He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:12).
What is this life that Jesus has, and anyone who does not have Him as their Savior AND their Lord does not have this life? It’s a life of Grace, a life of Power, a life of Peace, a life of Joy, a life of Love; in other words, it is a life of perfect everything because the Lover of our souls is THE Perfect Everything. We can’t look to people to give us all this. They don’t have it. But we can all have Mr. Perfect Everything and be happy beyond belief! I’m old enough to remember when people were simpler than they are now. There was a gentleman in my neighborhood, an unpretentious man who didn’t mind others knowing his song. He was always singing, “I woke up this mornin’ with my mind stayed on Jesus. I walked around all day with my mind stayed on Jesus. I’m gonna go to heaven with my mind stayed on Jesus. Well Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” Life with Jesus is like that. Joy is simple. And the Joy of the Lord is our strength!
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And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son (1 John 5:11).
This is it. This is the Good News. This is why we are willing to plow our way through natural living—so we can have supernatural living. Eternal life! That’s why the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden had to be protected from guilty persons and saved for forgiven persons, because those who eat of this tree will live forever. Jesus is the life. He is the way, the truth, and the life. I used to wonder why God had to send us to earth in order to give us this eternal life. Couldn’t He just have created us up there and kept us there? It looks like He tried that one time with angels, and then one third of them rebelled, and God saw the benefits of choice. If He wants family, would He make robots? If He wants to live in harmony with this family, would He allow rebels in His door? He had to give us a choice. He doesn’t want to live for eternity with someone who did not choose Him. Can you imagine a marriage like that? Someone who is just there for the benefits? No, that’s not what God wanted. He wants a love relationship with us that has to start with us choosing Him because He already chose us. He will follow us to the ends of the earth trying to get us to love Him and choose Him as our own personal God. I, for one, will follow Him to the ends of the earth trying to learn how to love Him like He wants to be loved. I’m His. He’s mine. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son (1 John 5:10).
Boy, I’d hate to be the one who called God a liar! I thank God daily that I have the Holy Spirit living in me. I have a living witness of the living God filling me completely. I am wall to wall Holy Ghost, and He points me to Jesus all the time. I have a great relationship with Jesus because of the witness of the Holy Spirit. One of the things I try to do as much as possible, as much as other things are not demanding my time, is to practice His Presence. I get myself still. A dove is a flighty bird, nervous; it will take off at the slightest off-movement, and since that is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, I take that measure of Him quite seriously. I get my body still; I calm my emotions and my mind as best I can, and then I look for Him. He will manifest Himself as Jesus. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son (1 John 5:9).
When I think of the Bible with its 7000 promises, its over 600 Old Testament laws, It’s hundreds of personages, it becomes unwieldy. But then I consider its simplicity. The absolute middle of the Bible, Psalm 118, verse 8, says, It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it? What is God’s witness about His Son? That He sent Him to bring mankind back to their heavenly Father. The information is so simple; how can anyone miss the message? The whole purpose of life, the reason we are standing on terra firma, is so that we can receive Jesus as our Lord. Once that’s done, we become citizens of heaven, and the good life begins. Following Jesus, obeying God’s commands, is nothing more than an adventurous life, full of hilarity, joy, peace, and love. Do you want to know what real love is like? Follow Jesus. Go where He goes, do what He does, say what He thinks. We’ll never be the same again! But if we follow the witness of men, we will count all that joy to be nothing but dung. We’ll only see the underbelly of life, not the overcoming part. Jesus came to buy us back! He owns us now, and our obedience will take us on high adventure! |
Marty
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