FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE

Have You Seen Him?

Over the centuries, many great artists have tried to imagine and depict what Jesus looked like during His life on earth. Master painters like Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Durer, and Michelangelo devoted their lives and focused their genius upon portraying the Master. Churches and museums in many countries display wonderful works by innumerable artists.

Many have painted the baby Jesus with His mother or on a manger bed, surrounded by his parents, the stable animals, and those who came to celebrate His birth by worshipping Him. Others have depicted Him in the Temple at age 12, puzzling the learned scholars with His knowledge about God and His spiritual wisdom.

Perhaps you have a favorite work of art, illustrating some dramatic scene from the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry-loving the children, feeding the multitudes, healing the sick, teaching His disciples. So many have tried to capture a glimpse of Jesus. Some of these portraits are masterpieces…some much more modest.

I’ve been moved and blessed by these pictures-especially those showing Christ travailing in the Garden of Gethsemane, enduring the tortures of His trial, and weeping for the world from the cross of Calvary. And how I’ve rejoiced while looking at paintings of the resurrected Savior and His Transfiguration.

Thank God for all the artists and their pictures of the Lord. I appreciate them. But even when I’ve gazed in awe at Michelangelo’s monumental paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican or marveled at da Vinci’s famous masterpiece, “The Last Supper,” something inside me wanted more. How I longed to see Jesus for myself.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to go back in time and visualize the scene of Jesus’ birth. Only Joseph and Mary were there when He came-the rest of the world was asleep. As Mary held him and looked into His face for the first time, I wonder if she realized that she was touching the infant God? There must have been something special about the way He looked, but I can’t even imagine it-it boggles my mind!

Have you seen what I’ve seen?

Then the shepherds came-running, out of breath, beside themselves with joy and excitement-to find the baby the angels had told them about…to actually see the Savior who is Christ the Lord! When they saw Him, they bowed in His presence and worshipped the newborn King. When they had seen Him, we’re told, the shepherds hurried out to tell everybody the glorious news. I can see them rushing up to everybody they met to blurt out, “Have you seen Him? Angels told us about the new baby in the stable. His name is Jesus…and He is Christ the Lord!”

Jesus came to be seen

From then on, it seems, everybody wanted to see Him. An ancient Temple priest named Simeon refused to die until he had seen the Christ. When Mary and Joseph placed their child into his arms to be consecrated according to Jewish law, the old man looked into the face of Jesus, then cried out, “Lord, now dismiss your servant in peace, for mine eyes have seen Your salvation!” (see Luke 2:25-32).

Later, wise men from the East came, bringing royal gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Following a bright star in the heavens, they had made a very long journey to see the One born to be earth’s new King.

The Gospels are full of examples of people coming to see Jesus. Jesus came to be seen-to reveal himself to the world and to show mankind the image of God the Father. He that hath seen me, He declared, hath seen the Father (John 14:9).

The people of that day saw Jesus. They saw Him being moved with compassion for the needs of the multitude. They saw Him touching lives and meeting needs. They saw Him teaching great throngs of people, performing miracles of healing, feeding thousands. Some saw Him walking on the water, speaking peace to the wind and the waves. They saw Him sacrificing himself on the cross of Calvary to save all mankind. They saw Him rise up from the grave with resurrection power.

Again and again, they asked one another, “Have you seen Him?”

What about us?

I rejoice with Mary and the shepherds who saw with their own eyes Christ Jesus the Lord! But are we who live today excluded from the awe that Mary felt when she looked into the face of her newborn child and realized that He was the God-man? Must we miss out on the joy of the shepherds who were directed by angels to a stable in Bethlehem to welcome-and worship-the Son of God?

Absolutely not!

We can see Jesus as clearly as they saw Him. I can. You can. In my personal experience, when I cried out in passionate desperation to see Jesus, He came and opened my eyes so I could see Him! And in that glorious revelation, I found Him to be so much more than I had imagined or even hoped that He would be.

I saw Him as my Savior, my Sin-bearer, my Joy, and my Strength. I saw Him as my Light and my Love, the Breath of my life and the indwelling Presence in whom I live and move and have my being!

Since that day, I’ve been like the shepherds scurrying through the streets of Bethlehem, witnessing to everyone they met. Now I ask people everywhere I go, “Have you seen Him? Have you really seen Jesus? Please let me show you where to find Him.”

