Oh the riches of this world
True joy I have not found
The pull of your might
The chase of my wants
My flesh cannot contend
With the spirit man within
Though we acknowledge that God is in control, we will never find peace until we spend time alone with Him.
Mosquito Coast--(Harrison Ford 1986)--leaves modern day America (and hopefully all the troubles that exist) for what he thinks is a perfect utopian society in South America jungle. Unfortunately, he finds that the troubles that he was trying and wanting to leave behind, only followed him there. That is because his troubles, though manifested in different ways, were at the core, the same troubles that plague all of humanity.
When he begins to get established in the jungle, he begins to invent and create a lifestyle that would attempt to give him the comforts of America. Only to see it cause more problems amongst the natives and those that envied him.
As they traveled to the jungle, the family meets a christian missionary that they reject because of the religious overtones.
In the end, Harrison Ford (Allie) goes crazy and loses his life.
I would like to think, that the movie, or story, might have gone differently had Harrison Ford been more receptive to the christian missionary.
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It seems we often search and search to find peace, without ever searching to find Christ.
That’s not to say that we don’t acknowledge Him or give Him credit, but we don’t seek Him.
Your life will never be changed by what you see or hear, but instead it will be changed by your encounters with Jesus. Multiple encounters. The more encounters you have, the more you will change. Some people resist the change and dont want to, so they refuse to have a true encounter with Jesus.
Each person encounters Jesus in their own way.
Intellectual--increased knowledge and understanding that is rooted in systematic theology--an orderly, rational account of christian faith and beliefs. The intellectual will divide the bible into categorical systems.
Theology Proper or Paterology is the study of God the Father. Christology is the study of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pneumatology is the study of God the Holy Spirit. Bibliology is the study of the Bible. Soteriology is the study of salvation. Ecclesiology is the study of the church. Eschatology is the study of the end times. Angelology is the study of angels. Christian Anthropology is the study of humanity. Hamartiology is the study of sin. Systematic theology is an important tool in helping us to understand and teach the Bible in an organized manner.
Emotional--those who are often inspired and convicted. Moved by the heart and encouraged in an emotional way. The emotionally driven will often be moved more by situations and worship music. The charismatic type services often are what the emotionally driven are drawn to.
An intense mental state that arises subjectively rather than through conscious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a strong feeling: the emotions of joy, sorrow, reverence, hate, and love.
The part of the consciousness that involves feeling; sensibility: "The very essence of literature is the war between emotion and intellect" (Isaac Bashevis Singer).
Psychological--the inner workings of our motives, actions, behaviors, end goals, culture, and afflictions. Basically...what can I get out of it that can help me live a better life and be a better Christian. Self-fulfillment. What can I get that can help me to overcome my personal problems and issues that I have to deal with.
Spiritual--the soul. Focus on spiritual gifts, abilities, kingdom-thinking, evangelism, missions, spiritual disciplines, and other spiritual areas of Christianity. The areas that seem to impact the soul more than anything else.
Among other possible ways…
The point is, whatever draws us to a closer encounter with Jesus is what we need to focus on. There will never be a church or a pastor that will ‘nail’ all four areas at the same time. Every preacher, every sermon, and every church will reflect moreso the way that the speaker encounters Jesus. But... if you listen and seek God, then you will find an encounter with Jesus every time you hear the Word being preached.
We may be impacted by all four of these avenues to an encounter at any given time, but there is usually a driving one that is the main avenue that we can almost always fall back on.
The more we learn about ourselves and what makes us ‘tick’, the more we will be able to find what it is that draws us to greater encounters with Jesus.
JOHN 6:32--Jesus is the bread of life sent from the Father
LUKE 24:13-35 (32,35)
Their eyes were opened when Jesus broke bread with them. Their eyes were opened and they recognized Him from breaking bread with Him in the past. The Holy Spirit brought to mind that which He had taught them and showed them.
The moment Jesus is received by faith into the heart, soul and life of a believer, our inner spirit-man begins to change, but that only happens when we have that encounter.
The disciples were walking with Him, but they didn’t recognize Him because they hadn’t had that time with Him. It is no different than simply carrying a Bible, and actually spending time with our Bibles and the Word.
The disciples’ encounter with Jesus
Intellectually--(32)--opened the scriptures to us. They had read and studied the scriptures. No doubt, Jesus had shared scriptures with them that are not recorded (vs-27). They referred to Him as a ‘prophet’ instead of the messiah, that they had previously acknowledged Him as. (19)
Eventually, as Jesus shared scriptures that they had studied, they began to put 2 and 2 together that culminated in the breaking of the bread.
Intellectually they were able to draw close to Jesus.
What areas of study, or topics excite you enough to draw you into a closer relationship with Christ?
Emotionally--(32)--their hearts were burning.
They felt something being stirred up inside of them as they were emotionally being pulled to Christ.
Do you feel the warmth in your heart when you hear (listen, pay attention to) the Word of God? When you feel His presence?
Psychologically--(34)--it is true.
They found what they had been missing. They had an empty feeling on the inside, and this was a self-fulfilling moment that gave them a sense of relief in overcoming their burdens of hopelessness and helplessness.
What they got out of it was a feeling of validation for their efforts and faith.
Are there self-fulfilling issues that you need to get resolved? That you need Him to handle?
Spiritually--(33)-they returned at once to Jerusalem
When they recognized this was Jesus, they began to become more kingdom focused. They returned to the rest of the ‘church.’
They had a greater encounter with Jesus when they became kingdom focused. They shared (evangelized) what had happened. As they continued to do this, they suddenly realized they had a mission ahead of them which was to share what had happened.
How often have you shared what has happened to you in your life? Have you shared your encounters with others?
CONCLUSION
Just as in the movie Mosquito Coast, we are often like Allie. We will seek but never find what we really need as long as we are trying to do it on our own. The problem is, most people give up when an effort is required. We will never find what we really need until we search deep within ourselves to find what connects us to Christ. Inside each of us, is our own unique ‘GOD CREATED’ way that will identify with Christ in the best way that is possible for each of us respectively to be able to have an encounter with Him.
What would help you to have an encounter with Christ?
What would be your own unique way that would make you grow in your relationship?
