Grace For The Journey

The Bible records a time in the life of Mary and Joseph when they were returning home from a trip to Jerusalem and they lost Jesus.  The Bible says in Luke 2:45, “When they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him.”

Jesus said that He would never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).  In other words, He has promised to always be with us.  So how could it be possible to lose the presence of the Ever-Present One?  That is what I want to talk about in today’s blog

As disciples of Christ, we must understand the difference between the word “union” and “communion” as it relates to our relationship with Him.  Our union with Jesus is the fountainhead of life and the source from which all the blessings of God flow.  Whatever is true of Jesus is also true of us because of our union with Him.  His death is our death. His resurrection is our resurrection.  The love of the Father to the Son also flows to all those who are in union with Christ, making us sons, as the Bible says in Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”  What a powerful word!  Do you see what God is saying?

Our union with Christ is as unwaverable as it is undisturbable.

Nothing can separate us from the love God has for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!

But our communion with Christ is another thing altogether.

Inasmuch as Jesus is always with us, there are times when His presence may seem far from us.  We can lose the sense of His presence, just as Mary and Joseph lost Jesus’ physical presence when they were returning home from Jerusalem with.  How can this happen?

Jesus vanishes from our vision as we begin to focus on anything other than Him.

We begin to neglect our alone time with Jesus.  We begin to neglect our community time with Jesus.  Nothing major, just a little neglect here and a little neglect there.  But what starts as an infection winds up a disease, cutting us off from any real sense of our communion with Christ.  To be sure . . .

Our union has not changed in any way,

But our communion has become transient,

And

Transient communion will never satisfy the soul.

So how do we keep from losing Jesus and the communion we so desperately need?

We don’t assume, as Joseph and Mary did, that Jesus is in our company and that our communion with Him is as secure as our union with Him.

We must continue to seek Jesus in all things.

We cannot get caught up in the cultural chaos, confusion, and commotion around us, or we will cut ourselves off from our communion with Christ.

We must continue looking for Jesus, listening to Jesus, and leaning on Jesus.

At this level of living, our communion with Jesus will be every bit as constant as our union with Him.  Remember what God’s Word says . . .

Draw near to the Lord . . . and He will draw near to you.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “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.”