Listen and Live part 1
There's a cool story--in the sense that it is a type and shadow of Jesus, and He in fact refers to it when He is talking about the cross--where a serpent was lifted up on a pole in order to save people who were bit by snakes. And the moral of the story was, "Look and live." Because what you see is what you be. When you see the finished work of the cross you can begin to experience the fruit of Jesus' labor. Which is the fruit of the Spirit. Which is love. So for a long time I've had that phrase, "look and live" in my Spirit. Then, the other day, I came across John 5:25 in the NLT, "And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it's here now, when the dead will hear my voice--the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live." Which makes sense when you consider how important it is to have eyes to see AND ears to hear. And when you consider--and this is the point of this Rant series-- that, "...faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Yeah, I'm still stuck on faith. The same faith that grows like a mustard seed comes from HEARING the WORD. And, as we know, the Word of God is Jesus. The Word of God is love. So when we put these two ideas together what we see is that the dead (those who were dead in their trespasses and sins before the cross) hear the Word of God and live. Because they have something to believe in. They have someONE to believe in. They have LOVE to believe in. Guys, as simply as I can say it: Love is the difference between life and death. Look at 1 John 3:14, "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." Love is what makes the abundant life that Jesus came for us to have... abundant. Love is the truth that the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of truth--leads and guides us into. And love is THE measure of faith that God has dealt to every man. Jesus didn't just tell us about this love either. He put His money where His mouth was. He said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay his life down for his friends" (John 15:13). And then He went to the cross and did that very thing! He TOLD us and SHOWED us. Eyes to see AND ears to HEAR. What we see is what we be. But when we hear the Word of God faith explodes in our hearts. Even though that kind of selfless agape God-love can seem too good to be true, it is precisely what our hearts desire. And I'm convinced that no matter how hard someone heart is, no matter how much they think they are "guarding" their heart by keeping it closed off and shut down, when you hear, and see, and experience that kind of love from someone... it melts that hard heart. I personally think that was what the Apostle Paul was talking about when he said, "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head" (Romans 12:20). I don't think its about burning people, or punishing them. I think its about giving them what we've got. Because GOD is consuming fire. And if we're heaping GOD on someone's head that means we're heaping LOVE on someone's head. We hear the Word that we ARE loved, and then we live BY loving! That's what I'm trying to say in this Rant series. Listen... and live!