John 14 (Thirteen) Life Abundantly (continued)

Please accept my apologies. I'm re-posting messages and did not realise this one followed the previous one, which I reposted two weeks ago. It may, therefore, be wise to quickly read the previous post on "Life Abundantly".

Here is the re-post.

Our last message got a bit long, so I had to leave it to continue later. Today’s message will therefore be slightly shorter as a conclusion of our previous message. 

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you (John 14:18-20).

I read a book called ‘Divine Appointments’. In it the author told of how he was painting his house when he heard a lady in distress calling for help from the street. Her car had broken down. He helped repairing the car and then the lady, who was Madonna, asked him if he would drive home with her in case the car broke down again. He conceded and had a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with her.

Imagine he was not in Jesus and in the Father and therefore did not recognise the divine appointment arranged for him and Madonna. Imagine he instead considered the ‘wise’ advice he had learnt in church that a man should not minister to a woman and so forth. Imagine he turned around, ignoring her plea for help because he was dead scared that she would provoke him into sin, since he had heard in church that it usually happens. Imagine he thought that he had to check with his pastor first. What would then have happened? Madonna would never have had her God-ordained opportunity to hear the Gospel from him. Fortunately for Madonna he was mature in Christ. He knew when the Lord was speaking, and his intimacy with Christ and the Father overruled all religion preached by the church of today. This type of Divine Appointment happens regularly.

It is not that we try to discredit the church, but the task of the church leadership is "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up," (Ephesians 4:12 - for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ - KJV).

This ‘preparing or perfecting’ should be a process by which Christians are taught how to be intimate with the triune Godhead, in other words how to be ‘in Jesus’ who is ‘in the Father’ through the Holy Spirit. Once we have learnt to be one with the Lord, He can start working through us just like the Father worked through Jesus while He was on earth. If we could grasp this secret on how the Godhead functions in relation to us - the called ones - the church will be much more effective and powerful.

Lord, I want to move as one with you.

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John 14 (Twelve) Life Abundantly

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you (John 14:18-20).

Jesus said because He lives, we will also live. What life is He talking about? Is it life after death? In the context of this passage it is life on earth because Jesus said it in the same breath as His statement about not being orphans. He said "because I live, you also will live". Where does He live? He lives at the right hand of Father, but also in us through the Holy Spirit. What kind of life does He, and therefore us, live? The Greek for ‘live’ in this passage means ‘be alive, lively, to be in full vigour, to be fresh, strong, efficient, active, powerful and efficacious’. This reminds me of the word ‘zoe’ which means life - vitality, animate, vigorous and active? John 10:10: ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’

Jesus went for it all the way while He was on earth. He didn’t spare Himself when it came to living life to the full, in other words pouring Himself out on others in obedience to His father. He lived true to what He said through Isaiah in chapter 58: “and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed...” Jesus is still living life to the full, but only now He is living it within us. The measure to which it bubbles out from us depends firstly on how much we fellowship with this lively Spirit of the Lord and secondly how much we allow Him to show and manifest. This manifestation depends on our faith and attitude.

If we are going to be embarrassed when we are to be animate, vigorous, active and alive we will suppress His life. If we, however, don’t care what people think of us as long as we can please God, life in abundance will bubble from us to the benefit of the Kingdom of God. This will also not come by itself. It is a choice and an act of our will. We must live abundantly by choice, not by feeling. Abundant life therefore means that through our gifting and His power we abundantly bear fruit in order to accomplish that which we were born for. This differs somewhat from the idea that living abundantly means having lots of money, fun and comfort? Even the poorest person can have an abundant life the way Jesus meant it.

What did Jesus mean when He said: "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you"? Isn't He sitting at the right hand of the Father and the Holy Spirit is living inside of us. How can He be in the Father and us in Him? The Lord Jesus purposely spoke the words in this passage in this sequence. He knew that once His disciples have learnt to ‘see’ Him in the Spirit and ‘live life in abundance through him’ they would understand that the latter is only possible if the disciple, Jesus and Father forms a close unit. There will be no need for crying, shouting or the like while praying. How much closer can three beings be than being inside one another? No secrets, no misunderstandings, no walls and no ceilings against which prayers can bounce back. That is why Jesus said ‘on that day’ – in other words the day that we have managed to be intimate – ‘you will realise.’ Jesus being in the Father means Him being totally dependent on His father, like He said, and us being in Jesus means us being totally dependent on Him. And, maybe surprisingly, Jesus in you dependent on you; for without your willingness and taking action, His abundant life CANNOT manifest to the world around you.

The sad truth, however, is that there are still plenty of orphans around the church today. How many Christians are able to see Christ as described above? How many Christians are able to live life to the full in Christ? We are so caught up in religion. Our lives are controlled by what the pastor and the church system tell us. Many Christians cannot make a move without checking with the pastor or the home cell leader whether or not it is the right action. If people have to check with the pastor first every time the Lord calls, how difficult do you think the Lord would find it to get individuals to obey His command for a particular moment in time. In other words doing what the Lord urgently requires? Often He wants action now - a soul needs to be touched now, not tomorrow… a once-off opportunity.

Lord, I want to LIVE! JESUS IS COMING SOON!! ARE YOU READY? HAVE YOU MADE HIM MASTER OF YOUR LIFE?