Ensign: Reformation Day, When We See The Father

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains, and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS                                       31 October 2014

This seems to be such a fitting message on Reformation Day. And Happy Halloween.

"Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Jesus' Passover with His disciples was hardly the secret meeting that popular culture has made it out to be. Nor was it the elegant banquet that Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper portrays. It was the beginning, or, the end of the beginning.  It was Jesus' revelation of Himself as the Son of God and the Son of Man. 

 

But when Philip asks (what I'm sure all the disciples were thinking) Jesus to show them God in John 14:8 quoted above, He's hurt -- but not surprised -- that he can ask that. "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet thou hast now known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;"  The start of verse 9 sounds like a rhetorical question; Philip and the other disciples knew enough to call Jesus Lord, but the impact of His being Savior wasn't available to them yet. 

 

But anyone can be a lord in the sense of being a master; Jesus went further and said that the Father was present in him, for "the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." (10) Not only was God the Father directing what Jesus did, He was actually doing the work with Him.  God was in the trenches too. God is in the trenches with us. 

 

If Jesus Himself didn't claim to be self-reliant but dependent on God for all He said and did (and says and does), how can we expect to be? "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (12) Does this mean we'll go out and raise the dead and heal the sick? 

 

Could be, but not necessarily; greater works don't necessarily mean the same works. But where our post-industrial, technology-obsessed society fails is in raising our souls; that's when God works through each of us accepting His direction. "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."  (13-14)

 

The same God Who counts the number of hairs on your head, sees a sparrow fall to the ground, and cares for a blade of grass is the same God, the same Father, the same Son, the same Holy Spirit, Who cares for each of us. He's been here. He is here.

And will always be -- if we ask for Him,

 

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch, and I hope to encourage you too! If I'm not or you want me to get lost, please tell me -- thank you!

I praise and I thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that You provide for all our needs, even when we don't always know what they are. We pray as You ask for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides on the fence and all around the world.

I praise and I thank You, Lord, for all who are in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have along with the promise of new life in You! AND I pray that we are all seeking and are preparing to have the most blessed and blessing week ever! Amen.