Nothing Between Us and Christ

The Life of discipleship can only be maintained so long as nothing is allowed to come between Christ and ourselves – neither the law, nor personal piety, nor even the world. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

For too long we have believed we can just throw up a quick sinners prayer, attend church if and when we want to and then we can go on with your life as normal. We may not admit it but we most likely live that way. I am just as guilty as anyone else.

Let me be clear, we don’t work to earn our salvation. Salvation (forgiven for our sins restoring us to a right relationship with God our Father)  is a free gift (grace) given when we accept by faith Jesus Christ as our Lord. However, our faith in Christ is not the end but a beginning of a journey where we grow to live a life completely surrendered to Jesus Christ.

The disciples left their nets (jobs, family, everything they knew and had) to follow Jesus. (Matthew 4:18-20)

Jesus himself calls us to deny our self:

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. – Luke 9:23

Jesus calls us to live a life totally, completely 100% for him. Like his first disciples he calls us to go all in. We must be careful because even things that seem ‘good’ can become a wedge between us and Christ.

Jesus set the example:

When Jesus walked this earth he did not live a life for himself. He lived in complete obedience to his heavenly Father who sent him (John 3:16).

I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. – John 5:30

Most importantly he willingly died on a cross for a debt we owed. He now calls us to die to ourselves for him. We can’t allow anything to come between us and Christ – he is our all, our everything.

To our natural mind it sounds so selfish on God’s part to call us to allow nothing to come between us not even the things that may bring us temporary happiness.  But this is what we are created for. Only when we die to ourselves do we experience the fullness of life in Christ. This is where we experience true peace and joy no matter what circumstances satan or this world may throw at us.

One thing that limits us to live this way is we fail to realize the depth of what Christ has done for us. We fail to comprehend that without Christ we really are nothing and we are hopelessly lost. We can only grow to this place by the work of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, worship and studying the Bible can help us grow in this area but the heavy work is always done by the Holy Spirit.

This week I pray for you (and for me)

• That you grow in your understanding of the fullness of the work of Christ in your life
• May the Holy Spirit work in your life to line up your desires and passions with the perfect will of Christ.
• May you be engulfed by the grace and peace of God our Father and his son Jesus Christ
  
• May you be anointed by the Holy Spirit with wisdom and revelation to know God better.

The life of a disciple is a journey, a journey where we can grow to a place where nothing in this world can come between us and our passion live fully for Jesus Christ.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer quote is from his book, The Cost of Discipleship

photo credit: ELECTROLITE photography down by the seaside via photopin (license)

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About the Author: Jon Stallings

I am enthusiastic about helping others discover their purpose and grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus. It is great to see their eyes light up at their “Ah Ha!” moment when they discover they were created for something more. My hope is that this blog will help encourage and inspire you along your way. Join the conversation and take the time to share with me your own story. I have been married to my beautiful wife Janice for over 30 years. We currently live in McDonough Georgia with our daughter. Our two boys have left the nest and we have two wonderful grand kids. Of course we cannot forget about our dog Bear.