HELLO, LOVE EVERYONE.

Why do we tell people about Jesus? Do we open our mouths or speak through our actions because we know it’s the right thing to do and we read about it in the Bible, or do we share the LOVE of Jesus because we are simply and utterly compelled too. Just as our bodies take over with an emotion of laughter or as tears stream down our face in time of pain, are we overtaken by the “spiritual emotion” God goes through everyday He sees His creation reject Him knowing and unknowingly? Have we yet begun to understand the heart of God? To day-after-day find our hearts beating, breaking, and burning for the things of God? If we could only catch a glimpse of what our God goes through, would we react or just throw in our two seconds of pity for the situation (like we do when a starving child pops up on the television) and move on with everything else? STOP. AND. THINK. Who are we? A people so fortunate yet giving nothing. Living by the philosophy that if we do not take from others then there is no need for us to give to others. When is the last time we cared about someone beside ourselves? Better yet…when is the last time we did something for someone other than ourselves? Are we scared to talk to strangers? Because we do it when we place an order at Burger King or when we ask for the price on an unmarked article of clothing. Are we scared to say the word “Jesus” around people? Because we do it in the church every Sunday. WHAT ARE WE AFRAID OF?

This isn’t even about helping the prostitute, the poor in spirit, the needy, the widow, the orphan. This is about the simplicity of the heart of God. No specifics. No groups. No classifications. No thread or focus except knowing Jesus so deeply that we are compelled to show LOVE in every way there is to show it. Jesus is not about specifics…He is about people. He loved EVERYONE…therefore He died for everyone. And if that’s the case, we are letting the life that He gave upon the cross go to waste. He died so that EVERYONE could experience “everlasting life,” but if we’re not letting people know who He is and what He did for them…WHAT’S THE POINT?

It’s amazing how foreign a simple “hello” is today. As I walked downtown Minneapolis it boggled my mind to see how difficult it is for people to receive or show LOVE to one another. We’re not talking about being odd with anyone and freaking them out, we’re talking about “HELLO.” How have we become so focused on our agendas that the simplicity of smiles or eye contact has slipped our minds? HAVE WE MISSED IT?

The challenge is this…start somewhere. Hello? Smile? Eye Contact? Somewhere. Are we going to be borderline, selfish Christians? I have done that for too long and I’ve had enough of it.

“God, teach us how to better discern Your Spirit so that we will never miss out on what you truly want to speak to us. Help us to discover Your heart so that we may be able to LOVE Your people. Teach us how to see through Your eyes and learn how to encounter a need and do something about it. Teach us how to be more like Your Son. We wanna be more like You Lord.”

TO LIVE IS CHRIST. TO DIE IS GAIN.

God the Creator, One that rules over all, keeping the very earth spinning and universe existing, chooses not to be some “cosmic Santa Clause” as Pastor Peter Haus would say, distant and out of reach, but desires to be close and in tune with His creation. We, the creation, have been given life. Breath. Existence. Purpose. Future. Not to stand by and see our years waste away but for the very function of glorifying the One that shaped us. With this life that our God has given we live and breathe. Live and love… We have life.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all existing as three-in-one and one-in-three, as the same Spirit, have given life to EVERYTHING. Everything around us has been created by this Creator. We live because of the breath that He has given and we live again because of the life that He gave up. There are two distinct moments where life is given and breath is taken in: at the moment we are born God breathes into us and fills us up with life; and, at the moment of the resurrection of our hearts when we accept Jesus as Savior, we are born-again. There are two moments of creation. In the beginning God creates us to live, exist, and experience this life, but when a point of understanding and acceptance is reached, we become a new creation through the death of Jesus. God the Father and Jesus, the Son of God, God in Man, create two distinct but inseparable moments where we become His creation.

We read in Philippians 1:21 that Paul writes, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Since life is given through breath and life is given by Christ, we breathe because of Christ. To live is Christ, but also, Christ is to live. We are not only a creation, but we are a new creation that lives this life to give EVERYTHING to our Creator. “To die is gain.” We not only die to our flesh when we become a new creation but to give our lives as the ultimate sacrifice is to give God back the very breath of life that He first gave us. Life is but a breath and breath is but one life that we’ve been given. It’s the beginning of nothing and the end of everything. We give everything for Christ and hold nothing back. TO LIVE IS CHRIST. TO DIE IS GAIN.