Bridges part 3
Bridges connect us by making a way over the gaps. Love binds and holds us together. It seems like "human nature" to either build walls--to keep things in or out--or to destroy everything in sight. Burn it all to the ground. Scorched earth. What we don't seem to understand is that GOD is the consuming fire, and He doesn't burn down... He burns UP. He consumes everything except Himself--remember when Moses saw the burning bush the thing that stood out was that the bush itself wasn't being consumed--and He leaves only Himself. Only love. That's what happened on the cross, at the Messianic rebirth of the world. That's what happened when Jesus gave His life for us and gave His life to us. He built a bridge. Do you know why the book of Hebrews can boldly state that everything is under our feet? Because we have ascended. I like the idea of being "in the world, but not of the world," but the truth of the matter is that the world passed away. We're in the Kingdom. Because the Kingdom is within us! We don't have to operate by the world's standards. We don't have to stumble around in the dark. The light is shining! The light that's in us, and the light that IS us! It always blows me away that when Jesus said, "You are the light of the world--like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5:14 NLT) He said it BEFORE the cross! He was looking INTO us, instead of looking AT us, and He was revealing our true identity to us. He was speaking that same Word that God spoke in the beginning: LET there be light. The light was always there. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. But what needed to happen was for us to let it be. For us to stop trying to be someone we're not and just be who we are. But we had to see it in order to be it. Jesus had to shine the light before we could shine. Like the butterfly, remember? He fluttered His wings, showing us how to fly. It's always upward and God-ward. Fire burns UP. Bridges carry us OVER things. We have OVERcome by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our (His) testimony. And what is our (His) testimony? That He loved us so much that He'd rather die than be without us. That He poured His Spirit out on all flesh in order to build a bridge so that we could connect on that eternal level of Spirit to Spirit, holy to holy. We don't have to agree on every little thing. We can major on the majors and minor on the minors. As long as we build on the foundation that is Christ. The foundation that is love. Love covers the multitude of sins right? Love covers ALL sin. We don't have to let anything come between us. And I'm not saying we have to participate in everything, but I am saying there's no condmnation in Christ. We can let people be who they are without judging them or trying to change them. We can build bridges instead of walls. Because that what Jesus did for us. And that's what He continues to do IN us!