James 1:17 (MSG)
Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle.
This past Friday and Saturday I was in Baltimore with a group of our men.
It was exhilarating with amazing worship with 1500 other men raising their voices with all they had.
As good as the speakers were I became distracted early on because of something God showed me. It was very quick, and I could easily have missed it.
It was during the first worship time we had on Friday night. I was a bit tired, with some stray thoughts about responsibilities and worries.
Suddenly there was an image in my mind of Jesus not as a man, or on the cross, or as the one we read about doing great things in the Bible. I had a picture of Jesus as the best of everything- as the one who is incapable of failure, or of letting anyone down in any way. I had a picture of Jesus as someone I could totally trust and I really had the faith to trust Him to do anything.
This Jesus so surpassed anything I had ever known before, that there was no comparison. I have known Jesus for 27 years, but it was as though I just met Him. It was as if I had been following a 2 dimensional Jesus, and now He was suddenly 3D!
I saw Him as a perfect Father. I had a great dad who was more concerned about me than I was about myself. He did everything he could to help and guide me in life. No one could ask for a better dad.
But as big a man as my dad was, he had human flaws and weaknesses. I saw Jesus as a dad with not a single flaw. His advice always on target and delivered in the right way.
I saw Him as a perfect friend. One who understands what you mean and always loves you no matter what. He is a friend you never need to explain things to, He already understands, and gives perfect advice. He is never two-faced, and never unduly critical.
He is the perfect brother. A friend is good, but a brother is born for adversity. When the going gets rough blood is thicker than water. Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a brother.
I think the world is looking for a Jesus like that, and I am grateful the Lord pulled the veil away for me for just a moment.
A man named JB Phillips wrote a book many years ago entitled “Your God is too small.” In it he details a number of false images that we have of God that hinder us from really knowing Him in deep relationship. Unless we clear our mind and spirit of false images and ideas of who Jesus is we can never see Him for who He is.
-He is not a cosmic cop or a killjoy, or a wimp
-He is a friend and companion and rescuer, and provider
He is a perfect friend, Father and brother
-He is huge and there are no words in the English language I can use to describe Him adequately.
He is the Heart of Gold that this generation has been seeking for so long.
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