Saturday, March 22, 2014
Always Hopes
"No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised."
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
No One Hates Me
You know what bothers me the most about my "Christian walk" when I am really thinking about it?
No one hates me.
No one hates me! Not one that I know of really, truly hates me.
Jesus lived a life so radically loving, so highly offensive, and so stubbornly bent on truth, that He was hated for it. Mostly by what we would now call 'the church'. His people.
No one hates me.
I once heard someone talk about Jesus as the double-edged sword- with one side being love, and the other being truth. Honestly? Both are offensive. Those two things, in their purest forms... are offensive.
Because the Truth is that there really is only one way to the Father- and it for sure isn't through my good efforts. I could be the best person in the world- the kindest, most generous, most sacrificial person on the planet, and it's not going to get me into the good graces of God. And the Truth of love is that the person who has absolutely NO social awareness, or that person who is somewhat of a jerk and completely lacking in tact... or that person sitting next to me of very much opposing beliefs... is to be loved, and defended. That pro-choice, democratic, lesbian Buddhist. Is Jesus' friend.
But no one hates me.
Why? Because no one has reason to hate me! What Truth I have, and what Love I have... I keep to myself. Sure, I can sugar coat it under a mask of not wanting to offend, and there truly is that desire in me. But the greater desire is not to offend myself. Not to offend my reputation.
So I sit and listen while people mock that person at work that constantly smells, or the family member making a racial slur, or shoot- the things I say or think or feel or believe. Or how often I sit in uncomfortable silence when all that's bursting out of me is this gnawing desire to talk about Jesus.
I writhe in this setting of vanity, and blame my conditions for it, when there is a perfectly well-abled person sitting in my own silent chair not saying a blasted thing about it.
But no one hates me.
No one hates me.
"If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you." - Jesus.
I don't love like Jesus loves. And I don't stand for Truth like Jesus does. So no one hates me.
And I hate that.
"Oh wretched man that I am- who will rescue me from this body of death?! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
"Christ in me, the hope of glory."
"Be perfect therefore, as your Father in heaven is perfect."
Here's to perfection. Here's to letting Jesus talk for once. Here's to the prayer that He speak up before I filter His voice. Here's to loving so well that someone in the church hates me for it.
Here's to desperately seeking Jesus, and finding Him. And letting Him out.
"I came not to condemn the world, but to save it." -Jesus. Love. And Truth.
No one hates me.
No one hates me! Not one that I know of really, truly hates me.
Jesus lived a life so radically loving, so highly offensive, and so stubbornly bent on truth, that He was hated for it. Mostly by what we would now call 'the church'. His people.
No one hates me.
I once heard someone talk about Jesus as the double-edged sword- with one side being love, and the other being truth. Honestly? Both are offensive. Those two things, in their purest forms... are offensive.
Because the Truth is that there really is only one way to the Father- and it for sure isn't through my good efforts. I could be the best person in the world- the kindest, most generous, most sacrificial person on the planet, and it's not going to get me into the good graces of God. And the Truth of love is that the person who has absolutely NO social awareness, or that person who is somewhat of a jerk and completely lacking in tact... or that person sitting next to me of very much opposing beliefs... is to be loved, and defended. That pro-choice, democratic, lesbian Buddhist. Is Jesus' friend.
But no one hates me.
Why? Because no one has reason to hate me! What Truth I have, and what Love I have... I keep to myself. Sure, I can sugar coat it under a mask of not wanting to offend, and there truly is that desire in me. But the greater desire is not to offend myself. Not to offend my reputation.
So I sit and listen while people mock that person at work that constantly smells, or the family member making a racial slur, or shoot- the things I say or think or feel or believe. Or how often I sit in uncomfortable silence when all that's bursting out of me is this gnawing desire to talk about Jesus.
I writhe in this setting of vanity, and blame my conditions for it, when there is a perfectly well-abled person sitting in my own silent chair not saying a blasted thing about it.
But no one hates me.
No one hates me.
"If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you." - Jesus.
I don't love like Jesus loves. And I don't stand for Truth like Jesus does. So no one hates me.
And I hate that.
"Oh wretched man that I am- who will rescue me from this body of death?! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
"Christ in me, the hope of glory."
"Be perfect therefore, as your Father in heaven is perfect."
Here's to perfection. Here's to letting Jesus talk for once. Here's to the prayer that He speak up before I filter His voice. Here's to loving so well that someone in the church hates me for it.
Here's to desperately seeking Jesus, and finding Him. And letting Him out.
"I came not to condemn the world, but to save it." -Jesus. Love. And Truth.
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