Not only can we see Him, but we can hear Him too. Unlike the folks on the far edge of the crowd who had to strain to hear the physical voice of Jesus, we can hear from the Lord any time, all the time. This is really important because we live in an information age where there is a constant clamor of voices trying to get our attention. It’s easy to get confused in the tumult.

But we can always tune in to the voice of Jesus through prayer. It has been said that He speaks in a “still, small voice.” I don’t know how to describe it, but His voice is unmistakable, and I know it when I hear it!

The Lord also speaks to us through His Word, the Holy Bible. Whenever I need comfort, assurance, direction, or help, I turn to the Scriptures. Time and time again, as I read and listen with my heart, His Word speaks to me with just the help and the answers I need. I can’t explain it-I only know it works.

So we can see Jesus today, and we can hear His voice. We can also know that He hears us when we come into His presence. What a joy to be able to talk to Jesus as one friend talks to another. We can speak to Him at any moment.

I don’t have to be in church. I don’t have to be on my knees, or in any other position. I don’t have to use any special phrases or “holy” words. I don’t have to have an appointment. He is always with me, always interested, always understanding, and always ready to help.

The Gospels tell us that wherever Jesus went during His earthly ministry, great crowds gathered around Him. When people in need heard that He was passing by, they went running to find Him. People brought the sick to Him. Lepers came to seek deliverance. The blind and the lame sought His healing touch.

When He began teaching down by the sea, people ran to get near Him. When He sat down on the mountainside, a crowd of more than 5,000 ran after Him to hear His words. They ran to see Him, to hear His voice, to feel His touch.

Seek Him now

If you and I had lived back then, no doubt we would have been running too. We would have joined all the other people who wanted to get close to Jesus.

But if we would have run to Him back then, why aren’t we doing it now? Why aren’t we seeking Him, looking to Him, listening to Him, talking to Him? Why do we forget to read the Bible, skip our devotional prayer time, and perhaps forsake the assembling of ourselves with other believers in worship too often?

In the words of the old spiritual, “If we ever needed the Lord before, we sure do need Him now…we need Him every day and every hour.” Perhaps you feel that you are not as close to Jesus as you once were. Then I would implore you to draw near to Him.

Run to Him! Run to His voice! Run to His touch!

The beloved Apostle John wrote, That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3).

During this holiday season, no doubt you’ll be seeing Christmas decorations and greeting cards that will remind you of the birth of Jesus in a Bethlehem stable. Each time you see a manger scene, let it be a reminder to ask yourself, “Have I seen Him today? Have I heard His voice?”

Then find someone you can speak to and ask-

“Have you seen Him?”

A CLASSIC MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE

Statehood for Israel

A third benefit resulting from World War I was the public and official appreciation given to Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a Jew, for his contribution to the war effort of the Allies. Weizmann, who was born in Russia in 1874, studied chemistry in Germany and then taught at universities in Switzerland and England. During World War I he devised an improved method of making acetone, which is used in making explosives. This discovery may actually have affected the outcome of the war.

The prime minister of England credited Weizmann with saving the British army because of his work in providing explosives. When Great Britain tried to reward Weizmann for his work, he said, “There is nothing I want for myself, but there is something I would like you to do for my people.” Weizmann requested the establishment in Palestine of a national homeland. It was generally thought that his work had a great deal to do with bringing about the Balfour Declaration. Weizmann later became the first president of the State of Israel.

Following the war, the newly formed League of Nations approved the providing of a national homeland for the Jews as outlined by the Balfour Resolution. President Woodrow Wilson proposed that the land of Palestine be under a British mandate as a temporary arrangement, the ultimate aim being emancipation and independence of that area. The proposal was adopted and the Jews rejoiced.

All seemed ready now for the fulfilling of the words of the Hebrew prophets concerning the return of the Jewish people to their land:

For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God (Ezekiel 34:11 — 15).

But the battle was far from won. Difficult days were ahead for the Jews. The British mandate in Palestine did not turn out as the Zionists had hoped. Disappointment lingered. The vision of hundreds of thousands of Jews pouring into Palestine would have to wait another generation for fulfillment. Frustrating quotas allowing only small numbers of Jewish immigrants plagued the planners of this new nation. The struggle continued.

But What of the Arabs?

