Looking for God in All the Wrong Places

If we want God’s presence in our lives, we won’t find it in religion. It begins with a relationship.

We spend huge amounts of money, time, and effort trying to find God. Roam the aisles of any bookstore in the Religious section and you’ll find hundreds of books. Unfortunately, unless we start with The Book, we may find ourselves lost in all the how to’s.

There are many excellent authors whose books are planted firmly in God’s truths. Often, their words help guide and direct us in our search with encouragement and inspiration. Still, if we don’t understand that God’s word is the only Truth, we will continue looking in all the wrong places.

It’s easy to tell others to read the Bible but a lot harder to actually do that. Where do you begin? What version should you use? How do you understand all that stuff?

Jesus knew how hard it would be for us and when He arose to the Father, He left us with a comforter – The Holy Spirit.

Jesus first told the disciples of the Holy Spirit in the last hours He spent with them.


“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:16-18, NAS.

So many of us are heartbroken because we fail in our desire to follow Jesus. And therein lays the key. We do not have the power to follow Christ in our own strength.

All you have to do is look at Peter. He loved Jesus, proclaimed he would die in his devotion, and yet, he denied Christ three times. How often have you come across the verses describing Peter’s denial and wondered, “How could he do that?” If you search the scriptures, you will discover that Peter said what he said and did what he did in his own strength.

Look closely again at Jesus’ words, “but you will know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

It wasn’t until the disciples were pretty much at the end of their ropes, so to speak, that they were able to comprehend these words. They’d watched their Lord beaten and crucified and saw His lifeless body removed from the cross. Then they ran and hid. It’s hard to imagine the loneliness, anguish, and fear they experienced. I think they probably felt abandoned as well. Then, Mary Magdalene comes and tells them she’s seen the Lord.

As they are hiding behind locked doors in fear of the Jews, Jesus appears to his beloved disciples. His first words to them still take my breath away, “Peace be with you.”

As the disciples rejoiced, Jesus then told them,
Receive the Holy Spirit,” John 20:22.

We cannot receive the Holy Spirit if we are living by our own strength. Usually, it’s only when we come to the end of our rope that we are ready to enter an intimate relationship with Jesus.

Blessings, Francine

Scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible

2 comments:

    On 8:35 PM David Meigs said...

    Even after all these years, every time I pick up the word, I see something new. Praise God!

     

    As always, your comments strengthen the messages I hope to convey. Thanks.

     
 
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