9-29-21 He in Us, and We in Him

He in Us, and We in Him :: By Tom Tillman Published on: September 17, 2021 by RRadmin7 Category:General Articles This just might revolutionize your prayer life. A most wonderful fact that God’s Word teaches us is that now… even now and always… “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:4-10). It would take many pages to give this passage the attention it deserves, but I only want to look at one phrase: “…and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” First, God made us sit together with Him in Heaven. He didn’t ask, ‘Would you like to come sit with Me?’ He made us sit. He made us, first, to exist. Then, He loved us completely and everlastingly; He crucified us with Christ and then raised us up to Eternal Life. But the point I’m stressing here is that we are in the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is in us… forever, and we are now sitting with Him in Heaven. What does the Lord Jesus Christ do while He is seated with His Father in the Heavenly places? “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them [for us]” (Heb 7:25). He has already saved us to the uttermost, but as He sits with the Father, He is constantly praying for you and me. He is lifting us up to the Father; literally, He is holding us up before the Father and praying for us… all day, every day, and every night; He never stops praying for us. As we are sitting there with Him, He in us and we in Him, we are ‘beseeched’ by Paul: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:1-2). In our spirits… yes, part of our ‘new creation’ makeup, is that we now, after being born again, have a living eternal spirit. We live within these fleshly bodies while still here in this life, but we are also spiritual. Our flesh always wants to sin, while our spirits always pull us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling and the third part of our makeup. Causing us also to be a ‘trinity,’ created in God’s Image is our soul, which is the part of us we ‘know’ best. Our souls must constantly choose whether to allow our flesh to draw us into sin or to allow our spirits to draw us into precious fellowship with God, the Father, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are seated in Heavenly places now. Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matt 16:24). Our souls are commanded to follow our spirits and force our flesh to put itself, again, upon our own cross and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. As we present our bodies as living sacrifices, Paul says, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24). Here it is: as we faithfully crucify our flesh, our souls can focus on walking in the spirit – our spirits in God’s Spirit, and His Spirit in us – to follow what Jesus is doing. What is He doing right now? That’s right; He is praying for us. So, just like a little child looks at his father to learn to copy what his father does, we are to do what Jesus Christ is doing. We have been given the awesome privilege and responsibility by God Himself to sit right there in the ‘inner circle’ of the King of the Universe and join Him in lifting up others to the Father. First, we lift up our own flesh and our own lives; then, we begin to lift up our loved ones, one at a time. And then we can begin to lift up others: our neighbors, our friends, our acquaintances… and know this: once we begin to do this, our time in prayer, the time during which we actually focus on the fact that we are seated in Heavenly places, will begin to grow and mature. Our prayer life and our relationship with our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will deepen and expand. Imagine being able to truly lift up that grouchy neighbor, that unsaved brother, that prodigal son, father or husband, and persecuted Christians all around the world. The ones who are too heavy for us to lift… He is right there with us and in us. He loves each of them far more than we ever could. Every time we lift them up, we are praying according to God’s will. The outcome is all His responsibility; we can leave them with Him, or we can continue to intercede right along with the Lord Jesus Christ as we go about our daily business. We really can pray without ceasing. As we better understand who we have been created to be and where we actually are, we will truly walk in a manner “worthy of the calling with which we’ve been called (Eph 4:1). God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ invite us daily, every morning, to sit with them in Heaven and to join right in their intercession. And the great thing is, He never says, ‘That’s long enough; you can go now; I’m bored with you.’ He continues to make intercession for us and with us; we can sit with Him in love, fellowship, and intercession for as long as we want. In fact, Paul writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thes 5:16-18). Have you ever felt alone, left out, forgotten, and ignored by others, as if you mean nothing at all? None of that matters when we recognize the Truth… God’s Truth, His Eternal Truth that we are born again, recreated sons and daughters of God Most High, and we are constantly invited by Him — personally invited to come sit with Him, to tell Him all about what’s happening in us, around us, and through us. He loves us and always gives us His full attention as if we were the only child He has. And whenever anything feels too heavy for us to lift before Him, He is with us, He in us, and we in Him to put His arms around our arms to lift that heavy burden up to the Father. As we are faithful to dwell in the secret place of the Most High, we will abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psa 91:1). As we bring that heavy burden, He pulls us into Himself and puts His arms around our arms and says, Fear not for I am with you; let’s lift this thing which is so heavy for you; let’s lift it together. You can do this; you can do all things through Me. I will never leave you or forsake you. Stay here with Me; I am your hiding place, your shelter from the storm. I’ll keep you in My embrace, I am your home.’* We abide there; we can know that we can leave it with Him, and He will keep it ever before Himself; He will never file it away and forget it. Finally, how should our precious time alone with Him as He focuses right on us… how should that time be temporarily postponed until the next time we come and also give Him our full focus and attention like He always does us? What does a small child do when he is leaving where his father is? He grabs and tugs his father’s hand or thumb insistently and incessantly calls, ‘Come, come with me, Daddy; come and see!’ And our never-ending call should always be, ‘Come, Lord Jesus, come! Come, Lord Jesus, we’re waiting, Listening Lord for Your call… Anxious for sharing The place You’re preparing, our home… Longing to be with You We’re longing to be with You. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly; come soon, even today! *I don’t speak for God; nothing I say or write apart from God’s written Word is ‘thus saith the Lord!’ It is simply what I sense or imagine He says to me. Tom Tillman heartsoflove.org