I woke up this morning, or sort of. My eyes opened to the darkness and my body started doing things. I’m pretty sure I was not really awake. The alarm on the septic system screamed again from outside the fence… in the rain. Three hours later, I’m still not awake. The alarm went off again. I looked in the hole. Nothing there worth getting excited about. I’ve listlessly cleaned my little writing space up in the bonus room and put stuff away. Nothing on my list today fills me with energy and drive. It’s not that there isn’t great stuff on the list. Even yesterday, some of my plans for today were invigorating. There is something wrong.
I think… I’m tired…. of waiting… No, I’m sure of it. I am desperately tired of waiting.
There is plenty in my life worth getting excited about. I have an amazing wife. I have fantastic children. I even have nifty pets. I spend time with interesting people that I really care about. I often smile inwardly at how blessed I am. God loves me ever more than I can imagine. I expect to do incomprehensible things as I walk with my friend Jesus.
Even so, this happens often. I wake up and my flannel sheets call insistently to my hurting soul. My desire is gasping for breath. My heart only murmurs unintelligibly. I desperately want to stay in the dark and the warmth and not try – at all. Don’t talk, don’t ask, I have no answer, nothing valuable to share. I am not who I was meant to be and the world is even worse than I am. I am waiting to be put back together in a place that is not intent on my death. The struggle to experience what I long for is a frequent battle.
Today is one of those days.
I can feel my enemy trying to trick me. He lies and offers compelling evidence. The world is all f**ked up. Look at it. Look at your life. Nothing is working right. You’ve screwed it all up. It’s never going to be what you wanted. The horrifying truth is, I can’t deny it. I have made mistakes, big ones. I’ve made them that I knew better than to make. The consequences of my mistakes have altered my life and the lives of many around me. What I wanted never is going to happen.
Quietly, distantly I begin to remember that the enemy is ignorant. He can only remind me of what I wanted. But really, I don’t want it anymore. More in checking than I need, that ultra cool restored 79 F-350, prestige, position, a big house and multiple levels of assured security have lost their allure. My hunger pangs have been met. I have been dabbling in Jesus because he asked me and I’ve finally concluded that nothing else seems to work. My suspicions are being confirmed. It is as he has been saying. He has invited me to something better. So much better it cannot be described by comparison.
This new man that I am becoming is impossible for my enemy to understand. My old self has shrunk and is replaced with a man who is humiliated but glorious, broken but unconquerable, I am poor, I hunger now, I weep now, I am excluded and rejected now but I rejoice and laugh because I am great in the Kingdom. I am a friend to the King and his heart toward me is more than I can even wish. I fight by his side for the kingdom and he hands me weapons he has invented that my enemy cannot defend against. I love, I forgive, I extend grace, I am patient, I am kind, I am slow to speak and quick to listen. I share and walk the extra mile. All my enemy can do against these weapons is stamp his feet, whine and try to trick me into wanting what my old life offered. But I do not want it. On the days and in the hours and minutes I forget what I want, Jesus call to me. He will come and rescue me again and again because I am his. I am safe. I am good and it will always be thus.
I will be ok today. It will pass. The fog and the sorrow and the aching frustration of waiting will fade and I will awaken. Probably my wife will pray and hug and kiss me. My friends, unknowingly, will be themselves and it will heal me as I am reminded how wonderful they are. Coffee will help a little. I will come to the end of the shadow and light will find me again. I will withstand in the evil day and having done all I will stand. I will begin to feel encouraged and it will grow and grow. I will do incompressible things because Jesus does not depend on me to stay with him. I depend on him to keep me.
