OUR LONELY LORD!

See the lonely person pictured here. You know who it is, our precious Lord Jesus. He sent His disciples back across the lake to Capernaum, while He went into the mountain to pray (John 6:15).

He was heavy-hearted, not because the cross  awaited Him, but because His own failed to minister to Him.

Everybody was after Jesus, all wanting something from Him. None cared to GIVE anything to Him. On one occasion He voiced this painful fact. . .

"Behold the hour cometh, YEA IS NOW HERE, that ye shall be scattered, everyone to his own and shall leave Me all alone; yet l am not alone, because the Father is with Me" (John 16:32).

Just hours before the cross, Jesus desperately needed comfort from someone. Since no one else cared, He sought it from His Father. Even so, He asked His disciples to keep watch while He prayed:

"My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death? Tarry ye here and watch with Me" (Matt. 26:38).

THEN HE PRAYED

Moving a bit beyond them, He dropped to His knees.

"Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me. . ."
(Luke 22:42).

In anguish He cried, soaking the ground with His tears (Heb. 5:7). Being made sin for us, horrified Him. And how did His disciples keep watch? They fell asleep. While they dozed, an angel arrived to assume the comforting task and strengthened Him (Luke 22:43).

When it was over, the Lord roused His three disciples, Peter, James and John, chiding them,

"Couldn't you watch with Me for one hour?"

Boy did they miss the boat. Can you imagine what it would have meant to Jesus had they stayed awake and said to Him,

"We don't really understand Your agony but we sense it is for us and we love You for it. If there's anything we can do to help, we're ready. But we want You to know we truly love You and appreciate what You are going through for us!"

BETTER THAN ANGELS

Had those three men comforted Him with such words, it would have been better than a chorus of angels. Obviously there was nothing they could do other than BE THERE, which they were not. The point is—the angel was there. The boys were sleeping. They really goofed, and so do we when we become so occupied with our own interests we forget all about the Lord's needs.

I'll make it stronger than that. There are masses of Christians who feel the Lord doesn't need us or anything from us. Then there are those who feel the Lord is so far above us, He has no desire to get involved in our petty feelings and problems.

THIS LADY
PROVIDES
A CASE
IN POINT

"Dr. Lovett, it's hard for me to picture Jesus as anything but a busy executive. I see Him running the worldwide Christian organization, as the fulltime head of a giant corporation. How could He possibly have time for me or my problems? Is this something the devil has put in my mind, or is it really hard to get through to the Lord!"

An isolated case? No way. You may think this letter unique, but many sincere Christians view the Lord the same way. Satan has no trouble getting Christians to think of Jesus as a busy administrator. They see Him removed from us by a string of dignitaries. They believe the devil when he says Jesus is as hard to get to as the President of the United States.

As a result, many never try to get close to Him or know Him intimately. They feel they must be in deep trouble or have something urgent to present before they even try to talk to Him.

The general feeling is—"He's TOO BUSY to pay attention to 'little ole me.'"

BUT THE DEVIL LIES

The Lord is not busy at all. Neither is He off somewhere in a heavenly office building.

The truth is—HE LIVES INSIDE US.

He indwells every single Christian. Far from being hard to get to, He is closer to us than our own skin. Emerson put it this way:

"Speak to Him, for He hears, and spirit with spirit meet: Closer is He than breathing, nearer than hands and feet."

Did not the apostle Paul tell us our bodies are "TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT?" (1 Cor. 6:19).

The Lord's SPIRIT resides in each of us. Or as Robert Boyd Munger put it, "Our hearts are Christ's home." How can this be? Ah—in the SPIRIT, the Lord is OMNIPRESENT, able to indwell every single heart that will receive Him. This means, every Christian has Jesus all to himself.

Can you lay hold of that? I hope so, for it means none of us has to do anything to get JESUS' ATTENTION. We already have it—full and undivided—RIGHT NOW. He sees everything that goes on in your mind, monitoring every feeling you experience. Nothing is hidden from Him (Heb 4:13). You know the Word on this:

"God sees not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart" (1 Sam. 16:7).

ACCESSIBLE—BUT NEGLECTED

You can chat with the Lord any time you wish and it thrills Him when you do. Sadly though, the only time many believers talk to Him is when they WANT SOMETHING from Him. Even then, if they could somehow work it out for themselves they wouldn't bother Him with it.

Can you imagine how that hurts? There He sits, inside you—WAITING. He aches for you to pay attention to Him. He has nothing to do but work with you and help you, however He won't be taken for granted.

This is why James says, "Ye have not because ye ask not" (James 4:2). This refusal to take advantage of His indwelling presence makes it pretty lonely for Jesus.

We on the other hand, seem too busy to bother with Him. We don't think 24 hours is enough to accomplish all we want to do, but for God it's more than enough. We're so busy making a living, carving out a career, raising a family, acquiring more possessions, and getting the most out of life. . .that spending time with Jesus is an inconvenience.

Then there's the old proverb—out of sight—out of mind. As a result, the Lord gets the smallest part of our lives, the CRUMBS of our time. That's why He's so lonely. If you've ever been lonely, you know how it feels.

CHRISTIANIT Y IS A FELLOWSHIP

God created us to be FAMILY. He loves doing for us and wants us to enjoy Him. At the same time, He wants us to realize He has needs, too. Anyone who loves as desperately as He does, needs to be loved in return. And anyone with HIS HUNGER for people, CRAVES FELLOWSHIP. I'm satisfied that what God wants from us today is not FURIOUS RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY done FOR HIM only, but time spent WITH HIM.

Remember when Jesus visited the home of MARY AND MARTHA? Martha was busy doing things FOR JESUS, while Mary sat at His feet, spending time WITH HIM (Luke 10:38-42). The Lord chided Martha saying, "Mary has chosen the better part." There are lots of Marthas around today, but where are the Marys? Where are those who simply want to BE WITH HIM and minister to Him for company and fellowship?

WHAT HE REALLY WANTS

The Lord wants to be our DAILY FRIEND and companion. He wants us to practice His presence and involve Him in our routines, whether shopping, on the job or keeping the home. He's lonely, because He's excluded from the MAJOR PART of our lives. You see, He's the One who can't get to us, not the other way around. God is plagued with a SUPERHUMAN THIRST to share Himself with us. He has a DEEP ACHE to have us share ourselves with Him. Having poured out His love on us, without measure, He wants us to LAVISH OURSELVES on Him in return.

HOW IT'S DONE

You already know the BODY is the temple of the Spirit. But where is the SANCTUARY of this temple? A temple must have a sanctuary, a place where God and man meet. Now don't laugh when I identify your sanctuary.

It's your IMAGINATION. The imagination is the FABULOUS BRIDGE between the flesh and spirit. God is SPIRIT (John 4:24). But so is imagination. No one can see thoughts. Here's the secret: By means of the imagination, we can give reality to the UNSEEN LORD. David discovered it and called it "The secret place" (Psalm 91:1).

When you close your eyes to pray, you are immediately in the sanctuary. Now go a step further and give some kind of FORM to the Lord. (It doesn't matter what it looks like.) The Lord has been there all the time, no doubt about that. Only now you can see Him IN THE SPIRIT. You can have fellowship with Him by faith. . .touch Him. . . give Him a BIG HUG! O, how He loves that!

Have you ever wanted the Lord to hold you in His arms? I know you have. If you're a true believer your heart "pants for the Lord" (Psa. 42:1). So obey that tug on your spirit. Go into the SECRET PLACE. Drop in on Him and chat with Him. If you'll do that from time to time during the day, His loneliness will be transformed into feasts of joy.

But if you don't, He'll be forced to spend the hours in painful solitude. You see, just living inside you, doesn't do it for Jesus. You must go to Him. You must share yourself with Him. There's got to be that fellowship He craves. So, just because Jesus is  God, don't think He hasn't any needs, that He doesn't feel emptiness and neglect. He does. As the greatest authority on the subject, He'll tell you. . .IT'S LONELY AT THE TOP.

WANT TO COMFORT HIM?

Look again at the picture on the front of this article. Actually it is the cover of my book LONGING TO BE LOVED, That's Jesus longing to be loved by you. The book was written to show committed Christians how to meet the Lord in the SECRET PLACE and enjoy Him in a SPIRIT-TO-SPIRIT embrace. When you read this book and follow the instructions, your heart will be thrilled beyond words.

CLICK the book for more information

But that's not all.

CLICK the book for more information

Did you know there are blessings God wants to shower on you. . .BUT CAN'T. I mean, financial blessings to pay bills, gifts of healing for your body and the salvation of your loved ones. Once you get close to the Lord, then you can do the ONE THING that is necessary to UNTIE GOD'S HANDS. Then His blessings are unleashed in your life. You'll learn how to bring this about when you read. . .IT'S YOUR TURN TO BE BLESSED.

I urge you to listen for the Spirit's witness as you read this article. If He says "go for it,"   then take advantage of our online bookstore. It will bring exactly what you need to dispel the Lord's loneliness and UNTIE His hands of blessing. Do that, and when you meet Him in the SECRET PLACE, He'll say to you...

"IT'S NO
LONGER
LONELY
AT THE TOP!"

This article is Copyright 2001 by Dr. C. S. Lovett and is found on www.cslovettbooks.com