A Beautiful thing…

As I woke up this morning I felt an incredible sense of gratitude for the journey I am on.   Life is a marathon, not a 50 yard dash and learning to live in the moment is an art, not a science.  Every canvas is the same.  It doesn’t look like much, kind of plain.  But the moment the master artist puts his hand to the canvas, with each brush of color the canvas comes to life.  To the canvas and those who watch the artist at work, each stroke makes no sense till the masterpiece is done.  Learning to live in the moment and enjoying the journey is all about trusting the Master as He adds color to our life.  Each moment is necessary to the vision in the Master’s heart and mind.  

Put your trust in God’s vision for your life.  You don’t have to understand every moment, just look for the Master of the moment.  Our peace and joy in life’s circumstance is in the presence of God and the trust that each moment is necessary for our completion.  You will miss the beauty of each stroke and color if you are more concerned with understanding why He is doing it rather than embracing what He’s doing.

Trust God’s vision, He will complete it.

Don’t worry, He knows what He’s doing.

Enjoy the beauty of each moment, He’s in the moment.

Be patient, it’s a journey.

Hope Shines…

“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”        Romans 8:24

Though you may not see, the Son is always behind the clouds.  Just wait.

I got up this early morning from a sleepless night.  I had to be at the Endodontist first thing.  I have a tooth that was crowned a few years ago and it seemed to be giving me trouble.  My dentist said I might need a root canal.  For a week I’ve been thinking something was not right with the crown, but what do I know, I’m not the dentist.  I hate going to the dentist. 

When I walked out of the house it was a gloomy overcast day.  The sun was nowhere to be found.  But, I know it’s still there.  It’s amazing how the look of the weather can affect your outlook of the day.  Depressing looking days have a tendency to depress.  We can forget the sun is always there behind the clouds.

As I sit here writing this the sun is breaking through the clouds.  It was there all the time.  We cannot always see it when we want, but with patience it always comes.

Don’t worry so much when you see the clouds in your life.  Even if it tarries, wait in hope.  Though all we may see is clouds, the Son is always there.  Our hope is in someone greater than what our eyes can see.  Jesus is always there.  Wait on Him, His timing is perfect.

When I was at the Endodontist, he said he believed I needed an adjustment on my crown and a little antibiotic would take care of it instead of a root canal.  It seens to feel much better.  And, it cost me $95 instead of $1000.  What a blessing.

Honor…

“Outdo one another in showing honor.”               Romans 12:10 ESV

In I Corinthians 12:22-27 it tells us that God places the members of the body where He desires and bestows greater honor on those who lack it so that there is no division in the body and that we can have the same care for one another.  If one member is honored we all get to rejoice together as well as if one suffers, we all suffer.  The church, Jesus body is meant to have a shared connection and sense of responsibility, a mutual care one for another.  What happens in the lives of others should provoke a shared loving response instead of jealousy, envy, covetousness, or reveling in loss.  If in the Spirit, it will produce the same care.

I had such a joy this week.  My Grandmother, affectionately known to all as Granny Hobbs turned 90 on February 3rd and we threw her a surprise Birthday party on Sunday to honor her.  We invited all of her family and friends to come and celebrate with us.  This may not seem significant to those who take Birthday parties for granted.  However, this party was more significant than any of us knew.

You see, my Granny Hobbs is the most generous person I’ve ever known, though as a child growing up, I didn’t realize how generous.  I like many children today only know it as love from the one who always gives us stuff.  Everyone who knows her has experienced her generosity.  She shows up every Sunday with candy for all the kids, not just mine, I mean all.  She always honors a new birth with some outfit.  Whenever I go by her house she always loads me up with stuff she thinks I or my family needs.  She gives to everyone.  Growing up she took in every stray dog or cat.  I pray for the owners of her previous home because she and I have buried probably more than 30 animals in her yard over the years.  I know TMI.  I could go on and on with stories of how she has given value and honor to others.

