Pursuit of...

When I hear stories of people who have encountered Jesus face-to-face, it bugs me. Deeply. Why? Because I'M not having the experience of sitting at Starbucks and chatting with Christ. I can't gaze upon his glory in the heavenly realms or look into the eyes of the One who saved me from the burning flames of hell. I want that. And it kills me that I may not see Jesus until 70 years from now. That's a LONG time to wait...

Why do some people see Jesus face-to-face and others don't?

What good would it do? In our pursuit of holiness and seeking a deeper relationship with the Lord, a face-to-face encounter could possibly distract us from our calling to intimacy, as ironic as it sounds. Christ longs for intimacy... we might become so distracted with the "experience" of seeing Jesus, we would miss the whole point. It's not about looking at him (although "gazing" upon God is very Biblical; cf. Psalm 27:4), but it's about knowing and encountering him. Often, those who see Jesus (especially those who see him frequently, like David E. Taylor and others) have cultivated a deep relationship with Christ, and seeing Him allows those individuals to go even deeper.

But why does God allow some to see His Son, but not others? Especially those who are committed in their devotional time?

Maybe it's like the parable of the talents. The Master only gave ten talents to one servant--and that was a lot (Mat. 25). Obviously some are blessed more than others: some have a stronger prophetic gifting while others have a strong gift to encourage. Each is given a different amount.

And according to the lack of Scriptural evidence, David never saw God face-to-face, even though he was indeed a "man after God's own heart." David didn't have nearly the supernatural encounters that Moses had. But David's motives were simple: love God and be loved by God. David was the type who would bask in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Yet, he never saw God. Just because David never encountered God like that means little in the Kingdom. What mattered was his heart posture. David was very concerned with knowing God, intimacy with God in his secret time, and opening up his heart to God.

David is a great example of how the Christian walk should be at the minimum (since we have redemption through the Holy Spirit, who dwells IN us instead of in a tent).

But I can't seem to stop yearning for Jesus' face. I long to see him appear in my store or in my home. I would love to sit and talk with him, to sit at his feet, to make him a cup of coffee and listen to him. I can't seem to shake that desire off.