February 3, 2014
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day:John 15:5 " I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
One of the things that is universal in this world is people want to feel loved and appreciated. It takes time spent with someone to let them know that you truly care about them. It is one of those things in life that you can't fake. Caring means you must show up, no excuses. It is important for a father to show he cares by showing up for his kid's sporting events. It is important for employees to show up for work and for kids to show up for school. Showing up means that you are committed to a certain person, situation or task.
Likewise, if we want to get to know Jesus better in our lives, then we have to "show up" and spend time with him. How do we do that? We must read scripture on a daily basis; we must meditate on His word and we must spend time in prayer, inviting a dialogue of both speaking and listening. As we do this, we will begin to enjoy the fruits of our relationship with the One who gave it all for our benefit. We will be filled with His wisdom. Jesus will teach us more about who He is, so we will know more about who we are. As we continue to show up, He will teach us to act more and more like Him. So what did Jesus act like?
First and foremost, Jesus was love. He always showed people how much He cared, before He let them know how much He knew. He would always show pure love to those that the elite in society tended to look down upon and discard. Hs message was simple: All of you matter in my Kingdom! I don't discriminate against anyone. Jesus lived out that love in ways that no one could ever question His sincerity. Most importantly, the ones he chose to love on knew how much He cared. He touched Lepers, defended Adulterers, befriended Prostitutes, washed his Disciples feet, talked with Samaritans and partied with Tax Collectors.
Jesus didn't care about His reputation, he cared about love. Loving those who society said were unlovable. He could have just told everyone about all He knew, how He was present at the beginning of time and how He holds the entire world in the palm of His hand. Or, how He was sent by the Father to redeem the world from its sin as the one and only atoning sacrifice. He did indeed give insights into His perfect wisdom, but mostly it was to confound the wise of the day. He could have spent all his time telling parables to teach the Pharisees and Sadducees just how lost they truly were. Instead, He mostly modeled how much He cared by living it out in a unmistakeably genuine love.He used a road map of love and compassion to teach his followers about what truly mattered. Jesus came to earth and showed up for us, in a real and intimate way. Is it asking too much for us to show up for Him?
