Simply Jesus.

Life can be a strange thing, we can be here one moment and gone the next. Life can be very busy and time goes by so quickly! It only feels as if we just had Christmas, and as I'm writing this, we are already in the middle of February. We all can get so caught up in work, family, ministry, and different things, and we all face different trials and challenges, whether health, family, finances, etc.

But I'm reminded that we have to keep Jesus at the centre of our lives, every day positioning Him in first place, and being intentional to seek His face. Because even in the midst of the chaos and busyness of life, when Jesus is at the centre we can have peace and joy, as shown in Philippians 4:6–7:

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Also it says in John 16:33:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

We see from these scriptures that God can give us a peace that surpasses anything we can understand. But as shown in verse seven, there is a requirement. It says, “His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” You live in Christ Jesus is the requirement.

So to live in Jesus is to learn to walk with Him on a daily basis, to follow His guidance and direction in the big and small things. It can be as simple as saying: “Lord, what should I have for lunch?”; “Father, will You come and train me at the gym?” But in order to learn to follow His direction, we have to learn His voice.

We do this by spending time with Him daily; this is the only way a friendship can grow. This is done by reading the Word, praying, meditating on the Word, listening to worship music, reading other Christian books, but the most important — and often the hardest for people — is simply being quiet, learning to quiet our souls and our flesh.

…simply being quiet, learning to quiet our souls and our flesh.

We do this by simply loving Him, fixing our eyes on Him and saying, “Jesus, I love You, Jesus, I love You,” and as you listen, you will learn to hear His still whisper. Often when I am with Him, He will whisper to me and just say, “My son, just receive from Me, receive My love, receive My presence.”

I share these things to encourage you and remind you that Jesus is our prize. When we have Jesus, we have everything we need. So as we continue in this year, be intentional, disciplined, and set that time aside to behold our prize. From this place we must live. This is learning to live in Christ Jesus.

Blessings Josh