Luke 24:36-39
“Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.””
Luke 24:36-39 NKJV
I was thinking for a long time about how to begin writing this IBS, but I think this passage will start it off beautifully. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” I John 1:1-4 NKJV. This passage from the Apostle of Love’s first epistle has become such a wonderful portion of scripture for me. Here John is describing how all of the disciples had gotten to dwell with Jesus. How they got to experience life with Him. How they got to see and hear from Jesus in the flesh. But then at the end of this passage, He declares to us that the same relationship that they had with Jesus while He was still on Earth, they are continuing to have with Him. And not only is their relationship continuing with Him, but we can have the same relationship that they had and still have. That we can know Jesus on such an intimate level, even without ever dwelling with Him in the flesh. And that brings me to this IBS passage in the gospel of Luke. None of us have ever seen Jesus in the flesh. None of us have ever touched His wounds. None of us have ever heard Him physically speak to us. But even with all these things being true, I can tell you that He has touched my heart more intimately than I ever thought that my heart could be touched. I've never felt such a presence of a person more in my life than the presence of my Lord and Savior abiding with me in times of my greatest sufferings. He has made His wounds of His death more real to me than any wound I've ever seen or touched, including my own, when He washes me with His blood of forgiveness. I haven't heard any greater truth spoken to me than the promises, convictions, and encouragement that He’s whispered in my ears time and time again, day in and day out as I have continued my walk with Him. What grace is this? What power and love? That I can feel Him on such a unreal level, especially when I need Him most. If I can feel Him in this real of a way now, I can't even begin to imagine what my relationship with Him will feel like in either Heaven or the new Earth when Jesus comes back again to be our King. What fullness will we have with Him? I can't hold back my tears when thinking of something so beautiful, so beyond words. But when we do get those beautiful moments on this side of Heaven, those moments of such realness with Him, we at times become so timid and fearful. We start to second guess ourselves. We ask ourselves if it really was Him that was speaking to us? Was He really there beside us? But something that is always so reassuring when He reveals Himself in those moments, even if we’re doubting Him, is the peace that we find in our heart. There is something about being with Him that makes us feel as immovable as a mountain, as still as the calmest sea, and as free as the clouds roaming above. We then start to handle Him, and remember that the experience we just had was clearly not of this world. That it was something astronomically greatly. We remember that our God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the living, and that Jesus Christ is risen from the grave. We remember His unending love for us, and we can't help but praise Him for it. The enemy loves to try to convince me that those moments were just creations of my own making. That it wasn't really the Lord speaking to me. Even with feelings of such realness, the enemy can still lie to me. For my application, I'm going to reread this verse every morning for the remainder of the week.
Luke 24:36-39 NKJV
I was thinking for a long time about how to begin writing this IBS, but I think this passage will start it off beautifully. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” I John 1:1-4 NKJV. This passage from the Apostle of Love’s first epistle has become such a wonderful portion of scripture for me. Here John is describing how all of the disciples had gotten to dwell with Jesus. How they got to experience life with Him. How they got to see and hear from Jesus in the flesh. But then at the end of this passage, He declares to us that the same relationship that they had with Jesus while He was still on Earth, they are continuing to have with Him. And not only is their relationship continuing with Him, but we can have the same relationship that they had and still have. That we can know Jesus on such an intimate level, even without ever dwelling with Him in the flesh. And that brings me to this IBS passage in the gospel of Luke. None of us have ever seen Jesus in the flesh. None of us have ever touched His wounds. None of us have ever heard Him physically speak to us. But even with all these things being true, I can tell you that He has touched my heart more intimately than I ever thought that my heart could be touched. I've never felt such a presence of a person more in my life than the presence of my Lord and Savior abiding with me in times of my greatest sufferings. He has made His wounds of His death more real to me than any wound I've ever seen or touched, including my own, when He washes me with His blood of forgiveness. I haven't heard any greater truth spoken to me than the promises, convictions, and encouragement that He’s whispered in my ears time and time again, day in and day out as I have continued my walk with Him. What grace is this? What power and love? That I can feel Him on such a unreal level, especially when I need Him most. If I can feel Him in this real of a way now, I can't even begin to imagine what my relationship with Him will feel like in either Heaven or the new Earth when Jesus comes back again to be our King. What fullness will we have with Him? I can't hold back my tears when thinking of something so beautiful, so beyond words. But when we do get those beautiful moments on this side of Heaven, those moments of such realness with Him, we at times become so timid and fearful. We start to second guess ourselves. We ask ourselves if it really was Him that was speaking to us? Was He really there beside us? But something that is always so reassuring when He reveals Himself in those moments, even if we’re doubting Him, is the peace that we find in our heart. There is something about being with Him that makes us feel as immovable as a mountain, as still as the calmest sea, and as free as the clouds roaming above. We then start to handle Him, and remember that the experience we just had was clearly not of this world. That it was something astronomically greatly. We remember that our God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the living, and that Jesus Christ is risen from the grave. We remember His unending love for us, and we can't help but praise Him for it. The enemy loves to try to convince me that those moments were just creations of my own making. That it wasn't really the Lord speaking to me. Even with feelings of such realness, the enemy can still lie to me. For my application, I'm going to reread this verse every morning for the remainder of the week.
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