Follow the Leader

Jesus was baptized by Holy Spirit and we know that from that moment on, He only did what He saw His Father do, and spoke what He heard His Father say (Jn. 5:19,20; 8:26-29). He didn’t make decisions by what His natural eyes saw or judge by what His physical ears heard (Isa. 11:1-3). Instead He lived into the spirit realm and exclusively out of divine initiative, and He called His followers to do the same.

That was the invitation, right? He said, “Follow Me” and they did (Mk. 1:17,18).

John 13 – 17 – The night it all went down

Which worked out really great for about three years. The disciples and Jesus were doing all kinds of awesome ministry and miracles, until that fateful evening when Jesus sprang some news on them they were not prepared to hear.

“So guys, this has been a great ride. I’ve had fun, but… I’m taking off.”

“What?! Well, wherever You’re going, we’re coming too.”

“Sorry, but where I’m going you can’t go.”

“Jesus, You can’t leave us! You said to follow You! How can we follow You if You’re not even here? We can’t see You, we can’t hear You. This doesn’t work without You!”

“Don’t worry. I’m sending Holy Spirit, and He’s gonna help you.”

“Holy Spirit? We don’t know Him. We want You, Jesus!”

“Guys, it’s going to be okay. Holy Spirit is coming, and He will comfort you.”

“Comfort us? We refuse to be comforted if You’re not here with us! You’re the one we’ve shared our lives with! You’re the one we’ve worked with and played with and ministered with all this time. You’re the one we love!”

My husband is to Jesus as my brother-in-law is to…

As I imagine this scene being played out, I almost picture it happening between me and my husband, Leo. He’s from Zambia, just like Jesus is from heaven.

Leo and Charity Kayembe

Leo comes to America, we fall in love and have been working and ministering and playing and doing life together for years.

Now all of a sudden Leo says to me, “Okay honey, I’m taking off. I’m headed back to where I came from.”

“I’m sorry, say that again.”

“Yeah, I’m going home. And by the way, you can’t come with me so don’t even ask.”

“Uh, you’re kidding me right now, right?”

“Don’t worry though, because you know my brother Stan? Yeah, I’m going to send him to you…”

“Now wait just a minute!”

“Yeah, he’s gonna come and help you, and be a comfort to you and…”

“Agh!”

Now, I love my brother-in-law. He’s awesome! But I don’t want Stan instead of Leo. That doesn’t work! I love Leo and don’t want him to leave me.

Where I went wrong

See, at this point I had a couple different ideas about Holy Spirit, and neither of them were really right at all. First of all, I had my favorites. Of the Godhead, I definitely liked one of those Guys best.

The way I figured it, Father God never even came to earth where I live. Sorry, not my favorite.

Sure, Jesus came for a bit, but then He took off before I ever even showed up! Not my favorite.

But Holy Spirit… I mean, yeah it took Him a while to get here, but once He came, at least He stayed. Holy Spirit was definitely my most favorite member of the Trinity.

3 for 1 Special

But that’s because I had another wrong idea about what actually even happened with Jesus’ ascension and Holy Spirit coming to baptize us. I had the mistaken notion that it was an even exchange. Jesus was on earth, Holy Spirit was in heaven, and they were going to switch places.

But that’s not really the case.

Instead, it’s more like a three for one special – where Holy Spirit comes and He opens our eyes to the spiritual realm all around us, and we get to see who is there.

“Oh wow, Jesus? You’re still here! You didn’t leave me? You didn’t forsake me!”

“And Father God? You’re here too? You’ve always been right here? All along! I just couldn’t see You before!”

And just like that our eyes are opened to the spirt world that permeates our physical world. The supernatural realm that infuses our natural realm. The kingdom of heaven that was never really that far away after all.

Where God Lives

Indeed, we live and move and exist in God, which makes Him pretty close. If we reach out for Him, we’ll find Him because He is not far from any one of us (Acts 17:27,28).

And that is the revelation.

Sometimes we may be tempted to question God’s presence because we can’t see Him or see what He’s doing. We’re trying to look for Him, but we’re not finding Him. Where is He?

Well, God is Spirit and lives in the spirit realm. So perhap the reason we haven’t been seeing Him as clearly as we’d like is because we just haven’t been looking in the right place.