“Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him” (1Peter 4:1 MSG). 

The aim of Jesus is to teach us what it means to be fully human. There has been made for us a way to understand life from a perspective that is much greater than fallen man is able to see, understand, or express. Jesus Christ’s example demonstrates God’s intentions from the beginning for the whole of humanity. The image of God in man was ravaged and marred by sin leaving him disfigured with only a faint semblance of the original model. But where the first Adam became the personification of man’s rebellion and failures, the last Adam came to restore all that we lost. Every test and challenge was measured against Jesus, yet He did not succumb to the pressure. Jesus went through everything you are now going through and more. There is no way to measure the degree of suffering experienced by Him. Since He has gone through it all, His promise is to be with you while you are going through. He qualifies to lead you through whatever you may face in life. He’s been there. He is well acquainted with your journey. He is here to guide you through every valley and around every landmine that lie ahead. His guidance is accepted by those who are willing to think like Him. Continue to allow His mind to govern your thoughts that your “will” is to wholly please Him. 

“I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways” (Psalm 119:15). 

To give deep thought of what God requires is necessary if we are to align ourselves with His will. It is not a casual or passing thought that captures the truths contained in His Word, but rather to savor those morsels of insight until they become a part of our nature. God allows us to meditate on His precepts for our good. They will not become grievous requirements when His ways are better understood. He does not require more of us than He Himself is willing or has already done for us. When we are able to compare His requirements to His ways, we will rejoice because of the opportunity He has afforded us to more fully participate with Him in His work. His precepts prepare us for further participation in what He is doing. How glorious it is when we fit perfectly into His divine plans. That is why His Word must be kept in our hearts that we would not sin against Him by omission or commission. We will know where He stands, and we will receive the power to stand with Him for righteousness and against all things that oppose Him. 

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free” (Galatians 5:1). 

The most secure place is the position of true freedom. Permission is granted to us by our Sovereign Authority to fully participate in a work that extends beyond the passions that once ruled over us. We once thought of freedom as being able to follow the dictates of our hearts. Our old selves willfully responded, as it had been conditioned, to the stimuli of influences surrounding us. Not having the ability to see beyond this, we did not understand that an offering was extended that we might be liberated from the confinement of a world that offered nothing beyond itself. The liberty in which we now stand is an inner freedom that makes us aware of things that exist beyond the confinements of a shrinking worldly existence. As our external life gives signs of decay and decline, the inner man is being renewed for its expression of eternal life. We are free to live forever the life that we now have come to experience in time. “…These ways we continue; and we need to be saved” (Isaiah 64:5). 

The greatest gift offered to us is the gift of salvation! God changes the direction of our lives in order for us to understand and walk in His Way. There were many ways in which many yet walk. Those ways remain available to those who have not come to the saving knowledge of Christ. 

Our greatest need is for God to instill within us the deepest meaning of salvation. There are surface definitions that call us to attention. There is an alertness that things are not as they should be around us and oftentimes within us. His standard of righteousness is often compromised. Life is lived on the flatlands of routine with very little consideration given to those deep truths given to transform our lives into becoming more and more like Jesus. The heights of the mountains of faith are not always our aspirations. It is not always easy to think that such levels are attainable. 

“…and they came to Him from every direction” (Mark 1:45). 

The courses of many people were redirected to the place where Jesus could be found. At that time He was not to be found in the open marketplaces of the city, but rather in a deserted place. It did not matter for those who were seriously in pursuit of Him; they were willing to go out of their way to be with Him. 

There are many activities in which people are involved. Some of them must be attended to while others are mere distractions. Those intimate moments with Him can only occur when we alter our plans if necessary, to be with Him. Whatever our priority is will determine the direction in which we are willing to travel. They came from various places in order to be with Jesus. Wherever you may have been is no longer the matter, it is where you are going from where you are that is important. There is a secret place where Jesus is awaiting your arrival. It is not in the busy places where the distractions would only afford Him a little window of time to share with you. He is outside the camp of the majority. He is in the deserted place where He alone may be able to receive your undivided attention and give the same to you. Your new direction must lead to His deserted place. He is waiting for you there! 

