Finding the inner you
‘Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and sup with him and he with me’ (Revelation 3.20).
We are all familiar with the dramatic painting by Holman Hunt of Jesus standing outside the locked door.
Only the one inside can unlock the door to allow Jesus entry.
That painting perfectly highlights Jesus’aim and mission.
Jesus wants to reach the inner person, to speak with the real you and the real me.
Jesus wants to transform us from within.
The mistake we make is to keep Jesus standing on the doorstep instead of welcoming him into the living room.
Then we wonder why our faith is so weak, why our worship does not inspire us. Then we get into bad habits of irregular church attendance.
The home for Christianity is the realm of the inner self, the essential person that is‘you’.
Jesus seeks the inner person, to communicate with the real self, the genuine you.
If you read the Sermon on the Mount as a set of rules and regulations you will never understand it.
But, when you read the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus speaking to you as a person, then these words will open a meaning for life like none other.
Jesus seeks to find the inner person, the personal‘you’.
On the Mount of Sinai, God gave Moses the commandments written on stone.
On the Mount of the Sermon, Jesus gave us the inner words of God directed to the heart.
On the Mount of Calvary, God sealed his new life with the blood of his son.
The cross does not order us, the cross inspires us.
Jesus enables you to be the person God wants you to be.
Think of Zacchaeus (Luke 19.1-10). Jesus reached out to find and to speak to the inner Zacchaeus, the person he really was.
The finest description of Jesus reaching out to communicate with the inner person, the inner you, is found in Ephesians (Ephesians 3.14-19).
Paul prays that Jesus will ‘strength you with might by his spirit in your inner person’.
The Greek words are‘eso anthropov’, meaning the inner person, as opposed to‘exo anthropon’, the outer person who is seen and heard.
Paul continues that they will be ‘rooted and grounded in love’.
Remember, that happened when we first allowed Jesus to speak to us face to face and soul to soul, that happy day when we surrendered our soul to the Lord.
Since then, we have been ‘rooted and grounded’in the Lord. Hallelujah.
Only the Holy Spirit can reach into your spirit, only the soul of Jesus can touch your soul.
That overwhelming experience happens when the dynamic and wonderful person called Jesus finds us, and bring us to God. Jesus’spirit speaks to your spirit, because Jesus loves you.
When that happens, the Holy Spirit is taking you by the hand and leading you to Jesus (Calvin).
But there is something even more profound and overwhelming.
We learn something of the innermost being of God.
God shares his life with us, we are made aware of God’s feelings for us.
God is happy and pleased when God sees our love and devotion for his son.
The pool of pure water from a spring is so clear you cannot see the bottom. So is God’s innermost nature.
You are enabled to love God’s innermost nature as you gaze into the purity of eternity.
We sense the very presence of our Father God.
Jesus helps us to hear the laughter of heaven, to feel the gentle wind of heaven blow across our soul.
Jesus puts a sparkle into our faith, so that faith’s weather forecast is bright even during stormy days.
‘Come unto me all ye who are heavy laden and I will give you rest’(Matthew 11.28).
A prayer –‘Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for Thee. Come into my soul, Lord Jesus, there is love in my soul for Thee. Come into my mind, Lord Jesus, there is faith in my mind for Thee. AMEN.