There Has Got To Be More - Part 2

In Part 1, I may have done more harm than good. Those who read it looking for hope found condemnation... maybe. But, just like the one who has treatable cancer must hear the word "cancer" before hearing treatable, you and I must admit that we are screwed up before we can become ready for the answer. "If my people ... will humble themselves...."

The “More” we are looking for is ... Jesus. There are Bible verses galore to support this. There is the very life of Jesus, Himself, as told by the Gospel writers that supports it. There is Paul the apostle who said "Knowing Jesus” makes the things of this life (yachts, money, comfort, ease, power, achievement) seem like so much dog-do!

I want that, y'all, don't you?

I want to be so detached from the crap of this world and so enamored with the joy of knowing Christ that my joy takes on such a gleam so that I see my world the way Paul saw his AND others are drawn to that joy in me! I am not there, yet! Heck, I can fall apart if I hit two red lights in a row!

Joy can happen as we seek Jesus. Not service for Jesus. Not church. Not the experience of Jesus. Not His blessings or His comfort. JESUS.

Jesus was rather adamant about this, don't you think? (And, why do we miss the point?) Read.

“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you” (John 15:4a, The Msg).

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28, NIV).

“Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink’” (John 7:37, NIV).

There is a profoundness about seeking Jesus, the Person of Jesus and nothing else, for the simple and sole purpose of being with Him.

When we seek Jesus, we begin to know Him.

Some say, “I know Jesus!” No they don’t – they have only begun to know Him. This is why Paul just after saying, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,” said, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect…” (Philippians 3:8,13).

And, as we begin to know Him we begin to become like Him (Romans 8:29). And, as we begin to become like Him, the world is attracted to Him in us and the kingdom of God is built.

The “More” we are looking for is Jesus.

He can be found! In fact, Jesus is praying for that to happen!

"After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: 'Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent'” (John 17:1-3)

Practically speaking, here’s what I’d do: Make time to be with Jesus. Sorry for sounding so simplistic, but I say that to say this: When you and I sit down with the sole purpose of seeking to be with Jesus, we will nearly instantaneously begin to realize everything we seek other than Him. We want stuff. We ask for blessings. Our arrow points toward self as we seek. Seeking Jesus turns the arrow away from ourselves.

This is not easy, it’s even foreign to many … Christians. But, seeking Jesus is the FIRST THING C.S. Lewis wrote about.

Service for Jesus flows from one who has been with Jesus. How can we expect to evangelize for Jesus if we have not been with Him and begun to “smell” like Him? What is the role of the church if it is not primarily to help people be with Jesus. This is the definition of worship!

The church began and grew because the world recognized the likes of Peter and John “as having been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).

People will read this and think that it’s easy. It is not. The church today is seeking many things. To seek Jesus solely will mean major changes in the way we do church.

Good news: Jesus is not lost, He can be found! He wants to be found be you and me.