Too good not to be true

Something I've been learning for a decade or more is that we can trust God and depend on him, way more than we imagine.

We can depend on the fact that we are his and he is ours - already, now, and completely.  We can know that he will never leave us or forsake us and we've had any division between us removed.

He loves us unconditionally and forgives us of anything and everything - in fact he did that at the cross - completely, fully, and forever.

Forgiveness of sins is not "salvation" per se, but it makes it possible for us to have new life with God. A lot of people want to be "saved" but they don't necessarily want new life with God.

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Jesus said a lot of people would be looking for a religious experience, but not everyone would find the path to life - and they are two different things.

It's not to say the religious people won't be "saved" for heaven, but that many will live in less than the best available for them in this life.

A lot of people want God or Jesus, etc because they want the stuff that they hope or feel God will provide for them if they "get their life right" with him.

You know - good health, a winning lottery ticket, some bad situation fixed for good, kids growing up right and being successful in their lives, etc - things our religious culture have taught us God is there to provide.

It's not to say that God won't provide things or that he can't - it's just not something scripture promises in the New Testament "under" Jesus and the good news available today.

That system of Old Covenant promises is still taught in some modified forms by some churches so as to keep people giving money, "obeying" or following religious leaders, "going to church", etc.

In many of those places, if you keep doing good and avoiding bad, God will "bless you" in some way and he might "curse you" or allow bad to happen if you don't get your act together.

But none of that is what was or is promised from the time Jesus sent the Spirit to live within us.  What we have now is way better, but it's hard to grasp in a culture that is mainly about stuff and getting more.

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We now live fully reconciled to him, with peace being made between us and God right now and permanently, and he's not mad at us at all.  

Scripture shows that he's not ashamed of us, Jesus isn't ashamed to be called our brother, and the Spirit isn't ashamed to live within us forever.

God set us free so that we're not having to constantly try to make him happy or earn or re-earn our place with him - that's not even a scale he uses with us.

He wants to work within us to help us be reoriented to the world and to life so that we're not constantly chasing after approval, love, etc - but to find all that in him - a gift from him for those who'll take it.

Does that mean that we won't want things?  No, we'll all have those times when we still want things, even things that aren't the best - and he will use those wants to point us back to him, over time.

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If you've ever had a shirt or pair of pants that need to be ironed after being washed, you kind of get the idea of what the process is like - time, patience, a little heat or steam - things eventually get smoothed out.

A lot of us want the wrinkle free version of an experience with God where there's minimum of fuss and bother and we just have to show up somewhere occasionally, be good, and give some cash.

That is an attractive thing to a lot of people, self included at times - it's economical, efficient, and allows me to get back to what I want to do.

But that's not what God is looking for with us - he wants to know us and us to know him.  That's called a relationship. It takes time to get to know someone and few people want more demands on their time.

While we get to know him, our vision of him is changed, our ideas get reshaped, our understanding of what "church" is transforms, and we begin to see life and everything differently.

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Honesty and transparency is important, so you need to know that God WILL disappoint you and he's 100% okay with you being disappointed in him and maybe even angry at him.

He knows that means your understanding of him and yourself is changing and some of your old ideas that needed to be updated are being worked on.

That kind of growth will make some bonds with people stronger and some bonds with other people weaker or even wipe them out.  Won't say which is which, because it's different for everyone.

It's hinted at in places like Romans 12 where Paul says to be transformed by the renewing of your mind - that in view of what you NOW know about God, allow that to change how you see yourself. And it will.

It's hard to pull off some of those old ways of thinking and doing - especially when they are massively caked on (Yumm....cake) with religious or church flavorings that are well known and very comfortable.

It's like when you've been wearing your contact lenses way too long and you have to peel them off - and you think it's never gonna happen because they feel like they're now a part of your eyes.

But he works with us patiently, on a schedule that works and is helpful, to allow us to change, grow, learn, experience, etc - he's not in a rush like your church leaders or pastor might imply you need to be.

He works us like a person growing a vineyard works the vines they tend - fertilizing, watering, harvesting, and even pruning off things that need to go - and we learn to allow it to happen and not fight it all the time.

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It's interesting in history to see times when countries went through massive upheaval because of economic depression, war, disaster, etc - that what used to be valuable becomes worthless and vice versa.

Have you ever seen pictures of people in Germany or Poland or places like that in WW 1 & 2 where they're pushing around wheelbarrows full of paper money to buy a loaf of bread, or that their kids are going to use to make a craft or that they're going to burn to keep warm?

The circumstances we encounter can change everything, if we're open to having our way of seeing changed and our way of being and doing changed.

More on all that later, but just a reminder today that the good news of God in Jesus IS amazing and sometimes it means we have to walk away from old interpretations that were handed to us and take new.

May you be blessed with insight and illumination - even if it's 100% different from mine/what I get - because I know God works with us when and where we are, to take us where we need to be to know the life he offers.

Peace and goodwill.