Serve One Another in Love no. 8

“The ends are the means.” Too often folks focus on the ends and neglect the means by which we achieve those ends. Very often philosophy gets mixed into Christianity and forms a whole new system. We see it often in denominations we do not particularly like. We see it often in folks that have a different political ideology than us. We see it often in folks that have a different understanding of The Bible than us. BUT we rarely see how our own lived experience influences our own relationship with God.

I grew up extremely Pentecostal. After a decade of frustration with the church of my youth, I set out looking at other churches. I gave up on churches after a while and eventually gave up on having a personal relationship with God. I got back into church because my girlfriend in college was Catholic. So, I started going to mass with her. At that point, church was a harmless diversion. And for many decades after, I still attended with her a lot more than most Catholics. I went all the time, however, my relationship with God was still adversarial. I was not ready to give church people a chance. And rightfully so. Church people can be quite the hindrance. When I did get back into having a relationship with God, I asked that I not be a hypocrite. All I want out of this walk is to not be a hindrance to others like some others were a hindrance in my walk. I just wanted to serve others by being an example of what I saw in Him. And in order to do that, the way I live my life is more important than getting to Heaven.

I think I can honestly say that I don’t care about getting to Heaven. It is not one of the main things that consumes my thoughts about God and life. What does concern me is how I live my life as an Ambassador of His Kingdom. How I carry myself as His representative is ultimately more important to me than Heaven and hell. I worry less about the destination than I do the journey that is eventually going to lead to my reunion with Him. And I think that shapes my philosophy, my ideology, my politics, and my life a lot more than worry. Jesus tells us so often to not be afraid, however, many folks preach fear. I started this journey to not be afraid. There was plenty of fear in the world. There is much more hope in Jesus than fear. And I wanted to live a life that showed that understanding. 

How we live our life is an image of God. We just have to figure out what that life is telling us about the God we image. The way we live our lives shows God to the world. What kind of God am I showing others?

Serve His Kingdom by serving one another in love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

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

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherIn Love #NotMyWayYHWH

Serve One Another In Love no. 7

“But as for me, because I tell the truth you don’t believe me” (Yochanan (Jhn) 8:45). We live in a culture obsessed with truth. Often folks are looking to make their own truth, redefine truth, or keep a limited understanding of truth. But in a culture that only wants to hear their own words repeated back, research and study are replaced with agreement and echoes. Research and study will sometimes prove that you are wrong while agreement and echoes only reinforce that you are right. When I research and study, I have to be open to the possibility that I am wrong. And far too often in my life God reveals that what I have thought was wrong. That doesn’t mean that I was totally wrong about things, however, that as I grow in learning about Him more truth is revealed to deepen my understanding of Him. 

I am so glad that my knowledge of God is ever growing and ever changing. If I had the same understanding of God that I did last week, last month, last year, or a decade ago, then it would show very little growth. And I think that sort of metacognitive reflection about our walk with Jesus is important. I used to be all too comfortable in my understanding of God. I thought I had it all figured out because I didn’t want to change. Comfortability in thought does not lead to growth. And God has done everything He can to make me as uncomfortable as possible over the past few years. He has moved me to go places and do things that were not comfortable at first. When I entered my first prayer group, I was not comfortable BUT I went anyway because that is where God led me. When I started going back to church, I was not comfortable BUT I went anyway because that is where God led me. God leads me into a lot of places where I am not comfortable at first. The great thing about where He leads is that it is where He wants me to be. And even though I may feel uncomfortable at first, He does not leave me there alone. And the glorious thing is that I typically figure out that I belong there and feel really comfortable in little time.

God is always telling us the truth even when that truth makes us uncomfortable, especially when that truth makes us uncomfortable because He needs me to change. I am working on perfection. I am not there yet. And how am I going to get perfect without letting Him change me? So, instead of looking for our own truth or redefining the truth or, most importantly, being comfortable with our own understanding of the truth, I need to step out into where He leads to learn more of what He wants to reveal. Are you listening to where He leads or are you comfortable?

Serve His Kingdom by serving one another in love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

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

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherIn Love #NotMyWayYHWH