I Saw Jesus
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
I felt like the wee little man, Zacchaeus, intent on seeing Jesus. He climbed up in a tree being sure not to miss Him, and I stood on tiptoes to catch a glimpse. He was at my church this Sunday. Of course it was a man playing the part of Jesus in our Palm Sunday service, but I felt as if it was actually Him.
The children waved palm branches as we sang, “Prepare Ye The Way.” Suddenly Jesus came walking through our sanctuary. He waved and smiled non-stop as he patted children’s heads and even invited two little ones to dance with Him. He threw his head back in pure delight as he played with them. My eyes were fastened on him as I watched. There I was caught up in my heart, dancing with Jesus in front of the entire church.
Questions turned in my heart and my mind. What would it be like if He really walked through our midst? Would we just stare? Would we watch Him like a Netflix drama? Would we sprint to hug Him and accept the invitation to dance or would we stare in unbelief?
Oh, how we need His manifest presence. How we are desperate for Him to walk among us. We need an expectation of Emmanuel – God With Us. Why gather if we don’t long for Him to walk among us in great love and power bringing healing, deliverance, and renewal and true revival?
They missed Him when He literally walked among them and we continue to miss Him as He indwells us. We don’t have to climb a tree, but we need to desperately expect Him. Expectant living is standing on tiptoes, longing to see Him and hear Him daily.
The last song of the worship set embodied Him. It was Tasha Cobb’s new song, “He Knows My Name”. The presence of the Lord became so tangible. It was no longer a dramatization, but His manifest presence among us. As we sang from our hearts, the closer He came.
He is always with us, but He longs to come near, to be seen and known.
Look. Listen. Worship. He is Here!
Lord, bring healing to our eyes that we may see you. Give us an expectation of you. May our worship draw your presence near again. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the atmosphere in our churches, in our homes, in our hearts.
“Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence – as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil – to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down the mountains quaked at your presence."
Isaiah 64:1-3