“This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” – Psalm 118:24
Many times as I go about my activities of the day, I’ll catch myself not thinking of the Lord and His Presence to the point that I now pray for “Awareness” of His Presence day and night that He is with me 24/7 and to help me realize that throughout any given day. Knowing the Lord is in the believer gives me the freedom to ask for His leading and direction to show me the activities of the day and the order in which to do and accomplish them. I can look back and say, “There Was Jesus”!
There’s no reason to stop there as we can boldly come to the throne of grace; I pray the same for my 93 and 94 year old Mom and Dad and entire family that they too will know Jesus is with them at all times and we can go to Him any time, from any place and with any issue! When the two men were walking on the road to Emmaus (7 miles from Jerusalem) they encountered Jesus right there on Easter day and didn’t know it was Him. In Luke 24:31 “Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.” Once they knew His Presence, Jesus didn’t need to be there physically. And they felt His Presence in the next verse 32: “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” What a privilege it must have been! And it is ours today when we open our eyes to see Jesus in our midst.
Even in our failures, we can be reminded of the words from Jeremiah 23:24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the Lord. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.” Now we do not have to hide due to the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Though we are tempted to hide our sin from God, He invites us to lay it all before Him and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And when we do, we experience freedom and peace to boldly proclaim there was Jesus.
Perhaps the person most aware of the Presence of Jesus was His own cousin, John the Baptist? “The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 At the baptism of Jesus, not only was Jesus present, but so too, the Holy Spirit in v32, John said, “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on Him.” There was Jesus.
In sum, whenever we are aware of the Presence of Jesus, it can make us sing with Zach Williams and Dolly Parton, “There Was Jesus!” (If you haven’t seen their video on YouTube, I would encourage you to check it out.)
God’s richest blessings to all,
Tom Anderson
08/11/2020