You're the Only Jesus some will ever see....

Catching up with Shasa's blog today - it's a good reminder that sometimes in a crowded room, Jesus is there with us, yet people aren't always aware of Him ( yet!!). Reminded me of a song I heard many years ago, sung by Ollie Raper;

Verse:
If not in you, I wonder where will they ever see
The One who really cares?
If not from you, how will they find
There's One who heals the broken heart, and gives sight to the blind?

Chorus:
You're the only Jesus that some will ever see
And you're the only words of life, some will ever read
So let them see in you the One in whom is all they'll ever need
'Cause you're the only Jesus, some will ever see

Verse:
And if not you, I wonder who, will show them love,
And love alone can make things new?
If not from you, how will they learn
There's one who'll trade their hopelessness and give joy in return?

Chorus:

Bridge:
So let Him shine, let Him show
Let them see Him in you, we've gotta let them know

Chorus:
You're the only Jesus that some will ever see
And you're the only words of life, some will ever read
So let them see in you the One in whom is all they'll ever need.....

Tag:
'Cause you're the only Jesus (you're the only Jesus)
You're the only Jesus, some will ever see!

Pat's thought for the Day:
If people look at you, what kind of Jesus do they see?

If any man is in Christ.......

My PC died last week... The work on my screen just disappeared into a little hole in the middle, and then ...Nothing. Expert analysis ( from hubby) revealed that certain elements had actually burned out - the smell was noticeable when we opened the side up. And so spares were immediately ordered, arrived yesterday, and he worked into the wee small hours to get me up and running again. He made an interesting comment, though. He said, "It was touch and go as to whether it would need to be a brand new PC, or whether we could repair it."

Started me thinking....Scripture says that if any man is "In Christ", then he (or she) is a new Creature. Old things have passed away - behold, all things have become new ( 2 cor. 5:17 - KJV). It was the phrase "become new" that grabbed me. The Greek word for "become" (gegonen) means literally "to come into being, to be created". Everything about us is re-created at salvation. Yet often we act as if the old is here to stay. My PC, although now working, is actually a patched-up version - it is not new. But in the eyes of God, I AM new. Sometimes when a person comes to Christ, there is a visible external change in their appearance. Sometimes not. But the change on the inside, where it counts, is total. It's a new way of being, a new way of perceiving, a new way of approaching all that I am, and come into contact with. Each day is a new gift from God, and should be treated as such.

Manna was given to the Children of Israel, wandering in the Wilderness, daily. Not just as provision, but also as principle. Only God holds tomorrow, so we should leave the anxiety about it to Him. He will provide. He is the only One who can go ahead into tomorrow anyway, so let us work, and worship, and minister, in the newness of today, and leave the rest to Him.

You are not patched up; you are brand-new, re-created in Him.

Pat's Thought for the Day:
If you could act as if Yesterday was actually part of Your Past, and not a millstone round the feet of Today, what would be the change in your attitude, in your actions, in your thoughts and in your words? Live in the newness of Today,with your hope for Tomorrow placed firmly in the hands of the Only One who's already been there

The Groom is on the Move

In the time of Christ, when a young man asked for a young woman’s hand in marriage, he would go to her father, and ask permission to wed his Betrothed, the Light of his Life, and once that had been given, he would return home, with a Covenant of Promise. She was his, but he needed to prepare. He would go to his home, the house of his father, and start to build an extension.

She would not know what that extension looked like; part of the promise was that she had to wait. It was going to be a surprise. But all of the time that the hammering and the banging was going on, she knew he was preparing something special. She would prepare herself too, and get her bridal clothes ready. For she had no idea when the date would be. The wedding was set when the house was finished.

Suddenly there were no more sounds of hammering and banging, and the Groom would dress in his wedding finery. Together with his friends, the Groomsmen, as dusk fell, he would start to move from his father’s house. The sounds would go around the village - “The Groom is on the move”. Friend after friend would gather like a comet behind the Groom.

At the house of the Bride, the Bridesmaids would have their lamps ready. To them had been given the resources of oil to light the house in welcome. You don’t welcome someone to a dark house. Remember the 5 foolish virgins who had squandered their oil on stuff that was never meant for the king?

The Groom would come, and the Bride would hear them coming, and would dress in her finery, and suddenly he was there, and he would take her to himself, and together the crowd would return home.

John 14 says; “Do not let your hearts be troubled; trust in God – trust also in Me. In my father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go, and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with Me, that you also may be where I am.”

Watch the signs of the times.

There are hammerings and bangings all over the world. But when the hammerings and bangings stop - the King is coming

What is his Covenant of Promise? Whenever we take communion, Christ said of it, “ Whenever you eat and drink this bread and this cup, you do it in memory of Me.”
For how long?

“Until He comes”

What needs to change?

I was watching a film the other day ("Anna and the King" - the Jodie Foster version, not the musical!), and there was one scene where she was teaching a science lesson. She attempted to get a peeled, hard-boiled egg into a bottle, but the neck of the bottle was just too small. She then removed the egg, inserted a lit taper into the bottle (creating a vacuum), and popped the egg back into the neck of the bottle. The egg slipped easily into the bottle.

Simple physics experiment really.

But her comment following the experiment has stayed with me. She said "When the obstacle seems impossible, sometimes you just have to alter the climate" It was a comment on the then political difficulties facing the king of Siam, but it started me thinking.

I have read a number of online commentators in the past dew days, trying to explain the asian tsunami in terms of faith, or some form of religious meaning. A number of atheists have gone on record as saying that such tragedy proves the non-existence of God; others say that the response of people worldwide has proved that many have a compassionate heart. All I know is that God weeps, too, but has always been in the business of bringing order out of chaos, when we invite Him to do so. Maybe the "climate" that needed changing here is spiritual; maybe we needed to see a different perspective on our own problems. I am not saying that individual traumas can easily be ignored or forgotten. But sometimes we need something bigger than us, outside of us, to make us see our own situation more clearly.

Sometimes the sheer size of such devastation makes it difficult to consider anything good at all. But that is where faith comes in. It is the "evidence of things not seen" - YET. It is believing when all hope seems gone, and praying into that. It is trusting that although nations have been brought to their knees, that God can bring a seed change across the whole region, and as an infrastructure is re-built, so too can the spiritual heart of a continent. Let us pray for a harvest of souls - that as aid and compassion begin to flow, so the love behind them will generate a thirst not only for safe water, but also for the Living Water that Christ can bring.

Let us pray that the spiritual climate of Asia can be changed, and remove any obstacles that stop individuals turning to God

Pat's Thought for the Day:
What is the spiritual climate like around you? What obstacles stand in the way of God being able to move? Shine a light, and create a vacuum, that only God can fill