You may wonder where that generosity comes from?  Maybe she was blessed by people always giving to her over the years.  I’m reminded in Mark 12:42 “..but she out of her poverty put in everything shed had.”   My Granny Hobbs was born in 1919, one of nine children, very poor.  She got married to John Whitfield Hobbs who became a captain in the Army and shipped overseas in WWII.  Shortly thereafter she found that she was pregnant with my father.  My Grandfather never came back home.  My father never met his father.  She shared with me one day about standing at the train station waiting for the arrival of the pine box that contained my Grandfather.  My Granny Hobbs raised my father as a single mother til she met another serviceman and became engaged.  He too was sent overseas in the Korean War.  He was killed before they were married.  She never remarried.  My grandmother worked a number of jobs over the years determined to make it.  She went to work for Corning  and worked there till retirement.  I remember when I was young, she would come get me and take me with her on the weekends to shop the yard sales.  She would then take what she bought and resell it at a local flee market and a consignment booth she rented out.  I also, remember the first TV my wife and I had when we got married, it was a Black and White that Granny Hobbs bought for $25 at a yard sale.  Since then she has owned her own business, Granny’s Country Crafts, and even the last two summers worked at a suvournier shop on the boardwalk at the beach.  I think so she can still have extra money to buy stuff for everyone else.

All this really hit me when I went out to walk her into our church where we had told her we were going to have a small gathering with my brother and sister’s family.  She does not like to be the center of attention.  When I walked her in everyone sang Happy Birthday.  I pointed out my father and mother, her brother, sisters, cousins, friends and old coworkers.  They all stood and honored her.  It was hard to hold it together as I saw her tears.  My daughter says I’m a cry baby.  Granny Hobbs would have never asked for anything, though as she leaned over she said I’ve never had a birthday party given for me in my entire life. 

We honored my Granny Hobbs, but I feel I was honored more.  It was more of an honor for us to honor her.  It truly is more blessed to give than receive.  But after all I learned this from my Granny Hobbs who always gave all she had even when it was from her poverty.  This she gave her son, my father who has always modeled it for me and I pray will also be my legacy.  She always sees the needs of other and thinks not only of her own needs but everyone else’s.  The lessons I have learned are endless.

And by the way, I experienced the presence of God and a more profound sense of church than most of the church meetings I’ve been in, including my own.  There are some deep questions we need to ask ourselves after that statement.  But it will have to wait til the next post.

Honor one another!

Going Deep…

If you remember learning about icebergs in Elementary or Middle School you know that what you see sticking out of the water is only a small fraction of the whole thing.

Over the last 2 years I have walked through a major change in ministry.  God began some things in the church I serve that have caused me to take a fresh and new look at my faith, my theology, my walk, and my views of what the church is and does.  This has been an incredible journey of discovery.  However, not everyone around you is ready to take the journey or handle what you discover.  Like Jesus in John 6:66, many of His disciples turned away because they could not handle what He was saying to them, and they quit following Him.

For most, if you asked about or mentioned church, their first thought would picture a building located at some specific address.  You know the question, “where do you go to church?”  If this represents the iceberg above the water, what is below the surface.  If all we experience is what we see on the surface, we miss the beauty of all that is below.  Sadly, many believers will spend their whole life just on the surface and want nothing else or reject the notion that anything under the surface should be explored.

Let me prophecy (throw stones if you want), there is a shift happening – a global shift.  As I have cried, prayed and searched, I am finding there are more people walking the way of Jesus than you will find warming a pew on Sunday.  They are living in intentional communion and community with Jesus and other believers.  They are committed to be the church, not just attend church.

The church as we have known it is in crisis.  Our culture is changing and this current and next generation of spiritual seekers are looking for something more than church attendance.  They are looking for more than religion.  They want more than a life of lip service.  For them, what is on the surface has no meaning without all that’s underneath.

What’s on the surface just doesn’t cut for me anymore.  I’ve got to have what’s underneath.  The truth is, the surface no longer satisfies and looses meaning without the beauty of the depths of Jesus and all that the church should really be.

Time is short, ‘ve got to leave off here.  I will probably revisit this in my next post.  I hope I have stirred something in you.  If so please leave a comment.  I cannot be the only one feeling this.  I know I’m not.

When Church Is Like A Happy Meal…

Church:  Have we just become consumers of religious goods and services or are we actively participating in the life and ways of Jesus.  For some the content of their spirituality is as intimate, brief and personally vulnerable as a trip through the McDonald’s Drive Thru.  However, if you paid for the meal of the next person behind you in line it might be more like what Jesus might do than all the sermons and worship experiences we have consumed.  Ask yourself are you a participant in the Kingdom and are you becoming a part of the redemptive story and work of Jesus?  How is your life being changed, changing the lives around you?  As you consume the Eucharist (communion – Lord’s Supper) are you whetting your appetite for lunch to follow or are you being transformed and becoming broken bread and poured out wine for the hungry and thirsty around you?

