The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Personal"
Presently, we cannot see Him. We cannot hear Him. We cannot touch Him. We cannot begin to fully understand His ways in our lives, or in the world.
"We walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7).
"How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out" (Romans 11:33).
Does this mean that our Lord is not personal and knowable in terms that fill our lives with His realized presence and working? It does not.
"The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16).
God makes Himself known in our hearts as we trust and walk with Him through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, any Christian who has known his Lord for even the briefest time will confess the Lord Jesus to be the greatest reality of life. He will declare Him to be personal, again, not in earthly terms of sight, sound, touch, or complete comprehension, but in realities of the heart that would not exist were the living God not present and vitally active. The new birth opens our awareness to reality, namely, the truth of Christ as the Life of our lives, and as the beating heart of God's eternal purpose He works to fulfill in all things (John 3:3; Ephesians 3:11).
The more we realize this truth and live our lives in anticipation that God will make Himself known, the more we will realize how personal He desires to be to us. Salvation in Christ births us into realized reality, resulting in the ongoing discovery that "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Of course, we see see little in relative terms of such infinite grace and truth. However, we can see enough to fill our being with light and the joyous awareness of how near our Lord has drawn to us in Christ. And again, of how personal He desires to be with us.
"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).
The word "know" in this declaration of the Lord Jesus denotes an understanding beyond mere factual understanding. It rather speaks of knowledge based on experience. This, God has given in the saving grace of Christ, as administered by the indwelling Holy Spirit who actively resides in all believers (Romans 8:9; II Corinthians 6:16). Our response must be confident expectation that our Lord will make Himself known along the path of righteousness, in accordance with His wisdom, timing, and the light of Scriptural revelation and authority.
What about those times when the Lord does not seem as present, involved, and active as at others? The Psalmist recorded such temptation in his personal experience. "Lord, why standest Thou afar off, o Lord?" (Psalm 10:1). If we understand the Biblical truth that we presently "walk by faith, not by sight," times when God seems far away actually serve as confirmation of His working in our hearts and lives. It will not feel this way, nor will our understanding and perceptions avoid being challenged when we do not sense our Lord's vital presence and working. In our present lives, however, times of sensory, mental, and emotional deprivation are to be expected. Indeed, we could not "walk by faith" without them.
Let us expect our Heavenly Father to be personal with us according to His wisdom, purpose, timing, and will. We will more consistently realize and respond to His desire for fellowship with us along the providential pathways of life, pleasing His heart thereby, and finding our hearts far more illuminated by the marvelous gift of His living presence. We will also more consistently avoid the need to utter the sad confession of Jacob at Bethel, when God drew so very near, but the man of God missed the glory and the wonder…
"Surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not!"
(Genesis 28:16)
Weekly Memory Verse
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"
(Romans 11:33)
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