"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. ~ John 15:16 Yesterday during our Pentecost Sunday celebration at church, as I read the account in Acts, others joined me in the reading, speaking in a language that they knew. It was interesting to hear what I was reading in Russian, Italian, Greek, Spanish, German, and even to have someone using American Sign Language. There were some people who looked confused in the congregation, much like I'm sure those that were present that day became confused as well.
As we related the entrance of the Holy Spirit as a rushing wind, and spoke of flames arising, I was suddenly looking at those around me as the visible presence of the resurrected Christ. Have you ever thought that your life is the presence of the resurrected Christ in the world? Although the life of Christ, shared through scripture, tells of what Christ did while walking among us for just over three decades, the real story is the one that Christ is living today as the resurrected Christ. We can point to a timeline and have an understanding of when Christ was born to Mary, when Christ lived, and even died upon the cross, but what we often forget is that Christ rose from the dead. That is the existence that we should understand the most, because that is the time we are living now! Like many of us, I look forward to the day when we all may know Christ in the way that the disciples knew him. Being able to see his face and to hear his voice with perfect clarity. But until that promise occurs, we are that presence for the world. It's not always easy being the living example of Christ. In a world where "fact checkers" follow around people to listen and prove what the people are saying is true, how is it that those who live by faith, not by sight, can help to support the fact that Christ exists? I would hope that our lives would become the facts. Lived out in faith, hope and love. All of which are supported by our actions. For each of us, that is how others may see and know that Christ lives! Stay in God's grip! G. Todd Williams (c) 2019
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AuthorRev. G. Todd Williams lives in the Houston metro area and is a Hospice Chaplain at Essential Hospice, Webster, Texas, and is an ordained Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) pastor. Archives
May 2023
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