Have You Seen Him?

The gospel in a nutshell: God sent his Son, Jesus, to live on the earth as the only perfect human. He died on a cross as a sacrifice for everyone’s sins. And whoever believes in Him will have eternal life with God in heaven. It’s both simple and amazing at the same time. It’s easy to read all of the Bible stories and believe that Jesus was here and died to save all of those people. I’ve believed it my whole life. But did I believe that He really died for me? That was so long ago, I wasn’t born yet, or even thought of…or was I? Did He think of me while he was hanging on that cross? Did He know how many times I would let him down, turn away, not listen, try to take control for myself, turn to others for acceptance? Did He know it would take me 50 years to finally let Him in, to let Him take control? Yes, He did!! And He thought of you too! He knew all the mistakes you would make, and what a mess you would make of your life. And He did it anyway.

Personalize 2 Corinthians 5:21 for yourself: For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for (my) sin, so that (I) could be made right with God through Christ.

He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. John 14:17

When you decide to buy a new car, and you decide which make and model you want to buy, you will start seeing them everywhere you go. In the same way, when you start looking for Jesus, you will start seeing him everywhere you look. He has always been there beside you, quietly waiting for you to turn and see Him. When you do see Him, you know Him and he lives with you. And when you open up and surrender yourself to Him, you will be filled with the Holy Spirit throughout your entire heart and soul. So where are you in this process? Have you started looking for Him yet, or is He just walking beside you unnoticed? Have you seen Him? Do you know Him? Has He filled you to overflowing with his grace?

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! John 14:13

There was a time when “ask for anything” to me would have meant to ask to be skinnier, prettier, rich, make that person love me, make my life perfect. But now that I am surrendered to God’s will, what do I really want from him? What do I really need? I need wisdom, understanding, trust, time to spend with Him, a purpose, direction, a way to get everything done, safety for my family. I can try to make these things happen on my own, or I can ask for help. I don’t need to be the manager in this relationship, I need to be the employee. Let Him make the decisions. Let Him have the stress of being responsible for everything and piecing it all together. Let Him fix it when things fall apart or change. I just get my assignment for the day and then work on that piece. I don’t need to know what all of the other employees are doing, just do my own job. God is the manager, director, VP, CEO and owner of this company we call life. I may not always agree with the day to day decisions, or know why He asks me to do certain tasks, but He has a vested interest in making me succeed so that his company will be prosperous and bear lots of fruit. Good employees attract other workers and the company grows and grows. He, alone, has the vision for the end result. We are each just called to be good employees and get our work done. But this position comes with an awesome benefit package!