Follow Me

I read this quote in the book, The Shack..

Jesus tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Bob, why are you resisting me?”I said, “I’m not resisting you!” He said, “You gonna follow me?”
I said, “I’ve never thought about that before!” He said, “When you’re not following me, you’re resisting me.”
Bob Dylan

I have no idea when this was said, but it spoke to me afresh of the ever present need to simply learn how to respond/receive the Father’s love.

Is it possible that God has in recreating us, made us to be the femaleness to His maleness?
It talks about fruit bearing, (in the scriptures) this union we have been brought into...but how often has it been mistakenly seen as us being asked to produce, as if we were the seed giver.
If we abide in Him, He says, we will bear much fruit, not produce it by our strained performing.

The Father, in putting into the womb of our femaleness His seed of Life, maybe very much like a woman being created with a womb, we as well have the where-with-all to bring forth His personality, aka the fruit of the spirit?

Maybe there has been such a disfiguring and defacing of what was and is intended in the above quote, ‘If you’re not following me, you’re resisting me,’ that few have ever truly known or continue to know the liberation found in being loved unconditionally by this loving Father.
Without knowing, I am totally loved and accepted as I am, how, why, would I ever dream of following Him?
Does he need me to look good, or in being loved unconditionally, maybe this is all part of what it means to be His Ambassadors, ministers of reconciliation?

Is it any wonder why there is such rampant malignant insanity amongst all of humanity, when the best that any of us have known being born in sin and shaped in iniquity? There is only one source of unconditional love, and it is found in Him, the God and Father of love.

Is it any wonder that some of the meanest and most vicious people on the earth are those called, ‘Christians?’ Interesting how sticking a label on oneself renders us incapable of displacing a default system that holds us prisoner, until the truth is made known.

This quote from Darin Hufford is not going to be seen as encouraging, but nonetheless, the truth.

‘The heart of God is basically unknown by His people.’ Or, ‘The God we have been feed all our lives, is simply not lovable.’

http://www.darinhufford.com/media/TGHT_Chpt_1-3.pdf

Darin goes on to throw more gas onto an already burning fire…’If you believe In Your Heart that “love” is the opposite of what the bible says, you will inevitably attribute the character and personality of Satan to God. Think about this for a moment and let it sink in. I believe that this is precisely what the vast majority of us believe in our hearts about God. We basically believe He has the character and personality of the Devil.
If Jesus Christ were walking the earth today in human form, I believe that His message would be the same to us as it was to the Pharisees of His time.He would tell us that the Devil is our father. This is precisely the point He was making two thousand years ago.
The Pharisees and religious teachers had painted a picture of God that made Him look like Satan himself. They made it impossible for the people to have a relationship with God simply because they were terrified of Him. We are no different today.’

How are we not different? When tragedy strikes, do we say in our hearts, “God is not fair”? When we are hurt or disappointed in the midst of trusting God for a certain outcome, do we blame God for not caring enough? Do we say, “Where were you, God, when…? Do we ascribe blame to Him for abandoning us? If we do, in our eyes God becomes takes on Satan’s persona of being a malicious liar, capricious, cunning, a conniver, someone who tempts us with a treasure then snatches it away.

We can only know the truth about God’s infinite, all-encompassing love for us to the extent that we ourselves know we are loved.

Rich