Hoping to keep peace with the Arabs, the British placed ridiculously small immigration quotas on the Jews. In 1930, a Royal Commission of Inquiry under agricultural and settlement expert Sir John Hope Simpson concluded that only 20,000 more settlers could be admitted to the land without forcing the Arabs out. At that time there were approximately 850,000 Arabs and 170,000 Jews living there. Simpson could not foresee that in the years to come millions would occupy the area, enjoying a far higher standard of living then he observed in 1930.

To support their restrictions of Jewish immigration, the British issued a series of “white papers” that supposedly gave good reasons for their action. The most shocking of the policies set forth in these official documents was the declaration that within a specified time a majority vote of the Arabs could halt all Jewish immigration. Of the final of these infamous papers, Winston Churchill said:

There is much in this white paper which is alien to the spirit of the Balfour Declaration, but I will not trouble about that. I will select the one point upon which there is plainly a breach and repudiation of the Balfour Declaration, the decision that Jewish immigration can be stopped in five years time by an Arab majority. This is a plain breach of a solemn obligation.

Others joined Churchill in protesting the injustice, but the British continued their restrictive action throughout their mandate. It would take another global war to finally build Jewish resolution sufficient to break down the barriers that made it illegal for them to reenter the land.

Winning the War but Losing the Peace

Hindsight declares that in World War I the Allies won the war but lost the peace. One of the reasons for this tragedy was the bitterness born in a young Austrian corporal in the German army named Adolf Hitler.

Angered at the humiliation brought to his people by the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I and bitter about society in general, Hitler set out to get revenge. He found a sympathetic following among many of the veterans of the defeated German army and later, in the economic chaos that befell Germany, among a good portion of the population. His ultimate political success, making him dictator of Germany, became one of the most regrettable developments of the twentieth century.

Though volumes have been written attempting to analyze the troubled mind of Adolf Hitler, his hatred of the Jews found expression in such inhuman policies and practices that they can only be attributed to satanic influence.

Taking the reins of the German government, he would embark on a binge of bloodshed that would victimize all nations. But none would suffer as the Jews. Six million of the children of Israel would die at the hands of Hitler and his henchmen. The world would never be the same again, and Jews everywhere would be determined to settle for nothing less than a land of their own — the land of their fathers.

CHANGED LIVES-one at a time

Dear Rexella,

I just want to let you know you have touched my heart so deeply. I love watching your program online and I take notes every time I watch your program. It is much easier that way so I can pause the program so I don’t miss anything you say. I even write out the articles when I can see them, so I have reference to show people when I tell them about your messages, whenever I get to see anyone. Since I have been so diligent in watching your program and writing down Jack’s bible references, I no longer dread what is to come. I now have peace in my heart and know I have nothing to worry about. I look forward to hearing the Lord say “Come up hither.” Oh, what a glorious day that will be! I thank you both for your loving kindness in letting not only me, but all who can get your program, hear the truth. The two of you have a very special place in my heart because you have shown me so very much and opened my eyes. Now I go on Facebook and tell others who try to cover up the truth to watch you and that Jack knows what he is talking about. No one has ever doubted what you say that I know of or I would have to give them what for and look up scriptures to tell them what is what. Keep up the great work! And, Jack, I am so glad the Lord saved you and you are able to get out what needs to be told.

With Much Love From my Heart to Both of Yours,

Christine S.

HIGHLIGHTED MINISTRY OFFERS

Will It Happen This Year?

Will Jesus return this year? This new video teaching from Jack Van Impe Ministries helps answer this question!

It features recorded video of Dr. Jack Van Impe and outlines many of the key prophetic points he saw unfolding in the final weeks and days before he went home to heaven.

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This DVD contains important information we couldn’t include in our national broadcast! It’s perfect to share with friend, family, and your church. Let everyone know: Jesus is coming soon – perhaps this year, perhaps today!

Standing Firm & Speaking Out

The Bible predicted it – and now it is happening on a massive scale across North America and elsewhere in the world.

Mainstream media and popular culture are attempting to muzzle Christianity. We are told that our beliefs are hateful, and that we are bigots when we speak up for Christian values.

But it is imperative that believers do not allow their voices to be silenced in these latter days of history — when our message of love and hope in Christ is so desperately needed!

Now Dr. Rexella Van Impe and Dr. Erwin Lutzer give you the tools you need to stand firm and speak out in these final days before the return of the Lord