Look but See.
Hear but Listen.
Think but Understand.
Walk and Consider.
You may know what I know.
Eben arrived at his “house” and sat for a moment in quiet meditation. He considered his life. Each day he liked to take stock of where he had been and where he was going. He had been fortunate God chose him to be spared. He was glad of that.
But his heart was always moved with the thought of those who had been; Left Behind. [1] He took time to identify himself with the great suffering the Survivors had been thru. The fact that every possible outlet for release had been taken away, even death….Eben felt nauseated to think of a sinful man facing the sinless God.
No one ever had been thru such a time as that. No one ever would again. At least that’s what God said.
Like a Father who considered his children, and pities them, Eben often was moved to compassion for them when alone. If only they had been spared the misery, the agony, the suffering which gave birth to the Kingdom.
He knew it was necessary, even deserved, but compassionate sensitivity moved him. He thought how sixty-nine years later the Survivors still bore the scars for generations yet to come.
Only the King would bear His Scars forever but as to the Survivors, he knew theirs were healing. Healing, but at a very slow pace. Because of that, the Beginning Years of the Kingdom was involved in healing and peace. A retreat, a treatment time centered on them.
Male or female, young or old anyone who “passed thru” the Tribulation, all were brought to a place of rest, a resting place. All were taken care of. All were given preference. It was a “Time of Service”. The leaders of each community served. Though once told they would be Kings; they were in fact servants of all.
No leader of any community objected to serving those in need. They had been to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. There, in heaven, in full view of legendary People of the Bible, historical figures, family, friends or foe, and even angels in heaven, every single person had their feet washed by the Son of God, the Son of Man.
Having God wash your feet changed every person who was there forever.
God himself in Heaven had wiped away every tear.
Every tear Eben shed, every tear everyone in attendance shed. The incredible drama unfolded as each and every person came before the King.
One by one those in attendance came before the one whom they were called by his name. Christ. Christian. They came to Jesus just as they were and for a moment, there in the midst of heaven, a realization came upon them. A realization that would change the course of mankind’s history forever.
They came to him whom they served. The stood close to him whom they said was their Lord. Face to face they looked in the face of God.
What they saw left all that was inside them shaken.
Not a word was spoken as each presented themselves one by one before the King. Not a word spoken but the results were all the same. They stood for what seemed a lifetime to the one standing there, but in a place no time existed, what was a day and what was a thousand years?
They came, they stood, and they saw…Jesus.
Each one, in that moment of realization, they saw in His Eyes, their life, “flashed” as it were, before their eyes. They saw every moment God saw, and wept. They saw what they had forgotten, but Jesus had not.
No one felt unashamed.
All felt as though they had passed through eyes like flames of fire. Fire that found their life, their entire life, as a work of God. A work not of themselves, a work not of their deeds or accomplishments, but a working out by God working on them from within.
It was all about His Work, not theirs.
All were judged in the balance and found wanting by the fire of the gaze of the Son of God in Heaven. He eyes were like fire, all passed thru his gaze.
But the Son of Man did not leave them there humiliated or ashamed.
He did not leave them naked to their judgment or devastated by self-blame. He knew all they thought they had done in the name of the Son was gone in one glance.
He knew all they thought they had become was consumed by the sheer magnitude of Holiness in Heaven. He knew this and did not leave them uncomforted.
What He did to one, he did to all. How he comforted one, he comforted all.
When Eben came forward and experienced what everyone else had. He too felt the Fire of His Gaze consume him. Consume to reveal to Eben all his life had been. Eben wept.
The Son of Man though at the instant of tears rose, He rose to every person who ashamedly cried after the fire of his gaze consumed their life’s story. He rose as he had held each person previously by the arms. Each one slumped in his arms sobbing. Each felt as Eben did.
He held Eben from falling. He held him by the arms pressed in to the sides. He held him so he could see Eben face to face. He held and He looked at Eben directly. Had he not held him, as all others, they would have fallen. Fallen as though dead away. But he held them so he would still look deep into each one’s eyes.
Eben looked into the Eyes of God. He looked and fell. This time he fell forward. Forward into those eyes, the Eyes of God Almighty. Fell forward into the pool of timelessness that unfolded to him the only life lived perfectly in all the entire Universe.
