I've missed connecting with you while I've been away from this place. I hope you've missed me too. That's how relationships work best, right? With a mutual appreciation and affection for one another.
I hope you've read my "Announcement" about my absence and how we move forward in the "workings" of this site. If not, please check out my post from earlier today.
Back to relationships. While I've missed you, I haven't been missing my Lord. In fact, while I've been away we've been deepening our intimate relationship. My prayer and goal for 2015 was to know God and to understand His holiness better. He, apparently, loved these desires on my heart, because He answered them in a way I just can't explain. But let me try through our verse of thanks from the letter to the Corinthians by the apostle Paul.
"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus." 1 Corinthians 1:4 (preceded by v. 3 to complete the understanding)
Corinth, a thriving commercial city in Greece, had a rough reputation for unruly behavior. God took this city on through Paul's early missions spreading the gospel message. As their pastor for a year and a half, Paul developed loving brotherly relationships with the new believers in this church planting. Having moved on to spread the gospel elsewhere, Paul received report from one of the Corinthian families that in his absence things were falling apart.
Paul wrote to his beloved people with deep thanks in his heart to God for the intimate relationship that He had initiated through His gift of grace and peace in Jesus. This greeting was a classic pastor's response. God had led Paul to these precious people through Christ's love. In teaching them the good news and showing them how to live out the new life of salvation and holiness as believers, Christ had done a work of connecting Paul's heart with theirs in a way only His love can do.
This intimate work is what God has been doing in my heart over this last year as well. As I'm drawing closer to Him, He is making me more aware of my need for His Shepherding at all times. Just because I have received Christ as my Savior, absolutely does not mean that I can manage my life without Him. I need Him all the more as I work to know His will and obey His call. My well of gratitude runs deep for His ever-present, intimate love relationship with me and that He never gives up on me even, and especially, when I'm falling apart.
A couple lines of wisdom from Oswald Chambers on being intimate with Jesus:
"It is a joy to Jesus when a disciple takes time to step more intimately with Him."
"When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic."
I look forward to deepening our relationship with Jesus through God's Word together, here, as we continue to look at God's view of thanks.
Through God's intimate work in my heart, He has given me courage and new understanding of whom He is and His power at work within me. He has prepared these same blessings for you too!
"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b
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