2 Corinthians 4:6 – For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

THEME OF THE DAY: SEEING JESUS FACE-TO-FACE. Let me start out today with a question – “What do you live for?” For spiritually tuned in Christians, I would expect a word of correction right now, “Jim, that isn’t really the right question. The right question is, ‘Who do I live for, not what do I live for?’” Ponder the difference here. It is huge and says a lot about our understanding of what it truly means to be a Christian living out the Christian life. Granted, we are called to live for the glory of God and that involves activity and service, but first and foremost, it is about beholding and being. The Apostle Paul told us “the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:18; 4:6). To live for the glory of God isn’t about just doing stuff with a Christian moral ethic. To live for the glory of God is to reflect the Lord Jesus Christ in His character, attitude, and speech in all we do and say. And we can only reflect who we are encountering. See the difference? To reduce the Christian life down to simply what we do or don’t do, is to make Christianity mere morality, not a life reflecting transformational encounters with Jesus Christ. Notice what I just wrote – transformational encounters with Jesus Christ. That means we are regularly in prayer and the Word being brought face-to-face with Jesus Christ. When we come to our Bibles, come to prayer, and come to church to hear the Word, we are coming to “see” Jesus with spiritual eyes and hungry hearts. The chief direction of all Bible study, quiet time devotions, prayer, and preaching is to discover and make much of the Person of the Lord Jesus.

Okay, now I am sure some of you are feeling pretty discouraged right now as you look in your life and see the struggle with what I just wrote – transformational encounters with Jesus Christ in His Word and prayer. You might be wanting to say, maybe even scream, “Jim, I am not there. I want to be there. I struggle in my life just to be faithful to church and have some resemblance of a devotional life. Sounds great what you are saying, but I am drowning in the sea of a full, busy, and demanding life.” Couple of things. First, I never want to discourage you. Truth isn’t supposed to do that. Oh, it will make us uncomfortable at times because we don’t measure up, but God doesn’t give us truth to discourage us. He gives truth to liberate and encourage us. The second thing is I am not there either. I understand. I struggle to get off the fast track of life and learn to “be still” and know God. I experience the same daily challenges pulling my heart into the world of the urgent causing me to neglect the Word to behold my Lord. I am with you, but the reality of true Biblical Christianity is the truth of today’s theme. We are called to regularly, consistently, affectionately, and intimately encounter the Lord Jesus through His Word, prayer, and His church in personal ways. He is real and will make Himself real, if we truly want to know Him. Is it hard? Absolutely. The hardest and most difficult thing in all the world. Why? Because it is the most precious and important thing in the world.

So, where do we start in the daily pursuit of seeing Jesus face-to-face in His Word, prayer and church? Desire. David said, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). Everything in the Christian life begins here. Desire. Ask God to give us a desire to know Him, a real Holy Spirit-generated desire. When He does this and continually does this, we will seek the Lord in Word, prayer, and church. Desire will turn to discipline. We will not compromise the search for Him. We will not substitute time in the Word for time in the world. If we truly want to see Christ, then get a heart of desire for Him. Our pursuit of Him will only be as intense as our desire for Him.

PRAYER: “Father, increase my desire to know Your Son for from my desire comes my pursuit of Him.”

QUOTE: “For the Christian, the question, ‘What do I live for?’, is really ‘Who do I live for?’ – self or Jesus Christ”