Above All part 4
Sometimes we refer to God as a Higher Power, right? Well, I'm here to tell you that He is the HIGHEST power. Because He is love. And love is above all. But the amazing thing about love is that even though He IS above all... He came right down to us. He didn't expect us to jump a fence, or jump through hoops in order to get Him. He met us right where we were at. And, in fact and in truth, He was always right there with us. But let me say what I think I'm trying to say: "And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites" (Exodus 3:8). Love come down... to bring us up. To bring us up OUT of what we were stuck in. See, before the cross we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Adam ate from the tree of death, and on that day he surely died. And since he was humanity's representative at the time... when he died we died. We were, in a sense, IN Adam. But then on the cross Jesus drew us all into Himself. And then HE died. So that we could have a second death. So that we could die to death. So that death could die. And then we could have a new birth, as a new creature. THE (singular) New Man. The Son of man. The Son of God. Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. He came down from heaven, wrapped Himself in our sinful flesh, and brought us up out of all that mess. All that slavery. That bondage. And make no mistake, sin is NOT freedom. Sin is bondage. True freedom is being a prisoner of the Lord. Either way Christ's love controls us, right? Either we're chasing it because we think we don't have it (or don't deserve it), or we giving it away because we know and believe that we are loved. That we are LOVE. So God showed us strength by surrendering. Not by fighting. And the people that know me know that I don't like to fight. Its rare for me to argue at all. I'm usually content to let people believe whatever they want to believe. Because I believe the only fight worth fighting is the good fight of faith. Which is laying hold of eternal life. Receiving the gift we've been given by releasing the gift we've been given. Filling ourselves to overflowing with the love that God has filled us with. We don't need to--and can't--earn the gift of God. If you have to earn it, its not a gift. Its wages. And the wages spoken of in the Bible are the wages of sin. Which is death. Because sin is unbelief. Or believing the lie that says you have to do in order to be. Because the truth is, you do BECAUSE you be. The truth is you are the most powerful creature in the world. Because you have not only the capacity to love, but you are literally full of it. (And I always like to add that there are plenty of people who think I'm full of it, but the "it" in question here is love. So that's ok.) You have what everybody needs. The highest power there is. The power to come down, and meet people on their level, and love them. Right where they are. In just the way they need it. You can give love because you have love. Because you ARE love!