JC Blog

It is amazing to know that we are called, set apart and share in the heavenly calling as believers. To maximize on this wonderful truth we must make Jesus personal in our lives. We should thoughtfully and attentively consider Him, seeking to understand who He is and what He has done for us. We should embrace Him as our very own in every sense of the word.

We were called into a relationship, but relationships cannot grow unless you get to know the other person. This is why we are to constantly consider Jesus, the Apostle of our faith. When we seek to understand His role as our High Priest we will gain insight into many workings of God. He is our personal advocate with the Father. He shared in our humanity conquering death so He could faithfully administer grace and mercy on our behalf. He was sent to recue us. We can approach God with assurance when we understand this role. Because of Jesus, the writer of Hebrews reminds us, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" ( Hebrews 4:16 ).

This is why it is so important to know Jesus and make Him personal in our lives. Just as Peter walked across the water when He looked to the Savior, we too will succeed in this life when we pay close attention to what He has done for us. All we need to do is seek Him. God has made us an awesome promise in his Word, regarding this; "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" ( Jeremiah 29:11-13 ). We can have confidence in this, knowing that God will be found by us. He will make Himself known to us. He will reveal Himself and become real in our lives.

Tomorrow we look at Hebrews 3:2; Jesus Was Faithful to God Just like Moses

Knowing that we are consecrated and set apart from birth does not guarantee success. Victory comes when we understand that we share in the heavenly calling because what we have been called into is a relationship. This is the single most important mission for your life, knowing God in an intimate way.

Jesus said in John 17, "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 17:2-3 ). Our job is to know God and to know Jesus; this is the definition of eternal life. By experiencing an intimate relationship with God we are experiencing the abundant life Jesus promised to his followers ( John 10:10 ). It is true, as believers, we will reign in eternity with Jesus, but knowing that our heavenly calling right now is to know God, we can enjoy and experience eternal life right here in this world, starting today.

Our mission is to know God because everything for the Christian life begins here. As we experience this relationship our hearts begin to change, aligning with His and the result is incredible and drastic. When our hearts change, our lives change as well, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" ( Proverbs 23:7 KJV ). Meaning the true intentions and attitudes of a man come out in behavior and actions. To experience true change we must change what we think at the core level. The only way to do this is to allow God to rewrite His truth on our hearts, to let us see life as He sees it. To have His thoughts and values be ours. This is why cultivating a relationship with God is the single most important thing you can do, because this type of change is a byproduct of that relationship.

Busyness and service is not our heavenly calling!

Since our heavenly calling is relationship it is important not to get sidetracked with other things even if these things are good. So many times, we believe that we need to do in order to be effective for the kingdom but God doesn’t want our service he just wants us. Look at the example of Mary and Martha. When Jesus visited their home, Martha was busy preparing and serving the Lord and her guests while Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened to him. The Bible records that Martha was distracted; she probably didn't hear a word Jesus said. As she was occupied and busy she became upset at Mary because she wasn't helping. When she brought this to Jesus' attention, His response shows the importance He places on relationship versus service. "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her" ( Luke 10:41-42 ). Martha's things were good, they were needed and Jesus didn't condemn her for doing them. In fact, I'm sure he appreciated the hospitality he enjoyed while staying there. But Mary had chosen better, she chose to sit at Jesus' feet, enjoy His company and learn from Him.

Martha probably started out like Mary. The family was close to Jesus and He probably stayed with them whenever he was in the area. She probably started out listening and fellowshipping with the Savior when He was in town just as Mary did. As her love for Him grew she probably wanted to serve Him, make special meals for Him and make Him comfortable in her home. It is only natural for this to be the case. But somewhere in the midst of her preparations the focus was taken off Jesus and pleasing him and it turned solely to the work at hand. The change, although slight was a matter of the heart. She became distracted, busy and overly occupied. At this point she didn't have time for the person of Jesus even though she was doing for Him. Mary on the other hand recognized the most important thing, which was sitting at Jesus' feet, realizing that everything else could wait.

Now, I am not bashing Martha, because I tend to be somewhere in the middle of Mary and Martha. Service is needed in the body of Christ; there is much work to be done. But when the focus switches from Jesus and serving out of gratitude to the busyness of what needs done then something must give. Like Peter, when he took his eyes off Jesus, he sank. We must return to the real focus of life, relationship with God. Looking to Him in everything, this is our heavenly calling.

The more we fellowship and know Jesus the more we will be equipped and ready serve the body.  Because His love will pour out of us and overflow to everyone we meet. We will share His wonderful truth and love with everyone that will listen. The Great Commission will also be fulfilled in our lives simply because we will want to share with others what we have. All of this comes from relationship. We must understand that the most important thing we can do is remove both busyness and distractions and simply focus on Jesus.

Tomorrow we look at Part 4: True Success Comes From Making Jesus Personal in Your Life

In order to focus on Jesus and not get distracted by the world around us it is important to understand who we are in Christ. An amazing truth in all of this is that believers are consecrated and set apart for a higher purpose. The writer of Hebrews makes this very clear as he calls us holy brethren. Consecration means to declare or make something holy; it is associated with the idea of being sacred. What is awesome in all of this is that this declaration is made, not by us, but by God. He has consecrated us and set us apart for a higher purpose when we accept and trust in Jesus as our Savior.

