Behold I See ...the Wayfarer 1/5/17
Behold I See
1/5/17
Acts 7:55-56
King James Version (KJV)
55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven,
and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing
on the right hand of God.
Many are familiar with the history of
Stephen, and the fact that he is recorded as a martyr for his faith in Christ
Jesus.
Many others have followed him,
including those apostles that took the message of Christ to the known world,
with the single exception of John, whose own life was, in its own way martyrdom,
in and of itself, through all he experienced prior to his natural death.
One of those apostles was, in fact
witness to the death of this young Christian, participating in the persecution
of him along with those so determined to stifle the truth of Christ Jesus… a
willing participant whose determination brought fear to those who heard and
comprehended the message of Christ and were willing to accept what had been
given mankind through that message that could not be stifled.
Acts
7:57-60
King James Version (KJV)
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran
upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down
their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin
to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
That young man at whose feet their
clothing was laid, was known to the crowd as a devout and powerful Jew, one who
had made it his mission in life to forever erase what he thought to be the
blasphemy of the personhood of the Son of God, unable to accept that
personhood, and unable to allow others to exist who were in acceptance of its
TRUTH.
He was blind to that TRUTH until
blinded BY that TRUTH on the road to Damascus where he had intended to further
persecute those who saw that truth.
Stephen was NOT blind!
The sight given him was enough to see
beyond the partial picture of this world that blinded so many others, and
continues to do so.
His last sight in this world was not
the anger of those who took his life, the distorted and demented faces of the
evil that surrounded him, but the love that awaited him despite those who
refused to accept that same gift of love that had been given them as well. He
saw the TRUTH that cannot die!
Saul, later to become Paul, was most
certainly one of those faces attempting to block the beauty of the truth with
the ugliness of the lies he was unwilling to let go of until his own blindness
to the beauty of that TRUTH became apparent to him, changing his mission from
keeping the lie alive and at the forefront, to making the TRUTH visible to any
and all who would listen with enough understanding to open eyes and ears to
that truth.
He carried that TRUTH to a world that
rejected it until that world and its advocates of its lies that supplanted that
truth resulted in his death at the hands of those he loved enough to take it
to.
His last sight is not recorded before
the head was taken from his body, by more angry and demented faces that surrounded
him refusing to acknowledge the power of Christ Jesus, giving preference to the
paltry power of men such as was Nero, power held through the evil within them
and the fear of that evil, rather than unending power of the love of Christ
Jesus.
From the beginning, the visibility of
the lie has been hidden by a blindness that may be overcome only through the
revelation of the TRUTH.
That is why so many continue to
refuse the TRUTH, deny that TRUTH and cling so readily to the lie given them in
the garden of Eden so long ago by the same creature believed by Eve, resulting
in death that need not have been delivered, had the TRUTH been accepted once
given.
Too often, those twisted, demented,
hate filled faces of anger try to steal the focus, attempting to force the
acceptance of that lie that is so visible, but the TRUTH remains!
When Christ was crucified, no doubt,
those forcing that crucifixion thought that His Truth would be forever quashed
and relegated to the tomb, and that their lie would go unnoticed, unheard,
accepted in place of that TRUTH.
That TRUTH did not die on the cross,
nor could the death of the human body diminish that TRUTH, but was only
amplified all the louder, and made all the more visible through the sacrifice
of the humanity of the one who came to deliver that TRUTH.
That TRUTH recognizes the lie, and
all that it hides within it, refutes that lie, exposing it for what it is.
The acceptance of that TRUTH provides
forgiveness if the lie is rejected, and offers sight in place of the blindness generated
by that lie.
Rejection of that TRUTH, and
acceptance of that lie, still results in the same consequence it first brought
into being when Eve chose to accept it.
John 3:16-21
King James Version (KJV)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that
the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made
manifest, that they are wrought in God.
The TRUTH will always be hated by
those wishing to defend the lie chosen in its stead.
They will always continue to make
every attempt to quash that TRUTH.
The anger and hatred for that truth
will remain as long as the lie continues to be accepted in its place, until the
finality of that TRUTH removes the blindness that is preferred, and revealed by
that TRUTH Himself.
The darkness of the lie will be replaced
by the light of that TRUTH, and can no longer attempt to extinguish the light
that shines on it and its consequences.
John 14:6
King James Version (KJV)
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me.
That WAY, TRUTH and LIFE remain
despite the lie that denies it.
Stephen saw the WAY, and chose it
over what was offered in its stead. He saw the Truth and refused to deny it, despite
the obvious visibility of the lie that refused that TRUTH. He saw and accepted
the LIFE offered by the Way delivered through that TRUTH.
Paul, too, eventually discarded the
blindness created by the lie, and chose the WAY, TRUTH and LIFE.
Both faced the twisted evil faces of
the lie, and chose to look beyond it to the face of LOVE instead. The face of
TRUTH is the face of that LOVE, only to be seen when chosen instead of the face
of the lie that still attempts to dominate, even knowing that that domination
does not extend beyond the time it is allowed to exist.
1 John 4:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 John 4:16
King James Version (KJV)
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love;
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
John 13:34
King James Version (KJV)
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have
loved you, that ye also love one another.
Having seen that love, nothing may
ever again obscure its presence, and nothing is more desirable than the surety
of its visibility beyond death, as death itself is vanquished, and the face of
evil that so often attempts to obscure it will never again be seen.
2 Timothy 1:12
King James Version (KJV)
12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not
ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
Amen and Amen
the Wayfarer
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