Author: mamaroo43214595

In the past couple of months I have been involved in counselling a dear friend.  We have been friends for a long time, and the last time I was involved in counselling her (or anyone) at this depth was at the death of her husband, the love of her life.  He was a lot older than her and she knew at one level that he would die before her, but when it happened she was shattered.  A complete wreck.  It took a lot of gentle love to get her anywhere near normal.  Not just from me, but from her own church folk (she lives in a different continent to me), medical people, and her family.

This happened ten years ago, and she had found a gentleman who didn’t replace her husband, but whom she loved for his own merits, but readily accepted he wasn’t the love of her life, but still loved his companionship.  They became engaged…quite some time ago.  Now he has been diagnosed as having cancer.  At the same time, her brother has also been diagnosed with cancer, so a double whammy.  She has understandably been beside herself.

Ten years ago, I coped with all that I had to do for her.  This time I haven’t been going so well.  In fact I had a melt down, which to say the least was very inconvenient as I really wanted to be on deck to help her.  So, being the pragmatist that I am, and to get to the bottom of my problems, I wrote myself a letter.  I did this because I have noticed time and time again when people talk to me, as they get it all out, they often solve their own problem, and I was hoping to also do this.  I had decided that if it didn’t I would turn the letter into an email, and send it to several friends for their comments.

So I wrote the letter.  Three pages of it.  And as I was writing the last paragraph, God spoke, and the healing happened.  Not physically, the problems I have are still there.  But emotionally and spiritually, I was healed.  I was reminded of the great love God has for me (and everyone) and how part of that love was taking our problems on Himself.  I Peter 5  tells us 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

This is what I tell others to do, and I hadn’t done it myself.  I was trying to fix things myself.  So once I read what I had written, I turned to Him and turned it all over.  And I was healed.  Just like that.

God’s love.  Agape love.  Unconditional love that transcends all other kinds of love.  The very highest form of love.  Love of God for us humans.  So great that Jesus sacrificed Himself to save us.  He redeemed us.  “Unending love, amazing grace.”
Jesus spoke many time in the New Testament about love.  So did the apostles.  Jesus even left us commandments about it.  When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus didn’t mention any of the ten, He mentioned the two, and the subject of them is love.  Matt 22: 37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Also, in John 13:34“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  What does this tell us?    Jesus wants us to love the Father, and our neighbour.  He wants us to love one another.  This is the sign we love HIM.  If we love each other as HE has loved us.  Now that’s pretty deep.  He loved us so much He died for us.  Do we love each other that much? I mean that’s a pretty big ask, isn’t it?

He really stressed this.  Love is the sign.  He didn’t say the Sabbath was the sign, or eating/not eating particular foods, or wearing/not wearing particular clothes. Love.  Like He loved us.

Under normal circumstances, we won’t be called on to die for our friends, or our neighbours, or our enemies.  But we ARE called on to show them kindness, in whatever way is appropriate at the time.  One way that formers show SDAs is to go into their groups and tell them the Gospel.  They have a burden for these folk.  They themselves have left the SDA denomination, but want to share the love and peace and joy they have found in Jesus, and in the Gospel, so they share the Truth with them.  The Gospel.  Often times this is misconstrued as hate, but love is still love, even when it’s tough.  And doesn’t God at times have to give us tough love?

Love can be shown in so many ways.  One of my lovely neighbours takes it upon herself to organise me a meal at least once a week.  Another one is always available to drive me wherever I need to go, as I no longer drive.  One way I can show love back is to graciously accept these gifts of kindness.  I used to do these things myself when I was fitter.  I would have done them anyway, but I was always thrilled to be thanked.  Or maybe you can buy someone a loaf of bread or bottle of milk when they’re short till payday.  It is really that simple.  And of course there are so many other ways you can show love.

