Tuesday, January 29, 2008
I think I will occasionally share some of my personal journals on stuff that I have been looking into/learning...questions/observing/etc. Some of it may be a little unstructured but perhaps you will get something out of it too or have some of the same questions or be able to share an experience. Feel free to comment.

Jan.27 - evening

Felt inclined to look into the scripture John 1:18 a little deeper. I will post a few translations of the greek text.

"No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him ." -NKJV

"No one has ever seen God. But his only Son, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart; he has told us about him." -NLT

"No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day." -MSG

This verse is in reference to Jesus Christ and how he makes God known.

How can I understand this scripture for myself: Think about myself and some of the inner stirrings I have of love, caring, passion, compassion, hope, empathy, sympathy, that I have but are locked away in my heart...I know these are good things that are there, but people may not know they are there...may not know what is at "the heart" of me...

So how you would you know this...you get to know me...

NOW: relate this to God. What is at the "heart of God?" How do we know who God is? How do we get to know Him? (No one has seen/known except the "begotton Son"/Jesus who is IN THE BOSOM of the father.)

IN THE BOSOM - Jesus has seen God
- indicates a personal intimate relationship
- close to the Fathers Heart (eis ton kolpn tou patros...direct greek scriptural translation)

So Jesus has come to actively live out through his life the Heart of God so that we may know who God is.

Jesus...through his life: exegetes God
(exegetes God...aka: explains God, reveals God/ declares God/ makes God known)
(exegesthai translates: make known)

SO if we want to know God/see God: we get to know Jesus/study Jesus/Jesus' life declares him.

Q. HOW DOES THIS SCRIPTURE CHALLENGE ME PERSONALLY?

A. It challenges me to get to "know" the heart of God through Jesus Christ. It challenges me to know more about Jesus. (Exciting!)

Q. HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT JESUS/GET TO KNOW JESUS MORE PERSONALLY AND INTIMATELY?

A. -Through the Bible
-Prayer
-Fellowship
-Church
-By others examples
-Nature
-Listening
-Faith steps
-Reading
-Pod Casts
-Questioning/Digging/Researching/Journaling
-Suffering (?)

Implications: In looking deeper into who Jesus is, I question what it all means. There is a bigger picture. How does this all impact my life. The more I learn the more I see that there is a bigger purpose behind everything and that I want to be a part of it...that God has a purpose for my life as well. I want to become more like this "Jesus character."

So now the question becomes: How can I become more like Jesus?
posted by Rachel at 10:32:00 PM -
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