John 5:19-20
Rebecca Lightfoot
One of the Gifts/Blessings of knowing&following Christ as Lord is the abundant life/life to the full that Jesus talks about n John 10:10.Yet many times/seasons n our lives we don’t know the PEACE&JOY that such an “abundant&full” life should bring with it.We find ourselves wanting more,& or UNfulfilled!To the point that we r not “at rest”(no Peace&no Joy)w who we r;where we r;what we r doing;our circumstances;who’s n our life;what we have;where we r going,etc.!Not much,if anything brings us the authentic Peace&Joy that Jesus came to give us!AND we have little or no sense of true/trustworthy direction!When we r n these times/seasons of our lives we r seldom satisfied w much of anything! We want more!We want more out of/from the people around us!We r constantly “changing things up” n our lives n 1 way or another!We feel an entitlement for more!And these things lead us DOWN the path of asking questions like->WHERE IS GOD?IS GOD REAL;IF HE really does love me,then why this?Why am I not hearing or seeing anything from GOD?IF GOD is real then why does HE not answer my prayers?And we ask,”if Jesus died for me to know God and HIS presence;wisdom;discernment;etc. n my life,then where is GOD now?”And on and on...!NJohn 5:19-20Jesus give us a clue to what’s NOT goin on n our lives when we “feel” these things&think these things.HE says,”I tell u the truth,the Son can do nothing by himself;he can only do what he sees his Father doing,bcuz whatever the Father does the Son does also.For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.Yes,to your amazement he will show him even greater things.”Jesus is telling us that he will only do what The Father shows him to do!The intimacy between The Father & The Son is made possible bcuz The Son only does what he sees The Father doing!It is when we don’t follow Christ’s example that we will n essence distance ourselves from “knowing GOD&His Presence”,and end up with the the discouraging questions and complaints about God listed above!N 1John2:3-6,the Bible says that,”We know that we have come to know him(The Lord)If we obey his commands.The man who says,’I know him(the Lord)’,But does not do what he commands is a liar,& the truth is not n him....:Whoever claims to live n him must walk as Jesus did.”If we are to know the Presence of God n our lives,& steer our lives clear of the pitfalls listed above that take us away from from knowing God’s Presence n our lives,THEN we must “walk as Jesus did”! And Jesus looked to see what The Father was doing,and did THAT!When we DO NOT do THAT,our lives will always wander n2 the weeds away from knowing the abundant&full life that Jesus came to bless us with!Dear Lord,I am often NOT n the middle of the Joy&Peace/the abundant&full life that you desire me to have...that you promise for me!I know now that these times/seasons r when I am wondering away from what You show me and tell me via Your Word&Your Spirit.Do what it takes to bring me back during these times/seasons...so I will always know Your Presence n my life.