Now that both Connexus campuses have had a chance to experience Part Two of Jesus the Guru, I'd love to reflect on the challenge I issued to draw closer to Jesus in our personal time with Him. God is more than an idea, and Jesus is more than a theory: He is a person, and the Christian faith is actually inherently personal. Which means our time with God in prayer and scripture actually is dialogue with God.
So if you're still not sure what you believe about Jesus, I encouraged you to spend time praying (beyond just a ‘here's what I want today, God' type of prayer) and to read some of the most powerful words ever spoken by Jesus, in Matthew 5-7. Because I sense that those of us who follow Jesus could follow Him more closely, I encouraged Christians to do the same.
For example, as I read Matthew 5: 21-24, I'm pretty convinced I could just read this passage all week and still be deeply challenged. I haven't murdered anyone, but if I had to count the number of times I've been angry with people or thought "you idiot" (even if I didn't speak it), I think the count might hit seven digits.
Hard personal questions for me to ask Jesus in prayer:
1. Why would I think other people are idiots? Is it because I think I'm better than them?
2. When I curse people (think less of them), how am I valuing them the way you might value them, God?
3. Why don't I want to reconcile with certain people who have angered me? Why do you tell me to? Why am I disobedient? Is pride at the heart of it?
Those are three questions, but they are questions that will take more than three minutes to pray about or resolve. They could reinvigorate my prayer life. Heck, they could change my life.
As you spend time with Jesus in prayer around his teachings in Matthew 5-7, what comes to you? Please feel free to feedback here on the blog.
– Carey
