1 Corinthians 4:4–8 ‘Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.’(v5)
The miracle of the Christian proposal is that we can encounter God every day; the mortal meets the immortal, we abide in the Lord’s presence. Christianity is not simply a philosophical concept, but a friendship with our divine creator. If we understand Jesus’ teachings as no more than a moral code, we will quickly find that its demands lie beyond our natural ability. Relationships are built on trust, moral codes on obedience enforced through punishment. The first gives rise to love, the latter only to fear.
God is pure love and invites us to pause and enable Him to draw close to us. When God draws close it cannot be measured by sensation, either emotional or intellectual, but is the promised reality of Christ with us always (Matt. 28:20b). God is present as we choose to acknowledge this promise, no matter what our senses tell us. In other words, our senses are never the basis on which faith is secured.
Rather, it is built on God’s promise, one that transcends the capability of all human reactions and responses. What we discern is a perception in our conscience of what God invites us to set aside, a nudge in which way to go. It’s not that we don’t often associate such things with a sensation, but the sensation is most likely our human way of creating a meaning or understanding for what God is doing, an explanation that satisfies our perennial need to make sense of something; yet God, by nature, will always remain inexplicable.
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Psa. 16; Zeph. 3:14–20; John 8:31–47; 1 John 4:7–21.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: How confident are you that God is with you always? How does this influence the way you choose to live your life and plan for your future?
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, thank You that You are with me to the end of the age. Amen.’
Photo by BT Team