Renewing our mind to this truth is of the utmost importance. We must know and understand who we are in Christ and who He is in us so that we can walk in the purpose to which we have been called and set apart. We are to look thoughtfully and attentively at Jesus considering His role as our High Priest in everything because He proved His faithfulness by sharing in our humanity and breaking the power of death that held us captive ( Hebrews 2:14-18 ). In the same way, he will help us in our time of need. More than that He will empower and guide us through this life in all things. When we pay attention, then like Peter we stay on top of the water walking toward, beside and with Jesus all the way.

Peter learned this lesson well; this is why he wrote in his second letter, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires" ( II Peter 1:3-4 ). We have been given the power to escape the lure of this world and it comes by knowing God and walking in His truth. This is why we have been set apart and consecrated, so that we may live the holy lives to which we have been chosen and called.

God has a plan for each one of us but it is up to us to walk it out in our lives. Knowing this gives us purpose and incredible value. God is entrusting us with a mission. We were set apart and sanctified for this very purpose. This is why it is so important to trust in and focus on Jesus, because the plan is not something we can do on our own. His desire for our lives is so incredible that we need His help every step of the way.

We can look at examples from scripture of people who knew their purpose in life and trusted in God to fulfill it. Jeremiah is a great example.  "The word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." ( Jeremiah 1:4-5 ). Jeremiah was very young when God revealed His plan for him. But the plan came with promises. God promised him that he would not only give him the words to speak but He would perform them. Then he promised Jeremiah that He would make him a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall so that he would not be overcome by the people ( Jeremiah 1:18-19 ). Jeremiah walked this out because God had set him apart for this very purpose and was with Him every step of the way.

The Apostle Paul is another great example. He started out hunting and killing Christians but thankfully his past didn't get in the way of his future. In Romans chapter 1 he wrote to the church, "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God…" ( Romans 1:1 ). He knew he was set apart for the purpose of preaching the gospel and in walking out this mission; he all but converted the known world at that time. He was chosen long before he was an enemy of the church, God knew what he would do and this did not change his mind.  He had chosen Paul and empowered him to be a prevailing witness to the world.

Lastly by looking at Jesus we can see how powerful it is when one understands they are called, separated and consecrated to God's higher purpose in life. Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath immediately after He was tempted by Satan. Here He made this mission known. "The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." ( Luke 4:17-21 ). Jesus had a mission like no one else. He knew what it was and focused all His attention toward it. He knew who He was, why He came and what He had to do. He knew the higher purpose to which he had been called and walked it out. His life made all the difference for humanity.

This is why we need to pay attention to Jesus and thoughtfully consider Him in everything we do. We should embrace Him as ours as we go through this life. Because He has chosen us, set us apart and has a wonderful plan for our lives. He will help us every step of the way. And like Peter He desires for us to get out of the boat and walk out His supernatural plan. To do this we need to look toward Him and understand who we are by His grace and mercy.

Tomorrow we look at Part 3: Believers Share in the Heavenly Calling

"Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess" ( Hebrews 3:1 )

Christianity is the only religion in the world that has a Savior; this makes it special and unique. It is the only religion that is less about what you do for salvation and more about what Jesus did for you. When we confess that we are a Christian, we confess our faith and trust in Jesus as our personal savior and the only way to heaven. This is why it is important to look at Christ and constantly focus our attention on Him. When we do, He will keep our hearts and minds in perfect peace even in the midst of the trouble of this world.

In the gospel of Matthew, there is an account of Peter walking on the water ( Matthew 14:22-36 ). The disciples were in the middle of the sea trying to cross over and they were buffeted by the wind on every side. They had been struggling and fighting the storm all night. It seemed like a hopeless and dangerous situation for them. Early in the morning they looked out and saw a figure walking toward them on top of the water and they were terrified. They screamed with fright assuming it was a ghost. But Jesus told them to take courage because it was Him. When Peter heard this he asked Jesus to tell him to come out to Him on the water. Jesus' answer was to come.

Peter stepped out of the boat and walked toward Jesus. I imagine he walked quite a ways. But the longer he was out on the water and the closer he got to Jesus, His mind began telling him that He shouldn't be able to walk on water. Then Matthew records "But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" ( Matthew 14:30 ). What happened is he took his eyes off Jesus for a split second. He felt the strong wind and perceived the physical danger becoming frightened by it. Nothing had changed except his perception of the situation. Instead of looking toward Jesus and focusing on Him and His ability he was distracted by what was going on around him and it affected his ability to walk on the water.

Notice he began to sink, it was a gradual thing, and he didn't just fall into the water completely immersed. When he was focused and fixed on Jesus he walked across the water, but when his attention was on the storm he sank. He was very close to Jesus at this time too because the Bible records, "Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" ( Matthew 14:31 ). He was all but there. He showed marvelous faith in getting out of the boat. He walked a long way toward Jesus but near the end something changed. He became aware of the situation, which was physically impossible and instead of understanding that it was Jesus who held him he looked to himself and failed. Thankfully Jesus was right there to rescue him. In the same way Jesus has promised to be with us always ( John 14:8, Hebrews 13:5 ).

This is a parallel for life and something that the writer of Hebrews reminds us of in this passage. "Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess" ( Hebrews 3:1 ). If we are to get through life we need to constantly focus on Jesus as we can do nothing on our own. By thoughtfully and attentively considering Jesus in all things, we too can be a water walker.

Tomorrow we look at Part 2: Believers are Consecrated and Set Apart to God