Recently, I have been diving more into God’s word and just simply spending time in His presence. I have been reading a daily bible reading plan and reading blogs of preachers and teachers and books about Jesus. I have found that it gives me such peace. I have been in a habit before of reading and spending time in God's presence daily but I stopped doing it as frequently, because I let life get busy around me. I let sleep and apathy take over. As I let them enter into my life I became less and less filled with peace and joy and life became more cloudy. I felt like I didn’t know where to navigate my life. Everything was grey and I was never sure what to do. I got along fine. That was the problem, things in my life were just fine, and nothing had life in it like it did before.
A few weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to interview for a position as a youth pastor at a church that has been planted for about 3 years and I got the job!! I thank God for this opportunity and how He has ordained and directed my every single step. The sad thing is that it took this position that I am taking to really make me get serious again about seeking after the Lord daily and gaining my strength from Him. I am now so glad though that I am thriving in the presence of the Lord; there is so much life in His presence.
As I was reading today in John 12, I came across these two verses and they really spoke to me. I have heard this truth before but it really came alive to me today.
Jesus said, "For a brief time still, the light is among you. Walk by the light you have so darkness doesn't destroy you. If you walk in darkness, you don't know where you're going. As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within you, and shining through your lives. You'll be children of light."
- The Message John 12:35-36
In these two verses Jesus tells His disciples to cling to the light, Himself, and they will become children of the light. I believe that to often Christians, don’t walk in the light. We neglect spending time with Jesus, and when we do that deceive ourselves into thinking things are going to be ok if we just plan on doing it later. I once heard a friend say that everyday we go without spending time with Jesus is a boast against God that we don’t need him. We may think we're fine living on old revelation for a few days, weeks, or even months but soon we will find ourselves lost, blind and confused as someone lost in complete darkness. Jesus warned His disciples to walk in the light so that the darkness wouldn't destroy them. We need Jesus!! He is our guiding light, he is the one that puts our feet on solid ground and directs our steps. We must continually cling to the light. When we cling to Jesus he is faithful to lead us through every step of our lives no matter how small or big they are.
As I am preparing to take on this new position, I have felt completely weak and unable for this task at times, But through spending lots of time in the presence of Jesus He has given me courage for this new season. He reminded me of Gideon and how when the Lord called him to action, he told the Lord that his clan was the weakest in Manasseh and that he was the least in his family; He felt totally unqualified and unable, yet the Lord used him mightily. This gave me so much courage, strength and clarity from God, but it only came from spending time with Jesus.
There is no formula for spending time with Jesus. Do whatever it takes to get close to Him. I live at a church right now, but I don’t spend the majority of my times with Jesus there. It’s just a building that I happen to be living in. I go where I can set aside all distractions and read about Jesus and listen to worship. Also I have found that if you find yourself at a complete loss of where to read in the Bible or what book to start reading, don’t let that stop you, just read something about Jesus that will bring you into His light; start in the gospels in Matthew 5-8 or something. Cling to Jesus in anyway that you can. The Gospels in the Bible are a great way to start, they are full of the life of Jesus; it’s the richest text you can find about Jesus. If it’s a book outside of the Bible make sure it lines up with scripture.
Dear Lord, I ask that you would help me to continually see my need for your presence in my life. Help me to become a child of your light. May I never stray from spending time with you, for I know that your arms are always open wide for me to come to you. Thank you Jesus that you paid the ultimate price so that I can boldly enter into the presence of the Father. Amen
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