"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." - Romans 5:1-2 ESV
This is such a loaded passage.
We have access to the grace we are standing in through (and because of) Jesus Christ.
Because of the fall people get disconnected from things they are standing in all the time. They lack access. They stand in a place but miss the beauty of their surroundings. They stand in a family but they are cut off from the warmth and connection of what a family is (or should be). They stand in marriages but lack intimacy.
We gain access to grace through Jesus Christ. We gain access to the knowledge that God is thinking kind thoughts about us. We are connected to the fact that we have favor with God based on the work and character of His Son. This access causes us to rejoice and have hope that God's 'glory' will be manifested in the world.
I see people get disconnected all the time. If the isolation happens and is sustained for long periods of time people start to get strange in their thinking. It is like they have spiritual oxygen deprivation.
Jesus is our access to intimacy. He is the master key that opens all doors. He is how we can have access to what is real and not imagined. Faith in Him can heal our other connections. Peace and justification come into our lives and we get restored over time.
"For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband..." - 1 Corinthians 7:14a ESV
Yes. Holiness can enter the home, workplace or nation because of one believing person who has access to what they are standing in.
--
Showing posts with label Intimacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intimacy. Show all posts
Friday, September 28, 2018
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Satisfying Needs Isn't Your Calling
'The need does not justify the calling.' -Unknown
This was a phrase I heard more than once in Bible College but as I sit here now searching I can't find a specific source for that quote. It is a small statement that has profoundly shaped my life.
"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." - Exodus 19:4 KJV
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." - John 14:3 KJV
Our calling is not a set of actions. We are called unto God Himself.
Needs are all around us. We create them and we are also used at times as a provision to meet them but that does not define our spiritual calling. If it did we would be easily manipulated.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
Your calling may lead you into seasons where you are continually surrounded by great needs but those needs still won't define your calling. The suffering you suffer is not your cross. Jesus' cross is your cross.
Jesus' life is our life.
"Others:
Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
-
She:
My beloved has gone down to his garden to the beds of spices, to graze in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies." - Song of Songs 6:1-3 ESV
Worship is part of your calling. Following. Pouring out your heart. Seeking His mind. Walking with Him, and others, as a disciple is the calling. Getting and answering to your new name (identity) is the calling.
Jesus said this when crucifixion day was close at hand.
"For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me." - Mark 14:7 ESV
Let's pick up His cross and live in a salvation that is finished and walk with our Messiah. He Is close at hand and our attention and focus can be on Him. Then we can have His glory in what we are doing instead of wrongly thinking we are 'doing something for God.'
--
This was a phrase I heard more than once in Bible College but as I sit here now searching I can't find a specific source for that quote. It is a small statement that has profoundly shaped my life.
"Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." - Exodus 19:4 KJV
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." - John 14:3 KJV
Our calling is not a set of actions. We are called unto God Himself.
Needs are all around us. We create them and we are also used at times as a provision to meet them but that does not define our spiritual calling. If it did we would be easily manipulated.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
Your calling may lead you into seasons where you are continually surrounded by great needs but those needs still won't define your calling. The suffering you suffer is not your cross. Jesus' cross is your cross.
Jesus' life is our life.
"Others:
Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?
-
She:
My beloved has gone down to his garden to the beds of spices, to graze in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies." - Song of Songs 6:1-3 ESV
Worship is part of your calling. Following. Pouring out your heart. Seeking His mind. Walking with Him, and others, as a disciple is the calling. Getting and answering to your new name (identity) is the calling.
Jesus said this when crucifixion day was close at hand.
"For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me." - Mark 14:7 ESV
Let's pick up His cross and live in a salvation that is finished and walk with our Messiah. He Is close at hand and our attention and focus can be on Him. Then we can have His glory in what we are doing instead of wrongly thinking we are 'doing something for God.'
--
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
Intermingling - Colossians - Part 42
I think many people have little empathy for others because they have never felt the pain another person has felt. Once you feel the pain you begin to understand. I think that is part of why hurting people hurt others. They want to be understood on an organic level.
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church," - Colossians 1:24 ESV
Today's word is 'complete / fill up / top off' (antanaplēroō - Strong's G466)
I like 'top off' for this word. I think the pain the writer felt helped him connect with Christ in empathy. It bridged the gap. Like overflow from a dam the water reached a level where it flows into the water on the other side and intermingled with it.
