People talk about the bible being ALIVE…What does that mean? I’ll be honest in saying I looked at people like they had lost their minds in the past when I heard that. No book is alive…you crazy people (sorry).
It would have been helpful had they given a little background knowledge. They forgot to explain the whole phenomenon of once you come to know Jesus, he washes away your sins and you are infused with the Holy Spirit. (I know, I know…sounds like crazy talk, which is probably why they didn’t explain it).
So what is the Holy Spirit? You’re going to have to ask a theologian for a precise definition. The Holy Spirit is our guiding light, the power that dwells within us, it is what brings the bible ALIVE. 1John 5:6 says, And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
I can’t tell you how many times throughout my life I picked up a bible and thought to myself…what in the world is this nonsense? A bunch of crazy names, places and rules from way back in the day that seemed absolutely irrelevant to anything in my life. And that was the end of that.
But let me give you a real life example of how this whole phenomenon works…keep in mind throughout this blog I am a very new Christian and know minimal knowledge about the bible. Someone can’t just throw a topic at me and I list off a bunch of verse to support it (needless to say, my last blog took a while).
Every morning I make it a point to spend some time in prayer and in the bible. Nine times out of ten, the bible speaks directly to my heart in regards to what I am thinking or what is going on in the world…
Yesterday, my heart physically hurt at all the news of the world around us. So instead of watching the news and/or social media, I spent my day watching inspirational/motivational speakers pondering questions like, “what can I do to make a difference? What is the purpose of this life? Etc. etc.”
I came across an insane amount of great knowledge, wonderful people and philosophies I totally agree with. Multiple TEDTalks that MILLIONS of people had watched. I found it surprising amongst all of this knowledge, all these different people from different backgrounds, that not ONE person said the name Jesus. Sure there was a lot of talk of the universe and something greater than us, with a general consensus that we have to have something like that in our life, but no one directly said Jesus.
We live in this world of spirituality and political correctness: let people believe whatever they want to, which for the record, I 100% agree with. If you go back to the beginning of my journey, I was one of those spiritual seekers. I believed in a “Higher Power of my own understanding.” I may have never come to know Jesus without first taking that baby step. I will never ever judge, not accept or not love someone because of what they believe, but I am also never ever going to not tell someone about the power and wonderful gift of Jesus Christ that I now know and have because of fear and political correctness. Fear of stepping on someone’s toes, or pissing someone off, or not being liked, or not being accepted, fear of being ridiculed or chastised.
Remember that statement that rocked my world.… “there is no grace like the grace of Jesus Christ.” It is forever engrained in my heart and I don’t ever want to not share that with someone because of fear. I think spirituality, other religions, beliefs, etc. (for the most part- except for radical extremist) are better than having nothing, or running on self. Running on self is self-destructive, which transpires into destruction of others. No one person can take on the responsibilities of this world. On the other hand, no one can deny the happiness you see in others that don’t have Jesus in their lives. There are plenty of genuinely happy, loving and caring people in this world that don’t know Jesus. But I can’t help but to think that they can have even more happiness by coming to know Jesus.
So back to the news yesterday…the opposite of love and happiness…I think it can just be summarized in one word…HATE. All of it. And I am thinking to myself, wow we have gotten so far from the truth is it not even funny…
I prayed before going to bed…Lord what can I do to help? I pray for every hurting soul in this nation and in this world…I pray for them to come to know who you are…you are the truth and the only way. Just guide me wherever you want me to go Lord.
I open up my bible (ESV version) this morning to 1 John (I encourage you to go read the whole thing). Here are just a few of the headings of the sections in that book that jumped out at me…Walking in the Light, Christ Our Advocate, Children of God, Love One Another, God is Love, Overcoming the World…
Remember I don’t know where anything is in the bible…I couldn’t have opened up to read about what I was thinking yesterday if I wanted to…this is an example of the Holy Spirit at work, this is an example of the bible being ALIVE. I laughed out loud (because God amuses me most of the time) and then indescribable peace set in. Thank you God for hearing me. Thank you for our relationship.
