"...But the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus." Jn 21.4 "They still did not understand from the scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead." Jn 20.9 "She turned, saw Jesus, but she did not realize it was Jesus." Jn 20.13 There is food for thought here!

Often we believers hear a great truth, and then say, "Yeah, but....." It is a nasty habit. Consider these statements: "You are dead to sin. You are alive in Christ. You are totally forgiven. You are actually part of the family of God. You can do everything God asks you to do, in Christ. Christ is actually in you. You already have everything you will ever need. All things work together for good to them that love God. You are going to be in Heaven with God...forever." Do we put "Yeah, but...." after all that? think the reality of all that truth is that it is not real to us.

So how to have those realities become real to us? How can we grasp the enormous significance of it all? How to achieve ownership of these incredible, seemingly unbelievable things so that our thinking, and daily living is changed? It is obvious that 'knowing' (i.e. knowledge) is not enough. There has to be a transition---knowledge somehow must be transformed into reality. Not to trust God is unreal. 

But how? In a word, "faith." It is spending enough time with God and His word that the reality of faith-- results. It is learning to trust an absolutely, totally trustworthy sovereign, loving, all powerful and all knowing God. How can that possibly be a stretch for us? The answer to that one is that sin has warped our thinker, and we need to unwarp it by soaking in God's absolute truth. It won't happen while watching TV, riding our bike, while driving to work, or sleeping with the Bible on our chest. 

It happens when we spend time alone with God, with the intent of knowing and loving and worshiping Him. ----otherwise, the 'warp' remains.

bh August 4, 2007
 BLOG: http://blog.bertsgoodstuff.com