The life of Immanuel. The Incarnation of God Himself.
He saw the life of the Son of Man, the Son of God on Earth. He saw all of it and was changed. It would be forever a memory as real as his own life. So real as that portion, that segment, that time of Jesus on Earth became a memory the two of them shared.
Jesus wiped away the tears on Ebens face with a kiss. The Kiss of God wiped away all his fears. It was a kiss of love from the God of Love who changed each man and woman as they came before him, forever.
They would never be the same, the Judgment Seat of Christ was the place each met the scarred Son of God…, face to face…, and lived.
The “Invited to the Banquet” met God. They became One with the Son. Personally, physically, the raptured became enraptured with He whom they had longed for. It was moving. It was life changing. In one way sorrowful.
After meeting with Jesus, while waiting for others to likewise experience God, they recalled…, who was NOT there. Which loved one was missing. Which family member not present. Which person didn’t make it.
Not one eye dry. Not one eye not dried by the Son of God. Each and every person met by the Son of Man. Each saw God and met Eye to eye. Judged by him and in that moment changed. Changed forever.
But also sober, serious, realization that while many were indeed called, few had been chosen. The few chosen, though humbled by the one they loved, were sorrowful for the ones whom God revealed that in the life of Jesus they saw, how every person not there, HAD been called. Each and every one of them. Not one person had been left out, all had been called.
Knowledge brought complete humility.
Recognition of a greater love than any mere human could do caused each person to consider how they got there. What price the Son of God had paid. It was what only God could do and did.
The scars were obvious on He who had done it. It was more than humbling, it was transforming.
All recalled the Son of man came not to be served but to serve. He proved it to them. He came to all once again and washed their feet as he had done so long ago when on Earth. Jesus in all his glory washing Eben’s feet had changed his heart forever. No moment in time was more poignant or appealing.
God, washing the feet of man.
There was nothing He would not do for God now. The moment of vulnerability and humility had changed Eben forever. Nothing would ever be the same. The same was true of all the “kings” or leaders of each community. As he washed their feet, he told them what they would do in the Kingdom Come. They would serve as he had served them.
Rather than a mere formality, he took time.
The King of Kings while washing the feet of his followers spoke to each person individually. He cared for the connection this intimate time was having on the person receiving it. Massaging, bathing, anointing the feet as if his own, he shared with the person his praise for who they were.
Praise only the individual and God alone could know. That Praise, that respect, that love, sealed the heart of the person whose feet were washed. Rarely was a moment so personal to intimacy than the Creator serving his Creation.
Mankind’s idea of ruling and reigning was a far cry from the Way Messiah set His Kingdom in Order.
What once man had thought he would rule as Lord, he found another “means” of rule. The Way of Love. The capacity to so envelop a soul that the emotional response and the conscious choice would meld to become a person who desired to follow the example it was given.
Having received love, they would give love. Serving. How man had seen ruler ship was the opposite of what God had intended from the beginning. Jesus proved that in His Kingdom. Jesus demonstrated it in his Life.
This man; this Son of God; this one who said; God is Love in describing his Father in Heaven, so too described himself by the action he took.
He could easily have ruled, but choosing to serve, he wound up with more than subjects, he incorporated lovers. It wasn’t that all who encountered this would die for him, it was that all loved to a degree that nothing of self was retained but all was done for the name of the Son. Love was like that when loving the Son.
Loving who He loved was easy.
God is Love, so was His Servants.
Read the Book first, if you like, Donate, if not, don’t !
(link will appear here later)
Poor Christians Almanac is bringing you this book Free of Charge. It is hoped you ejoy it. If you do, please consider donating any amount to the Author. Once you have finished reading the book presented in sections, there will be a link in place to donate directly to the Author.
All Writers with Poor Christian, will allow you to read their complete manuscript as they continue writing them.
Some are published, some are works in progress, all are complete.
In email format it is for your enjoyment. It is hoped you donate to the work, livelihood, and ministry of each Author presented or book. This is your way to support the Author and the work they do. If you do not like the book after reading it, don’t send a donation.
This is your way to support them and the work they do.
[1] “Left Behind is a reference to those who Not being raptured or being spared the Judgment of God on the Earth, had to endure his wrath.
