I just finished reading a book my daughter sent me by Judah Smith ; "Jesus is _______. "My daughter heard Judah preach at Joel Olsteen's church recently, and mailed me his book for Fathers Day. I was behind on my reading & just recently finished it. Profound 'messengers' God sends resonate what God has laid on my heart; He wants us now, as we are... And when we seek the heart of Jesus with ALL our being, the inevitable occurs... HE GIVES US HIS HEART. We find ourselves serving with compassion, humility & grace. We find ourselves giving with His heart & with His Agape Love for ALL... We seek out those He sought, we no longer conform to the ways of the world, we are transformed by His Love which flows from our lives. Everywhere Jesus went people were captivated by His compassion & riveted by His practical explanations of how to do life, He becomes that in us, He reveals that through us. God calls us as His Ambassadors.. We mimic Him, people 'see' Him in our actions,hear Him in our words and embrace Him in our outpouring of self.
A lot of Judah's book is simplistic, it is real, it is about doing life with the traits & heart of Jesus in ALL encounters to ALL people. God loves us equally & relentlessly, and we are to do the same to those we encounter. Not all will 'see' God's grace immediately... For some it is hard to embrace, some people are so insulated in the ways of the world that they find it hard to embrace grace. Judah compared God's Grace to hugs, Judah, like I am a hugger.. We embrace people, friend and stranger alike, some people 'see' it as God's Grace & openly embrace it, others give 'half hugs,' they stiffen up or turn from His hugs, from His Grace which is given. I have witnessed both, as God has poured Himself through me into the lives of others, I have seen people 'witness' a Living God, and I have seen others stiffen in a state of being 'uncomfortable,' either way, there is no harnessing or withholding His Grace, He sends it into our lives for it to flow from our lives... He hugs the unhuggable! Recently I visited a place I go often to see a God created wonder which to me represents the unstoppable power of God's flowing Love; Niagara Falls. Each time I approach the Falls and see the Niagara River flowing over the top of the falls, cascading downward I get a glimpse of what He intends.... for His Love and Compassion to flow into this broken world, into the lives of His People. The force of the water is turbulent, but as the millions upon millions of gallons of water flow over the falls and down stream, a calmness evolves, the waters calm and turbulence passes. To me this is His desire, that we love lavishly those He created for His purposes....reveal the power of His Love and how it will calm ones life and bring peace and joy and carry us into His loving arms.
We need to learn how to embrace the grace God sends to us through others, we need to recognize that the compassion & love & service & relentless giving which people see flowing from us to them is sent directly from God to them through us. As I finished up the book, I was reminded that Jesus was authentic, He was real, He did nothing but give self. When we live by grace, we are continually amazed by the love, goodness & holiness of God. We think about Him & that motivates us to act like Him. He wants our hearts, Do we seek His ? ...in the doing so, God is pleased and He again becomes flesh and He Lives and walks on this planet He created. Who is Jesus to you, and who are you being Jesus to?.... God knows that answer, and we should know it to! He desires to flow a Love not of this place, yet into this place & He chooses to do it through you....Let it flow baby, let it flow...Its unstoppable and its ALL Him.
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