Don’t get me wrong.  There could be alot happening here, maybe not.  This is a random googled photo.

I Heard Behind Me A Loud Voice Like A Trumpet…

“When we take our gaze off the celebrity pastors (practical dramatists) and the ministry pundits (theoretical dramatists) and we fix our eyes once again on Jesus, we’ll discover a spiritual leader with the wisdom to focus on the only drama that really matters. Jesus lived and served from a soul at one with the Father and an identity secure in his love. From this inner place he drew the strength to do might works (drama of the practical) and teach profound truths (drama of the theoretical), but more importantly he found the courage to endure outward failure, ridicule, and abandonment. The drama of the eternal, his inner communion with his Father, defined and determined the outward drama of his life. Unfortunately, too many of us in ministry have it the other way around.” – Skye Jethani, Out of Ur: Three Dramas that Drive Us, 1-30-2009 

In the current growing spiritual debate over form and theory of the church in a post-christian culture, the above quote from an article by Skye Jethani, managing editor of Leadership Journal and Teaching Pastor of Blanchard Alliance Church in Wheaton, Iliinois,  sound a trumpets call from eternity for us to pause and evaluate the source of all our doing and thinking.  If you are involved in ministry or thinking about it, this is a must read.  You can find the entire article <HERE.>

Jesus was so secure in the Father that He only did what He saw the Father doing.  Ask yourself, “Is the Father doing what you are doing?”  We have been entrusted with the work of the Kingdom.  Our primary job is to see the Father and what He’s doing, then do what He’s doing.  We are in such a frenzy doing good and great things for God.  But, I would ask “Do you know you are doing what the Father is doing?”  Many would say, “I’m not sure.”

While many theorist debate over the changing and new forms of how to do church, God is calling all of us back to Him.  He is the only one who can bring peace to the drama that swirls around the challenges we face to be the church.  “In Him we live and move and have our being.”

Do you hear and see  Him or are you too busy doing?  Pause!

Gold Medal Character…

Phelps Apologizes for Marijuana Pipe Photo – NYTimes.com

I have hear it said “Your gifts or talent won’t take you where your character won’t support you.”

In the world we have a tendency to worship the gifts and talent of people like Michael Phelps.  Then we are greatly disappointed when they fail us.  Well, actually we do it in the church too.  We spiritualize it and call it anointing ; giving credit to man what is only due to the Holy Spirit.  How quick we give celebrity status to someone and how quickly it can fall out from under them.

Character has a way of always rising to the surface, good or bad.  We should spend more time on character development and not so dependent on our giftedness.  These two have to be developed side by side if we want to weather the journey.   You may not have your bad character displayed on the NY Time and it may not cost you millions in endorsements or admiring fans but it just might cost you something more precious than can be measured by dollars and cents.

It’s what only God sees that defines your true character.  The stuff that rises to the surface or public begins in the heart.  But the world will judge what they see.  The Bible tells us to guard the heart for it is the wellspring of life.

A few thoughts…

1. Don’t worship people’s gifts… they may not survive it.
2. Don’t spiritualize gift worship.
3. Be gracious and forgiving… your hidden character could surface too.
4. Allow God to develop your character… before you have to issue an apology.
5. Submit to leaders who are more mature than you.  Follow them as they follow Christ.
6. Remember, God promotes based on character… the world promotes based on giftedness.

Have you ever has a character flaw exposed?

How were you treated by others?

Are you following Him?

Brace yourself.  I am haunted by what you are about to read. 

So I don’t take away from these words I will not say anything else except, please excuse my lack in poetic structure.  I copied this by ear.  The words are correct but may not be written out like it should as a poem. 

 

When I became a Christian I said “Lord now fill me in;

tell me what I’ll suffer in this world of shame and sin.”

And He said, Well your body could be killed

and left to rot and stink.

Do you still want to follow me

and I said, “Amen –  I think.”

I think Amen. Amen I think.  I think I say Amen.