This is not sentimental, or emotional.  It is not about feelings.  It is not really even duty as humans see it.  It is love.  It is unconditional, and not about whether you get thanked or the favour returned.  It IS about obeying God’s commandments:  commandments of love.  I don’t know how many times I have heard from SDAs, if you love me keep my commandments.  Well you know God CAN count.  If He had meant the TEN commandments He would have said TEN.  But no, He said MY.  His commandments of love.  These are the commandments used to judge the sheep and the goats.  The ten are not mentioned.

You know, I am surrounded by love.  I have a great family and church family, both “in the flesh” and online.  It has been brought home to me lately how wonderful all these people are, and how wonderful their love for me.  I appreciate it so much.  Particularly because I don’t deserve it.  I don’t consider myself special;  I am just a normal human being, but these people love me anyway.  It’s a bit like grace isn’t it.  God loves us so much He has given us the gift of salvation, and eternal life.  We don’t deserve it, but He has given it anyway.

These people have all, in so many different ways been the hands and feet of Christ to me.  I hope I can in some small way be the same for them.

The Resurrection

1Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.5And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’^a head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic,^b“Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
I’ve spent a lot of this weekend thinking of the emotional roller coaster the disciples must have been on.  How joyful they must have felt with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  How confused they must have been when the Man they thought would be king wanted to wash their feet.  How incensed they must have felt when they were told that one of their number would betray Jesus.  How much despair was Peter in when he realised what Jesus prophesied had come true.  He HAD denied Him….three times.  Surely they must have thought Jesus would save Himself when He was arrested, then tried, then executed.  By the end of Good Friday, they would have been crushed.  The bottom had fallen out of their world, and they would have had no idea where to turn.  Jesus was dead!  Easter Saturday they spent in hiding.  They were His followers, He had been killed, and they could be next.

Then Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day dawned, and the extraordinary news that the tomb was empty.  What had happened?  What confusion they must have felt!  Especially with the news from Mary later that day:  “I have seen the Lord”!  Did they think she had taken leave of her senses?  That with the stress and emotions of the last few days she had finally flipped?  Or did they finally believe, and remember what He said?  That He must die, and rise again?

 

Looking back on those times, it is really difficult for us to imagine how they felt.  Good Friday comes, and it is a most sombre day as we remember the cruel death, torment and humiliation He experienced, all so we could be saved.  Then Easter Saturday we wait.  Not in fear of our lives, but in anticipation of what we know is coming, the utter joy of Easter Sunday.  HE IS RISEN!  HE IS RISEN INDEED!  ALLELUIA!

And what of Mary?  In some of the other Gospel accounts she was joined by other women, but in all she was the one appointed to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen.  Why did He not appear straight to the disciples?  Why entrust the telling of such vital news to women?  Interesting thought, which the Bible doesn’t explain, but we can be sure there was a reason.

She had come to do something out of love, when she could do no more for Him, prepare Him for eternity so she thought, and found He had disappeared!  I am sure she felt great confusion and distress.  The world was indeed going mad for her.  And then He spoke to her.  Now this I have experienced.  Jesus has spoken to me during periods of great tumult and I have felt a peace like no other.  I’m sure Mary was still bewildered.  But He had spoken to her.  He was alive!  And it was going to be alright!

So it is now with us.  He IS alive.  He is RISEN!  The Son is shining!  IT WILL BE ALRIGHT!

Luke 22:   19And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.^c

 

Yesterday afternoon, because I have been unwell and unable to attend church for a while, the lay minister brought me communion.  We had our own little service, joining in prayers and Bible readings together.  The climax of the service was, of course, the Lord’s Supper/Communion/Eucharist.

Whether you believe the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine is symbolic, or whether it has “real presence”, you are fulfilling his command to “do this in remembrance of me”.

Jesus said in John 6:  53Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

His body and blood are life to us.

I believe in Jesus Christ.  I believe He is MY Saviour, He is the Saviour of the world.  John 3: 16“For God so loved the world,ⁱ that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

I believe in His Gospel, His good news for the world, and that He commanded us to proclaim it.  Mark 16:15

I believe He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that through Him, and His blood, is the only way to eternal life.  Acts 4:12.  He has called me into His marvellous Light. 1 Peter 2:9.

