"What does Jesus Christ mean to you?"

[David H.]

I was watching a video on the welsh revival of 1904, which began with this question asked in a church service of the people there, among them was Evan Roberts, who would later go onto lead the welsh revival.

So I pose that question to all of you.

The Awakening of 1904 In Wales by J. Edwin Orr - YouTube

 

[dev553344]

God the Son. And all the attributes of God (Galatians 5:22-23). Teacher of Good from Evil. Sealer of Gods Children with the Holy Spirit. Healer & Resurrection. Savior of Man. I can go on and on and some people do.

 

[DNB]

Jesus showed me what an absolute foolish and childish wretch that I am. How pathetic my intelligence and maturity is, and how desperately that I need a saviour.
Jesus loved God with all his heart, mind and soul, something that a nutcase like myself didn't even think was necessary, nor warranted.
I'm a coward and a fool, and Jesus is the antithesis of all that.
He was the epitome of strength of character, integrity, humility, wisdom and love. Not a tree-hugging, child cuddling, see or hear no evil snowflake, but a man's man. He knew who his Father was, and where he stood with Him, and subordinated and submitted himself accordingly.

 

[David H.]

God the Son. And all the attributes of God (Galatians 5:22-23). Teacher of Good from Evil. Sealer of Gods Children with the Holy Spirit. Healer & Resurrection. Savior of Man. I can go on and on and some people do.

Jesus showed me what an absolute foolish and childish wretch that I am. How pathetic my intelligence and maturity is, and how desperately that I need a saviour.
Jesus loved God with all his heart, mind and soul, something that a nutcase like myself didn't even think was necessary, nor warranted.
I'm a coward and a fool, and Jesus is the antithesis of all that.
He was the epitome of strength of character, integrity, humility, wisdom and love. Not a tree-hugging, child cuddling, see or hear no evil snowflake, but a man's man. He knew who his Father was, and where he stood with Him, and subordinated and submitted himself accordingly.

Both good answers and doctrinally sound, But neither answer is the response that leads to revival, Both deal with who Jesus is and what he has done for you, neither deal with what he means to you. I Am not saying this to be critical of either of you, But there is a problem underlined in this question that cannot be answered by character and doctrine, But only by His presence. We are sorely, as a church, Missing His Presence.

For example, If The love of your life has deceased, would you answer the above question with how great they were or what their character was or what they did for you? Or would you yearn for their presence again? Do you see what this is getting at? The Presence of God is something we need to yearn for, to seek, to hunger for, to strive for, this is the key to revival which comes from earnest prayer.... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

 

[dev553344]

Both good answers and doctrinally sound, But neither answer is the response that leads to revival, Both deal with who Jesus is and what he has done for you, neither deal with what he means to you. I Am not saying this to be critical of either of you, But there is a problem underlined in this question that cannot be answered by character and doctrine, But only by His presence. We are sorely, as a church, Missing His Presence.

For example, If The love of your life has deceased, would you answer the above question with how great they were or what their character was or what they did for you? Or would you yearn for their presence again? Do you see what this is getting at? The Presence of God is something we need to yearn for, to seek, to hunger for, to strive for, this is the key to revival which comes from earnest prayer.... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

You hit on an important point, but still got it wrong. We are in Christ and he is in us. This happens when we participate in the ordinances of salvation. God is always with us and communes with us continually. If not then something is wrong.

 

[DNB]

Both good answers and doctrinally sound, But neither answer is the response that leads to revival, Both deal with who Jesus is and what he has done for you, neither deal with what he means to you. I Am not saying this to be critical of either of you, But there is a problem underlined in this question that cannot be answered by character and doctrine, But only by His presence. We are sorely, as a church, Missing His Presence.

For example, If The love of your life has deceased, would you answer the above question with how great they were or what their character was or what they did for you? Or would you yearn for their presence again? Do you see what this is getting at? The Presence of God is something we need to yearn for, to seek, to hunger for, to strive for, this is the key to revival which comes from earnest prayer.... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

You're right, my response was unrelated to the specifics of your OP.
My mistake, ...I'm not much of a mystic, so the idea of Christ's presence appears rather foreign, and too subjective to me. I hesitate to take that kind of intangible quantification seriously.
Sorry Dave, not to be offensive but just to explain my decision to not engage.
Thank you all the same!

