Our Daily Bread Designs Bible Verse Thursday Challenge #81 - A Personal Encounter

 “...Why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”  ~Acts 1:11

                                         

This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension, when our Lord Jesus was taken bodily into heaven to be with the Father.  I always knew that it meant Jesus went up to heaven without dying again, but until recently I never really thought about what that meant.

Jesus' Ascension into heaven does something amazing:  It gives us a heavenly advocate.

His Ascension doesn't mean He is absent, He is just alive among us in a different way.  The Ascension of Jesus into heaven reveals to us a comforting reality for our journey - that in Christ, our humanity was brought to God.  Jesus has opened up the passage for us and is leading the way for us to get to the Father.  If we entrust our lives to him and let ourselves be guided by Him then we are in safe hands!  Entering into the glory of God requires daily fidelity to His will, even when it requires sacrifice or a change in our plans.

Luckily for us, the Lord provides us with constant "feeding."  Every Sunday in church, we are fed at the lectern - by the Word of God - but we also have an amazing opportunity to have a personal encounter with Christ.

In the Catholic Church, we believe that when we receive communion, we are actually receiving the body and blood of Christ - changed from the bread and wine just as Christ said at the last supper - "When they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body."  Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying 'Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood." (Luke 22:26-28)

Whether you believe in transubstantiation or symbolism when it comes to Communion, this is our chance to have a very personal encounter with Christ our Savior!  Once again, He comes to us, to feed us, to strengthen us on our journey.  How many of us are guilty of "going through the motions" at church and not really thinking about what it is we are doing?  What an amazing opportunity it is for us to receive the Lord into our bodies, minds, and hearts?

A failure to recognize the presence of Jesus is the tragedy in much of the modern church.  Jesus wants us to know that He Himself is the path to eternal life in heaven.  No matter what skeptics say, Jesus constantly presented Himself as the one and only way to God.  "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

Have you had a personal encounter with Christ lately?  If not, there's no time like the present!  Jesus is seeking those who would follow him - and he wants you and me!

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Your challenge this week is to create a card that reminds us that our relationship with Christ is personal.  When uploading your project, please use keyword ODBDBVT81 and then hop on Our Daily Bread Designs Forum and share it with us!

Supplies for this project

Cardstock:  Truly Yours – Black Card Base; Bazzill - Jet

Decorative Paper:  The Paper Studio - Faith

Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs – God’s Hands

Inks, Stains, Paints & Colored Pencils:  Versafine – Onyx Black

Accessories & Other Stuff:  American Crafts – Ivory Ribbon

Blessings,