For as long as I can rememer I've been told about the love Jesus has for me. It's been ingrained in my head that Jesus died for my sins, that He knows how many hairs are on my head, how many freckles on my face, and what time I'll wake up tomorrow morning as well as every morning of my remaining waking days--all of which I don't know the answers to. For as long as I can remember I've been told that Jesus did all these things for me.
Yes, Jesus died for MY sins, He loves ME but I'm sure He love you also; you're sins are forgiven because of His sacrificial death and even though Jesus did these things for our sake, He first and foremost did them because it was the will of God; because God asked Him to take on the sins of the world, He did it in obedience of the Lord. Jesus was a human, just like me and you, who did what was asked of Him.
I am saved by the grace of God. I am loved by the creator of the sun and lightbulb, the designer of oceans and puddles, the maker of rocks and iPads. He loves ME!
All too often I only focus on what God has to offer me, but I am not a follower of Christ solely because of what He continues to do for me. My faith is not based around the fact that God, the one who breathes life into the trees, can do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine. Why is it so easy for me to remember during tests or hardships that God is there for me, but when I'm sitting outside wrapped in the warmth of the sun I forget that He is the one who created that?
My relationship with God can be so much like going out to eat. I do it when there's no food at home, only when I have to. All I have to do is ask for the food and the server will make sure it's prepared for me, fill my drink when it's low and brings me the food, warm when it's ready. I can never leave a restaurant without tipping the server, but how many times does God provide for me and I give Him less than 20 percent gratuity?
I've been to the point in my faith for a while that I no longer have to ask WWJD because I know what He expects of me. Now, I've gotten to the point that I don't even care what Jesus would do because I'm too distracted by all the wonderful things God's allowing me do that will forever impact His Kingdom. Just as Jesus was obedient to God, we should be also. I'm sure none of you are being asked to be publically humiliated, beaten, and killed with the pressure of the world's salvation on your back, but as His followers, God's asking something of each and every one of us. I no longer think I have to drown myself in His grace, constantly trying to clean myself up for my Savior, but I am forever trying to repay Him. Seven times seventy times what He's given to me. So I submit myself, then to God; I reach out, I have those awkward, Christ-centered conversations, I allow myself to talk freely about what He's doing in my life. And in return, I'm handed broken stories, hurt hearts and eager ears that want to know about attention deficit joy. Yes, Jesus died for me, He loves ME! So, how can I just sit here and not let everyone know about this freedom that is only found in Christ?
"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled awith the fruit of rightousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
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