Run To Me

As I move toward articulation. I’ve recently encouraged my son that those who take the time to listen, and understand him, are the ones that matter. Jesus recognized this, and expressed this often. In John’s gospel we read where Jesus mentions the one’s he’d been given by the Father.

The one I’ve always quoted is found in John 6:44

⁴⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

John 6:44

But as I’ve been writing out the Gospel of John lately, I’ve seen a few more, and been moved by them.

⁶ “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying

John 17:6-9

This springs into my mind again and again over the last couple of days. The question is, “Why worry about those who don’t pay attention to me?” Those that will not listen to me, honor me, respect me… why am I so bothered by them? Its really a question of being distracted by them.

I guess I should get things straight here. Jesus and I are two different people, aren’t we? Why would words that Jesus used about himself be applicable to me? Maybe I can explore that tangent here, and move on LOL

Let’s get back to where I tried to start here… I’m trying to get something from my heart to the page. I woke up this morning to get my oil changed, but I didn’t want to miss out on writing out the Gospel of John, which I do every morning, so when at 6:08 am I got up to use the washroom… and got back to bed, sleep had fled… and thoughts flooded my brain… and I could hear Cheryl, my hard working wife, breathing beside me… I say hard working because she’s coming with me this a.m. to get my oil changed, and her getting out of bed before 9:oo am is a task. She had to get Ashton’s breakfast ready, by “had to” I mean that’s the mother’s heart in her, that cares for her son.

The thoughts that invaded my brain, and heart were of a man I saw when we were at the Bottle Depot yesterday. It took me a moment to realize who he was, and before I could remember, he was gone… he and his friend had driven away. I looked him up on Facebook, and found his wife’s profile, Pat Koepke. He doesn’t appear to have a profile. He was once upon a time an elder at a church I attended in Richmond back many years ago. That brought back to my mind a meeting I’d had with another elder and his wife. This other elder… sorry for the lack of names here… my memory’s not that good. But the point is still within reach… I’m rambling… maybe I could get you a coffee and muffin, to keep you sitting here while I plug away… so this other elder, he’d talked to me about the Week of Prayer that was about to start, and wondered if I would be part of it at the church. I prayed about it, LOL, and met with he and his wife. It was a wonderful time. He said to me at one point, “Where have you been all these years?” While waiting for the commencement of this event, where I would be leading the prayer time, I was told by the interim pastor that they were not proceeding with it, nor me. I wondered at the miracle of God’s revelation with that couple. God’s power and presence was there with us, real and tangible. And with a single swipe of his hand the interim pastor un-did it all. Gone. A short time later that elder died, his wife re-married, and moved away. Part of what I wonder now is that it was for that man that I came to speak to them about prayer. They received my message, and were brought closer in their relationship to God, through out meeting together, in His name.

I remember particularly that I’d been reading the first chapters of Genesis for my devotions… and had been moved to tears when I read the words,

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis 1:28

The verses leading up to verse 28 begin with “And God said…” and by his word he created… go read it!

I cried because of the fact that God’s first example of speaking TO his creation was us, the one’s created in his image.

As I contemplate it now, I realize Jesus is the spoken word of God. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God… John 1:1

Another image that came to mind as I was praying, and when I met with this elder and his wife, was of the church there. I imagined! I imagined all of us there, me at the front, leading the conversation, and all of them in their pews.

“Welcome everyone, I wonder if you could indulge me in a little act of worship here. If everyone here in the first row could please turn one quarter to their left, and look over at this door here. Now, the second row, way over there on the far end, the second row, everyone turn to your right. Now you all look like you’re lined up to follow the one’s in the front row. You’re all lined up for something. Let’s now do this for the rest of the rows. Great! Now you’re all waiting in line for something. What is it?

“Well (pointing at the door to the left of the one’s in the front row) behind that door we have arranged for God himself to come. He is there waiting now to hear our about our needs, requests, questions… and one by one we’ll each enter, and have some time with him.”

“Now, you are all either engaging in your imaginations or balking at the absolute heresy of imagining that God is in the other room. So, those of you that are balking, go take a walk. Perhaps out to your vehicles, and to the local coffee shop. Could the ushers please open the doors so they can leave.”

I wonder how many would leave?

Richard J. Foster, in one of his books I’ll look up later, mentioned how he uses his imagination to pray. I found another author who mentioned it, and gave the link above.

“So, now that its just us. Each of you close your eyes, and prepare yourselves to go in that room to talk, one on one, with God…” have a seat… if you want to come some help with that preparation we have folks here to speak with, they have their Bibles ready…

Would we then actually ask them to, one by one, go into that room, through that door?

Or could we teach that it is on our gathering together that we find his presence. Indeed that there is a place for considering whether or not we are at odds with a person there.