Just More Jesus

I think Jesus is trying to get something across to me.

Yesterday I wrote that it seems to me that He is communicating that it's OK to just want Him, to let that be a driving motivation, or, better yet, a passion that guides my thinking and doing in a singular direction toward the Son.

And it happened again this morning.

At our elder's prayer meeting a message was shared from 1 Cor. 2:1-2 where Paul says, "You'll remember, friends, that when I first came to you to let you in on God's master stroke, I didn't try to impress you with polished speeches and the latest philosophy.  I deliberately kept it plain and simple: first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did--Jesus crucified."

To Paul, the most important thing he could communicate to the Corinthian people was Jesus, the man, and what he did.  This is the core of everything about being a follower of Christ.

I have been reading Brennan Manning's All Is Grace, and in it he talks about his spiritual journey.  At one point he joined a Catholic group called the "Little Brothers" and they were about following Jesus' call through prayer and through working among those in need. At one point Manning wrote "One of my realizations in such an earthy atmosphere was that many of the burning theological issues in the church were neither burning nor theological.  It was not more rhetoric that Jesus demanded but personal renewal, fidelity to the gospel, and creative conduct."

I like this: it helps me to remember what Paul was saying as well--where it was not with fancy words that people's lives would change, but with the clear presentation of this Man who could change everything.  This is thee theological issue that churches should never forget.

I need to be reminded again and again, it seems, that Jesus is really wanting to lead me through this journey.  I try to lead far too often, and it never works well.  It's good for my soul to know that He cares for me in this way. Maybe that's something that is good for you to remember today as well:  that the most important thing for you to do is to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, and trust that He will lead you--that is His desire.

That is His desire--to care for you and lead you to where life happens.

We all want more, you fill in the blank of what that 'more' means to you, and I will remind you of what God wants to put in that blank--Just More Jesus.

Have a good one. . . .

BT