Greetings to you in the powerful, beautiful, and wonderful name of Jesus Christ – THE Risen Saviour! What a lovely morning we have been given…and it looks like it could be an interesting day – so we need to begin with rejoicing wherever we happen to be and giving thanks for all of the blessings that have brought us to this moment. Today I will be praying for you, asking Father to release “shalom” peace to you and may He lead you into a deeper understanding of His love for you.
Over the past week or so my devotions have been focused on Moses. There are many insightful glimpses of his relationship with God that capture my attention. However the one that catches my attention is his face-to-face encounter with God. God declared at one point that no one would be able to see His face and live (Exodus 33:20) and yet Moses was one who saw and lived. There are a select few who have had the privilege of seeing God and living…but the interesting thing is that the person who walks away from an intimate encounter with God is not the person they were before – so there is in essence a death.
Just to add another dimension – Jesus said to Phillip that whoever sees Him in reality sees the Father (John 14:9) and God taught Moses (Numbers 21:8-9) that looking at a bronze image of a serpent would bring life. Jesus taught that if he was lifted up he would draw men to himself and bring life. However no one who has a personal encounter with Jesus is the same person after. The one who is the way- the truth – the life has a way of changing everything. It seems that every encounter with Jesus brings ‘death’ to part of a person’s life so that new life can come.
One of the great paradox’s of the life of a Christ-follower is that death can bring life…Christ’s death brought life to all who were dead in sins and our dying to our will-our attitudes-our selfishness-our ego-our addictions-our fears-our worries …opens the door to a new life experience. Next time you sing a song or chorus that expresses a desire to see Jesus – be prepared, for if it happens there is going to be a dying somewhere…and it will be glorious!
Just a little something to think about on a Thursday — be blessed!