Experience Jesus Firsthand!
Have you experienced Jesus firsthand? Or have you settled with second hand Jesus?
Do you personally know Jesus? Or do you trust other people’s opinion on Jesus?
Please, don’t be satisfied with second hand Jesus. Many talk about Jesus as a great teacher or a sage prophet. Some even pass on the saving knowledge of Jesus as Messiah. But they miss the amazing opportunity to have a personal relationship with Jesus.
Knowing Jesus firsthand is what’s eternal life is all about! Like Jesus proclaimed: This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent. (John 17:3, CEB)
Because of Jesus we have a direct access to God. We can approach God as we are. We don’t need any special degrees or certain level of spiritual maturity to do so. God is waiting for each and everyone of us to come to him as we are.
Just think about it! Our God is alive and active! And he wants to know us personally! All this freely given for us by grace through faith in Jesus. All we need to do is ask and the Holy Spirit will come into our hearts.
There is nothing better than knowing God. When we truly get to know Christ we will -like Paul- consider everything else a loss.
I consider everything a loss in comparison with the superior value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have lost everything for him, but what I lost I think of as sewer trash, so that I might gain Christ and be found in him. In Christ I have a righteousness that is not my own and that does not come from the Law but rather from the faithfulness of Christ. It is the righteousness of God that is based on faith. (Phil. 3: 8-9, CEB)
God’s presence in our lives is a mystery. We can’t really explain it. But we must not settle with secondhand Jesus. Experiencing Jesus firsthand is crucial so we can mature in our faith. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in us that opens our spiritual eyes to see God, to know God, to abide in God. And that is eternal life, already in us here and now.
Priceless.
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you.
I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call,
what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers,
and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers.
This power is conferred by the energy of God’s powerful strength.
(Eph. 1: 17-19, CEB)
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Q4U: Have you experienced Jesus firsthand?
Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you live and move and have your being in God!
Image courtesy of Diorama Studios. Linking up today with Faith Filled Friday.
4 thoughts on “Experience Jesus Firsthand!”
So true, what a wonderful way to start my day, with Jesus of course. Yes, I was guilty for many years of hanging out w/second hand Jesus. Thank you for your message, I needed it.
Thank you, Susan. Yes, we need Jesus. Too often we forget that. But He is always waiting for us to call upon Him. May you feel strongly His presence in your life today and always!
It’s interesting to think of “eternal life, already in us here and now”. I wonder how Ecclesiastes 3:11 plays into that, if at all. The NIV says: “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” The Amplified Bible puts it this way: “He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” What do you think?
Thanks, Sara, for excellent reflection and question. Two things came into my mind. 1) Yes, I think Ecclesiastes 3:11 talks about the same thing, maybe more of the yearning we all have inside and only God can satisfy.
2) I was thinking about how people who are ‘of Christ’ are part of God’s kingdom (through the Spirit) already here on earth.
Like the #1 was like ‘natural revelation’ and #2 ‘supernatural or divine revelation'(Jesus).
Hope this helps. Enjoyed your theological question. 🙂
BLESSINGS!