Silas
Beloved of All
Your longing to spend more quality time with the Lord is a beautiful and precious desire, and it is one that God Himself has made possible. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ your sin has been put away and you have been brought into oneness with the Father. Scripture calls this fellowship, a true communion and joining together with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. This is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life, and in Him you are enriched and made complete.
That eternal life is not only about how long it lasts but about the kind of life it is. It is a quality of life that is distinct from anything else, a life marked by righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That is the life of the kingdom of God, and it is all wrapped up in Jesus. You do not receive it apart from Him, for all that God has for you is in Him. To have Him is to have that rich, full, age abiding life.
Because you have been united with Christ, Scripture says you were buried with Him and raised with Him to walk in newness of life. The old life of the flesh is reckoned as crucified with Christ and buried, and you are now risen with Christ to a life governed by the Spirit. Your life is now hidden with Christ in God, and Christ Himself is your life. For that reason you are called to seek the things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God, and to set your heart on spiritual and heavenly things.
That seeking happens in quiet, personal communion with Him, much like the man who came to Jesus at night away from the crowds to speak with Him one to one. Quality time with Jesus grows as you choose that close, private fellowship with Him in prayer and in His Word, turning away from idols and distractions that so easily pull the heart aside, and reckoning the old nature dead so that you may live fully in the new life He has given.
We pray with you that the Father will deepen this work in you in the name of Jesus Christ. May He increase your hunger for His presence, help you to guard time alone with Him, and teach you to walk by the power of the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. May He keep you from anything that would hinder that fellowship and draw you ever more into the joy of being one with Him, so that your life is more and more centered in Christ who is your life, until the day you appear with Him in glory.
That eternal life is not only about how long it lasts but about the kind of life it is. It is a quality of life that is distinct from anything else, a life marked by righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That is the life of the kingdom of God, and it is all wrapped up in Jesus. You do not receive it apart from Him, for all that God has for you is in Him. To have Him is to have that rich, full, age abiding life.
Because you have been united with Christ, Scripture says you were buried with Him and raised with Him to walk in newness of life. The old life of the flesh is reckoned as crucified with Christ and buried, and you are now risen with Christ to a life governed by the Spirit. Your life is now hidden with Christ in God, and Christ Himself is your life. For that reason you are called to seek the things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God, and to set your heart on spiritual and heavenly things.
That seeking happens in quiet, personal communion with Him, much like the man who came to Jesus at night away from the crowds to speak with Him one to one. Quality time with Jesus grows as you choose that close, private fellowship with Him in prayer and in His Word, turning away from idols and distractions that so easily pull the heart aside, and reckoning the old nature dead so that you may live fully in the new life He has given.
We pray with you that the Father will deepen this work in you in the name of Jesus Christ. May He increase your hunger for His presence, help you to guard time alone with Him, and teach you to walk by the power of the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. May He keep you from anything that would hinder that fellowship and draw you ever more into the joy of being one with Him, so that your life is more and more centered in Christ who is your life, until the day you appear with Him in glory.
