\\messy in grace\\

what others' actions to us communicate is not more about them; no, we hear about us. 

take a little girl, sitting in the backseat of the car. her mom asks her to hop out and put the mail in the mailbox, she hops out, skips out (in front of a briskly paced car) to the mailbox, places the mail in and skips back. when she comes back to the car, the first words she hears is: "How could you skip right in front of that car? you could have been killed. you know better than that, i cannot believe you did that! And, you forgot to prop up the red flag. you cannot do anything i ask you to do." and with that the mom storms out of the car to the mailbox to fix the perceived problem. 

the little girl sits in the backseat of the car, wounded and surprised....tears strolling down her cheek one by one. inevitably, she'll begin to think that she is the wrong thing. she won't process that "mom must be having a bad day" or that "mom has an anger problem" ...no, her wounds will turn into ownership ("I") and she'll begin to think "I am something wrong and I cannot do anything right" 

we've all lived through examples like this, perhaps not so dramatic, where we've heard something from our relatives, bosses, or dear friends that they didn't mean to communicate. 

we've, likely, lived out the example...where we've communicated to someone some intense messages that we didn't mean to communicate.

it hurts. 

it leaves confusion. 

it leaves ambiguity and frustration. 

hurt hurts. 

i am aware these days of the many messages i received (consciously, subconsciously, or non-willingly) from others and what those messages said about me. yes this is the past, and yes, i am not a victim. but i am aware that what has been said has affected how i think and feel about myself and the world around me. 

Romans 12:1-2

(NLT)

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

i am aware these days that i have not communicated great messages to some people in my life. if i am honest, i don't know how to correct this....i don't know what resolution or reconciliation steps to take. my lack of intentionality will surely have communicated that they don't matter.... this isn't okay with me. i am aware that i have had the opportunity to communicate something to another that brings life, and there have been times where I have not done that. 

Ephesians 1:3

(MSG)

"How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son."

John 3:16-17

(AMP)

"For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him."

if what we say and do communicates to others more about them than about us...enter God.
what God did and what God has said is deeply unusual. It's deeply penetrating.

GOD, the Uncreated Creator, gave Himself up (out of pure love and joy) to live on this earth (yup, left the perfection of Eternity, and yet still remained a part of it, figure that one out) in the form of a Perfect Son of Man, so that WE might be reconciled into right relationship with The Almighty Abba....

What did we do to warrant this kind of response? Notta-whole-lotta-good. We are in the line of Adam and Adam, well, he fouled up a bit. And even beyond that, most of us weren't looking for Eternity and Heaven on Earth. So, the generous gift of God communicates to us something SO BEYOND our comprehension because it is surprising....we didn't see it coming. at all. and we are rendered:: messy in Grace.

2 Corinthians 5:21

(MSG)

"How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God."

God's actions to me communicate to me something of value. of worth. of love. of friendship. of goodness. That is what he thinks of me. [[of YOU]]
Sure, God is Perfect, so these things are an outflow of his character, but be not confused or stuck...God pursues us. He has pursued me by bringing Heaven on Earth. And his pursuit tells me an infinitely passionate story about me. [[YOU]]