Dear Ones:
After the resurrection of Christ, before His ascension, He instructed “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary” to tell his disciples to go into Galilee. There was a promise associated with this simple command: “…THERE shall they see Me.” (Matt. 28:10) The Lord at one point spoke to Ezekiel and said: “…Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will THERE talk with thee…(I) went forth into the plain: and , behold, the glory of the Lord stood there.” (Ez. 3:22-23) In both of these cases, there is something that is so very common…both resulted in the personal worship of God. When Jesus met Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, they fell at his feet and held them, worshipping Him. Later the disciples in Galilee, when they saw Him, they worshipped. When Ezekiel saw the “glory of the Lord, ” he said, “…I fell on my face.” (Ez. 3:24) In these three instances the individuals were declaring to the Lord, by words and actions, their consideration of the worth, beauty, and wonder of His person. In these instances, they were overwhelmed by the fact that they were in the presence of God, merciful and gracious, and yet, almighty and sovereign. The point is this. BECAUSE THEY WERE WORSHIPPERS OF GOD, GOD WAS A REALITY TO THEM. The second point is that, if we would know Him, and worship Him, we must be, not only in mind and heart His BE His, but be WHERE He would have us to be.
Scripture truly comes alive when we look at what the Lord Jesus says about the last days, and His coming. And in light of “wars and rumors of wars,” He declares what we are to be and to do. He speaks of His servants being faithful and wise, and this as it pertains to serving others. He goes on to deal with the “resources” that He entrusts to His servants, and the necessity to be a good and faithful servants, in using these talents (resources) for His glory. And in the midst of all this consideration, the servant is to be watchful, circumspect, knowing the times in which he or she is living. Now, the question becomes, “Can I be so involved with serving, that I cease to attend to the first thing, the one thing needful?” The answer to this question is another one: “Is Jesus Christ real to me?” Or is He in heaven, and I upon this earth, with little “reality” between?
When John writes to the church at Ephesus in the book of the Revelation, he declares to them the Lord’s words, “You have left your first love.” I believe that when we have lost the meaning and practice of personal adoration, and worship of Christ…at His feet, worshipping in Spirit and truth, then we lose the “reality,” the consciousness of His presence. We serve, but not out of love. We serve, but often independent of Him. We are called first and foremost to worship Him, then to serve.
We began this devotional by looking at verses which spoke of places the Lord would have certain people “go,” in order to “see” Him, or to “hear” His voice. What we discover by this is that God calls us to live in a certain place, or travel to certain places, in order to serve Him. It might be that He would have us to live where we are, but maybe not. That is His choice…for He knows where we shall be of greatest usefulness and fruitfulness. It will be in that place where He has chosen to reveal Himself to our hearts. Maybe we can sum up the whole of this topic by saying, “…although God is everywhere, Christ by His Spirit is particularly WHERE He has called us to be…for THERE, He will reveal Himself to the heart.
Love, Dad