Not Us. Him.

"Our intent must be to display Jesus."

WHERE IS our dedication? Our commitment. Jesus gave all of Himself to do the Father’s will. He spoke only the Father’s words. Yet we’ve decided, since we’re not Him, we can include our opinions. This seems trivial to some. But hear what Jesus said when questioned by the Jews. These are from the EasyEnglish translation.

John 12:27, “I might say, ‘Father, save me from this very difficult time!’ But I came to the world for this purpose. I came so that I could go through this difficult time.”

He continues a few verses later, saying, “Anyone who looks at me does not see only me. That person sees also him who sent me (John 12:45).” Then, “The words that I have spoken did not come from me myself. They came from the Father, who sent me. He told me WHAT to say. And he told me HOW to say it (John 12:49).” Emphasis mine. But notice, the words are the Father’s. People hear them and see the Father. Not us. Him. And He told Jesus not just WHAT to say but also HOW to say it. All of it matters, and none of it is us. The last verse in John 12 tells us why.

“What the Father says causes people to live always (Verse50).”

HOW do we say it? Well, first, we must know WHAT He is saying. We must be sensitive to His Voice. What is God, and what is us? What is sin and the mind? Sometimes, even if what we are saying is scripturally correct, our heart is wrong in it. Our motive isn’t godliness. Sometimes, it simply isn’t what God is saying right now. Our focus is wrong. Psalms 1 says not to take ungodly counsel, not to act like a sinner, and not to be scornful. We tend to call this boldness. HOW we say things will be because of the intent of our heart (Hebrews 4:12).

Our intent must be to display Jesus, to show the kindness of our loving Father, and the power and patience of the Holy Spirit. We must show that They are FOR us and never working against us (Romans 8:31). We cannot blame God in any small part for the evil we see around us or for our own behavior. We cannot blame other ministers either, nor other people in the church, for what makes us upset. God never endorses criticism. He will never tell you to expose sin. He does not make death threats. Hear me here. Death is a thing, as we might say, but the Father holds mercy. Everything He speaks is mercy. Violence is not Him at all. Nor anger. What is pictured in the Word of God as His wrath is a place minus any contact with Him. All goodness, all peace, all love (not lust, there is a huge difference), comes from Him.

He designed the marriage of a man and a woman and calls it holy. He designed the creation of children and loves them all, regardless of how they are conceived. He is the healing of relationships, filling marriages with joy and peace. However, He DOES NOT WANT us to fund marriage conferences. See this from His holiness, and you won’t question it. See also there is no more Sodom-and-Gomorrah-type judgment. Jesus’ Resurrection did away with that. Where Jesus says the Father has made Him judge (John 5:27), the judgment He speaks of is Calvary, which was, at that time, on the horizon. It is Truth now. Jesus’ judgment is forgiveness to all who will repent (make a change of heart) and take hold of the Father.

This is our focus. We are to SOUND like Him. We must be seen ACTING like Him. We fully DISPLAY Him. Jesus did unto His death, and our salvation is the result.

“What, then, can we possibly say in response to this? Don’t you realize that God is on our side? And if God is for us, who can be against us? God does not need convincing to be good to us; No! It is we who need convincing that God is good to us!” (Romans 8:31, Remedy)


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