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On a more positive note, I would like to finish by saying, our God is an awesome God! He could have created us in any image of His choice so that He might ever appear superior to His creation, but He didn’t! He chose to create us in His own image, raising us up to such dignity as to be called His children. It is no wonder that some people have a problem with Jesus’ divinity. He was born in a stable, He lived in poverty, He suffered every kind of pain and humiliation that we could throw at Him, and He was humble. Just think about that – God is humble!
It is equally difficult for some to accept that God was born in the flesh, so that we might be born in the Spirit. That He lived in earthly poverty, that we might find heavenly riches, and that He suffered the torment of death, so that we might know the beatific life. These things are a mystery, but this is the God who said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8 & 9)
I wish I could tell the world how beautiful Jesus’ love is and how special He is. How can we explain the deep love that can be experienced by someone, from a God that they have never seen. Although none of us (as far as I know) have ever seen Jesus with the eyes of our bodies, I know that we have all seen Him with the eyes of our souls, and this is something that the unbeliever can never understand.
How do we, who know Jesus in our hearts, tell a world so lost in distractions, about the love, joy and peace experienced within the soul of a person in love with Jesus? The atheist like Prof Dawkins will tell us it is a delusion, a fantasy that is conjured up in the hope of finding a better life, and that this is our way of avoiding the fear and inevitability of death. The fact is that God cannot be understood by the mind unless we first experience Him within the heart, and we cannot do that unless we humble ourselves, open our hearts and receive Him in faith. As someone once said: “I do not understand so that I may believe, but believe so that I may understand, for unless I first believe, I shall never understand!”
How do we make known the reality of the Holy Spirit living within us? People often question me as to how I endure my suffering with such a cheerful heart, I always tell them it is not I, but the grace of Christ within, and because of this, one of the things that causes me the greatest torment is not my ill health, but it is to see so many of my brothers and sisters in this world denying themselves of the joy of knowing Christ. All I can do to ease this sorrow is to pray and have faith that God is merciful and will, in time, bring all of His children to the fullness of life. Prayer is powerful; many people are converted following the faithful and persistent prayers of family or friends. God uses our prayers to work in the lives of others, to open doors, bridge gaps and gently call them to the wonder of His love. We do not have to be great speakers, or clever theologians, we can all make known the reality of the Holy Spirit living within us by leading quiet, gentle, thoughtful lives. We are not working alone, we are working with and for, Jesus, and He will use us in ways we least expect, to glorify Him and bring the joy of His love to others.
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