When We Just Need to Talk to Jesus Face to Face
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When we go through Job-like experiences and trials, we sometimes wish that Jesus was right here with us, so we could talk to Him face-to-face instead of just reading the Scriptures. We think Jesus would have something new to say to us outside of Scriptures, something that would fit our unique experience. However, let’s see what often happened when people in Scripture talked to Jesus personally.
Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:3-4 NKJV
The tempter tries to get into a theological debate with Jesus, but instead of thinking up clever comebacks, Jesus just quotes what is already written in Scripture. I’m thinking we should do the same. So in this discussion, even though the tempter had a personal conversation with Jesus, nothing was revealed that you and I could not already find in Scripture.
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” Luke 10:25-26 NKJV
Once again Jesus does nothing more than take the lawyer to Scripture. The same Scripture you and I have, even though we’ve never had a physical person-to-Person talk with Jesus, like many wish for.
In Luke 24 Cleopas and his friend are walking towards Emmaus when they meet Jesus. They don’t realize who He is as they tell Him about their doubts about what happened that crucifixion week. Now here they are talking to Jesus personally, and what does He do? He doesn’t tell them anything other than what was already written in Scripture!
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Luke 24:27 NKJV
So here we have three cases of someone actually having a real-live physical one-on-one conversation with Jesus, and each time He revealed nothing but what was already written in the Scriptures. Could it be that everything we need to know about life’s trials is already in the Scriptures?
Later Cleopas and his friend said, ““Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32 Have there not been times when you have read the Scriptures and your heart burned within you as though Jesus was talking personally to you? It’s because He was! Someone once said, “I may know a lot of books, but the Bible is the only book that knows me!”
Several years ago my church had an agape communion feast. It was supposed to be a time for personal healing and restoration. The leader assigned us each a partner to pray with. My partner refused to pray with me because I had a different opinion about a local issue. I would prefer to not give that member the satisfaction of reading this and triumphing in that she successfully hurt me, but she did. What God had designed to be a healing time, this member had used to bring me pain. I questioned God as to why He would let this happen. This was a sacred feast, and yet someone used it for evil. God did not answer me audibly, but once again, through the Spirit, He pointed me to Scripture. We were celebrating an “agape” feast, similar to the Passover supper. That night Jesus wanted someone to pray with, but His disciples failed Him. Sure they were not mean-spirited like this church member, but still they let Him down, and Jesus had to experience the post-agape feast praying alone just like I did! I realized I felt His pain, and He felt mine! When I realized Jesus and I had shared a unique situation together, that brought healing. Through both providence and Scripture Jesus revealed Himself to me.
In chemistry you have a classroom where you learn theory, and a lab where you practice what you were taught. When we go through trials like Job, we have the Bible to learn theory, but then we have the world as our lab where we put it into practice. Through practice Jesus leads us by His Word and providence. As different lab experiments turn out uniquely, so does our providence, but God has given us His Word in the Scriptures to guide us all, even in our unique experiences.
This is why Paul said the Scriptures are profitable for doctrine, but not only for getting our 28 fundamental beliefs. He went on to say for all our instruction in righteousness, as we become just as complete in Him as we are individually unique in Him.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV
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Amen amen, the Bible Is given to me to"reassure me when my heart Is trumbling, to comfort me in painful days, and if I get weaker when the struggle becomes burning, May it shows to my faith the One who makes me victorious" May the Good Lord bless You dear William!
It is often said as a rather cute comment that for some people we are the only Bible they will ever read. If we think about that comment enough we will realize that we have a really serious responsibility.
1) How well do we know our Bible?
2) In our actions and our interaction with others, how well do we pass on the message of the Bible? Are we good communicators (I purposely do not use the word "talkers")?
A friend sends you a msg telling that he would come and visit you later on. You go through your phone's thousands of msg and really do not pay much attention to your friend's msg. You're at the house and someone rings the bell. As you open the door you get surprised that your friend is there!
