God is real
Someone asked Noah and I the other day, “On a scale of 1-10, how was your mission trip?” It took us a while to sit there and think of even how to answer that question, cause it feels wrong to sum up nine months of your life with a single number. A couple hours later though, Noah comes up with a brilliant answer.
If you asked me to rate my year on a scale of 1-10, I’d say…
“God is real”
Take a couple seconds to let that hit you…
- 1 Mississippi
- 2 Mississippi
- 3 Mississippi
Ok.
I was debating whether or not I should write a whole series of blogs to wrap this thing up or just drop one. Trust me I could write for hours and hours on stuff that I don’t think I’ve even brought up yet throughout this whole year. Quality over quantity is always best though, and I have one message to bring home.
God is real… and living. Right now.
To Glorify him and enjoy him forever
Sometime in South Africa this question hit me pretty hard: “Why is it that when we accept Christ and are saved, that we aren’t immediately taken up into heaven to be with God?” You could answer this a few different ways, but they all will point back to the reality that God has left us to live out his mission on this earth as sojourners and exiles for a reason. Since we are saved, do we have the freedom to indulge our flesh and, having gained new life in Christ, dive back into life in the world? By no means! We are those who have died to sin. What does that mean for my life? That I have one purpose and one purpose only.
To glorify God and enjoy him forever.
I have no other purpose.
Salvation is not the end of your walk with God… it’s the beginning. And actually, life with him only gets better from there.
God is real
My life is his
What then?
He is with me
In my head, I’ve always known these to be true. But the greatest lie I ever believed is that God has given me his mission to live out alone. And I don’t mean alone as in separate from other people, I mean alone as in separate from him: my creator, my savior, the lover of my soul. Read literally anywhere in the Bible. Does God isolate his people from himself? No! In fact his promises secure his presence with us always.
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” – Deuteronomy 31:8
Is this promise only for the Israelites in this battle? Of course not. God is too kind for that.
See Joshua 1, Isaiah 41, practically half the Psalms… all talking about God’s presence with us. (and those are just the ones I googled really quick)
Is it just the Old Testament? No.
“Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28
When Christ died the veil was broken and full access to the presence of God became available to all. After he ascended, the Holy Spirit came down, so that true worshippers may worship in spirit and in truth. In talking about the coming of the Spirit, Christ said that it will bear witness to him (John 15:26). And that’s exactly what it does.
If you have followed me this whole time, you have heard of prophesy, you have heard of healing, you have heard of super-natural love… all bearing witness to the love of God in his Son Jesus Christ.
I’ve encountered the living God – in hardly a microscopic view, I admit – but praise God cause that means there will always be more of him – more of his power, goodness, and love – to behold. Life with him is an adventure, and it’s enjoyable, actually more so than anything else. I’m here to glorify him and enjoy him, remember? If there is no joy in it, you’re doing it wrong. Trust me, whenever I fall again into legalistically serving God on my own terms, it becomes a drudge. It takes me constantly giving up my life to him for me to truly find it. Delight in the Lord. He will give you the desires of your heart. You think this is metaphor? No. It’s real. And so is everything else in the Bible. Dig in.
I still don’t know much. I just known what I’ve seen and I know what I’ve felt. But the movement of God does not come with many words or a big vocabulary, but with a single word of faith. Jesus did not lecture the storm, he said, “Peace. Be still.” That’s all it takes.
The words of Paul are too fitting…
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you and weakness, and fear, and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not implausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” – Revelation 12:11
(I don’t even know what that verse means but it sure sounds awesome)
God is real
My life is his
He is with me
Hallelujah
In Christ,
Jackson
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