MyLeslieNotebook

(This is the fourth in a series; please scroll down to Not I But We and work your way up.) Quick summary: You want to be a we . God put that yearning to be a we inside you. God promises to be with you. We need draw close to Him to get the we only He can give. Have you heard His voice drawing you toward Him? Have you taken steps to draw near to God (James 4:8)? Great. Then there is one more step: becoming a we with others. And this is the one word you need to know: UNITY. If you read John 14, Jesus' last prayer before He was arrested, tried, and eventually killed, you'll see He prayed for Himself (verses 1-5), His disciples (verses 6-19), and for "all believers" ( verses 20-26 ; please read it now). Now the "all believers" category was not just for the believers at that time; it was for all believers of all times , meaning us. YOU. So just picture Jesus praying these words over you: "they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and ...

(This is the 3rd in a series. Please scroll down if you haven't read the first two parts!) Quick review: You want to be a we , not an I . God promises to be with you, making you a we . So why don't you feel like a we ? Because you haven't taken the next step: choose to be with God.  I'm not talking about salvation; I'm assuming that you have admitted you are a sinner, repented of your old self, chosen to accept Jesus Christ as Lord (leader) and Savior (for eternity) and said it out loud not only to Him but also to anybody who would listen to you.  That's Step 1: Obeying the call of Him who called you. It's a one-time decision that lasts forever. But Step 2 isn't quite so simple: discipleship. It's what should fill your life from the time you say yes to Jesus until you draw your last breath. It's learning to be like Christ   in all that you do. It's choosing to obey God, know and breathe and love His Word, love others, live sacrifi...

[If you haven't read the Not I But We post that preceded this, please do. Thanks!] Let's review:  Truth #1: We don't want to be an I ; we yearn to be a we . So how does that happen? Well, it all starts with God. (Please don't leave me here. You're rolling your eyes, thinking, "I want somebody with skin on, thanks." But I promise you, you've got to start here. You will not find the fulfillment you are looking for in any earthly we  unless you find the truth of this heavenly we .) So this brings us to Truth #2: God initiates the we . This is one of the most fun and in-depth things you can study in the Bible. It starts in Genesis and continues in every book through to Revelation. God appears with Adam and Eve, walking in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). He approached Abraham with an earth-changing plan (Genesis 12:1-3). In Genesis 26:3, he appeared to Abraham's son Isaac, saying, "Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with y...

Years ago, in a Sunday school lesson, I wrote the following on the board:  "More than anything, people want ___________________." And I asked everyone to really think of their answer. I'm asking the same thing of you right now: What do you want more than anything?  Now, off the top of your head you'll probably say a good teacher in a hard class or graduation to come sooner or a good job or a roommate who doesn't stay up so late.  But if you really  think about it, I bet it's none of those things. And I bet it's not money, fame, success, or even a well-known plan. I bet it something like this:  to belong. Am I right? It's what we all want. We want to belong to a group or a person or an identity or a tribe. When I was a little girl I wanted so badly to be an actress on the movie Annie because I wanted to be an orphan that could sing and dance and do gymnastics down the long wooden halls with all the other girls. As I got older I didn'...