From the Desk of Steve Shultz:
Do you know just what it means to be in Him? This is a really good message and an eye-opener from Ben Peters.
You're going to learn a great deal about being in Him and more...we've only just begun to understand and tap into all that the Lord wants to freely give of Himself for us.
Enjoy as you pursue being in Him. (To Subscribe to the Elijah List subscribe here.)
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Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher
The Elijah List & Breaking Christian News
elijahlist.com
If you've ever led people to salvation in Jesus Christ, you've probably invited them to ask Jesus to come into their heart. As Paul wrote in Colossians 1:27, Christ IN US is the hope of glory. Thus, it is perfectly appropriate to pray for Jesus to come into our hearts. But today, God is saying that He also wants to invite us into HIS HEART. It's an incredible invitation!
In His heart are the secrets of the universe and the plans and strategies He has for our future and His Kingdom. It's where we learn about what He loves and what He hates. But, not only that, the Scriptures inform us that there are many incredible and powerful blessings when we find ourselves IN HIM. The fact that He wants to invite us into His heart should overwhelm us with both great gratitude and off-the-charts excitement.
In John 17, Jesus prayed that His disciples would be one. In verse 21, Jesus prayed, "[T]hat they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one IN US, so that the world may believe that You sent Me." This is the first incredible promise for those who are in unity because they are together IN GOD. The promise here is that we will have the power to enable the world to believe that Jesus was sent to Earth by His Father God. In other words, we will have the power of God flowing through us in such a way that unbelievers will become Believers; cursers will become worshipers; the hopeless will find hope in Him.
Blessings in Him
What, then, are some of the other blessings that caused Paul to declare in Philippians 3:8-9 that he considered everything he had ever achieved before knowing Jesus to be rubbish or dung, and a total loss, in order to gain Christ and be found IN HIM? The first thing Paul mentions is that he would gain the righteousness of God by faith in exchange for his own righteousness. He knew this was a total win for him and worth every possible sacrifice and earthly loss. That's exchanging filthy, stinking robes of the flesh for glorious and beautiful robes of royalty. Come on now, that's truly the deal of a lifetime!
In verse 10, Paul adds several more benefits of being found in Him. The first is the privilege of knowing Him. We often like to brag, or name drop, that we know a famous person or two. Paul desired to know the Creator and Savior of the world. He knew that being found IN HIM was the way to get to know Him. Paul then adds that being IN HIM would help him know or experience the "power of His resurrection." That's more than a little power. I believe it's not only the power that raised Jesus from the dead, but also the power He received from His Father when He was raised.
Finally, Paul added a privilege only those who know Jesus in deep intimacy will appreciate. He declares that being IN JESUS would enable him to know or experience the "...fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" (Philippians 3:10). Paul knew that the greater the death to self he experienced, the greater the resurrection power he could be trusted with... (continue reading)