It is good to remember that waiting is better than being lost forever. The Kingdom of Heaven is near. I can wait a little longer.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Pick Right
PICK RIGHT – Acts 17
The other morning a guy asked me if I believed in other gods. He was a new Craig’s list friend that had interrupted my morning to take the weight of some left over cardboard off my shoulders. When he got out of his little blue faded Chevy pickup with the mismatched canopy, I asked him how he was. I remind myself again, dangerous, unpredictable question. It’s like bending over to pick up the mail right in the middle of a sneeze. Doesn’t seem like it would require a big effort, or even any attention, but if you aren’t prepared, you could find yourself in traction. Yes, you can actually blow up the finely constructed discs in your back if you are bent funny when you sneeze. It’s the same with the “how ya doin’?” question. If you ask and you are unprepared, not paying attention, you may find yourself in the midst of a three-hour conversation with a former stranger as God puppeteers you while he alters a life right before your eyes.
This guy, Uncle Paul he told me, was the kind of guy I tend to like immediately. Unassuming, confident, on the hairy side, worn out work clothes, calluses, a bit gimpy and a bit grumpy; he projected an air of not needing to prove anything. When he answered me, he hesitated a long slow moment, preparing to lie. Then in a sighing drawl, “Oh, doin’ alright.” The inflection at the end halfway between question and statement – he knew that if I was paying attention, I would know he was lying. But he was looking to get some weight off his shoulders to. In this case, I knew I should hold still and listen; I really wanted to hear whatever he had to say. I told him he wasn’t very convincing and he quit lying.
We started talking. We loaded up the cardboard, tied it down, shut the tailgate and then stood there trading stories and sizing each other up. My suspicions were right. He was the kind of guy I liked. A craftsman of fiberglass motorcycle, boat and NASCAR parts and anything else he could get paid for. Business was slowing down, kids were not what he had hoped and his overworked joints took too long to drag out of bed every morning. Eventually we got to the meaning of life; or maybe that’s where we had started. Like I said, he asked me if I believed in other Gods.
The string between God and my Styrofoam cup was vibrating while he was asking me the question. During the seven nanoseconds from when I knew what he was asking and before he reached the question mark, I un-forgot an old epiphany. He mentioned, for example, an old Indian lady who genuinely believed in Buddha. How could I know that she was wrong and I was right? That question is slightly off target and I think most of the time, through defensiveness, I/we miss the point. It’s not that there are not other gods. Of course there are, they are referred to repeatedly all through scripture. Often they are called idols. There are lots of gods. Pick any one you want. There are gods who will be your boyfriend, make you rich, “supposedly” control the weather, fertility, health, peace on earth, protection from evil spirits and any other kind of influence you want or are worried about. In varying and unpredictable degrees of effectiveness, you can pick your god by what services and benefits they provide. Some gods offer harmony with the rest of the world, some offer multiple virgin wives in eternity (how long can that last?), some offer the ultimate state of nothingness (nirvana) and some offer reincarnation. Nearly all suggest that if you behave correctly, things will work out, you will be blessed. So, the harder you try, the more or better you get it both now and forever.
In my mind, the question of how do I know I’m right and someone else who has chosen a different god is wrong is not focused on whether their god exists or not. It’s much more focused on how cool he is. I say, lots of gods exist, so pick the best one. Pick the super duper, tougher than all the rest, knows everything, all powerful, everywhere at once, defies comprehension, knows me personally and cares about my life God. Pick the God of all Gods. The one who is in charge of all the rest. The one who wrote the story. The central figure in the story. The one who chooses all the characters and puts them in the roles he designed them for. Pick the one who has both this temporal world and all of eternity under his creative control and he is doing a great job so far.
But there is another reason. It may be the main one as far as I am concerned. All other gods and religions require my behavior as a prerequisite for the benefits they offer. This concerns me. It’s not that I’m not a pretty good guy. My wife, my kids, my parents and my friends like me (as far as I know). I’m not overly irresponsible. I am sincere (mostly). I smell ok most of the time – I do falter in this area if there is an opportunity for Mongolian Grill – I love that stuff. I’m not all that disciplined or organized or attentive. All of my “pretty nice guy” status is added, subtracted defined and measured according to the culture I live in. I have some insight into the selfish nature that drives me, the weakness I struggle with and my tendency to take the easy route. I am concerned.
