“I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Philippians 3:10-11 NLT)
How do you really know anyone? You can watch every movie in which a famous actor(ess) has a role, read every book or article written about them, watch every interview, maybe even speak with someone who knows them well, but does that constitute a relationship with them? Of course not, but isn’t that the way many so called “Christians” seek to have a relationship with Jesus?
How do we learn to love and enjoy a friendship with anyone? “Yeh, but Jesus is invisible! How do you have intimacy with someone you can’t see?” Paul writes in Ephesians 1:18 in the KJV that the “eyes of our understanding be enlightened that we may know the hope of His calling.” Read Paul’s words with your ear pressed to the chest of the Savior. Listen as the Lord speaks so eloquently and personally through His servant.
Paul was the proverbial “late bloomer,” in terms of his Apostolic charge, he never spent time with Jesus when He was in a physical body, so, how did He know Him so well? How do you learn to know anyone? He spent endless hours reading His words and listening to his Savior’s heart. Intimacy, true, spiritual closeness, grows out of uninterrupted time together.
To know Jesus is to see Him with the eyes of your heart; to hear His voice through His Word; to walk with Him through the lives of the original disciples, but, if you’re not careful, you can still miss Him if you don’t recognize His voice speaking directly to you! His heart is to communicate with you, for you to know Him, not just know about Him.
It’s one thing to thrill at Peter’s faith as he responds to Jesus’ invitation to get out of the boat and walk to Him on the water: it’s quite another when He is directing His invitation to you or me. See, here’s the deal: Jesus is just as alive today as He’s ever been – He’s still speaking, teaching, inviting us into His involvement in the lives of people on planet earth on His behalf.
He’s still equipping, empowering, and enabling His disciples to see Him as clearly and to follow Him as nearly today as when He called His first disciples. It was all fresh and new then, so He allowed His early followers to literally walk with Him, to see Him with physical eyes. Yes, of course, it took a lot of faith and courage to follow Him then, but not any more than what it takes for us today.
In my mind’s eye I envision meeting John and Peter, James, and Matthew and all the rest and sharing with them how grateful I am for their faith, but also for their failures. But I can envision their interest in asking us about our missions. “I remember the time early in your walk with Jesus when…” “We were so proud of you for standing strong when…” “We wept with you when you failed, but celebrated with you when you regained your balance and once again stood strong for the Savior’s sake.”
The best part of heaven for me will be the first glimpse of my Lord and Master and being able to enjoy worshipping, serving, and honoring Him in ways I’m unable to now. I want to run with Him across a lake and listen to Him laughing out loud when He’s telling stories about something only I would recognize. I dream of basking in the joy of His presence, knowing I’ll never be separated from Him.
Will it be days, months, years before we one day pinch ourselves and realize: “Yes, hallelujah! It’s real! Heaven is real and all the doubt, fear, worry, and questions are all answered with a resounding YES and AMEN!”
But there’s so much more to this story. We’ll pick it up in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 