In the Hand of God |
In the Hand of God |
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor' He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set a liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." - Luke 4:18-9 NKJV
So God, I've been caught in a constant barrage of You being pictured as a judge with a huge gavel throwing out judgments in the form of carefully chosen Bible verses until I have almost forgotten what You really are like. I'm afraid we, as Your ambassadors to this world, are failing You miserably. We are so consumed with fighting for what is right that we have started portraying You all wrong. We've taken Jesus and wrapped Him up in scripture taken completely out of context and set about to shove Him down the throats of anyone who doesn't look like us or act like us. No offense God, but Jesus is a little hard to swallow when he's being shoved down your throat. So I thought that somewhere in my mind I remember being called to act like my Big Brother. It's funny because I always thought He was the kind of guy who loved everyone enough to die for them. I remember stories of how He chose to spend His last three years here....stories of a woman caught in adultery that He forgave while the righteous sought to stone her. I remember Him seeking out a woman at a well whom society dictated that He not be near, and yet He chose her to ask a drink from, and more importantly a divine appointment to secure her eternity He knew she would be there, that's why He came. I remember the story of when He got out of the boat to meet the man who lived among the tombs who was possessed of a demon. He sought him out and healed him, giving him freedom from his demented state. You know God, the way we portray Your Son, one would think that He came to dress in royal robes and sit on a throne pointing out everyone's sins, because let's face it, He had a right to. But that isn't what He did at all. He didn't go around quoting scripture about destructions and abominations to everyone He met. He loved them and pointed them to His Dad. So God, I thought I would spend some time with my Big Brother's mission statement in order to help me form one of my own Of course just like You have mine, You wrote His long before Luke 4:16-21. When He picked up the book, He knew what had been penned about Him long before in Isaiah, and yet He wanted to introduce His purpose and the focus of His ministry. I'm pretty sure it should be our focus too. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor' He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set a liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." - Luke 4:18-9 NKJV So Jesus appeared to be about preaching, healing, and freeing. Preaching to the poor, those who hoped in God despite their current situation. Notice it wasn't every day in the synagogue and temple to the religious. A "go and tell" ministry rather than a "come and see". He wanted to heal the brokenhearted, those who are discouraged. He came to free those held captive to sin. He came to bring a promise of a chance for a new beginning. He didn't come to accuse or stone. He didn't come to tell how right He was and how wrong the rest of us are. He came on a mission to tell others about His Dad, and to love them enough to make a way for them to get to Him. So if we are to be like Him, how would it look? Would we take the time to build relationships like He did? Would we be purposeful in seeking out those who are broken and captive? What would that look like? Could it be that instead of judging the alcoholic and avoiding him, that instead we would learn that his daughter died in a tragic car accident and his wife suffers from depression? Could it be that instead of judging the woman who is in multiple relationships, that we realize that her father never wanted her and she longs to be loved like he should have? Could it be that we recognize that a large percentage of homosexuals were sexually abused as children by same sex perpetrators being taught at too early of an age to associate sexual pleasure with someone of the same sex. Maybe it was because someone of the opposite sex was so abusive that it drove them to fear men or women in relationships.. Maybe instead of using someone as an object for a lesson, maybe we could see their pain. Maybe we could be like Jesus and set about to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty from the chains of sin, to set about to heal rather than persecute. Maybe just maybe if they know we care, maybe they would care about what we know. Maybe if we loved them first, we could get the chance to introduce Me and Annie are prob just gonna stay home. Me and him are going to Knoxville tomorrow. to our Dad. So God, please teach me to be like Christ and not like Christians In the words of Ghandi, "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
2 Comments
Robert
7/10/2015 11:28:50 am
Very well said.
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Michelle
7/10/2015 11:46:03 am
Thank you!
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