Power of spiritual familiarity

mukk_in

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Dear saints, I trust that the Lord had been keeping and prospering you. We tend to quickly recognize and identify places, events or people that we know or have been to. Sometimes, it so happens that even when we run into a colleague we draw a blank when trying to remember their name! Call it a temporary memory lapse or preoccupation, it’s often embarrassing. Yet, we feel deep down within that we know this person but just can’t remember their name. Have we ever insulted the Lord this way? How good and strong is our spiritual familiarity?

I’d like for us to look at Luke 24:13-35. This is the familiar story of the Lord’s encounter with two men on the road to Emmaus. It narrates how the two men were discussing the recent events of the crucifixion and apparent disappearance of the Lord (Luke 24:23-24). What followed was a resounding rebuke from the Master (Luke 24:25-26). Can you imagine what those men must have felt like? They must have felt like total losers as we do when the Lord chastises us (Psalm 23:4, Hebrews 12:6). But, praise be to God, the Lord always instructs and restores us as He did with those men (Luke 24:27). However, sometimes even that may not be enough for us to comprehend the Lord until something that we‘re more familiar with happens. Those two men didn’t truly recognize who Jesus was until He broke bread with them (Luke 24:30-31). The spiritual has to be transformed into the natural before it has any relevance for us (John 1:14).

Let’s now see how familiar the Lord was with our Heavenly Father. The Lord demonstrated a Oneness with God the Father that was truly spectacular (John 8:29, John 11:40-44, John 16:28-29). How did He achieve this intimacy? He achieved it through truly spiritual intimacy with God the Father. All through the Gospels we see the Lord spending enormous amounts of time in prayer and solitude with God (Matthew 17:2; Luke 5:16, 6:12, 22:44). The key to His spiritual intimacy with God the Father was a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. Although He’s God Incarnate, the Lord showed us that the essence of Christianity is not what we do (Matthew 7:21-23) even as works are important (James 2:14) or how often we spend time with the Lord (Luke 13:26-27), but how well we Know Him (Acts 4:13).

How familiar are we with our Master today saints? If we’re not sure, then let’s get back to the basics which is not just being converts but growing in His grace as His disciples (2 Peter 1:8). Amen.

Have a good rest of the week saints :).
 

Dave-W

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Heart2Soul

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Dear saints, I trust that the Lord had been keeping and prospering you. We tend to quickly recognize and identify places, events or people that we know or have been to. Sometimes, it so happens that even when we run into a colleague we draw a blank when trying to remember their name! Call it a temporary memory lapse or preoccupation, it’s often embarrassing. Yet, we feel deep down within that we know this person but just can’t remember their name. Have we ever insulted the Lord this way? How good and strong is our spiritual familiarity?

I’d like for us to look at Luke 24:13-35. This is the familiar story of the Lord’s encounter with two men on the road to Emmaus. It narrates how the two men were discussing the recent events of the crucifixion and apparent disappearance of the Lord (Luke 24:23-24). What followed was a resounding rebuke from the Master (Luke 24:25-26). Can you imagine what those men must have felt like? They must have felt like total losers as we do when the Lord chastises us (Psalm 23:4, Hebrews 12:6). But, praise be to God, the Lord always instructs and restores us as He did with those men (Luke 24:27). However, sometimes even that may not be enough for us to comprehend the Lord until something that we‘re more familiar with happens. Those two men didn’t truly recognize who Jesus was until He broke bread with them (Luke 24:30-31). The spiritual has to be transformed into the natural before it has any relevance for us (John 1:14).

Let’s now see how familiar the Lord was with our Heavenly Father. The Lord demonstrated a Oneness with God the Father that was truly spectacular (John 8:29, John 11:40-44, John 16:28-29). How did He achieve this intimacy? He achieved it through truly spiritual intimacy with God the Father. All through the Gospels we see the Lord spending enormous amounts of time in prayer and solitude with God (Matthew 17:2; Luke 5:16, 6:12, 22:44). The key to His spiritual intimacy with God the Father was a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. Although He’s God Incarnate, the Lord showed us that the essence of Christianity is not what we do (Matthew 7:21-23) even as works are important (James 2:14) or how often we spend time with the Lord (Luke 13:26-27), but how well we Know Him (Acts 4:13).

How familiar are we with our Master today saints? If we’re not sure, then let’s get back to the basics which is not just being converts but growing in His grace as His disciples (2 Peter 1:8). Amen.

Have a good rest of the week saints :).
Excellent post and right on target!
 
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