Kids are the ones that can still see elephants in the clouds.  They still see angels in the snow.  They still see the good in people. The Bible says, "I assure you that unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

We should be childlike but not childish in our acceptance of God.

But something happens to us as we age.  What happens? We don’t see God’s presence as clearly. But no matter where we are, God is there.  So why do we not see Him? Does He prevent us from seeing Him? Maybe God just prevents us from seeing Him to build our faith so that eventually we know He's present even though we can't see. Maybe …

“While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, ‘What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?’ And they stood still, looking sad.…” (Luke 24:15-17).

They were complaining about Jesus and Jesus suddenly showed up.  We don’t always recognize God. Maybe it’s because of familiarity; we get so used to seeing God’s work that we no longer see God.  But we do dumb stuff when we think there is no God or God is not watching.

Sometimes you simply do not believe because …

1. YOUR HEART HAS A SPEED DIAL.

It may be slow to believe like Doubting Thomas of the Bible.

As the Bible says, “And He said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:25-27).

Because, you see, if your heart's speed is set on slow of heart ?? because sometimes people come to church, they kind of lean back in this, you know, position like they're going to sleep.  It's like, “Well, we'll see.”  Is it slow of heart, medium of heart, or fast of heart to believe?  “Oh, you foolish men, slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.”  Because, you see, if your heart is set on slow, you won't see God even if He shows up next to you.

Whether your heart is slow, medium or fast to believe, you should show hospitality to strangers. As it is written, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)

Cross references:

Hebrews 13: : Job 31:32; Mt 25:35; S Ro 12:

Hebrews 13: : Ge 18:1-33; 19I wonder what my grade would be in “entertaining unknown angel” class.

I pray to the Lord to please help me to recognize Him.

Matt.25: 40 says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” This means that to love Jesus we have to love even the lowest of people. In other words, show hospitality to everybody!

God might blind my eyes from recognizing Him in order to reveal the true me.

However, my greatest concern is not that you don’t recognize God but …

2. WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN HE OPENS YOUR

EYES?

According to the Bible, “When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He vanished from their sight” (Luke 24:30-31).

Jesus was basically challenging the disciples by revealing His true identity and thereby making them choose what they would do with that revelation. If you recognize Him, what do you do now?

A wife did something wrong so the husband was insistent about getting a divorce. I was counseling them so I asked him, “What if God did a miracle to change your heart, would you be interested?” He said, “No, it would not make any difference.” If we refuse to change even in His presence, why should God even show up?

I remember having a heated argument with my wife over something trivial and so God told me to stop it.  Why ruin a relationship over something so small?  But I told God that I couldn’t stop because I was winning!

What will you do when God reveals Himself to you in a church service, when you see His nail wounds and a sermon is spoken in the midst of a financial setback or a sickness, does it change you at all?  And if it does, is it just for a week, maybe two?  How many times people say, “I come to New Hope, and I just start to weep from the very first moment because I know God is speaking.  Was not my heart burning within me?”  It is because, you see, often you will come and you will have an appointment with God.  God has an appointment with you today.  Some of you are here this very moment because you have an appointment with God, and God has been speaking to you and saying, “If you cannot respond and recognize me when I show myself to you, then why should I?  I want to reveal Myself to you, but if when I do you don't respond, why should I?”

So what is the key to Heaven?

3. THE KEY: RECOGNIZE HIS PRESENCE.

Remember, God has an appointment with you.  You will meet Him someday. Are you ready?

“While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their

midst and said to them, ‘Peace be to you’” (Luke 24:36).

There is a peace that comes into your life when you recognized Him.

Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

It's almost like the Lord is saying, “You won't see me, but your faith will be tested because I'm there.  Everything that you have you'll put into use.  But remember, I see and I hear and I'm with you.  But I'll disguise myself and I'll come incognito, so treat everybody as if it was Me, and everything will begin to change.”  There may be a reason why He blinds our eyes - so that we can see Him in one another, hear Him when there's no one around but yet our hearts are burning within us.

There was this Native American father.  He had a young son about 12 years old.  And the way to become a man in that culture is to be out in the deep forest and spend the night all by himself.  The father rides him out on his horse to the middle of the forest, lets him down, and says he'll return in the morning.  The boy is scared.  But he goes into the forest, finds an opening and begins to collect kindling like his father taught him.  He had difficulty making a fire and painfully injured himself doing so. He failed to catch any fish so he wished he had learned that better from his father, too. The night was cold and scary. He even had to scare away a huge black bear. The next morning his father woke him.  He told his father what happened but the father already knew because he had been watching and protecting the son in secret throughout the night. The father even rebuilt the fire several times. The son asked, “Why didn't you let me know you were there?”  The father answered, “Though my presence will always be there, you won't always see me, and because of that, you will learn better how to make fires.  You will learn better how to catch fish when I teach you next time. “.

Be sure to recognize God’s presence and even when you do not; be sure to treat even strangers with hospitality because they could be God’s angels in disguise. Very importantly, if you do recognize God in your life then you should let it change your life and behavior for the better.

Study Suggestions

1.   What’s wrong with having a slow to believe heart?

2.   Why should we be like children?

3.   Why should we show hospitality to strangers?

4.   Why are we sometimes blind to God?