discipleship | awrkhakhaya

The thing that I love the least about you are your accomplishments. I am proud of the work you have done, but that does not gather my love, only attention. This world has convinced us that we must measure up, and if we haven’t done everything to stay in stride with peers then the sum total of our lives will never really matter when the chips are tallied. It is beyond me to declare that this is falsehood, for it is what you believe. As such it is the reality which guides, controls, governs and constrains your self-image, emotions and sense of achievement. Telling you that it is not true will only close your ears to the Wisdom of God and I do not wish to undo any good that He has done in your life by shutting down your listening channels. I would ask you to remember the feeling of accomplishment, the charge, the upside and next time you feel it, measure exactly how long it lasts. If they have subscribed to truth, then it should fill you up indefinitely, unlike a drug which must be continually ingested to maintain, increase or recover that “rush”.

I love you for all the things that you are not. You are not too proud, walking in self-oblivion, blinded by your own image. You refuse to mock God, although you have never surrendered to Him, you see the wisdom in not taking the chance of angering the creator. You are not callous, forgetting and overlooking everyone around you in their moments of extended agony, simply to maintain your own sense of well being. You are not cruel, believing yourself elevated over those who have been created for their own purpose. You are not hateful, twisting your spirit into knots with enmity of your fellow humans for whatever it is that they will do, not do or become for you. You are not a fool, and you listen to reasonable discussion, even when it is something for which you have little consideration or perspective. You do not look away from your gifts but use them to the best of your ability, although they are primarily utilized for your own gratification, amusement and edification. I love you most, because God cared enough to send His son to retrieve you from certain damnation, by dying upon the cross for each of your sins. It may seem odd to you for someone to say that they love you for the things that someone else has given you, but if you think on it for a bit it will all make sense. For God gave you life, breath, health, wealth, the capacity to think, talents, conscience and love. So you are the sum total of everything God has done for you and that is why I love you.

How then can I love you now, when I see you in misery, incapable of sharing your heart for fear of appearing misguided? Don’t you know that there is a solution to every problem? Unfortunately for your reputation the answer to your current dilemma, is God. I do not wish that you would try every other available solution as physical scientists have confined themselves to doing. I know that you will have to try them all, I just pray that the time goes swiftly and that you come rapidly to the eventual conclusion; God has always been the only answer to the problem of your fulfillment. It makes sense to go to the creator of any system, engine, product or artifice when seeking resolution to efficient tuning, calibration and longevity. That is why God is the only answer, for He was there at the beginning of all things, speaking us into being, encoding our DNA with purpose, function and operational parameters.

I do not love your folly, I do not love your sin, I do not love your rebellious or stubborn nature, but those are characteristics or actions they are not you, unless you allow them to define your existence. I do not wish to change you, but I do wish that this life does its work and gives you the impetus and experiences necessary to bringing you into inevitable questioning and discussion regarding your God given purpose. That is where our roads converge, that moment when the words I have offered will somehow make sense and lead you forward into an active search for Almighty God. I look forward to that day and cherish it before it has even come, for I love you enough to wait upon God. In Jesus Holy Name I pray.

Philippians 2

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Word of God is clear. Yes there are mysteries, yes there are parables, yes there are directions written through the Holy Spirit that are hard to understand, but it is always clearer than the shallow, mountain stream at noonday. It is humanity that seeks to obfuscate the truth in our quest to remain ambivalent, disobedient and under-engaged in the pursuit of honest faith.

We are to “be of one mind”. Do you ever see this in the church, such that everyone is inclined to be dedicated to one direction? We are to humble ourselves, not that we forget our own needs, but to the point where we are ever conscious to the need of others. This was the mind that was in Christ. Would any disagree that the Lord Jesus had more ambition or had set for him larger tasks to be completed that any of us? Yet, he remained mindful of the needs of all those around him, even when he faced his inevitable and imminent death on the cross. He did that for us. Instead of worrying about his own mortality, he was busy washing people’s feet, feeding hungry bellies and wiping away tears of the mourning. I most certainly cannot imagine myself emulating this example, but thanks be to Christ, I don’t even have to complete that task.

We must get our faculties together and quickly. Any man not properly prepared before entering battle is facing the day dedicated to foolishness and certain failure. We must become of one mind to get about the work defined for us in the Lord’s instruction manual, the Bible. If we do not stand for righteousness then no one shall, for we are Christ’s Ambassadors. Yes, God could proclaim His own Glory by making the mountains sing, but He has chosen Christians for this purpose. If we don’t do it whether out of fear, misunderstanding, ignorance or rebellion, all will suffer. That is why we are to be ever mindful of the needs of others because so much hangs in the balance of our performance. A single ambassador can start war or instigate peace in foreign relations, a single ambassador can muster the allegiance and national commitment through well scribed word, a single ambassador can open the door to corporate disintegration through poor information security. Each of us is a “single ambassador” for Christ. Think on this and become serious about your challenge or accept the eventual conversation with the King about your lack of diligence.

awrkhakhaya

Aramaic for the Path to Life

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