One of the greatest problems of today's people is miss-communication! Not because of a lack of words, but because of a lack of attention! Jesus has left us so many msg! But we lack attention! And wait for the stones to become speakers?
AMEN.
Sometimes we face challenges in our lives and we do not see how to solve the problems hence we want to hear the very voice and see the face of God Himself speaking to us. But we forget that God has already spoken to us through the bible about what to do in all our challenges.
Thanks William for The true and powerful message!!!!
What some of us lack is a developed awareness on the constant and personal presence of Jesus in our lives. Like a woman who knowing that her husband is home would open the closet door in her bedroom and freak out in shock because the husband was in the closet arranging his clothes. She knew he was home( Divine presence) she did not know he was in the closet, right where she was( Personal Presence)that's why she got a shock. Any burning sensation or joyous feeling is a gift from his presence. But with this feeling or without it Jesus lives in us by faith and every time we prayerfully open his word he is there speaking to us. When we believe this we will no longer feel alone. Anything that happens to us happens in His presence. Like all relationships this is a relationship that grows with diligent time spent together.
In conjunction with his Spirit, the Word of God demonstrated power to create our universe and everything in it in spite of its original chaos and darkness. And in the context of the chaos and darkness that exists in our lives, this Word has power to redeem and recreate us through the Spirit of God. We have hope because of the Spirit's work to reform our characters into the image of the living Word in our lives. As you point out in your post, the life of Jesus shows us how this works in practice.
if the post is about talking directly to Jesus. One example that was not mentioned was nearly three years of talking to Jesus with the disciples.
I was re-reading about Job and the conversation with Satan because the early questions that was asked in our lesson study was, where is Uz? If you read about the calamities that start with Job, three things about the first two or three were brought on by the Sabeans, people from Ethiopia and the Chaldeans from Ur plus a consuming fire from God above. I determined where Abraham was from. Ur of the Chaldees near the gulf of Arabia. So I reasoned that Job must have been in some proximity to this area. It just happened to be that my neighbor knocked on the door and I told him what I had been researching and the reason, was the account in Job, and the conversation with God and Satan. He was impressed with what I was studying and thought he might be interested in other Biblical subjects. I have been praying for my neighbor and his wife for some time, that if God has anything for me to do or shed some needed light, I want to be ready. I thought this might be time for seed. I am blessed to be their neighbor. Really nice people. They watch when I leave for Sabbath School and wave.
Hmmm, interesting Paul Blanke.
I asked myself the same question: "Where was the land of Uz?" ...But I also asked myself: "What era did Job live?" ...My questions are plain curiosity.
You turned to the Bible for the answer to your question, and so did I.
I know the answers to those questions are trivia and not of importance on the matter, but it is fun to dig in the Bible looking for hints, and sometimes in the process, we find treasures as well.
I came to the conclusion that the Land of Uz was in the area where Jethro (Moses' father in law) lived, which is today someplace around Jordan and Saudi Arabia border, close to, the Gulf of Aqaba. Look with Google Earth or with a global map. (By the way, from a previous search looking for Sinai -the "mount of God", I found that Sinai is south from where the Land of Uz was)
I also came to the conclusion that Job lived some time during those 400+ years while Israel was slaving in Egypt
(I also tracked down the "towns" or area of Job friends: Eliphaz the *Telamanite*, Bildad the *Shuhite*, Zophar the *Naamathite* ...which are in the same area.
Here are some Bible verses I found as hints. You may track down and find out more hints (and maybe some hidden treasure as well) from digging even deeper. You may also find out that I'm totally wrong on my conclusions. I'm not claiming I have proof to be correct on my conclusions. Again, it is fun to study and dig into the Bible
Ok, here are the verses:
Lam 4:21
Gen 36:20-21
Jer 25:20
...Well, I will share only those three Bible verses to start with because I don't want to spoil the fun from you.