Truths were then spoken to my heart…
1John1:5 God is the light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1John3:18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth.
1John3:23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another.
1John4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God; every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
1John4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
1John4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.
(read that last one a couple of times PLEASE, I think some churches/religion may have missed this verse throughout time…truth about God’s grace)
Now THAT is the word of God ALIVE and well, whispering simple truths into my heart and soul. There is honestly nothing sweeter. And why do I get to hear these truths, or rather FEEL this truths? Because I believe it to be true that God sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, in the flesh to die for our sins. I believe that he is the only way to get to our Heavenly Father. The Creator of this Universe.
Before I leave you…what is perfect love?
Unconditional love is perfect love…
God’s love for us is unconditional, it is perfect. It has no conditions or limitations. Ok, actually I lied, there is ONE condition but it is attainable. It just requires you getting over yourself (sorry to be blunt). And let me clarify, this isn’t really a condition for his love, because whether you choose to do it or not he still loves you, but to truly experience the greatness of his love, to be infused with the Holy Spirit and to live in an unimaginable/indescribable relationship with him, he does have one condition… He wants you to surrender your life totally to him and love him with all of your heart.
Let me tell you something…He loves YOU right now NO MATTER how far you have strayed away or how many times you have screwed up or how many times you have spoken against Him. Now, that doesn’t mean His heart doesn’t HURT (deeply) because you are in denial or turning your back from Him. I am sure it does because He delights in you and it hurts His heart when we don’t delight in Him. He, however, is the ultimate pursuer of our hearts. He will never give up on you and He will never forsake you. He expects NOTHING in return. Nothing we could give him would ever compare to what He gives us.
We fall short and we will always fall short, but because of His unconditional love we desire to strive and live as He would want us to live. We love how He would want us to love and that is without limitations or conditions. Regardless of how people may treat us.
Let me clarify real quick, yes, once we truly have surrendered our lives to Him, He has given us a set of rules/guidelines to follow in the bible. He is our Father, He is perfect and knows what is best for us. Some of those rule/guidelines may seem harsh…they may hurt…they may not make sense…you may not agree or understand them but sometimes the truth hurts and doesn’t make sense. He is a good good Father though and a good good Father loves with discernment.
He wants what is best for us so he lovingly provided the bible that is literally alive, if one is filled with the Holy Spirit, to speak the only Truth in this world to us. He didn’t ask us if we liked what it said and He doesn’t care if we like it or not, because He ultimately knows what is best. He loves us UNCONDITIONALLY, PERFECTLY and He is going to speak truth no matter what.
He knows we are going to screw up, it is absolutely inevitable. No one on this earth is perfect and no one ever will be. He isn’t asking you to be. He simply gives us an outline for life of truths and then…WAIT FOR IT…WAIT FOR IT…the best part of the whole story is… He already knows you’re going to screw up!! And He loves you anyways. We, humans, are pretty predictable. So all He asks you to do is repent of your sins and His unconditional, love, mercy and grace will flood your body, heart and soul. It is truly the most wonderful gift a person can ever receive in life.
So with all that said…I will never push my beliefs on you, I will never not accept you for who you are or what you believe, but I will also never not tell you the truth because of fear of what others might think or how they will respond. Why? Because I love you with all of my heart, unconditionally. Jesus Christ is Our Savior. There is so much power in His name. I will continue to pray for each and every individual to come to know the love, grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God Bless you all.
If you believe the words I share and/or feel moved by the truths of the Lord. Please consider donating to help me go on the World Race to share the good news, help others, grow as an individual and love those around me. Please share my blog with any and every one! You never know who it may impact or inspire. My deadline of $5,000 is due in 13 days!! Every little bit counts and would be greatly appreciated. I really really want to go.
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 1 John 5:18
