Monday, January 7, 2008

mayim

i was fortunate enough to witness three baptisms today! baptisms are so encouraging and just a beautiful picture of obedience to Jesus' commands. our relationships with Jesus could be such a private thing that no one knows about, but those baptisms... such a cool, outward symbol of being made new in Christ. i get silly-excited for what they're capable of doing for His glory. i love that Free related how a parent feels proud of their child after asking them to do something and that child obeying... to our call to baptize and be baptized.

this stuck out to me today in Velvet Elvis:

When God looks at me, God sees Christ because I'm "in" him.

God's view of me is Christ.

And Christ is perfect.

This is why Paul goes on to say, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved..."

Did you catch that word in the middle?

Holy.

Not "going to be holy someday". Not "wouldn't it be nice if you were holy, but instead you're a mess". But "holy".

Holy means pure, without blemish, unstained.

In these passages we're being told who we are, now.

as a child, i thought that everyone knew that God loves them. i heard a testimony from a new friend today; i was shocked to hear some of the substitutes she'd had tried to use to fill that void to be unconditionally loved. it breaks my heart to know that people will go their whole lives without knowing that Jesus' arms are wide open and always will be.

----------------
Listening to: Jars of Clay - Sunny Days

3 comments:

Eric Henry said...

You gotta be careful with books by Rob Bell. Many people think he is a universalist.

sara d said...

thanks for the precaution! i feel like i'm constantly challenging his statements; i mostly love how he writes. it gets me thinkin :)

jimmy said...

I was sharing with my home group this past week about a frustration I was having. For years I had struggled with a particular sin pattern. No matter how hard I had focused on the problem I couldn't beat it. I decided to try an experiment. Instead of focusing on the mistakes I was making and trying to "do better", I would focus on how God sees me. It's been a few years, and (not that I've got it all figure out, but) the problem areas have just lost their appeal. When I think about how God sees me it makes me want to live up to how He sees me. It's been hugely liberating.

BTW, on Rob Bell, there are a few (very few) things he says that make me nervous, but on the whole every time I hear what he has to say it makes me want to be a better Christ follower. It makes me want to love others better, and it makes me want to be a better person. It seems like the people that have a problem with him have only listened to a few "sound bites". If you listen to his sermons, and read (all the way through) his books you will see that he has a deep and profound love of Jesus Christ.

grace and peace, jimmy