Sometimes you just gotta ask yourself: “How can I BEST represent Jesus in this situation?”
Kinda sounds like the old WWJD trend, right? (Who has a bracelet? You know what I’m talking about.)
But seriously– we sometimes find ourselves in super sticky situations that really seems to have no productive solution. I found myself in that very place a couple of weeks ago. I was genuinely stumped and my heart was torn.
Fortunately for me, it was prayer week at church.
See, three times a year, our Church Body puts the whoa on evening activities and invites everyone to come to church to pray. No, it isn’t a time for us to gather and pray for each other’s needs (although sometimes the Holy Spirit works that in.) But instead we worship for a little while, then we sit and listen to what the Lord is saying to us via a theme or prompt or Scripture set… then we come back together at the end and listen to whomever has something to share.
Sometimes God speaks very powerfully to me. Other times, He gives me answers I’ve been needing or leads me to some pretty cool Scripture. Or sometimes He just wants me to CHILL OUT and rest in His presence. (Yes, resting and napping is permitted if that is what your heart/spirit/body needs and the Holy Spirit leads you to it!)
Anywho, I was wrapped up in a sticky, messy situation with no brilliant ideas on how to fix it. Our theme for the year at Christ Community is “His Work, Our Peace.” Honestly, peace was the LAST trait you could have used to describe me at that point. So I headed to church, hoping for answers– or at least a little sliver of His Peace.
The theme for the night was the first work of Christ– His incarnation. After I had a good (and much-needed!) cry by myself in the back row of chairs, I sat… and captured this message directly in my journal.
So today, I just wanted to share what God revealed to me in the midst of my yuck.
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“Jesus became a man. He understands our struggles and has been slandered and persecuted. Yet even on the cross, He forgave those who hurt Him and He never stopped loving. He didn’t care about people’s’ approval– He only cared about His Father’s heart and approval.
So as I face this hurtful situation, I must be like Christ. It’s kind of like bringing back WWJD. He wasn’t just a man of theory, but of action. Sometimes you just gotta ask yourself “How can I best represent Christ in this situation?” Philippians 2:5 says “In your relationships, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…” In the study section of my Bible, it says this about the verse: “Christians are to have His attitude of self-sacrificing humility and love for others.”
It’s scary. It’s hard. But I must remember the words of the song we sang during worship…
‘No power of hell, no scheme of man, could ever pluck me from His hand.’
I embrace the truth that My Beloved is Mine and I am His.
I am safe and protected. He is the ONE I answer to. So as I reflect on the person in flesh of Jesus, He is…
HOLY. FULLY LIGHT. UNCOMPROMISING. PURE. GOOD. MERCIFUL. COMPASSIONATE. AWARE. ATTENTIVE. RIGHTEOUS. SERVING. GIVING. POWERFUL. MIGHTY. GLORIOUS. AWESOME. AUTHORITATIVE. WARRIOR. JOYFUL. SENSE OF HUMOR. FORGIVING. LOVING. SACRIFICIAL. LOVE PERSONIFIED. PROVIDER. CARES FOR US. RESTORER. REDEEMER. VICTORIOUS. LIFE GIVER.
So Jesus came to us in flesh. He understands. He lives in us. We CAN be all these things by clinging to the one truth that He loves us unconditionally. Always. This is done not in our power–but in His power and grace.”
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So yeah… Sometimes you just gotta ask yourself– how can you BEST represent Christ in your situation?
What’s YOUR answer?
Grateful for His Grace,
SGK
“Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.” ~Philippians 2:5-8 (MSG)