Some people are hard to get to know. There is no place of true intermingling.
I think young men experiment with relationships with women to get sex and young women experiment with sex to get a relationship. The problem is that intermingling on that level does not necessarily produce intimacy. Feeling what another person feels and thinking what a person thinks is the basis of a real relationship. Men often don't want to commit because they are afraid to feel. Their biology prevents it. The testosterone wash that floods the brain in the womb and then at puberty makes them emotionally retarded in comparison to a woman but it also makes him detached enough to do what has to be done in emotionally charged situations.
One of the things I have grown to appreciate about confrontational evangelism is the rejection. That may sound masochistic to some and let me tell you I hated it at first. Who doesn't want to be loved? Then I saw that if I was in tune with God the people weren't rejecting me. They were rejecting Christ in me and that created a true shared experience with my Savior. I became sad for Him and not myself. I also rejoiced for Him and not myself when people responded. I was feeling what He feels and He Is feeling what I feel.
The natural man avoids pain and exposure. Deep down it is guilty and does not want the light to reveal it's deeds, thoughts and emotions.
"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed." - John 3:19-20 ESV
Jesus hung naked and exposed on a cross but He wasn't ashamed. He is not ashamed of you either. He desires intimacy. He isn't a fair weather friend who is just looking for laughs. He knows you. He has experienced your pain already. The question is... will you think and feel with Him. That is the heart of discipleship... walking with God and having shared experiences.
--
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church," - Colossians 1:24 ESV
Today's word is 'complete / fill up / top off' (antanaplēroō - Strong's G466)
I like 'top off' for this word. I think the pain the writer felt helped him connect with Christ in empathy. It bridged the gap. Like overflow from a dam the water reached a level where it flows into the water on the other side and intermingled with it.
Some people are hard to get to know. There is no place of true intermingling.
I think young men experiment with relationships with women to get sex and young women experiment with sex to get a relationship. The problem is that intermingling on that level does not necessarily produce intimacy. Feeling what another person feels and thinking what a person thinks is the basis of a real relationship. Men often don't want to commit because they are afraid to feel. Their biology prevents it. The testosterone wash that floods the brain in the womb and then at puberty makes them emotionally retarded in comparison to a woman but it also makes him detached enough to do what has to be done in emotionally charged situations.
One of the things I have grown to appreciate about confrontational evangelism is the rejection. That may sound masochistic to some and let me tell you I hated it at first. Who doesn't want to be loved? Then I saw that if I was in tune with God the people weren't rejecting me. They were rejecting Christ in me and that created a true shared experience with my Savior. I became sad for Him and not myself. I also rejoiced for Him and not myself when people responded. I was feeling what He feels and He Is feeling what I feel.
The natural man avoids pain and exposure. Deep down it is guilty and does not want the light to reveal it's deeds, thoughts and emotions.
"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed." - John 3:19-20 ESV
Jesus hung naked and exposed on a cross but He wasn't ashamed. He is not ashamed of you either. He desires intimacy. He isn't a fair weather friend who is just looking for laughs. He knows you. He has experienced your pain already. The question is... will you think and feel with Him. That is the heart of discipleship... walking with God and having shared experiences.
--
Friday, July 8, 2016
Knowing A Person
Knowing someone's value system is a key part of knowing them. Their value system is just below the surface of their actions. It is very possible to see someone everyday and joke with them but not know them very well. Then they say something that gives a glimpse of what is under the surface and the person is seen.
I think it is shocking that you can know someone for just a short times and become fast friends but with other people you spend years and years with them but never really know them.
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6 ESV
"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." - Hebrews 3:12-14 ESV
This morning I was musing about the difference between faith and 'hyper-spirituality'. A hyper-spiritual person reads meaning into every action and relationship. There are demons lurking in the shadows. God is doing this and He is not doing that.
The spiritual people I have known share a couple of qualities. Those qualities are expressed in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6. They recognize God's presence in situations and have knowledge and/or awareness of His value system. Spiritual people are friends of God. They may be to humble to admit it... but they are. They 'think with God' on some level.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV
A very simple minded person can be friends with a genius. The simple minded person can't know what a genius will do to solve a complex problem because the two don't think on the same level but the simple man can know his friend's character and value system and they can have oneness on a primal level.
