Happy Birthday Isabel! :D
Not forgetting my dear Elsen haha :P
The simple joys in life are often around us and yet we don't notice it :)
The world tells us that life is tough and we have to grit our teeth and go through it but Jesus promised that His yoke is easy and His burden is light :)
Too often the simplicity of the gospel leaves us in doubt.
We wonder out loud: It can't be true. Its too good to be true!!
We take the Gospel and turn it into something man-made.
Along with all the customs, traditions, concepts and ideas that we know.
"You need to read your bible, pray and fast.
You gotta love God more; give your life for him.
Try harder, you can do it!"
It sounds so right, and yet we are falling into the subtle trap that the Devil has set for us.
The Gospel was never about us in the very first place.
It was never about man reaching for God but rather God reaching for man.
It was never about our love for Him but His great love for us.
It was never about what we want to do for Him but what He wants to do and accomplish through us, and these are things that we alone can never do.
Grace is all about God doing through man what he can't do for himself.
It is a simple message, yet today we package it so professionally.
We say that we are in the world but not of the world.
But we are not willing to reach into the darkness of the world.
We expect people to come to us, to come to church.
We expect them to step into our comfort zone.
Since we are not of the world, we say No to certain taboos.
We have a mental boundary in our minds.
Yes we can do that, no we can't do that 'cos its wrong.
There seems to be nothing wrong with thinking that way.
Except for one little problem.
When we do that there is the danger that we get too caught up in our own self-righteousness.
Mentally we already judge people who are different from us and don't fit into our culture.
The church gets so caught up in its own righteousness till the point that its precarious.
We become more focused on having the "right image" instead of showing love to the people out there.
Which is quite sad.
So what is the Gospel?
It all goes back to Jesus.
And what He did for us on the Cross.
Jesus was not juz a remarkable man in history.
He was the One who would impact all of humanity forever.
The Cross accomplished something so great that we would never be able to fully comprehend.
The Cross was where justice and love met.
It was a place of darkness for our Lord and yet it translated to the Hope of all mankind.
Jesus went to Hell so that we can experience Heaven on Earth.
He bacame Sin so that we could become the Righteousness of God.
Its all about Him.
It has always been that way.
But along the way Theology tells us otherwise.
Theology tells us that the Cross is almost complete.
We juz need to complement it with our praying, fasting and reading of the bible.
And it seems right.
Because its practical.
We can't juz sit around and do nothing can we?
I hate to break this to you, but we can't earn his favour.
We obviously do not deserve it, yet He wants to give it to us.
This favour is unearned, undeserved and unmerited.
It is only by the grace of God that we are able to live this life.
And not juz live a mediocre life but reign in this life!!
The Gospel is simple, too simple to the point that we think that we muz complicate it a little.
To make it seem right.
Whenever we don't unveil Jesus and His finished work on the Cross, we are not preaching the Gospel that Paul preached.
My friend, it is my prayer that you come to know about the sheer simplicity of the Gospel of Christ, and let Him embrace you.
Let His love engulf you like never before.
Let His tender mercies flood through your entire body.
Let Jesus be your everything :)
Amen.
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