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). 

The buildup was gradual. There was the work of getting those who were once divided and separated by their own preferences and passions to a certain place. There is a certain place for those who wish to receive the infusion of power for service unto God. He empowers the ones that He is able to position. It is the positioning power of God that will introduce the believer to a higher degree of power. If God is not able to move you from your current state of being or attitude, He will not be able to show you any more than you think that you already know. But when He moves us from our place to His place, He will then release His power in wondrous ways. This was His place! They were there allowing Him to connect them to each other. They could then appreciate the contributions to the whole that each had to offer. Then the power came upon them suddenly! It will not take God long to do what He has purposed to accomplish in and through you. He is waiting on the conditions to be as He has set, that each would be in one place on one accord. Then there will be a sound from heaven as a rushing and mighty wind blowing in the direction of the unity of an expecting people. 

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13). 

Believing is more than a casual thought in the direction of God. It is a firm conviction that God will do everything He has promised. His glory will cover the earth and we will be glorified together with Him. Our faith is not in vain, nor will our prayers go unanswered; yet circumstances often make it easy to identify with the Psalmist who would have otherwise lost heart.  Faith is not faith unless it has been tested. The trying of our faith is more precious than gold. When we believe even when there are no visible signs to support our beliefs, God is then the primary focus of our lives. His goodness is not limited to the past, but is always present. He is our help in time of trouble and He is working all things according to His definition of good and for our glory. Our trust in Him provides a means for Him to complete His work within us; then we will be enabled to see the goodness of the Lord in all things. 

“I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted” (Psalm 119:10 MSG). 

The heart has many paths available for it to follow. There are significant things that one must pay attention to that can easily grow into obsessions, and one can find justification for having to give their undivided attention to them. To be single-minded is to consider the Lord in all of our ways; it is to pursue Him, not merely first and then move on to other things, it is to pursue Him in the midst of everyday life. What pleases Him must become our priority even when other things are pressing us and vying for our attention. The signs along the way; His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our pathway. We are then able to read the signs leading us closer to Him. God is here to direct us through every decision if we just let Him into our lives. There is a message for us as His Spirit guides us along the Way. 

“Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God” (1 Samuel 25:29). 

When our souls are joined to the Lord, our lives are hidden in Him. Our minds, our wills, and our emotions are under the influence of the Holy One. We think His thoughts in order to willfully obey Him, thus we can feel with Him the same as He feels about every matter. His objective is to draw us into a merging of hearts that we may love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Such compassion will bring us to give a fuller expression of His life. The life that we live in the flesh will be the life of the Son of God. Our lives would be hidden. We are bound to each other, and bound together with the Lord. This is the Church of God. This is the degree of protection and safety that is provided for us when we are in accord with Him. No man can touch us without touching God. He has identified with humanity through the incarnation. Now we can identify with Him as He identifies with us. 

“Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down!” (Isaiah 64:1). 

There are many things about God that are hard to explain and difficult to make others to see. For example, the dimensions of His love presents among us when it feels like He is not there, and how definite the course is that we are to fully follow. We do our best in attempting to point people in the right direction, but very often our instructions are taken as an opinion equal to any other opinion. Things will continue as they have always been unless there is an infusion of life in this culture of death. If we are left to ourselves, there would be no solving of the riddles or answers to deep questions that we lack the ability to ask. 

God revealed Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. Now Christ must be seen through His Body, the Church. We need the Spirit of God to come down and descend upon His people in revival! Then we will feel the need to be in accord under the same governance and rule. God’s power will then function among us as it did on the Day of Pentecost. We cannot afford to lose this battle by default while many are merely concerned with their own personal affairs. We need to be about our Father’s business. “Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down!”