Frankly, I do not look forward to an eternity I had to work for on earth. My earning capacity it way too limited and the time frame is too short. It will be lame, I am sure of it. If, according to all those other gods, I have a bunch of stuff I have to do right in order to get the benefits of their program, then they are lame gods. Why would I want them if I have to do all the work (or any of the work for that matter)? I think, if you are going to set yourself up as a god, then you should be badass! You should take all the responsibility, do all the work and not rely on a bunch of weak, whiny, stupid people who can’t remember the lesson from the last painful mistake they made for more than a couple days (at best). If you are going to be god, you should get credit for making everything, being in charge of it, keeping it going, having a purpose for every single minute aspect of it and you should both be in it and bigger than it. You ought to know literally everything and be beyond the understanding of squeaky Cindy Lou Who and all the rest of us in Who Ville.
Bottom line, if you claim to be god, then by my definition and any logical, satisfying definition of god – you should be totally in charge of making everything and everyone that is cool, cool! If you have to rely on anyone or anything else to accomplish this, then as a god, you suck!
So, in conclusion, I don’t say that the devout Buddha worshipper is worshipping nothing. I believe in their god. I just don’t have any faith in their god or his motives. I say it’s the wrong god and not actually worthy of worship. It does not love them. It cannot save them. It is actually intent on their destruction. Even if all it said were true, what it offers is less than I want. I want and need and recommend the God who loves me, died to prove it and offers life apart from my ability for eternity. Anything less is a lot less.
The other morning a guy asked me if I believed in other gods. He was a new Craig’s list friend that had interrupted my morning to take the weight of some left over cardboard off my shoulders. When he got out of his little blue faded Chevy pickup with the mismatched canopy, I asked him how he was. I remind myself again, dangerous, unpredictable question. It’s like bending over to pick up the mail right in the middle of a sneeze. Doesn’t seem like it would require a big effort, or even any attention, but if you aren’t prepared, you could find yourself in traction. Yes, you can actually blow up the finely constructed discs in your back if you are bent funny when you sneeze. It’s the same with the “how ya doin’?” question. If you ask and you are unprepared, not paying attention, you may find yourself in the midst of a three-hour conversation with a former stranger as God puppeteers you while he alters a life right before your eyes.
This guy, Uncle Paul he told me, was the kind of guy I tend to like immediately. Unassuming, confident, on the hairy side, worn out work clothes, calluses, a bit gimpy and a bit grumpy; he projected an air of not needing to prove anything. When he answered me, he hesitated a long slow moment, preparing to lie. Then in a sighing drawl, “Oh, doin’ alright.” The inflection at the end halfway between question and statement – he knew that if I was paying attention, I would know he was lying. But he was looking to get some weight off his shoulders to. In this case, I knew I should hold still and listen; I really wanted to hear whatever he had to say. I told him he wasn’t very convincing and he quit lying.
We started talking. We loaded up the cardboard, tied it down, shut the tailgate and then stood there trading stories and sizing each other up. My suspicions were right. He was the kind of guy I liked. A craftsman of fiberglass motorcycle, boat and NASCAR parts and anything else he could get paid for. Business was slowing down, kids were not what he had hoped and his overworked joints took too long to drag out of bed every morning. Eventually we got to the meaning of life; or maybe that’s where we had started. Like I said, he asked me if I believed in other Gods.
The string between God and my Styrofoam cup was vibrating while he was asking me the question. During the seven nanoseconds from when I knew what he was asking and before he reached the question mark, I un-forgot an old epiphany. He mentioned, for example, an old Indian lady who genuinely believed in Buddha. How could I know that she was wrong and I was right? That question is slightly off target and I think most of the time, through defensiveness, I/we miss the point. It’s not that there are not other gods. Of course there are, they are referred to repeatedly all through scripture. Often they are called idols. There are lots of gods. Pick any one you want. There are gods who will be your boyfriend, make you rich, “supposedly” control the weather, fertility, health, peace on earth, protection from evil spirits and any other kind of influence you want or are worried about. In varying and unpredictable degrees of effectiveness, you can pick your god by what services and benefits they provide. Some gods offer harmony with the rest of the world, some offer multiple virgin wives in eternity (how long can that last?), some offer the ultimate state of nothingness (nirvana) and some offer reincarnation. Nearly all suggest that if you behave correctly, things will work out, you will be blessed. So, the harder you try, the more or better you get it both now and forever.
