“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them, he is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:18-21 (emphasis mine)
Dear friends, I came to a life-changing realization recently. I was on a trip to a conference and had a little bit of time to myself before the day began. As I sat in the hotel lobby, I read the words in the passage above, and I was blown away. Now, I have read these words many times before, but as I read them this time, the Holy Spirit illuminated them to me in a whole new way. (Don’t you just love how He does that?!?!) You see, the phrases that I italicized for emphasis in the passage above are a promise to us. They’re literal. They are just as sure of a promise as the well-known, well-loved, and often quoted words of John 10:27: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” They are as sure of a promise as it is that we hear God’s voice. Jesus says here in the above verses that we see Him and that He shows Himself to us. He comes to us.
As the Holy Spirit often does, He confirmed this powerful revelation I had in the hotel lobby through several avenues in the days afterwards. One of them occurred as I was talking to one of my friends who is currently in a crisis. I was passionately explaining to her how important hearing God’s voice was at all times, but especially in a crisis.
If any of you know my story, you will know that my husband, Mike, and I have been in the fire of tribulation from a diagnosis of Mike’s brain tumor for over two years now. But Jesus has been with us, and it has been, in many ways, the most amazing two years of our lives. And if you have followed any of my writing, you will know that I am passionate about hearing God’s voice because I first began to hear His voice at my greatest moment of need; it has made all the difference in my life. God has sustained me powerfully through incredibly difficult and trying times by His presence and His love. And He continues to show me more and more of Himself and His heart of love for me (and He has this same heart for you!).
So this particular day, right in the middle of our conversation, I stopped in my tracks because it struck me that even prior to ever hearing God’s voice like I do now, I saw Him. I saw Him in the spirit, which is how most people see Him. As powerful as it was to hear Him, it was every bit as powerful to see Him! How I had somehow skipped over this when telling my story, I couldn’t completely explain, except that perhaps at the beginning of my journey, seeing Him seemed even more natural to me than hearing His voice. Maybe it’s the same with you? Maybe you’ve already seen Him? Maybe you’ve been seeing Him for your whole life? And on the other side of things, maybe you’ve never seen Him and want to know how. Well either way, come along for the ride in this series, because you are about to encounter, experience, know, and love Jesus in a whole new way by seeing Jesus! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, where we will see Jesus together.
Blessings and Love,
Linda S.
I am passionate about helping women hear from God. This year has been an incredibly difficult one for our family, but in the fire of this trial, I have felt the love of God so much more intensely and personally than ever before. I have also found the beauty of seeking God's heart in a much deeper way. I want to know His heartbeat, see what He sees, hear what He hears, say what He says, do what He does, and make His perfect love known.
Come along with me on the adventure of a lifetime!
- Hearing God Episode Three: Hearing God For Your Husband - April 14, 2024
- Mom to Mom with Linda - January 20, 2024
- Mom to Mom With Linda - October 7, 2023