Though it has been quite cool the last couple of mornings, Father, the days have been glorious! Thank You for Your consistent beauty. The world in which we live can seem upside down, but Your creation continually reminds us of Your might and sovereignty!
John 17:6-12 (<<click here to read the passage)
Out of curiosity last week, I began reading L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. He actually wrote several “Oz” books, and the plan at least is to read them all. We will see. The movie, featuring Judy Garland as Dorothy, was a favorite of mine in my youth. (I remember being upset one year with my cousin Mike because he wanted to skip watching the classic and instead watch football!)
One thing I will say after reading a little over half of the book is that Hollywood definitely took a very generous portion of dramatic license in making the film. I’m interested to see how the book finishes up in comparison.
One major piece of the puzzle is to see who the Wizard of Oz turns out to be. In the movie, he’s a guy from Kansas who got blown off course in his hot air balloon and ended up in the Land of Oz. His “wizard” persona was all staged. It wasn’t real. He was an OK guy, but a lot of people were led to believe he was something that he was not.
In the first part of verse 6 of today’s passage Jesus says,
“I have manifested Your name [and revealed Your very self, Your real self] to the people whom You have given Me out of the world…” AMP
In our world today God is quite often misrepresented. Our world, especially, and even many churches have taken a very generous portion of dramatic license and have made God into the being we think He should be.
What we as believers need to strive for is to follow Jesus’ lead in that He has manifested God’s name. In other words, Jesus showed evidence of the reality of God. He proved who the Heavenly Father was by the way He lived. I love the way the Amplified Bible puts it when Jesus says of His Father, “I have…[revealed Your very self, Your real self]… – emphasis mine
How often by the way we live do we mislead people in how they perceive God? How many times do we point others to follow something that is nowhere near who He really is? Our own preconceived notions lead the way. And just because they are what we were taught growing up, doesn’t make it OK, if they do not accurately portray His character.
Lord Jesus, help us to seek You out…Your very self…Your real self. May the reality of You guide our every word and action. May we point unswervingly to who You really are! Amen.
Oct 19th, 2021, Tues, 6:30 pm
