Christ In You
Jesus said He would abide with us, and He and His Father would make their home in us. Why in? What wasn't alongside close enough? Ever wonder about that?
Jesus wanted to be more than our Mentor, Friend, and Lord — though He intends to be all of those things to anyone who wants to know Him. More than a companion to us, He wants to be our very Life! That is really hard to get my mind around! But it is worth trying to grasp. Because the more we "get it" the more we will become who He intends for us to be.
There is a reason why we are corporately called "the Body of Christ." Beyond the figure of speach involved in that phrase is the reality that God wants to be joined to us. This is not a long-distance relationship. God wants to be more than "close." He wants to live in us and for His life to become our life. And not just so we can do His work, though we do become joined to His mission as we take on His life. Service is not the goal — union is the goal. Service is simply the means by which He invites others into union with Him, and offers real love to them.
Even "Love one another" takes on new meaning when we see this. Loving others is not something we do because we are supposed to. It is the very nature of God to love others. For us to fully experience His life in us, His love needs to be expressed to others by us to them. It's all about God, not us, and how much He loves.
May God help us to release our hold on our own self, and allow Him full reign in our body, heart, and mind. so we can say with Paul, that "Christ is our life."