March 26, 2010

“God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us …” Ephesians 3:20-21 The Message

The Great Relationship …

God wants you to live a fully-alive .. fully-filled .. fully-free life in Christ. There is no other way around Jesus because He first loved us. God has loved you to the end of your-self. It may not feel like it .. but He has. He’s loved when  you didn’t feel like being loved. He’s loved you for so long that He is fitting all the “broken pieces” of your life into the life of His Son within you. It means you aren’t supposed to be in charge of running your life. That goes against everything we hear about Who is in charge? We live in a self-promoting and self-preserving world. It isn’t going to change nor should we even pretend that it is. He’s placed His Spirit .. Holy and Whole inside of you to do the really deep work of of raising you as His own.. shaping your life into the image of Christ .. and living your life filled with the love of God .. the kind that wipes away “red-faced guilt” .. the kind that melts the “lame excuses” and gets you ready for His final return. It has to fit inside His body .. the Church .. those “dangerous wonders”(yaconelli) and heart cleansed brothers and sisters. What God is doing is whole and complete. What Jesus is doing feels whole-making. What the Spirit is doing is working deep inside your life .. your whole life .. through and through .. making you like Jesus. He works with all the pieces .. parts unknown .. forgotten .. fear-fooled .. self-protecting .. and self-emptying. He’s even working around the “wildest dreams” you’ve ever experienced. He’s not in a hurry .. so why should you? It only takes a moment ..

“And now children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with opens arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.” Ephesians 2:28 The Message

Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F to Followers of Jesus and friends of Priority One (ken@priorityone.org)