I believe God has been very gracious to me, in that He has given me, a wretched sinner, what Christ deserves, a home in eternity, while Christ has taken my punishment.

When I became a Christian, He made me a new creation, and gave me a new heart.  Because of this I now WANT to live for Him, my whole life worships Him, and I have peace and joy and rest in Him.  Because of this I love the Father, and my neighbour as myself.

Over the last twenty years or so, the rubber has really hit the road in my life.  I have lost my beloved husband to dementia.  He is still alive physically, but mentally he is dead. He was a civil engineer, and very active in the community, and loved by all.  He attracted kids and dogs.  He was a GREAT father, and he cannot remember this.  Because he can’t remember he thinks he was an awful father.  Fortunately, the love shown him by his children is helping to rectify this idea.  I have been diagnosed with an incurable and untreatable neurological condition, that will not kill me, but is destroying my quality of life.  Because of it, I am unable to work.  I have had to stop caring for native wildlife (it was my passion) and I am no longer able to be the musician at the congregations I attend (this too was my passion).  But like Paul, I rejoice.  Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.  Phil 4:4

Paul was in prison, and content.  I dare say he wasn’t happy about it, but joy is not happiness. I am content, because I know that the Lord is carrying me.  Certain parts of my life have finished, but He has opened new ways for me to witness for Him.  He has surrounded me with people to love, and who love me, warts and all.  And lots of little moments of joy for me.

I give Him humble and hearty thanks that I CAN rest in Him.  That I don’t have to work my way to heaven, attend the right denomination, wear the right clothes, eat the right foods, do the right things.  HE has done it all.

The only thing *I* did was to accept His gracious gift, by repenting, by turning to Him from my former “me” centred life.

 
It’s no longer I that liveth,
But Christ that liveth in me

My Lord, what love is this
That pays so dearly
That I, the guilty one
May go free!

In His inestimable love, God’s plan of salvation was put into action before we were created.

Titus 1:2 2in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began^b

2 Tim 1:9  9He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

And at just the right time, the Word,  the Son of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, took on flesh, left His glorious home, and lived on earth, among sinful humans, and lived and died as a servant, and died, the Lamb that is worthy, as a criminal.  He died an excruciating and humiliating death, crucifixion, a death designed to torture before it killed.

Yet knowing this, He undertook this, He sacrificed Himself, taking the penalty I deserved, so I could have eternal life.  In fact He promised in John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.  So because I have believed in God, and His promises, He has given me eternal life, and my spirit will never die.

Because of His love, because of His sacrifice, I am now promised to receive what is by rights His:  a home in glory. He has now paid the penalty I deserved. The wages of sin is death.  All have sinned. ALL.  Yet, the depths of God’s love.  We, wretches that we are, those of us who have accepted the gift of God’s grace, have been declared righteous in God’s sight, through the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb who is worthy.  The only sacrifice that could have been acceptable.

This, then, is the Gospel.  The good news for humanity.  That Salvation is available to all, even though we are wretched and our works are unrighteous and unacceptable. What mind blowing good news!

Now that we have been offered the most precious thing in the world, what do we do?  Remember it’s a gift, it cannot be earned.  Do we say what’s the catch?  Do we refuse it? Or do we get down on our knees and with tears accept this most beautiful of gifts?

Now…having accepted it, how do we show our gratitude?  Are there special tasks we should be undertaking?  Well….not the ones you might expect.  We don’t have to eat a special diet, or avoid certain food, or wear special clothes, or worship on a special day…..we should love!

God has loved us SO much, He wants us to love Him, and love our neighbour, our enemies, our friends, the unfortunate.  In fact the whole world. In loving God, we worship Him EVERY day, with our whole lives.  And by loving everyone, we are showing how much we love HIM.

Without God’s love, we cannot love.  All love comes from Him.  If we love our neighbour, we will not kill him, rob him, covet his goods, or his family.  We will not commit adultery, because that would hurt his family/spouse grievously (not to mention our own). Love does no harm to our neighbour.

Jesus came to be our Sacrifice, our Saviour.  He came to graft us into Him, not into Israel.  He came to make us His followers,  not followers of prophets.

Whom will you follow?

..“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”… 2 Cor 12:9

 

Some time ago, I was asked to be the musician at a ladies’ retreat.  I felt very honoured to be asked, but wasn’t sure whether I would be able to fulfil the duties, as I have ataxia.  One of the joys of ataxia, apart from balance and co-ordination issues, is exhaustion.  I spoke to my priest about it, and asked for prayer from all my friends so that I would make the right decision.  I wanted God’s glory to show, whatever I did.

This verse quoted above was my answer to prayer, and the theme for the weekend.  I went.  I really don’t know where I got the energy for the various training sessions, and actual weekend if it wasn’t from God.  Through my weakness, God’s power showed through.  He enabled me to be the best musician I could, to support and help the team as they gave their talks.  Everyone who went was touched by the Holy Spirit in some way and was blessed.  God’s power was made perfect.

At the end, I was exhausted.  But He kept me going.

The quoted verse is taken from Paul’s reference to his “thorn in his flesh”.  Paul was a great man, and a great follower of Christ, but like all of us, he had to be made weak so his life could show God’s power.

So when things go wrong, and you have become weak, rejoice!  Through your weakness God’s power is made perfect!

Genesis 8: 20Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse^a the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Genesis 9:  1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.3Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.4But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

6“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.

7And you,^a be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9“Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

The above passage records the covenant between God and Noah and his sons.  It is everlasting, universal and unconditional.  From the above passage also comes the Noahide laws. These are also universal.

The Noahide laws were taken from this passage and other passages in Genesis as a set of laws for the “children of Noah”…all humanity.

This is how the laws are traditionally numbered:

1. Do not deny God.
2. Do not blaspheme God.
3. Do not murder.
4. Do not engage in illicit sexual relations.
5. Do not steal.
6. Do not eat from a live animal!! (This one gives me the horrors!…I mean who would do that??)
7. Establish courts/legal system to ensure obedience to said laws.

The Jews considered that any non-Jew (gentile) who lives according to these laws is considered “righteous among the gentiles”.  These laws were, of course, binding on all their ancestors, from the time of Noah until the Exodus.  And this, of course, is how Joseph knew it was wrong to have sex with Potiphar’s wife.  And how every nation that has ever existed has had a similar moral code to the Israelites.

When the Council of Jerusalem was held in the first century (Acts 15), after much opposition,  Paul insisted that gentile believers not be forced to submit to the Jewish law of Moses, but rather they should  accept the following:  (Acts 15)  28For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

It will be seen that the Noahide laws forms the basis of this ruling.

Any gentile who lived among the Jews was held to these laws.  No gentile was permitted to keep the sabbath, it being a gift only given to the Israelites by God as part of the covenant between them and God.  The only way a gentile was permitted to keep sabbath was for them to convert to Judaism, which is a long and involved process, involving circumcision for males.  Jews do not proselytise but will accept converts.

So…in summary.  The 7 were given to the whole world.  THE SEVEN.

The 613 were given to the Jews under a different covenant.  THE 613. And at a later time.

So many SDAs think that the law given to the Israelites was given to them.  It was not.  Unless they were born Jews, they are gentiles, and are under the covenant of Noah, and the Noahide laws.

The part of Australia in which I live is in drought.  According to parts of the media, the worst in 400 years, which I find interesting since white settlement started in 1788, so according to my maths, that’s 230 years.  But anyway.  This is definitely not good.  According to the Bureau of Meteorology, we have just had the driest July in 16 years.  It is certainly the driest I’ve seen the country side in a long time, and to be honest, I don’t think I’ve seen it drier.

