Praying til Pentecost Day 10
"Do not be afraid, go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me." Matt. 28:10
Jesus is all about removing the fear, restoring the hope, casting the net, expanding the Kingdom, and delivering the good news. His mission is our mission. His first concern was for fear to be removed, and then he commissioned the women to go find His men and tell them to return to Galilee. They were to go back to the place where they first heard His call on their lives. He promised that He would be there when they arrived.
I have really been blessed by Face Book reunions. On the whole the "blasts from the past" have been very encouraging. One of the common denominators of these renewed connections with people from my past is the unusual things they remember. It is a reminder to watch what you say because people will remember it! I was encouraged recently by a person that I have not seen in 30 years. He said in his "Comment" section on Face Book, "Do you remember when you said, 'God doesn't move parked cars?' "
I had to admit that I was a bit foggy on that one. He went on to say that he had quoted this statement from me for years. He said I shared it within the context of knowing God's will for our lives, and that God has a tendency to guide us best when we are moving towards Him. In other words, you have to be moving to be led.
This really ministered to me. I had become so separated by distance from what I had taught 30 years ago that is really was like hearing it for the first time. This was a unique way of being reminded by God that some things never change, and I would do well to "Practice what I preach!"
In these early hours of the post resurrection world, the Risen Christ was instructing His disciples to operate on faith in His word not by the sight of His Presence. He instructed the women to deliver His word, and He commanded the disciples to return to their roots.
Leaving Jerusalem, the grave of their greatest defeat, and returning to Galilee, the birthplace of their greatest hope would give them a fresh encounter with Jesus. If they remained huddled around the cold ashes of their burned out dreams, they would never know the warmth of rekindled hope that only the Risen Christ could offer to them.
They had to start moving towards Jesus to find out He was already there waiting for them to arrive. A healthy church is not a parking lot filled with people trying to escape reality. It is a mobilized army moving in obedience to the words of their Commander.
The early disciples could hardly believe their ears. They had seen too much. What they had seen had almost deafened them to the voice of the Risen Christ. What a paradox. What we see can often impact our capacity to hear from God.
Whenever Jesus showed up in the lives of His discouraged disciples, He removed their fear and restored their hope. He called them to Himself, and then He sent them out to encourage others with the message of the Kingdom of Heaven. Some things never change. God doesn't move parked cars. You have to be moving to be led.
Have you heard from Jesus today? Remember the Risen Christ knows you by your first name, and is seated at the right hand of God praying for you by name.