Pressing On
With
Allen Bach and Clay O’Brien Cooper
As
told to Dee Ann Burkes
“I press on toward the goal
to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 3:14
Experiencing
God’s Best for Your Life
This
article is the second in a three part series about learning how to experience
God’s love, provision and will for your life through His Word.
Our
Unity with God
Clay:
Last month we talked about God’s love for us. This month we want to talk about
the different ways we can return that love. All of our actions, our love for
God, is a result of our faith in Him. When you really
get an understanding of what God has done for us, then you can understand His
love for us. When you know the kind of love He has made available to us, you
can’t help but love him back and want to please Him. He gave us His Word to
live by and when we put that into action, it provides us protection and
blessings, it is the light to our path and the guide to our steps. When we read
it and know it, we realize His Word provides everything we need.
Allen:
In John 15:5 Christ tells us, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man
remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing”. We need to remember He is the vine we are a
part of Him. One thing we have to establish in our heart is the fact that our
pride will always be working against us. We need to realize that we can do all
things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil.
Clay:
No matter how much we may convince ourselves that we don’t need or want
fellowship with Him, God knows that’s not true. He created us in his image. He
created us to have fellowship with Him. God desires a relationship with us, so
much so that He sent Jesus to bring us back to Him and to make it possible for
us to have the rich reward of eternal life with God. Part of the beauty of
God’s fellowship with us is how it is accomplished by our interaction with
other people. We are literally his hands on earth.
Allen:
The better I get to know the Word, the more God’s heart is revealed to me. His
motives and intentions become much clearer to me. When I get hold of that, my
heart starts changing and seeking after what His heart is – which is to seek
Him every day, to love our neighbor as ourself, to
witness to people, to be caring, supportive and uplifting to our friends and
family. He is the vine, we are the branches. He wants us to bear fruit for him.
If you read John chapters 14 through 17 you can get a much clearer picture of
that. Jesus is the perfect example of a man doing work for God, but never
letting pride get in the way. His main motive on earth was to do the will of the
Heavenly Father. As a result of His desire to do that will, he performed so
many miracles it was incredible. But He wasn’t about bringing attention to
himself through those miracles; he was all about brining more people into the
family of God.
Clay:
John 15 also says the branch should bear fruit. That fruit is the fruit of the
spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self control. When we operate in those fruits of the spirit, in
every area of our life, we put ourselves in the protection and provision of
God. When we put on the fruits of the spirit, our actions are a witness to
people to let them know what God’s love for us is really about. As a result of
a true faith in God and knowledge of his word, God will lead you into
situations where the outcome is incredible. But we need to remember it is only
through God that we can accomplish great feats, and give the glory back to Him.
In Joshua 1:8, it says, "Do not let the Book of Law depart from your
mouth, meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do
everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
Allen:
That’s just it. We can’t do it on our own, and on the other side, God needs us
too. It’s a back and forth relationship. I am really starting to get an
understanding of the big picture – Eternity. Every day I try to ask myself –
“How can I be of significance to God today?” It might be with my family, my
roping, my friends – but everyday I want to know I did
something for God. At the end of the day we should be asking ourselves, “Have I
been a plus or minus to the
Clay:
I’m like you – I just keep going back to John 15 where it says He is the vine
and we are the branches. If we abide in him, he abides in us. We can ask in His
Word and it will be done for us. It is through abiding in Him and His Word that
we tap into the source of life, which He has made available to us.
Allen:
Some people think, “God has better things to do than worry about me today – I’m
sure there are people He needs to help more than me.” But that isn’t true. God
created EACH of us to have an intimate, individual relationship with him. He
has the ability and desire to help us and be in communion with us every day. He
wants to go one on one with us. He is so awesome and huge, yet so personal and
real. It is like going to a roping school and wishing you had a more one on one
relationship with the teacher. God provides the one on one -- 24-7.
Clay:
When a person starts to get an understanding and realization of these things,
life starts to make perfect sense. You can see how God has designed things so
perfectly for us to walk in and live in. It brings a
completeness, a peace, understanding and a joy in life that you couldn’t
get any other way.
Allen:
Having that peace and joy isn’t a result of a wonderful life; it is the result
of a wonderful relationship with God. The storms will come, but his word says,
“All things work together for the good of those that love the Lord and are
called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Just recently, I was high team
back at the