How Do I Run to Jesus?
Watch or Listen to Video
Proverbs 4:23
This 3-minute video and devotion come from a message of the same title. There's a link to the full message at the end of this devotion.
The Heart
Running to Jesus starts in the center of your being with what the Bible calls “your heart.” Running to Jesus is not an intellectual process. Running to Jesus is a matter of your heart setting the direction of your life to be fixed on the refuge and the hope that is in Jesus Christ alone.
Galatians 4:6 (NLT) 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”
Ephesians 3:17 (NLT) 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him . . .
Psalm 27:8 (NLT) 8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
When the Bible talks about the heart, it’s talking about your inner self – the very core of your being, and that is where running to Christ as your refuge and your hope occurs. That is where we know him, where he speaks to us and communes with us. Not intellectually, but in the deep places of the heart, in the innermost being.
Ephesians 3:17 (NLT) 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him . . .
Psalm 27:8 (NLT) 8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
When the Bible talks about the heart, it’s talking about your inner self – the very core of your being, and that is where running to Christ as your refuge and your hope occurs. That is where we know him, where he speaks to us and communes with us. Not intellectually, but in the deep places of the heart, in the innermost being.
Creating a Fire
If you fill your mind with knowledge about God, will it create a fire in your heart to serve him, to love him, to chase after him? Not necessarily. But if you get a fire started in the innermost place of your being to chase after Jesus, to be in his presence, to abide in him, for him to be your refuge and your strength – that desire will lead you to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, as Romans 12:2 says. Your inner self, the very core of your being, is your heart, and that is where we run to Christ.
What we’re talking about is setting your heart – your innermost being on a life or death determined mission to get to Jesus himself, to know him, to abide in him, and have him abide in you. It’s about having a heart on fire to seek to commune with Jesus to walk with him, to be empowered by him, to trust your entire life into his hands as your only refuge and your only hope.
What we’re talking about is setting your heart – your innermost being on a life or death determined mission to get to Jesus himself, to know him, to abide in him, and have him abide in you. It’s about having a heart on fire to seek to commune with Jesus to walk with him, to be empowered by him, to trust your entire life into his hands as your only refuge and your only hope.
Motivation
John tells the first two disciples to look at the Lamb of God (John 1:35-37). John did not say go learn about Jesus – instead their first instruction was to focus intently, and by implication, follow him, both physically and spiritually as his Disciples.
John 1:38(a) (NLT) 38 Jesus looked (or turned) around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them . . .
Jesus turns to his first two disciples, and the first thing he says is, “What do you want?” (ESV says) “What are you seeking?” This is a question of heart motivation. Jesus doesn’t ask, “What do you know?” He doesn’t even ask, “What do you believe?” He asks, “What do you want?” What is your heart’s motivation in coming to me?
The direction of our lives is not set by our knowledge
The direction of our lives is set by the motivation of our heart
John 1:38(a) (NLT) 38 Jesus looked (or turned) around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them . . .
Jesus turns to his first two disciples, and the first thing he says is, “What do you want?” (ESV says) “What are you seeking?” This is a question of heart motivation. Jesus doesn’t ask, “What do you know?” He doesn’t even ask, “What do you believe?” He asks, “What do you want?” What is your heart’s motivation in coming to me?
The direction of our lives is not set by our knowledge
The direction of our lives is set by the motivation of our heart
Follow Jesus
Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) 23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Running to Jesus is a matter of your heart setting the course of your life to follow Jesus, which is the point of the first question Jesus asks his first two disciples. And their response might seem a little odd, but is actually very powerful.
John 1:38(b) (NLT) 38 . . . They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
Is there a chance that John the Baptist had correctly taught these first two disciples that what they needed most was to be with Jesus? Is there a chance that John the Baptist had taught them so well that they were saying to Jesus, “We just want to be where you are; we want to be in your presence”?
Running to Jesus is a matter of your heart setting the course of your life to follow Jesus, which is the point of the first question Jesus asks his first two disciples. And their response might seem a little odd, but is actually very powerful.
John 1:38(b) (NLT) 38 . . . They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
Is there a chance that John the Baptist had correctly taught these first two disciples that what they needed most was to be with Jesus? Is there a chance that John the Baptist had taught them so well that they were saying to Jesus, “We just want to be where you are; we want to be in your presence”?
How?
Maybe you’ve been trying hard, maybe for a long time, to learn about Jesus. And maybe you’ve even accepted that militant requirement that you must read your Bible and pray every day. And so, you read your Bible like a newspaper, and you pray like you hope God is up there somewhere and then you say, “Well, if I were honest, I’d have to say… nothing’s really changing.”
What is motivating you to read your Bible and pray? Is it a legalistic requirement – which you think if you can just meet it that somehow, something will happen that you want to happen? Religion calls us to legalistic action. The Bible calls us to a genuine relationship. Those two things are polar opposites.
Does a genuine relationship come from meeting God in his Word and communing with him in prayer every day? Absolutely it does! But as Jesus said, “What do you want” when you sit down to read and pray? Is your heart completely, intently set on experiencing a genuine two-way interaction with the Lord, in his Word, and is your heart set on experiencing communion with Jesus in prayer?
If it is, then you are truly running to Jesus, and he absolutely will be your refuge and your hope. But if that is not what you are doing, then you may forever spin your wheels in religious legalism.
What is motivating you to read your Bible and pray? Is it a legalistic requirement – which you think if you can just meet it that somehow, something will happen that you want to happen? Religion calls us to legalistic action. The Bible calls us to a genuine relationship. Those two things are polar opposites.
Does a genuine relationship come from meeting God in his Word and communing with him in prayer every day? Absolutely it does! But as Jesus said, “What do you want” when you sit down to read and pray? Is your heart completely, intently set on experiencing a genuine two-way interaction with the Lord, in his Word, and is your heart set on experiencing communion with Jesus in prayer?
If it is, then you are truly running to Jesus, and he absolutely will be your refuge and your hope. But if that is not what you are doing, then you may forever spin your wheels in religious legalism.
Daily Devotion Journal (DDJ)
We have a form called the Daily Devotion Journal. We’ve been using this form to teach people how to run to Jesus in absolutely any situation or circumstance. If a person will truly set their heart to what this form is designed to do – for thirty days – it has been 100% successful in Jesus becoming a refuge and a hope for that person in that situation.
As you go through the front of the form, if you will learn to make this a habit, you will begin to live in a relationship with Christ, where he becomes who he desires to be in your life.
DOWNLOAD THE DAILY DEVOTION JOURNAL HERE
Get real with God. Meet Jesus where you are. When everything crashes in on you, when the pressure is on you, you need to find a way to run to Jesus for him to be your refuge and your hope. This is one way we found to do that.
If you want him to be your refuge and your hope, you’ve got to set your heart on him. You’ve got to desire to commune with him above all else… in every circumstance, in every situation.
As you go through the front of the form, if you will learn to make this a habit, you will begin to live in a relationship with Christ, where he becomes who he desires to be in your life.
DOWNLOAD THE DAILY DEVOTION JOURNAL HERE
Get real with God. Meet Jesus where you are. When everything crashes in on you, when the pressure is on you, you need to find a way to run to Jesus for him to be your refuge and your hope. This is one way we found to do that.
If you want him to be your refuge and your hope, you’ve got to set your heart on him. You’ve got to desire to commune with him above all else… in every circumstance, in every situation.