“What have you and Jesus been talking about?”

Over an early morning breakfast this week, my friend, Chip, relentlessly asked me the question he always asks when we meet: “What have you and Jesus been talking about?”  

This is such a natural question for Chip, because he is a man of prayer and of conversation.  Chip is in continuous conversation with God throughout everyday.  (I’m pretty sure he’s even figured out how to pray in his sleep.)  He reminds me of a line from Richard Foster’s book, where he says “Of all spiritual disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with [God].”

Chip prays because He finds a continual deepening of relationship with God in prayer.  In fact, the more he prays, the more enamored he becomes with God, which drives him even more to want to speak with God.

In the incredible busyness that we all have accepted as an appropriate way of life, what is your view of God in relation to you and prayer?  Do you see God as distant or near?  Is He absent or present?  Do you see Him as stingy or generous?  Approachable or unapproachable?  

Did you realize that prayer starts with God?  It is His idea.  

God wants us to know Him.  The desire we have to pray is the result of God's greater desire to talk with us.  God loves His people and wants us to love and adore Him above all things.  

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,

and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30). 

This is the first commandment!  And the more we talk with God and come to know God, the more we come to love Him, because God is Love.

That’s what’s happening with my friend Chip.  His perpetual communion with God has given Him an astounding love for God that has captivated every area of his life.  And from the first commandment, this love has moved Chip into the world of the second commandment

You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31).

That’s why he asks me “What have you and Jesus been talking about?”  And it’s why I ask you the same. 

“What have you and Jesus been talking about?” 

The Art of Joy

Did you realize it's possible to spend your entire life alongside of Jesus, call yourself a christian, and still miss the joy of knowing Jesus?

11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are [f]the Christ, the Son of God, even [g]He who comes into the world.”   ...    43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

12:1 Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, *said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” 6 Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it. 7 Therefore Jesus said, “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”

In John 11:25, Jesus says "I am the resurrection and the life..." just before He raised Lazarus from the dead.  In John 12, Lazarus, and his sisters (Mary and Martha), are throwing a thank you dinner in honor of Jesus (vv1-2).  Mary is joyfully worshiping (v3).  Judas doesn't share Mary's joy (vv4-6).  Jesus quickly corrects Judas' criticism and says that Mary needs to maintain her joy in Him (vv7-8).

What we find is that Mary's heart corresponded to the worth of Jesus, while Judas' contradicted Jesus' worth.

Judas is probably the saddest person found in the Bible.  He walked alongside of Jesus every day.  Had the benefit of eating with, talking with, learning from, and laughing with the Son of God on a daily basis for 3 years.  In the end, he completely missed the joy of knowing Jesus.

Have you thought about how that happened?  How did Judas become one of the 12, see the power and the miracles, and not ever really know Jesus…and experience (like Mary) the JOY that comes with really knowing Jesus?  And does that happen with us?  Why?

This is one of the central problems facing people throughout history: people fail to see Jesus for who He is.  (Maybe they’re looking, but not really seeing.)

While we can’t be absolutely certain why Judas missed the point of Jesus (missed the person and the glory of Jesus), we see signs of what may have led to his blindness.

First, I don’t think Judas ever believed Jesus really was God.  All the disciples progressively came to this realization (and at times) made great professions of faith and loyalty, but Judas never got there.  He never really trusted Jesus as God and Savior.  He didn’t look at Jesus in that way.  Judas had a faith problem.

Second, Judas not only lacked faith in Christ, but he also had little OR no personal relationship with Jesus.  He could hang with Jesus and even be His representative…but there’s no way that the friendship became deep if Judas couldn’t see or accept who Jesus really was.  Judas had a relationship problem.

Third, Judas had only looked at Jesus through the lens of what he got out of the deal.  He saw a cause, and opportunity, and a culture that he thought he could rise in and get his shot.  He wouldn’t look at Jesus without looking through the lens of his own selfishness, his own agenda.  Judas had a selfishness problem.

It is possible to walk your entire life alongside of Jesus; talk to Him, listen to Him, work with Him, play with Him, and still miss out on the joy of knowing Him.  SO WHAT CAN WE DO to avoid Judas’ traps? 

Here's some advice from the Apostle Paul:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

REJOICE – TALK WITH GOD – BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING – THINK ON THESE THINGS.

God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ

THESE ARE THE SIGNS OF JESUS. 

What helps us to see Jesus clearly?  You have to practice looking to Jesus and to the signs of His presence.

THE PRACTICE OF LOOKING (at Jesus) IS THE ART OF JOY.