"The Meeting Place"

"O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us; for we are brought very low." (Psalms 79:8) I was planning to revisit verse seven, but this will do just fine. As I said the other day, the hour it was I believed in Jesus as my Lord and Savior is always something that I never forget. It was more than likely that John wrote his Gospel towards the end of his life; some place the writing to be dated around 90 A.D., which would have been within ten years from the end of his life. In the account of his first meeting with Jesus, which I believe was recorded in John 1:39, he recalls the time of day that it was, and that it was "about the tenth hour." If you can't recall what time it was when you were saved, don't worry about it being counted against you, because many don't remember the exact day, let along the hour. Then again, if it was such a radical transformation and awakening, as the one that I had, you can never forget every little detail of that day, especially what it was that called you to seek Him out. That calling is what brought you to the meeting place; the place where you would actually meet Jesus face to face. Am I saying that I meet Jesus face to face? You can take it for what it's worth, but I am absolutely certain that Jesus revealed Himself to me, and I came to believe instantly, and without any hesitation in my heart and mind. The introduction was one that was based totally on love; that the Creator of the universe would love me so much, that He would come down from heaven to die upon a cross for my sins, it caused my heart to be torn apart. We can try hard to get back to the place where we first encountered the Lord, but it never quite becomes as absolute as it was the hour we first believed. That said, I do believe that we can always fall in love the same way we did, no matter how long a period of time has passed. It is that same "first love" that never leaves, but is some times forgotten; a love that comes not from within ourselves, but from where it has never stopped being, from God...
"When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely. Three things will last forever -faith, hope and love -and the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:11-13) NLT