Where He Is

 Jesus told his disciples, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:3

We generally associate John 14:3 with Jesus promising those who believe in Him that He will be preparing their place in eternity, that He will return for them, and that He desires that they, we, be fully with Him right where He is. I think that is true in part, but its meaning goes far deeper than we allow ourselves to see.

Before anything else, here's a question for each of us: as we examine our lives in the leading of His Spirit, how much of our life can be found "where He is?" To be where He is means that we conduct ourselves in all places as He would. As He does. I don't mean imitating His behavior, but actually living our lives in the power of His. What this means is Christlikeness; in our hearts and in our minds. Christ has a definite desire and purpose for every aspect of our life. There is a "place" where He is in our marriages, our parenting, our ministry, our relationships, our stewardship, and above all, in our relationship with Him. To what degree are we "where He is" in each of them. I believe if we really yield ourselves to the searching of His Holy Spirit, we'll find there are places, perhaps many, where we're not where He is at all. We're somewhere else, and being somewhere else other than with Him, is death.

Jesus promised to prepare a place for us. In eternity for sure, but also for our lives in the here and now. He's prepared a place for where our marriages should be. For where our families should be. For where our service and ministry for Him should be. For where our walk with Him should be. For where our church fellowships should be. Is that place going unused in our lives and fellowships because He is alone in that place? He's alone there because we've either chosen it, or been deceived into believing that the place we're at is the place He would have us.

As He spoke the above words to His disciples, He told them that they knew the way that He was going, to which Thomas replied, "No we don't Lord." What he and the rest of the disciples still didn't comprehend was that Christ had been teaching them for some time that He was the way, the key, to entering into all the fullness of eternal life. He alone was the "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." The only way to be where He is was to live in His way, live in His truth, and live in His life. Scripture says that "There's a way that seems right to a man, but it's end is death." We end up in other places because we think our way is better, or that we can follow His way our own way. The result is that we're not where He's at, and every part of our life suffers because of it.

Early on in my walk with Him, I remember hearing someone say that the wrong way can become the right one when we invited Christ to fully come to where we're at. Everything changes with that heart cry. So many times in my life, I found myself in the wrong way, traveling away from and not to Him. In such times, we can simply cry out, "Jesus, come and get me." He will, and when He does, He's where we're at, and He brings us to where He is.....Where in you life do you need to make such an appeal? Where do you find yourself far from Him. He'll meet you there, making the wrong way the right one, and transforming all so that where He is, you are too.

Blessings,

Pastor O