The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"I Will Look"
"The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord." (Proverbs 20:27).
God made human spirits to serve as the dwelling place of His light, making possible our capacity to "shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15). We exist to be His candles, receiving His illumination through the igniting and sustaining presence of the Holy Spirit revealing "the Light of the world" Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 8:12).
The entrance of sin into human hearts meant that darkness rather than light governs our lives until we trust the Savior. "I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness" (John 12:46). Our Savior lights the flame of our candle, enabling us to see all things according to truth rather than falsehood and fantasy. Our primary vision involves God Himself. "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3). By the primary agents of His Spirit and His Word, along with His church and His creation, our Heavenly Father offers the knowledge of Himself to all who will join the prophet in the holiest of all quests to see - "I will look for Him" (Isaiah 8:17).
Of course, we presently "walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7). We "look for Him" with the heart and the mind rather than the eye. Certainly, an open Bible and an expectation that the greatest of all teachers, the Holy Spirit, will illuminate us as the pages of God's Word establishes our quest to know the Lord. However, He also meets us along the way of our lives as we walk by faith, revealing the light of His life through people, and through His providential working in circumstances, situations, and conditions. Our Heavenly Father wants us to know Him as well as possible in a world enshrouded by much mist and gloom, but also illuminated by the Light that "shineth in darkness" (John 1:5).
The latter point serves as primary regarding the knowledge of God. He desires that we know Him far more than we desire to know Him. The Teacher loves to teach much more than we love to learn. Our Father seeks to be known in far greater measure than we seek to know. Remembering and affirming His igniting of our candle enables our necessary expectation that the light of God awaits us along every pathway. We will not see all, and in real terms, we will not see much in comparison to that which can be known. "If any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know" (I Corinthians 8:2). We can, however, see more than we have looked upon to this point. The God who so desires to be known will ensure this. All that awaits is the humble, trusting, and expectant opening of the eyes of our hearts and minds. "I will look…"
"Thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness."
(Psalm 18:28)
"Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."
(Jeremiah 33:3)
Weekly Memory Verse
That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
(Luke 16:15)
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shared with a dear friend yesterday that 99.99% of the Bible involves God's revelation and glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. We exist to know Him, and to find in such holy light the reality, reason, and ramifications of our existence (John 17:3). The Holy Spirit who indwells us ever works to reveal and glorify the Lord Jesus (John 15:28; 16:14). However, I also mentioned to my friend that a .01% place exists for the believer's self-knowledge and awareness. To know God means we will know ourselves in the context of Christ, as it were. "Ye are in Christ Jesus… He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (I Corinthians 1:30; 6:17). Of all that God sees of us, we can be sure this is first and this is primary. Indeed, how can it not be so when we consider…
"He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21).
If God gave His Son to the cross to make possible and actual His giving of the Holy Spirit to our hearts, could it be that He sees us with any other essential focus? If He poured out His wrath on the Lord Jesus so that He might pour out the Spirit into our spirits, will He ever overlook this "hope of glory, which is Christ in you?" And if He left His beloved Lord Jesus to die alone in utter abandonment to make possible His presence within us, will He ever take leave of seeing us in terms less than "Ye are the temple of the living God?" (II Corinthians 6:16).
Find the most faithful believer on the planet in this moment, and you will find one viewed by God as united to the Spirit of His Son. Find the most failing believer on the planet in this moment, and you will find one viewed by God as united to the Spirit of His Son. Too much was sacrificed for the Divine gaze upon us to be other or less. Certainly, our faithful or failing response to Him matters much, and He works to enhance the former, and correct the latter. However, God's first gaze ever sees us in light of the cross, the empty tomb, and the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ within us. We must see ourselves accordingly. "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).
This is the .o1% - how we view ourselves - based on the 99.99% - how we view God. But how important it is. To share God's view of Christ in us and ourselves in Christ will go far in motivating and empowering a corresponding life of faith and faithfulness. Moreover, our Savior suffered agonized abandonment on the cross to bestow such grace upon and within us. We will never throughout eternity, or in this lifetime, live a moment apart from the Holy Spirit's abiding and empowering presence within us. Yes, God gave Himself to dwell within our hearts when we believed. He will not leave. This is how He views us. This is how we must view ourselves.
"I am with you always… I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
(Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5)
"Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
(Romans 6:11)
Weekly Memory Verse
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