So many people think they know what a Christian should be like, should act like, should think like. They form these opinions based on things they have heard in the news or in school or even in churches, but they never consult the Word about it. If they did, they would find that we are not to be pinned down.
For instance, did you know that Jesus was fierce? Many think the passage where he saved... the adulteress woman from being stoned by saying, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," is one of His most compassionate moments. Certainly He had compassion in abundance, but come on, an unarmed man calling out a crowd of armed and angry people as the sinners they are, no better than an adulteress--that's fierce! Sleeping on a small boat being tossed around by a terrible storm is fierce! Waking up and calming the storm and then rebuking your disciples for their lack of faith? Fierce!
He repeatedly and continuously told the truth, despite its riling up the pharisees and Sadducees into a frothy tither. They wanted to kill Him for it, but our fierce Lord loved the truth and wouldn't let them get away with trapping Him or trying to get Him to say something against God. He called them out every time without fail and rebuked them every time they came at him. Fierce!
Here is one of my favorite verses about us, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) Ever try pinning the wind down into a narrow version of what it should or shouldn't do. We know what wind can do, how it can cause incredible damage, and how it can refresh on a hot day. We know it causes plants to pollinate, and how it cleans dry, dead leaves and branches off the trees. We know it can't be tracked or stopped. This is what we are like, we who love the Lord. It says it in the Word.
Paul was so fierce he struck right at the heart of misogyny AND misandry in his instructions to husbands and wives. Paul was clever, too. He was so clever that all of his writings were written to conceal and reveal at the same time. Romans 13, for instance, is a chapter many think means obey the government. It actually says there is no government but the Lord, Jesus Christ, for the believer. Read it again and ask the Spirit to show you.
So Christians are clever, fierce, mysterious and powerful like the wind, compassionate, loving (John 13:35), one-minded (1Peter 3:8), forgiving (Eph 4:32), liberated (Gal 5:13), servants (1Cor 9:13), sinners who are saved (1Tim 1:15), humble (Jam 4:10), etc.
For instance, did you know that Jesus was fierce? Many think the passage where he saved... the adulteress woman from being stoned by saying, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," is one of His most compassionate moments. Certainly He had compassion in abundance, but come on, an unarmed man calling out a crowd of armed and angry people as the sinners they are, no better than an adulteress--that's fierce! Sleeping on a small boat being tossed around by a terrible storm is fierce! Waking up and calming the storm and then rebuking your disciples for their lack of faith? Fierce!
He repeatedly and continuously told the truth, despite its riling up the pharisees and Sadducees into a frothy tither. They wanted to kill Him for it, but our fierce Lord loved the truth and wouldn't let them get away with trapping Him or trying to get Him to say something against God. He called them out every time without fail and rebuked them every time they came at him. Fierce!
Here is one of my favorite verses about us, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) Ever try pinning the wind down into a narrow version of what it should or shouldn't do. We know what wind can do, how it can cause incredible damage, and how it can refresh on a hot day. We know it causes plants to pollinate, and how it cleans dry, dead leaves and branches off the trees. We know it can't be tracked or stopped. This is what we are like, we who love the Lord. It says it in the Word.
Paul was so fierce he struck right at the heart of misogyny AND misandry in his instructions to husbands and wives. Paul was clever, too. He was so clever that all of his writings were written to conceal and reveal at the same time. Romans 13, for instance, is a chapter many think means obey the government. It actually says there is no government but the Lord, Jesus Christ, for the believer. Read it again and ask the Spirit to show you.
So Christians are clever, fierce, mysterious and powerful like the wind, compassionate, loving (John 13:35), one-minded (1Peter 3:8), forgiving (Eph 4:32), liberated (Gal 5:13), servants (1Cor 9:13), sinners who are saved (1Tim 1:15), humble (Jam 4:10), etc.
James 4:10 is an interesting verse: Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
How can you be humbled but lifted up? Remember Moses? He was the humblest man on Earth, which was why he was able to talk with God face to face. He wielded a staff of the Lord that parted the sea, caused plagues and brought water out of a rock. That's how. Would you have crossed Moses? They died in droves who did cross him.
Might want to throw out the box you want to put us in and let the Word inform you instead of the world.
How can you be humbled but lifted up? Remember Moses? He was the humblest man on Earth, which was why he was able to talk with God face to face. He wielded a staff of the Lord that parted the sea, caused plagues and brought water out of a rock. That's how. Would you have crossed Moses? They died in droves who did cross him.
Might want to throw out the box you want to put us in and let the Word inform you instead of the world.
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