"Only Jesus" - 10/18/16 Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9:28-62

"But Jesus came over and touched them.

 

"Don't be afraid."  

 

When they opened their eyes and looked around, all they saw was Jesus, only Jesus."

(Matthew 17:7-8)

 

 

If I allowed myself, I could easily become consumed with life passing too fast, too soon, with the all of what needs done and isn't.  It seems the 'to do list' is only growing at times.  And my energy level is diminishing.

 

Last night we were on our way home from watching Adam and Jacob play football at the YMCA.  The temps were still in the 80's and the wind was still howling over the terrain.  Unusual for this time of year, but how I am loving it!  We were driving along and my mind was going over the jobs still undone and the little time left before the weather turned to the point we wouldn't be able to work.  I then went on and began thinking about all the jobs I had intended to do over the summer.  Resolving to the fact, there are some which will be moved on to next years list. 

 

As my mind was becoming consumed by the worldly, ABBA shone down brightly and caught my attention and my breath. 

 

His moon was hanging up in the sky.  Huge.  It looked as though it were looking through a peephole in the clouds, glowing in the darkness.  Everything was bathed in the soft, gentle light.  After arriving home, I sat out on the back deck watching it make its journey across the sky.  Mesmerized.  Completely. 

 

I wondered if the moon was one of His favorites in creation and smiled as He reminded me. 

 

"We" are His delight. 

 

He created all of creation for our enjoyment. 

 

I thought about how all of nature is taken care of by Him.  As He takes care of us. 

 

How easily it is to focus on the world and not on Him.  Of the jobs undone.  Of how quickly life is passing.  To become anxious and restless. 

 

I once again had taken my focus off of Him, allowing doubt and fear to creep in.  Robbing me not only of sleep, but of the life He has planned for me. His whispering catches my ear, beseeching  me to come to Him.

He always gives me His Words at the exact time my heart is in need of them.  I have only to listen for His Voice.

"Don't be afraid."

He was touching me to my inner self, the place where I try to hide emotions, thoughts, parts of me, I don't want to deal with.  Things that complicate living this life.  I have found there are some things easier to deal with packed away in this hidden place of my heart.

 

No matter how far away I think these things are, He knows.  He knows my heart better than I do.  

I once listened to words in a sermon regarding the wearing of masks in different situations.  I thought about those I wear a mask around and am in constant turmoil because I am not being as He designed me to be.  It is often the mask of defensiveness, guarded, cold, and walled.  I know this is opposite of how He created me because when not wearing this mask, I feel the freedom and peace within the all of "me".  He is growing "me" to have faith in His defense and protection instead of the false security of "the mask". 

 

In a study I am doing, there was the question, "what is your deepest fear?".  I came away discovering it is, "what if the lies I have been surrounded by are really The Truth".  "What if I am wrong in how I am walking?" 

 

He knows our deepest, darkest fears.  In Scripture, so many accounts of our Savior tell of His reaching down and "touching" in situations where touch wasn't what one would normally do.  He came down inside of our hearts, in the midst of the "what if" fear and touched us. He holds and reassures us, "Don't be afraid."  

 

So many places and times in my life He has spoken these words to me. 

I have only to listen,  hear, and focus on His Truth.

In moments of doubt, He has opened my eyes to His Word and reading accounts of those whom He never let down.  I look about to those who are alive today, whom I know are walking "in" Him by their fruits and see also my fruits are a reflection of Him.  satan wants nothing more than for us to step off of the foundation of Him and step into the quicksand of fear and doubt.  

I got up to walk into the house and again was drawn to one last look at His moon.  I knew our ABBA had taken the all of "me" and put my focus back upon Him.  Without doubt I know He will be with me tomorrow and always, just as He is now.  He is in complete control and I am able to stand on His promises - no matter what I will be walking through on my way Home to Him. 

How He always speaks to me through His Words. 
With His touch, I have opened my "eyes and looked around, all I see is Jesus, only Jesus."