Tag: Friendship

Wondering about …Jesus as a Child

Do you ever wonder what kind of boy Jesus the Nazarene was? A Jewish child living in a Gentile region over 2,000 years ago. Although He is known as the Son of God, He is also called the Son of Man. What does that mean?

Local citizens thought of Him as the child of Mary, stepson of Joseph the carpenter, older brother of James. His disciple and friend, John, had a another name for Him, the Word.

A regular, ordinary human child- but was He? Not according to the Bible:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:2-3 ESV

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through Him and for Him.” Col. 1:15-16 ESV

We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; He came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore , it was necessary for Him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that He could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then He could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:16,17 NLT

Jesus Christ, a member of the Trinity with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit during creation of the earth.

Jesus the Son of God, the versatile Artist who designed a horse to gracefully run across grasses also sculpted a comical anteater whose appearance is perfect for a life lived in soil and rocks. What beauty and function merged perfectly into these different forms and many others.

Jesus, Son of God, the Artist of creation, obeyed Father God’s will- to be born on earth as a human child, so He was also the Son of Man. The same Jesus lived a sinless human life never doing anything against God’s instructions. That perfect human life qualified Him to be the remedy for sinful humans who choose to become the children of God. All humans can become the children of God, but many choose to make their own way without God’s help.

Still, as a ten year old human child, what was Jesus like?

Did Mary’s Son use a twig to draw shapes in the dirt around Nazareth?

Was He the first one to point out a cloud that looked like an old man’s face?

Did Jesus invent new games out of rocks to entertain His friends?

I am curious because when I was working out at the gym, I saw something that reminded me of Him. Holding up the roof and ceiling over my head was a large wooden beam where hidden in the grain was the drawing of a nude woman with long hair holding her arms up toward heaven.

I wonder, did my Redeemer and friend, Jesus Christ, draw that silhouette inside the tree that grew in a forest over 60 years ago? Did He know that one day I would be grumbling and look up, seeing His artwork, and smile with pleasure at the thought of Him and His abilities?

Father God,

How grateful I am that I can come to You as an adopted child. Please help me to see the beauty and wonder of our world. Help me to look for and identify traces of You in nature and in the people around me. I thank You for the essence of Your character revealed through Christ adding joy and humor to an ordinary life .

Amen

***Have you heard of Jesus Christ, but you don’t really know Him ? Are you searching for a relationship where you are deeply loved and that does not end? Do you long for hope in a struggling situation where you can find no answers? Look to God for help.

Do you want peace with God?

Really Know You

God of Everything,

Although I have never seen you with my eyes or heard your voice with my ears, I know with every bit of my being that you are real.

A few of my friends don’t believe you exist because their five senses have not reported your presence to their brain. It’s funny to me because it seems so paradoxical that they could believe in atoms, molecules, viruses, and black holes in space, yet refuse to accept an invisible God.

For years now, I have believed you are there, but I don’t know enough about you. I want to be acquainted with all your traits as I know my close friends like Joe.

Saying Joe’s name I immediately think of his blue green eyes, easy grin, teasing sense of humor, his direct way of speaking, a quick temper for injustice, and a compassionate heart for those who are ignored or abused. I know all this about someone I don’t even see that often. But about you, who are always with me, I actually perceive little.

Lord, you have a distinct personality, but for most of my life I have thought of you only by your titles – my benefactor, creator, the Heavenly Father that spoils me. In essence I only noticed you for what you could do for me. I call you my God. But I never cared enough to observe what motivates you, what you enjoy or what makes you angry. Have I hurt your feelings by my lack of interest in you?

Regretfully, I only cared about your ability to provide and protect me. In other words you only mattered because of your power to help the most important person in the world – me! What a lousy one-sided relationship this is -you initiate the closeness and do everything for me, yet I take your feelings and friendship for granted.

Forgive me Holy God. Help me to develop this end of our relationship, for I already know some of your characteristics:

The intricate elegance of earth’s environment you created shows me that you are an artist who enjoys color, texture, and contrasts. But I want to know more about you…

The fact that you would reach out to those who have rejected you over and over proves to me that you are extremely patient. But I want to know more about you…

The truth that you notice and love creatures far beneath your class is highly unusual. You offer membership in your close family when you are perfect, and I am so flawed which demonstrates an affection that dwarfs the most dedicated human love I have ever known. But I want to know more about you…

From the Old and New Testaments I see evidence that your high commitment to love is balanced with the same level of commitment to justice. Wrongs must be punished. The unsolvable riddle was how to love and accept humans into a relationship with you when they continued to do wrong. Still, even that problem didn’t stump you…

Perfect love and perfect justice needs were met when your son, Jesus Christ, lived a human life without ever doing one thing wrong, was punished by a criminal’s death, and rose from the dead to sit at your side once more. His sinless life could then redeem my sinful life to become your child. I see how his good could substitute for my bad, but I am amazed that you would solve this unsolvable problem by suffering the death of your son. The mystery of your love for me drives me to evolve because you have invested so much in my adoption.

Father, would you correct and adjust my sight to really see and know you for your unique personality traits?

When I read the Bible, please help me notice your subtleties described in your Son’s words or in your dealings with other humans.

As I bring you my worries or failures in prayer, help me hear and apply your words in my heart and actions.

Please see that I want to grow closer to you. Help me to be a person that projects respect and love to you by more closely following the character pattern you left for me in Jesus Christ. Amen

“I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.” Jeremiah 24:7

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” Proverbs 8:17

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Isaiah 55:8

Perfect Friend

Sometimes I wonder, Lord Jesus, what it would have been like to walk beside you on a dusty path in Galilee. You, looking like an ordinary man but being so much more: the Invisible God enveloped with human skin.

Although I know facts of your life illustrated in black letters and white spaces, I don’t know the whole you. Names of places, people and quotes of your words scatter across my brain. Reading the Bible has changed my life; even so, your portrait is flat.

My mind sees you sketched out in two dimensions formed by typed words and art. But I long to see you wholly. What would it be like to hear your mouth say the words I read in the Bible? I wonder… On that hill, would your speech be choreographed to the movement of your walk or emphasized by arms and hands?

There is so much more to know about Mary and God’s son, Jesus. To see you in action would be such a pleasure. What would it be like to watch you thank the Father for our meal as we stopped to eat?

Because many different actors have portrayed the Redeemer in films, I am curious to find the truth of your physical characteristics.

When I hear your voice with my own ears, what will it sound like: clear tenor, deep base, or the vibrating baritone of the movies?

When you look at me, and I look back at you, will your eyes be dark chocolate hue or golden brown with flecks of gold and green?

Like a pregnant woman desires to see the face and know every detail of the child she carries, I want to completely know you, My Savior. To recognize your laugh in a crowded room or to glimpse that glistening sparkle in your eye when you think of something funny…

One day I will not wonder about how the Hero of my life looks and sounds. I will finally know when you call my name to join you.

Until that day, help me Holy Son of God to listen to your Spirit within me. Guide me to be true to your values, and to show your love and forgiveness to others. And when I meet wanderers who only know your name, give me words to tell the remarkable difference committing my life to follow you has made.

“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. John 7:46

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21

“And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness’, and he was called God’s friend.” James 2:23

Gracious Father, thank you for sharing your Son and death-less life with such a fickle creature as me.

Bible verses are taken from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.