“Jesus modeled what it looks like to live in total dependence on the Holy Spirit through moment-by-moment fellowship with the Father.” VANCE PITMAN
Faithfully following Jesus - what does that look like?
This is the question that I have been ‘noodling’ on over the past few weeks. And where we left off in last week’s devotional was with one CRUCIAL word that sheds light on the answer to the above question…
RELATIONSHIPS.
Faithfully following Jesus has everything to do with looking at how Jesus lived while He was here, and central to Jesus’s life were relationships. To be very specific, three KEY relationships:
1. Jesus’s relationship with His Father
2. Jesus’s relationship with His disciples
3. Jesus’s relationship with the world.
Today, let’s focus on the one relationship that will shape ALL other relationships… our RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER.
In looking at how Jesus related with His Heavenly Father, I would use one word to describe their relationship…
DEPENDENCE
In short, Jesus was dependent upon His Heavenly Father for absolutely EVERYTHING. Jesus summarizes well what His dependence upon His Father looked like in John’s Gospel —
“The Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” John 5:19 (NLT)
“I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me. And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.” John 8:28-29 (NLT)
NOTHING. Think about that for a moment. Jesus says that apart from fellowship with His Father He can do nothing. When Jesus spoke, it was exactly what His Father had spoken. When Jesus performed miracles, well, they were extensions of the Father working through the Son.
Every message.
Every conversation.
Every decision.
Every miracle.
Every interaction.
Evey response.
Everything Jesus did flowed from One who was 110% dependent upon His Father to move, speak, and act. In other words, what the Father did, so too did the Son.
How does this work for us? In short, TIME.
Jesus spent time with His Father. He often withdrew from the crowds, including His disciples in order to be ALONE with His Father. Whether it was in the desert, garden, or mountain top, Jesus intentionally positioned Himself in spaces in which He could be with His Father.
And through TIME with His Father, Jesus received EVERYTHING He needed to accomplish ALL that His Father had purposed for Him.
If we’d faithfully follow Jesus, well, it begins with cultivating an intimate friendship with our Heavenly Father. And that will take TIME.
TIME IN PRAYER.
TIME IN HIS WORD.
TIME IN SILENCE.
TIME IN REFLECTION.
TIME IN WORSHIP.
TIME IN JOURNALING.
As we spend time with our Heavenly Father, we will receive EVERYTHING we need to navigate the many challenges, twists, and turns that come our way in any given moment of any given day.
If we’d faithfully follow Jesus, it begins with cultivating an intimate friendship with our Heavenly Father. And as we’ll see, this one relationship with our Father will shape the other two relationships that are needed for you and me to faithfully follow Jesus.
