Being With the One

Often after I speak on Sunday, I remember some things I wanted to share, but did not have enough time or I just forgot! I try not to use notes or just a few notes.

I like to be engaged with the people I am speaking to and find that too many notes distracts me from that kind of engagement. I wanted to share last Sunday that God’s call to be holy is first and foremost a relational dynamic.

It is being with the One who is holy that empowers me to be holy. Jesus, God’s holy servant, called his disciples to first be with him before he called them to be like him.

It was after spending almost every single moment of the day with Jesus, that his influence became most real in their lives. As we abide in his presence and receive his life, then our lives take on the kind of life that is “holy”.

My heart is fixed on Jesus. My mind is filled with his presence. Out of that flows the spiritual life that will produce fruit. To put it another way, I am giving space for the Spirit of God to operate in and through me.

It begins with relationship. It begins with coming to Jesus through daily silence and reflection. It comes with prayer and meditation on his word. When I do this,

I am less anxious, less in a hurry and more at peace throughout the day. Christ does not call his followers to leave this world. He calls us to live in this world, but not of this world.

His holiness is like an air purifier in a smoke filled room. We can navigate in a culture that lives out values and beliefs that are polluted by living apart from a holy God.

Hopefully the pure air of the Spirit will bring new life and grace to our world.

Pastor Fred