By Darlene Lucas ...
I believe that most people long for something beyond this world and as we go deeper into that spiritual realm most of us believe there is something beyond this world. The challenge is how we get there.
Pastor Alan asked if we ever wondered what our personal identity is, how we see ourselves, where and to whom we belong. Our personal identity is often shaped by our early experiences in life and for me coming from an unstable home my personal identity at times has been blurred and shaken. In my early days as a born-again Christian I truly loved Jesus, believed all my sins were forgiven and knew I would go to heaven. Unfortunately there were still times I had no real peace or true happiness and looked to outside distractions and/or tasks to give me a sense of self worth and identity.
In John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life, the great “I AM”, clearly tells me that Jesus knew who he was. What echoed for me was that no one before Jesus had travelled the path he was going ahead to prepare for us. Jesus made it explicitly clear with unwavering faith that he is the beginning, the middle and the end and through him we would be brought into covenant with the Father. I know that I am speaking of Jesus, but even if it was just for a moment I would love to experience such clarity of who I am.
I remember a few years back, when my son and daughter-in-law were dealing with several health & physical issue with their first unborn child, I read John 14:16-17 “(God) will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever . . . he dwells with you, and will be in you”. I have been searching for God wondering where he is was in the midst of my troubles. It was like a light bulb moment, at that instant I truly understood that no matter the troubles I was dealing with I was not alone. I truly understood that through the Holy Spirit, God dwelled in me and I had access to my heavenly Father 24/7. That was a huge turning point for me and my family as I learned to deal with the troubles ahead, with a sense of purpose and calmness.
Pastor Alan reminded us that God was revealed to the disciples through the actions and words of Jesus. My goal this year has been to saturate my mind with God’s Word through various readings, discussions with Christian friends and various praise songs. Truly it’s a blessing and a comfort to know that if we strive to follow the path and teachings of Jesus we will be lead to the Kingdom of God, our Heavenly Father.
May we all be inspired this week with the renewed knowledge that God dwells within us and speaks to our spirits, life really doesn’t get better than that.
Listen to this sermon here!