LIFE IN JESUS

Life in Jesus is neither hokey, sheer formality, nor even religious.  Did Jesus say that he came that we might have religion in abundance (Jn. 10:10)?  Or, was it life in abundance?

It was LIFE!

It's interesting that in that John chapter Jesus was stating that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. This is consistent with II Corinthians 3:6 informing us that the law kills; but the Spirit gives life.

Why is religion a problem?  If a congregation is who it is based upon control (the only right way to do church) by the more powerful members, rather than the Spirit of God, the spirits of the members will wither while they repeat their Sunday treks.  The thief robs by leading us to become enamored with rules and regulations which tends to develop the mean-spirited, impatient, and grumpy.

Just how strong is this negative influence?  Count the masses who give us a disinterested nod as they cannot take seriously a group that they note as similar to themselves; moody, rude at times, and occasionally insulting.

What would change things?  That they see that we are really alive; even on rough days.

We want them to see the Light in us.

It should be said that not all in the church are this way; quite the reverse, fortunately. However, just as the squeaky wheel gets the grease, the onlookers with a negative slant about us find ample proof that they should keep their distance.

As Christians, what shall we do about this torrent of disbelief which is global?  Can we do anything?  Should we?

We say we believe in the most impossible thing imagined; death transformed into eternal life.  I think it would help the questioners if they could see in us our happy faces and hear from us our confidence-in-God words.  Never do we have the posture that we are better because we believe.  Not ever.

Jesus, the perfect one, humbled himself even to the point of death on the cross.  He did not come to earth to argue.  He came to earth to show all that he could break the barriers of threatening death by causing death to yield to life.  We are not in the church to debate who is right and who isn't.  We are in the church because we desire to follow Jesus.  That's it.

As we develop in following him we will find that we dearly love the unlovable.  Too, we will go to great "pains", as did Jesus, to love our enemies.  This is very different than the competitive Bible battles which tend to cloud God's message of restorative hope for every soul.

Too much of Christianity appears moody.  If we are having a good day, good for us and, therefore, blessed are others.  Yet, if not so good, you better not get in range of our squint-eyed judgmental ire.  This is not only really wrong; it is sinking the ship which carries God's intended message to all of the world.

We can do this!  We can be fantastic encouragers in our communities!  Our sheer hope in this process is to let the light of Jesus shine through.  Lights shines best in darkness; so let not our dark experiences cause us to falter.  Even our struggles are mere stages for show time.

May He find mercy to help us shine even our very best when crushing kinds of days pester our hearts.

Life is abundant.  It is found in Jesus.  He breaks depression.  He offers reason to believe.  Too, Jesus assures us of hope in the very center of every distracting tactic thrown at us...Romans 5:1-5.  May we do our best to believe it.  If we will, maybe others will also.