In a world of skepticism, eyewitness accounts are no longer fully accepted as valid proof detailing the truth of an incident.  We no longer trust what some say their eyes have seen, their ears have heard, or their minds can remember.  Over the years, we’ve lost the art of oral communication skills.  And yet, we hear words of faith and truth from those who didn’t have the many distractions, false reports, and miscommunication of our day.  And because they were communicating things of faith, they were less likely to take liberties with the telling of their story.  The work they did transmitting the stories about the truth of God and the reality of their faith, demanded that their words be accurate.  They told their stories, not to confuse the truth, but to clarify centuries old stories about the reality of God and God’s plan of reconciliation and salvation for the world.  I guess the question is, “Why would anyone reject God’s offer of amnesty, when their eternal lives were at stake?”

         That question still looms above us today as people refuse to accept the truth and the proof of God’s reality in Jesus Christ.  And it doesn’t matter that there are contemporary witnesses telling the same story that was told a couple of millennia ago.  We’ve shared the same reality of Jesus Christ as those from the first century.  Not everyone has seen Christ, but we have believed the witness of those who have come before.  We’ve also had our own undeniable experiences to point to the reality and the presence of the living God.  And it’s those personal experiences that point to and give proof of the reality of the God of yesterday, today, and forever.  God is real and Jesus Christ is proof of that truth.

• How do we break through the skepticism of the world to communicate the reality and truth of God and Christ proving their reality?
• Does simply testifying or giving our testimony about the truth of God and Jesus Christ carry the same weight as it used to carry.

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God, continue to reveal Yourself to me as confirmation and proof that You are real. Help me continue to share my testimony with those who live in doubt of Your reality.

         Christian theologian, C. S. Lewis, once noted:

“Creatures are not born  with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists.  A baby feels hunger: well, there’s food.  A duckling desires to swim: well, there’s water.  If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is … no earthly pleasure was meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it — to suggest the real thing.[1]

         Philosopher Albert Camus confessed to a Methodist preacher, Howard Mumma, in a conversation one time:

“The reason I’ve been coming to church is that I’m seeking.  I’m almost on a pilgrimage — seeking something to fill the void that I am experiencing — and no one else knows.  I’m searching for something the world is not giving me.  There is something that can that can bring meaning to my life.  On Sunday mornings, I hear that the answer is God.”[2]

         We live in a world where people are seeking.  The amount of time people of all ages spend on their electronic devices is evidence of that.  We search Google, Safari, and Wikipedia.  Many spend time on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and other social media platforms trying to connect in a meaningful way with other people.  And yet, perhaps what we’re really searching for — because we’re missing it in our lives — is not a what but a who — God.  Could it be that the emptiness we feel and the desires we have that can’t be satisfied is our inner desire to find God, who is real, and desires that we be engaged in that Spiritual relationship?  Are you satisfied with your computer, your television, your handheld device that keeps us distracted and searching endlessly for that which does not and cannot satisfy?  Or can we release ourselves from our distractions just long enough to search for the One who is real and can satisfy our every needs?  I believe the answer is obvious.  We should seek the Lord while He may be found.  He will satisfy us in ways nothing else can.

[1] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Harper Collins, 1952)

[2] Christian Century, ( June 7, 2000), p. 644

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious God, keep me from endless searches for things that neither satisfy nor fill me. Open my heart that I may daily search to build my relationship with you, the only real thing that satisfies completely.

         It surprises some people that our spiritual guidebook — “The Holy Bible” — mentions the reality of other “gods” and many “lords” in heaven (where that is, I can’t say) or on earth (a real place for many).  It’s an acknowledgement that the human family has been willing to embrace — not just the idea of many gods — but to accept their existence as normal.  And yet when asked to represent their reality as valid, the gods of other belief systems fall short of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  And so, because we have come to accept the presence of God living and working in and through Jesus Christ based on the works that Jesus performed and upon his resurrection from the dead, we can accept the reality of Jesus Christ based on historical evidence.  But more accurately, the activity and presence of God’s Holy Spirit alive in us, confirms that what we know of God’s reality and Jesus Christ are one and the same reality.  Add the third layer — the witness of the Holy Spirit — and we have confirmation by two witnesses (excluding that of our own) that “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

         And so, for us, God is neither a figment nor a creation of our imagination.  God is a reality who speaks to us and through us, who acts within us and upon us, who leads us and guides us in ways that are designed to represent and give evidence of God’s reality in the world.  And it’s our response to God’s activity in our lives that is the concrete evidence and proof that God is real and that Jesus Christ has called us as believers to manifest the reality of God alive and active in our world.

• To what extent does your knowledge that there are other “gods and lords” influence your belief in the reality of your God?
• If there are (in fact) “other gods and lords in heaven and on earth” how do we express the difference between our God and the Lord, Jesus, over the other gods and lords?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God empower me to cling to the understanding of my faith in You as God and the Lord, Jesus Christ as evidence that You are real.