real... firmed up... reality...

Then on that same first day of the week, when it was evening, though the disciples were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace to you!

John 20:19 Amp

This verse... this incident... where the resurrected Jesus... walks through a solid door... enters the room without turning a knob... has always challenged my understanding...

Doors... in this world are... SOLID... and the only things that pass through without opening them are... less than solid... gas... spirit... ghost...

So to consider Jesus... flesh and blood... walking into the upper room... without the use of a doorknob... has been hard to reconcile in my mind... (not to mention the whole Ascension... and standing at the right hand of God thing...) until today...

The current treadmill read... which has me spinning... set the reality of what happened more firmly than I ever could...

When Christ rose, He rose in the flesh. He was no ghost, and yet He walked through walls. The walls were the ghosts, and so are we.

--- N.D. Wilson, Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl 

And with these words... many truths I knew... melded into understanding...

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,

but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary,

but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

These are a shadow of the things to come,

but the substance belongs to Christ.

Colossians 2:17 ESV

The law is only a shadow 

of the the good things that are coming ---

not the realities themselves.

Hebrews 10:1 NIV

Jesus... perfected through suffering... now reveals the world... for the facade... shadow... that it truly is... by walking through a door...

The supernatural world... the unseen... the eternal... God's Kingdom... has always been the place of reality... and Jesus made the Way for us... to enter in...

I'm struck by the reason... the disciples hid behind that door... FEAR...

From lack of faith... and understanding... they hid in FEAR... and I remember an acronym... revealing fear for what it is... 

False... Evidence... Appearing... Real...

Even this teaching... feels more real... and why fear of the Lord is the only fear to embrace... because He's the only One that's truly REAL...

Now don't get me wrong... I'm not going all Scientology on you here... or implying that only the spiritual matters and not the flesh... we are creatures of flesh... and can only live out Truth in flesh... just like Jesus...

And in this flesh... we have fears... only God tells us to be courageous... because we can trust Him with REALITY... 

The things we fear often do not flesh out... but even when they do... it is not a surprise to Him... nothing is... and from it He will bring real good... and real glory... just like He did with Jesus...

Forgive me... if this sounds like babbling...

It's always a struggle... to fit spiritual truths... into mere mortal words... thus the reason for the Word becoming flesh... and dwelling among us...

Father God... thank You... for continuing to teach and reveal Your Truth... and firming up... the truth of reality... for me... Help me to live in reality... and not be led astray by lies... and incongruent shadows... trying to pass themselves off as real...

[Note: To those who are worried about my grip on reality... I'm off to clean my really dirty bathroom...]