In my mind, the question of how do I know I’m right and someone else who has chosen a different god is wrong is not focused on whether their god exists or not. It’s much more focused on how cool he is. I say, lots of gods exist, so pick the best one. Pick the super duper, tougher than all the rest, knows everything, all powerful, everywhere at once, defies comprehension, knows me personally and cares about my life God. Pick the God of all Gods. The one who is in charge of all the rest. The one who wrote the story. The central figure in the story. The one who chooses all the characters and puts them in the roles he designed them for. Pick the one who has both this temporal world and all of eternity under his creative control and he is doing a great job so far.
But there is another reason. It may be the main one as far as I am concerned. All other gods and religions require my behavior as a prerequisite for the benefits they offer. This concerns me. It’s not that I’m not a pretty good guy. My wife, my kids, my parents and my friends like me (as far as I know). I’m not overly irresponsible. I am sincere (mostly). I smell ok most of the time – I do falter in this area if there is an opportunity for Mongolian Grill – I love that stuff. I’m not all that disciplined or organized or attentive. All of my “pretty nice guy” status is added, subtracted defined and measured according to the culture I live in. I have some insight into the selfish nature that drives me, the weakness I struggle with and my tendency to take the easy route. I am concerned.
Frankly, I do not look forward to an eternity I had to work for on earth. My earning capacity it way too limited and the time frame is too short. It will be lame, I am sure of it. If, according to all those other gods, I have a bunch of stuff I have to do right in order to get the benefits of their program, then they are lame gods. Why would I want them if I have to do all the work (or any of the work for that matter)? I think, if you are going to set yourself up as a god, then you should be badass! You should take all the responsibility, do all the work and not rely on a bunch of weak, whiny, stupid people who can’t remember the lesson from the last painful mistake they made for more than a couple days (at best). If you are going to be god, you should get credit for making everything, being in charge of it, keeping it going, having a purpose for every single minute aspect of it and you should both be in it and bigger than it. You ought to know literally everything and be beyond the understanding of squeaky Cindy Lou Who and all the rest of us in Who Ville.
Bottom line, if you claim to be god, then by my definition and any logical, satisfying definition of god – you should be totally in charge of making everything and everyone that is cool, cool! If you have to rely on anyone or anything else to accomplish this, then as a god, you suck!
So, in conclusion, I don’t say that the devout Buddha worshipper is worshipping nothing. I believe in their god. I just don’t have any faith in their god or his motives. I say it’s the wrong god and not actually worthy of worship. It does not love them. It cannot save them. It is actually intent on their destruction. Even if all it said were true, what it offers is less than I want. I want and need and recommend the God who loves me, died to prove it and offers life apart from my ability for eternity. Anything less is a lot less.
God Does Not Need Me
God does not need us. I have heard this many times in the last few decades. Often this statement comes as I wonder awestruck and twitterpated at God’s invitation to participate in some crazy scheme he has been cooking up, to be a part of his wild, passionate, dangerous life. It’s as if I have crossed a line and need to be warned. “It’s ok to love God and to think you are loved by him, but, you better be careful if you start thinking he needs you…” Head shaking and dark, sideways glancing tsk tsking follow. Ironically, this rebuff is normally offered in an attempt to elevate his holiness and self-sufficiency. As if thinking that God needs me would somehow be an offense or an indication of weakness on his part.
