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CHRIST
is in You! "To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me" (Col. 1:29). "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf; be reconciled to God" (II Cor. 5:19-21). Jesus is there for us. In every situation He is there; there are no obstacles; He is there and in us. We can pray for that revelation. It was a beautiful experience as I preached on this in a Chinese church and the Spirit began touching people. One by one in the Chinese language they began to shout, "Jesus, Jesus, You are so beautiful, Your presence is in us!" For over 30 minutes the sound of it got louder and louder but was never imposing; it was gentle, like I would imagine angels sounding. It was very peaceful; Jesus' touch is so gentle. I was just happy to be there. When it stopped, the peace didn't; everyone just carried it away, for Jesus had revealed His presence within. It wasn't a "sing me happy" service, but a simple revelation of Jesus within, a move of God. An outer witness (such as a sermon, a book, the Bible, nature, or another Christian) that met the witness within (Jesus Christ) to cause a divine spark, an amen! One fellow told me the Spirit always moves in his meetings, and people pray and repent. But I watched his meeting; the people had no choice! They were forced to the front, forced to sing, forced to confess, and forced to pray. Well, it's within the allowable will of God. But that kind of worship cannot be maintained without ceasing. The quiet fellowship of the soul turned toward the Spirit is possible throughout the day. Prayer in the flesh cannot be maintained; prayer in the Spirit can be ceaseless. This same fellow asked if I belong to a particular denomination. I confuse him because I let the Spirit move me and the meeting rather than trying to move the Spirit by scheduling Him to show up, to express Himself through believers in a certain way, and to do anything I might expect or want. The Spirit imposes Himself as He wills, and sometimes that means we witness, preach, write, or rest. In Acts they prayed and the Spirit filled them, and next they spoke the word of God in boldness. He moves where He wills as the wind. A man said he once saw Jesus sitting upon a great white horse in heaven inviting him to come and see His glory. But the man didn't believe he was truly being invited until Jesus called him "Friend." That one word went racing through his whole being. "Yes," Jesus said, "you are my friend. I talk to you as a friend and invite you as friend." The man wept. "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn. 15:5). Ó
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