Stand part 3
I didn't quite get to quote my memory verse yesterday, so I'm going to do it right from the jump today. "He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock" (Luke 6:48). Now, I want to put it out there right away that Jesus is the Rock. And the Man who built the house. Its all Him. But for our purposes today, my point is: Where your house is, is where you live. Where you can be yourself, if I can put it that way. And I see this all the time: people act differently depending on who they are with. I don't know if I'm too stubborn, or too... whatever... but that never made sense to me. Like Popeye, I yam what I yam. I don't know how to be anyone else. But there's a warning in Ephesians 4:14 that goes like this, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of me, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." Because that's what the world does--it accuses us, and lies to us, tries to deceive us and get us to be someone we're not. Tries to get us to play its game. You know, the one that says you have to do in order to be. The one that says you have to perform in order to get what you're longing for. And let me just say this: A while ago Logan wanted to buy a book from the store. So he shoveled snow until he earned enough money to buy it. That's ok. That's good, and right, and proper. Because when it comes to things like that, you DO have to put in the effort to get what you WANT. But that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about the basic human NEED of love. Of acceptance. Of forgiveness. Grace. Those are things that CANNOT be earned. Because those are the things that make up the GIFT of God. You know, eternal life. Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love. If you're trying to earn those things, you will always and forever be frustrated. Because those things cannot be earned. They are freely given, and must be received. That's that Rock that is our foundation. It (HE) is love. And, listen, sometimes you do have to dig down deep to find that love INSIDE YOURSELF. Because sometimes there's a lot of surface stuff in the way. The world screaming at you when all you long for is to hear that still, small voice of God saying, "I love you, I love you, I've always loved you. I WILL always love you." And when we get down to that level--by being still and knowing that He (LOVE) is God--that's when (and where) we can make our stand. That's when (and where) nothing can shake us. Because we're not running around looking for love in all the wrong places. Because we're finally home. Revelation 21:3 in the Message Bible says, "I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They're his people, he's their God."" We are His home even as He is our home. We live in love because love lives in us. We don't have to be someone we're not to get something we haven't got. We can be ourselves and let what's inside come out! And to me, that's the best place, and the best way, to make a stand. In grace. In love!