For thought and meditation

[rl69]

Clouds and darkness surround Him… PSALM 97:2
A person who has not been born again by the Spirit of God will tell you that the teachings of Jesus are simple. But when he is baptized by the Holy Spirit, he finds that “clouds and darkness surround Him….” When we come into close contact with the teachings of Jesus Christ we have our first realization of this. The only possible way to have full understanding of the teachings of Jesus is through the light of the Spirit of God shining inside us. If we have never had the experience of taking our casual, religious shoes off our casual, religious feet— getting rid of all the excessive informality with which we approach God— it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence. The people who are flippant and disrespectful in their approach to God are those who have never been introduced to Jesus Christ. Only after the amazing delight and liberty of realizing what Jesus Christ does, comes the impenetrable “darkness” of realizing who He is.
Jesus said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63). Once, the Bible was just so many words to us — “clouds and darkness”— then, suddenly, the words become spirit and life because Jesus re-speaks them to us when our circumstances make the words new. That is the way God speaks to us; not by visions and dreams, but by words. When a man gets to God, it is by the most simple way— words.

[USMC87]

Amen!

[Boaz]

Really good lesson and reminder for today . And yes the word of GOD is the living word , still our guide and enlightenment two thousand years later .

[Blackwater]

Thanks, RL. As time goes on and our lives progress, the words mean more and more to us. With effort, Christ will lift the scales from our eyes, and let us see a lot more of the full meaning He was trying to convey to us. This is why study and constant vigilence is a key to really getting all there is in the Bible. And that's usually a lifetime job. It has been for me, anyway.

It's a funny thing .... when you KNOW you have found the real meaning He was trying to relate to us, you KNOW it. There's no "I think I understand." You just know. This is when Christ has revealed the meaning to us. We have to read with our hearts. Our minds alone just won't quite get it all. And to "get it" in our hearts, they have to be open and humble. I know this because I searched nearly all my life for some answers that puzzled me, and that my preachers could never quite answer fully for me. Not that long ago, the andwers just came to me, and I really wasn't even thinking about them! Christ does indeed work in mysterious ways. Maybe He thought I needed to understand so I could serve and obey Him more consistently?