John 14-15

You know, one of the things I thought of when Greg Jao asked us to think of a nonbelieving person God would have a message for, I now realize I was thinking of John 14:2:

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

It's such a wonderful thought to me, to think of this house with many rooms, and how all the company of heaven would fill these rooms with the reflected glory of God. I think I sometimes forget about the limitlessness of God's love and resources, and how this world is but a shadow compared to the world to come. And how my job is simply to invite people to get to know God, and to see His glory.

My application would be to pray more for this friend, and ask God for opportunities to speak to her with His message.

The other verse that struck me was John 15:9:

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

In the beginning of my Christian walk, I used to think that falling in love with God was a "honeymoon" stage kind of thing. That as I grew in faith, I would somehow become more independent of needing God's love. Somehow, I'd become like Mother Teresa, tirelessly ministering to others, or Martin Luther King Jr, standing up for justice in an unjust world.

However, as I look back on the past few years, I can honestly say that it is when I knew that God really loved me, and those around me, that I was really alive. I don't think it is better to be independent of God's love, and that maybe the power behind the ministry of people like Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr, is the discipline of remaining in His love, the kind of love that bridges all kinds of boundaries, walls, and disputes, and the kind of love that gives life, and builds people up. Though falling in love with God has been one of the most inefficient things I have ever done in life, I cannot regret it, for it is only in experiencing His love, that I can accept myself, and show any kindness to the random people He brings into my life all the time.

As George Mueller, one of the greatest men of prayer I know of said:

I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished.