God wants to be with you. Have you made space to be with him? /// The Way: Part 3

Welcome to the Plum Creek Church Podcast.

We're so thankful that you're listening along with us in this way.

Now, if you're a returning listener, welcome back.

But if you're new or newish, we'd love to become part of your listening rotation.

So be sure to subscribe and follow to be notified when new episodes are available.

Now, before we get into the message, we want to remind you of one thing.

At Clint Creek Church, we are all about changed lives, changing lives.

We really believe that if Jesus is right about God, about life, about the soul, then it only makes sense to rearrange our lives around what he says is true.

Because when you choose to follow Jesus like that, it really does change everything, including the lives around you.

Okay, let's posture our hearts for what God has in store.

This message.

Good morning, Plum Creek.

How are you?

Everybody doing good?

Good to see you.

Good to see you.

Anyone ready for some football?

Okay.

I was torn this morning on which jersey to wear.

And then I was like, you know what?

I'm gonna go ahead and rep.

I'm gonna rep Dalton today because Dalton used to sit right over here when he played for the Broncos.

And so I'm like, he's my guy.

So I got I got my Dalton Reisner jersey on.

I actually sent him a picture this morning.

I'm like, heading out to my game, repping my guy's jersey.

And he hit me back already this morning.

He's like, I love you, man.

Like, I'm like, just don't get hurt.

Play great, you know.

Hey, on the way out, will you grab one of these books?

Uh we we've just uh got them printed in-house.

This is the next step on our follow journey.

You know what we've been doing is trying to create paths for us to walk on to help us be more like Jesus.

Sound like a good idea?

What?

Hold it now, crew.

I mean, come on now.

Does it sound like a good idea to keep learning how to live more like Jesus?

Okay, all right, that's better.

Grab one on the way out.

This one's awesome.

Uh, the words of Jesus from the book of Matthew.

Pastor Eric, who was just on the screen, wrote this, uh, and it's going to be awesome.

Greetings to all of you that are worshiping with us online today.

Thank you for joining us.

We're in week three of a series we've called the way.

A few uh months ago, I got invited to go to a pastor's soul care event.

Sound like a good idea for pastors to take care of their souls.

So I said, I'll go.

Especially because it was in Alaska and I got to go fishing, which was incredible.

I know, I know.

But here's what happened it was just kind of an interesting moment.

So I had a connection, uh flew from Denver to Seattle and from Seattle to Sitka, Alaska.

And when we landed in in Seattle, there was apparently a bunch of traffic.

I'm not very familiar with their airport, and uh it was getting the connection was tight.

You guys know how that works.

Some of you travel all the time and you're used to that kind of stress.

I don't.

And so I was starting to get like heart palpitations about missing this flight to Alaska.

I'm like, I don't know how to get to Alaska if this doesn't work.

And and so um, I started texting with my chat bot, like, how do I get to where I need to be?

And this is what gate I'm supposed to be in, and it's like giving me a little arrow of where to go.

And you can if you've been around Plum Creek, you know, like uh I have two fake knees.

And so running through an airport is just not great.

It doesn't look good, it's just bad.

And so I'm all stressed out, I'm running and dragging my bag and my backpack and trying to get to where I need to be, and just kind of sneak into the into the uh plane and they close the door.

I sit in my seat, I just take this deep breath.

It's the worst thing when you gotta get on an airplane all sweaty, right?

It's like the worst.

And so I sit down and immediately I had this thought go through my head.

This is more than just an experience.

This is kind of how I live my life.

Like I run really fast to get to the place where I'm supposed to slow down.

Isn't that crazy that we do?

Anybody else have that kind of life where you just feel like that's a metaphor for the way so often life seems to go, hurrying through whatever is in front of me so I can finally get to where I think I need to be to slow down, to get through the week, the project, the season, whatever it is.

But the reality is I keep telling myself, then I'll slow down.

And I don't feel like I ever really slow down.

And uh I tell you all that today because the message that I want to teach today is one that I also need to hear.

So I was writing to myself this week, and I'm hopeful that it will be helpful for you too.

Uh, God's been working on this one for a while, and through our follow journeys and several other experiences and relationships where I've simply had to recognize sometimes you're running too fast.

And somewhere in all of this, these two words keep emerging for me, and this is what came out of my journal entry from that running experience with bad news to get to the plane, and that is pace and space.

Pace and space.

Can you say those words?

Pace and space.

But here's what I'm actually discovering pace and space aren't the point.

They're not the point.

I'm not trying to become a slower person just to be a slower person.

Honestly, there are days where I don't even want to be a slower person.

I like movement and people and ideas and props problem solving and strategizing for next, but I'm learning that just because my body, which is slowing down, can't keep up with the or can keep up with the pace of my life, it doesn't mean my soul can.

How about yours?

And I want to become a person who lives with Jesus.

And sometimes the pace at which I'm living makes it really difficult to create the space necessary to pay attention to the one I'm trying to follow.

And I like you, I don't intentionally make these decisions.

I'm for sure not intentionally making a decision to avoid Jesus.

I love Jesus.

I want to follow him, but life gets full, and full gets fast, and fast becomes normal, and normal begins to form us, right?

We talk about how we're being formed all the time.

And all of this has me wrestling with a question, and I want my question to be your question this week, too.

Sound fair?

And here's the question: Are our lives arranged in such a way that we can actually be with Jesus?

How about yours?

Is your life arranged in a way that you can actually be with Jesus?

Because you can go to church, you can be in a home group, you can be in a Havens group, and we can read books, and we can listen to podcasts and consume Christian content all day long and still not actually learn to live with Jesus.

And that word with has been sticking with me.

A couple of weeks ago, some of you will remember Pastor Bobby was preaching and he used this phrase.

He said, Our witness is our witness.

Do you remember when he said that?

He didn't just have a lisp, he said it was like for real.

And I think it's a really uh amazing thought that the way that we are with people becomes our witness to people.

And the way that we engage with them becomes an expression of the presence and the love of Jesus.

And Bob is right, but I wonder if there's not a with that comes before that that will enable us for our witness to be our witness in a greater way.

Because I can't give away a life with Jesus that I'm not actually learning to live, right?

And here's what really uh got me.

I started looking at this all throughout scripture in preparation for my time with you today.

And and this with isn't a new spiritual formation idea.

This is the heart of our God.

He wants to be with us.

From the beginning of the story, God has been revealing something about his heart.

Look at me, the creator of the universe wants to be with you.

We should be like, What?

That's incredible.

He wants to be with you, and once you see it, you start seeing it everywhere.

So, what I want to do is pull back the camera for a second and let's look at scripture, and I want to show you what I see to be an arc of his presence, his desire to be with us, that you once you see it, you can't miss it, and you'll start seeing it popping up all over the place when you read the word.

Because the story of With begins all the way back in a garden, the Garden of Eden.

Genesis tells us that God created humanity to live in relationship with him.

Genesis 3.8, this sets the tone from the very beginning.

When the cool of the evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden.

Don't miss this.

Before there was a church, a temple, a spiritual formation strategy, uh, sermons and Bible studies, Jesus was with them in the garden.

Don't forget it.

Simply God with his people.

And of course, Genesis chapter 3 also shows us in this story what happens when sin enters this relationship.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

And suddenly people who were made to experience his presence are hiding from his presence.

This withness is fractured.

God never abandons, though, his desire to be with us.

That's the narrative of the gospel.

Keep following the ark of his presence with me.

God rescues Israel from captivity in Egypt.

In Exodus chapter 25, verse 8, he tells Moses this have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.

Exodus 25:8

It was called the tabernacle, and it went with them.

The request for a tabernacle continues, this unmistakable message of our God.

He wants to be with us.

You fast forward just a little bit in the story of the nation of Israel, and eventually they get a temple.

Same exact story.

God wants to be with us.

And then there's this amazing moment in Exodus chapter 33.

Exodus 33 · chapter mention

Moses is leading the people, and the Lord says to Moses, I will personally go with you.

I want you to see what Moses says, because I love this.

Moses says, Listen, if you don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place.

He's basically saying, I don't want to go where you're telling me to go if when I get there you're not there.

I want to be where you are.

And that important width had become a priority to Moses.

Fast forward now to Numbers chapter 9.

Numbers 9 · chapter mention

God's presence appears as a cloud over the tabernacle.

Some of you are familiar with this, symbolizing God's presence with them.

When the cloud would move, the people would pack up the tabernacle and all their stuff and they would move.

When the cloud stays, they stay.

Seems like an important lesson for Dougie and the rest of us to learn.

We don't get to decide, do we?

Hey, God, how about 9:30?

We pack it up and go.

That's the way I live my life too much.

Like, gotta go.

That's the way you and I do it so often.

This his presence determines their pace.

This is a huge distinction.

They arrange their pace around the presence of God.

They don't ask the presence of God or expect the presence of God to accommodate their pace.

And here's what's so awesome.

As the story continues, you start hearing this longing for God's presence starting to come from his people.

God's heart is, I want to be with you.

And then we see people start recognizing how beautiful that is, and they start saying, I want to be with you too.

For example, David in Psalm 27, 4, listen to his words.

The one thing I ask of the Lord, the thing I seek most, is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Here we see it.

God says, I want to be with you.

His people experience that and they start saying, I want to be with you too.

And that's the withness that we've been talking about.

And here's what's also so interesting.

All throughout the Old Testament, something is still incomplete, isn't it?

And then the prophets begin to tell us, Oh, there's something coming.

Not something, there's someone coming.

And you're going to understand with differently when he shows up on the scene.

Friends, this is where things get very interesting.

The ark of his presence becomes a person.

The God who walked in the garden, the God who lived amongst his people, the God whose presence went with Israel, now shows up himself.

John says it this way in John 1.14.

So the word became human and made his home among us.

And he was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.

God's desire for with now shows up.

And now we get to see the Father's heart walking around.

The Father didn't simply send us more information.

Aren't you glad?

He sent his son.

The visible expression of the Father's heart to be with us.

Withness now has skin.

Then this Jesus does something remarkable.

He begins engaging with ordinary people just like you and I.

And I want you to see where what we describe as our spiritual formation strategy, we call it follow.

Do you know why we call it follow?

Because Jesus called it follow.

It's beautiful.

Jesus does something remarkable.

He asks ordinary people like you and me.

He gives them this invitation.

He says, Will you just come follow me?

Come follow me.

And what if this could move from something we know here to something that actually awakens a deep desire in our soul to be with him?

Friends, the God who created the universe wants to hang out with you.

That's beautiful.

And what's our response?

Oh, I gotta read my Bible today.

I better check the box and spend a few minutes in prayer.

Instead, guys, listen, we should be walking, waking up every morning going, whoo! God wants to be with me, so I'm gonna go hang out with God for a minute.

How's that sound?

That's the way it should be.

Now let me take you back to college.

So back in the day, I went to Trinity College, it doesn't exist anymore, uh, in uh Illinois.

And uh I can remember distinctly, some of you have heard the story before.

The first time I saw Beth, she caught my eye, and I was like, hmm, I'm interested.

Okay, I'm interested.

And so I started trying to talk with her a little bit, and we flirted a little bit, and we started hanging out a couple times, and then something happened that changed my life.

Do you know what it was?

It became clear that she wanted to spend time with me.

Some of you guys remember, you're like, really?

Like, whoo, this is good.

So, you know what happened?

I started rearranging my life to spend time with her.

That's what you do, right?

I did not need hitch to tell me what to do.

Inside of me, I just wanted to hang out with Beth.

And I was like so mesmerized by the fact that this beautiful woman who's beautiful on the outside and the inside, if you know her, wanted to hang out with me.

And so I started, my buddies were like, bro, you were way cooler before you met Beth.

Some of you guys know what I'm talking about, right?

It's like you want to go, and I'm like, nah, not tonight.

You know, I'm gonna go hang out with Beth.

And you know what?

She wants to hang out with me.

Felt good.

Felt good.

Some of you know what I'm talking about here.

This wasn't because someone was controlling me.

This wasn't done out of obligation.

You get it.

I had a desire to rearrange my life around being with her.

This wasn't about trying to earn someone's love.

I wanted to be with Beth.

Listen, this is true in our relationship with God too.

We arrange our lives on purpose because we want to experience, we want to know, we want to hear, we want to follow, and we want to walk with the one who has already gone through extraordinary lengths to be with us.

And so as Jesus comes on the scene, there's this incredible uh transition.

He takes that desire for with and turns it into this invitation where he says, Come follow me.

And my fear, and we've talked about this a bit at church now, is that when we hear follow, what we think of is, oh, I gotta find a church, I gotta get a Bible, I gotta get in a group, and I gotta try and live like a Christian.

That is not what Jesus meant when he said follow to his disciples.

Those things do matter, but when Jesus said, looked at Peter and Andrew and said, follow me, it was literally like, hey, get up, come and walk with me.

I want you to start hanging out with me.

Wherever I go, you now go.

He was a rabbi, and to follow a rabbi meant you arranged your life around being with him.

And you stayed close enough to watch and to listen and to learn and to imitate.

If Jesus walked, they walked.

When Jesus stopped, they stopped.

When Jesus noticed someone, even someone that everybody else missed, they got to notice what Jesus noticed.

And listen, you can't learn a way of life of a rabbi if you're not close enough to watch.

So I've read some of the work of a Japanese theologian, Kusuke Koyama, and he wrote a book years ago called The Three Mile an Hour God.

It's a really fascinating book.

You should get it if you're into these kinds of things, which I hope you are.

His basic idea is beautiful.

Three miles an hour is about the speed at which humans can walk.

And that's what you know, Jesus didn't come with an e-bike.

He came and he walked.

He walked with people.

He came at human speed and he walked from village to village and he noticed people, and he stopped, and he had conversations with people, he listened, and he allowed himself to be interrupted by people.

Which has got me kind of wondering what happens when we're trying to follow a three-mile-an-hour rabbi while living 70 mile-an-hour lives in a Tesla on autopilot.

You see, we may not need to add more to our lives, maybe we just need to walk slowly enough to recognize that his love is already there.

So this theologian said it this way: it is the speed we walk, and therefore it is the speed the love of God walks.

And don't forget what Israel learned in the wilderness, his presence is what determines our pace.

They arranged their pace around his presence instead of expecting his presence to accommodate their pace.

And this is part of what it means to follow Jesus.

And it continues.

This thread of being with him goes throughout all scripture.

And Paul says this in Galatians 5 25.

Since we're living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives.

Another translation says, keep in step with the Spirit.

And again, that raises a pretty uncomfortable question for us.

Can we keep in step with the Spirit while constantly insisting that the Spirit keeps up with us?

And then near the end of his time with us, Jesus said this to his disciples.

He gives them an amazing challenge and creates a metaphor which we need to understand and unpack, and we've talked about it.

John 15 4, Jesus says these words, Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

For a branch cannot produce fruit if it's severed from the vine.

And you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

Yes, I am the vine, you are the branches, those who remain in me, and I in them will produce much fruit.

Last sentence I want to read.

Don't forget this.

For apart from me, you can do nothing.

Some translations, instead of using the word remain, say abide.

So abide in me.

Stay connected.

Make your life your home with me.

And for those of you that have been around Plum Creek a while, you know that was our first step in the follow journey, wasn't it?

We wrote a book called Remain, and we unpacked John chapter 15 together.

John 15 · chapter mention

And I love how our friend Pastor Steve Carter, who's on the podcast, by the way, and will be here again in a few weeks, he says it this way make the remain thing the main thing.

And I love that.

Because remain isn't just a part of what it looks like to follow Jesus, it's what it means to follow Jesus.

Apart from me, you can do nothing, Jesus says.

That's a pretty stunning thing for Jesus to say, because the truth is that I can often do a lot of things without consciously depending on Jesus.

How about you?

I can work and lead and solve problems and cast vision and discuss strategy and I can get things done, even a surprising amount of things done, even for him, without ever really paying attention to Jesus.

And friends, that's one of the greatest dangers in all of our lives.

That we can run at a pace and do a lot of stuff and leave Jesus out of it all.

And Jesus says, Remain in me.

Not add me to your already full life, not find one more spiritual thing to do.

Abiding isn't another thing that we add, it's the way we learn to live.

So this is where pace and space come back into the conversation.

But remember, it's not for the sake of pace and space, is it?

That's not what it's about.

Don't think that that's what it's about.

Because you can be really good at pace and space and not be a Jesus person.

I'm not trying to convince you that slow people are more spiritual, and I'm certainly not trying to give you another spiritual practice to add to an already very full life.

Instead, I'm asking a different question, and it's the question I've been asking myself, and I want you to ask yourself that this week, and that's this: is the way you're living making it easier or more difficult to pay attention to Jesus?

That's the question.

Because Jesus isn't asking us to manufacture his presence, is he?

His presence is everywhere.

But the question.

Really is am I present to his presence?

Because that's what changes us.

And as we watch the life of Jesus, this is fascinating.

He had people around him all the time, all the time.

And there were needs and there were demands, and people heard of his reputation and started coming by the droves.

And yet Luke tells us in Luke 5:15, but despite Jesus' instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases.

Luke 5:15

Look at verse 16.

Don't forget this, but Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

The crowds are growing, the needs are growing, the opportunities are growing, and Jesus chooses to withdraw.

But why?

Why would he do that?

Not because the people don't matter and the work didn't matter, but rather because witness with his father mattered first.

And Luke tells us Jesus did that often.

This what I love this too.

This wasn't an emergency response to a crisis.

It was just part of the way he lived his life.

It wasn't when he finally got overwhelmed that he's like, not sure I can keep going without spending some time with dad.

He just did.

Often.

Withdrew to spend time with the father.

He prioritized making space in the middle of a full life just to be with him.

And so we need to recover a slower pace, not for the sake of a slower life, but rather to have space to pay attention to Jesus.

Do you know what happens when you do that?

This should fire you up.

I want to show you.

Because it fires me up too.

When you read the Gospels and you look at what happened to ordinary people that spend time with Jesus, you should do this sometime.

Just when you're reading through in your devotional time with the Lord, you read through the Gospels, just pay attention to what happened to people when they hung out with Jesus.

Watch what happens.

Because what let me just give you a few.

Peter's with Jesus and a fisherman becomes an apostle.

That's awesome.

That gives us all hope.

I'm not even a good fisherman.

Matthew gets with Jesus and a tax collector leaves his table and becomes a disciple.

Zacchaeus gets with Jesus and his greed turns into generosity.

A Samaritan woman gets with Jesus and a challenging past turns into her testimony that changes the lives of others.

A demon-possessed man gets with Jesus and he's delivered and made right in his mind.

Thomas gets with a risen Jesus and doubt gives way to this declarative statement he makes, my Lord and my God.

And then Peter gets with Jesus again and discovers that his worst failures don't define his life.

Jesus doesn't force transformation, it's just what happens when we hang out with him.

He invites us to trust him, to open our lives to him and to follow him.