I don't know what God is going to do today. His level of thinking is beyond me. I feel privileged to get glimpses. He tells me it pleases Him if I trust Him. He reveals that His value system is grace based. His merit system is based on His Son's perfect performance and not on my flawed performance.
"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." - 1 Corinthians 1:17 ESV
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." - Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Let's have a day (and weekend) where our words fall into two categories. Let's tell of the good news that God has a grace value system and let's build each other up in grace.
God Is here right now. He Is with you in Your room. That awareness is primary.
Knowing that we can ponder what He is like and then act on it and He will be very pleased that we are trusting Him. He is already pleased with us because of His Son but we can enter into that pleasure in our experience when we trust Him knowing something about what He values and cares about.
--
I think it is shocking that you can know someone for just a short times and become fast friends but with other people you spend years and years with them but never really know them.
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6 ESV
"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." - Hebrews 3:12-14 ESV
This morning I was musing about the difference between faith and 'hyper-spirituality'. A hyper-spiritual person reads meaning into every action and relationship. There are demons lurking in the shadows. God is doing this and He is not doing that.
The spiritual people I have known share a couple of qualities. Those qualities are expressed in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6. They recognize God's presence in situations and have knowledge and/or awareness of His value system. Spiritual people are friends of God. They may be to humble to admit it... but they are. They 'think with God' on some level.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV
A very simple minded person can be friends with a genius. The simple minded person can't know what a genius will do to solve a complex problem because the two don't think on the same level but the simple man can know his friend's character and value system and they can have oneness on a primal level.
I don't know what God is going to do today. His level of thinking is beyond me. I feel privileged to get glimpses. He tells me it pleases Him if I trust Him. He reveals that His value system is grace based. His merit system is based on His Son's perfect performance and not on my flawed performance.
"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." - 1 Corinthians 1:17 ESV
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." - Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Let's have a day (and weekend) where our words fall into two categories. Let's tell of the good news that God has a grace value system and let's build each other up in grace.
God Is here right now. He Is with you in Your room. That awareness is primary.
Knowing that we can ponder what He is like and then act on it and He will be very pleased that we are trusting Him. He is already pleased with us because of His Son but we can enter into that pleasure in our experience when we trust Him knowing something about what He values and cares about.
--
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Ministers Of Reconciliation
"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." - Matthew 15:8-9 ESV
Intimacy is an unusual thing isn't it?
In Genesis chapter 32 Jacob feared his brother Esau and sent waves of gifts to his brother to try and make their meeting amicable. Then at the end of the chapter Jacob wrestles with an angel all night until the angel cripples him. That wrestling match gave Jacob a capacity to meet his brother in chapter 33.
Some people let others into their lives foolishly and others have walls up. Intimacy can happen if there is a capacity for it and it can be lost if that capacity is lost.
We all have people in our lives that we just don't know how to get through to don't we? Perhaps there are people that don't know how to get through to us also.
"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.' He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.' " - John 21:15-18 ESV
Peter denied Jesus three times and now Jesus gives three questions to Peter that unravel his denials one by one but what interests me is this morning is Jesus pointing Peter to the care of his flock because that care is a call to intimacy. He is drawing Peter down a road of maturity.
Peter turns a corner much like Jacob does after his wrestling match.
I don't want to live a life 'Honoring God with my lips' but having my heart be somewhere else. God is waiting to be gracious with open arms and there is intimacy there in His embrace.
I'm praying this morning for a number of people who want reconciliation but just don't know how to find it. They struggle and send waves of gifts but the walls stay firmly in place.
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 ESV
Yes. God give us creativity. Your righteousness gives us the ability to be true to our self. Please lead us and make us beacons of reconciliation to You.
--
Intimacy is an unusual thing isn't it?
In Genesis chapter 32 Jacob feared his brother Esau and sent waves of gifts to his brother to try and make their meeting amicable. Then at the end of the chapter Jacob wrestles with an angel all night until the angel cripples him. That wrestling match gave Jacob a capacity to meet his brother in chapter 33.
Some people let others into their lives foolishly and others have walls up. Intimacy can happen if there is a capacity for it and it can be lost if that capacity is lost.
