No Nobel, but I don't care.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

I must admit now that my heart is heavy. When something needs to be said, I begin to feel this way. I am praying about what it is that needs to be said. There is no way to explain it, but I like the feeling and miss it when it is gone. As I wait for the word to come, I think about something a friend said to me a while back.
We were talking about the passing on of a word we had received from God, a message He had for His people. Those words are not easy ones to carry, as they often bring truth about sin and a need for change. The Spirit behind these words is real and powerful and empowering, but the messenger is often weak and finds the burden more than enough. When the message is delivered, the tone can sometimes be impatient, tired, judgemental, and even hateful. None of these characterize the gospel.
The gospel message is characterized by love. It isn't a safe love. When you look at Jesus life as he introduced the Way to the Jews, he began by filling needs. He healed, fed, comforted, and taught. As time went on, the receiving of gifts merged with the receiving of edification. Those who crossed paths with Jesus found their lives unraveled before their eyes. It had seemed so nice for a while, but Jesus didn't only come to meet physical needs. The higher goal was Spiritual salvation. This required the sluffing off of the physical body, its death. Today, this is still the way of working out salvation. Jesus exhibited for them and for us, saving us in the very process of teaching us. Still, we don't seem to get it. We struggle and aim for the easy life of church and work and family, while Jesus wants us to follow him with our families, with our churches, into the dangerous love adventure that is His life.
The thing that Jesus did, though, after the hard teaching, was show mercy and grace and hope. That is what his death signified. It is what our deaths to selves can signify for a world seeking truth. It is what I want to do as I deliver these tidbits of truth and opinion, thought and feeling. I know that God has given me messages in the past. I know that I have delivered them in ways that are lacking. Mercifully, He still uses them. What I want to do is leave you with the verse above. Know that when we are called to change for Christ, it is all about him - from him, through him and to him. Know that He answers prayers, and my prayer is this one: The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.