We meet Jesus in relationship, not through religion

One thing that is extremely unique about Christianity's view about God is that we understand that he is a personal God. Although by definition Christianity technically falls into the category of religion, I find it easier to understand in practice by thinking of it as a relationship with God. From it's very beginning, we see in the Bible that God not only interacts with creation as a whole time and time again, but that he personally comes into the lives of his people, those who truly love him and look for him.

Most other religions of the world take a works-based approach to attaining salvation, or enlightenment, or whatever they may refer to it as. In most cases, you get to God by doing good deeds, or earning your way, or simply put, by putting in the hard work. Now don't get me wrong here, Christianity certainly has much to say about how we live our lives and how we treat people, but it is the order of things that is completely different. In Christianity we come to Jesus first because we see our inability to get to God based on our own efforts, and as a result he changes our heart and the rest follows. It is not a requirement to change yourself before God will accept you, He accepts you right away and then comes into your heart and calls you into deeper relationship with him, which always ends up changing how you live your life. 

In Revelation 3:20 (NIV), Jesus says to the church of Laodicea, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." I can't think of a more beautiful way to describe a relationship with Jesus, but to think of the act of sharing a meal with someone. It is a personal experience, available to every person. The question is, will we accept his invitation and let him in?

I think for anyone to get to the point where they ask Jesus to come into their heart and commune with them, we have to get to a place where we recognize our need for God. Those who seek power through religion, will not usually find Jesus appealing. Those who are self-reliant and cannot admit their inability to get out of this life alive, will probably not find Jesus appealing. Those who are unwilling to admit the brokenness of their own lives and their sinful nature, will have a hard time coming to the table with Jesus. God is available to every person through Jesus Christ, but only those who recognize their sinful nature and need for God will find him.

God is real. Jesus is truly the son of God. He is a personal God, he knows you by name and he loves you. You were created with a purpose, and for relationship with him. You don't have to do a bunch of stuff before God will accept you, you only need to call out to him and acknowledge your need for him, and ask him to come into your life. When we reach the bottom of ourselves, when we've got nothing left, only then can God truly change our hearts. God is available to all who seek him, and recognize their need for him. This is why he's the God for all people, the young and the old, the simple and the intellectuals, there is no one who is out of his reach. There is no one who's "too far gone."

"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved," -Romans 10:9-10 NIV.

Jesus: Our hope, even in death

Death. Some would say it's the last act in our earthly existence. For those who follow Jesus Christ, how are we to view death? Well, I can tell you that death has always been extremely difficult for me to cope with, ever since I was little. In response to the difficulty of dealing with death, I'd like to look at how Jesus himself reacted to death, which gives me great hope and comfort.

"Jesus wept," -John 11:35. This is the shortest verse in the Bible, yet it is perhaps one of the most powerful as well. In this verse we see the humanity, love, and compassion of our Lord and Savior as he reacts to the death of his good friend Lazarus. Yet to simply leave it at that would be an injustice, because if we look at the verses around it we see so much more going on. 

You see, it wasn't simply that Jesus was sad that Lazarus died, although even if that was all it was, it would still be powerful in conveying the depth of emotion that our God experienced in the flesh. Jesus wept after seeing the grief and sorrow of those he loved, who were deep in mourning over the loss of their loved one.

I think it shows more than that though. Some translations indicate that Jesus was not just moved to tears by the loss, but that he was deeply troubled and angry at the sorrow caused by death. Here's an example of the verses before in the Amplified translation: 

"When Jesus saw her sobbing, and the Jews who had come with her also sobbing, He was deeply moved in spirit [to the point of anger at the sorrow caused by death] and was troubled," -John 11:33 AMP.

Jesus was God in the flesh, and he knew death was not part of his original design. We were not originally meant to experience death, it only came into the picture when we chose to follow our own path instead of following the will of God our Creator and father. Death came into the picture after Adam and Eve willingly disobeyed God's commands and decided to take hold of their own destiny, so the result was death, as shown in Genesis:

"And the Lord God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever,'” -Genesis 3:22 NIV.

