“IF . . .”
There is a place, an eternal place prepared by God. We know this heavenly place exists because saints who have walked before us have spoken of this place. We know heaven exists because we have heard of those who received glimpses of this “glory land,” who suffered through near-death experiences & lived to speak of its existence.
I don’t know what heaven looks like, but that does not mean it does not exist.
Maybe you too have never seen heaven with your own eyes, but that does not mean it does not exist.
Just because we cannot physically SEE something with our eyes does not mean we cannot spiritually SEE!
People speak of “faith” as something we believe—that we cannot see. People say “faith” is knowing, but not touching. As a believer, I have even said those words. As a person who places all of my hope in God. He Exists!
Even though He ascended back to heaven after his death, burial, and resurrection, and although He then sat down on the right hand of God—and because we cannot physically walk into the place of heaven today and physically touch the nail-scarred hands of our Savior, still, heaven exists!!!
Just because we cannot physically SEE & just because we cannot physically TOUCH JESUS—HE STILL EXISTS!
Thus, while each one of these statements are truthful statements, the question comes: How can we ever lead another who does not believe, who struggles to see—to see?
“IF . . .”
Through FAITH, the TRUTH can be SEEN & BELIEVED!
God’s Word forever remains the only truth!
In God’s infallible Word, we find all that we will ever need to know. It is there, in the Holy Bible, where we find the ANSWER to every QUESTION.
Read with me one passage, one written in RED, meaning the words were spoken directly by JESUS, the SAVIOR of the world.
“Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.
So watch out that the light in you is not darkness.
Therefore if your whole body is full of light, without any dark part, it will be wholly illuminated, as when the lamp illuminates you with its light.”
(Luke 11: 34-36 NASB)
There are three ladies I know who have suffered with three totally different “eye” maladies, and thank goodness, each one has walked through a difficult season to receive the assurance from a doctor that healing will occur. I would dare to say these three ladies trusted & believed their physician specialist. In like manner, even I have suffered with an eye issue that needed the medical knowledge of an eye specialist.
Of late, I have found myself reading of the miracles of Jesus, narratives of healing found within the Bible. In doing so, I naturally began reading of Luke, a man called by Jesus to “come follow.” Luke was a physician, a doctor, a specialist—Dr. Luke. It was Luke, the apostle, who was given the words of TRUTH, the words of Jesus that forever reside within the Bible, the Word of God! Not only that, but Dr. Luke, a man of medicine and science and a man who was a faithful follower of Jesus, recorded how a person could be healed. That’s right, a man, a woman, and a child who was spiritually blind and walking in spiritual darkness could receive the gift of God’s salvation & walk anew with the “light of God” now residing within them.
As I write, the most beautiful melody plays in my ears, one about the Great Physician who heals all spiritual darkness. This song is titled “The Healing” by Blanca & Dante Bowe.
Listen, Sing, & Dance today to this glorious reminder of the goodness of God.
- It is the Master Physician—Jesus—who helps us remember, “when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light;” &
- It is the Redeemer—Jesus—who cautions us to know, “when it [our spiritual & our physical eye] is bad, your body also is full of darkness.”
- So, we should not be surprised that it is Jesus—the Son of God—who gently warns us, “So watch out that the light in you is not darkness.” &
- It is also Jesus—our Savior—who edifies us as He reminds us, “if your whole body is full of light, without any dark part, it will be wholly illuminated, . . .”
- Therefore, the Redeemer of all mankind—Jesus Christ—proclaims for all to SEE—“the lamp illuminates you with its light.”
Many will question: What is this “light” that Jesus speaks of in this passage recorded by Dr. Luke? While that is a good question to ask, an even better question must be asked.
WHO IS THIS LIGHT WHO WHOLLY ILLUMINATES ALL THE DARK CREVICES OF A PERSON’S BODY SO THAT THE PERSON IS FULLY ILLUMINATED WITH THIS LIGHT of GOD?
What a most gorgeous question!
- We, who know Jesus as our Savior are to point men, women, and children who we are given to know—to the light of the world!
- We, who call ourselves “Believers” are to point all nationalities toward the—KING of KINGS!
- We, who proclaim Christ as our Lord, who are called “Christians,” are to uncover “the light of the world” who lives within us as we point others to—SEE JESUS!
There was a beautiful statement that I read earlier this morning, one that I would like to apply to this discussion.
- “IF. . .” FAITH in GOD does not cost us anything, then how in the world do we know what it means to be a Christian?
- “IF. . .” FAITH in ALMIGHTY GOD does not cost us anything while we live here on this earth, how will we ever know for sure that the great I AM (JEHOVAH GOD) is genuine and really who HE says HE is, then how in the world will we ever be able to share about Jesus, our Savior & Lord?
- “IF. . .” DISCIPLESHIP does not take us far from our comfort zone, testing us, trying us, sanctifying us, then how do we know how much God has grown us since the moment of His salvation?
When I was a child, a teacher of the Word once gave me an acronym, one that helped me understand & apply the word—“faith.” I wrote this acronym in my Bible. Today, it remains with me even now.
- F— Forsaking
- A— All
- I— I (Yes I do)
- T— Take Up My Cross & Follow
- H— Him!
“IF. . .” IF we say we walk by FAITH, then let us pause to consider what FAITH requires of us.
To illuminate “the only way” to the truth & “the only way” to ever be able to see what heaven really looks like, we must share Jesus.
We may not know where we are to go, and we may not know with whom we will talk with next; nevertheless, we do know with WHOM we go!
When someone asks us how we know “IF” God really is who He says He Is, the words of God Himself supply the answer we will ever need.
“And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
(Exodus 3: 14 NASB)
F Forsaking (leaving, surrendering, giving up)
A ALL (everything & everyone)
I I Promise God (at the moment of my salvation)
T To Take up (my cross & to follow)
H HIM—JESUS, MY SAVIOR & LORD!
“No one lights a lamp and puts it away in a cellar nor under a basket, but on the lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.”
(Luke 11: 33 NASB)