Life is about JESUS

Life.
Living.
Breathing.
What is the purpose of life?
What is the meaning of life?
Hows life?
How are you?
What do you want to do with your life?
What are you doing with your life?
What do you want in life?
Wasting life.
Taking life.
You saved my life!
How did life begin?
Where did life come from?
Why are we here?
The value of life.
Life is beautiful.
Life is hard.
Life is short.
Life is long.
Life is good!
Life sucks.
I don't like my life.
I dont understand my life.
Loving life!

Life. We use the word a lot. We wonder about it, we ask each other about it, we live it. I wonder about it a lot, in fact i'm always wondering or feeling one way another about my life. The other night I had a feeling of dissatisfaction with my life as I know it going on in my soul and I was asking myself, "if you're not satisfied than what is it really that you want in life?"
When my head hit the pillow I heard simply, "Life is about Jesus. Its not about ministry, not about LEFC, not further education or the state of your relationships or finding the right community, or having the right plan, its not about bettering yourself or learning how to manage time or money or relationships. These are parts of life, even important parts. but life is about Jesus. To live is Christ. 
He is the cornerstone."


"As you come to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:
"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame."
So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
"The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,"
and
"a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense."
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are Gods people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
1 Peter 2:4-10

And the Lord God formed a man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Genesis 2:7

Life begins in God, He has been living for eternity and we live because He breathed life into us.  Its His breath, His spirit, we live because He lives. So this designer, creator and sustainer of life, He is the source of our answers on the question of life. He knows what its about, the purpose, the meaning, the way, everything about it in general and everything about it specifically for each one of us. And He chose Jesus. He chose Jesus as the cornerstone of life. He said, no matter what you do, the plans you make, the things you pursue, what you learn about, who you love; the first thing, the central thing is Jesus. Living your life only works best if it about Jesus. You can either reject Him, or come to Him. If you reject Him, He is still the cornerstone and you will never put everything together right, there will always be something messed up or missing. But if you come to Him, believing Him and valuing Him above all else, you will not be put to shame.

And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

1 John 5:11-13

The answer is JESUS. He can't be just part of your life. To live IS Christ. Any other way is not real life. its not abundant life, its not God breathed, spirit led life. Its dying life, its wheezing and gasping and grasping life, its sleeping life, fake life. its the matrix. Its grasping for things that DO NOT matter, that WILL NOT satisfy. Its stumbling and falling and dark life. Its not really living if its not in Jesus.


Jesus. Ive been wanting to write about Him. Not just write about Him. I want to wrap myself in Him, I want to know Him, love Him, talk about Him, burn for Him, treasure Him, adore Him, praise Him, follow Him, sing to Him, dance for Him, share Him, delight in Him, shout for Him.

Shout it out and lift up your voice in worship
sing it out until all the earth can hear it
Jesus is ALIVE and He saves 
He rescues and saves
(all sons and daughters)

Last night Jake was speaking at gateway and he was talking about knowing Jesus.  Not just feeling all good about Him but really knowing Him. He took us through 2 Peter 1 and Colossians 2:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord.  His divine power has granted us all things pertaining to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence...
2 Peter 1

...that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Colossians 2

Grace, peace, life, godliness, wisdom, and knowledge...they all come through knowing Jesus. 1 Peter 1 says, set your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of JESUS. 2 Corinthians 4 says that God who said, "let light shine out of darkness" has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God (knowing God) in the face of JESUS. 

I had written out a whole bunch of excerpts from my journal over the past few months to share how God has led me into longing for Jesus but it seemed a little too long with all of that so ill just summarize: What God has been communicating to me lately is simply this, knowing Jesus is life. To die, well that is just gain because then we are truly with Him in an uninterrupted way. So my heart is asking, "how can I seek you with my whole heart? how can I love you with my whole life? how can I relate with you? I want to know you! 
and this morning I realized, in the word it says, seek and keep seeking, knock and keep knocking, ask and keep asking and it will be given to you. Make your wants Gods wants and then ask for what you want and He will give it to you. Its almost like in all my asking and still finding myself wanting I've forgotten that His heart is actually to answer, to give, that He wants me to know Him more than I ever have wanted to know Him. And I just hear that same whisper say to me,
"Ive heard your cry Rachel. Now open your hands and your heart and receive the knowledge of me. Receive peace and grace and everything you need for life and godliness and receive wisdom and understanding in knowing me, Jesus. I am revealing myself to you now. Touch, taste, see, hear, me. Im making you a witness. Come know me and find your life."


Come, everyone who thirsts
come to the waters, and he who has no money (nothing to earn it)
come buy and eat!
come buy wine and milk (pleasure and nourishment)
without money and without price
why do you spend your money (yourself, time and energy)
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? (for the affections and praise of man)
instead...
listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in rich food
incline your ear, and come to me
hear, that your soul may live (yayay!)
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the people.
Isaiah 55