John the Baptist
He knew Jesus before day 1, His Mom and Jesus’ Mom, Mary were cousins
John the Baptist leapt in the womb
when the moms were both pregnant and they ran into each other
Pretty sure John the Baptist was in Jesus’ inner circle,
although nothing is said about their childhoods
and how well they knew each other
The disciple John called himself The one whom Jesus loved
A friend pointed out to me a long time ago
that John called himself the one whom Jesus loved
Jesus never gave John the title: The one whom I love
John was likely in Jesus’ inner circle
All the disciples must’ve been
Jesus had to at least know Judas was off a bit but he was still included
We know who is in our inner circle
Is God there?
Calvinists think that whether we are or not in God’s inner circle is God’s choice
How can that be? He would choose everyone to be in His inner circle
Every single one of us
It is when humans reject Him or keep Him at a distance
that He also will not give us more of Him than we want
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Matthew 13:12
The Kingdom of Heaven is a great treasure that one would sell all to get,
When the kingdom of heaven is valued, it shows
People cannot hold it in, it becomes a part of them and the way they think
But being boisterous is not the way we get close to God,
it’s not how we get included in His inner circle
We get there by offering our lives to Him, daily, seeking Him earnestly
and following Him closely
The most important thing is to always value Jesus’ presence
Include Him in all that you do,
in every event, every decision, every thought you have
While that may seem impossible, isn’t that what zeal for the Lord is all about?
Considering the Lord Jesus Christ every moment?
Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Romans 12:11
We can see here, God considers it wickedness
when He is not in all of our thoughts:
The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God:
God is not in all his thoughts. Psalm 10:4