Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Jesus cheering me on

I was reading in Acts this morning. Chapters 6 and 7 where Stephan is blasting the Sanhedrin with a whole lot of truth and verse 54 : When they heard this , they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55: But Stephan full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and the saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56: "Look", he said "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." I am not sure why the word "standing" struck me today but it did. Scripture mentions the fact that Jesus is at God's right hand at least 7 times.We know that the right side /or right hand meant a place of authority .This is how God exalted Jesus above all others. At least twice in the 7 times that scripture mentions Jesus at the right hand of God, it specifically says "seated". The picture I have in my head as I read this reminds me of when Ben played baseball. When he would come up to bat or a ball was hit his way I would stand up. Standing vs sitting did not change the outcome nor did it allow me to see what was happening any better.I could have cheered him on just as well from a sitting position but if there was a chance that maybe he glanced my way , me standing and therefore becoming more visible to him let him know that I was focused on what he was doing...I was paying attention. Jesus was STANDING. All of his attention was focused on on Stephan. He was cheering him on from the sidelines. He was letting Stephan know that no matter the outcome , he was watching. What a beautiful picture this is. When we are at bat, pressure is on, maybe we are struggling to find the perfect stance, maybe we are striking out, Jesus is on his feet watching and cheering us on.