And then we see this over and over and over again in the Gospels.

People who opened their lives to his presence were changed, transformed by his presence.

So I was praying over my notes earlier this week, and I was like, gosh, there's one more example I got to show you, because this one, this is just so good.

It's so good.

And I know what some of you think when I talk about spending time with Jesus, you're like, Doug, I mean, dude, seriously, there's so much stuff I got to get fixed before I could be in the presence of God, right?

How many times have I heard that?

People are like, you invite them to church, they're like, well, I would get struck by lightning, bro.

No, no, you won't.

You won't.

That's not what it's about.

You don't have to clean up before you come to Jesus.

And that's why I love this part of Jesus' interaction with this guy.

Because this dude doesn't have a future.

There's no time left for him to fix it, turn it around, get a better track record, prove that he's worthy.

None of it.

He can't do any of it.

His time is up.

Luke describes it this way in Luke 23, 39.

One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, So you're the Messiah, are you?

Prove it by saving yourself and us too while you're at it.

And now we're introduced to the guy I want to introduce to you.

This is amazing.

But the other criminal protested, Don't you fear God even when you've been sentenced to die?

Look what he says.

We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn't done anything wrong.

And then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Look at verse 43.

Never forget this.

This is for somebody that feels like they got to get it straight, cleaned up, fixed up, look better, act better before you come to Jesus.

Look what Jesus replies with.

The criminal facing capital punishment, dying on a cross, Jesus says this.

Watch the narrative of the ark of the witness here, guys.

Jesus replies, I assure you, today you will be what?

With me in paradise.

Do you see?

That's the heart of our Heavenly Father.

Look again what Jesus promises today, not someday, not after you get your act clean to get uh cleaned up and you get yourself proven.

Today you will be, not might be.

Jesus says you will be.

And what's next?

You will be with me.

Don't miss it.

Are you kidding me?

That's the heart of our God, friends.

That's the whole thing.

He wants to be with you.

He wants to be with me.

We've got to figure out how to rearrange our lives to be with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

The God who walked with his people in the garden.

The God who said, I want to dwell among you.

The God who came and was called Emmanuel, which means God with us.

This Jesus who looked at ordinary people and said, I want to be with you.

Why?

Just follow me, walk with me.

This same Jesus hanging on a cross, dying, and one of the last promises that he gives, uttering some of the last words with his breath says, You will be with me.

This dude didn't earn with.

There was no time left.

Jesus just gives him with.

Don't miss that.

Don't miss that, guys.

Look, that's grace.

That is grace.

And he extends it to you and he extends it to me.

And I promise you, this is why you want to be with Jesus.

Because when people get with Jesus, their lives will change.

They don't simply just learn about Jesus, they're changed by him.

So please hear me again today.

Pace doesn't transform you, and space doesn't transform you.

The practices that we talk about in this formation journey that we're on, they don't transform you.

Jesus transformed you.

These practices simply help you to rearrange your life so that you can become more attentive, receptive, and responsive to the presence and the transforming work of God in your life.

Let me put it this way: we don't practice the practices to get good at the practices for the sake of the practices.

That is not what this is about.

And if you ever think it is, listen, stop.

It's not about your performance.

When you get this book, it's not about powering through, friends.

It's about cultivating some moments where you can be with Jesus.

And when you do, you're going to feel his presence and you're going to understand how much he cares about you.

And slowly, over time, it's going to transform you.

And then soon the people that know you best are going to be like, bro, what's up?

What happened to you?

And you could just smile and you could say, Jesus happened.

So where are we going with all of this?

We practice these practices to learn how to live our whole lives with him.

And I don't want you leaving here thinking I need to add more spiritual stuff to my life.

That's not the point.

You see, abiding isn't another thing we add to the busy lives we live.

It's learning to live the life I already have with him.

That's what it's about.

So this week, I want to reclaim some moments with you.

So grab your phones.

Well, yeah, we've done this before.

