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Participate in this

 Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God.  (I John 4:16)

The truth most of us would 'cop to' is that we have an issue with this "continuous" part of our Christian walk. We ALL waver from time to time, slip up with words and actions that don't actually reflect this closeness of relationship. God knows we will and he loves us anyway - in fact, he already has whatever grace is needed to get us right back into that 'intimate relationship'. 

If you are like me, the idea of 'continuously' doing anything is kind of a daunting task. I don't have to think about my heart beating, taking a breath, or even sweating when I get hot in the Arizona sun. My body has an internal organ known as the brain that helps to keep all that going without my thinking about it. I wonder if we realize how 'uncomplicated' our lives could be if we were to leave things in the care of the one who cares that everything 'runs as it should'?

Just as God made our brains to help be the 'control center' for all that 'automatic' activity in our bodies, he gives us his Holy Spirit to reside within us to help us with this 'continuous' walk with him. Did you ever stop to ask why Jesus told his disciples if they didn't know what to pray to allow the Holy Spirit to pray, or to not be concerned with where they'd sleep or what they'd eat or wear on their journey with him? If was because he knew we couldn't possibly process all this 'continuous' stuff on our own!

We need the help of the Holy Spirit, even when we don't realize we do! We can count on him helping us to develop a continuously intimate walk with Jesus as much as we are counting on our brains to ensure the next heartbeat! We do our part - take in the Word of God regularly, talk to Jesus about things, and even raise our voices in praise from time to time. God does his part - helping to maintain the closeness to us we could not obtain by our own efforts. Look again at our passage - it doesn't say we maintain that closeness on our own. It says we participate in it! We join with Jesus, doing what we know to do, then allow the Holy Spirit to do what he does. Just sayin!

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