Our True Treasure

This morning when I woke up and even last night I was again thinking about the treasure that is our relationship with the Lord, and with each other.

Recently, I was reading a book by Graham Cooke and he said, "God inhabits our relationships", which was really helpful. I always knew that based on several scriptures like (NIV)Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” but this just presented it in such a concise way. God does inhabit our relationships, in other words He is present when we are in relationship with each other, as fellow believers, for we are gathered in His name! There should be an awareness in our lives, and in our churches, of the importance of our relationships with each other.

In several places Jesus talks about what the Kingdom of God is like, and one of the Statements He makes is that the Kingdom of God is like a treasure - (NIV)Matthew 13:44. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." In Luke 17:21 Jesus says, "... nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”

Jesus says in (NIV)John 17:22-23 "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one--- [23] I in them and you in me---so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." And again in (NIV)John 14:1 "... the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." Paul writes in (NIV)2 Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." His reference to jars of clay means our physical bodies, and the all-surpassing power is from the Holy Spirit within him.

So in summary, we have in our relationships with each in the church, the Lord present. We have within us the Holy Spirit and Jesus Himself, extending to us Eternal Life and all-surpassing power and a deeply intimate relationship - a treasure beyond compare. It is this treasure, these relationships that we should invest in and share with those around us.