The Embrace part 3
"How long will you wander, my wayward daughter? For the LORD will cause something new to happen--Israel will embrace her God" (Jeremiah 31:22 NLT). This really kind of sums it up for me. We have it so mixed up that we are running FROM God instead of running TOO God. But--and this is so interesting, so important to me--GOD is causing something new to happen. He caused it to happen on the cross, and is continually causing it to happen in us and through us and as us. See, it's not a move of God that we need. God already moved. He did everything He's going to do. Everything He NEEDED to do. What we need is a revelation of Jesus. What we need is to know and believe (to understand) what that move of God called the cross was all about. And notice what our verse says: The LORD will cause something new to happen--Israel will embrace her God. Jesus said it like this, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44). For way too long we've been trying to scare people straight. We've been trying to make them so afraid of some eternal firey hell that they clean up their act and come to God. Deny themselves and pick up their crosses in order to follow Him. But guys... that's NOT the right message. The message isn't, "God will save you if you do this, this, and this." The message is, "God saved you. Now you CAN do this, this, and this." The message is, "Jesus' arms are open wide, and you can let Him embrace you." The cry of Jesus' heart was to keep us under His wings like a momma chicken. To protect us. To keep us safe. But since we saw Him as a distant, angry taskmaster we were His enemies in our minds because of our wicked works. We didn't understand forgiveness, or grace, and God loving us seemed just too good to be true. So what happened was, at the appointed time, Jesus came to us and told us what love really is--laying down your life for your friends. Then He SHOWED us what love really is by laying His life down for us. He was lifted up on the cross and He drew us into Himself. He wrapped us up in that loving embrace and He will not let us go! I heard one preacher say it like this: God's a stalker. He won't give up on you. No matter what you do or where you go He's always got His arms open wide, just waiting for you to accept His embrace. He's not waiting for you to EARN it, because you can't earn a gift. You can't earn love. He's waiting for you to ACCEPT it. By accepting yourself. Embracing who you really are isntead of trying to be someone you're not. Letting Him live His life in you and though you and as you instead of you trying to live His life. Nobody can live Jesus' life except Jesus. Nobody can be you except... you. And when we figure out how special we are--that we are fearfully and wonderfully made--then we'll be able to stop wandering around in the wilderness and we'll be able to receive what GOD caused to happen. We'll be able to embrace Him, because He's been embracing us this whole time!