Look I’m not completely sure.  Could we just run through that again.

You say my body could be killed and left to rot and stink.

Oh yeah that sounds terrific Lord I say, Amen I think.

But Lord, look there must be other ways to follow you I said,

I would really prefer to end up dying in my bed. 

Well yes He said you could put up with sneers and scorn and spit. 

Do you still want to follow me.  And I said Amen – A bit. 

A bit,  Amen.  Amen, a bit.  A bit I say Amen. 

Look I’m not entirely sure. Could we just run through that again. 

You said I could put up with sneers and scorn and spit. 

Well yes I made up my mind and I say Amen, a bit. 

Well I set back and thought a while; I mean I tried a different ploy

I said now Lord the good book says Christians live in joy. 

That’s true He said.  You’re going to need the joy –  to bear the pain and sorrow. 

Do you still want to follow me?  And I said, Amen – tomorrow.

Tomorrow Lord I’ll say it then.  Tomorrow’s when I’ll say Amen.

You see I’ve got to get it clear could we just run through it again.

You said that I will need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow. 

Well yes I think I’ve got it straight I’ll say Amen, tomorrow. 

He said look I’m not asking you to spend an hour with me,

a quick salvation sandwich and a cup of sanctity. 

The cost is you.  Not half of you.  But every single bit. 

Now tell me will you follow me?  And I said Amen.  Now I quit. 

I’m awfully sorry Lord.  I said I’d like to follow you

but I don’t think religion is a manly thing to do.

And He said, you forget religion then and you think about my Son

and you tell me if you are manly enough to do what He has done? 

Are you man enough to see the need?  Are you man enough to go? 

Are you man enough to care for those that no one wants to know? 

Are you man enough to say the things that people hate to hear? 

And battle through Gethsemane in loneliness and fear?

And listen are you man enough to stand it at the end,

the moment of betrayal by the kisses of your friend?

Are you man enough to hold your tongue?  Are you man enough to cry? 

And when the nails break your body, are you man enough to die? 

Man enough to take the pain and wear it like a crown. 

Man enough to love this world and turn it upside down? 

Are you man enough to follow me?  I ask you once again? 

I said, Lord I’m frightened, but I also said Amen. 

Amen. Amen.  Amen, amen.

I said Lord I’m so frightened, but I also said, Amen.

 

(English friend of Michael Frost, taken from one of his sermons.)

Born to die…

We always share communion on Christmas Sunday in our worship gathering.  I was pondering this in light of the celebration of Christ’s birth.  Why do we combine the crucifixion with the birth of Jesus?  What is its significance and implication?  As many of you will share the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist) this Sunday let me give you something to meditate on.

There is something wrapped in the mystery and miracle of Christ’s birth.  We are overwhelmed by the beauty of His birth and celebrate His coming, but His coming was for what or whom?  Like a seed potent with life and full of a greater destiny, Jesus birth is only the beginning of a journey to the cross.  And like a seed He must die to fulfill His mission.

“…unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Whoever loves his life loses it, nd whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also.  If anyone serves me, the father will honor him.  Now My soul is troubled.  And what shall I say?  ‘Father save Me from this hour’?  But for this purpose I have come to this hour.”  John 12:24-27

I am reminded that as Jesus shared the Eucharist with His disciples, He told them to “share it with each other”.  (Luke 22:17)  As it was His mission to be sent into the world to die, we too are to follow Him and be Broken Bread and Poured Out Wine to a hungry and thirsty world looking for life in a wasteland.  Within us is the incredible fragrance of Christ waiting to be sacrificed, broken and poured out like the bottle of perfume’ that Mary broke open and poured out on Jesus feet and hair. (John 12:3)

This Christmas, when you receive the Eucharist, which is not only Jesus Himself but also His Mission, find yourself in Him and your mission to be broken and poured out.  Take it and share it among yourselves.   We are not His unless we follow Him in like manner. 

Let Christ be poured out into your hearts and go this Christmas giving your life to someone who needs Jesus.

The Glory of the Wind…

I love this time of the year.  We have pretty mild winters here and I can open my window at night to let the coolness of the night breeze blow into my bedroom while I have the heat on.   OK, not the most eco-friendly or economic, but you can cool the room off and cover up with lots of blankets.  MMMMMM – good sleep.

