3:6 - The mystery of the gospel has been revealed...the mystery is that all men are the children of God. For thousands of years the Jews saw only themselves as God's children, but when the mystery of the gospel is unraveled, the gates are thrown open and all men are welcome. It's a beautiful thing! We just need to remember that this revelation is still true...people that are not believers...people that think differently than us...people that live in countries standing in opposition to us or on the other side of the world...all these people are still God's children and the church needs to be reaching out to them.
3:10 - Great challenge for us as the church - it is our supreme job not to make each other happy or create a comfortable environment where we can go once a week to get a check mark on our checklist of holy living...the church exists to make known the wisdom of God. We make that wisdom known by living lives so freakishly different than the rest of the world that they can't help but sit up and take notice!
3:12ff - I love that the steps to experiencing the fullness of God are so simple (although we rarely get it right)...put your faith in Jesus Christ and let yourself fully drink in the depth of God's never-changing love for you - that's how you experience the fullness...by letting His love fill you...by taking your focus off of your faults and imperfections and how you compare to the rest of the world and allowing yourself to believe that you are loved unconditionally by the creator of the universe.
*Just got this one in under the gun! Ha!
2 comments:
8 - Msg - And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ.
One of the greatest Christian minds admits that all of this stuff is beyond him.
Faith does not mean that you have to understand every single piece of God, His character, or His word.
Just be thankful that God is generous and He wants us for His own.
peace,
j
Father, I am so grateful for the mystery from you. That is that you love everyone and you want everyone to come to you and have a relationship with you. And I thank you for making something out of nothing; for taking my life and using it for your kingdom and purpose despite my shortcomings and failures. Father, thank you...
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