I am in Him and He is in me 2/26/2017

I tend to raise my girls a little bit differently. We don’t really like to refer to them as princesses. Truth be known that is PJ’s number one thing she hates about Disney is being referred to as Princess. We raise our girls rough and tough, not touchy feely. Partly because that is how we are, and partly because well that is how they are. PJ and Brae both would consider a night a success if there is atleast 20-30 minutes of wrestling involved. Well, what about other children. Think about it this way, I was sitting on the couch one day at my house. Our house used to be an open house with teens passing through at all hours, sometimes we didn’t even know half of the teens that came. But we welcomed them all the same. Well, this particular day my little cousin stopped by with a couple of his friends. He sat there and played video games with me and his friends raided our fridge like any good teen would do. Well, they got ready to go and his mom was on her way to pick them up so we finished up the video game and they were preparing to leave when it happened. He reached across and punched me in the gut, his friends unsure of what to do jumped in and next thing I know I have 3 13 year old boys attempting to drag me to the ground. I was getting pulled and tugged and hit and kicked from every angle all the while we were all laughing hysterically. My little cousin knew my love for him and his love for me, and well that is just how we roll in our family. PJ and Brae both consider any night that involves some wrestling is a success. Those two attack me constantly. Well, my little cousin was perfectly comfortable attacking me and catching me off guard what totally shocked and surprised me was how quickly his friends joined in and helped him as if they knew me well enough to join in. My little cousins comfort and oneness with me, spread right into his friends and they didn’t hesitate one bit. John 14:20-21 In that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. There are three critical truths in these passages. 1 – Jesus is in his father 2 – we are in Jesus 3 – Jesus is in us We are included in everything, everything that Jesus is doing and has done. We are not outsiders waiting for our chance to come in, we are insiders being loved and cared from day one. Thomas Merton said, “He is closer to us than we are to ourselves, that is why we often times do not notice Him.” This thought process, these truths leave us with options. First, we can sit outside and work our tails off. Do all of the things that we think are needed to gain His acceptance. We can go to church, read our Bibles, pray, give, serve our community, raise good children, love our spouses the list goes on and on and on. We can do all of those things hoping to earn something that is freely given from eternity to eternity. Or, we can accept the freedom from exhaustion and just sit in His love. Think about our verses, “On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” In my illustration of being attacked by my little cousins. I am God, I know Tara it’s a bit of a stretch, but let’s put our imaginations to the test. lol. I am God, my little cousin lil Geoff well he is Jesus and those other two boys those are us. You and me. There is a story of Baxter Kluger traveling to speak at a big conference. He was picked up by a young man from the church he would be speaking at. The young boy looked at him and told him he planned to go to seminary. To be a missionary? Baxter asked, no a pastor the young man exclaimed. As they rode along they passed farm land after farm land. As a large tractor pulled in front of them and they followed along slowly down a long narrow road Baxter asked a question. He said, have you ever thought about how Jesus relates to farmers and their families? The young man said no, not really. That farmer and his family work 60-70 hours a week on the farm. It’s what they do with just about all of their time. More than likely you will pastor a church with farmers in it. So it’s an important question isn’t it? When you get back to your house tonight and you sit down to eat dinner what will you do before you take your first bite? I will thank God. Thank him for what Baxter said. For the food that I am about to eat. Of course you will but why? Why are you thanking God for something that the farmer and his family grew? Why not thank the farmer and his family? Well, I guess I should thank the farmer, but are you saying that I should not thank God at all. No, ofcourse not, Baxter said. I am only trying to help you see that you already know how Jesus relates to the farmer’s life and work. You don’t have a theology that allows you to see what your prayer already knows. Think about it, you thank God for food that the farmer grew. Now what does that tell you about the farmer. It tells you that he is part of the way that God provides for us. So are teachers, garbage men, mechanics, day care workers, construction workers, police men, fire men and paremedics. Waitresses, waiters, hair stylists and truck drivers. They are all part of God providing for our needs. Jesus doesn’t need the farmers. Jesus doesn’t need any of the people that he uses to meet our needs. John 2:1-11 Jesus turns water into wine, and I don’t want to spend all morning breaking down why he did it, how he did it or what the purpose of it was. I want to focus on the part that often gets over looked. 6 stone jars each holding from 20-30 gallons. Let’s say they all held 30 gallons, that is 180 gallons of water. Now water weighs about 8.5 pounds per gallon. 1,530 pounds of water. Not to mention how much the stone jars must have weighed. Now, we all know that Jesus is all powerful. We all know that Jesus conquered death, bore our sins on the cross. But, why the heck didn’t He just create the wine instead of having them go fill all of the jars and then turn it into wine? The same reason He uses the church to change the world. The same reason He doesn’t just meet every need of those in our community, He provides us with the resources and sits back and waits for us to make the impact.