Heart Tracks - I've Just Seen Jesus

"What we've seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may have fellowship along with us....We are writing these things that your joy may be complete." I John 1:3-4...."There is nothing more appealing to a watching world than to hear the testimony of someone who has just been with Jesus." Henry Blackaby........."I've just seen Jesus, I tell you He's alive....All that I've done before, won't matter anymore. I've just seen Jesus, and I'll never be the same again." Lyric from "I've Just Seen Jesus."

Music moves us. He created us that this would be so. All of us, have at some level at least, a love for music. It can touch our mind and emotions, but it's His intention that it should lay hold of our spirit and our soul. The most powerful hymns and worship songs have been those that have flowed out of the songwriters personal encounters with Him. The above lyrics from the classic Larnelle Harris-Sandy Patti "I've Just Seen Jesus," are but one of the examples of this. They take hold of us, for we know we're hearing from those who have been with Him heart to heart, and spirit to spirit. Ones who have seen Him, if not with physical eyes, certainly with spiritual ones. They will never be the same again, and if their "testimony" in the song is received and experienced by us as well, neither will we.

Yet it is not just in music and song that this must take place. It must be found in what we hear from the pulpit, from the lectern, and in the "marketplace." The need is desperate for men and women who have "been with Him," who have "seen Him." Believe me, the "watching world" that Blackaby speaks of, knows the difference between those who have and haven't. Anyone can read an account of an event, but it is the relating of it from one who was actually there that gets our attention. We want to know all the details. Can there be any more momentous "event" than to hear from the one who has been with, and seen the One who "holds all creation together?"

The church in the west has not been flourishing. It's culture has become more secularized than ever before, while the Church has become more and more marginalized. I don't think that's a result of our lack of "trying." We have been responding to real needs in that culture, feeding, clothing, and ministering to it's "felt needs." These are very good things, and we need to be doing them, yet there are many secular agencies that do this as well, and the Church can easily end up being seen as just another one of them. Something has to set us apart, and that something has got to be that we are those who have seen and been with Jesus, and that our good works flow out of that. It becomes not something we should do, but it's who we are. Along with the goods we distribute, we distribute the hope, joy, peace and life we have found and are experiencing in Him. When this happens, the Jesus we've just seen is seen by them as well. What we do isn't just done for Him, its done with Him, and His Presence about us is undeniable.

The world is a "dry and thirsty land where there is no water," but sadly, too much of the Church is as well. It is my great desire that He raise up anointed, spirit-filled preachers and teachers. People who listeners know have been with the One they speak of. It's my prayer that He would raise up His witnesses in the places we work and live. Not people who talk about some historical character named Jesus Christ, but people who presently know Him, fellowship with Him, and live fully in Him. People who've seen Him and have never been the same since. I want to be among them. Do you as well? When was the last time you really saw Jesus? Have you ever?

May our simple message never cease to be, "I've just seen Jesus, I tell you He's alive." May that message be so filled with His Holy Spirit power that even the hardest heart is softened enough to ask if it be possible that it might see Him too. Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus.

Blessings,
Pastor O