We have this amazing ability to find acceptance in the things we do, thinking that makes us who we are. We go to church because we can gain love from strangers. We help our friends and family, thinking that they will love us more. We make cookies and by them dinner. We sing and dance. We love on the sole purpose of getting loved back. But what happens when we don't get loved back? What happens when the people we seek approval from are the very people who deny us in the end? Where is our worth then? Who do we become when no one is looking? Who do we become when we are hurt? Who do we seek for love from when there is no one around? We go to church to get love but that is twisted and backwards. We should go to church because we have become love and want to share it. Christianity: A full contact, hands on, life or death sport. It hasn't been every day that I wake up with the felling of "GOd came a knockin'" and I feel like that, in of itself, is a shame. My old friend woke me up this morning around 6 AM and has been sharing with me since. Oh man, it's been so good.
The main point? Worth . . . or rather, where I get my worth from. We all know the answer but how many of us actually live it out? I find that on any given day I tend to base my worth on circumstance: Friends, family, loved ones, work, fill in the blank. Yet, none of these paid the highest price for my reconciliation to God. That was Jesus Christ.
Jesus. Jesus, man. His name, alone, sends my heart pumping. All of us know he was crucified. Some even know what that means, as far as Roman death sentences go. But feel with me here: A man, guilty of nothing, was flogged by a cat with nine tails until his back was no longer recognizable as human. A crown of thorns were placed upon his head, sinking deep into his skull. He was covered in purple robes, mocking his authority as king. As he carried is cross, he was fed gall. Then, after his clothes were drawn for by lots, he was nailed to the cross by his hands and feet. After asking for water, he was given wine mixed with vinegar, said "It is finished." And then passed. When they came to break his legs, they found that he was already dead and pierced him with a spear, thus fullfilling God's word! Jesus suffered that. . . for me. Yet, when the going gets rough and I start thinking about all that is going wrong, I begin to cry out, "Jesus, help me! I can't possibly bear this alone. Fix this mess you allowed me to get into. Don't forsake me! Don't leave me! Help!" and instantly forget that he already saved me. That I am already a son. That I am loved and accepted by the God of the Universe!
It's in that moment, when I forget who I am, that the Devil rears his head. Not before, but after. When I am rooted in the arms of the one who overcame, overcomes, and is overcoming all Sin that I cannot be touched by the Devil. When I turned to Christ, I had to sacrifice all that I had. Mark 8:34 "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (KJV) Luke 9:23 "If any person wills to come after me, let him deny himself [disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself] and take up his cross daily an follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying also]." (AMP) Matthew 10:38 "Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me." (NIV) Luke 14:25-27 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." (ESV) The problem is . . . I didn't.
I am finding this to be true, more and more, with most of my brothers and sisters. We forget who we are the moment the Devil trips us up with something we didn't let go of and beats us over the head with it. What he doesn't want is for us to remember who we are. We are sons and daughters, accepted and loved by God, through Christ crucified. Think about it! Look at that last verse! "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sistser." That's crazy! Our God is a loving God, right? But here he is saying that if we do not hate our own families and friends, our own children, or our own lives, we cannot be with Him! Why would a God of love and grace tell us to hate? This is where we get messy. God is not saying "hate" in the way we know the word hate. He is not telling us to dispise them. This would contradict God. He is saying, "love me most because when you love me most, you can love them more." He is saying give yourselves up because you cannot love them like I can. He saying be selfless and love through Him. He means be like Jesus! He means let go of everythinf so that the first thing you reach out for in every situation, in every waking moment, is Jesus.
To make it easier to understand, and borrowing from Todd White, "I am so free from me that I am free from you. You don't determine my day." Todd notoriously says, "You cannot reject me." How powerful is that?! Imaging being in a place that no matter what is said to you, no matter what is done to you, you cannot be rejected! That is being rooted in God! If your root, your worth, your acceptance is with Jesus Christ resurrected than nothing in the world can ever reject you. Nothing can denounce your worth. If there is one thing that I have taken from the messages I have received these last couple of days, it's that. The world has heard the gospel. They have heard it. They have seen us all on Evangelism Sunday with our pamphlets and good message Bibles. They know Jesus loves them even if they don't believe it. What they haven't seen is us. They don't know if we love them! They don't want the life we say there is because we don't live it. I don't live it. I've personally lost track of how many times Jesus has said, "Pray for that man. Pray for that woman. They need to know that I love them and that it is better now." What do I do? I cop out! "Whooooa ho hoooa. Wait a minute, Jesus. I Believe in you. But that is risky business. Pray for strangers? Don't ask me to stick my neck out and be rejected." That's scary, man! I claim Him as my faith but I won't represent his name! I won't share him with my own non-Christian friends unless asked? What faith is that?! Nononono! Jesus set me free! That means I am free from rejection! They don't reject me! They reject Him if they say no! I thump Fear with Jesus! Fear does not thump me!
Too many days I go from "bummer to bummer". I let one bad though get in and there goes the whole castle because I don't let God work me from the inside. God's camp is set up within me but I can't get by on just the word of my testimony and the blood of the lamb. What do you mean you cant?! Revelation 12:11 is a three-stage attack, man. The same theme as all of God's blessings. "And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. AND they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die." (NLT) Not afraid to die. What's the worst that can happen to you here on earth? You die. Where do you go when you die? Heaven. To be with the Father? Yes! . . . Is that bad? No. So are you afraid to die? . . . yes. . . . Okay. So what's the worst that can happen to you here on Earth? You die. Where do we go when we die? Heaven! To be with the Father! Fear . . . squashed it! Jesus died to reconcile those who believe in Him and take up their crosses to follow Him, leaving all behind as a past, dead life, who die to gain life and hunger after Jesus with there whole heart. He died for those who surrender each thought and bring under command every word they think or speak into the authority of Jesus Christ, and by doing so, live a life lived by the life of the Holy Spirit.
I will end this with a challenge for myself and for those who claim Jesus as their armor, their comforter, their provider. I am not here for me. I am not praying for me. I am not living for me. I am living for Jesus which means I am living for you, praying for you, and letting Jesus love you even when I cannot. I challenge us to not let others affect our life lived in Jesus. I challenge us to bring Jesus in and crank up the heat. No matter what is said or done to you, respond with the love of Jesus. First thing in the morning, thank God for not giving us what we deserved (which is Hell for those who are wondering). Thank God for what we go through in the day to day is irrelevant when considering what Christ suffered for us to have this day of mercy. We share his sufferings and his blessings (see Philippians 3:10). We will be persecuted in the eyes of the world. But Jesus has already saved us. God has already rooted us in Him. So it doesn't matter unto death. Love the way He loves. Live the way He lives. Be transformed by him and strip yourself of the mentality of expecting God to cater to your life. He wants to transform it, not just make it better. He wants to make it great! Thank God for all that he has done, no matter how small or inconsequential it seems. When we pray, pray with thanks for all that he is doing, seen and unseen. Pray with expectance of it being fulfilled (see Matthew 17:20). Jahova jireh: The Lord will provide, the Lord has seen it, and the Lord will see to it.
Thank you for your time. A lot of this was inspired by a few messages that the Lord has used to move my heart this week. Below are the links to them. They are powerfull and will move you. They will transform you, no matter where you are in your faith. I promise.
It's Not About You by Todd White:
Lifestyle Christianity by Todd White:
Power and Love Ministries (Session 1)