Have fun and blessings
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Moderator note: See "Tuesday: Unfair Fates"
for context regarding the Sabeans.
Great Eli. Your bloodhound instincts are as good or better than mine. We probably have put as many educated guesses together as we can. I wondered at the beginning about a time period when Moses wrote this book. We have a lot of detail about Moses and the children of Israel from Exodus to Joshua. Time periods and locations in the old Testament seem to have some of the most historic value. Moses was in Egypt along the Nile and after wandering in the wilderness eventually married an Ethiopian I think. Anyway it all is interesting and I like curious minds. The texts that you have provided are most helpful.
Hey Bro Paul. Well, since seems to me you are interested on finding "goodies" I want to share with you few more data from the Bible... but not much because you will not have fun if I give them all to you ?. The fun is on the searching and digging into it. Right?
Before I share the verses, I want to make an observation on your conclusion about the Sabeans and Chaldeans.
You are correct saying the Chaldeans were from the land from were Abraham came from. It is a desert area even back then and guess what they stole: camels. Camels are very good for such area
The Sabeans were located in what is today Yemen -and across is Ethiopia. If you look on the map, you can see it is easy and faster to travel north/south to/from the land of Uz on ships -or big boats back then- on the Red Sea. They stole the donkeys, just perfect for their area
Keep in mind that even tho nowadays is desert the area I suggest were the land of Uz was, I conclude it is was not that way back then. Why? Because the land of Sodom and Gomorrah was a fertile and lush back then and that area was not far from the land of Uz . Job needed such a fertile area for his huge stock animals.
Also, keep in mind that the world's populations back then was very thin. Consider the exponential that gives momentum to a suddenly explosion or growth... the "hockey stick law". We nowadays are going in a vertical world growth.
Here now what I found in the Bible: While searching in the Bible for the area Job's friends were from, I found hints about them, but I will only share with you on Eliphaz the Temanite, because you "need" to have fun also from "hunting"
This is what I found about Temanite:
Read Gen 36 -the whole chapter. You will find Teman and Temanite few times. You also will find the name Jobab.
Please note verse 43. Could be this King Jobab the same Job? Job is short for Jobab... plus, Job describes himself as a leader and look at Job 29:25. It seems to me Job is saying he is a king.
Read also 1 Chronicles 1: 35-46
Please note verse 42 were you find again "Uz". Notice verse 44: could be that the name of Job's father was Zerah? And again, take a look at verse 45.
Yeah, I didn't mentioned in my previous post not to sound too OFF, but as my hunting takes me, I think Job -or Jobab- was a descendent of Abraham thru Esau or, Edom -Edomites- ...so, Job was a Edomite; and the land of Uz is the same as the land of Edom, as my conclusions goes.
Again, I may be all wrong on all this, but it was really fun such searching.
I will let you figure out on your own about the other two Job's friends: Bildad and Zophar
Have fun, and be blessed!
For more on the Sabeans click here. https://ssnet.org/blog/tuesday-unfair-fates/
That interaction with your neighbor may, indeed, have been seed.
May the Holy Spirit water it and impress you in how to proceed further.
The world is our laboratory but God is our lab attendant to guide us.
Hello William, I think your article is great introduction to the next quarter. The origin of the Word is through the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21). The Holy Spirit is God's communication lifeline to us (John 14:26). Without the Spirit, we truly cannot hear what the Word speaks to our hearts (1 Corinthians 2:9–13). He is vital to our relationship with God because he connects our hearts with the heart of God (Romans 8:26), and it is a gift of the Spirit by which we know God and are known by him (1 Corinthians 13:12). And when Christ comes, it will be with spiritual (Spirit-filled) bodies with which all of us will rise to meet him (1 Corinthians 15:44).
That was the best thing ever said. God loves every one , john 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who ever believes in him shall never die but have eternal life. GOD BLESS YOU!