"I just don't feel Him like I used to." Is that something you could say? Is it something you have said? I have a lot of people tell me that. I do my best to answer them and sometimes I think they accept it and other times I think they are still left unsatisfied with the answer. Our relationship with God and Christ can only be real if we have done what Jesus told the first disciples to do and continue to follow the instructions God has given us in His word.
The Apostle John wrote, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." To behold the glory of Christ, (The Word), was a marvelous thing for those first disciples. Jesus was with them in the flesh, day and night, morning and evening, in good times and in bad times. If He was not defending them against the Pharisees He was stopping a typhoon type wind that was splashing waves into their boat to keep them from drowning. They watched in awe as demons would come out of people at His command and blind eyes would be opened with just a word from Him. They must have questioned His sanity when He told them they would have to "Eat His flesh and drink His blood" if they were going to believe in Him fully. Then believing Him to be the Christ, the Messiah, they had to doubt their belief as they saw Him hanging helpless on a Roman Cross and still promising a man that he would be with Him in paradise that very day as the religious leaders paraded back and forth in front of Him shaking their heads and pointing their fingers as they ordered Him to come down from the Cross and prove He was who He said He was. They touched Him, they smelled Him, they hugged Him, they ate with Him, they watched Him, they listened to Him, they abandoned Him, and then they finally believed in Him with all their heart when the tomb was empty and He showed up in the private chambers and told them to "Touch His hands and put their hand in His side."
Here is my point; if it took His Bodily resurrection to prove to the first disciples that He was really alive and that He really was who He said He was; why should we expect to be any less skeptical than they were? That is why He told Thomas, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." I am glad He said that. I am REALLY glad He said that! If being saved by Him is determined only by seeing Him, or feeling Him for that matter, then our faith is futile and we are still in our sins. It could be that we don't feel like we used to about Him and mistake our lack of feeling toward Him as His lack of feeling toward us. Huh? You think that may be it? If I lose my love toward my wife how should I expect to feel her love toward me? We are the Bride of Christ you know (the Born Again Church). If we fail to love Him as much as we used to and then wait for Him to prove He loves us before we will love Him that way again; it is very possible that we "Won't feel Him like we used to." If He is just in our heads we will never "feel" Him in our hearts. If we try to touch Him with our "hands" (good works) and never allow Him into our hearts (Born Again of His Spirit) we will not "feel" Him either. There you go; take inventory and then maybe you can answer the question: "Why don't I feel Him like I used to?"
The Apostle John wrote, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." To behold the glory of Christ, (The Word), was a marvelous thing for those first disciples. Jesus was with them in the flesh, day and night, morning and evening, in good times and in bad times. If He was not defending them against the Pharisees He was stopping a typhoon type wind that was splashing waves into their boat to keep them from drowning. They watched in awe as demons would come out of people at His command and blind eyes would be opened with just a word from Him. They must have questioned His sanity when He told them they would have to "Eat His flesh and drink His blood" if they were going to believe in Him fully. Then believing Him to be the Christ, the Messiah, they had to doubt their belief as they saw Him hanging helpless on a Roman Cross and still promising a man that he would be with Him in paradise that very day as the religious leaders paraded back and forth in front of Him shaking their heads and pointing their fingers as they ordered Him to come down from the Cross and prove He was who He said He was. They touched Him, they smelled Him, they hugged Him, they ate with Him, they watched Him, they listened to Him, they abandoned Him, and then they finally believed in Him with all their heart when the tomb was empty and He showed up in the private chambers and told them to "Touch His hands and put their hand in His side."
Here is my point; if it took His Bodily resurrection to prove to the first disciples that He was really alive and that He really was who He said He was; why should we expect to be any less skeptical than they were? That is why He told Thomas, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." I am glad He said that. I am REALLY glad He said that! If being saved by Him is determined only by seeing Him, or feeling Him for that matter, then our faith is futile and we are still in our sins. It could be that we don't feel like we used to about Him and mistake our lack of feeling toward Him as His lack of feeling toward us. Huh? You think that may be it? If I lose my love toward my wife how should I expect to feel her love toward me? We are the Bride of Christ you know (the Born Again Church). If we fail to love Him as much as we used to and then wait for Him to prove He loves us before we will love Him that way again; it is very possible that we "Won't feel Him like we used to." If He is just in our heads we will never "feel" Him in our hearts. If we try to touch Him with our "hands" (good works) and never allow Him into our hearts (Born Again of His Spirit) we will not "feel" Him either. There you go; take inventory and then maybe you can answer the question: "Why don't I feel Him like I used to?"
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