I have also wondered if this sudden urgency to deny God’s need of his chosen people comes from fear. If God did need me, would it imply a requirement that I could never meet? After all, I am a worm, a sinful, dirty creature incapable of any good thing. What could I ever bring of myself that God would need? But - if the life of Christ in us is what has made us able to relate to God… If I am now a new creature… If I have been restored… If I have died and been raised to life and am now seated with the Father…. If my sins have been erased… Then, I am not a worm. I have a new identity. I am a friend and brother of Jesus. I am a son of the King. I am his bride and body. It is mysterious and powerful beyond comprehension, but I do know that I can give to God anything he requires of me because it is Him in me that gives me life.
So what anyway? So what if God doesn’t need me? When I think of “need” I think of needing a ride or needing to eat lunch or needing to get my teeth cleaned. Sure, for any of these things I will have preferences. I’d rather get from A to B in a fast car with a hot babe, eat 15 tacos for lunch and get my teeth checked by someone gentle who uses plenty of gas. When it comes down to it though, if I need these things, I’ll take them any way I can get them. I’ll ride with a fat smelly guy with an all too frequent squeaky laugh in his faded blue 76 Datsun pickup with plastic on the passenger side window. I’ll eat soggy left over fish sticks at the day care center. I’ll get my teeth checked by a hygienist who just got dumped by her boyfriend. I will be willing because I need to get ‘er done.
It seems to me that the arguable question of whether God needs me is secondary. I’m willing to pass on the vehement argument and let the strangely defensive person feel as though God has been protected and nothing too much is required of them. The primary hope that I have is that God wants me. As I consider it, if he wants me, then why do I care if he needs me or not? Going back to my preferences. They indicate choice; the hot babe in the fast car is my wife. I have picked her, repeatedly. I want her in every way I can have her. I am attracted to her, I love the sound of her voice, the way she laughs, the taste of her kiss and the smell of her hair. I want to know what she thinks and how she feels. I watch her walk around in my living room and enjoy her beauty. I like it so very much when she gets dressed up and puts on jewelry and perfume because she wants to be beautiful for me. I want to open her door and hold her hand and pick out food together and dance slow. She’s amazing and I WANT her. Another woman could meet my needs and be my partner. Someone different could do the things she does and I would survive. It just wouldn’t be the woman I want. I want the woman I picked. My need for her is overwhelmingly eclipsed by my want for her. I think the illustration is clear enough to leave out the difference between needing food and wanting tacos or needing my teeth checked and wanting it to be as comfortable as possible. When the want is present, the need is secondary.
The conclusion then is a switch in wondering. I wonder if God wants me? I think he does. Here is my reasoning. First of all, why in the name of all that is appropriate and well deserved would God put up with all the crap we fling at him and on ourselves if he did not want us? Why would he send his son to claim his bride? Why would he call us his bride and go to prepare a place for us? Why would he say he wants us if he doesn’t? The answer is obvious and irrefutable. God does want us. The entire story of the bible is about his pursuit of us. He has literally gone through hell to rescue us from ourselves. He has sacrificed everything that can be sacrificed because he wants us.
I can believe that God wants me; you can believe that God wants you because he says so and he backs it up with irrefutable evidence. Read the story: He gave us life. We denied him and chose our own way. He provided a way back. We couldn’t get there. He came and got us and paid for our return. He has invited us again to walk with him. He speaks to us an identity of endearment. He continues to invite, to woo, to pursue and offer. He celebrates with ecstasy every time we accept. He tells us of the wedding, the feast and our life together. He promises that all will be good. I believe him.
I have also wondered if this sudden urgency to deny God’s need of his chosen people comes from fear. If God did need me, would it imply a requirement that I could never meet? After all, I am a worm, a sinful, dirty creature incapable of any good thing. What could I ever bring of myself that God would need? But - if the life of Christ in us is what has made us able to relate to God… If I am now a new creature… If I have been restored… If I have died and been raised to life and am now seated with the Father…. If my sins have been erased… Then, I am not a worm. I have a new identity. I am a friend and brother of Jesus. I am a son of the King. I am his bride and body. It is mysterious and powerful beyond comprehension, but I do know that I can give to God anything he requires of me because it is Him in me that gives me life.
