Who I Am

"And happy about it."

I HAD a post on obedience prepared, but it sounded too much like it came out of a can. No one wants their toast to come prepared yesterday. Thinking on why it bugged me brought the answer. My issue with the whole thing is the word “obedience” itself. The Jesus I Know Now doesn’t act like a God with a sceptre, about to crown you with it. The Father, sweet Abba, is a gentle grandfatherly sort, and Papa, the Holy Spirit, is peaceful and apt to laugh.

I haven’t moved upward beyond obedience. We don’t “grow out of it.” It’s that it isn’t obedience now but WHO I AM. I like the Remedy translation of Romans 12:2-3.

“Do not continue to practice the destructive methods of selfishness which infect the world, but be completely transformed into God’s image by the renewing of your mind. Then you will value God’s principles, practice his methods, and discern his will—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by God’s grace poured out on me, I say to all of you: Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking you are somehow better than others; rather, be honest with yourself about your own state of spiritual health. The greater your trust in God is, the more you will realize that all your strength, wisdom, and godliness of character have come from him, and you will no longer consider yourself in any way superior to others.”

I value Him. He is everything to me. He’s what I like to do in my spare time. He’s who interests me. He’s who I want to please. Being me, on my own, hasn’t worked out too great. My way of trying to be strong, to be good, placed me in a box that I couldn’t get out of. Some of you more outgoing types might end up on a cliff, about to jump in one of those flying suits … CRAZY! But I like things more inward, more private, and so lean in that direction. My point is, Jesus asked me to COME UP HIGHER and changed my interests in asking it.

The Word says we now “will to do” of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). That means we like how He asks us to be. This same thought is found in Psalm 23:3. In restoring our soul, He heals our will, as well as our mind and our emotions (mind, will, and emotions are the definition of the Hebrew word for “soul”). Our emotions have a great deal to do with loving His ways of doing things. We must properly define anger and see it in Truth, as destructive and not as what we enjoy. We must have revelation of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), the nature of God that forms in us as children of God. They are our motive and manner of response.

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

Putting all that in one container, we must see Jesus as real, as touchable, as listening. Every time I make this next remark, someone raises their eyebrows. But when I was in a very dark place, God spoke, and He sounded nothing like the church’s image of Him. Nothing. He doesn’t talk like we’ve taught. He doesn’t react for the reasons we’ve said He would. He isn’t judgmental and overbearing, nor testy and arrogant. We say we know He is love then have Him rejecting people for stupid, selfish reasons. We’ve turned Him into a Gentile instead of Jew. But being Jew, He formed them to become them, is the point. And they are a beautiful, obedient people.

Are we? Am I? Is love my reaction when others scream hate? Is joy my attitude if it’s inconvenient? Am I patient and longsuffering with God’s timing? Do I have the self-control Jesus had when he stared death in the face? Please hear me. Jesus understands us. He was 33, in the prime of His life, and had to choose to die. God’s nature filling Him enabled His obedience, SO THAT we could be healed, healthy individuals free of death. Not struggling against the ways of God. Not confused by God. But meek and lowly just like Him. And happy about it.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

“And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” (John 17:11)

Photo by Getty Images on Unsplash


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