The Never Ending Gifts

Oh no. I glanced over at my coat in the passenger seat and reached over to pick it up. But it was no use—my purse was there also. Too hard to move both while driving safely, and no good place to pull over. “Sorry Jesus, would you mind sitting on top of my stuff?” I guessed he wouldn’t mind. My purse was soft and my coat fluffy.

I kept my eye on the road and pictured Jesus sitting next to me–today’s exercise for my 21 day “Connection Challenge.” Normally I would turn on the radio when driving by myself. But that seemed rude with Jesus there, so I decided to talk with him instead.

“Thanks for coming with me. I praise you for being with me always, and with everyone in the world at the same time.” We talked about five minutes about my day ahead. Then the conversation lulled.

Now it felt okay to turn on the Christian radio station, so I did and started singing along. But since the song playing was about Jesus, and he was sitting right there, I found myself paraphrasing the lyrics and singing them straight to Jesus.

“Yes, Jesus, you reign forever, and you’re my friend. You’re the God of heaven’s armies, and you’re right here by my side.”

My mind wandered. Wow, if I walked into any situation with the actual bearded Jesus with me, what would I have to be afraid of?

Cool.

Throughout the day, I pictured Jesus standing, sitting, walking, and riding with me. Whenever I pictured him it seemed natural to talk with him. One of my goals in this Challenge was to become more aware of God’s presence. I was surprised by how well this exercise worked, and how real Jesus seemed.

Below is tomorrow’s “Connection Challenge” exercise:

Premise: To receive God’s power and peace in my life, I need to be connected to Jesus (John 15:4-5).

Guidelines: For 21 days, my only goal will be to connect with Jesus throughout each day. I can also do any other activity if I can do it with Jesus.

Connection Aid: Day 7, Sunday January 12: Worship and Encourage at Church

The Bible encourages us to meet together, and to encourage one another (Heb. 10:25). At church, we do all the exercises in this Challenge: thank and praise God, read our Bibles, pray, sing, and feel Jesus there with us. I will go to church, do these things, and also try to encourage others there. The rest of the day I’ll also mix it up and do a little of all the week’s exercises.