“For Christ Himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in His own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in Himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” (Ephesians 2:14-16 NLT)
The hostility of which Paul writes was a major issue for the early Christians. It was the Jews who murdered Jesus on the cross and were so intent on destroying His mission, yet it was mostly Jewish believers who comprised the young Church. That was Paul’s mission until he met Jesus, then everything changed for Him. That’s what needs to happen in our broken, splintered lives – we need to meet Jesus and learn to know Him, not just know about Him.
“Yes,” you may be thinking, “but I’ve already ‘met’ Him!” Do you realize you can meet Him, even get comfortably connected to Him, and still miss Him? Over the course of my life I’ve met hundreds, maybe thousands of people, but the truth is, I only know a relatively few of them. Being an acquaintance of Jesus is not knowing Him in a Biblical sense.
Our brokenness will never find meaning or healing; we’ll never have the peace we seek in a casual relationship with the Savior. The turmoil brought about by the “war” of wills in our own spirit; the constant conflict between our broken, sinful self, and the Spirit of God calling us, drawing us to Himself, will never find resolution without repentance.
We’ll never truly experience God’s presence until we long for it, desire it above everything else, turn from sin and seek Him with our whole being. In previous posts I’ve mentioned the time, shortly after my divorce, when I knelt by my bed, pouring my heart out to God. While I didn’t blame God, I outlined for Him (as if He didn’t already know) all the things I’d lost. I summed it up like this: “Lord, I’ve lost everything!”
To which the Lord responded (not in an audible voice, but in an unmistakable way): “You haven’t lost everything because you haven’t lost Me, and I’m all you need.” While it jolted me into an awareness that He was exactly right, I had no frame of reference to understand what He totally meant. Today, 36+ years later, I’m beginning to understand.
In my mind I wasn’t just broken, I was the glass pot tossed 20 stories to concrete – shattered. I wasn’t thinking the Lord would find all the pieces, let alone put them back together, but He did! I’ve never been the sharpest pencil in the box, but today I can tell you with firm conviction that He will do for you what you never dared dream He could, but you’ve got to trust Him and let Him do what only He can do. Stop trying to “fix” yourself.
I’m not acquainted with the Lord; I don’t even have a close relationship with Him in this season of my life – HE IS MY LIFE! I have no life apart from Him. I desire no will of my own, I only want what He wants for me, and, as a result, I’m at peace that I can’t explain and a simple childlike trust that only wants what God wants for me – nothing more, nothing less.
He is enough for me. Is He for you? You won’t find the healing and wholeness you desire until He is.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 