and surrender. May we want what you want, LORD! You are omniscient, and we trust you. “What is on your heart for us, LORD?” asked Pastor Josiah. May we live by that question daily. Let’s conform to the image of the Almighty Father instead of cramming Him into our little boxes of expectations and desires.
The third hallmark is that Jesus “walked out life with His disciples.” In John 15:9 Jesus said,”I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love.” (NLT) And in John 15:15b He said, “Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.” (NLT). We step into a greater degree of relationship when we spend time with the LORD, reading His Word, praying, sitting as His feet. That is relationship, and relationship that matters take time. The disciples spent three years following their master, Jesus. They ate together, walked together, rode in the boat with and without the Master. They followed Him. May we learn to live a closer walk with Him.
The final hallmark is “He modeled the kingdom of God lifestyle.” In John 8:12 Jesus said,”I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (NLT) As the Light of the World, Jesus lights the way for us. We do not need to stay or stumble in the dark which scares us. When the disciples were first following Jesus, they were often confused and uncertain as to what was going on and I what they were doing. As the disciples learned more about Jesus and who He was, they could see His power and glory in the way He fed the 5000 men and walked on water. However, He was humble and surrendered to His Father. When He rose from the grave, He defeated death and sin. The disciples all surrendered their lives for the Light of the World. He showed them and us how to live and die for the LORD.
The Paramount Point is “When He’s all you want, His desire becomes your desires, and the culture He’s created will be yours too.” May we be light reflecting the Light of the World in these troubling times.
Comments