There you are
There You Are
(#354 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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The Messiah in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
When you meet a man and you inspect his every word, it should not take long before a determination can be made. Every loose word reduces the possibility; every untamed utterance lessens the likelihood that his tree (“truth”) produces good fruit. What are you listening for? Every word must align with the word of Yahweh (that vernacular we recently spoke of in #351). Mosheh said, and Yahshua agreed; “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Almighty.” (Deuteronomy 8:3 and Matthew 4:4) When men are living, or not living, by the words of Yahweh, “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16)
You can easily distinguish the quality of fruit because it is determined by the words oft spoken. Sadly, most of the time it takes only a few words, perhaps no more than a sentence or two, to discern that the quality of the fruit is poor. Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit… (Matthew 7:17-20)
And so you listen with spiritual ears. You filter the words of men through the Father’s voice and by knowing His Word, by knowing Yahshua and the scriptures. With each new person you contact, you look and you listen; “Can they sense my desire to know if You are in them Father? Can they hear You? So many presume to speak for You Abba; I long to meet the ones who do.” Each new opportunity is like a quest for the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45-46). I listen to their voices, but it’s the source of the words that I am most interested in. And with each word I hear, I am reminded of His promise; “Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.” (Matthew 7:20)
Longings burn within me; “Where are they Father; where are the others like me, the ones who have seen and heard You, the ones who know You?” I plead and rejoice with the Father in these moments. In my aloneness I cry out, “The trees speak for You; and the wind whispers about You. As the sun rises and sets, the brilliant colors shout through the clouds; ‘Does not our beauty praise the Most High?’” I too cannot stay silent; if I did, the rocks would cry out. (Luke 19:40)
I dream of finding Him in another, in their words. I dream of the day when even one soul would speak, and as I listen, the words expressed and sentences formed would prick my conscience. Thoughts would pour forth from my soul; “There You are Father. There You are.” And I would embrace You in my brothers and sisters.
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)