Encouraging... Day After Day
A fresh word of encouragement to uplift your faith for action today.
- Lord, Can I Just See You?
“Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” - John 14:8 NASB
Have you ever wanted to say to the Lord, “Can I just see you? Can I just see you and talk to you for five minutes? If I could just see you, then that would be enough for me!”
Did you know that you are not the only one to ask that kind of question of the Lord. It encourages me to know that even those who walked and talked with Jesus while He lived His life on the earth for a time, even they did not entirely “get-it” when it came to the plans and purposes of God. They saw all of the incredible miracles. They watched Him heal every impossible sickness, disease and deformity, and they saw Him cast demons out of the oppressed. And somehow, in all of that, they did not understand His divine unity with Father God, through the Holy Spirit. They did not understand that, in time, they too would be filled with the Spirit of the Living God, and living out the rest of their lives in the same way that Jesus lived His… in the power of the unseen Holy Spirit.
Let’s look at this exchange between Jesus and His disciples, Thomas and Philip…
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me.
There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.
And you know the way to where I am going.”
“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus told him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.
If you had really known Me, you would know who My Father is. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him!”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father! So why are you asking Me to show Him to you?
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak are not My own, but My Father who lives in Me does His work through Me.
Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen Me do.” – John 14:1-11 NLT
Incredible! These disciples were able to see The Man with their own two eyes, and yet, they didn’t understand He was God in the flesh. God was right there in their midst, talking with them and doing mighty works in front of them and they didn’t fully understand who He was and what He really came to do.
That night, He had revealed to them that He was getting ready to do His “greatest work,” which was to become the sacrificial Lamb, and die for their sins… for their sins and for all of the world’s sins… mine included. He did this in order to, once and for all, remove the sin that kept us all from becoming one with God. Yes, He went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, so we could, through receiving Him by faith, become unified with God as His beloved children, Look how Jesus prayed for us...
“And I give Myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by Your truth.
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message.
I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe You sent me.
“I have given them the glory You gave Me, so they may be one as We are one.
I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me.” – John 17:19-23 NLT
This is so powerful! His close disciples did not understand much of what He was doing and what God’s master plan was. We may have a little better revelation of this, on this side of the Resurrection, but at times, I still find myself in that same place that Thomas and Philip were at. In their minds, they couldn’t understand why Jesus was telling them that He was going to leave their presence physically. He was going back to the Father. They didn’t understand that in a very short time, they would have His presence “in” them, permanently.
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever;
the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you.” – John 14:16-17 NASB
Sometimes I forget, as a believer and as one of His born-again children in the faith, that He is “in” me permanently, and I don’t have to ask Him to show Himself to me, just so my senses will be satisfied. Even when I don’t fully understand what God is doing in my life, and I am tempted to ask, “Lord, I would just like to see You for five minutes, and that will satisfy me,” He reminds me of His indwelling presence, and I am at peace, once again.
When I look at this exchange between Jesus, Thomas and Philip, I am relieved that Jesus didn’t seem to dismiss them because of their lack of understanding, or even their seeming lack of faith. In fact, He encouraged them with something so powerful and so amazing, that most of us have trouble getting our minds wrapped around this. Yet, if we will believe Him and take His word on this, we will quit asking Him to reveal Himself physically. We will walk through life with the same confidence in our unity with Christ, as Jesus walked in His unity with the Father. We will have no fear of failure, because our words and actions will always be in step with Jesus and accomplished in the divine power of the Holy Spirit. We will no longer ask… “Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” We will walk by faith and not by sight. Look carefully at what Jesus says we can do…
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.
You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.
Yes, ask me for anything in My name, and I will do it!” – John 14:12-14 NLT
Jesus says that if we believe in Him, we will do the same works that He did, and even greater works. What works did Jesus do? He spoke the Word of God with power and authority, He fulfilled Scripture through His faith, believing God’s every promise to Him was “Yes and Amen!” (2 Corinthians 1:20) He healed every kind of sickness and disease. He cast out demons. He raised the dead. He multiplied natural things, like loaves and fish. He calmed storms. This is the same God who, in the Old Testament, routed armies, rolled back waters, brought down fortified walls. He even gave babies to barren women. And ultimately, He brought forth His only begotten Son through a virgin. Is there anything the Lord cannot do?
If the answer to this question is “Nothing shall be impossible with God,” then we also have to ask, “Is there anything the Lord will not do for us and through us, if we ask in Jesus’ name?” As far as I know “anything” still means anything. We have His promise that He will do it! Yes, look at that list again, dear friends… We can and are encouraged to do the same works that Jesus did.
As a final note, this same Philip who was requesting to see the Father because his understanding was lacking, eventually became a powerful evangelist and was used by God to do mighty miracles. (I encourage you to read Acts 8) Jesus will never leave us stuck in our lack of understanding, nor will He allow us to remain in doubt or unbelief. He does not scold us, but encourages us to believe, to come up higher in our faith in Him. This is why He gave us the Holy Spirit whose job it is to remind us of everything that Jesus has spoken in the Word to us. (John 14:26) We are unified and one in spirit with the Perfect One, our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 6:17/ Ephesians 4:4)
Unlike Thomas and Philip, who were blessed to see Jesus in His fleshly body, we are even more blessed to be able to see Jesus in the Word of God, with everything He did and every Scripture promise He fulfilled. (John 20:29/
Luke 24:27-35) Yes, He was the Word of God made flesh, but He is still the Word of God, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) So whenever you are tempted to say, “Lord, can I just see you? Can I just see you and talk to you for five minutes? If I could just see you, then that would be enough for me,” just remember that He is alive and with you in your spirit and as you open the written Word and let the Holy Spirit teach you in those pages, you’ll be able to see Jesus with your heart and know exactly what He wants to say to you.
Be excited and encouraged, because He did promise in the first part of John, chapter 14, that He has gone to prepare a wonderful place for us in the Father’s house, and He will be coming again in the clouds to receive those who have believed in Him and put their faith in Him, and bring us back to our heavenly home to be with Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:17) Let’s get excited about that! We are going to see Him face to face in the not too distant future, as He will keep His promise to come back to get us. Yes, my friend, we are going to be able to see Him, and that will be enough for us. The Bridegroom is coming for His Bride!
Wow! I am absolutely and thoroughly encouraged. I hope you are, too.
Now that, dear friends, is grace!
P.S. If you have never received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, we encourage you to read our article:
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