Flies part 5
"With me" is, in my humble opinion, one of the most important concepts in existence. And it all goes back to Genesis 2:18, "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make an help meet for him." Think about it: Human beings do not function well on their own. We get lonely. We make bad decisions. "Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety" (Proverbs 11:14), right? What I'm trying to say is, we're better together. Jesus is altogether lovely. And that means that WE (Jesus, the body of Christ) are lovely altogether. And when we understand that we are all parts of the same body, that SHOULD eliminate a lot of the walls we build up. That SHOULD eliminate a lot of the condemnation we heap on each other--and ourselves--when we compare ourselves to each other. And when we understand that we are all DIFFERENT parts of the SAME body... then we can stop trying to change each other. What good would a body be with only hands and no feet? Or only ears and no mouths? (Although we do have TWO ears and ONE mouth for a reason.) What I'm trying to say (again) is that we are all special and unique little snow flakes. No, really, we are. There are things I can do that you can't. And there are things that you can do that I can't. And it's only when we work together that we can do everything. I heard a preacher say it like this once, "If God brought the people of Israel out of Egypt with just His arm... what do you think He could do with His whole body?" So instead of trying to make everybody fit into a religious mold that NOBODY fits into anyway, we need to let people be who they are. We need to show people a more excellent way, and that more excellent way is love. Loving people just the way they are. Right where they're at. Building bridges instead of walls. Inviting them to come with us, arms open wide like Jesus' on the cross, instead of commanding and demanding that they do things our way. Because even if our way is the "right way" you can't MAKE someone do something they don't want to do. It has to come from within. Luckily, that's where love is. So instead of trying to force something external on people, we can connect with people on a deeper level. Spirit to Spirit. Holy to holy. Deep calling out to deep. The Jesus in me connecting with the Jesus in you (whether you know He's in there or not) by the LOVE in me connecting to the LOVE in you! You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. That was the whole point of this Rant series. "Catching" people, or "saving souls," or however you want to say it... by being nice. By being merciful, and graceful. By showing love. Receiving and releasing the love our heavenly Father has filled us with. Representing God correctly by showing people love. God IS love. That's not just what He does... that's who He is. And that's what's attractive. That's what people want, and more importantly, what they need. And it's what we have. So it's what we can give. What we can share. It's the honey (of revelation) and the milk (of righteousness) that flows from the Promised Land of rest. It's telling people WHO THEY ARE instead of telling poeple what to do. And it's what the Gospel-- the good new of who we are in Christ, because of who Christ is in us--is all about!