Imitation

There are two ways to look at the word imitation; one is the act of copying someone or something and the other is a counterfeit.

Why then is so much of Christianity based on imitation and isn’t it interesting that simulation is a synonym of imitation.

God’s love for you is absolutely unique! He’s never loved anyone in the same way He loves and cares for you. His ideas and desires for you are matchless.

So why do we spend so much time, money and effort trying to duplicate what He’s done in another’s life? We read books about the 5, 7 or 10 steps to this or that, we put together elaborate programs, curriculum and seminars designed to make others like us, all the while forsaking our individuality and cheapening the exceptional relationship God wants to have with us.

Don’t be discouraged if trying to follow the crowd has left you saying “surely there’s more”. There is, it’s more Jesus! He is the only one capable of truly loving you with no strings attached and no baggage. The only one that can satisfy your very soul and the only one that can heal the pain this world has thrust upon you. Cry out to Him, He’s right there.

Assured

CSN sang of helplessly hoping from the empty place inside, but there’s an assured hope guaranteed by the One that can fill the empty place and it’s more than available to everyone. If you feel empty, unloved or rejected there is an answer and if you’ll put the tiniest bit of trust in Jesus he’ll rush to that emptiness and love you like no one else can. He’ll begin to heal your pain and walk through everything with you; you’ll never have to be alone again.

DIY

If we’re going to change the world we can’t leave the task to someone else and the task is sharing the love of Jesus with everyone.

Elucidation

Sometimes a single sentence like the one from yesterday’s post says it all. Other times a single sentence can mean something different to each reader. In this case the sentence needs further explanation.

Here’s the sentence: What we give to the Lord opens the way for us to receive from Him.

Some might think this means the more I do for God the more He’ll do for me. I strongly disagree with that. God doesn’t have favorites and He can’t be manipulated, not to mention the question of motive. You could also read this from a monetary viewpoint and while scripture is clear that you can’t out give God, manipulation and motivation can be heavily at play here too.

What I’m trying to say in this statement is that we get to be part of the process together with God and to a large degree allow Him to mold us, make us, change us, heal us, grow us and so much more. You see, as we give more and more of our lives to Him we become more and more able to receive.

This Day

This day has been set aside by the Lord. He’s filled it with opportunities for us to love the people around us. He’s going to reveal needs that folks have and equip us with what will bring them comfort and healing. Oh what a beautiful day it will be.

Behavioral Modification

God’s not asking for us to change the way we act, he has so much more for us than that. He wants to heal our broken hearts, comfort us in difficult times, rejoice with us in good times and be our constant companion. He wants us to not only know but to experience the power of His perfect love for us. He wants His unique love for each of us to wipe away our insecurities and fill us to the point that we’re gushing over, pouring Him on those He puts around us.

Let

Romans 6:12 has five words in the middle of it (four if you use a contraction) that read “do not let sin reign”. The little word “let” indicates that we have a say in the matter, which is really great news unless we believe it means we have the power over sin and all we need to do to conquer it is try harder. What we have the ability to “let” is to let God have our sin. It’s only in coming to Him and placing the things we struggle with in His hands that we are able to overcome for real. Sure we may be able to will power a temporary behavior change but true healing comes when we place our weaknesses with Him and trust enough to leave them there.

Wounded

We’ve all been wounded; it’s part of life. We live in an imperfect world filled with flawed people, not the least of which is I. As we mentioned yesterday, being aware that we are no better than those around us allows us to have the heart of God towards people but we have to present our weakness to Him. It’s the same with our wounds. A wound kept from the Lord only hardens our heart and like our hidden flaws, keeps others at a distance. Hurt and pain turned over to God brings healing and permits us to be used in the healing of others.

I Got This

I got this is a pretty silly thing to say to the God of the universe. When someone far more qualified than ourselves offers to help, isn’t the smart thing to say, “absolutely”? Yet far too much of our life is kept from God. We each have weaknesses, flaws and wounds that we don’t trust Him to handle. We try to hide them from others, pretend they aren’t there and deal with them only when they become obvious. If we will trust Him, He’ll make our weakness strength, our flaws beautiful and use our wounds to help others heal.

Pain and Rejection

Pain and rejection don’t have to go together. Pain is inevitable in this broken world but rejection needn’t follow. God is never the source of our pain He is our relief. If we’ll allow him to heal us, we can then join Him in bringing relief to a world full of pain and rejection.