Living With Jesus Every Day – Part 1

Christianity Was Never Meant to Be Lived Alone

I think one of the biggest changes that happens when we begin living with Jesus every day is that our whole perspective changes.

Have you ever noticed how heavy this world feels? It's like the weight of it is constantly trying to pull us down. Bad news. Bills. Relationships. Health. The future. It can all feel so heavy.

But something changes when you begin living with an awareness of Jesus throughout your day.

Instead of looking at life from down here, you're reminded that you're seated with Christ. Your Abba Daddy is holding you. Suddenly you're looking at the world from His perspective instead of letting the world press down on you.

Nothing around you may have changed, but everything inside you has.

There's an ease that comes into your spirit and your soul. A hope. A peace. A love that just keeps increasing.

That's what walking with Jesus every day begins to look like.

A Relationship Is Two-Sided

A relationship is two-sided.

I know that sounds obvious, but I don't think I really understood what that meant for years.

When I had been a Christian for about six years, I knew I was saved. I loved the Bible, church, and I genuinely loved the Lord. But if I'm honest, I still had one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom. He wanted me to move both feet into the Kingdom of God.

At the time I was struggling with materialism. We lived in a very affluent area where people often based their self-worth on what they drove, where they lived, the vacations they took, and all sorts of other little things. I had my eye on those things too. Secretly, I wanted more and more of them for myself.

One day I settled onto a picnic bench at a park, opened my Bible to Ezekiel 16, and picked up where I had left off a few days earlier.

When I came to verse 15, it was as though the Lord suddenly revealed His view of my materialism.

"But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute..."

Wow.

It hit me hard.

I remember trying to exchange the extremely harsh word prostitute for worldly. It seemed easier to accept. After all, I wasn't famous, and I certainly hadn't trusted in my beauty to get me anything.

But the Lord saw it differently than I did. He wasn't condemning me. He was revealing His heart.

His holiness just took my breath away. His majesty overtook me.

As the reverence and awe of the Lord continued to rise within me, I found myself face down on my stomach in the dirt beside the river. No other response would do.

As I lay there humbled before Him, I suddenly became aware of something I hadn't even noticed until that very moment.

The mighty river beside me was at flood stage, roaring in the background.

I wept.

I worshiped with all my heart.

Then, in one life-changing moment, the Lord showed me something I have never forgotten.

A relationship is two-sided.

Up until that moment, my relationship with Him had been mostly about me.

My salvation. My spiritual growth. My ministry.

Me. Me. Me.

What about Him?

When was I going to put my focus on Him? To love Him simply because He is. Because of His beautiful heart. Because He is worthy. Not because of what He could give me. Not because of what He could do for me.

But simply because He is.

Lying there on my face trembling in the dirt with the river raging beside me, I finally understood what it meant to have a two-sided relationship with God.

That day in the park felt as though I had been born all over again. I couldn't find words to describe what had happened. God would show me later, in much greater depth, the beauty of His covenant with us. But at that moment I was simply enthralled by Him.

His love is wonderful. And His love for me continues to astound me more every day.

I have this ache now for His presence.

For Him.

Not simply for Bible knowledge. Not merely for good teaching. Not even for ministry.

I just want Him.