So what anyway? So what if God doesn’t need me? When I think of “need” I think of needing a ride or needing to eat lunch or needing to get my teeth cleaned. Sure, for any of these things I will have preferences. I’d rather get from A to B in a fast car with a hot babe, eat 15 tacos for lunch and get my teeth checked by someone gentle who uses plenty of gas. When it comes down to it though, if I need these things, I’ll take them any way I can get them. I’ll ride with a fat smelly guy with an all too frequent squeaky laugh in his faded blue 76 Datsun pickup with plastic on the passenger side window. I’ll eat soggy left over fish sticks at the day care center. I’ll get my teeth checked by a hygienist who just got dumped by her boyfriend. I will be willing because I need to get ‘er done.
It seems to me that the arguable question of whether God needs me is secondary. I’m willing to pass on the vehement argument and let the strangely defensive person feel as though God has been protected and nothing too much is required of them. The primary hope that I have is that God wants me. As I consider it, if he wants me, then why do I care if he needs me or not? Going back to my preferences. They indicate choice; the hot babe in the fast car is my wife. I have picked her, repeatedly. I want her in every way I can have her. I am attracted to her, I love the sound of her voice, the way she laughs, the taste of her kiss and the smell of her hair. I want to know what she thinks and how she feels. I watch her walk around in my living room and enjoy her beauty. I like it so very much when she gets dressed up and puts on jewelry and perfume because she wants to be beautiful for me. I want to open her door and hold her hand and pick out food together and dance slow. She’s amazing and I WANT her. Another woman could meet my needs and be my partner. Someone different could do the things she does and I would survive. It just wouldn’t be the woman I want. I want the woman I picked. My need for her is overwhelmingly eclipsed by my want for her. I think the illustration is clear enough to leave out the difference between needing food and wanting tacos or needing my teeth checked and wanting it to be as comfortable as possible. When the want is present, the need is secondary.
The conclusion then is a switch in wondering. I wonder if God wants me? I think he does. Here is my reasoning. First of all, why in the name of all that is appropriate and well deserved would God put up with all the crap we fling at him and on ourselves if he did not want us? Why would he send his son to claim his bride? Why would he call us his bride and go to prepare a place for us? Why would he say he wants us if he doesn’t? The answer is obvious and irrefutable. God does want us. The entire story of the bible is about his pursuit of us. He has literally gone through hell to rescue us from ourselves. He has sacrificed everything that can be sacrificed because he wants us.
I can believe that God wants me; you can believe that God wants you because he says so and he backs it up with irrefutable evidence. Read the story: He gave us life. We denied him and chose our own way. He provided a way back. We couldn’t get there. He came and got us and paid for our return. He has invited us again to walk with him. He speaks to us an identity of endearment. He continues to invite, to woo, to pursue and offer. He celebrates with ecstasy every time we accept. He tells us of the wedding, the feast and our life together. He promises that all will be good. I believe him.
Different Kind of Weapons
Jesus, born a baby, grew into a man with calluses on his hands. He worked like any other man to subdue the broken world around him. When the time came, he was identified as the Son of God. He withstood the temptation of the enemy not by the strength of his flesh, which had been stripped away by hunger, but by obedience and trust in the one who was his strength. He began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The mystery of his kingdom unified the chosen who were long lost and the lost who were newly chosen. His kingdom was established with violence against the forces of evil. He stood against them in battle with powerful weapons against which they had no defense. The power of the world trembled with confusion, sin crumbled and the enemy was forced to accept defeat. Normal broken men wielded the weapons of the Messiah; weapons they knew to use only as they were given by him and through him into the broken hearts of the lost. The weapons that turned the tide of battle to victory for the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek and those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness were weapons of the heart. They were wielded by the eternal, unstoppable power of forgiveness through grace.
