Jesus In The Daily

When my husband and I started dating, we were seniors in high school. He was a pastor’s son who was serious about his faith, and on our first date asked me to go to church with him the very next day. I was smitten. Saying “yes” meant that anxiety would keep me from getting much sleep that night, but somehow, in my mind I knew that saying “no” could possibly cost me any hope of him asking me out again.

My thinking wasn’t far from the truth. Though I didn’t know how many chances I would get, I later found out that, because of his faith he was committed to following God’s plan for his life–and that included his conviction (based on Scripture) that he should only date girls with a like-minded faith.

I said “yes!”

Not willing to risk it, I chose him that night. (And I still do!)

In case you don’t know me yet, I married my high school sweetheart four years later, but let me rewind this love story a bit and reminisce on just how different we really were in those early years. My future husband was second of four boys in his family and I was second born of two boys and two girls in mine. He was all about sports–I knew very little. (Though I was a tomboy in nature, I didn’t know much about anything sports related except how to play baseball and basketball with my brothers.) His dad was a pastor and my dad wanted nothing to do with church. My parents had been away from church life for about five years when we moved the summer before my senior year–from the town I was born in. In contrast, Doug had lived in more places than I could count because his father was a bi-vocational pastor (part-time), and worked as a boilermaker on jobs that would relocate them often.

Doug was looking for a Christian girl. God had saved me prior to my family’s decision to walk away from the church, so I was left alone to figure out what my life was supposed to look like. (Or so I thought!) I am forever grateful for those early years that gave me the opportunity to hear the truth and surrender my life to Jesus, but the following years were a difficult time when I felt I had nothing left to guide me spiritually.

Here’s the truth of what I came to know: Jesus never left me.

The Bible is clear that when you accept what Jesus did for you on the cross and in the resurrection, the Holy Spirit comes to live in you. The promise of the Holy Spirit means that you always have access to God the Father through His Son and His Spirit. He never leaves you. He is there to give insight and wisdom. He is there to guide and correct. God the Father IS the Son in the flesh. It is God the Father’s Spirit in you when you place your trust in Him. I know now that some of the prompting that came was God’s passionate pursuit of me.

“I did tell you and you don’t believe,” Jesus answered them. “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify about me. But you don’t believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.” John 10:25-30

How do I know He never left me? I know because He convicted me when I was wrong. He led me to opportunities to know Him better–like when, on a first date, I am invited to church. He opened my eyes to truth and the importance of knowing Him better by reading His Word. He gave wisdom and insight into some of the biggest decisions of my life–one of which was choosing to marry a man who would become a pastor.

Jesus is so much more than someone we learn about. God so loved us that He gave us Jesus–but not just for salvation from hell or the promise of an eternal life in heaven—He gave us Jesus so we could see what He is like and learn from His example. God became a man to show us how we should live every single day. I call it choosing Jesus in the daily.

“For God loved the world in this way:He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

And if you keep reading in this chapter of John you will see more of the why we need to see, learn and live by the truth of God’s Word:

“But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.” John 3:21

In other words, I can look back over my life and say, “God did that!”

When my mama was in her last days, I would be in my car for hours every week just driving to be with her. On those long drives, I met with Jesus. I talked to Him. I cried with Him. I sang to Him–because worship is an act of surrender. I saw worship as a way to say “God, even when it’s hard, and even when I don’t understand–I trust you.” One of the songs that I sang over and over and on almost every road trip was, “I Need Thee Every Hour”:

I need Thee ev’ry hour,
Most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine
Can peace afford.

Refrain:
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Ev’ry hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee ev’ry hour,
Stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r
When Thou art nigh. [Refrain]

I need Thee ev’ry hour,
In joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide,
Or life is vain. [Refrain]

I need Thee ev’ry hour,
Teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises
In me fulfill. [Refrain]

As I sang that song in my car I would cry out a new song,

” I need Thee, o, I need Thee; Ev’ry hour, every minute, every second I need Thee!”.

Life doesn’t always feel desperate, but the reality is, our souls are desperate for Him. Our lives–and the quality of the life He gives greatly depends on whether or not we see, hear…

…and choose to meet with Jesus in the daily.