The Unhindered Way

​Meditation
John 14:9—Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Philip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’

Oswald Chambers asked, “Is it possible to know all about doctrine and yet not know Jesus?”[1]  Philip was frequently in the presence of Jesus yet truly did not know Him.  How could that happen?  Could the same be true of us? Are we smug in God’s realness while unaware of His presence?  Do we read His words yet miss His voice?

Moses’ people witnessed more miracles than any other generation until Christ. Despite God’s stunning supernatural intervention, they let extra-large Canaanites psych them out.  They had the cloud and fire but no affection.  One might conclude that trials are not a predictor of intimacy, for the Israelites endured 400 years of bondage and 40 years in the desert yet found a golden calf favorable to a manna-providing Father. How can that happen?  Ask Joshua.  

The church in America is prosperous and mostly free yet worships materialism and is more compromised to depraved values than ever. Contented religion is always bereft of depth. It stops transforming society while disintegrating into oblivion. One might conclude that blessings are not a predictor of intimacy. Americans have the most envied republic in history yet have a far greater affinity for their sports teams than their Bibles. 

The unhindered way to spiritual intimacy begins when we cease enshrining our circumstances and focus on Christ.  If times are hard, we grow closer to Him by sharing our troubled hearts and by being vulnerable, teachable, and cognizant of our shortcomings and need for Him.  If times are good, we avoid complacency and idolatry by promoting Spirit-led worship. We build transparency through gratitude, recognizing that what we have inside matters far more than what we have outside. We promote obedience to attain self-denial.

When the cross killed Jesus, it crushed His disciples. His resurrection came from the caverns of death, which opened their eyes to the Messiah and molded a deeper love of immeasurable proportion. The unhindered way to intimacy always requires death. When we die to Egypt’s treasures, to craving meat, to political saviors, to flesh-pleasing-world-approving pursuits, then we find the unhindered way to the Son, to knowing the Father, and experiencing His Spirit. Something to think about . . . in reveration.
 
Inspiration
When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic. The saint who is intimate with Jesus will never leave impressions of himself, but only the impression that Jesus is having unhindered way, because the last abyss of his nature has been satisfied by Jesus. The only impression left by such a life is that of the strong calm sanity that our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.—Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest

©2023 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed, subject to the inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)
 


[1] Chambers, O. (1935). My Utmost for His Highest. Dodd, Mead, & Company.