As the creator reached into the still heart of his son, killed by the crushing weight of hopelessness, defeat and sorrow, new life came forth. Death evaporated in a black explosion of mist, sin washed away, diluted to nothingness by the everlasting source of love. Jesus rose and set forth a kingdom in which those who were powerless in the world became powerful. He has invited the weak to become strong, the poor to become rich and the lost to become found. He gives love to be given, forgiveness to be extended, hope, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and understanding; against which there is no defense.
The invitation is for all who would accept; repent, become apart of the kingdom of Jesus. Abandon your life and its pain, give it to him and take up his life, freely offered. Become new, become whole and live as a completely transformed person. Live as a person with the same incomparable power in you that brought the Messiah back to life. He breathed again in spite of the great power of the death of all creation focused on him. You can wield that power through the same weapons he used to save you. By love, by grace, by forgiveness, by hope and by kindness you can vanquish the warriors of hell and build a kingdom in the heart of people that will last for all eternity, unchallengeable. You do not need anything else but Jesus.
How can this battle and its victory play out in every day life? You and I can walk with Jesus. Our lives can be worship to him and healing to those around us. We can offer a kind word, serve in a simple practical way, pray, share food and drink and time, fix a broken gate, mend a torn shirt or listen to a story. We can fix computers, wash dishes, help with math homework and play catch in the street. These are not simple, weak things in the Kingdom of God – they are His weapons of mass destruction. In this way, measured in this way, defined in opposition to the world, the kingdom of heaven is established by you and me. It is powerful beyond our comprehension or measurement by the power of he who has saved the world. His work and our faith to follow will restore all things to him who began it all.
Go, therefore, wherever you are led. Extend the invitation of Jesus and watch as he changes the hearts and lives of those he brings you to. Keep the faith, continue to grow side by side with those who are being saved with you. Do not become discouraged by the lies of the enemy that the world has believed all around you. After all, which is better; to work for the dissatisfying and temporary rewards of the world or to give yourself to the eternal and fully complete rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven? I’m just askin’…
As the creator reached into the still heart of his son, killed by the crushing weight of hopelessness, defeat and sorrow, new life came forth. Death evaporated in a black explosion of mist, sin washed away, diluted to nothingness by the everlasting source of love. Jesus rose and set forth a kingdom in which those who were powerless in the world became powerful. He has invited the weak to become strong, the poor to become rich and the lost to become found. He gives love to be given, forgiveness to be extended, hope, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and understanding; against which there is no defense.
The invitation is for all who would accept; repent, become apart of the kingdom of Jesus. Abandon your life and its pain, give it to him and take up his life, freely offered. Become new, become whole and live as a completely transformed person. Live as a person with the same incomparable power in you that brought the Messiah back to life. He breathed again in spite of the great power of the death of all creation focused on him. You can wield that power through the same weapons he used to save you. By love, by grace, by forgiveness, by hope and by kindness you can vanquish the warriors of hell and build a kingdom in the heart of people that will last for all eternity, unchallengeable. You do not need anything else but Jesus.
How can this battle and its victory play out in every day life? You and I can walk with Jesus. Our lives can be worship to him and healing to those around us. We can offer a kind word, serve in a simple practical way, pray, share food and drink and time, fix a broken gate, mend a torn shirt or listen to a story. We can fix computers, wash dishes, help with math homework and play catch in the street. These are not simple, weak things in the Kingdom of God – they are His weapons of mass destruction. In this way, measured in this way, defined in opposition to the world, the kingdom of heaven is established by you and me. It is powerful beyond our comprehension or measurement by the power of he who has saved the world. His work and our faith to follow will restore all things to him who began it all.
Go, therefore, wherever you are led. Extend the invitation of Jesus and watch as he changes the hearts and lives of those he brings you to. Keep the faith, continue to grow side by side with those who are being saved with you. Do not become discouraged by the lies of the enemy that the world has believed all around you. After all, which is better; to work for the dissatisfying and temporary rewards of the world or to give yourself to the eternal and fully complete rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven? I’m just askin’…
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