Gregg DeMey 0:09
Good morning friends and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the Word of God. It's Thursday, April 25, it is the season of Easter and we are walking the Emmaus road with Jesus. This is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor at the church and today, we're going to talk about the experience of having a heart that is ablaze.
Gregg DeMey 0:28
In Luke 24, there are two disciples who walked the road to Emmaus, talked with Jesus, heard Jesus break down Old Testament Scriptures about the Promised Messiah and then sat down to a meal with the Lord, all without comprehending who they were really with. But after Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, their "Eyes were opened, and they recognized him." And then, Jesus disappeared. Then these two disciples turned to each other and said, "wern't our hearts ablaze within us, as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?"
Gregg DeMey 1:06
Have you ever had an experience like this when you felt that your heart was ablaze because you recognized (like those disciples in Emmaus) that God was near, that Jesus was present or that the spirit was close? Sometimes we call these mountaintop experiences, right? When we can see clearly at least for a moment, with the eyes of eagles. Or maybe you've had a time in life when you really heard the voice of God clearly - maybe calling you to repent, maybe comforting you, maybe giving you direction for how to serve God or use your life for his sake. Those are also hearts ablaze or mountaintop kinds of experiences. I've had some of these, and quite frankly, I would have liked those moments to linger and last longer than they did. Did you notice what Jesus did at the end of this amazing scene? He disappeared! No high fives, no party, no impromptu worship service; what's going on here? I think in God's economy of things, our hearts-ablaze-experiences are gifts, but they are not meant to last forever. They're intended to give us boldness and confidence to do what Jesus is asking us to do - to take the next step in following him, whatever it might be. For those two disciples on the Emmaus road, the next step was literally to backtrack the five plus miles to Jerusalem and share the news with the disciples that Jesus was alive.
Gregg DeMey 2:38
Let's pray. Lord, we do thank you for these mountain top, hearts ablaze kind of experiences. They are gifts from you and in gratitude for those times when we see clearly, we want to faithfully follow through and follow you in every circumstance and season of life. Help us to do just that today. Amen.