Hands and Feet-Audio Adrenaline
Hello everyone!
This is an old song, but it’s so powerful. I recommend listening to this song, while you read this blog or after!
This song has been an inspiration to me, since I was in my pre-teens. When I heard this song, it made me want to be more, to do more. It’s a song, that still to this day, shakes my heart and makes me want to love more like Jesus.
I have not mastered the art of living and loving like Jesus did while He was on Earth, and there’s been times I have failed miserably. Usually, when I failed, it’s because I was motivated by selfish ambition. To try and look the part of Jesus…to appear “holier than thou.” So, instead of truly loving someone, I would end up hurting them instead in my pursuit to look, well, basically like Jesus. Not love like Jesus….not care like Jesus…but to “look” like Jesus.
The honest truth, guys, is that if you’re not striving to love and be loved by Jesus, and to truly know Him, you don’t know what love is. I know, anytime my heart was motivated by the wrong fuel….I didn’t truly love…I lusted after friendships, I lusted after the appearance of looking amazing. I was a lover of…well…”self.” We all have gone down that road, but the good news is, there’s a “Road to Damascus” experience that can re-route us. I’ve had a couple of them in my lifetime, I believe.
“What is a ‘Road to Damascus’ experience?”
There is a man in the Bible, who was one of the biggest threats to Christians. He would be equivalent to a member of Isis to Christians in his days…that’s how scary this man was. He believed he was doing the work of God, and thought that he was holy because he had all scriptures in the old testament memorized, because of the religious party he was apart of, and because of his bloodline. Christians feared him, because he showed no mercy towards them. And do you want to know the kicker? He later ended up writing most of the New Testament, sharing the love of Jesus all around the world.
This is about a man, who had his world rocked on his way to Damascus.
This is how Saul became Paul.
In the beginning of Acts 9, Paul is walking to Damascus, planning on bringing any Christians he would find there, back to Jerusalem. And then…BOOM! A bright light appeared!!! And that bright light was JESUS. And Jesus asked Paul why he was persecuting Him, and Paul asked this bright light…”Who are you, Lord?”
Jesus answers Paul, and tells him that He is Jesus. After Paul asked Jesus what he was to do, Jesus instructed him to go into the city and basically wait for further instructions. When Paul stood up, He was blinded, and had to be led to Damascus by the people with him.
Then, Jesus appears to a man named Ananias and tells him to go pray for Saul, this crazy Christian killing man, so that he may receive his sight.
This is Ananias’ response in Acts 9:13-15:
13 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
So, imagine being in Ananias’ shoes. Picture that Isis, for what ever reason, has come Christian hunting in what ever country you’re in, and Jesus, Himself, tells you to go and pray for one of the top dogs that has a blood lust for Christians. And, then picture Jesus telling you, “I’ve chosen this man to spread my gospel all around the world.”
You might think, “Jesus, did you LOSE your MARBLES?!” But, hey, there’s no arguing with the son of God, because you’ll be wrong.
So, Ananias does as Jesus instructs him, and the rest is beautiful history. Paul receives his sight, and simultaneously, his spiritual eyes are opened as well. Now, he’s a love slave to Jesus and to Jesus’ followers.
I’ve had experiences where I was knocked off my spiritual high horse, where my eyes were opened to more.
Jesus began, and is still teaching me what it means to be “the hands and feet” of Him. To be like Jesus, I believe, is to love and live like Him. The only way to know how to do that, is by know Him, by being loved by Him and most importantly, by LOVING Him!
Being the hands and feet doesn’t always mean going to 11 countries in 11 months. It doesn’t always mean having a cool ministry that attracts people. It doesn’t always mean working in a soup kitchen. It doesn’t always mean giving advice to your friends. Being the hands and feet of Jesus….is loving God and people…with a sincere love. It’s daily choosing to love and serve others. It’s sometimes loving in what seems the smallest way possible that can make the grandest difference in someone’s life. It could be picking up trash in your church, or out on the streets. It could be cleaning someone’s house. It could be listening to someone that’s hurting. It could be sitting with someone while they are in the hospital. It could be calling someone to make sure they’re okay. It could be paying for a stranger’s lunch or groceries. Loving like Jesus can be presented in numerous ways, if the action is truly motivated by HIS love.
So I encourage everyone reading this, get to know Jesus, so He can fill you with His love…so you know how to truly love others. It’s something we need to learn daily! We will fall short in some shape or form, but God will continue the good work He started in us!
Love you guys!
Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Meraia
1 John 4:7-12
7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
