"He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk, even as he walked."
- 1 John 2:6
What an incredible statement! To even begin to think that we have the ability to walk even as Jesus walked, to live even as he lived! That is most outstanding! The Bible tells us that when Jesus came into this world he laid aside his mighty power and glory as the Son of God and chose to live his life in constant communion with his Father, depending upon him for every decision he made. In fact, he even said, "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (John 6:38).
This is really what Christianity is all about. It's learning to live our life in constant contact with heaven and drawing from its supply. There is a grace to be found in living totally dependent upon our Father in heaven. That grace is worked out in us as we learn how to walk under the influence of this heavenly life. God has provided a network of resources that can put us over regardless of whatever the situation is that we face. When Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20), he was showing us the path to a whole new level of living.
It is conceivable to shift from living life as we know it to living life the way Jesus knew it. The very fact that we are born of God means we are identified with something that is beyond the scope of natural life. Jesus told Nicodemus, "that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). Understand that Jesus is describing two entities; a natural life and a supernatural life. We have a natural life because we were born of natural parents. We have a spiritual life because we are born of God, and the depth of whatever life we live will be determined by the influence we allow one to have over the other. If natural things are more real to us to where they have a greater influence over our thinking then we will live a nominal life. But if we allow spiritual things to become more real to us where we allow the things of God to govern our thinking then we will live an influential life. Influential living is when God is able to so live in us that it captivates the attention of others in such a way that they want what we have.
One of the great challenges we face as believers is to allow God to reconstitute our whole way of life. The average Christian has become so engaged with their own five physical senses that there is a tendency to overlook a way of living that connects them to things outside this natural realm. If we are not careful we can easily slip back into a place of familiarity concerning natural living to where what is easy and comfortable is what we gravitate toward. What requires less of us instead of more of us is where most of us choose to live. That is why living out of our spirit must become part of our Christian duty and responsibility. To live out of our spirit means we put on Christ. We think as he thought. We do as he did. We choose to make living his life a part of our living consciousness. And that is what it takes to compel us onward in our daily pursuit to be like him.
One of the great tests to our Christian faith is not whether we love God or not. It is whether we love life enough that we let him live through us. I can tell you all day long I love God, but only by my actions can I prove that love. His presence being lived through me carries far more weight than 1,000 sermons could ever prove. That's why living a life of influence will never be determined by how great an orator we are, but rather by how much of a living epistle we become.
Jesus came into this world and took upon himself flesh and dwelt upon us. We are now his body, the church. And it is by our letting him live through us that he is able to take upon himself flesh and dwell among us again. The greatest testimony you will ever have is when people see Jesus in you. Have you come to that place where the reality of his presence in you has so taken over your thinking that all you want is for him to shine through you and become visibly recognizable in you? When you make that your quest and you come to that place where you lose yourself in him that is when you will feel the weight of his influence bearing down upon you until it ushers you into a life of influential living.*
