If You Have Seen Me, Have You Seen The Father?

“Jesus replied, Have I been with all of you for so long a time, and do you not recognize and know Me yet, Philip? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say then, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? What I am telling you I do not say on My own authority and of My own accord; but the Father Who lives continually in Me does the (His) works (His own miracles, deeds of power). Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the sake of the [very] works themselves. [If you cannot trust Me, at least let these works that I do in My Father’s name convince you.]” ~John 14:9-11 (AMP)

In my relationship with God, there has been lots of dysfunction. Let me be clear, it was on MY part, NOT His. There have been so many times that I would get into my Word and pray before the day started – while my husband was already gone to work and the children were still asleep. The quiet time in the early hours of the morning – just ME and JESUS. It would be a glimpse of perfection as I would peer into His Word and worship Him with my inner most being. Then the children would wake up. I am always excited to see the freshly woken faces of my babies. NEVER has one day gone by that I do not enjoy this time. I am always showing the children our heavenly Father when they rise, I always greet them with a smile, open arms, and lots of LOVE. But in a moments notice, it is like I have evicted Jesus from living in my heart and act like I did before we ever met. Shameful. I know. You see, God knew that I would not show His character every second after I accepted Him into my heart. He planned for that. This is why Jesus was sent to die for sin – the ultimate sacrifice of perfection – and not me. 


The Apostle Paul wrote something that always stood out to me in Philippians 1:15-18 (NIV):

“It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” (emphasis mine)


After praying and digging into these verses for days at a time, I realized that even if someone sees the Father in me ONCE, it is better than never at all. But that is not enough for me. I want to glorify God as often as possible. I want to honor Him through my actions as many times as I can while alive on this Earth. My heart’s desire is to show Him through me, just like Jesus did. I am confident that as I continue to press on in my walk with Jesus, dive into His Word, living a lifestyle of worship and prayer that ONE thing IS CERTAIN – you WILL SEE THE FATHER when you SEE ME.