OUR ONLY HOPE

Our only hope is in Jesus; not in church, not in devotion, and not in our works.  Jesus is our only and our "all" hope.

It was Jesus who said that many will say to him in that day, Lord didn't you notice how much I did for you?  Didn't I do church in your name?  Didn't I perform incredible miracles in your name?  Afterward, he will insist we depart from him for he never knew us.

What's the point?

I'm one of many who are guilty of believing in church brands, functioning from church rules, and working for kingdom credits without focusing upon--not just the name, but--the person of Jesus.

How easy it is for churches to fall into this trap.  We worship our worship style rather than the Living God.  No wonder the world rejects us.  If and when we grow to be more Christ-centered, a couple of significant transitions take place. (1) We find ourselves arguing and whining less, while (2) we lean toward assisting the poor of our community.

In other words we grow to walk where Jesus walked and care where Jesus cared.  Remember, it was organized religion that could not find his favor...so they killed him.

I preached way too long about church traits while basically overlooking the walk of Jesus.  I didn't study him as a person.  I didn't know him.  I was focused on being right.  No one is ever right except by Jesus.

When I was not filled with adoration for Jesus, I would not have understood this article.  My perception of Jesus was that his name endorsed our prayers. 

Yet, he is a person to be both seen and known.  He gets us when we don't get ourselves.  Our communities are not rejecting Jesus; they are avoiding our churches when we are trying desperately to save ourselves with our own understanding.

Jesus is our only hope.  We begin with him.  We live with him.  We conclude with him. 

When this is true, religion and church and spiritual matters begin to take truer form than ever before.