 

[David H.]

You hit on an important point, but still got it wrong. We are in Christ and he is in us. This happens when we participate in the ordinances of salvation. God is always with us and communes with us continually. If not then something is wrong.

For years, i as a fundamentalists believed this and knew this as a fact, (That God is with us, and communes with us) But this was not a reality, and I dare say for most Christians this is the case in some respect. A reality in the sense of a tangible presence within us. We may go to church, and have spiritual experiences but the ever present nature of Christ was never known, he was more of a distant savior than a nearby one. @DNB says that this is some sort of mysticism, the presence of God, But I say it is the very heart of what revival is. For me personally my revival came when He showed me I was a Laodicean, that I was not a Philadelphian as I had assumed.... That I needed to heed those instructions, and I obeyed them as best as i could, and by doing so, he came and supped with me.... I always wondered what that meant, to sup with you, but simply it is his presence in the form of a personal revival in your life, Like a relative coming over to visit and have dinner with you, there is personal and deep interaction there unlike in having a distant relationship with that relative.... Like the difference between writing a letter to your sweetheart vs actually being in their presence.

The answer in the welsh revival that set off the revival to the above question was spoken by a teenage girl in the service "I love the Lord Jesus with all of my heart" which resonated with Evan Roberts and began this struggle in his life... this is the same thing here i am speaking of. There is a simplicity to this, yet a depth to this relationship.

 

[Nancy]

In a word, "everything". Pretty sure I'd be either dead or in prison if it weren't for Him.
What Jesus means to me personally? Lord, Savior. Just the way He works in my everyday life, even in the smallest of things...He's never late or early. I take it by faith that He is there because well, He is! Don't have to "see", just have to "know"...and the seeing for me comes after placing total faith in Him.
As far as like, "dialog"...that's always been frustrating to me, lol.
He is no longer "flesh" but fully Spirit so...not like He's gonna answer us when or as we would like, because that is how we as humans relate, immediate responses to verbal questions and stuff we pose to each other.

Yeah, He is everything...did watch a bit of your video, so far so good! Will possibly come back to it later.
Good OP

 

[Nancy]

Sorry @David H.
There is nothing of Revival in my reply...I was simply answering your OP question ...

 

[April_Rose]

To answer the OP just like @Nancy said,.. EVERYTHING.

 

[Hidden In Him]

I was watching a video on the welsh revival of 1904, which began with this question asked in a church service of the people there, among them was Evan Roberts, who would later go onto lead the welsh revival.

So I pose that question to all of you.

The Awakening of 1904 In Wales by J. Edwin Orr - YouTube

Both good answers and doctrinally sound, But neither answer is the response that leads to revival, Both deal with who Jesus is and what he has done for you, neither deal with what he means to you. I Am not saying this to be critical of either of you, But there is a problem underlined in this question that cannot be answered by character and doctrine, But only by His presence. We are sorely, as a church, Missing His Presence.

For example, If The love of your life has deceased, would you answer the above question with how great they were or what their character was or what they did for you? Or would you yearn for their presence again? Do you see what this is getting at? The Presence of God is something we need to yearn for, to seek, to hunger for, to strive for, this is the key to revival which comes from earnest prayer.... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

There was a time when He alone meant everything to me. Strange to say, but I have come to the place now where what He means to me is also Someone through whom I can bless other people's lives. I was walking in prayer today and I found myself praying this very prayer. In myself I can do nothing, but in Him I can manifest the power to minister into others' lives, and I had a few sisters on my mind in particular at the time.

I say this in an affectionate way. I am normally motivated to please the Lord and serve Him, but I'm starting to become increasingly motivated to minister for others' sake, out of a genuine desire that they be ministered to by the Spirit of God, and since it is only Christ Jesus in me who can do such a thing, He means to me the power to be a blessing to others I care about.

