Spiritual Formation: Being with Jesus
Each one of us is a disciple of someone, or perhaps even several people. They helped to shape our spirits and determine who we are. We are the disciples of our various teachers, peers, parents, or others with whom we have established relationships and influenced our lives. As Christians, we are to be disciples of Jesus.
If we are to be disciples of anyone, we are going to have to be with them. A disciple or apprentice seeks to be like the person they are studying. Whether one learns the piano, baseball, fishing, a foreign language, sewing, or almost anything, they have to be with the one who teaches them. For me to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is for me to determine that I am going to be with Him, so that I may become the kind of person that He is and be capable of doing the things that He did. We should live our lives with Jesus in order to learn to be like Him. Jesus is so wonderful in every respect that we delight in Him and seek His presence. We enjoy being taught and helped by Him.
While being with Jesus in the first century was simply a matter of literally following Him, observing Him, and listening to Him, Jesus prepared His followers for the time when He would not be with them in bodily human form. In John 14 He explained that He would no longer be with them in the same way He had been with them to that point in time, but He had made provision to be with them nonetheless. He promised them that He would send “another comforter” or strengthener - One who would be alongside them to help them. In fulfillment of His promise, the Holy Spirit came to the disciples in Acts 2 on Pentecost day. They were immersed or engulfed by the Spirit. These Christians came to understand that Christ continued to abide with them through His Spirit.
Life in God’s kingdom is a matter of experiencing the practical reality of the presence of Jesus in our lives. That is what the kingdom of God on earth is. This is eternal life (John 17:3), often described as being “in Christ.” Jesus said the kingdom of God is within us. The Spirit of Christ with us is how Jesus stays with us throughout our life until He comes again (Matthew 28:20). His abiding Spirit in us is how we experience the reality of His presence, and it is the reality of His presence that forms our spirits in the process of what we call “spiritual formation.”
If we are to be disciples of anyone, we are going to have to be with them. A disciple or apprentice seeks to be like the person they are studying. Whether one learns the piano, baseball, fishing, a foreign language, sewing, or almost anything, they have to be with the one who teaches them. For me to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is for me to determine that I am going to be with Him, so that I may become the kind of person that He is and be capable of doing the things that He did. We should live our lives with Jesus in order to learn to be like Him. Jesus is so wonderful in every respect that we delight in Him and seek His presence. We enjoy being taught and helped by Him.
While being with Jesus in the first century was simply a matter of literally following Him, observing Him, and listening to Him, Jesus prepared His followers for the time when He would not be with them in bodily human form. In John 14 He explained that He would no longer be with them in the same way He had been with them to that point in time, but He had made provision to be with them nonetheless. He promised them that He would send “another comforter” or strengthener - One who would be alongside them to help them. In fulfillment of His promise, the Holy Spirit came to the disciples in Acts 2 on Pentecost day. They were immersed or engulfed by the Spirit. These Christians came to understand that Christ continued to abide with them through His Spirit.
Life in God’s kingdom is a matter of experiencing the practical reality of the presence of Jesus in our lives. That is what the kingdom of God on earth is. This is eternal life (John 17:3), often described as being “in Christ.” Jesus said the kingdom of God is within us. The Spirit of Christ with us is how Jesus stays with us throughout our life until He comes again (Matthew 28:20). His abiding Spirit in us is how we experience the reality of His presence, and it is the reality of His presence that forms our spirits in the process of what we call “spiritual formation.”
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