June 27, 2011
“Let your love, God, shape my life with salvation, exactly as you promised; Then I’ll be able to stand up to mockery because I trusted your Word.” Psalm 119:41-42 The Message
When God shapes your life He shapes you to know that you are loved from head to toe ..through and through .. and shaped so that Christ can live intimately in you. We live in a shaped-crazed world. The worst thing you can do is look at your shape and think that is how much God loves me or doesn’t love me. Jesus longs for you to find your true home in His love for you. He wants you to have His joy. He wants you to discover how much His joy will shape your life. You don’t find it by bargaining with God or promising to be better if He would only love you more. His love is literally life-shaping. There wasn’t a moment that Jesus was homeless from His Father’s love. (There was that one moment when He felt indescribably separated from His Father because of your sin … but that was the most dramatic act of love that God has ever shown you.) Jesus described a life of living in His love as keeping His commands: to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength … and your neighbor as yourself. He even described your daily life with these words: Love one another in the same way He loved you: the world you live in will recognize you as a follower of Jesus! All of those commands will shape your life in a way you cannot imagine. It is so subtle how much this flawed and broken world tries to tell you that “you” are the controller of you your own shape. It’s up to you today. Nothing could be further from the truth: What we are so prone to do is ask God to bless the shape we want versus living a life of love in Christ that begins to shape our world. You may not be mocked today. You more than likely will be ignored if you make your home in Christ today. OR … you’ll be noticed by someone who’s starving to be loved by God. What is important is what shape you are giving your life to today? It only takes a moment …
“If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done — kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love. I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might by your joy, and your joy wholly mature.” John 15:101-11 The Message
Ken Chester: Grace-Gripped is sent M-F Indefatigably-Loved Shaped Followers of Jesus and friends of Priority One. (Ken@priorityone.org)
