I've been reading a book by Lester Levenson that made the suggestion to constantly think of your Master, constantly read his words, as though he's talking to you directly.
Well, I have only one Master in my life, Jesus, so let's rephrase that:
Constantly think of Jesus, your Saviour, constantly read His words, as though He's talking to you directly.
I wanted to give it a go, so I thought of the passage where Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. Settling down I imagined a fuzzy image of a human form of Jesus saying these words to me as I read them in the Bible, and I suggest you do the same thing. Imagine Jesus saying this directly to you:
5 ... "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?10Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:5-12)
You know what happened to me when I did that? I realised for the first time how that must have sounded to His disciples ... here is this "man" Jesus, saying God the Father is in Him and He is in God the Father. Wow. He must have known too how our little minds would try to wrap themselves around that because in verse 11 he says, "BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY that I am in the Father and the Father is in me."
I've since tried this experiment with the passages on loving your enemy and judging in Luke 6. It really makes you see things you may not have seen before!
So next time you read the Bible, go to a passage where Jesus is speaking and imagine Him saying the words to YOU.
God bless,
Karin
