Touch Jesus . . . Touch Life TODAY!

In the midst of this pandemic … and all the controversy it has spawned. Yes, among Christians too. Now more than ever, we need HIM!!!!!!

First posted 2015:

Years ago I had a mentor-friend named Donna.  She was the one the Lord used to usher me into experiencing Christ in me as the One who does the doing in the Christian life!  Her key phrase was (as I remember it) "God does it."

Then by the Spirit of God came the realization that my indwelling Lord Jesus Christ is my All in All!  He is the Father's Ultimate Gift to me...no-thing else, no-thing more!

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

Most of us, when we pray, primarily ask for things (albeit, good things) . . . money to pay a bill, a turn-around for a wayward child, healing from sickness, comfort in grief, hope for the future, wisdom for the pending decision, strength for the task ahead, courage for the scary opportunity, patience for the unendurable, stability for the unthinkable.

But God doesn't give us anything apart from His Son. He is the Gift! He is the "Stuff" we want . . . the Thing we ask for.  So what we are really longing for is a greater experience of our Lord Jesus Christ, in and through our lives in our particular situation.

Because...

when we touch Christ, we touch Life!

I love how Watchman Nee says it:

“How we need to have our mind renewed so as to understand that aside from Christ God has no intention for us to have many so-called spiritual things. According to God’s arrangement, there are things; only, these things are Christ. For Christ is the sum of all spiritual things. Christ is our righteousness—He has not given us a righteousness. Christ is our sanctification—He has not granted us a thing called power to make us holy. Christ is our redemption—He has not offered us a redemption. Christ is the way—He has not opened to us another way in which to walk. Christ is the truth—He has not presented some truth before us for us to understand. Christ is the life—He has not conferred on us a thing called life.

“Brothers and sisters, as we travel along God’s course, we will discover more and more that of all God’s grace there is only one grace, of all God’s gifts there is only one gift. That grace is Christ, that gift is also Christ. Thank God, day after day He is showing us how Christ is all-inclusive.” (Christ the Sum of All Spiritual Things)

Let that sink in a bit, dear friend.  We are always asking for stuff in addition to Christ...but HE is the Stuff. He is All!

In case it takes you a while to grasp this, as it did me, rest right here and bask in the glory of the Living Christ Whom the Scriptures describe as the Father's All!

He is! He is _________________________!

Friends,

Our God is with us on every possible level … in every possible way. I would like to invite you to spend some time in God’s Word to stabilize your mind and heart in this unsettling, confusing time. May I suggest my Bible study/devotional book: The With-ness of our God: Relationship in Every Dimension, for personal or group study, available on Amazon and other online booksellers.

For a video, endorsements, synopsis, study guide and other resources: 

https://www.abranchinthevine.com/with-ness-of-our-god/ 

KIRKUS REVIEW:

A Christian devotional based upon prepositional relationships found in the Bible.

Loyd, an educator, begins this book by sharing her lifelong love of grammar—an interest that led her to look carefully at the specific grammatical constructions of the Bible and their implications for Christians. This leads to an exploration of prepositional phrases used in Scripture. This seemingly banal project turns out to be filled with insights about the relationship between God and the faithful. The author’s primary example is “with,” as in the phrase “God is with us,” and she looks at the three Greek words which could be translated as “with” and how they differ from one another. She then goes on to analyze a number of other prepositions in the same manner, focusing especially on key lines, such as, “If God is for us, who is against us?” and “You are in Christ Jesus.” Loyd designs each of her nine chapters as a one-week devotional tool. She begins by laying out a grammatical concept and focusing on a key verse, then moves on to seven days’ worth of reflections, including study and discussion questions. Her prose style is solid though certainly informal and even folksy at times. She often uses examples from her own daily life to back up her points; for instance, in one case, she related an imperfect birthday cake she baked to Jesus, “who came to earth and put up with a broken, imperfect life for my sake.” At another point, she contrasts an old, threadbare nightgown with the comfort of life with Christ. Loyd is well-read within the evangelical canon, quoting authors as diverse as early-20th-century Scottish Baptist minister Oswald Chambers and present-day Christian pastor and broadcaster Tony Evans. She also ably explains the basics of Christian theology, placing substitutionary atonement within the context of “Christ died for me.”

An ingenious and insightful approach to Scripture.