Seeking Jesus

December 10, 2016

“…Wise men came saying, “Where is he?” (Matthew 2: 1, 2)

Christmas cards tell us that wise men still seek Him. Wise men still find Him. Wise men still worship Him and give gifts to Him. We can add this observation: wise men (and women) still ask the question: “Where is He?”

If we want to know where Jesus is today, we should look where the Love is. Paul writes that He is a specific quality of love. (1Corinthians 13:4-7)  If we tap into that quality of love we will find ourselves connecting with God, and discover that God is connecting with us. (1 John 4:16)

The great Christmas word,“incarnation,” literally means “in flesh.” (John 1:14)  The Bible tells us that incarnation also means relocation. God wants to express the quality of love God is where people are hurting. If we will intentionally place ourselves where people are hurting, as we become conduits of God’s love that addresses their pain we will discover where God is and where we want to be for the rest of our lives.

We must also look where the Light is.  Then, we can deliberately place ourselves where others live in spiritual darkness and ask God to pass the Light of Christ through us to address their darkness.

And we should look where the Life is. The Apostle John writes that God has given us a quality of life God labels “eternal life.” (1John 5: 11, 12) We can experience this quality of life ourselves, and we can become conduits of that Life for others.

We can go, or God may place us with the hurting, those living in darkness, and those suffering from a low quality of life. As we become God’s conduits, that’s when we discover by experience where Jesus is.

Dick Woodward, 13 December 2011

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Difficult Relationships

November 6, 2012

“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in meekness correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”   (2Timothy2:24-26)

We might label these words Paul wrote to Timothy: “How to relate to a difficult person.” We all need this teaching because we must all deal with difficult people.

According to Paul the difficult person to whom we are relating has been taken captive by the evil one and we cannot free them.  We can maintain three fruits of the Spirit (gentleness, meekness and patience), which keeps the door open for God.  We then earn our hearing and place before them the Word of truth they need to hear. We must not quarrel because that opens the door for the evil one and closes the door for God.

When they acknowledge the truth of God’s Word they experience repentance, and escape from the captivity of the evil one.  This is not a matter of teaching or preaching.  It is not having the last word or winning the argument.  This is becoming a conduit through which almighty God sets people free who were not free.

To repent means to think again or to have a change of mind, heart, will and direction.  It is a work of God you cannot perform.  Only God can use His Word and you His servant to make this happen.  In an attitude of prayer and in dependence upon God and His Spirit are you willing to be a conduit of this miracle?

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Conduits of God

December 13, 2011

“… Wise men came saying, “Where is he?” (Matthew 2: 1, 2)

 The Christmas cards tell us that wise men still seek Him.  Wise men still find Him.  Wise men still worship Him and give gifts to Him.  We can add this observation: wise men still ask the question, “Where is He?”

If we want to know where He is today we should look where the Love is.  Paul writes that He is a specific quality of love (1Corinthians 13: 4-7).  If we will tap into that quality of love we will find ourselves connecting with God and discover that God is connecting with us (1 John 4: 16).

The great Christmas word is “incarnation” (“in flesh” John 1:14). The Bible tells us that incarnation also means relocation. God wants to express the quality of love He is where people are hurting.  If we will intentionally place ourselves where people are hurting, as we become conduits of His love that address their pain we will discover where He is and where we want to be for the rest of our life.

We must also look where the Light is.  We can deliberately place ourselves where the spiritual darkness is and ask God to pass His light through us and address their darkness.

And we should look where the Life is.  The Apostle John writes that God has given us a quality of life he labels “eternal life” (1John 5: 11, 12).  We can experience this quality of life ourselves and we can become conduits of that Life for others.

We can go or God may place us where the hurting, the darkness and the low quality of life are.  Then we can be conduits of God.  That’s when we discover by experience where He is.

 

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