To be or not to be?

To be or not to be?  That IS the question.

Will I BE happy     or     NOT be sad?
Will I BE healthy   or      NOT be riddled with disease?
Will I pursue life    or      avoid dying?
Will I hunger for righteousness      or      try to NOT sin too bad?

These seeming opposites are not two sides of the same coin.  They are completely different currency.
For me, starting again today,
I will choose
to be.

What will you choose?

The Word Manifested

A couple weeks ago I was laying in bed, just talking to the Lord about my life, when what looked like a Power Point screen dropped down on the back of my eyelids.  Words flashed on the beige-colored background:

"And the angel is"

Next, glowing, underlined letters scrolled in from the left:

"Pathways, Excellence"

I took this to mean that the Lord was sending me an angel (or maybe two), to help open up paths in my life and lead me in an excellent way.  I began thanking and praising God.  But, as much as I appreciate them, this post is not about angels.  I am deeply in love with Jesus and wherever there is revelation of Him is where I will hang my heart.  So, while this vision has a story in itself, I just want to share the simple revelation of (and appreciation for) the person, Jesus, that it led to. 

After seeing this image, I began telling the Lord I needed some kind of manifestation, at least a picture to go along with it.  "Pathways". . . "excellence,"  . . . these are just words.  How do I relate to that?  How can I cooperate with letters on a screen?  If this is real, then make it realistic! 

Then my thoughts turned to God himself.  What was it like to try to know God before He manifested Himself?  When He seemed like just words?  A few in the Old Testiment heard His voice, felt His wind, interacted with His Angel, or witnessed His fire.  But to the great majority of mankind, He was a Word written in a scroll or uttered from the mouth of a prophet or priest.  What faith they must have had to follow an incomprehensible God known only through words!  How long must they have cried out, "Lord, we need some kind of picture to go along with this! How can we cooperate with letters on a page?  If this is real, then make it realistic!"

And finally, He answered their prayer!

Even though Messiah was crucified before the foundation of the world, and all God intended for mankind could have been (and was) accomplished in the spiritual realm, He heard the cry of men to be able to relate, and He took His Word -- everything that was known about Him from all the ages -- and made it flesh.

He is the Word, written and spoken, and the Word is all that He is.  That alone is enough, but WE needed a manifestation beyond symbols, and so He gave it. When Phillip said that all He wanted was to see the Father -- God, the creator, that ancient invisible word he'd heard all his life and never quite been able to grasp -- Jesus said, Here I am.  If you've seen Me -- this flesh, this personality, this manifestation -- you have seen the invisible God that you crave. 

Now quantum physics is beginning to explain the spirit realm in unimaginable ways.  Words, appearantly both spoken and written, can evoke power to bring about changes in physical entities.  Scientists talk about the "fingerprint of God" at subatomic levels.  The line between spirit-energy and hard matter is becoming increasingly blurred.  It's amazing! And confusing.  I don't understand it, and this morning I wept as I realized how alone I would feel if I did not have a picture and stories of a Person who really lived on Earth, like me, who was the physical image of the non-physical God. 

I know Him now through the work of the Holy Spirit, and yes, because God has poured out his Spirit of revelation in these last days, I have encountered Him in manifestations that have turned my body to jello.  But would I recognize His face, or His nail-pierced hands, if He had not become flesh and died a physical death?  I would love to have an angel named Pathway manifested to me so that I may know all the meaning that is held in that word and how to relate to it.  Better still, all that the Word "God" means is already manifested in the person of Jesus, who not only became flesh on earth but continues to be manifested as a man in the heavenly realm. 

Yes, I believe it's possible to know and experience God through words, through nature and music, through a feeling inside us, and through miraculous signs and wonders.  I also believe that the most precious sign and wonder of all is that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld" - and continue to behold - "His glory" (John 1:14).