Jesus said, “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). The visitation of Jesus to the soul, at various levels of intensity, is the privilege of our entire existence. Take John Flavel (d. 1691), for instance, as he was traveling by himself one day:
“Thus going on his way, his thoughts began to swell and rise higher and higher, like the waters in Ezekiel’s vision, till at last they became an overflowing flood. Such was the intention of his mind, such the ravishing tastes of heavenly joys, and such the full assurance of his interest therein, that he utterly lost a sight and sense of this world and all the concerns thereof . . . . He found himself almost spent and nature to faint under the pressure of joy unspeakable and insupportable.”
Flavel explains that Christ came to him through simple faith and meditation on the gospel. J. C. Ryle: “There is more of heaven on earth to be obtained than most Christians are aware of.”
May Jesus be real to us, more real than we have ever known he could be.
