Seeing Jesus
Today, we spend a good deal of time seeking things that have some value, but compared to God and eternity, have little to no value really. God tells us we should not glory in any wisdom we might have. We should not glory or praise ourselves because of any strength or might we believe is ours. We should also not glory in any riches we have acquired. None of these things have any real staying power, no real eternal worth. We can lose them in a moment. Of course, this does not mean that if the Lord has given us wisdom, might and even riches, that these are necessarily bad things. They are not, but when we focus on just those things, we are missing something very large and very eternal.
It Bugs Me…
Every day I read of very young people to older folks (though younger than me), who simply expire usually due to a heart attack that instantly kills them. Even there, it used to be that if a person suffered a heart attack, it might not instantly kill them. If they got to the hospital or if emergency crews got to them quickly enough, they could actually save that person’s life. Not so today. There is zero warning. People simply keel over, drop to the floor and they are dead, dead, dead, with no chance of being resuscitating even if people begin the process immediately.
What You May Need
Who can argue that our bodies are wonderfully and fearfully made? They are very intricate and God, in His perfect wisdom filled naturally occurring foods in nature with the necessary vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to thrive. However, decades ago, Big Foods took over the food industry and in their highly processed approach to creating food stuffs, wound up destroying all naturally occurring vitamins and minerals. They then had to add them in on the back end, something they call “enriched.” Yet, because those enriched vitamins/minerals are not naturally occurring and more often than not, man made, they don’t become absorbed into our bodies, but are simply passed out.
Expressions of His Love
Jesus continually expresses His love for us. It wasn’t a one time deal at the cross, though clearly that action as He hung on Calvary’s cross was the expression of His love like no other. However, just because He has gone into the heavenly realms and now sits at the right hand of the Father until His enemies are made His footstool (Psalm 110; Luke 20; Hebrews 10), does not mean that His love for His own is no longer seen in the way He cares for His own. He didn’t change His demeanor toward us because He is now again exalted in heaven. He. Loves. Us.
Acquainted with Grief
What I’ve begun to realize is that when Jesus says we are to count the cost in Luke 14:28, He is saying more than I’ve considered. One of the things He is implying is that the cost of following in Jesus’ footsteps involves being willing to allow God to create within us the same unrestrained compassion that existed in Jesus. Think about what that means. It means that often, our efforts to reach people will be stymied by those we are trying to help see the light. It means they might ignore us, laugh at us, attack us verbally (or even physically), castigate us, make fun of us, label us something we are not and more.
Unrestrained Compassion
Jesus’ heart of unrestrained compassion knew what people needed and in effect, knew what they were seeking even if they did not fully comprehend it themselves. He was angry at what sin had done to their hearts and minds as well as the world in general. He was angry that this world was under the sway of the evil one. Yet, what overwhelmed Him was His deep sense of compassion that literally rose up from His bowels and yet, was met with resistance, complacency and even rebellion leading to outright rejection. He knew they were spiritually blind and He so desperately wanted them to see the truth…but they were unwilling.
Burdens We Unnecessarily Carry
The other day, in church, as our pastor walked up the two stairs to the platform, I pictured Jesus sitting on those steps and me walking over to Him. I took a seat on the floor and looked up at Him. He looked at me and sincerely and compassionately asked, “Fred, how are you doing?” This was not a vision. It was my imagination, yet it concurs with Scripture because of how much He cares about you and me. He didn’t ask me because He wouldn’t have known. It was His way of drawing me out, telling me it was safe to share with him by deepest, darkest thoughts and concerns. He knows them already yet does not reject me.
He Empathizes with Us, Pt 2
n my last article, I spoke of being in the Word. No one will completely master His Word in this life though I’m amazed at the ability of some to quote it verbatim. If we are honest with ourselves, we will be forced to admit that we probably do not read or study it enough. We also do not likely apply ourselves to memorizing parts of His Word to carry it in our hearts at all times. We may not even think about it or contemplate it enough throughout each day. We become what James 1:24 says; we look in the mirror, walk away and immediately forget what we look like. It takes effort to dwell on, contemplate and remember God’s Word even after we are done reading it and walk away from it.
He Empathizes with Us, Pt 1
As a Christian, do you find yourself not talking to Him about what concerns you, preferring instead to keep it to yourself and handle things on your own? How can we think we will get to know Him when we do that? God allows trials and issues to come our way so that we will take them to Him, so that we can see Him actually work in our lives. When we see Him moving and taking care of things, this increases and strengthens our faith in Him.
Do We Christians Do This?
By the time of Malachi, Israel had literally become numb toward God, having gotten to that point by deliberately and continually moving from faithful and obedient to becoming full faithless and disobedient. They eventually became bitter toward God. Can you imagine that? They actually harbored animosity and bitterness toward the God who had rescued them from Egypt and many troubles after that.
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