Did you ever stop to consider that in the light of this day and time, the world looks at Jesus as if He is the ultimate oddity? That He falls into the same category as the Easter bunny, tooth fairy, and the Brothers Grimm. Of course those of us who have been touched by the fire of forgiveness and salvation see this statement in an entirely different light.
Ran into some folks today who know of God, but by their actions and their choices you might conclude that they really don't know God. Sometimes we have a tendency to parrot what others have told us about God without ever coming to a experiential knowledge of God. In other words, we can give the book answers without every truly experiencing the life-changing power of being saved. As I stood and shared with them, they could quote some verses from Scripture but had never met the One who was central to the verses they shared. The message I shared seem to fall on deaf ears and hard hearts. My prayer is that God would speak to their hearts and they would come to a real knowledge of what it means to be saved.
I would love to start a club called "Goober's For God". The only qualification would be to know with the heart and not just the head that we are completely helpless to escape this world without Christ. Coming to this understanding will turn you to look to Christ for all the answers that have escaped you as you tried to live life on your terms. As some say in recovery "How's that working out? Not so good?"
Oh, we may have the ability to live a good life, but shouldn't we want more than to simply be good? Wouldn't you like to be Christlike? Not just act like Christ in your daily life, but to have access to the power that raised Him from the dead. The power of the Holy Spirit. Power...real power....power that could change you from the inside.
That our daily cry would be..."I CAN'T---BUT HE CAN!!" To not just say it, but live it. To shed ourselves of the things of this world that we think can get us through the day. What may be the greatest challenge would be to turn loose of the things we used to escape this world. Things we took into our bodies that would alter our mind and view of life. Things that created a false sense of reality, all the while the true reality was that we were committing suicide, only at a slower pace than someone who would check out in a single act of desperation.
Here is how I view myself and my life: I Corinthians 1:26-27 / Remember dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wide in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And He chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.
I don't mind being called foolish or backwards....ignorant or out of touch when it comes to my relationship with God. I'll go the whole "sticks and stones" thing. Part of my heart is prayer that God would raise up an entire army of "foolish" people....Kingdom people. That He would equip and up those who society and culture have deemed non-essential and have no worth to contribute. These are the very ones that God wants to redeem and set in order to reveal His value to humanity through their lives now changed by the Holy Spirit.
An army who will go and reach out in love with a message of hope to those who are still living on the edge of society...the outcasts.....the rejected.....those who are hurting and almost to the point of giving up. I Corinthians 1:18 / The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
John Wimber, Head of the Vineyard movement, made a statement that has never left my brain....."I'm a fool for Jesus.......whose fool are you?" So I guess that is the question we all need to ask ourselves today. "Whose fool are we?"
God on you...
mbb
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