Extraordinary

“Things are not at all as God intended them to be. He never wanted death, disease, pollution, crime, or sadness. He did not invent boredom, fear, anger, or insecurity. He despises injustice. He does not want anyone to hurt. He hates poverty, corruption, and disaster. God will tolerate these things only for a very small portion of eternity and will ultimately use all things for good. Somehow, every good and bad thing on the planet is being woven into His perfect plan. None of us can fully understand the depth of His wisdom in this. But one day, much sooner than you think, He will eagerly destroy all pain and evil so that His children can live with Him forever.” (More Than Ordinary by Doug Sherman)

IF YOU’RE NOT blown away by Him, you don’t know Him right. If you’re not excited to see Him, your eyes are closed. If you’re fearful and anxious, then you’re not waiting for Him but someone else. If you can’t see the future as bright, bright, bright, you’re too far off. Come closer. He’s exceeding abundantly far over and above in power. That’s a given. And in authority and in name. Those, too, we’ve accepted. But He’s exceeding abundantly far over and above in kindness, in gentleness. He’s exceeding abundantly good humored.

“What?”

You heard me. God is full of JOY. That’s a joyful Father, a joyful Savior, and a joyful Holy Spirit. They once told me a joke. (“I’m sorry, God,” I said, “but God don’t make jokes.”) Actually, our God, the God of the universe loves to laugh. I told a joke, at Their expense, and They laughed. God can take a joke. That’s what you need to see.

God rolls His eyes. At us. At the clodhopper. (That’s dumby, the devil.) He sees right through our motives, our next words, our stupidities. We don’t change who He is. He’s made us just like Him. That was the point of salvation, actually. All that Jesus did on the cross and in His Resurrection, was to make us as wise, as patient, as self-controlled as Them.

(Brakes screeching.)

About that last one. You do know that we are made in God’s image and after His likeness? Well, Jesus’ body was foreordained (1 Peter 1:20), that’s a King James’ word meaning created before us. Before Adam in Genesis 1, there was Jesus. So we were made physically to be like Jesus, and spiritually like the Father and the Spirit, and we have a soul with emotions because Jesus has a soul with emotions. We were made in His image, as He was designed to be, so that He would be born to Mary and be human like us, who are like Him. It just goes in a circle.

All of that to say They are exceeding abundantly self-controlled. So, the Spirit can blink and things shift. Or exhale and recreate the whole earth (Revelation 21:1). Yeah, that. But He’s waiting until it’s when it’s supposed to happen. If you’re impatient and constantly giving up on God, then you don’t know Him. Nothing He does is futile. Nothing He asks us to do is futile. If it feels futile to you, then you don’t hear Him speaking.

If you’re satisfied with less, then you haven’t met Him. Oh, you may have accepted Him. You may believe the story, but He is EXTRAORDINARY. He is so far over and beyond that when you meet Him, when He speaks to you and you know it, you’re blown away. Because He’s nothing like the austere image of the church. He’s down-to-earth. He’s humble. He never uses His wisdom against you. Or anything else. He doesn’t have to. Knowing Him like I do, I get that. I just can’t fully explain it.

There are things we’ve got right about Him in the church, and yet we totally misunderstand. Jesus being the Christ is one. Christ is His unity with the Father and the Spirit. You can’t separate Them or He wouldn’t be the Christ. You can’t kill the Father or the Spirit or There’d be no Savior. You can’t put Him, after His death, at the whim of the devil or He wouldn’t be God. We know Jesus is the Christ, that He never was NOT the Christ, and yet some doctrine takes that away in their theories. The reason a human body could shed blood which would cleanse all men of all sin, the reason Jesus could carry the weight of that sin away as far as the east is from the west, is because of the strength and power of Him being Christ. The Holy Spirit’s Presence accomplished the work that Jesus submitted His body to do.

If you’d been with Him when one of those Easter songs plays, you’d know this.

If you’ve ever sat with Him when some video of a child overcoming great physical odds plays, you’d know He was the Father. If you’ve ever listened together with Him when one of His Jewish people sings a tribute to Jehovah, to Jerusalem, then you’d know He’s King of the Jews. If you’d listened together as a Persian man from Iran tells how Jesus healed His mother, with fire in his hands, when he’d never even read the gospel yet, then you’d know He loves Esau. He loves Ishmael.

Watch “They Stabbed Me For My Faith but Yeshua Healed My Heart” by One For Israel (the story of the Persian man).

He's the Bridegroom. If you’ve talked to Him, you’d know this. You’d never doubt the true meaning of marriage again. You’d never make another crass marriage joke. You’d refuse to include lust in the pulpit. Yeah, unfortunately, I’ve heard it more than once. If you’d ever seen Him, ever had even the tiniest actual glimpse, your heart would beat fast and your spirits would soar and you’d be the Bride, running to meet Him. And there wouldn’t be one more doubt about the love of God, the truth of the Word, or the bountifulness of heaven. You’d see earth in His eyes and trust Him for everything.

You’d turn away from anger forever and love everyone.

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” (Ephesians 3:20)

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Image by Pexels from Pixabay


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