Friday, November 12, 2010

2010 – November 12 – Jesus In Our Midst




Study from God’s Word Passages from Matthew, Chapters 24, 25; Mark 13; and Luke 21 where Jesus is prophesying of His coming kingdom and glory … Passage for Reflection: Matthew 25: 40 … NIV The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

My Journal for Today: I agree with LaGard Smith that it’s natural to want to picture or imagine Jesus fitting into our modern or current times, especially to personalize Him in some way. In the pictures above we see renderings of Jesus which picture him in more modern contexts. The first one is by William Dyce, a Scottish painter, who painted a rendering in 1860 called The Man of Many Sorrows; but Jesus was set in a Scottish wilderness rather than on the Mount of Transformation near Jericho where Jesus reportedly confronted Satan. And one of my favorites is the more modern depiction of Jesus, called Forgiven, by Thomas Blackshear, who renders Jesus holding a man, obviously in modern garb, who is broken and wounded from life. These pictures try to show a Jesus pictured in life as we – or the artist – know it. But they showing that Jesus is with us always; and as today’s verse depicts Him, He may be found in the lives of others who need us.

And so, in today’s text, Jesus, Himself, gives his Disciples (including you and me) a word picture of how we should view our Lord and Savior. And as my devotional shepherd, Dr. Smith, writes, ”Though painted in words, this picture (i.e., from Matt. 25: 40) is a vivid reminder that we see Jesus every hour of every day in the faces of all the strugglers whom Jesus Himself came to serve – and calls us to serve.”

And I’m not going to go on with this, but close with Dr. Smith’s pointed, poignant, and powerful closing question; and then I’ll let any who’re reading here – like myself – answer by trying to find Jesus in the ones He brings into our lives to share His love with them (or maybe with Him).

Dr. Smith closes by asking, ”Am I staring right at Him but still missing the picture?”

My Prayer for Today: Lord, help me to be sensitive to see You whenever You bring someone into my life who needs You from what I can do for them. Amen

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very nice post, and I like your prayer! Thank you for sharing!

God bless all of you!!!

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

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