His Life in You?

Here I am
Down on my knees again
I hunger and thirst
I hunger and thirst

I surrender
I surrender
I want to know You more
I want to know You more

There are moments when the world hits you: the infinite possibility of your time and place are in sharp focus. You're not sure exactly how to move forward, but you know that to do so is all you want to do and that anything is possible from this place.

It's the moment where H O P E is born.

We're in a season when all that could come to pass has come to pass. A Bridegroom came for His Bride. Death came to life. All that you imagined is possible and all that the enemy of your soul has lied to you about for the past ___ years has been eradicated: because Jesus came. Because a virgin gave birth. Because a cross took all the blows and a teenager took care of God and a whole Kingdom lies before us, just waiting...for you to enter in.

I am not much, but I am something because Christ beholds me.

He sees the place where I've been, the place where I'm going and who I am meant to be much more clearly than I could ever imagine.

His love goes beyond the stars and is literally holding this world from blasting apart.

And I am no different from every infinitesimal, infinite block of clay who God breathed to life.

But there is a choice to be made: we can look God in the face and call Him a liar, defending ourselves with dead babies and famine and all the rest of the unspeakable horrors that daily affect this small blue ball we call heaven. Or we can choose to keep looking Him in the face, beholding this world and joining in the pain that He must feel as He observes those He loves more than life (oh, how He proved it on the Cross!) and the pain they cause and go through as they go spinning through this crazy planet.

Either way, it will break you. You cannot live with any sort of awareness of this world--especially now that we have become global, each in each other's pockets--and see people, really, as they are and as they suffer without having your heart shatter to pieces. You cannot really love and remain unchanged: in this way we completely reflect Christ.

There are many who see but never perceive, who never choose into love, into being aware of the other. For these, the world is simply a little dirtier in places--they have not entered into the pain and suffering, they have not loved as the Christ did (oh, to be completely there with our fellow human beings! to see them as they are, with all that they carry and all that poisons them and the pain that cripples and to choose to enter in and be with and even heal--this is how Jesus loved). They see a picture and it is as if they are looking at their latest bit of entertainment: the heart disengaged. I have done it, been there, self protection runs deep. Because to truly respond--to place yourself among them--requires much more than most of us are ever really willing to give.

I am coming back to life again, after being in desert; dusty, drought stricken for too many years. And as His living waters start to flow back through me, opening up pipelines long undone, pushing back junk that kept me stagnant, this new awareness of His desperate heart continues to flow and overflow through me. I am terrified by my apathy and even more terrified of what I will become if nothing is ever done to save me from it. It's like the line Beast says to Beauty in my favorite book, after she returns and finds him nearly dead, her declaration of love reviving him back to life:

Beauty: "What would have happened if I never came back?"

His haunting reply: "Nothing."

What will become of us if we never allow His life to fill us, His love to fill us, His joy in repentance making us fall apart?

Nothing. The truth of that is terrifying.

I see a fear of the LORD rising up in me that doesn't allow me to sit by, looking pretty on the sidelines any more. I have too much to give and too many dreams falling apart without His gentle glance of peace and hope onto them. I must have Him: not for what He can give and how I see His usefulness, but simply because Jesus is life.

Jesus is life.

We see so much death in our day, our apathy creating nothingness and it can seem like the most overwhelming thing in the world to push against that constant tide, to make our way forward when everything in the culture around you is asking you to settle, sit back, enjoy the show and eat your popcorn. No one wants to be the one yelling, "FREEDOM!" in the middle of the battlefield--or maybe we all do...but wherever you stand or sit, acknowledge this: there is a life in you that was meant to be lived. There is a destiny and hope in you that Christ alone knows and fills completely with Himself and wants to fight through the entire world to bring it to you. He would do everything, expand or fill or drop or juggle or fan into flame (notice He's an active God, actively seeking you) everything everywhere forever to get your yes, your hope, your love, your fire deep in your heart to burn again. You are worth everything to Him and He proved it on a cross.

He proved it on a cross.

There are many who will die for a bad cause or a silly cause or even a mundane cause: but to die for glory, to show off love--this is radical. This is the love that changes the world: to be caught up into something more than you are so that you can see clearly all that you were made to be.

It is so easy to waste your life, to see the hours and days slip by in Netflix and coach potatoes. We wonder why we're so depressed as we sit alone in our houses.

I urge you to live and live life abundantly. To find a friend or two and simply ask them how they are doing and then put aside all that you are and want to talk through to just listen. You will be amazed at how people open up when they notice that your phone is off and they are being looked at straight in the eyes. I urge you to realize: people are precious, please notice them. This is the love that conquers the world.

Take one day and go somewhere you'd never go on your own and start to walk the streets, asking God what He thinks of this place and what He'd like to see here. You'll be amazed by His heart. Interact with the people who live on that block, asking them what their hopes and dreams are for their lives, for this place. Wait and see the hope that shines in their faces as they realize someone cares. This is the love that conquers the world.

As you move on whatever form of transportation carries you from one place to another, take the time to notice the people that are all around you. Starting asking God about their dreams and joys, how they struggle and claim His heart and His hope as you pray for them. If possible, talk to one of them. Feel the power of their story and acknowledge their presence. This is the love that conquers the world.

I find that love is simple but profound. It moves mountains. It changes the world around us, the way we wished we could as kids when we knew something was wrong even though no one had said it yet and we wanted to be part of the action. I urge you to find Jesus, for it is only His love spilled through you that conquers the world: you have not got within yourself the capacity for the change and bright life He promises without Himself. It is He who delves into our dreams and breaks us from our sin patterns that lock us away from His truth, His love, His life flowing through us. The process is merciless, all of you exposed, but the end..is glory.

In the end, you get His life in you!