I’ve noticed lately how much I enjoy hearing the wind blow at night outside my window, especially through the trees.  As the wind was blowing the other night, I looked out the window and by the moonlight I could see the limbs of the trees swaying in the breeze.  It is such a soothing sound to hear while falling off to sleep. 

Do you hear it?  Maybe you don’t.  Others might say, “There it is.”  And you say, “Where?”

Today I have been feeling a sense of excitement.  I don’t know why or for exactly what.  I do know from whom.  It is a feeling I’ve felt before.  This is how Jesus explained it to a man named Nicodemus:

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”   John 3:8 

Do you hear the wind of the Spirit?  Many do but miss the glory of the wind because they want to figure the wind out.  What does he want, what must I do?  Jesus told Nicodemus to just hear the wind and watch what happens.  The wind does not need our help to blow.

Don’t ignore the wind of the Spirit blowing in your life.  Don’t struggle to understand it. 

Step in to the breeze, enjoy it and watch what the wind of the Spirit does.

Medium v/s Message…

“in the end the medium always becomes the message.”  Alan Hirsch – The Forgotten Ways

How tough it is in pastoring a church to keep the focus on the message we are called to bring.  You may say that doesn’t make sense.  The church is all about Jesus and the message is about Him.  This is true, but if you are a Pastor you know what I’m talking about.

While we share the message about Jesus and His redemptive love over time people become more focused on the vehicle or medium that the message comes through than the message itself.  Thus, the focus becomes the church itself.

Pastoral leaders spend a great deal of time focused on the building of churches, finding better ways to do church, addressing the problems of the church.  Our focus is more on the organization of church rather than the person of Jesus. 

Without Jesus there is no church.  The reason for church is Jesus.  Our focus should be on Him.  In the book of Acts, those who believed on Jesus intuitively began to share their new life and message with those around them and they began to naturally gather wherever and whenever they could.  The church flowed out of the focus on Jesus. 

When we focus too heavily on the building of our church we can be pulled away from Jesus.  We can depend more on our ability to cleverly do church and focus more on the building the organization than on Jesus and His redemptive power.

As leaders, if we cause those we Shepherd to become more dependent on the church as an organization and her ability to provide programing for their every need, then they will become co-dependent on the church rather than Jesus.  We will raise anemic disciple who cannot stand on their own faith and to believe in the total ability of Jesus to personally enable them to face all challenges of life.

We must be careful to not focus more on our medium than our message.  It is a fine line between the two.  So fine that we can think it’s all about Jesus when we’ve made it more about the church we serve.

Keep the focus on Jesus.  If we are in Him, we are the church.  Jesus said He would build the church (us) as we laid hold of the revelation that He is the Christ.  He is everything you need.

• Are you letting Jesus build you?
• Does your life reveal a total dependence on Jesus?
• When was the last time you blamed the church for something that you should have been dependent on Jesus for?
• If you are a Pastor, do you spend more time on the medium or the message (Jesus)?

Elect a Savior…

I’m thinking… If we were only as eager for change in our personal lives as we are for change in our nation. Too often we long for the wrong things to satisfy our angst.  While we debate over who has the best policies for change, and honestly, in my opinion I could not really tell who is right.  One is right and one is wrong, but who?  Obama is going to save you more, so he says.  McCain says he will save you more.  I know they can’t both be right.  Why is it so tough to know the truth?  Do they think we are that stupid?  Hmmm.

I’m so glad my personal security is not dependant on who gets elected.  Don’t get me wrong.  I have an opinion and have made my vote.  We are blessed to live in a nation where we can express ourselves and choose.  But, I hate all the venom and division that comes from our election process. 

The truth is we all are looking for someone to make our lives a little better.  Not everyone will admit it, but we all are looking for a savior.  That is exactly what Israel was looking for when Jesus came.  There were many who wanted and believed that Jesus would overthrow the Roman government and ascend to the throne to rule over Israel – to restore the Kingdom to Israel.  We too often look for natural answers to what are really spiritual problems.  To be separated from God (spiritual problem) causes natural (national and personal) problems.  Jesus came to us as a Savior for our spiritual problem which affects our entire existence, both natural and spiritual.  We need to elect Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives.

We need leaders, but they are under God’s authority.

