Christian Writers Circle

Journaling – Glory in Intimacy
by Cathy Weil
Good morning Father, I love you. Please help me grasp what I have been reading.

The apostles had the privilege of knowing and hanging out with Jesus. They ate with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him, and saw Him do miracles. They saw Him with human eyes, touched Him with human bodies and heard Him with human ears. What in the world could beat that? We all wish we could have experienced Jesus the way the Apostles did. I wish I could go to Israel, just to walk the streets where Jesus walked in the flesh. I could pretend, just for a moment to be there at that time.

Why then, did Jesus say:

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you,” John 16:7 NASB

I can see how the Apostles were bummed out. Who wants a “helper” when you can have the real thing “Jesus.”  They just wanted to go on the trip they thought Jesus was going on, but they weren’t “invited.” Can you imagine the abandonment issues they had when Jesus was crucified, died and was buried? They had the first glimmer of hope when they found out that Jesus rose from the dead. Then when Jesus visited them, they were given a bigger vision of what this was all about. After Jesus departed, they worked, but again were lost and confused about what the point of all of this was. In the upper room, forty days later on the feast of Pentecost, a big holy wind blew up and through them. In an instant, they were changed and sealed with the Holy Spirit. They prophesied, spoke in tongues, etc. Now the secret was revealed! God “IN” us.Us “IN” God. The intimate, true union of God and man! The actual throne room of God now can reside in our hearts. The ultimate purpose for every covenant between God and man fulfilled! They rejoiced and praised their living God.

Today there are many who go to church and I think they feel like the apostles did when Christ died and hadn’t risen yet. They wonder: “Is there really a Christ?” “If there is, He’s not here for me”. Until there is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they are dead. We must have apostles today, speaking life to these people. We must yield to the Spirit within us and serve.

Those who have experienced the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, have a responsibility to grow and yield to the work the Holy Spirit is doing in and around us. If we do, over time, we will have the mind of Christ, we will have the hands and feet of Christ and by dying to self, He will walk the streets here on earth in unity with us in our own bodies. He is glorified through our obedience and our witness and the very Presence we carry. His true presence radiates from the throne room in our hearts to the world. We are more than human tabernacles. We have been given the privilege of being one with God who made heaven and earth. We can “see” what He sees and “hear” what He hears and know what He knows, because we are united by the Spirit in the body. If we truly seek Him with our whole mind, heart and soul, then we can have the privilege of really knowing our God intimately from the inside out. We are in this world with a greater advantage than the Apostles had before Pentecost, because we are one with our Triune God