words to PONDER

After these things

Jesus manifested Himself 

again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias,

and He manifested Himself in this way.

John 21:1

We mourn the cross and celebrate the Resurrection.

But what happened next - right after LIFE conquered death?

Jesus appeared! He literallly stayed on earth and “hung out” with people for 40 days.

his time period is the exclamation mark on the life of Jesus on earth.

What does that have to do with life right now, today?

He appeared. He is still appearing.

Present tense.

We can all relate to the feeling in the room described in John 20 when Jesus appeared to His friends.

Set the scene: What was the feeling in that room? Unsure. Scared. These diciples had been hunted down by seen and unseen enemies. Something big had happened in their world. Lots of people had ideas and opinions about what had just happened and what would happen next. People didn’t agree. There was confusion and even despair. Some had hope, some didn’t and some had a mixture of both.

I think we can relate.

But in the middle of all the confusion and uncertainty - He manifested. He appeared.

He CHOSE to show up.

“And He manifested in this way” - John 21:1

What way?

At tables, on roads, through conversation, cooking, walking on beaches, in rooms of scared people… He appeared.

He shows up. In His resurrected body - putting that exclamation mark on His life on earth! Showing His current and future followers what He values… and where He will show up for us. Today.

Why look at these 40 days?

John literally gives us the reason WHY the stories were written about the adventures that came in the days of Jesus’ risen bodily appearances.

He discloses the WHY right in-between writing out the stories.

It is as if he stopped in mid-sentence to make sure that we, the future readers, would remember the purpose of knowing these personal accounts of this specific time in the life of Jesus.

Therefore many other signs

Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

but these have been written

SO THAT

you may

BELIEVE 

that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God;

and that believing 

you may 

have LIFE

in His name.

John 20:30-31

“SO THAT”

The words that signal God’s purpose. His reason. His wish for us in the telling and the writing.

BELIEF & LIFE

So the conclusion can be drawn without any doubt -

Somewhere in these passages are words that will effect your BELIEF. Words that will bring you LIFE.

It is His desire for us to get to know the Jesus of those 40 days. The God who chose to show up cook some meals and have some good conversation.

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THEN & NOW - He appears & manifests in our midst.

It’s what He does. It’s part of His character.

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The month of MAY - MARINATE in the stories of the MANIFESTing Jesus!

I have put together some verses and tools that might help you spend your May pondering the Risen Jesus. Pick up on His personality, His actions, His countenance as you let these stories revolve through your mind. As you turn the words over - let them become prayers and converation between you and God and you and others.

Click the button below to get our May - PONDER [manifest] BUNDLE.

In it you will find tools to soak up these 40 days of manifesting.

In the PONDER [manifest} Bundle you will find:

• the verses where you can find His appearances in the Bible

• one page by order of the sequence of His appearences

• one page is the appearances sorted by book of the Bible

• two pages of verses/words to choose from that might be fun to ponder.

  I made it easy for you to keep coming back to the stories and have these be the backdrop in your mind for May.

  So stick these pages in your Bible and keep coming back to the stories.

Use these personally and/or with a few. They are free to download. Just download and print. And/or save on your phone, iPad or computer. (If you would like to use these in your church setting or non-profit please contact us at ponder.info@gmail.com. Our team can help you through that process.)

a [MANIFEST] prayer -

LORD give us eyes to SEE you - We know you appear!

Thank you that you chose to show up and hang out with those you love.

Thank you that you weren’t in a hurry - that you spent 40 days to communicate your love & purposes.

Thank you that you choose to show up NOW as You did then.

Thank you for your SPIRIT - left for us - your very essence right here.

LORD give us eyes to SEE, notice and engage your PRESENCE.

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