The Danger of Relativity...

Being 'relative' in today's terminology seems to include every aspect of 'whatever goes'. There no longer seems to be an urge or fight for truth, for clarity for the things that are real. Our North American culture adores the areas of fantasy and escape from reality. From video games to virtual life internet, to movies or drugs/addictions into lack of personal responsibility, our fleshly human nature loves the 'un-real'. Reality sometimes brings pain and hurt and rather face these parts of life, our culture prefers to numb itself to feeling anything at all.

Rather than deal in the absolute, that clarity of all things real, it seems much simpler in trying to make everything relative to something else. Or, for that matter, everything else. The two words here, "relative (from the word relate)" and the word absolute are complete opposites in meaning. To relate, indicates an understanding or connection to something, often by emotions or by a physical awareness. Absolute, on the other hand, means "not mixed, pure; not dependent on anything else, not relative".

Absolute describes God perfectly. He is Pure and Holy, not mixed with anything impure or unclean. His existence is not dependent on ours, in fact, it is very much the opposite. Anything and everything created, is for His purpose, for His good. His nature is Love, pure and unadulterated. He is genuine, and very much everything real. He created the Heavens and the Earth with the words of His voice, He painted the landscapes with His creative, artistic nature. He can do anything He wants simply because of who He is.

Making God relative to a human is impossible. We do not think like Him or consider His holiness when trying to relate fleshly thinking with Godly thinking. If it were not for Grace, found only in Jesus Christ, we would not even be worthy of approaching the Almighty. Flesh dies in God's presence. Why else has no one 'seen' Him? It is merely for our own lives sake, that He shields the power of His holiness from our mortal bodies. So why is it so many try to make the message of the Gospel more relative to today's times?

I see so much distortion going on in our world that its often hard to tell the Church from the world. The music often sounds the same, just the words are different. People act differently on Sunday (and sometimes Wednesday) than in the rest of the week. Professing Jesus with the same mouth that spews vile disgust with a brother or sister. It's very confusing and it's no wonder non-believer's ridicule folks who say they are Christian's. I think the most common word I hear used to describe a Christian is the word 'hypocrite'. I am guilty.

The Gospel has always been and always will be offensive in its nature. While totally rooted in Love, the Gospel of Jesus Christ forces one to examine him/her self and make a decision. Are you FOR Him or AGAINST Him? Do you realize your need for a Savior, that you cannot achieve relationship with the Father on your own merit or works, and that without knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, your eternity is one without Him, in hell? The Love of God was so strong that His greatest sacrifice would be one of offering His only Son, Jesus, to take on the sin of the entire world, past, present and future, and to nail it all on Calvary, to be brutally beaten for our sake and the sake of all others, to be crucified and die a horrific, painful and shameful death so that we would not have to bear the awful weight of eternity without God. And, that Jesus went into hell itself, taking the keys of death and the grave with Him, permanently destroying the very roots of sin itself, and was raised from death on the third day, victoriously ascending to the right hand of the Father, where He intercedes on our behalf continuously.

Trying to look at this kind of undying, unselfish Love through human eyes is impossible. It sounds down right nuts really! Christianity requires that, in order to really live, you must die. Now, I'm not talking completely about eternity here, although that is the end result. I'm talking about your life here on earth too. You know, the one where you want to make your own decisions, do your own thing and keep God in the carefully crafted box you made just for Him, perhaps letting Him 'out' to give you a miracle or something? That life! That is the one where you have crucify your own wants, for taking up the Will of the Father. That is the life where you must endure hardship, ridicule, possibly even a physical death just for believing in Him. Yeah, you gotta give all that up and to most anyone, that is just plain crazy!

Some people cannot get past the very thought of not being able to do all the 'good things' in life to earn a place in Heaven. Some cannot admit their need for a Savior, while others still walk away from Him without a slightest thought of the state of their lostness. Some reason not being able to 'see' Him with their own, physical eyes as their reason for avoiding Jesus. Others continually cry out for 'proof' God exists by seeking and demanding miracles or answering prayers before they will believe. The very thing our inner voice craves is a total acceptance by someone and unconditional love by another. God offers this to us, He gave us a will to choose Him or reject Him. Out of Love, He opted to allow our choice rather than play 'puppet master' by forcing all to accept Him, His love, His Son, our Savior.

I am just beginning to grasp this kind of love and am overwhelmed by its depths. And, I must say, trying to take a give-it-all-to get-nothing back life, exampled first by Christ, and somehow make that sound fun and exciting (by the worlds terms), just doesn't work with me. And this is simply because we are trying to see Him through fleshly eyes, we are trying to appeal to human senses. Nothing rooted from fleshly motives will provide anything that lasts. It might make you 'feel good' but the feeling won't last or sustain you through hard times. It's like taking something that Holy and treating it as if it were common. That is very dangerous indeed.

Yes, there is wonderful freedom in knowing the Lord. His gift of salvation truly sets us free! We are free from the very heredity of sin itself. We are free from having to perform before man, to be entertaining in order to draw in numbers, free from a watered down message that talks about Heaven but leaves off the 'hell' part of eternity. The Gospel forces one to examine oneself in the Light of the only Truth that really matters. In Christ, you are free from being relative because you don't have to be. He alone is Absolute, He is Truth, He is Life eternal. In Him alone, you are made free.

Out of Love...

I came across an amazing revelation in my devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, the other day. It has stuck with me now for days and I feel I am needing to pen some thoughts on this Resurrection Day. The words are these:

"The Cross did not happen to Jesus: He came on purpose for it."

This is a most amazing thought and so much so, it overwhelms me. The purpose of Christ included restoring fellowship back to the Father. The great love He has for each of us continually moved Him to lay aside His on will and take up the will of the Father. His motivation was one of love, not obligation.

Lately, the Lord has been dealing with me about doing things or 'performing' out of obligation. What SHOULD be our motivation in anything is for us to act out of love. Our heart should be motivated by Jesus alone, it should be effortless but often times seems so elusive to attain. I think, perhaps, it is simply because we are more concerned about what man thinks about us rather than what God thinks. We are so programmed to achieve pats on the back, kudos or whatever way you want to dress that up. Lord, help us!

I don't entirely understand pure love, although I pray Jesus reveals that to me more and more each day. But maybe my desire to understand is flesh rooted rather than heart motivated and grounded in Him. I look to His Word in order to see the reality of His Love. There is no where else to find truth other than this and 1 Corinthians 13 reveals the heart of the Lord more than ever.

1 Corinthians 13
The Way of Love

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled. (to vs.12) We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Lord, teach me to love extravagantly! I thank You precious Lord for this day of life You have given me. I thank You for loving me even before my conception; loving me enough to give Your very best, Your Son Jesus Christ, to redeem my soul and restore me to right standing in Your eyes. I praise you, Heavenly Lord, for the precious Gift of Grace, Salvation, through believing in Your Son and accepting Him as Lord and Savior.

Oh Jesus, teach me how to love. Teach me how to love!