15 days until Training Camp!!!
I don’t know exactly how to feel. I’m excited about the new things to come. I’m sad to go away from this place and these people. I’m trying not to worry that I will fail.
I’m digging in and listening for His guidance. These are a few things I’m hearing: do monkey hugs, destroy the paper Jesus, and get a new label maker.
Monkey hugs are the greatest kind of hugs. A monkey hug is when one person (preferably the smaller one) wraps both arms and legs around the other person and hangs on tight. I learned about monkey hugs in college. (Love you, Katie!) I learned the name in Asia. (Hi, Emily!) Physical touch is my lowest love language but it was highest for a few of the kids I worked with in Asia. How simple to be a blessing by letting a child hug you tight. Simple, but not always easy for me. Recently I’ve been thinking about monkey hugs in relation to Jesus. It’s the picture I have of clinging to Him at all times through all situations. I want to be stuck on Him like a kid who doesn’t want you to leave. I want to wrap myself around Jesus and hide my face in His chest so all I will see is the heart of my Lord. I want to hold on so firmly that someone would have to pry me off to separate us. I pray I become hopelessly entangled with my Savior so that people will see Him when they look at me.
That brings me to paper Jesus. Yesterday afternoon I got a call from my church. I was confused when I answered. Why was the church calling me? Well, our sweet secretaries were supposed to perform a skit at the ladies’ gathering last night. One of them was backing out and asked me to fill in with only 2 hours notice. Um…what? That was not what I was expecting. It was nowhere on my radar. I agreed because I didn’t see why I shouldn’t. I can read a script for a few minutes. Come to find out, the skit was the entire program and was pages long. :/ In the skit one of the characters carries around a paper Jesus cutout. That is how she takes Jesus with her wherever she goes. It was strange and hilarious. The point of the skit was to show that some people put their faith in a fake Jesus with no power. They trust in an image of Christ that they have been taught without ever getting to know the real Son of God. My takeaway was truth and love. The only way we can avoid a fake Jesus is by knowing the truth about The Truth. 🙂 Until we dive into the Word, seeking to know Him more intimately, we won’t be able to discern the truth from the lies. Then once we know the truth, we need to share it, but we have to do so in love. If you think about the best teachers you have had, they probably taught out of love. I know my best teachers did. They loved me enough to attentively point out my mistakes and patiently lead me to deeper understanding whether it be about algebra or Jesus. They each carefully and creatively repeated the same material until my brain caught up. This is how I want to be a witness, relentlessly loving people to the truth. Shore up my endurance, Father, as you show me how to live out Your truth in deep, rich, fervent love. Stretch me to the limit so others can hear Your name.
The most precious things I have are the ability to call of the name of Jesus and the right and responsibility of approaching the throne boldly. I have these things because I bear the name Christian. I could say ransomed, redeemed, co-heir with Christ, member of the body, or child of the One True King. These are all names and labels given to be through grace. Not long ago I realized I had been trying to add these labels to the collection I had made for myself instead of replacing those old ones. I had been layering the true words of Christ over the misguided beliefs born of living in a broken world. I don’t know if you have ever changed a label on a folder, box, or case by just slapping a new one on top of the old, but it generally doesn’t work well. This is what I had been doing spiritually. The new labels hadn’t deteriorated, been lost, or damaged, but I didn’t fully grasp them because they were just layered on top of the old. Those old labels (worthless, broken, indebted, alone, no future) were stuck tight to my heart and mind. I had to let Jesus scrape them off. Like that might sound, it was painful at times to have these ingrown beliefs pulled out at the root, but since He is the perfect healer, Jesus had a the most suitable balm for each wound: His truth of who I am in Him. When he plucked out guilty, He soothed the sore with redeemed. He abolished indebted and proclaimed me ransomed. The best solution to restore and renew my heart after this dissection was to have these new labels and names poured over the empty spaces to filter down and sink into my most vulnerable places. I’m so amazed, grateful, and glad that God has worked, is working, and will work to show me that He has claimed me as HIS. This is the best thing I could ever be.
So now with my new labels firmly in place, I will cling to Jesus so that I can know His truth and share it with the world through love.
