In these in-between days from Jesus\u2019 resurrection to His ascension, I enjoy reading about the beautiful \u201csurprise\u201d stories that verifies that Jesus really came back to life and moved about to prove it. At first those who witnessed Him alive were startled and then they were elated that their Savior lived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I love the story of Jesus surprising Mary Magdalene. She was one of His most devoted followers and the FIRST to be an eyewitness of Him \u2013 alive and well. Take THAT \u2013 all of those who have a problem with women ministers and teachers. Mary was the FIRST, after the resurrection, to be used by God to share His good news of Jesus\u2019 resurrection to the disciples who were hiding out in fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember Thomas the doubter? When the disciples told him that Jesus had shown up, He said, \u201cUnless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.\u201d (John 20:25). Then, while doors were locked a week later, SURPRISE! Jesus shows up and tells Thomas to stop doubting and believe.\u201d Thomas\u2019 reaction? \u201cMy Lord and my God!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there was the time when the disciples returned from fishing. There, on the shore, was Jesus cooking them breakfast. SURPRISE! And we\u2019re also told by the Apostle Paul that Jesus showed up to over 500 others to bear witness of His presence. (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wouldn\u2019t it be awesome if Jesus surprised us like He did so many others in those sacred days between His resurrection and ascension into heaven? But I think I hear Jesus saying to you and me, like He did to Thomas: \u201cStop doubting and believe!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honestly, I often sense His tangible presence in many ways. It happens regularly for my Jewish friend and me at the family center. No longer are we surprised when someone has a need and wants our prayers or someone finds a treasure that they\u2019d long been looking for or we have an ah-ha moment of heaven touching earth in some way. God shows up. He is present and accounted for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It might be during my devotion time, or during my sleep at night, or at church, or while holding a baby, or at the bedside of someone who is about to pass on. In each of those times and many other times, I sense God\u2019s abiding presence with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is possible to rejoice in God\u2019s pursuing presence every day. Do you remember being punished for something you did wrong? Maybe the punishment was being sent to your room or having to be in time-out in another location or having a particular toy or electronic device being withheld for your own good? It wasn\u2019t fun, but it was for our good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are times when God shows up when we\u2019ve been naughty. Each time, we don\u2019t sense Him carrying a big stick. He lovingly corrects us via a conversation with us or sending us to our \u201croom\u201d for time-out. Every time we repent of our wrongdoing or a compromise we made that wasn\u2019t in our best interest or spoke unkind words or acted up in a less than loving way, we Who know our DAD, know He will forgive us while reminding us that we can do and be better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s the kind of Lord and Savior we have. Peter was a mess-up and even denied knowing Jesus. But, SURPRISE! This is the same Peter, Jesus called \u201cThe Rock\u201d, who was filled with the Holy Spirit and stood up and preached about Jesus. Over 3,000 people believed the Word and were baptized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I sit here typing this blog, I sense Jesus over my shoulder. I am in the presence of Jehovah, God Almighty, Prince of Peace. Troubles vanish. Hearts are mended \u2013 in the presence of the King. Perhaps you are in for a SURPRISE, too! Be still and acknowledge Him. You’ll sense His presence \u2013 alive and well \u2013 with you today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In these in-between days from Jesus\u2019 resurrection to His ascension, I enjoy reading about the beautiful \u201csurprise\u201d stories that verifies that Jesus really came back to life and moved about to prove it. At first those who witnessed Him alive were startled and then they were elated that their Savior lived. I love the story…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26465,26466,1],"tags":[3350,26461,1210,1769,4727,4472,3306,5744,40,7976,26463,2650,501,877,26464,4357,26460,13151,26462,1622,13815],"class_list":["post-17862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jesus-is-alive","category-presence-of-jehovah","category-uncategorized","tag-ascension","tag-back-to-life","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-devoted-follower","tag-devotion","tag-disciples","tag-fishing","tag-inspiration","tag-mary-magdalene","tag-nail-marks","tag-peter","tag-presence","tag-resurrection","tag-stop-doubting-and-believe","tag-surprise","tag-surprised-by-love","tag-the-rock","tag-thomas-the-doubter","tag-treasure","tag-witnesses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17862"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17870,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17862\/revisions\/17870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}