How to Get More of Jesus

Do you love that classic song by Fernando Ortega, Give Me Jesus? I cry every time I hear it. Why? Because I have finally come to understand that Jesus is the only way to have my needs and desires fulfilled. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good—and I want more! Much more! Like the song goes…

“You can have all this world, but give me Jesus!”

As wonderful as this song is, it does not tell us how to get more of Him. What I mean by “more of Jesus” is simply more of what a love relationship with the Savior of our soul brings.

So how do you get more of Jesus?

If you and I want more of God, then we will have to give Him more of ourselves.

Intimacy with the Creator of our souls has a price attached. God was the first to pay with the sacrifice of His Son—a humongous one at that. Now we need to follow suit. We don’t like the words sacrifice, surrender, cost, or suffering, yet they are at the core of Christian living.

If we want to live a full life, we must live the way the Author of life says.

As mentioned in previous blogs, the abundant life is a byproduct of being and remaining in a right relationship with Christ. We need to nurture and deepen that relationship with our Savior if we want more of what that love relationship brings.

To enter into a right relationship with God, we simply but humbly need to receive the free gift offered to us through the sacrificial work of Christ. We receive it by admitting our need of a rescue and relinquishing control over to Him. [If you haven’t done this, click here to learn more]

To remain in a right relationship, we need to continue to do the things that promote intimacy—like spending quality time together, communicating, keeping short accounts, etc. It also requires that we strive to live a yielded life to our Lord every moment—no matter what that means; no matter what He allows into our lives. Now that’s hard!

Sacrifice always is.

What all this means is having a heart after God, desiring to please Him in every way.

“I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” (Acts 13:22)

God doesn’t expect us to do this immediately or perfectly, but we are to try.

It takes continual intentionality and effort to cultivate this love relationship with Jesus. God is always bringing us new challenges, new difficulties, and new pains which tend to make us self-focused and unyielding. It can be such fight to keep that intimacy; to not let the circumstances, others, or our emotions pull us away from living life God’s way; to not revert to our old way of thinking and acting. It’s so hard being a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1) because we keep trying to get off the altar!

But I have found, along with countless others, that there is nothing better than intimacy with the Creator and Lover of our souls. He is the source of everything that is good. He is our Prince of Peace, our Joy and Salvation, and SO MUCH MORE!

But I need to make one more essential point here. Getting more of Jesus is not to be solely for our benefit. Yes, we will greatly profit, but…

Our motive needs to be to bring HIM more glory!

Otherwise wanting more of Jesus simply becomes a selfish endeavor.

So, my friends, if you want to get more of Jesus—and all of who He is and what that encompasses, begin by responding in humility and giving yourself back to the One who has given so much to you. He is so worth it!

For in Christ there is all of God in a human body; so you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ. (Col 2:9-10 TLB)

Helpful Resources
Our Knowable God: Learning How to Relate to Our Invisible Lord
7 Secrets to the Abundant Life
Increased Capacity: The Wonderful Cycle of Knowing God
How to Live God’s Way—Simplified

(NIV) Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.
(TLB) The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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