Orange Moon Thursday, January 6, 2021 "Not By Sight"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

(Thanks to Tom W. for inspiration on this one.)

"Not By Sight"

   

    

   If the Lord Jesus Christ were here with us physically, it seems like we would trust Him more, and be more faithful to Him in our attitudes, words, and deeds.  The disciples of the Savior, however, indicate otherwise.

   "And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?… They all forsook Him, and fled" (Matthew 8:24-26; Mark 14:50).

   Only after the Lord Jesus Christ left the disciples physically and returned to them spiritually through the indwelling Holy Spirit did they become truly faithful to Him.

   "They departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" (Acts 5:41).

   In our present existence, we require a journey with God that does not include sight, sound, and sensation.  "We walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7).  Many reasons exist for this, the most important of which involves God's emphasis on our hearts.

    "The Lord looketh on the heart… Out of it (the heart) are the issues of life… With the heart, man believeth unto righteousness…That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith" (I Samuel 16:7; Proverbs 4:23; Romans 10:10; Ephesians 3:17).

    Salvation and God's work to conform us to the spiritual and moral image of the Lord Jesus Christ must focus on the heart of God and the heart of man.  We must be redeemed unto knowing our Lord's character and nature first and foremost.  Thereby, our own hearts "are changed into the same image" (II Corinthians 3:18).  Such an emphasis presently precludes overmuch physical manifestation of God's involvement in our lives.  He works that we might know His heart, as dwelling within and illuminating our own hearts.  This requires the primary protocol of godliness in our present existence: "The just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17).

   The day will come when "we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2).  This is not that day.  No, this is the day wherein we need to not see, hear, or touch our Lord.  This is the day wherein we need to discover His heart as it glimmers and gleams in the Word of God.  This is the day wherein we need the Spirit of God to reveal our Father's heart along the pathways of life as He leads us to trust Him, and as we find Him perfectly faithful.  This is the day wherein we need to be amazed by the heart of Christ revealed in us as we find ourselves doing things that can only be the fruit of His presence within us.  This is the day wherein brothers and sisters in Christ will so reflect the glory of God's heart that it almost seems that we can see His face in their faces.  Yes, this is the day when we trust the Lord's heart despite not being able to see His hand.  Great and redeeming wonders grace us that could not happen in our hearts if we could see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and touch with our hands.  

   We rightly look forward to an eternity in the full presence and revelation of our God.  As the old hymn beautifully sings, "What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see!"  However, what a day this shall also be as the Holy Spirit directs our hearts to see the heart of God by faith rather than sight.  Long ago, disciples who fled became apostles who bled as the Holy Spirit changed their hearts not by the Christ they saw, but by the Christ who entered their hearts by grace through faith.  Such Light shining in the darkness abides until this hour, as it will until that blessed moment when "we shall see Him as He is."  Let us then accept and expect this way of God in the present hour when He works to reveal His heart unto, within, and through our hearts.  

"Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

(John 20:29)

Weekly Memory Verse

   Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor.

(Ephesians 5:2)

 

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