No King BUT Christ no. 9

“When he was insulted, he didn’t retaliate with insults; when he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but handed them over to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the stake, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness — by his wounds you were healed. For you used to be like sheep gone astray, but now you have turned to the Shepherd, who watches over you” (1 Kefa (1 Pe) 2:23-25). I need to die to my sins and live for righteousness BUT what happens when I disguise my sin as righteousness? What happens when I haven’t changed my heart BUT only my mind? What happens when I am not transformed by the Good News of His Kingdom? I insult, I retaliate, I threaten, I go astray.

There is a lot of grumbling against brothers and sisters in Jesus, “'Don’t grumble against one another, brothers, so that you won’t come under condemnation — look! the Judge is standing at the door” (Ya'akov (Jas) 5:9)! There are so many divisions to argue over that the Spirit, that is supposed to unify, is replaced with a worldly spirit of divisiveness. “Always be humble, gentle and patient, bearing with one another in love, and making every effort to preserve the unity the Spirit gives through the binding power of shalom . There is one body and one Spirit, just as when you were called you were called to one hope. And there is one Lord, one trust, one immersion, and one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all” (Ephesians (Eph) 4:2-6). And being humble, gentle, and patient which leads to peace and unity is often cast aside for being right and winning debates. The Spirit is unity. The Spirit is, “. . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things” (Galatians (Gal) 5:22-23). And too often I lose sight of that because the world is still in my flesh and in my heart.

I have not been back in the Church very long. I spent a lot of time out amongst the Goyim while going to church. And the Goyim have a ‘true believer’ obsession. I am certain you are accustomed to hearing folks say things like “Well, if you believe that then you aren’t a real . . .” and insert whatever label you like. You might not be a real American or libertarian or man or whatever. When we start saying that folks are not real Christians then we start moving into that ‘true believer’ and Goyim idea of judging others. Ultimately, it is not my job to sit in judgment on whether folks are ‘real’ or ‘truly’ anything. I have a lot of work to do in loving God and my neighbor. When I get that part down, I should then think about judging whether someone else has the right theology. A lot of folks that are saved by grace are too worried about folks thinking and doing the wrong thing. I either trust that God will figure it out or I don’t. And I want to trust in Him a lot more than I want to trust in me figuring everything out perfectly. And if that makes me a hypocrite at times, if that makes folks question my theology, if that makes folks think I am not a ‘true believer’ then I suppose that is something else I need to work out in prayer with Him. What I need to work out with you is 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 #NotMyWayYHWH