The Bad News

I'll admit that I was resistant to reading J.D. Greear's book, Gospel; however, I learned one very important "take home" point: Always be preaching the Gospel...to yourself.

Simple enough. Actually a hard pill to swallow. The book also encourages the reader to go back & read the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John). Slowly I have been trucking along, but nothing summarizes it up better than the words actually of Romans 10...salvation is by faith alone.

Here's some snipbits:
"...they disregarded the righteousness from God and attempted to establish their own righteousness..."

"... if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. With the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation."

"... the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him."

"...how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher?"

And lastly,

"I was found by those who were not looking for me, I revealed myself to those who were not asking for me."

The Good News is this, that Jesus (God in human flesh) bore all of my sins upon the cross & rose again one the third day defeating the power of sin/death/& the devil. Through Jesus I can have full access to the Father because only through Jesus am I made holy.

Many of us have heard this since we popped out the womb. Many of us either just gloss over it or add things to it. But where is that middle ground?! The ground in which you take it just like it is & allow it to work its power?

Jesus did not come to condemn you, but to save you, all who are afraid! Jesus came to heal those who were sick, all who are worried! Jesus came to forgive, all who don't care!

And I am not just the sinner, but the fearful one! I am not just the one who is sick, but the troubled one! I am not just the one who was forgiven, but the one walking around with apathy!

Now, this "preaching to one's self" is not a substitute to preaching to others. Rather it's like what J.D Greear talks about in the regards to Paul of the Bible: "I am the greatest of all sinners!"

The reflection Paul was having, as J.D Greear had to learn, was not that Jesus (just) took upon the world's sins but MY sins. It was not just one whip my sins deserved, it was the forty+ lashes, the ripping out of the beard, being spat upon, and being nailed & hung upon on the cross (a criminal's death). And yet, if I (or you) were the ONLY person in the universe, God would have still sent His son to die in our place. Why? Because His love is that deep, that wide, & that extravagant!!!

This is both very humbling & invigorating. Or at least it should be, because nothing else in this life will ever compare to it! Not even religion.

You might retaliate & say, "Samantha, this is religion." And I would must certainly say, "I respectfully disagree."

Religion seems to create this world of it's own & impose it upon others. It is constructed & mainly conducted within four walls, full of regulations & praise of outward appearances.

Let me tell you something you might not like to hear,

But Jesus is reality.

Following Jesus is not creating your own world, but joining His already established & fully functioning one! Following Jesus is being invited to join in God's kingdom that has no barriers, no creeds, no masks! Following Jesus takes place in the heart & soul; the body & everything else automatically flows into its proper place afterwards! Following Jesus is what we were made for, not religion.

So the bad news is I remind myself everyday that I was deserving of hell-for I am acknowledging the "plank in my eye before the sawdust in my brother's." But the Good News always follows and that is Jesus won my place back into heaven. This is where I find my peace & rest for the day, this hour & eternity. This is where my joy & treasure lays now & forever. What about you?