I am a Jesus pusher!!! The righteous scribes and Pharisees said: “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy” (Matthew 5:43). They eliminated a key phrase in the Old Testament quotation. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself:” (Leviticus 19:18). And to this statement they added, “and hate your enemy.” The Kingdom state of being makes no distinction between the people you like or dislike. At the heart of His explanation, Jesus gives us the display of His Father! “He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). If we will be sons, this same nature indwells us. We are called to be “perfect (in love), just as your Father in heaven is perfect (in love)” (Matthew 5:48). Jesus takes the outward actions of the scribes and Pharisees and internalizes and intensifies them for the child of the Kingdom. The Law of God becomes the nature of our lives and we have His very heart. None of this is possible unless the Spirit of Jesus indwells us. The old system to achieve and accomplish is replaced by experience and embrace.
What a privilege to be filled with Jesus. Christianity ceases to be activities I achieve and becomes who I am in Him! His nature becomes my nature. He changes me with His presence. I am filled with Him! Oh the wonder of living in Jesus as He lives in me. I am a Jesus pusher!!!