Wednesday 4/23/14 Seeing Jesus

Dear Father in Heaven:  I love You.  Please forgive me of my sins.  Thanks for watching over her and thanks for working on healing her, please, Lord, keep Your hand on her.  Please give me strength to get back into writing and please help me with the message of today.  Please also help me to dispatch the message.  And Dear Lord, I have some prayer requests that I have not posted but I am sure You know them and even know where I laid them and misplaced them.  Help me find them, Lord.  Now get me working for You, Lord.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for your calls, prayers, and love shown to both Dolores and myself while Dolores is sick.  On this Salvation Wednesday I felt it necessary to get back to the keyboard and get to work for the Lord.  Dolores is still in the hospital and while she has much improved, I just got a call from her before I started writing and shes told me she is feeling good but her fever must stay normal for 24 hours before they send her home. Her fever is running from normal to 101 so there must still be some infection that they have not found as of yet.  However, as you all know, we are believing God to hear our prayers and heal her and let her with us.  As you know, sometimes when we pray for total healing, God will answer that prayer by moving us on to heaven to be with Him.  Time to get back to work for God, and coming soon, a message on how you can really give of yourself to help others.  Today,

Salvation Wednesday:  Seeing Jesus (Day One)

John 20:10 - Then the disciples went back to their homes.  11 But Mary stood beside the tomb crying.  As she wept she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.  13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"  "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "And I don't know where they have put Him."  14 At this, she turned around, and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.  15 "Woman," He said, "Why are you crying?  Who is it you are looking for?"  (NIV)

The Mary in this scripture is Mary Magdalene, and we must wonder some why Jesus, when He appeared to the people after He was crucified and had been risen from the dead, why did He appear to them in a certain order.  Maybe He appeared to Mary first because she needed Him the most, maybe she was not as strong as the others.  Anyway, when she came to the tomb the angels were there again, or still.

Let's picture this, we go to the cemetery where we have just buried a loved one, the ground is broken open, we look down in and see two angels in white, what are we going to say or do?  After passing out from fright, we might say what Mary said and ask where our loved one was.  But let's face this fact right now, if we go to the cemetery and see the graves opened up, WE MISSED THAT CALL.  But why did He appear to Mary first?  Maybe she really did need Him the most.  So I say to this, when did Jesus appear to you?  Now we know for sure Jesus is in Heaven right now with our Father in Heaven,  however, if you are indeed "Born Again" there was that first time Jesus really did appear to you through the Power of the Holy Spirit and you had to invite Him into your heart.  Maybe it was at the very lowest point in your life.  As you all know I am a "Lost Son" raised by Christian parents, raised in church so to speak,but then I got a truck and a car and had to work to pay for them and I worked on Sundays.  Then mamma died and I really never walked with the Lord for a long time.  Oh, I would go to church now and then, more like a Christmas and Easter (C and E) person.  Then I went through a very hard time in my life.  I can remember falling on my knees in front of the big window in front of the house I lived in at the time and I asked God to just come and get me.  I am so glad that God does not always answer our prayers the way we want it done!!  Anyway, at that time I really needed God and He appeared to me, oh, not in person, but at that time I began "Seeing Jesus."  Notice I said began seeing Jesus, for He sent a person on earth to watch over me so I would not do something dumb to myself. And then my walk back has been long, and yes, I stumbled along the way a lot of times, but Jesus was always there to pick me back up.

But the story is not about me, it is about Jesus appearing to people after He had been risen, and did they know Him at first or did He need to prove Himself to them?  Even after they traveled with Him all that time did they know Him?  Tomorrow we will look into "Did Mary Magdalene first know Jesus?"  What about some of the others?  Now I must ask you this as I get out of here for today.  People back when Jesus walked the earth got to walk with Him and know Him.  Then they saw Him put to death on the cross and they saw Him buried.  He even told them He would be risen from the dead, but did they first believe?  We must walk in faith, our seeing Jesus is by faith, along with feeling Him.  So I ask you this day, have you had times when you have seen Jesus in your faith walk?  I am talking seeing Him in your mind and heart?  If you have not, it is time to open your heart and look from there.  Stop looking out of your eyes to see Jesus and look from your heart.  He is there, honest!

Now go forth and share your many blessings and then see what God does to them.  Love ya.  Please pass on my love.

Pastor Dan

Please keep praying for our nation and our president.  Cover him in prayer, please.