For years, i as a fundamentalists believed this and knew this as a fact, (That God is with us, and communes with us) But this was not a reality, and I dare say for most Christians this is the case in some respect. A reality in the sense of a tangible presence within us. We may go to church, and have spiritual experiences but the ever present nature of Christ was never known, he was more of a distant savior than a nearby one.

Your theology and mine sound very similar on this subject. I don't understand church services where the Presence of God is not actively sought out. What are we having church for if this is not the case? Merely to meet?

I always wondered what that meant, to sup with you, but simply it is his presence in the form of a personal revival in your life, Like a relative coming over to visit and have dinner with you, there is personal and deep interaction there unlike in having a distant relationship with that relative....

My wife normally experiences this through worship. I do as well, particularly if I am on the altar, but the primary way I experience His Presence is through the word. It's something I need to get back to, but I used to feel the Spirit well up so deeply in me after He revealed something to me that it was like I felt like running all over the house.

I miss those days, and need to get back to them.

Thanks for the thread. It ministers to me.

 

[David H.]

(Sermon Quote) Is Christ Really In You? by Leonard Ravenhill - YouTube

 

[Hidden In Him]

(Sermon Quote) Is Christ Really In You? by Leonard Ravenhill - YouTube

EXACTLY. Everybody and their grandma will readily say "I'm saved."

How many will readily say, "The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lives in me"?

 

[Nancy]

(Sermon Quote) Is Christ Really In You? by Leonard Ravenhill - YouTube

Ha! Perfectly put! Wonder how many quit smoking that day?

 

[quietthinker]

Ha! Perfectly put! Wonder how many quit smoking that day?

I've wondered about smoking.....isn't that what they do in hell?

 

[Nancy]

I've wondered about smoking.....isn't that what they do in hell?

Lol...yes, I would say!

 

[April_Rose]

Come on now I've known many smokers in my lifetime. A lot of them were believers as well. They just started at a young age and got addicted. It happens.

 

[Nancy]

Come on now I've known many smokers in my lifetime. A lot of them were believers as well. They just started at a young age and got addicted. It happens.

Oh yes, I do too and, would it surprise you that I am still hooked on nicotine? I have not had a tobacco cigarette in a good 14 years now but, I do vape. I've ordered vape liq. with less and less nicotine and am depending on Gods strength to taper off all together. So, any how...I smoked cigarettes for a good 35 years...it is harder to kick than heroin!

 

[April_Rose]

Oh yes, I do too and, would it surprise you that I am still hooked on nicotine? I have not had a tobacco cigarette in a good 14 years now but, I do vape. I've ordered vape liq. with less and less nicotine and am depending on Gods strength to taper off all together. So, any how...I smoked cigarettes for a good 35 years...it is harder to kick than heroin!

Please don't take this the wrong way since I'm only telling you this because I care but watch out with vaping. From what I've heard it can be worse for you than smoking.

 

[Nancy]

Please don't take this the wrong way since I'm only telling you this because I care but watch out with vaping. From what I've heard it can be worse for you than smoking.

Well, I must tell you, I spent years learning of this. Think about it. Millions have quit analog cigarettes on these things. My lungs are clear, my BP is down. The big tobacco, FDA and pharma have a ton of money to loose. We already KNOW what tobacco can do to you...all I know is that I am healthier, have a lot more money and do not smell of smoke Propaganda is what all the "news" has about this. For criminy sakes, some people still think we are vaping "antifreeze"!!! Propylene "glycol" and "ethylene glycol" are two TOTALLY different animals. Glycol is what is used in theatrical smoke...vapor. Only, what is used in the e liquid is more refined and you could drink it and you would be just fine. It is in moisturizer, makeup, candy, cake mixes, soda pop, beer, bread, dairy products and so much more. But, that was their first line of defense :Oh no, you're smoking antifreeze!!!" Bunk my friend. It IS included also IN antifreeze to make it ...LESS toxic. I've done my homework, for sure! Don't believe most of what you hear on the "news".
xo