Dear Church,<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not often in the habit of writing letters. My apostle, Paul, loved to write letters and you have quite a few of those contained in the scriptures. I guess I did write seven letters some time ago \u2013 to seven different churches\u2026 but I digress\u2026. This isn\u2019t something I do a whole lot of.
\nLet me properly introduce myself. I am God.
\nThe Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
\nThe Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
\nCreator, Redeemer, Sustainer.
\nOne in Three and Three in One.<\/p>\n
I know that sometimes that gets confusing. I know its down right difficult to understand. I designed those brains of yours. I know it is not easy.
\nSo, here is a simple word of advice\u2026 you can\u2019t. I am not a puzzle to be solved or a question to be answered. I Am Who I Am. Sometimes that might feel to you like a mystery. And that is okay.<\/p>\n
Here is what you do need to understand however:
\nThe basic truth about me is love.
\nI love you and I want you to love me and I want you to love one another.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n
Seems simple enough, doesn\u2019t it?
\nOne of your modern day pastors put it well (Rev. Dr. James B. Lemler)\u2026 although I\u2019m going to put it into my own words:
\nI love you enough to be the Creator who created the whole universe and every creature, I am the one who created you and gave you the very breath of life.
\nI love you enough to be the Redeemer who has saved and redeemed the world from sin, sorrow, and separation so that you might be joined to my love forever\u2026
\nAnd\u2026 I love you enough to be the Spirit\/Guiding God who is at work in you inspiring, strengthening, guiding, advocating, and illuminating you in your being.<\/p>\n
Everything that you know of me\u2026 everything that you have experienced of me\u2026. Is love.
\nThink about it.
\nThe very act of creation was the love within me as the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit bubbling over and outward.
\nYour very life is an expression of my love.
\nFrom the very beginning I have been calling your brothers and sisters, and now you, by name\u2026 beckoning you into a relationship with me.
\nFrom the beginning I created you to be in relationship with other people \u2013 loving them, caring for them. And I know this because I created you to be just like me\u2026 capable of loving and uniting yourself with others.<\/p>\n
And through it all\u2026 no matter how many times you turned away and your love faltered and puttered out and got angry\u2026 I stayed there.
\nWith the love of a father and a mother, I sometimes used harsh words. I sometimes used thorough punishment.
\nBut just like you know that the time out or soap in the mouth or being grounded was meant out of love\u2026 so too, my actions have always been out of love for you.
\nI want you to hear this very plainly: I love you.
\nI know that you are messed up and make mistakes and that there are a thousand reasons I shouldn\u2019t.
\nBut guess what.
\nI. Love. You.
\nJust as you are. With all of your issues and flaws.
\nI created you. I breathed into you my life. And no matter how many nicks and scratches you have \u2013 You Are Mine. And I love you.<\/p>\n
But there is something else you need to know.
\nBecause I am the King of Kings and Lord of Lords\u2026
\nThe Alpha and the Omega\u2026
\nThe beginning and the end\u2026
\nThere is immense power to be found by following me.
\nIt is the power that filled the skies with light and that split the Red Sea right in half
\nMy power has smashed huge kingdoms and struck down famous kings (Ps 136, MSG)
\nAnd I have done these things because it is only the rule of my love in your lives that will truly bring life to you and to the world.<\/p>\n
Not the rule of presidents.
\nNot the number of social media followers.
\nNot your ranking as a sports team.
\nNot the number of zeros in your bank account.
\nNo, only when you let me be the ultimate authority in your life will you find joy and strength.
\nOnly when you kneel before me will you truly be set free.<\/p>\n
For I am the one who remembered you when you were humiliated.
\nI am the one who rescued you from your enemies.
\nI am the one who provided for your every need. (Ps 136 CEB)
\nI am the one who gave my very self to bring you life.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t you remember what my apostle John told you? It\u2019s true! The life I poured into your life\u2026 it wasn\u2019t a one-time offer. Every day, every hour, every minute you can come to me\u2026 pray with me\u2026 talk with me\u2026 and my Spirit will encourage you and enfold you in my love and grace and help you to find peace in this world. And you know what, church? Do you remember my faithful friend, Paul, and all of those letters he wrote? Church! You are my answer to the brokenness and pain and violence and hatred of this world. Church \u2013 can you do that? With love that will last forever, God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Church, I\u2019m not often in the habit of writing letters. My apostle, Paul, loved to write letters and you have quite a few of those contained in the scriptures. I guess I did write seven letters some time ago \u2013 to seven different churches\u2026 but I digress\u2026. This isn\u2019t something I do a whole…<\/span><\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m sure that you can even say it by heart\u2026
\n\u201cFor God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.\u201d<\/em> NKJV<\/p>\n
\nI loved you all so much that my very life was outpoured and given out and broken for you.
\nI didn\u2019t go through all of that just to point a finger and tell you how awful you were\u2026 I did it to show my deep, abiding, steadfast, forever love for you.
\nI did it to put you back on the right paths, to give you a chance to start fresh. I did it because I loved you.
\nBecause even though you are awesome just the way you are\u2026 I also love you too much to let you stay that way. (Anne Lamott)<\/p>\n
\nMy love transforms. It changes lives. It is powerful.<\/p>\n
\nI put that overwhelming power of love inside of you, because I want you to help me to spread it.
\nThis great and awesome mystery of my love is not something reserved for the pastors\u2026 it is meant to be shared. This mystery is YOURS.
\nI want you to baptize others into this love.
\nI want you to welcome others into this love.
\nI want you to let this love to guide your life\u2026 every single day.<\/p>\n
\nWell, he wrote and encouraged the Ephesians to tap into the great power of my love.
\nWe were destined by the plan of God\u2026 called to be an honor to God\u2019s glory\u2026 Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God\u2019s people, this is the reason that I don\u2019t stop giving thanks to God for you\u2026 <\/em>(Ephesians 1:11, 12, 15 \u2013 CEB, ) But I do more than thank. I ask \u2013 ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory \u2013 to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally\u2026. So you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him \u2013 endless energy, boundless strength!<\/em> (Ephesians 1 \u2013 MSG)<\/p>\n
\nYou are my body in this world!
\nWith your lips I speak!
\nWith your hands I serve!
\nWith your feet I move!
\nAll I want to do is pour out my love upon the whole world and to gather it all up in that love.
\nAnd I created you to do that also.
\nI created you to share my life with others.
\nTo love them when they don\u2019t deserve it.
\nTo set free the oppressed.
\nTo bring food to the hungry.
\nTo clothe the naked.
\nTo love the world the way that I love you.<\/p>\n
\nYOU!
\nI created you to share my steadfast love with all of creation.<\/p>\n
\nLet me rephrase the question\u2026 because I know you CAN do it\u2026 I gave you the power to do it.
\nChurch \u2013 will you do that?<\/p>\n