I have seen heartbreaking pictures of brown countryside, with starving animals, dead animals.  The farmers are going broke because they can’t afford the prices for live giving food and water for their animals.  They have little or no water in their dams. People are helping where they can, some wonderful people have started collecting money for feed for the animals, and the farmers themselves, and have organised people to go there and help, where they can.  But nothing will break the drought, except for water.  We need a flood.

Such is life on the driest inhabited continent on earth.

Last night, I woke to the sound of rain.  Only a shower, and only 4mm (something like .16 inch).  But it was wet, and the parched plants looked slightly less stressed this morning.  I really hate to think of how we will get through summer if this drought doesn’t break.

Physically, things look dire.  Many churches will be praying something like this on Sunday:  (from the Book of Common Prayer)

 

O God, heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ
hast promised to all those who seek thy kingdom and its
righteousness all things necessary to sustain their life: Send
us, we entreat thee, in this time of need, such moderate rain
and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the earth, to
our comfort and to thy honor; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.

 

1. When I was a kid, we used to sing about showers of blessing:

   There shall be showers of blessing:
   This is the promise of love;
   There shall be seasons refreshing,
   Sent from the Savior above.

   • Refrain:
     Showers of blessing,
     Showers of blessing we need:
     Mercy-drops round us are falling,
     But for the showers we plead.
2. There shall be showers of blessing,
   Precious reviving again;
   Over the hills and the valleys,
   Sound of abundance of rain.
3. There shall be showers of blessing;
   Send them upon us, O Lord;
   Grant to us now a refreshing,
   Come, and now honor Thy Word.
4. There shall be showers of blessing:
   Oh, that today they might fall,
   Now as to God we’re confessing,
   Now as on Jesus we call!
5. There shall be showers of blessing,
   If we but trust and obey;
   There shall be seasons refreshing,
   If we let God have His way.

Daniel W. Whittle

 

We need the physical blessing of rain to water the parched earth, so that our animals, domestic and wild, have water to drink, and food to eat.  Not to mention us.

But rain is one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit.  Even more than physically, we need the spiritual blessing of the Holy Spirit.  And this we can be sure of.  The Holy Spirit is constantly blessing us.  Whether with tongues of fire, or showers of rain, He is there.  He is constantly drawing us to Christ, the Truth the Life and the Way.  Jesus said in John 16:  13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

So, even though things are very bleak in this world of ours, be it the weather, our health, our families, loss of income, loss of friends, loss of employment, we can always count on the Holy Spirit to be sending those “showers of blessing”.  They may only seem small like the shower last night, but they will keep coming.

They will sustain us.  Showers of blessing.  Showers of Life.

Like many people today, I have made some really good online friends.  Most of these I have never met, and will probably never meet, but there is still some sort of “connection”, so that you KNOW that you like these people.  It is like a meeting of the minds, and with some of them you know almost instantly that you have made friends for life.

I have been lucky enough to meet some of these friends.  On one occasion, I met a couple of them when they visited my country, but the others  I met when I went overseas.  All were everything I expected and I long to meet them again.

Knowing Jesus is something like this.  We have never met Him “in the flesh”, but by reading His word, we get to know Him, and His wonderful love for us.  We read of His sacrificial death, and the wonders of His resurrection.  How He has redeemed us.

We talk to Him in prayer.  We also learn of Him by being shown His love by others, and seeing the wonders of creation.  Talking to other Christians also shows Him to us. There are so many ways of knowing Him better.

But there is nothing that will be quite like actually seeing Him face to face!  Whether this will be when we die, or when He comes again is irrelevant.  We will finally meet our Saviour!  This Man, and our God, that we know and love with our innermost beings will finally be visible to us.  We will fall at His feet.  We will be able to touch Him, like Thomas.  We KNOW He is real….we will SEE the reality.   And like Thomas, we will say, “My Lord and My God.”

And be overjoyed in His presence.  His actual physical presence.