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What Are You Calling "Life?" · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, it's friendly. Welcome back to In the
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  Stillness. I am so glad that you're joining
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  me today. Happy Monday.
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  Welcome to a new fresh week. I am just praying that wherever
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  you are listening from right now, that you would be able to
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  take a deep breath and fully allow yourself to slow down,
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  listen to the Scripture read over you, and reflect on some
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  things that the Lord has been teaching me and I pray would
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  also minister to your heart as well.
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  So we're going to be reading through First John chapter 5,
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  verses 11:50. And I want to talk about
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  something through these verses that has honestly been changing
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  the way that I view my relationship with the Lord.
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  And it's this understanding that eternal life is not just
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  something that is waiting for us at the end someday in heaven,
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  but it is quite literally right now and it is through Jesus.
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  So let's go ahead and read the verses.
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  Those who believe in the Son of God have the living testimony in
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  their hearts. Those who don't believe have
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  made God out to be a liar by not believing the testimony God has
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  confirmed about His Son. This is the true testimony that
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  God has given us eternal life, and this life has its source in
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  His Son. Whoever has the Son has eternal
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  life. Whoever does not have the Son
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  does not possess eternal life. All right, I think sometimes we
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  hear the phrase eternal life so much in Christian culture and
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  immediately our minds just go to heaven someday after we die.
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  And yes, praise Jesus that we do get to have the promise of
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  eternity with him that brings so much joy and so much peace.
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  But I also think that we miss the depth of what the Bible is
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  saying here. If we simply reduce salvation to
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  just securing our spot in heaven, and then we continue to
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  live disconnected from God in our life.
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  This passage says that life itself has its source in Jesus.
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  Not just later, not just after death, but now.
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  That means abundant life, peace, freedom, wholeness, a right
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  relationship with God. All of its source is in Jesus.
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  And I think for a lot of my life, I genuinely did believe in
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  Jesus. I was raised in a Christian home
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  and became a believer from a really young age.
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  There's so much to praise God about that for.
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  But if I'm being fully transparent, I didn't know him
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  personally for a very long time. I called myself a Christian.
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  I believed that Jesus Christ died for my sins and that I was
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  saved. But I still lived mostly
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  centered around myself, my emotions.
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  I looked to the world's definition of fulfillment and
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  just tried to survive life in my own strength.
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  But there's a difference between professing Jesus and actually
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  walking with him daily. And I say that graciously
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  because I was that person. And you can tell when someone is
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  truly walking with Jesus, abiding in him, not because they
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  just become perfect overnight, but because their life, it
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  begins changing from that day. Their desires begin to shift.
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  Their speech is different. Priorities shift, conviction
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  increases, and repentance becomes more normal.
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  Holiness becomes something that you pursue because you love God,
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  not because you're trying to earn him.
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  Your real belief results in transformation, not perfection.
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  I don't want y'all to hear perfection, but transformation.
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  And I think what's hitting me lately is that Jesus did not
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  just die so that we could go to heaven.
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  One day He died and he rose again so that we could be
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  reunited with the Father today, so his Spirit could dwell within
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  us right now. Do we really understand that if
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  you are a believer, the Spirit of the living God lives inside
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  of you, and Jesus is alive right now, seated in heaven.
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  He is living, He is breathing, he is drenched in victory, and
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  His Spirit dwells in His people. So that is not just symbolic,
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  that is a reality. And if his life is now our
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  source, then why at times do we continue agreeing with death?
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  Why do we consistently speak hopelessness over ourselves?
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  We hear this through phrases like I will always struggle with
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  blank, I'll always be anxious, I'm a people pleaser, I'll never
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  be free, or this is just who I am.
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  And I just want to ask, do you know who you're believing in?
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  Because the same Jesus who conquered sin and death on this
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  earth lives inside of you as a believer.
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  And I want to say this carefully because I never want to minimize
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  real pain or struggles that people are walking through on
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  this side of eternity. Healing journeys are complex and
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  there are struggles with mental health, but sanctification is a
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  process and as believers our identity can no longer be rooted
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  in bondage so we should not be speaking death as our identity
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  anymore. 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 17 says that if anyone is in
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  Christ they are a new creation and we see in Romans that it
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  says the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us.
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  So we have been made righteous through Christ.
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  He transferred his righteousness and holiness on to us by his
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  sacrifice. Jesus is pure.
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  Jesus lives at peace with the Father.
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  He is fully loved by the Father. And so through him, by his
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  blood, we are brought into that perfect relationship too.
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  And it is not because we earned it.
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  It is simply because of grace. So an emphasis on eternal life
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  is not just OK, cool, I am now going to heaven.
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  It is union with God. It's waking up every single day
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  aware that you are not alone, that you have access to joy and
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  peace right now no matter what your circumstances are, That you
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  are able to walk in freedom, that you can pursue holiness.
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  You can know God. Personally, I also think that it
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  can be easy to get exhausted because we're still at times
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  trying to earn what Jesus already offered freely.
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  We get in a striving mindset. We work, we wait for someday, we
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  worry about what's to come. Meanwhile, Jesus is saying I am
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  your life now. Your life is not anchored in
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  your money and your relationship status and what you look like in
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  the mirror. It's not in how many likes you
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  get on social media, not even in the perfect future version of
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  yourself that you picture. It says he who has the Son has
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  life has that is present tense not might have not eventually
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  gets but right now. So I just want to ask you today,
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  are you living like you actually possess the life of Jesus within
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  you? Do you truly understand and know
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  who you're believing in if you say you're a Christian because
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  when you really do know him, your life cannot stay the same.
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  I want to leave you with a couple reflection questions off
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  of that. Number one, where have you been
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  treating salvation as only a future promise instead of a
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  present relationship with Jesus #2 what lies have you been
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  speaking over yourself that don't align with the life and
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  identity that you have been given in Christ?
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  So with those things to think about, I want to go ahead and
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  move into prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I just
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  thank You that You are so near to those who call on you.
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  You are not distant. It is through Your sacrifice,
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  Jesus, that we are brought near by the blood.
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  Thank You that eternal life begins right now through
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  relationship with you. God, I pray that you would renew
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  our minds. Would you help us to stop
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  agreeing with death statements and start believing what your
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  word says about who we are in Christ Jesus.
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  May we really abide in you every single day and not just claim
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  you with our words, but in our actions in our everyday life.
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  I pray for anyone who is listening to this podcast and
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  might feel stuck. Stuck in sin, exhausted from
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  striving, numb, maybe feeling anxious or distant from you.
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  Would you remind them right now, Lord, that your spirit is alive
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  within them? I pray that you would bring
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  freedom where there is bondage and enslavement, peace where
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  people are experiencing fear, healing where there is
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  brokenness. And I pray that these listeners
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  would experience such a deeper, more profound intimacy with you.
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  Father, would you help us to live aware of the life that we
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  simply receive in You? It is a gift, meaning we do not
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  do anything to deserve it or to earn it.
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  It is simply out of your generosity, your kindness, and
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  your mercy and grace. Thank you for this Monday.
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  Thank you for a new week and a new day.
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  Thank you that your mercies are new every single morning.
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  Great is your faithfulness. God, we ask all these things in
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  Jesus name. Amen.
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  OK guys, thank y'all so much for tuning in to today's episode.
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  I'm praying that this encouraged you today and I will see y'all
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  on tomorrow's podcast.