So when we look at the big picture and pull this all together, I think it is incredibly remarkable to see the compassion shown by Jesus when he walked on earth. Certainly, God could choose to respond to our grief by saying that we did this to ourselves, but instead he enters into our pain, suffering, and grief, and experiences it with us.

The story doesn't stop there though, Jesus goes on to be crucified by the religious leaders at the time, and to experience an incredibly brutal and painful death himself, in order to provide the solution to the problem of sin and death. God, in his infinite goodness and love, showed his kindness to a creation who rebelled against him, by personally entering into creation and experiencing the very worst thing possible, which was a direct result of their rebellion: death. Jesus paid the price on our behalf.

So where is our hope in all this? Just a few verses before he wept, Jesus shares that hope with Martha as he comforts her: 

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die,'" -John 11:25-26 NIV.

Jesus is our eternal hope, and death is not the end for those who believe in him.

Social media post reflections

What kind of message does your social media activity send to those who don't know you? This is something I've been pondering a lot lately, especially over the last month or so. I'm human like everyone else, so I have often felt the pull to post things online that I have a strong opinion about. I've come close to posting things in the heat of an emotional moment that I would never say to someone in person. I've liked posts that in hindsight were surely offensive to someone with a different view, and I just have to wonder, how does that make me look to someone who's never met me?

If someone who never met you before looked you up on Facebook and saw your posts, what conclusion would they come to about the kind of person you are, without even meeting you? Would they feel an openness to be able to communicate freely with you, or not? I have to be honest, when I started thinking this way and looking at what people have been posting lately, there's a lot of people that I would never have guessed are the type of people I actually know them to be outside of social media. I realized how other people's posts personally affected me, in that because of how I choose to view something differently than they do, I then fall into whatever group they are targeting with their post and am therefore a recipient of their attack, although it's not intentional, it is a real consequence.

Once I realized this, I started to view my own social media activity through that lens. What message does my social media activity send to those who view it? As someone who believes in Jesus Christ, do my words and actions align with what I claim to believe, or do I attempt to separate the real world and online world and pretend that there is no connection. I assure you, it is not possible to separate the two. Online or offline, how do we treat others, directly or indirectly? Do we treat them the same way that we want to be treated? Or do we hold a different standard for those who think differently than we do?

James 3:9-12 NIV states, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

When I look at how Jesus treated people in the gospels, I see that he saw people where they were at. He saw them as human beings, not just as a part of a group or as a consequence of the decisions they've made up to that point. When I look at how Jesus treated people, it causes me to self reflect and wonder how I am doing. How do I want to be treated by others, and do I extend that same question and compassion to others who think differently than me? Do my words edify and breathe life into those around me, or do I indirectly chastise them for their beliefs by berating the views they hold through my social media posts and online activity? If I claim to believe in Jesus Christ, would I even be given a chance to share the gospel or my own story of how God has redeemed me if someone first took a look at my social media accounts before meeting me? Put yourself in someone else's shoes and look at your posts and wonder, what conclusion would they come to if they didn't already know you?

Each of us has a story that is unique, and we think the way we do as a result of our life circumstances up to that point. We have an opportunity to learn and grow from one another if we can get past our differences and actually listen to one another. To love your neighbor as yourself is a world changing principle, but it takes self-reflection and discipline to execute.

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other," -Galatians 5:13-15 NIV.

Social media is a tool, it can be used for good, and it can be used for bad. Before we post anything online, I think it's important to analyze our heart's motives and question whether it reflects the type of people that we actually want to be. Lastly, I think before we post anything it is wise to ask that if someone else posted something similar but that clashed with our values, how would it makes us feel? To love one's neighbor as yourself is to think this way, and to respond differently because of it. This may seem like a small thing, but if everyone thought and acted this way, it could make a world of difference.