After a week here in Filandia, I already feel as if I am right at home. Don’t get it twisted, I still miss my real home, but I am starting to feel more comfortable here. My spanish is getting better and better, and I am beginning to get into the rhythm of living here in close community with my team. Living in community is a new thing for me. I am used to living with only one or two other people at any given time in my life. Even then, I have never been accustomed to being around anyone all day every day like I am now. I think this is a very good thing for me. I am learning how to relate to others better. I am less apprehensive to talk to new people. I am more interested in others and their stories after only a short time of getting to know my teammates. Now that I see how beautiful and inspiring their lives are, I can only imagine the wealth of knowledge that those I do not know have contained in their stories, too. I quickly become curious of the treasure that others hold within themselves. Even if they do not know Jesus, even if they have not been saved yet, even if they look dirty or mean, or if they do not seem like they want to talk to me, I know that there is something immensely important and precious in the deepest part of them and everyone that I walk past every day. That is, a created purpose and individuality that only God can really see in its fullness, and that only He could have pieced together.
When I walk out the door in the morning with that perspective, it changes everything. I do not have to try to love people. I no longer catch myself looking down on anyone, or making rash presumptions about them. It is so easy to love them. I can love them as I love myself. It is the second greatest commandment according to Jesus, and it is actually doable when I rest in His love for me. When I understand my identity in Christ, I automatically recognize that value and potential in everyone else. Of course, distractions are ever at the door of my mind. I know that the enemy conjures up his plans to get me looking through the eyes of the world once again, but I do not have time for that. We all need to be conscious of the fact that we may be the only Jesus that people ever see. Many of us get distracted way too easily, myself included at times. However, it makes things a lot easier when we learn to die to self and pick up our crosses to follow Him. It is so not about me. It is all about Jesus and what He has already done! When I rest in Him and what He accomplished for all of us on the cross, my mission in life becomes clear. If it was only about me making it to heaven and escaping hell, He would have already beamed me up to heaven. I am here to exalt His name, give Him glory and praise, worship Him with my life – not just by singing in church – and lead others into His loving arms. I am well aware that God does not need anyone to help Him out, so please do not misunderstand me. What I also know, though, is that He has chosen to use us to draw others to Himself. We are living epistles, seen and read by all men. Make sure what they read through your life is the truth and grace of the Gospel. Jesus said, ¨As the Father sent me, so I send YOU¨ (emphasis added). Do not be deceived, friend. That verse was not meant only for the apostles, as some teach. We are all called to preach the Gospel everywhere we go.
We all have the power to heal the sick, cast out demons, and everything that the disciples could do through faith in Christ and His finished work. The Word is far too clear on this subject. If you have been saved and put your faith in Jesus, you gave your life to Him and dedicated your whole self to His purpose. In that case, you have the right to be filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead and He wants to work in and through you everywhere you are, at all times! I know that not all of us are called to stand behind a pulpit somewhere and preach, but we are all called to magnify the name of the Lord and tell others of His wonderful works; in other words, our testimonies! You have no idea how powerful your testimony is until you start telling others. If you are still skeptical as to whether you are supposed to share your faith with others, or if you think you are to leave it to the ministers, evangelists, pastors, etc., then tell me this: do we just expect God to grab unbelievers by the collar and drag them into a church somewhere so that they can then hear the Good News and be saved? I realize that has happened on occasion. It may have happened to you or someone you know. However, I assure you that the majority of us did not get saved only because we heard a sermon. For me, I had to see people walking out the Gospel. I had to see the joy in their eyes, the pep in their step, the compassion and love that they showed through their actions, not only what they said. Although I grew up in a church full of wonderful people of exceptional character, who loved me deeply and made sure that I knew so, it took more than that to convince me to give my life to Jesus. I am not certain why. Maybe it was because I knew those people so well. They were a very comfortable and natural presence in my life. I needed to see the truth outside of those church doors. I believe it is the same way for most people, especially if they did not grow up being instructed in the faith. Many of them will never walk into a church until someone loves them outside of the church, and without an agenda to get them in church next Sunday. It is all about love. God is love. They do not need church first. They need an encounter with Jesus, then they will be glad to go to church wherever the Lord wants to plant them.
All of that may have seemed all over the place, but the premise is that I want us all to be encouraged to live our lives with Jesus OUT LOUD! He is worthy of our praise. All He asks is that we give back what was never ours in the first place: our entire lives and our entire being; all of us, everything we are. It is so easy to be a Christian when you first realize your identity in Him and then recognize that this thing was never about you. He loves us so much, but we were created for Him, not Him for us. He is for you in the sense that He wants the best for you, but you were MADE for Him, so why not love Him with your life? You will always be the apple of His eye, but so is every person that you will ever see. His will is that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He also says that His people perish for a lack of knowledge. That knowledge is not knowledge of math, science, history, or even Bible stories; it is the lack of a knowledge of Him that allows people to perish. They do not know their creator, their purpose, their value, their true identity, their worth in the eyes of the Father. They live and operate as spiritual orphans, without knowing who their Daddy is, or if they even have one. What a shame, right? To never know the love of the Father, to never taste and see that the Lord is good. Well, friend, God wants you and I to have a part in bringing them back into the royal family! He has wonderful plans for you and me and for everyone, and we must be unashamed of the Gospel and be willing to tell others about the wonderful truth of who God really is, how He really loves them and wants to have mercy on them and make them a totally new person! How He longs to wrap His arms around them and grant them repentance, and cast their sins away as far as the East is from the West! He wants to drown their regret in a sea of forgetfulness. Dear brothers and sisters, if we do not tell them, who will?
On an unrelated note, I have not forgotten my promise to post more on what we are doing with the children and youth here in Filandia. I have not had the opportunity to take many photos/videos yet. Rest assured, though, that there will be more coming soon! Thanks for reading. Comments are always welcome. Love you guys! See ya next time.
Peace and grace be with you all.
With love,
Reece.
