Seeing Him who is Invisible

"Follow me." (Mark 1:17) "Follow me." (John 21.22)

These are the first words and the last words that Jesus spoke to Peter. Do you remember when the Lord called you? Do you remember the excitement of being called and saved by the Lord. Peter dropped everything, there was nothing more important than following Jesus and so he left his nets and his world behind and marched of to walk with Jesus.
The fire that burns in our chest, the warmth of the Holy Spirit within us, leading and guiding and teaching us, oh what joy to walk with Him. A lady back in Scotland who recently got saved struggled to describe the feeling of Jesus in her. She does not come from a church background, and therefore has no "Christianeeze," to fall back on, finally said it, " was like someone lit a candle and put it in my chest."

Do you still feel the candle burning in your chest? Does the warmth and beautiful breeze of your first love still blow through your very being? Does the intoxication of your marriage to the King of Kings still make you dizzy? Listen what I wrote not too long after coming to Jesus....... Jesus



YOU ARE THE INSPIRATION OF MY LIFE
WHEN I LAUGH IT IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE PLACED A JOY DEEP WITHIN MY SOUL
WHEN I CRY TEARS OF JOY AND SADNESS
IT IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE CREATED RIVERS IN THE DESERT
WHEN I AM THIRSTY IN THE PLACE OF TESTING
I FALL UPON THE ROCK AND AM ENGULFED
IN THE SWEET FLOWING WATERS OF LIFE

Is He still the inspiration of your life? That deep joy in your soul, is it still a well spring of life?

Many Christians start out on fire, they have dreams and visions and goals and they march towards them, with great vigor and enthusiasm. Then life begins to unfold. The rain starts, the wind begins to howl and before you know it you’re in a storm. Yet, just like in the Gospel, along comes Jesus, either on the water or in the boat and He stills the waters and he calms the storm and we take great comfort in knowing that He is with us and because He is with us then we are truly safe. You still have the vision and you are still marching on.

Maybe you had a vision. The Lord called you to it. You saw it clearly and you threw yourself into it with all your might. You were standing at the beginning and you could see the end and you strove towards it. All of a sudden your vision is gone. You have no idea how it disappeared. It just crept up on you and one day you realize that you cannot see the end any more. You can only see tomorrow, and know in your spirit it will be just like today.

The candle is out. You no longer feel the warmth of walking with Jesus. Luke 24:32 "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened up Scriptures to us." How long has it been since your heart burned? How long has it been since He opened up Scripture to you? Peter started out at the lake and this is where we find him.

His world has been rocked by tribulation, he has had a devastating fall from grace and faith and he is right back where he started. The pain of failure, the biting bitterness of disappointment and lost vision. The fire that once moved him, moved him no more. His only hope is to see Jesus. And this is just what happens.

In Hebrews 11 it says "By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible." Moses endured by seeing Him who is invisible. As long as Moses walked with God he could endure anything. Moses chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He counted the reproach of Jesus, greater riches, than all the treasures of heaven. Do you? Are you ready to forsake the world and all its pleasures and be counted with the people of God?

If we will take our eyes off the world, not fearing and turn our eyes toward "Him who is invisible," then we will begin to see our vision once more. There is no vision more important than the presence of God in our lives. For it is out of that presence of God that all visions flow. If we become too busy and take our eyes off Him, then the vision automatically vanishes. The Lord will not allow any plans, even ones that He has initiated, to come between Him and us. Our relationship with Him is the most important part of our life.

Perhaps you have fallen. Maybe you did not deny the Lord with actual words but your actions did. The candle has gone out and you have seemingly drifted right back to where you started. I want you to hear Jesus now, He has come back to where you started and once again He is saying , “follow me.” And this second call demands the same as the first, just as you put down your nets, forsook the world and followed Him that the world could not see, the invisible Jesus, so He calls again, put down your nets, reject the passing pleasures of sin and embrace Him that sets the heart on fire.