Jesus The real thing

To experience a camp fire you have to go and sit down beside the real thing. It is very hard to describe sitting by a fire if you have never sat down next to the warm glow and smelt the smoke and felt the warm and sometimes over powering heat from the red glowing embers.  The flames dancing with a life of their own .

Image walking into a BMW car showroom and asking the sales person “what is it like to drive  a BMW car ?” Only to be met with the answer .” My colleagues tell me its really fast and the cornering is superb  “   “What is the drive like ?” – again ” I’ve been told by my manager it is very comfortable”. You would want to get some feedback from someone who has actually driven the car not poor second hand experience.

We have to taste God’s goodness and salvation in order to be able to recommend it wholeheartedly to someone else.

If we don’t continually experience God’s intimate friendship on a daily basis we soon get to the situation where we are recommending from a position of second hand experience.

“ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him”    Psalm 34 verse 8

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46 verse 10

I guess if you are like me, living a Christian life where I regularly taste God’s intimate friendship, is a constant struggle. Going through some highs on the mountain tops and all too frequently the lows of the valleys . I have found over the years that the encouragement from other fellow Christians has always been a source of maintaining that desired friendship with my creator God.  Whether it’s on a Sunday morning or mid week home group having that opportunity to rub shoulders with others who face the same struggles in life provides that much needed help and spiritual boost. My question to you and one I would instantly fire back at myself is ” are you making the most of fellowship with other Christians on a regular basis. Are you looking out for someone to get along side and encourage them on their walk with God.  Remember, God has given us his Holy Spirit to strengthen us and he has promised never to leave us nor forsake us.  A hot coal left outside the fire will soon go out. But it will continue to burn if in amongst other glowing embers.