Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).
I have visions of Jesus all the time. He reveals Himself to me and then He fades away. It’s like He’s on stage, performing a scene, and then He manages to slip out the stage door into the alley before I even know He’s gone and the reason I don’t know is because I am pondering the sketch He just performed. He finished it. He never leaves without bringing His revelation to a conclusion and therefore He gives me such a sense of overwhelm that I can’t get my mouth to move in order to speak. The Bible says that we see through a glass darkly. We have flashes of light, sudden understandings, especially about who Jesus is, but our life here on earth is clouded. Someday we will see through a glass clearly. We won’t have flashes of light, we will live in the constant Light of the Presence of God. And then we will see Him, He will be revealed so that we know Him, know all about Him, understand Him because we will be His very image. As He is so we will be. Perfect in every way. So on this earth we keep reaching for the Light, more of Him, less of me.
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Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him (1 John 3:1).
It’s odd to think of myself as being from a different planet (heaven) with a different Father (God) and a different teacher (the Holy Spirit) and a most unusual fiancé (Jesus). Heaven is a perfect place. Earth may have started out in a perfect state, but it has continuously fallen from grace until now it is in a free-fall to doom! My perfect Father, God, loves me constantly. He never withholds His love until I perform correctly the task He desires. In fact, if I never perform that task, He will still love me. My natural father, when I was a child, made me sweep the kitchen twenty-four times one evening, until I got it right. He stood in the door shouting commands, and when he was content with my work, he stormed away furious that I’d wasted so much of his time. Thank God for my perfect Father! If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him (1 John 2:29).
Righteousness. That’s a big name for what meaning? To be righteous means “your sins are forgiven, you are In Christ, He is in you.” The Holy Spirit is in you from the moment of your new birth, and He is on you from the moment you opened your heart to receive the power God gave you. You are a new creature, a special creation, a man or woman of God, and you practice doing the right thing all the time. Righteousness means you are” in right standing with God.” You stand before Him without shame, without guilt, without pride, without self-aggrandizement, just plain old you, and God holds out His arms and says “Son (Daughter), come to Me.” And you run into His arms with glee. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming (1 John 2:28).
I don’t care if you are 103. You’re still a little kid to God. Even now I call my forty-six-year-old daughter, my baby. I can remember her as a newborn on my shoulder as well as I can see her today. She’ll always be my baby. So listen up, kid! Jesus is coming back for you, and when He appears, He wants to find you full of faith, confident He will do what He said He would do. That’s a kid a big brother can be proud of! But if we’ve been in the playground, hanging out with worldly types who like to be sarcastic and run off at the mouth with cynicism, doubt, and hopelessness, then we will certainly be ashamed at His coming in all His Glory. He’ll be leading the armies of heaven to sweep you off your feet, to give you a crown, and present you with your heavenly address in that mansion He promised. And where does He find you? With the nay-sayers! |
Marty
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