Let me say something first. Before I was asked to type up this blog I have often wondered this, "How in the world am I going to explain this past year to everyone when I arrive back home in the States!" I have come to the conclusion that I would have better luck explaining the book of Revelation to everyone instead of explaining all that has happened to me. And that's when it hit me. Paul said in Thessalonians that he loved the people so much that he not only shared the gospel with them but also his life. So I have come to this decision:
I love you all so much that I am not going to simply tell you stories. No, I will do something greater; I will share my life with you. I will show you what all I have learned as I carry out my life as a man of God; a son approved.
Herein, that is what this blog is about. I have learned more in these six months than I have in the first two years of college, but all this restoration/change/renewal or whatever you want to call it that has happened in me has a common origin.
You see, I found out that we don’t become like Jesus by simply focusing our lives on Jesus; we become like Jesus by focusing our lives on what Jesus focused His life on, on being a Son and revealing the Father and His love so that a world of spiritual orphans could become sons and daughters
So here I am, a man of God, a son approved, an heir to the kingdom. I understand in my heart that while I had no strength and was ungodly that Jesus vindicated me in the eyes of God. I have been forgiven of much so I love much. Thus, I welcome the Spirit that gives me the compassion and love of the Lord (Romans 5:5) and I am completely unashamed. I boast in the cross for now I have the Spirit that shouts out who I am and whose I am.
I will come home with the same Spirit inside of me that was in Christ Jesus, the Spirit that shouts out “Abba, Father!” I will look into the eyes of the recovering drug addict at the John Severe Center in Johnson City, TN as I listen to his story. As he pours his heart out I will simply listen, and in return share my life’s struggles and dark points so that he too may see, experience, and feel the hope that is in Christ Jesus.
I will continue to lay hands on and pray over all who are sick. Even those who simply pass by me in Target or Wal-Mart, for none go unnoticed by God and they must understand that fact. I will tell the prostitute in downtown Memphis that our Father in heaven sees her as a daughter and I see her as my sister. While there are transgressions I will instead call out her greatness.
I will stand firm and bold, never surrendering, but always serving. As I walk out in this authority I may appear to be “over bearing” or even “prideful” to some. However, when one hears the Spirit sweetly whisper, “You are my son with whom I am well pleased”, and as one drowns in the infinite ocean of God’s grace and love, one can’t but help walk in boldness and boast in the cross, all the while receiving persecution from brothers, sisters, and loved ones.
I understand authority has not been given to me so that I may rule. No, it has been given to me so that I may serve all. This brings out what I like to call a “humble audacity.” I am indeed a different person six months in. What all have I learned? I guess I have learned new ways to love.
