Just Loved

This past weekend I attended a Women of Faith conference for the very first time. The theme was Believe God Can Do Anything. The speakers were excellent, the worship was phenomenal, and the camaraderie of 7000+ women together in one place at one time was absolutely amazing. Sometimes we just need to get away from what we are most familiar with and most comfortable in, and try something new. I would have missed a tremendous blessing had I not decided to take a chance on something I’d never experienced with people I didn’t know.

For Bible-believing, born-again Jesus followers, we shouldn’t have a problem coming together in worship. Our methods may be different, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. You may not want to belong to the same church that I do, but we should be able to reach across these denominational, racial, cultural, and socio-economic lines to embrace one another in the presence of the One True God. In some “church circles”, we have dug the ditches so deep around us that no one feels welcome to come inside, and no one is free to venture outside.

Jesus Christ exists outside of our various circles. He isn’t confined to any of the boundaries that we’ve established between ourselves. All who call on the name of the LORD will be saved (Romans 10:13). The shackles that we have placed on people in the name of religion have got to come off. Jesus set all these people free, and we come right behind Him and bind them back up with traditions and rules. We have run so many people away from the church because we aren’t BEING the church.

Week in and week out we come to these buildings to learn (hopefully) more of God’s Word, more of the Truth. When will we actually apply that knowledge to our operations? When will Jesus Christ be enough? He is the TRUTH, and the TRUTH will make you free (John 8:32). There is no magic formula to get life right. There is no checklist to perfection. Once we recognize that grace is given, not earned, we will have better perspective of who we are in Jesus Christ – LOVED.