"Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (John 14:9 KJV)
"I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called - his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else - not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fill all things everywhere with himself." (Ephesians 1:18-23 NLT)
Not that there is something new here to be seen, because this goes back to something that I shared upon, way back in the beginning of this, whatever it is, journey. The point of what we can understand, is that it requires our actions, (which means that we must act,) in order to see what it is that we do not clearly understand. In other words, faith requires that we step out in obedience to that which we have believed.
Just to keep with the flow of what Jesus is saying to Philip; this is something that many people really miss, because they are looking for something tangible, which they can explain, either to themselves or others. Yes, Jesus was real and tangible, but the connection between Him and the Father, that was something that needed to be seen with the heart, which is the only way we can see what we do not clearly understand!
As Matthew Henry points out: "Philip, the first day he came to him, declared that he knew him to be the Messiah (ch. 1:45), and yet to this day did not know the Father in him." This is mostly because we are focused so much on our own changes, instead of focusing upon Him that does not change! The more we focus upon Jesus, the more clearly, we can see what matters the most.
As to the part about actions, we are called to follow Jesus, as it has been required for us; whether we understand what that implies or not, it requires an action. Somehow that becomes something we tend to forget, as we get caught up in our busy lives, the point of God being first, somehow gets turned up-side-down, and our priorities get reversed.
There is much more to this life than the things we see going on all around us, if we could just pray for God to use us, then step out in faith, when, we are given something to do. The more we do what we are told, when we are told to do it, the more we see more clearly what we are meant to be doing! If we are not doing what we should be doing, we are miserable and feeling worthless; even though we have a passion for doing what we think is right for now, but it feels like it is wrong.
Wow, that seems like it went sideways from the thing I wanted to say! Man, I really need to get a grip on my life! Or better yet, let go and let God take the wheel...
"So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. You won't spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you be anxious to do the will of God." (1 Peter 4:1-2 NLT)
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