MY QUESTION TO GOD
This was my question to God when I fell ill on February 14, 2023 – which happened to have been Valentine’s Day. I was running a high fever (which lasted until the next day and only broke on Thursday. I eventually found out it was COVID-19, which is an entirely other story).
From day one, I asked the LORD, “How do I live so that You are the centre of all I do? I want everything to revolve around You. My job, my career, the ministries I am a part of, everything must revolve around You!” I figured this was a tall order for the LORD, but I was determined to start living my life like that.
Little did I know that God had it figured out before I even asked. What did He do? He sent me to a YouTube sermon from one of my favourite teachers of the Word of God, Dr Alicia Britt Chole (dr abc as she calls herself). It started out innocently enough with her doing a “Prayer Practicum” – in which she was teaching her audience how to use “prayer tools” to enhance their prayer life. The third and final tool she spoke about was familiar to me from one of her other teachings and I immediately realized it was the answer I needed for the question I was asking God, “How do I make You centre of everything?”
LIVE LIFE IN THE PLURAL
The prayer tool was – “Living life in the plural” which could easily be the title for this piece. To build my case, here are a few things Jesus said to us (yes, these are the red letters) – some of these dr abc highlighted, others she did not. In John 14, “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (Jn 14:23) This is quite a statement, and it is Jesus who said it. Sounds to me like Father and Son are at home in us as Believers.
Again, Jesus said to us, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (vv. 25-26) Sounds like we now have the Holy Spirit with us – Whom God the Father sent to us in the Name of Jesus – so, in essence, we have Jesus with us. Earlier in verses 15-18, Jesus had said: (in the Amplified Classic) “If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—” (vv. 15-16).
Kingdom Men, we need to read verse 17 and 18 for completion, but at the end of verse 18, Jesus emphasized that Holy Spirit “…lives with you [constantly] and will be in you…”
NOTE THE CONDITIONS – OBEY MY COMMANDMENTS
Please note the conditions – obey my commandments – and if you are concerned about that, please read John 15:9-12 and then read 1 John 5:3. There’s one more scripture then we close with the revelation. In Matthew 28, ‘…Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (vv18-20)
So, everything we have explored in scripture has said to us that Jesus is with us, in us, closer than hands and feet and He Himself said He is with us always.
THE BIG QUESTION LEADING TO THE REVELATION
Here is the big question that dr abc asked and I am asking us, “ How can we say in one breath that we believe that Jesus is always with us, and then walk away to do our own thing?” We go about comfortable in ourselves that when we say “Jesus, what am I going to do about this bill?” or “LORD, I don’t know how I am going to handle this crisis!” Having God in the sentence does not make Him center!
Instead, why don’t we change the “I” (personal pronoun) to “We”? So, it would be something like: “Jesus, what are We going to do about this bill?” or “LORD, I don’t know how we are going to handle this crisis!” God is right there with us and when we include Him in our thinking, but in the plural, we are inviting Him to be in the centre of everything we face in life.
What do we think will happen when we engage with Jesus and Holy Spirit this way? God becomes the centre of everything we do. We are acknowledging Him in all our ways.
This simple shift in perspective and practice of living in the plural can change our entire lives. Let us test this for a week and tell me what happens. Kingdom Men I am making this challenge to all of us.
Live with God at the centre – live in the plural!
Shalom! Shalom!