We all have people in our lives that we just don't know how to get through to don't we? Perhaps there are people that don't know how to get through to us also.
"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.' He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.' " - John 21:15-18 ESV
Peter denied Jesus three times and now Jesus gives three questions to Peter that unravel his denials one by one but what interests me is this morning is Jesus pointing Peter to the care of his flock because that care is a call to intimacy. He is drawing Peter down a road of maturity.
Peter turns a corner much like Jacob does after his wrestling match.
I don't want to live a life 'Honoring God with my lips' but having my heart be somewhere else. God is waiting to be gracious with open arms and there is intimacy there in His embrace.
I'm praying this morning for a number of people who want reconciliation but just don't know how to find it. They struggle and send waves of gifts but the walls stay firmly in place.
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 ESV
Yes. God give us creativity. Your righteousness gives us the ability to be true to our self. Please lead us and make us beacons of reconciliation to You.
--
Friday, October 16, 2015
Our Father's Son
A man's identity is linked to who his father was. He might not know his father or he might know him very well. He might hate his father or he might put him on some kind of pedestal. The variations of possibilities are endless. There is an inescapable link and as men get older it becomes more apparent. Souls beget other souls. That is how God made us.
No matter who a man is or what kind of relationship he had with his genetic father (or other father figures) there are conflicts that arise in his soul that are linked to this father and son dynamic.
These days I don't think women are taught this concept but if they can get their minds around this idea then it will really help them understand the men in their life. This isn't something that can often be faced head on either. It is an issue that lingers near the blind spot of male perception and must be handled with great tact and care.
A man wants to be, needs to be, his own man but in a sense he never can be. If his father was an honorable man he walks in the shadow of that honor and if his father was a dishonorable one he has the conflict of knowing that no matter how honorable he is there might be a seed of the things that he sees and hates in him also. That is only one glimpse of a thousand different less definable reflections that are happening in a man's soul that he can't possibly be aware of.
Then there are the men who never knew their fathers. They live with no genetic mirror to give them a reflection so they wonder and have psychic loose ends that can't be tied up.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." - John 10:27-30 ESV
Wow. He Is the only man who ever lived who could say that He and His father were one and mean it like that!
"He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:11-14 ESV
The word translated 'right' in verse 12 is the Greek word exousia (Strong's G1849) and in other places it is translated as 'power' or 'authority'.
What does it mean to be God's son? What does it mean to be anyone's son?
As we get older all men find out what it is like to transform into our father's image.
There was and is no dysfunction in Jesus' relationship with His father and the miraculous thing is that there does not need to be dysfunction in our relationship with Him either.
Grace is the key. Grace and truth.
Grace opens the door for us to go to our Heavenly Father and be close to Him.
Some men have a genetic father or another older man they can go to that helps them along the way. Others never have that or the man they had that link with is gone now. Men age and men die. That is how life is. But those who have trusted in Christ have a Father in Heaven to go to. He sits on a throne... it is a throne of grace.
Our Earthly relationship points us to a greater eternal one if we are available to go there.
Can we put a price on that privilege? I can't.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' " - John 14:6 ESV
Once we have a Savior we also have a Heavenly Father. It is a package deal.
Amazing.
--
No matter who a man is or what kind of relationship he had with his genetic father (or other father figures) there are conflicts that arise in his soul that are linked to this father and son dynamic.
These days I don't think women are taught this concept but if they can get their minds around this idea then it will really help them understand the men in their life. This isn't something that can often be faced head on either. It is an issue that lingers near the blind spot of male perception and must be handled with great tact and care.
A man wants to be, needs to be, his own man but in a sense he never can be. If his father was an honorable man he walks in the shadow of that honor and if his father was a dishonorable one he has the conflict of knowing that no matter how honorable he is there might be a seed of the things that he sees and hates in him also. That is only one glimpse of a thousand different less definable reflections that are happening in a man's soul that he can't possibly be aware of.
Then there are the men who never knew their fathers. They live with no genetic mirror to give them a reflection so they wonder and have psychic loose ends that can't be tied up.
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." - John 10:27-30 ESV
Wow. He Is the only man who ever lived who could say that He and His father were one and mean it like that!
"He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:11-14 ESV
The word translated 'right' in verse 12 is the Greek word exousia (Strong's G1849) and in other places it is translated as 'power' or 'authority'.
