I have a daily Bible verse app on my Droid cell phone. Today’s is this:
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his spirit. 1John 4:12-13
No one who has ever walked the earth has ever seen God, except Jesus when he looked in the mirror. Or, did He see just the human flesh He came to dwell in — that would bleed and die on the cross — staring back at Him? Could He physically see Himself as God or just be acutely aware of that part of Himself dwelling inside the flesh and bones?
Today, we believers are His hands and feet on earth. Can anyone “see” God in us or just sense His presence when we exhibit His love? Is that why people say God is reflected through us? That is a mystery which has been debated by those far more knowledgable than I throughout the centuries.
But this I know is Truth — if you have taken Jesus into your heart, He is there, living in you as His temple. Others can sense that, even if they are not believers. God draws people to Himself through believers. And, when we are not doing what Jesus would do, and love the way Jesus would love, it can repel them.
When we act in love as Christ would, then that love is made perfect because it makes God more tangible for others. John says God has “given us of his spirit”. We don’t contain all of God’s spirit (we are too finite for that) but we have enough of it shing through us be detected by other’s soul-eyes. AND maybe, we contain enough to detect shining with our own soul-eyes when we look in the mirror. Then we can see beyond the added ten pounds we have yet to get off our hips after the holidays, or the bad hair day, or the blemish that is pushing through onto our cheek.
Where did I find God today? Was it possibly in me? Was I that loving? Did His Spirit reflect through me?
Thank you, Julie, for a good perspective on this subject. I think of the eyes as the window of the soul, and can see God’s Love in others this way. And in their actions as well. “When did we visit You in prison, Lord?” Answer is when you did it to the least of these You did it unto Me. Lots of love in giving of ourselves to others, wow! Thats seen and felt!.
LikeLike
Christ in us the Hope of Glory! He living in us, living His life through us! How amazing is that! What endless possibilites that opens up… what peace there is in that…
LikeLike