Jesus, My Hero

I think I have been seriously overlooking something very important.  Another moment of re-learning!  

My Lord Jesus is powerful!  If anything is standing between me and him, he is able to get rid of the obstacle, or help me to do it. He is able to help me with anything!  ...Anything!  

He cannot be treated like just a friend to vent to.  He can't be looked at as simply a comforter or a back-patter, sitting by sympathetically.  He rises up on behalf of us if we ask him to.  He fights for us in the heavenlies!  We don't have to helplessly wonder why our relationship with him is not what it could be.  We can just ask him to do what needs to be done to help us enjoy a hindrance-free relationship with him.  

He is bigger than the distractions that seem to constantly plague me, and I am asking him to bulldoze them.  I have tried and tried to do it myself, and it is painfully tiring and frustrating.  It has been like running repeatedly into a locked heavy metal door in an attempt to knock it down.  But what joy it gives me to imagine Jesus using his pinkie to effortlessly tear the door off it's hinges, toss it aside, and smile at me, now ready for intimate fellowship.

Please don't skip the scripture!  Try to read it like you have never seen it before:

16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

Ephesians 1:16-21 ESV (I added some emphasis!)


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Re-Learning... Again

It has been far too long!

Sometimes I feel like one of the most dense humans on the planet, because I seem to need to relearn things over and over and over.  Or maybe it's just that I have known things in my head for a long time, but the facts haven't traveled to my heart because my head hasn't fully accepted them yet.  Either way, I am glad the Lord is so patient, because if I were him, I'd probably be pulling my hair out over me by now!

I am also glad that I am "relearning" these things.  I'll share a brief overview of the truths that I have known forever, but have recently come to understand a bit deeper in my heart, in a way that I can apply to myself:

1. God and Jesus love me no matter what.  I started understanding what this means when I thought about my favorite person, the one I love most unconditionally.  I thought about how I feel toward them despite all their flaws and shortcomings, what I want for them, how I would treat them in the face of them doing something wrong or disappointing, etc... and I came to the conclusion that if I can feel so tenderly toward somebody, and if God tells me to always forgive and always love and always treat well, then he certainly does nothing less for me.  (I recommend doing the same mental exercise of thinking about somebody you just absolutely adore, and preferably know very well - it might open your eyes, too, if you have been in the same boat as I have)

2. Relationship is the most important thing to God.  That's why he made humans and why he sent Jesus.

3. But relationship with God is only fully experienced through obedience to him.  That way there is not only no guilt in blocking the way between me and God, but I can also be assured that when I obey, I am much more safe and protected.  God can only do so much for me, for example, when I decide to go against him and get in a fist fight with someone who has made me angry.  Additionally, when we obey, God's goodness is showcased to the world in an extremely powerful way because it so confounds and confuses the ways of the enemy.

4. I don't need to be perfect!  I can't be perfect!  The Lord does not EXPECT me to be perfect!  And, I will NEVER BE PERFECT!  And!  That is OK!  Good gracious.  Needless to say, I'll be relearning this one again next month. 

Anybody learning anything out there?  What a privilege to be able to encourage each other in all of our learning about our marvelous Lord Jesus and our Father God :)