I have been a Christian for quite a few years now.
As one of four kids our household was always full of sermons and church meetings. My dad was a pastor and he loved to share the love of God with people.
He is one of the greatest men I know. He is a man of faith. He isn’t perfect, but he loves our Heavenly Father so much.
He has made his fair share of mistakes, just like the rest of us. There are things he probably regrets and other things I am sure he is glad he has learned.
My dad wasn’t brought up in the most loving home. His father left on and off. His mother favored one of his other siblings more, and He didn’t grow up having a relationship with God, he made do with what he had.
He worked, went to school, helped take care of his family. He cared for and tended to their needs to the best of his ability, yet his life wasn’t just filled with sad moments. There were great times too.
His relationship with his family, friends and boss, like his grandpa before him, were amazing. Yet, something inside of him was being neglected.
As we live our lives, we navigate through a limited amount of information that grows as we gain new experiences about life.
It’s as if you and I hold this box in our hands that we call life. As we wander around, we store things inside.
Every problem, solution and experience is put in our box, but this box is limited to our perceptions.
We can move thorough life believing that we know all we need to, or simply continue never knowing that there is something more significant and fulfilling out there. In this way, we miss the joys and experiences we might have had.
Life goes on, responsibilities pile up and still, something inside us is calling us to search for something to fill it. So we search for those needs to be filled.
We go from moment to moment, chasing object after object, person to person, job after job, and still can’t quite get satisfied until one day, you hear about a Person who can fill the emptiest part of you with an everlasting fullness.
You hear about how this Savior came down from His throne and was born of a virgin. You hear how He suffered tremendously at the hands of men, only to die and rise again on the third day for you and for me.
You are probably thinking, no man could sacrifice so much for one person, let alone many. You’re right. He wasn’t just a man. He was God.
I need to tell you that it doesn’t matter how good you think you are. No matter how kind and compassionate you are, you will never be able to fully love the way Christ Jesus has loved you, or anyone else, for that matter.
You can’t because you aren’t God.
As much as I would like to, I can’t save a person from their hardship. I am limited in what I can say or do. By myself, I am nothing.
On my own, I can’t summon the rain to produce a harvest, I can’t magically heal a blind person or raise someone from the dead. And I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that I am not fit to sit on the seat of judgment and give both grace and punishment to those who need it.
I am not a powerful being. I am only a mere speck in this world that our Creator God designed for His pleasure and rule.
But Jesus is! He has authority that has only been bestowed on Him by our Father God. And He is willing and able to do what we, as humans cannot.
He can heal the sick. He can make the blind see. He can make the dead come back to life. He can pass out judgment and grace since He is perfect because He is righteous and sinless.
He has eyes to see what we cannot. He hears the whispers that are spoken during chaos and noise. He has knowledge and wisdom where there are none to be found. And He loves fiercely.
Do you know what makes this even better? He can sit on that seat of His and we can still come to Him because He loves you and me.
Because He is perfect and free of imperfection and sin, He can see what our tainted minds cannot. His ability to love stretches farther than we can ever imagine, and He accepts us through our ugliness because He is willing and able.
When we are hurt, our temptation to fight back in anger disqualifies us from casting judgment, and when we are burdened, suffocating, and too weak to take one more breath, God is stronger and full of the breath of life we need because He created it. He created us.
When we have never known love, Jesus gives it because He is the author of love. When we struggle to see truth in our lives, He exposes the lies that hold us chained down.
When we are cast aside and there is no one for us, He is by our side. He is our warrior God. It is He who can do all things.
We’re limited by our very existence, but with Him, our lives can outshine the brightest star.
Because of Him, we can live on in eternity, knowing peace, joy, and love. Through Christ, our need to defend ourselves and fight back ceases, and we can give forgiveness and peace to those who don’t deserve it because we know we don’t deserve it either.
It is because of Jesus that we can speak life to those in need of encouragement and support. With God, all things are possible. Without Him, we are empty shells, waiting to be filled one moment after the next, never truly being satisfied and always hungry for more than what this world can offer.
Can I put some words of hope and encouragement in your ear? Whether you have known God all your life or have just barely embarked on a journey with Him, or maybe you don’t know Him at all, God wants you. He loves you and He wants you to know that He can fill any void you have. Christ can grow you into the person you didn’t even know you could become. If you struggle, He can help you. Every day, he helps me when I am feeling discouraged, hurt, lost, lonely, angry, and bitter.
Through His loving kindness, he teaches me how to live, changed, and whole. It is such a process, but it ends in a beautiful story, one worth reading over and over again.
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