Basics part 1
I like to get deep. Sometimes. With certain people. Because there are people in my life where I can send them a text with a memory verse and it'll be exactly what they need. And there are people in my life that I can talk about all of the crazy God stuff (LOVE stuff) that rattles around in my head most of the time. But those people are kind of few and far between. But for the most part, and the reason that my ministry is called Word Without Walls, I believe that people need a steady dose of the basics. The ultimate truth of the universe. "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand" (John 3:35). God is love and He loves you. And, somewhat unfortunately, that seems like a radical message. Because the idea of a wrathful, distant, angry God who is just waiting for you to mess up so He can strike you down is so prevalent in our society. When a "bad guy" dies and the outcry is, "He's finally in hell where he belongs!" And my first, last, and only thought is: Where is the love? I understand being sympathetic towards victims and their families. But love is all imcompassing. God sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. He drew ALL men into Himself when He was lifted up from the earth on the cross. God is love and He loves you. No matter who you are. No matter what you've done. Love is unconditional. It's God's nature. And at the end of the day, that's who you are. In sports they say you are who your record says you are. If you don't win enough games to make it into the playoffs, it doesn't matter how talented you think you are--you're not a playoff team. So, again, basics. Knowing who you are. So that you can stop trying to be someone you're not. No matter how hard you try, you'll never be able to be anybody other than who God created you to be. Because God created you to be... you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Before you were even a gleam in your parents' eyes, God knew everything about you. And He loved you. You think there's so much wrong with you, but Jesus came to show you what's right with you. To show you the Father. To show you the Father's LOVE by showing you that you are His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. To show you that you don't have to try to get anything, because your heavenly Father has already given you everything. He gave you His very life. His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life. A life of love. A life of being loved, and loving with that love. Letting God love you, and loving Him back by loving others. Receiving and releasing the gift you've been given. I feel like I only have one story to tell, and I'm just trying to find different ways to make it hit home. God is love. And He loves you. That's it. That's what it's all about. Love is all you need. And, when you know and believe that ultimate truth of the universe, you know that love is what you have. What you've always had. And that will set you free and make you free. That will light a fire in you, and that light WILL shine. But it begins with getting back to basics. That one fundamental thought. That foundation stone. That Rock that we stand on, and build on. God is love. And He loves you.