Embrace the Within no. 194

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’” [The sixth of the memorable “I am” statements. See note 6:35](John 14:6 AMP).

The Truth is the Truth. I don’t know if it can be any simpler or clearer than the way Jesus states it. He is Truth and Life. He is the only way to know the Father. Any true understanding I am going to gather about the Father is going to come through the Son revealed through the Spirit. It’s like there was this plan to have all three involved. Like there was some sort of divine plan where God said that I wouldn’t be able to understand the totality of Him so He needed to dumb it down so my feeble human understanding could grasp Him in parts. It’s almost like He chunks the assignment so we can get Him in whole through the pieces. And still I stumble over the forest because I forget to pay attention to the trees and shrubs and animals that inhibit the forest. I stumble and fumble over the details because I want the big picture of God and I just can’t ever grasp that. BUT I so want to grasp it.

I struggled for a long time with trying to reconcile what I saw in God with what my church saw in God. There was a lot of judgment. There was a lot of hypocrisy. There was a lot of wrath. There was a lot of vengeance. And I struggled with how folks could read the same words and not come to a similar understanding. Even now that I am back in churches, I feel that I am the only voice at the table. And if I am wrong in my understanding of Christ, then so be it. I am resigned to living in a relationship with God that reveals Himself as someone that is full of love and mercy and grace. I guess it’s all in how far you want to go in your relationship with God and who dictates the parameters of the relationship.

I don’t have any use for wrath and vengeance and judgment. I don’t get to handle those things. God gets to handle those things. So, I focus on the things God wants me to do. The things He lays out perfectly and simply in Matthew 5-7. I recommend that as a great starting point for understanding Jesus. There are great examples of how the Torah and Commandments of the Hebrews are being understood in the light of His Kingdom. In the Torah, the Commandments are there to guide the Hebrews while they are outside of Canaan and then the laws get expanded and adapted when they move into Canaan and then Jesus expands and adapts the laws as we move into His Kingdom. It’s like God reveals Himself a little portion at a time . . . in chunks . . . like He has a divine plan about all this. BUT how often have I missed that.

I want to jump so quickly into knowing and understanding God totally. I want to have His plan all mapped out and know what He’s doing and how it all works . . . BUT that isn’t my role. I need to tap the breaks. I need to slow down. I need to understand Jesus first. I need to look at how He reveals the Father. I need to look at His example. I need to listen to what He says. I need to let Him dictate how things are going to work. I need to get out of His Way.

And what I have found is that letting God lead is the only way this works.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 193

“We have therefore been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory and power of the Father, we too might walk habitually in newness of life [abandoning our old ways]. For if we have become one with Him [permanently united] in the likeness of His death, we will also certainly be [one with Him and share fully] in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:4-5 AMP).

I need to “. . . walk habitually in newness of life . . .” to walk in a way that shows Him. Hope is my confidence BUT faith is an action.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]” (2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP). Paul says new creature and not creature with some new additions. Paul doesn’t say creature with some modifications. Paul doesn’t say creature with a new spoiler or rims. Paul says a new creature which has let the old creature die.

I think that is the root of hypocrisy, at least, that has always been the root of mine. Having a heart that isn’t changed because I am keeping my old creature and just putting on a new coat of paint. BUT I need to let that creature die and get buried so I can resurrect as something new.

It’s easy to get caught up in the ways of the world. I live within the world. BUT, as followers of Jesus, I do not conform to the world. I am an Ambassador of His Kingdom. And that means a totally different way of doing things. That means doing things like Jesus did things. Walking and talking and acting like Him rather than my fallen family, friends, and nation. And that is going to take becoming a new creature in a lot of ways. That is going to take being open to taking up His cross and walking daily in His Will. It is going to take dying to who I was and who I am and following obediently. It is going to take all of who I was. BUT that walk is going to overflow who He wants.

Jesus gave me the best do over. I get to take advantage of cleaning the slate and starting over in His Way. I get to die and come back while I am alive today so that I can have confidence that when I go to the other side of eternity, the same transformation will occur. My walk today is modeling my future transformation. On the other side of eternity I will be totally and completely transformed. Why not take advantage of a small taste of that transformation today?

It is one thing to look forward to the confidence of eternity with Him BUT don’t forget that eternity is here and now. His Kingdom is here and now and forever, “'Now having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed or with a visible display; nor will people say, ‘Look! Here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For the kingdom of God is among you [because of My presence]’ (Luke 17:20-21 AMP). And I can allow Him to transform me today. Or I can choose to fight and boast and be proud. I have chosen to submit to my king.

We all have a choice. My body, my choice. God gives us the choice to go all in for Him. He provided the path and a rather simple and explained path forward with Him. All He wants is a relationship. And too often all I want to give Him are works. I want to treat this like a business transaction. I want to look at the ledger and see that the good things I do balance the bad things I do. That only cheapens the grace He gave. That only makes this into a transaction I can believe I can repay. Because once I understand I can’t repay Him. Once I understand this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Him. The more accepting I am that I need to change, then the more accepting I will be to make that change.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH