I love my God. He is my Creator, my Father, and my Redeemer. He is my strength when I am weak. He is my constant in a world of change. He has a way of lifting my spirits when I’m down, and casting light on a dark situation. He gives me a purpose and value as His child. He is gentle, yet firm. Forgiving, yet just. Brilliantly creative, astoundingly incomprehensible. He knows the perfect time to be angry, but graciously draws those in who have regrettably done Him wrong. He doesn’t put up with disorder, and makes clear His ways. What is the point of this life but to know Him? Not to better ourselves, but to be made complete by His touch. He has breathed life into our lungs, fashioned the shape of our flesh, and continues to mold and shape our spirit and our character into the likeness of His Image. Friends, it saddens me that so many think of religion as a means to be good, or a set of morals and beliefs. Perhaps that is religion, but it’s not Jesus. Knowing your Creator in an intimate way is life-giving. He knows your deepest hurts, your ugliest scars, your guiltiest moments. And He loves you. He loves you in spite of what He knows of you, and loves you enough to walk with you through a journey of change and growth, setbacks and failures, joys and triumphs. Clichés and formulas and rules to follow are not what Jesus intended for us. He is real, and though many of us claim to believe in Him, I think sometimes we forget that He is real. I do. To talk the talk and say the right words is easy. To know deep in your soul the amazing Truth and the Life of Christ is overwhelmingly powerful and you can’t help but radiate His light from your being. The world needs to see that, but it’s scary to be passionate about Someone whom so many can’t see and don’t understand. Does anyone know they need forgiveness anymore? Has anyone done that of which they are truly ashamed? Jesus forgives those who ask Him. And He covers you with so much love and grace that you don’t want to do whatever bad thing you did ever again. You don’t want to disappoint Him. It’s not easy to admit my failures. Sometimes I don’t even recognize them until my loving God points them out to me. Sometimes He uses the words of my husband to show me my selfishness. Sometimes He uses a pastor’s sermon, or words on a page, or a comment by a coworker. And sometimes it’s a gentle whisper to my heart to show me where I went wrong. It’s out of love that He does this. He wants to heal me and make me better, but first I need to know my weaknesses, so that I can ask for His forgiveness and strength. Many say that they don’t need to be religious to be a good person. In a sense that’s true. Many non-religious people put me to shame in the areas of generosity and kindness and other good things. But the truth is that none of us, religious or non-religious, are good enough by God’s standards. Only God is truly one hundred percent good. It doesn’t do me any good to compare myself to others, because God demands perfection, and of that we all fall terribly short. Comparing myself to Jesus is a surefire way to a humble heart. The point of “God” and “religion” isn’t to be a good person; it’s to be a forgiven person. And no list of rules and commandments can offer forgiveness—only a Person can. Only Jesus can. So if you don’t know Jesus, no religion in the world can save you. It’s just not how it works. I love Jesus. I love that He cares about the details of my life. I love that He’s always there for me. I love that He forgave me, and I love that because of Him I don’t need to fear death, or what comes after death, because I know with certainty I will be eternally with my God who created me and loves me. Jesus died for my sins, and rose again conquering death. That’s a God worth loving! The Apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:14-18 sum up my heart on this: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
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AuthorFull time office worker, full time wife, and full time lover of Jesus. I'm kind of a Bible nerd, and I have a passion for finding ways to introduce Jesus in a practical way to everyday people doing everyday things. Archives
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