Jesus IS

We sang Revelation Song written by Jennie Lee Riddle in our church yesterday and I have been marinating on part of it ever since. Here is a link with Kari Jobe singing it and the lyrics if you are not familiar with the song:

 

There are many things I love about this song and so many vivid pictures painted throughout it, but yesterday, these particular lines stood out to me:

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come (emphasis mine)

In my own life I find it far easier to live in the reality that Jesus was and that Jesus is to come, but it is much more difficult to live day by day and moment by moment that Jesus IS. We can study the Bible and learn about the life of Jesus and His followers and we can even apply that to our lives today (and hopefully we do!). We can look forward to the day that Jesus comes again and all our tears are washed away and we are living forever in His glorious presence. But, living each and every day entirely in the reality that Jesus is just as active and present today as he was in the days of the Bible? That His presence, guidance, peace and love are a reality we can access in every single moment? That is a lot harder; at least for me.

I get so caught up in all of the distractions of life; the “to do” list, parenting, marriage, budgeting, and the list goes on. How often do I miss that Jesus IS right now in my life?

In the first few months of being a stay-at-home mom I have had moments of feeling overwhelmed by everything that “needed” my attention. I wanted to parent well, but if that’s all I did, the house was a mess. I wanted to have a spotless home with a culinary masterpiece on the table each night, but then the boys were getting ignored. I had trouble finding that ever elusive balance in it all. I realized a few weeks ago that my priorities (pretty much all of them) were out of whack. I made a decision to cut out all TV during the day (which means cutting it out completely for the boys) and being intentional with the Lord with Brody and Caleb. Early in each day, we now have Bible time. We are studying one character from the Bible each week, we are praying together and we are memorizing scripture together. I want our boys to learn, by practice and example that if God truly is the most important thing in our life, then we have to begin with Him. I want anything else to feel foreign and lacking. This practice has changed our days – right from the beginning we are acknowledging God to be the center of our day and we put Him first even when their flesh just wants to play and my flesh just wants to do.

But, Bible/prayer time is just a start. If I believe that Jesus IS, that He is present in every moment, how does that change my posture throughout the day? I believe that knowing in the core of who I am that Jesus is powerfully active will affect everything I do. I will become utterly and absolutely dependent on Him whether my day is good or bad. Our actions flow from our beliefs…if we believe with all certainty that Jesus is present and active, it will affect our actions. When I am playing with the boys, my heart will seek the Lord on how best to show them love, I will be open to Him leading me to teach them through play in any moment. When I have to put them in time out, instead of spending those few minutes feeling frustrated, I will pray for my heart and for theirs. I will pray that my discipline will be training them in Godliness and that their heart will feel it as correction and not as anger or frustration. It means that as we head into the grocery store, I will pray that God will guide our purchase to be faithful to our budget and acknowledge that it is only by His provision that we are able to put food on our table.

If I believe that He IS, it will mean more of Him and less of me. It means I will recognize the power of prayer and that I will not feel alone. I have access to wisdom, peace, guidance and His overwhelming presence in every single minute. I cringe to think of all the frustration and wasted opportunities because I didn’t live my life in a way that cried out in dependence, even for a short season. If my dependence is in God alone, I can do nothing on my own. I often fall into the trap of thinking I can do some of it myself and be just fine. But, my heart cries out for more; my whole being cries out for complete dependence. Another phrase that has resonated in my heart these past few weeks is “I need more of Jesus.” The more I recognize that I need Jesus, really, really need Him, the more my heart lives in the beauty of dependence and the more I long for Him. Dependence creates a cycle for our heart to long for more and more of the Lord.

I pray that I don’t fall into complacent thinking that Jesus was only present or even just more present for those people in the Bible than He is for me. I can reach out and touch His cloak for healing, I can cry out in faith to Him, I can live my life in expectation of miracles, I can rest in the presence of His peace and I can dance with joy before Him today and every day.

Oh, happy day that Jesus is as present and active in my life today as He was in the disciple’s lives so long ago! Joy and freedom come from knowing and living in dependence on the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who also intimately knows my name. Hallelujah!