The Lord spoke to Phillip one day and told him that He and the Father are one and the same and that when Phillip saw Jesus he was in reality seeing the Father. It is the desire of God that we come into this depth of relationship with Him, even as Jesus walked and lived this way here on the earth. When we are born again we are born of the Spirit and are made one with God, because He is Spirit. The challenge of life is to work at renewing our mind to this fact. The primary way the Lord has in pulling this off is to give us things to do in our everyday living that will require us to call on Him. This is how perfection comes.

While Jesus was here on the earth showing us how to work out our salvation on a daily basis we find the Father putting in the heart of his Son the goal of being like Melchizedek. God declared to Jesus that he was his son and that along with this he was also a priest after the order of Melchizedek. One of the things that I thought about a great deal while living in Israel is about how Jesus came into a full understanding of who He was. Remember that he didn't just appear one day being a full grown man but was born as a helpless baby and had to grow into maturity just like us. We must go through this same process as we become more and more aware of who we really are.

Wow, what an awesome passage of scripture. In the previous chapter we were shown that he had been made like us in all ways except sin. This passage out of Hebrews 5 gives us a picture of how this all came about in his life and we are told that now we must obey him in the same way that he obeyed the Father. For us to enter into this relationship that Jesus had with the Father requires faith. Faith in what? Faith in knowing that what we have heard him tell us is true or real. This is how Adam lived until he began to eat of the tree of knowledge. By God's grace we can go back to where Adam lived in the spirit with God and become a coworker with Him in our everyday living.

The Lord has declared to each of us that we are kings and priests. How does this actually become a reality in our lives? We must first of all embrace this truth about ourselves and then to walk it out in a very practical way. Most of our churches preach the good news of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus. This is wonderful but it is only the starting place. Simple obedience to His inner voice must be experienced on a daily basis. We can have an outward relationship with the Lord by reading and memorizing scripture which is good, but to come into our role of kings and priests we must hear His voice and move out in faith to do those things we are hearing.

Lord, I lift each of these precious people you have given me to encourage them in You. Cause each of us know you as the great I Am and to have a burning desire to be like you. Speak to us today and grant us special grace as we embark on a walk of faith that we might see substance as we obey you. Cause us to be sensitive to those around us and give us words of spirit and life for one another. Lord, we bless you for calling us out of our lives into your life. We desire to be fruitful in you Lord. Amen and Amen.