Grace and peace to you on this fine spring day!

I have been reflecting this past week on the miracle of Easter.  People all over the world gathered and celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  What a celebration, what rejoicing!

And what came before Easter Sunday?  40 days of reflecting on who Jesus was and what He did for us.

Fellow believers, we have come through a season of of prayer, study, and meditation on events that occurred 2000 years ago.  And that is the Good News upon which we all hope.

But moving forward, for me at least, I feel my thinking needs to shift.  In this time and place, I feel that I need to move past the question, “Who WAS Jesus?”  to the more relevant, “Who IS Jesus?”

Who is Jesus Christ for me, today?  How do I relate to the risen and living King of Kings?  How is He impacting my life?

My salvation was secured on a cross 2000 years ago by the grace of our Lord.  However, my life today is being impacted and guided by the One who lives and is involved (to the extent that I will allow it.)  I would love for you to journey with me over the next few weeks as I explore my own understanding of who Jesus is as well as “Who Jesus says He is.”

It is interesting to me that for 2 millennia, people have been asking the same question.  And most often, as we can see from the clip below, we sometimes try and mold Him into our own image.  We try to make Him something that we can be comfortable with.

For my own personal spiritual growth, I believe it is time to focus, not on my own image, but on the teachings of Jesus Himself.

So today, I am considering how I have created Him in my own mind and I am praying for Him to show me any errors or misconceptions.  Tomorrow I plan to open the gospels and approach them with fresh eyes.  I hope you will journey with me.

The following is a link to a popular tv series here in the U.S. from the 1970’s, “Good Times.”  The episode is entitled Black Jesus.  It speaks much truth to me.

Heavenly Lord,

You are incomprehensible.  You are God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.  You are the Beginning and the End.  You are too much for me to take in.  Please forgive my attempts to put You in a box.  As I try to understand You more, I fear I have reduced You to a comfortable old story.  One that I love to hear, but  that I don’t pay attention to any more because I have heard it so many times.

Help me, Lord, to understand who You truly are, and who You want to be in my life.

In the name of my Savior I pray,

Amen