The Mystery part 5
Let's do a little Message Bible to end this Rant series, "God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest--what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene" (1 Corinthians 2:7). And, let's be real, the oldest message is the New Commandment. To love one another as Jesus loves us. Look at 1 John 2:7-10, "Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him." Much in the same way that our "new" identity is really our TRUE identity, the New Commandment is, and has always been, the TRUE commandment! It's mysterious because it goes deep. It's not on the surface. It was once hidden under cover of darkness, but now the light of the world shines to reveal it to every thing and every body! It is God's love. Period. His wisdom is that He loves everybody. No matter what. His widsom is that love has nothing to do with earning or deserving. Love is freely given. Because love IS giving. Giving everything you are and everything you have without worrying about what comes next. Letting what's inside--what's really inside--come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Letting God love the hell out of you (NOT punish the hell out of you) and then loving Him back by loving the hell out of the people that you come into contact with. Listen, I know I'm not for everybody. There are people out there who think I'm horrible. And I can't do anything about that. All I can do is focus on the people in my life that I CAN touch. The people that I CAN reach. The people that I AM for. If you want to change the world, go home and love your family, right? Loving those people in whose lives you can make a difference causes a ripple effect. You love your family and then they go out and love the people THEY come into contact with. It's a Holy Ghost wildfire that feeds on itself and grows and grows until everything is consumed except the love itself that is doing the consuming! And that's why it's so mysterious: Because it's people loving people. And people can be a mystery. But as important as it is to build those connections and be able to love people the way THEY need to be loved... we don't have to figure out each and every single aspect and action a person does. We can let people be who they are and love them anyway. We can understand that the mystery has been revealed. God's love to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. Filling ourselves to overflowing with the love that we have already been filled with. Living in the light and seeing things clearly. Loving people because God loves us. It's really that simple. The mystery... revealed. Christ in you, the hope of glory... coming OUT of you and getting into and onto everybody in your life!