What’s Your Living Arrangement?

S - "And this is his [God’s] command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." 1 John 3:23-24 NIV

O - The religions of earth have numerous and tedious commands/instructions which they claim are required by God. They claim that Divine acceptance and approval is dependent upon one’s performance of such. The Kingdom of heaven (here and hereafter) is very different. It requires a simple and straightforward response. It is not performance based. Its major focus is not informational but relational. Believing in the name of Jesus is not informational agreement about an identity but intentional reliance on and confidence in his person. This is coupled to the activity of loving others and completes the “list” of requirements; which is actually a description of relational living. The result is living in him and he living in us. The confirmation of this living arrangement is the presence of his spirit, not the performance of religious activities.

A - Jesus comes to invite all people to follow him and in the following to have eternal life (irrepressible and vibrant) here and hereafter. He himself is this life. His invitation is to a specific living arrangement. He lives in us and we live in him. He is heaven’s message to the world (7.7 billion people) and heaven’s only point. He not very concerned about informational accuracy but rather relational authenticity: Rely on me and love all others. He is always simple but not always easy. All of this is possible notthrough theological precepts but personal presence … his spirit in us and we in him. LIFE! 

P - God over all and God of me,

I accept and embrace the only arrangement of real life here and hereafter. Am gratefully relying on and putting my confidence in your gift - Jesus! Thank you for wanting to live in me/us and for wanting us/me to live in you. Yes to Jesus. Yes to loving all others. Yes to your spirit.

Loving you back,

Steve