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except form God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”   Romans 13:1

Whoever gets elected will be under God’s authority even if they do not recognise God’s authority.  You don’t have to operate according to your bosses authority, however, that does not nullify your bosses authority and power.  He’s still the boss.

My security and hope is in the boss.  God is in charge no matter who gets elected.  I’m glad I don’t have to fear or feel insecure or angry if my candidate looses because my hope is in Jesus and His policies are best.

I see things much simplier.  There is one policy change that would fix it all. 

“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.”   2 Chronicles 7:14

Ordinary moments…

“It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God – but we do not.  We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people – and this is not learned in five minutes.”    Oswald Chambers

Discipleship is a process.  It’s moment by moment.  It’s the ordinary things that produce the character necessary to support the Great Moments.  The exceptional things I may have the privilege of doing for God are only in proportion to the character built in the ordinary things.  This is the stuff that qualifies you for the doing of exceptional things for God. 

Living only for the exceptional moments in life will leave you with an emptiness most of the time.  You will live in nostalgia, vicariously living through a few moments of your past or miss life all together being driven to achieve one moment of elusive greatness. 

Discipleship is about character built through relationship.  To be a disciple is to live so deeply and intimately with Jesus in every ordinary moment so when the time comes for me to do something exceptional, I will by nature be ready and not faulter – even if my greatest moment is the cross.

How are you doing in the ordinary moments?

What ordinary thing hae you done lately?

Why do you love? – an examination of the heart…

Ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted to know how things worked – what makes them tick?  I see this in my middle son, Jonathan, who can’t help asking you a million questions about everything and taking anything electronic and dismantling it to see how it works and if he can build something else out of the all the parts.  In life we intuitively want answers to all our questions.

I find this carries over to pastoring people in that I want to know what makes a person tick.  What are the underlying issues of a person’s life that cause what is seen on the surface.  I like to fix things and part of fixing things is knowing what is underneath and how it works. 

God is really good at fixing things since He is the creator of all things.  He sees the root of everything.  Why don’t we take things back to the manufacturer more often.  God does a much better job of keeping His creation in tip-top shape than we do.  However, we will stubbornly keep trying only to make things worse.  Just break down and do it – take your stuff back to Him so He can fix it and quit pointing fingers and saying, “You broke my stuff on purpose.  I don’t like you anymore!”  OK, sarcasm, but true.

Moment of truth.  We do a great job judging others and figuring out what’s broke in other people’s lives.  But, what about our own?  What makes ME tick?  What are my underlying motives?  Why do I do what I do?  Why do I act loving to others?  Why do I do for others?  What’s underneath?

Check this post out by Pete Wilson called “Desiring to be loved or seeking to love.”  It’s a dose of honesty.  When was the last time you got honest with yourself?

There is no “What’s in it for me” motivation in God’s love for you.  He makes sure He gives you all He has with no strings attached.  Do you love as you have been loved by Jesus?

To love, someone must die…

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, than someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:12-13  (ESV)

There is a high price for love.  You can have it for free but it will cost everything.  You cannot love without paying the full price.

God will allow us to choose to live our lives on a lower level that He has called us, but there is a price to pay.  If we do so we will never really and fully know Him nor experience the fullness of the life promised to us in Him.  There is a higher and GREATER love.  Love of this magnitude can only be received, experienced and given away through death. 

There is no greater love than when we die to self, lay ourselves down for someone else.  God wants us to walk in a greater love.  Greater love is received when someone else had to die in order for us to receive it.  Jesus laid down His life to break the barrier that would keep us from receiving the Father’s love.  It was the ultimate expression of love. 

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us.”  Romans 5:8  (NASB)

Jesus broke the barrier of our sin with the laying down of His life.  It doesn’t get any greater than that.

In order for us to have Greater Love, we must die, laying ourselves down for people.  We must die to being right about people or things or we will defend our rights and find an excuse to not love.  We must put away personal justice or we will punish people and seek to justify ourselves in the eyes of others, when Jesus said He was just and the justifier of all.  We must overlook faults or we will keep records of wrong suffered and not love.  Ouch.  Ouch.  If we die to self, we can release GREATER LOVE.  If we don’t, we will love self and then others when convenient.

Are you dying to give GREATER LOVE?

Why not?