What does it mean to be God's son? What does it mean to be anyone's son?
As we get older all men find out what it is like to transform into our father's image.
There was and is no dysfunction in Jesus' relationship with His father and the miraculous thing is that there does not need to be dysfunction in our relationship with Him either.
Grace is the key. Grace and truth.
Grace opens the door for us to go to our Heavenly Father and be close to Him.
Some men have a genetic father or another older man they can go to that helps them along the way. Others never have that or the man they had that link with is gone now. Men age and men die. That is how life is. But those who have trusted in Christ have a Father in Heaven to go to. He sits on a throne... it is a throne of grace.
Our Earthly relationship points us to a greater eternal one if we are available to go there.
Can we put a price on that privilege? I can't.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' " - John 14:6 ESV
Once we have a Savior we also have a Heavenly Father. It is a package deal.
Amazing.
--
Friday, July 31, 2015
From Hostile To Hospitable
I was thinking today about levels of welcome and hospitality in gatherings. Here is a little list a made as the day progressed:
- There are places that we are not allowed to be and if we show up we will be thrown out.
- Some places we are not welcome but will be tolerated with some hostility if we are there
- Some places are open to us but no one notices if we are not there.
- Then there are public gathering where everyone is welcome but it is impersonal
- Some place are public and you are noticed and recognized by a few people
- Higher on the scale are places where people are invited but if we are not there we are not missed if absent
- Even higher is the personal invitation
- Higher still is the event where we have been invited and if we don't show up we are missed
- Farther up is the gathering where the host will make special arrangements to get us there if needed and wants to lock down a commitment
- Maybe a notch higher is the group that is willing to come to us if need be because they desire our company.
- Then there is the gathering that won't be the same if we are not there
There are many grades in-between aren't there. Grades of hostility, indifference, welcome, true hospitality and friendship.
Here are a couple of examples of God's hospitality.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." - Revelation 3:20 ESV
"In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going... I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." - John 14:2-4, 18-20 ESV
We are wanted in Heaven... truly deeply wanted.
God is willing to come and get us so that we will be there. Evil is not welcome but those who are washed in the blood of Christ and wear the ever white new robe of righteousness that God gives to every believer in Christ are not only welcome... they are wanted and known.
God doesn't just tolerate people. He desires and misses people. He loves the group and each individual in the group.
Jesus hated the shame of the cross but it was needed to open the door so that anyone who believed would be able to come home. Anyone... Yes... but not just anyone.... you... He did it for you personally.
Oh God help me to show people that they are wanted. Fill me with Your love so that people will see Your open door. Let me have Your sense of hospitality. No one loves like You love.
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- There are places that we are not allowed to be and if we show up we will be thrown out.
- Some places we are not welcome but will be tolerated with some hostility if we are there
- Some places are open to us but no one notices if we are not there.
- Then there are public gathering where everyone is welcome but it is impersonal
- Some place are public and you are noticed and recognized by a few people
- Higher on the scale are places where people are invited but if we are not there we are not missed if absent
- Even higher is the personal invitation
- Higher still is the event where we have been invited and if we don't show up we are missed
- Farther up is the gathering where the host will make special arrangements to get us there if needed and wants to lock down a commitment
- Maybe a notch higher is the group that is willing to come to us if need be because they desire our company.
- Then there is the gathering that won't be the same if we are not there
There are many grades in-between aren't there. Grades of hostility, indifference, welcome, true hospitality and friendship.
Here are a couple of examples of God's hospitality.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." - Revelation 3:20 ESV
"In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going... I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." - John 14:2-4, 18-20 ESV
We are wanted in Heaven... truly deeply wanted.
God is willing to come and get us so that we will be there. Evil is not welcome but those who are washed in the blood of Christ and wear the ever white new robe of righteousness that God gives to every believer in Christ are not only welcome... they are wanted and known.
God doesn't just tolerate people. He desires and misses people. He loves the group and each individual in the group.
Jesus hated the shame of the cross but it was needed to open the door so that anyone who believed would be able to come home. Anyone... Yes... but not just anyone.... you... He did it for you personally.
Oh God help me to show people that they are wanted. Fill me with Your love so that people will see Your open door. Let me have Your sense of hospitality. No one loves like You love.
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