I’m amazed at the varied experiences
of reality over the past year.
One business thrives and another
is on the verge of closing, depending on the goods or service offered.
There are those who personally
know few who have been seriously ill from the virus, but I spoke with a woman
this week who lost eight close friends in a ten-day period. So hard.
Some go about their daily
routines in much the same with only a few caveats and others because of underlying
health conditions have been isolated, their lives feeling as if they are in a
permanent holding pattern.
One has the virus and hardly has
any symptoms, and in the same house, someone else winds up in the ICU.
And we won’t even talk about the
disparities in the political, and other realms.
But here's a reality check—a reality that is
higher than any of this, and it is one we all have opportunity to share.
It has to do with who Jesus said
He is.
Here are Jesus’s I am statements
in John:
“I am the bread of life “(John
6:35).
“I am the light of the world”
(John 8:12).
“I am the door of the sheep”
(John 10:9).
“I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11,
14).
“I am the Resurrection and the Life”
(John 11:25).
“I am the way, the truth, and the
life” (John 14:6).
“I am the Vine” (John 15:1).
Jesus is our spiritual provider, our
source of illumination in this dark world, the only portal to real life, the one
who cares for our souls, the risen from the dead Savior who opens the path of
powerful truth that leads to eternity, and the wellspring of continuing
nourishment.
As I read in one commentary, “Jesus
has His own reality. He is who and what He says he is, regardless of what we or
anyone else might think or say of Him.”
Another writer said, “He is
everywhere, everything, and “every-when.” Don’t you love that?
When you feel as if you’re the
only one experiencing life the way you do, when it doesn’t match up with anyone
else’s experience, and the enemy says you’re all alone—give
your heart, soul, mind, and spirit to Jesus and allow Him to be your everywhere,
your everything, and your “every-when.”
Since Ash Wednesday is tomorrow,
I pray for each of you in this season an experience of HIS presence greater
than anything you may have experienced before. Blessings.
Still looking for a little Valentine's sweetness?
