Only if you believe. But how can you believe if you 'haven’t seen anything yet?'
Blessed are those who have seen and believed, but even more blessed are those who haven’t seen and yet believe.
So what does that mean?
I remember being in one of the largest churches in the world located in Texas.
I was working as an expat. There were thousands in the congregation. A very special teacher was speaking who was usually there only as a very popular musician Marcos Witt.
He spoke out and said music was just a vehicle to enable him to do what he really loved; to speak from God…
- So he was building up the audience with lines like; ‘ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT JESUS?’ Everyone replied; ‘YEEESS’.
- Then he asked; ‘ARE YOU READY TO BE WITH JESUS?’ Answer again was; ‘YEEESS’, the crowd roared.
- Then; ‘ARE YOU READY TO DIE FOR JESUS?’ Again, I thrust up my hands and shouted, ‘YEEESS’.
I was immediately somewhat mortified to find that out of all those thousands of people I was the ONLY one to shout or make any noise! But everyone was so uncomfortable with the exposed truth about themselves that they didn’t stare.
I felt like he then said to the congregation mentally, ‘There, I rest my case’.
As a peaceful warrior, I couldn’t understand how professing Christians had completely ignored and avoided facing the cross. They had no desire or capability to hear the actual teaching of Jesus and act accordingly. So every week they returned to receive only what they could handle, and were given only that which would ensure the numbers kept returning to fill seats and pay the huge overheads; to be encouraged in their unending worldly suffering and to be given no more than the hope that one day soon they would achieve their worldly dreams.
That’s fine as far as it goes but for warriors of Truth it is a settlement that we cannot accept.
What are you reaching for?
So what is your dream? Is it a boat and two big bags of cash? Or is it God Truth? We receive what we exalt, what we dream of, what we magnify and what we glorify. Many glorify a new Mustang in their hearts. Nothing wrong with that, but it is only temporary and it will one day have to be left behind. There are the issues of ownership that come with it such as fuel, bills, road-rage, envy- scratches and the fear of having it stolen. There is something much more…
Or do we know about this impermanence? Have we lived long enough to see that our childhood dreams of happiness, vocation, excitement, financial wealth, the perfect partner and possessions that can fulfill us just haven’t been delivered or even worse if they have, they are now proven to fail to give us the satisfaction we hoped for?
This is the painful conventional truth of life; life is suffering. Jesus said life is actually a form of death! We are all actually asleep and we should wake up from our slumber and see the Truth. His Life is eternal and is not all about self, ego or pleasing the soul and He will share His Life with us for free!
Freedom by the Spirit of God
Beyond the cross that Jesus was willing to take up, is eternal life. No-one unwilling to carry their cross and forsake their own lives will inherit the Kingdom of God and eternal Life by the Spirit.
Such thoughts of the cross make people miserable, but that’s because they’ve got the Truth turned upside down in their minds. It is this life that leaves us forever wanting. True Life beyond the cross will have us filled and never ever lacking again.
But who will listen, be saved, put it into practice and save others?
Faith to Love, to Action, to Eternal Life
It is the Kingdom of the Cross that we must believe in as Peaceful Warriors of Christ. Believe in Him, and He will reach His hand down to you and save you. If He can do it for me, He can do it for you too.
