The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
(For my mother, Evelyn Davis, who went to be with our Lord thirty years ago today, June 19, 1995)
"I Have Seen"
I have lived my lifetime seeing the Lord Jesus Christ in more people than I can number or remember.
"I will dwell in them and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16).
Be it countenance, demeanor, attitudes, words, or deeds, the Savior has been evident in fellow believers to the degree that He would not be more obvious had I been able to look upon Him with my eyes or hear Him with my ears. Indeed, only the Lord Jesus could motivate, guide, and enable the goodness of devotion to God and people that has graced my life with certain evidence of His vibrant existence and working in His people.
"Ye shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).
I recall looking out on a congregation in a nursing facility many years ago, wherein most of the congregants sat in wheelchairs. A thought came to me that overwhelms me in memory, even as it overwhelmed me in the moment:
"I am looking upon temples of the living and true God."
Presently, we view Christ as He dwells in imperfect human beings, all of whom do not fully appear to be what they are. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels (II Corinthians 4:7). We nevertheless "see" Him, in ways sublimely beautiful because our Lord shines in temples that bear the marks of the fallen world in which we live. This will not be the case in eternity, but it is so now. Weakness provides the backdrop against which God's strength glimmers in a glory made possible by His presence beautifully resident and active in those who trust the Lord Jesus. "The light shineth in darkness… My strength is made perfect in weakness" (John 1:5; II Corinthians 12:9).
I find this truth both blessed and challenging. The former is obvious. How God has revealed Himself by so many, in so many ways! The latter, however, challenges me by removing every excuse I could ever conceive for failure to trust the Lord Jesus and seek to honor Him in all things. I have seen Him too clearly and too often to justify or mitigate any sin. I have seen His way. I have seen His grace. I have seen His truth. I have seen His glory, His goodness, His greatness, and His faithfulness. I have seen His heart. I have witnessed over and over again our Lord as He dwells and walks in His people. The sights have been wondrous beyond all capacity to describe. They have not, however, been beyond the clear message to my heart, that God is, and that He is infinitely glorious. I rejoice in the blessing, and hope to far more faithfully meet the challenge that presents itself by having lived among so many in whom I have clearly and unmistakably seen the Lord Jesus Christ.
"I am the light of the world… Ye are the light of the world."
(John 8:12; Matthew 5:14)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness, He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous."
(Psalm 112:4)
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