Set a recurring alarm for one o'clock in the afternoon, not the morning.

You're like, thank you, Jesus.

Right?

Some of you are like, I'm already up to P anyway, right?

Somebody just said, Did the pastor just say that?

Set an alarm on your phone for one o'clock in the afternoon, and when it goes off, here's what I want you to pray.

Jesus, I'm here.

Your promise is that you're here.

Help me walk with you the rest of my day.

Imagine what happens to us when we're reminded throughout the course of our week.

And I had this other idea.

Maybe you take a dry erase pen and you write with on the bathroom mirror.

Just to remind you, when you're getting ready in the morning, I gotta stay with Jesus.

Maybe you write it on the review mirror of your car or the outside mirror.

You just write with.

Just write it on it.

You're the only one that'll see it.

Just write it on there.

But every time you look in that mirror, you're gonna be reminded.

Check back in.

Check back in.

Stay with my Jesus.

Stay with him this week.

And then Daniel and our crew helped me with this.

We made some screensavers.

They'll be posted on our social media accounts.

We're just calling it the with screensaver, because I know, look, you probably just see your phone one time a day, right?

What a great way for you and I to be reminded that part of this is prioritizing just being with them.

And just remind yourself to be with Jesus.

Just pray that prayer again.

Jesus, I'm here.

I know you are.

Will you help me to walk with you throughout the rest of this day?

And listen, friends, none of that is magical.

The alarm's not gonna transform you.

A sharpie written with on your mirror isn't gonna change you.

A screensaver won't transform you.

But look at me.

My Jesus will.

Oh, he will.

Please give him a chance.

Watch.

If you've never given him a chance, can you just begin this week with a try?

Give him a chance.

Spend some time with Jesus and watch what he will do in your life.

Friends, look at me.

This moment that we have sitting in here together should not be all there is in your walk with him.

Be reminded throughout the course of your week, and we're just gonna be creating little moments to turn our attention towards him.

So bow your heads for just a moment.

My prayer is that you won't hear my voice, but you'll hear the voice of the Spirit asking this question to you one more time today.

Friend, is your life arranged in such a way that you can really be with Jesus?

And please remember this week, since the very beginning, God has been saying, I want to be with you.

And maybe, just maybe this will be the week where you and I can say together to our God, I want to be with you too.

Lord, we come before you today is just so grateful as we start to look at the arc of this truth that's all throughout scripture, that you just really want to be with us.

It literally should blow our minds.

And Lord, maybe there's someone here that's exploring things of faith and came today and needed to hear that God just wants to be with you.

Maybe you've never heard that before, and you you just like uh uh the example that we looked at on the cross, you could think, boy, I need to get myself cleaned up, fixed up, I gotta get all this stuff right before I could be in the presence of God.

Listen, friend, not true, not true.

If you're at a place where you're ready to give him a try, tell him that right now.

Thank him for this whole heart of our Heavenly Father that says, I want to be with you.

Even if it doesn't make sense yet, just say, I want to be with you too.

And Lord, for all of us this week, will you do something to ignite a reminder to be with you all throughout the week?

And maybe it'll be just the alarm that goes off, or maybe it'll be the writing on a mirror, or every time we pick up our phone.

But Lord, in the middle of days that are filled with activity and responsibility, and where so often the pace can just be something the enemy uses to distract us from you.

Would you just help us this week to pay better attention?

And when we're reminded, just to say, I know you're here, and so am I.

Will you help me to live the rest of my day aware of your presence?

And Lord, just do your thing, transform your people.

We love you, and all God's people say.

Thanks again for listening.

Our prayer is that this message encouraged and challenged you in your journey to follow Jesus.

If you'd like to learn more about our church, please check us out online at plumcreek.church or if you find yourself within driving distance of Castle Rock, Colorado, we would be honored to see you in person on a weekend.

So until next time, grace and peace in the name of Jesus.