These days as spiritual things gets commercialised just like any other market commodities in the buisness, we as christians have truly lost what it means to be in relationship and intimacy with Jesus. The saints of old longed for fellowship with God, this was the greatness in life they intensely desired after. Loving Jesus in an intimate way will make our hearts tender and will lead us to love others unconditionally (Matt 18:3; 1 John 4:20-21). This is what made the apostles who were sold out lovers of Jesus to share through their apostolic letters, how we as the child of God can have a tangible fellowship daily with Jesus (1 John 1:3; 1 Cor 1:9). The apostles were men full of joy and swam being drunk in the Spirit (1 John 1:4; Eph 5:18). These apostolic men hardly were able to remember their miseries of life because they were too drunk in the Spirit of Christ to remember it (Prov 31:7; Rom 8:9).
They were too addicted and enraptured to the contagious and ecstatic Joy that they experienced daily in fellowship with Jesus, they were not able to clearly express to people what makes them experience such heavenly life on earth and finally told to the people to believe the word of God to experience such Joy in their lives too (1 Peter 1:8; Acts 3:19). They never thought that they were sacrificing their life greatly for God, but they considered the ministry that they were doing as a privilege that God has given it to them mercifully because of His great unconditional love toward them (1 Tim 1:12).
The one thing that the apostles consistently desired in their lives was to live like Jesus lived on earth. They wanted to speak like Jesus, behave like Jesus, love like Jesus, eat like Jesus, sleep like Jesus, walk like Jesus and die like Jesus. In other words, they wanted their heart to beat the same way like Jesus. They had great apostolic family and fellow apostles around them, but they never looked on to their lives as any examples to emulate in their lives (1 Cor 11:1). Their eyes were fixed on Jesus and consistently exhorted the apostolic believers to live like they lived because of the qulaity of abundant life they experienced (Heb 12:2). The one desire that the apostles had in the recesses of their heart for the believers was to take their lives as a pattern to walk, be intimate with Jesus, walk in the joy of the Lord that is set before them always and set themselves as an example for others to follow (Phil 3:17; Phil 4:4).
These men knew what it means when the Bible says, "Much water may not put out love, or the deep waters overcome it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be judged a price not great enough." (Sos 8:7, BBE). They gave up their possesions, status, frienships, comfort and even their time spent with their family to follow this embodiment of love whose name is Jesus (Matt 19:27; Phil 3:7-8). If we ask the question, what did they find in Jesus that they were willing to lose their very life for Him? In Jesus they found the true meaning for the existence of life. They found a passion for living that they did not find anywhere in the world. In short, by willingly losing interest in all the temporal things which they held as something of great value in their past life, they found out the very reason for the existence of life on earth (Matt 10:39; John 14:6). This is why the only man who was called by God as the one after His own heart said this wonderful statement, "Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise You!" (Psa 63:3, NLT).
The true mark of a man of God is not how big and powerful their ministries are, but how devoted they are to Jesus in this life. This is the scale of measurement that should be used to measure a man or a woman of God.
Read the following devotion of the great man of God Thomas O. Chisholm and his desire to be like Jesus that drove him in to deeper intimacy with Jesus and be inspired to follow Jesus with the heart beat that he has expressesed in the follwing poem,
I have one deep supreme desire,
That I may be like Jesus.
To this I fervently aspire,
That I may be like Jesus.
I want my heart His throne to be,
So that a watching world may see
His likeness shining forth in me;
I want to be like Jesus.
Oh, perfect life of Christ my Lord,
I want to be like Jesus.
My recompense and my reward,
That I may be like Jesus.
His Spirit fill my hung'ring soul,
His power all my life control;
My deepest pray'r, my highest goal,
That I may be like Jesus.
-- Thomas O. Chisholm
My question to you is, 'Are you longing for fellowship and intimacy with Jesus?' I praise God if you really are, other wise I advice you to change priority and spend your time with Jesus daily (Eccl 12:13). At the end of your small life that God has given you (Ps 90:10), all that matters will be how much time have you spend with Jesus alone. The out of this world retirement benefits awaits you if you are really intimate with Jesus now. The supernatural heavenly world's joy, empowerment and satisfaction is yours, if you continue to carry your cross that Jesus has given you in order to be yoked with Him and fullfill His plan for your life (Matt 10:38-39; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 14:26-27).
Abraham Israel
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