Include Him

"He didn't choose an innocent person but a guilty one and knew all about him."

HE’S A PERSONAL GOD. He knew my name when He died on the cross. The Father had given me to Him (John 17:11;Psalm 139:16). That gets me every time. Jesus didn’t die for the mass of faceless humanity nor for the general idea of mankind with only a few people picked out by name. No, He died knowing everyone.

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” (Ephesians 1:4)

We’ve made the capacity of the Spirit of God both short term and short length. We’ve reduced Him in Genesis to a six-foot-square when He hovered over the entire surface of the earth. God deliberately took six days to do what He could have done in seconds. I asked Him why, one day, and He said, “I began time so I could end time.” And it hit me. He is the FIRST of everything. He caused the FIRST physical death on the earth when He clothed Adam and Eve. And He will be the LAST, the END, of death.

Jesus was the LAST sacrifice of the Old Covenant and the FIRST man of the New Covenant. He is the LAST King of Israel and is forever, the King of Kings. His was the FIRST human body; we were designed to be like Him (1 Peter 1:20;Genesis 1:26). The devil doesn’t get to decide the END of all things. Though there may be wars and rumors of wars, the END only comes when the gospel has spread around the earth (Matthew 24:6,14). Time is completely in God’s hands, and what we don’t understand of that, we leave in His hands. He is longsuffering. The Hebrew word for “longsuffering” means “long-long,” essentially, and implies “long to get angry.” God is no longer angry. Jesus ENDED it.

They – Father, Son, and Spirit – see us as individuals. They see me, Suzanne D. Williams. They know when I sit and when I rise, and it matters to them. The Father knows my needs and cares that they are fully supplied. I cannot escape the Spirit. Wherever I go, He is with me, directing me. He cares for me every hour of the day and not strictly while at church or in prayer. And Jesus, The Word, knows the thoughts and intents of my heart. You understand, They are in UNITY, They are all these things, but I write them as spoken directly from the Word so you can see how personal They are.

Just to give this weight. God chose Mary to carry the Christ child. He knew she’d be engaged to Joseph. He knew their ancestry back to Abraham. He chose Abraham to found a nation. He chose Isaiah to speak His Words, and Isaiah cried out, “Here am I; send me (Isaiah 6:8).” He picked Jeremiah, sanctified from the womb (Jeremiah 1:5). He selected Ezekiel in a vision saying, “And thou shalt speak my words (Ezekiel 2:7).”

He chose to send His prophet Elijah to the widow at Zarephath, her specifically, instead of anyone in Israel (1 Kings 17:10;Luke 4:26). The Father gave Peter and Andrew, James and John, and the rest of the 12 Learners to Jesus (John 17:11). They were selected by name. Jesus picked Saul, who would become Paul, when he was on the way to kill more Christians. Stare at that for a moment. He didn’t choose an innocent person but a guilty one and knew all about him.

Our loving God is PERSONAL to us. He is FIRST PERSON and second person more than third. This is a writing analogy, but I heard this illustrated through the typical songs sung in church. Most of them TELL THE STORY but don’t SPEAK TO THE PERSON OF GOD. Are we repeating what Jesus did or thank Him for it? “I love you. I adore you.” First Person. “YOU are holy. YOU are who I adore.” Second Person. It is important to Him that we know what He did, but more than that, He did it so that we could speak to Him directly. “Hey, Jesus, I love you.”

I talk to Him like I talk to you. This came out of physical trauma, and as I’ve said to others, He is not like the image the church has painted. He is far more loving and kind, far more gentle, and totally unconcerned with the devil. Because that scoundrel is under His feet … and under ours. Jesus is so good natured. He laughs and teases and will remind you of things you can’t believe He knows. Funny things. Whereas, all the stuff of your past, all your mistakes, are totally wiped out. He never mentions them.

What we haven’t been given in an image of Him is His perfection. We picture that as the arrogance and judgment of earthly rulers. But He is perfection exceeding abundantly far over what you can ask or think. You could not come up with enough imagination to frame Him, nor when you experience Him one-on-one will you say, “Oh, I knew that.” He’s so much better. So REAL. And here is my heartbeat. He isn’t a story, even a true one. He isn’t a worship service or a sermon, though He’s there IN US.

He is with us when we grieve because our old girl, our favorite dog, died. He’s beside us in the checkout line at the grocery store. That nudge you had from the Spirit to pray for the girl across the aisle, that was Him. He’s that song that came on while you were driving home, and it isn’t your usual thing but you like it. He’s real! INCLUDE HIM in everything. While we’re looking for something on the outside to approach us, He’s on the inside always speaking and as down-to-earth as He was when He spoke to Peter to cast His net on the other side.

Before Jesus called them:
“Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.” (Luke 5:4-6)

After He rose from the dead:
“And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.” (John 21:6)


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com