Jesus was a radical teacher. We have to set aside our own agendas, our own expectations, judgments and everything the culture we grew up in taught us about life and put ourselves, our agendas, our to-do list, our jobs, our past and our future, our families and friends and ourselves in Christ’s hands. If you are not radically different from the inside out, if you are still thinking the way you’ve always thought, if you are not healed of guilt and shame, if your beliefs have not evolved as you’ve allowed God to show you who God is, you have only scratched the surface of the life God would have you live. You are still standing at the gateway to the Life of the Spirit, you have not walked through the narrow gate[Matthew 7:13] leaving every attachment behind except for our commitment to God. This is the radical nature of Jesus’ teaching. When he ascended to heaven, he left us the Holy Spirit to continue his work in us, to continue to call us to the kingdom, to show us how to live, to bring us to the fulfillment of our own purpose. And when we have moved way past the gateway of beliefs into the real life in Christ, we are given the fruit of the Spirit—joy, peace, love, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. And everywhere we go, in everything we say, people experience this fruit in us and want to know how to get there, too. That is the drawing power of the Gospel when it is lived. So in this time of turmoil in the world, focus on giving your whole self over to God, listening to him in everything you say and do and then following what you are shown. Practice radical trust in the One God and in his Son’s radical teachings. They are true, they are real, they will give you the life you were designed to live. ______ Check out this month’s posting on youtube: “We Aren’t Terrible People”https://youtube/watch?v=tPe-EMPdAxo Or follow me on Twitter: twitter/BTWwithPatAdams
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 08:00:00 +0000