Seeing the Unseen

While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

II Corinthians 4:18

The first disciples saw Jesus every day.  What they did not realize was that they were also looking at the unseen as they looked at Jesus.  When they looked at Jesus they were seeing the unseen, eternal Father.

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?John 14:8-9

Every day we live we see things that will pass away.  We must learn to look beyond them to see the unseen.  We must see beyond the temporary to see the eternal.  If all we see is the temporary then we will lose heart.  If we see beyond the temporary and see the eternal we will gain strength to go on.

If the first disciples missed seeing the unseen Father when they saw Jesus, what are we missing when we fail to see beyond what we see around us every day?  Learn to look beyond the seen until the unseen is more real to you than the seen.

Bud McCord

Abide International

Equality

 

The desire for equality is  a noble goal. Perhaps it is the most noble of human dreams. The search for it, however, has led to millions of deaths and great sacrifice. No matter how many deaths and how great the sacrifices, the dream of equality still seems far away.

Whether the path chosen to equality is the non-violent approach of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr or the radical violence of Lenin and Mao, time reveals just how hard equality is to produce or sustain. In all of human history has anyone shown us the way to equality?

In all of human history only Jesus had the courage to call Himself the way to human equality  He was neither an activist nor an armed revolutionary. He was something altogether new. He claimed to be equal with God and and 

He invited humanity to be one with Him and the Father as the basis of equality.  He said all who accept Him are instantly brought into the equality mankind longs to find. Jesus said being in Him would make us equals.

As the Father sent Him into the world to invite humanity into equality , He sends us out into the world sustained by our equality in Him to make the same offer. We have been sent to tell others to be one With the Father, the Son and the Spirit and with all others who are one In Christ.

Jesus continues to be way to human equality. Sadly, we as His followers often fail to live this equality in practical and visible ways. If we could live as equals in our Christian communities surely the world would take note that we have been with Jesus.

Our starting point in Jesus is equality. As long as Jesus lives and we live in Him equality is available and sustainable. Live your equality in Jesus and invite others to experience it with you.

Bud McCord

Abide International

The Great Risk of Loving and Being Loved

“The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That’s the deal.”

― C.S. Lewis

Even a brief time in this world confirms these words.  Experiencing a great love and loving greatly is to also risk great pain.  To experience a great joy is to risk a great loss.

Jesus and those he loved lived this great risk.  Meet Lazarus, Maria and Marta the beloved friends of Jesus.  See how they handled the risk and grief of their great love and joy.

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  John 11: 1-6

We learn from Jesus and His beloved friends that in the presence of sickness we must stay still, wait and know we have been loved and are still loved.  We must know that the Will of the Father, the Word of the Son and Wind of the Spirit are greater than the weakening of our mortal will, words and wind.  The risk will be rewarded by the ressurrection.

We learn that at the right moment we will be called back from sickness or death to full health by the will, word and wind of God.  Sickness and death do not have the final word over us. The Father’s love in Jesus by the Spirit will call us back to life and love.

The contrast of good and bad that surrounds us is here for now and so is the risk we take when we love or are loved.   In Christ we see that love never dies and will never let us die. So, we risk being loved and loving.  “That’s the deal.”

Bud McCord

Abide International