Who is He and what is He like – this God/Man, Christ Jesus?

He is a man so full of life that it spills out of Him at every moment. (John 1:4) Picture His sparkling eyes and the spring in His walk…His vitality and excitement for all of life itself.  And His joy! (Heb. 1:9)  He has been anointed with the oil of joy and it literally drips from Him.  His hearty laugh and delightful sense of humor are contagious.

Once I was in a meeting where the glory and presence of Jesus were so startlingly near, I knew that if I opened my eyes and looked to my left I would see Him standing there beside me.  I did, and there He was. With my natural eyes I saw Him face to face.  But to my surprise, He was dressed like many of the other men in the meeting.  I was so startled that I covered my face with my hands to keep from laughing.  His reaction was to laugh as well.

“What’s the matter?” He joked. “Didn’t you expect Me to be here?”

I laughed at His joke and thought to myself  “We’re in church. Of course I expected You to be here.  But not dressed like that!”

Answering my thoughts as always, He glanced around in mock seriousness and said to me, “Well, look around. You don’t see anyone else in a long white robe and sandals, do you?”

I have since learned that He is completely comfortable in any culture and able to relate to and interact with all the people He created. He never appears to be stiff or in costume.  He can be just as real wearing African clothing and sitting in the dirt with the men of the village, in a 3 piece suit with the business men on Wall Street or in the regal robes of Heaven.

Here is a man with absolutely no insecurities.  He has nothing to prove and nothing to hide.  He is simply Himself all the time, the perfect expression of His Father. (Heb. 1:3, John 1:1)  Sometimes His range of emotion seems to mirror our own.  But actually it’s quite the opposite. We are the ones created in His image, therefore our emotions came from Him. (Gen. 1:26)

He can also weep as hard as He laughs.  His heart can be broken … for us (Heb. 4:15) and also by us. (Mt. 23:37, Luke 19:41, Hosea 11:1-4, 7,8)

Religion has painted an entirely different picture of Him as extremely reserved and unmoved, never smiling or showing any emotion.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

He is the ultimate lover of people.  It is His mission to bring us back to Him and then deeper into His heart.  His openness and freedom are irresistable. He lives in all the fullness of God and brings that here to make it available to us. (Eph. 3:19)  How could we not love a Man like this?

“This is my beloved, and this is my friend.”   (Song of Solomon 5:16)

Have you ever seen Him face to face?  The resurrected Lord, the desire of the nations, the Bridegroom in Solomon’s Song, the God-man Christ Jesus?  Many people have.  For those who are desperately longing to know Him more, He chooses to reveal Himself in ways specifically designed for them. In New Testament times and every generation since then He comes, quite literally, as the Good Shepherd, the Prince of Peace or even the Lion of Judah to “manifest Himself” to us. (John 14:21)

Come!  Let me show you the Jesus I have seen:

Although many have seen Him in different ways, He usually comes to me as the man, Christ Jesus.  He is olive skinned and fine featured, typical of one from Middle Eastern descent.  He stands about 6 ft. tall.  His full beard is black and neatly trimmed.  His hair is very black and hangs in soft layers about halfway to His shoulders.  Although it is groomed immaculately it also moves in the wind.  In fact, it looks like a living, moving thing with small lights in it.  I wondered at first if there were diamonds in His hair that made it radiate so.  Later I began to understand this as the oil of anointing.

But by far the most striking feature about the Lord is His eyes.  They are very dark brown in color and when His gaze meets mine everything else stands still.  In His eyes is a fiery, all consuming love for me as if I was the only one on the planet and He has come just for me.  Mercy, compassion, peace and love are like priceless jewels shining in the depths of those eyes, irresistibly luring all who dare to peer into them.  Just one glance of His eyes was enough to captivate my heart forever.

There is nothing more wonderful than looking deeply into His eyes … to go in and get lost there in the depths of His love and peace.  Regardless of my circumstances or how I feel about myself, one glance of His eyes assures me that I am totally loved, wanted and accepted.  I am home.

He has promised never to leave us, so He never does.  Never.  He is always here, when we can see Him and when we  cannot.  But as we constantly pray to be made more aware of His Presence, as we take the time to stop, listen and see, He will begin to reveal Himself to us in startling reality.  This is His desire even more than ours. (John 17:24)

Later I will be sharing more about how to get there.  But for now, He is imparting hunger to your spirit.  Those who hunger and thirst … shall be filled. (Mt. 5:6)  Each step of the journey into intimacy with Him is meant to be savored.  Just close your eyes and see what happens!

January 1, 2012

A wall of shimmering light appeared before me and I could clearly see Jesus standing on the other side.  It was like looking at Him through a thin veil of sparkling blue water.  There He stood, quietly smiling at me. Then He extended His hand  through the veil. I took His hand and stepped through, into the other side with Him.  I had stepped out of this realm and into His realm. Out of confusion and into total peace and clarity. Out of grey skies into brilliant sunshine, only the light was coming from Him.  Beautiful, peaceful … deep breath … so much higher than, completely other than.

The garden was dense and green and fragrant with flowers.  Hand in hand we walked its paths as He reminded me of things He had told me before.

“You must learn to live here with Me, My love.  Like the bride in the Song of Solomon, you will skip on the hills and leap on the mountains with Me. Then you will come with Me, leaning on My arm, down into the villages to check on the fruit. We will go  into the fields to bring in the harvest together. And when each day is done, we will return to the Father’s house to rest. That is our true home.”

“Don’t just invite me to come with you into the new year, My love. You come with Me and let me lead.  I know the way.”