It's me, mike hillebrecht

Today is Super Bowl Sunday for Christians! Yup, it’s Easter. The day when the multitudes of people, believers and pseudo-believers alike will assemble in pretty new clothes and frilly new hats to celebrate…just what are we celebrating? The risen Lord?

Why don’t we just for this one time be honest with ourselves? Historically, two days ago the ultimate display of human pride was displayed when they/we murdered God on a cross. No, I’m not going to sanitize this for you. Humanity, believing they/we knew what was right, determined through malicious intent and devious means arrested, detained, judged, flogged to the point of death and then ceremoniously hung the Son of God upon the most demented torture device ever conceived simply to keep order in the city at a time of heightened unrest.

Three days later an empty tomb awakens a city which spreads panic throughout the governing body and the people who witnessed the prior mockery. This is the day, today, which we celebrate. Sure we’ll shout praises to a risen Lord, sing anthems to His greatness yet not truly understand the real meaning of today. We won’t relive the panic of suddenly finding out that an innocent victim who they/we put to death is now alive to confess their/our guilt. No, we won’t cry out to God to forgive us in our complicity in the travesty of justice. We’ll say a few amens and rush off to the ham banquet which awaits us.

Why do we truly need to celebrate this day? Forgiveness and mercy. At no time did God respond like us. He could have, and should have, cleaned our clock for what happened. But He didn’t. Having mercy, He forgave just as His Son asked. Certainly Jesus could have rubbed everyone’s nose in the dung of their hypocrisy, but he didn’t. He responded as usual with compassion and love.

Today is not a celebration of a risen King as much as commemoration that we didn’t truly get what we deserve from that King. However, who we did get, had us along. Go enjoy your ham.

What is a three sentence comment that distills the spirit of 2015 across all the media, including Facebook?

“I’m right and you’re wrong!”

“You can’t really see that your explanation is so full of holes that it even embarrasses swiss cheese? No, I’m right and you are positively lost and wrong. You will just have to live in the knowledge of my mind being more superior to yours.”

Am I right or am I right?

I’ve been involved in quite a bit of study recently and came across something that might address this issue in a way many might want to consider. In the New Testament writings there is a Greek word which the translators/interpreters have claimed to be either “righteous” or “justified.” There are obvious variants of these two words such as “righteousness” and “justification,” but these words all trickle down from the well spring of one Greek word employed by all the writers. (I could give you the word, but unless you read Greek, what difference does it make?)

Each of these two translated words, in our era, are attached or associated with a particular viewpoint which when the Greek was penned was not intended in its use. Righteous, for example, is a term that specifies a correct position according to a moral or written code of behaviors. Justified, conversely, is a term which comes from the legal field establishing innocence from accusations made from violating laws and commandments. In each of these descriptions for these words there is a “human” distinction or factor involved. What if these two “right” words are wrong?

There is an old proverb that states, “When faced with deciding between two choices, always pick the third.” Consider the use of a third word, little employed, yet vast implications follow its meaning throughout the New Testament text. That word and its variants are: rectify; rectified; and rectification. The definition means to correct a matter, bring it to a correct conclusion; to realign to a predetermined course.

Notice how the use of this word assumes that an agenda or plan was already in force before someone comes to make the correction. Notice that the corrective matter never involves those who are in the process but comes from outside of it. Note too, that once the correction is made, the process continues along as intended or predetermined.

What if we have been looking at this whole salvation matter and its results completely sideways? What if there is no possible way that we ever have been righteous according to a moral or written code of behaviors defined by the religious establishment? What if, similarly, we have never been justified, or declared innocent, through a series of laws and commandments enacted by humanity to keep peace in the community?

However, we have all been rectified by the work of the Father in Jesus Christ. We had no part in it simply because we were in the process or their creation. Their work came from outside of where we were headed and it corrected all of us to their predetermined plan. Notice that not one person missed out on this correction by not doing something right or justly. All were rectified in Christ by the cross.

If you want to understand the depth of grace, look at it from being rectified for a change. The air is much clearer here and no one can argue about their position being right, before or after the fact.

Imagine that you’ve spent your entire life, every waking and breathing moment to do one thing to its ultimate perfection. Then that day, the day you didn’t know when it would occur, finally arrives; the precise moment when all the forces in the universe aligned, this was the day, this is your calling.

After the events of that day have come and gone, your purpose fulfilled, your destiny accomplished, what do you do? Do you retire from life, or find another line of work? Maybe you lay low and watch the unfolding events occur around you. Or maybe you continue to be you and manage to piss off the people you’ve always pissed off. That’s what John did and upon state-imposed reflection, determined that maybe he didn’t complete his destiny. How can that be?

“Change your freaking minds because the kingdom of God is at hand!” (my paraphrase)

This was the sound of the voice of one crying in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord according to the prophet Isaiah. John was there, slamming the noggins of the people trying to get them to think straight and fly right because the day was coming when all that they were living for would suddenly change and then…

The religious folks, Pharisees and Sadducees all came to investigate the claims of John. He saw right through them and their tactics. “Are you the Christ, the Messiah?“ they would anxiously ask. We read this and interpret it to mean that these holy and noble men of the cloth were eager to meet the one foretold of in the scriptures. What a farce!

These boys were out to keep secure their position with the occupying Roman forces. They were acting as the point guard for an invasion into the territory from any foreign kingdom. The Messiah of scripture was a deliverer, someone who would wrestle control from the present forces inhabiting the land and return Israel back into a land governed under a king from the line of David.

This would not sit well the religious order of the day who pretty much had final say on how things should run in the country. You see while Rome occupied the land, they permitted the priests to practice their rituals; all of which had the power of the people behind them. Restrict the rituals, incite the people; permit the rituals, pacify the people.

John knew this very well. His tirade at these interlopers wasn’t just a show for the common people. His destiny would not be hindered by those intent on preserving their kingdom over the kingdom of God. So he swatted at their accusations like they were flies hovering over dung; which is probably a more apt description of how he felt about them.

Then the day and the person of the day arrives and John is uncertain about what to do. It’s his cousin who must instruct him about what John has prepared his whole life for. And then after he baptizes Jesus, John begins his journey. You see up to this point all he was doing was fulfilling his destiny. Now his journey into believing in his destiny was at hand. If he did his part correctly as foretold in scripture, then everything else…

We’re not really told how long it was from the time John began his journey until we find him in prison because he could keep his mouth shut around certain people. But some time had definitely passed because there were stories being told throughout the land about things happening, crazy, miraculous things being done by his cousin, Jesus. John, in his inner most thoughts, begins to doubt his very own destiny simply because the stories don’t align with the scriptures he knew.

It’s been a year since I wrote about the adventures of our family at Camp Attitude. This year we took the plunge and took the entire first week of camp to attend. We spent the year planning the logistics on our side while allowing Holy Spirit to preparing our hearts for the journey.

For those you who aren’t familiar with Camp Attitude it is a week-long camp designed to cater to the needs of families with children who have special needs. I’ve written about a few of the experiences our family has endured in this area in my book Your Life is a Freaking Mess. Finding a facility who’s mission is solely designed for special needs people is very rare particularly when the cost to the attendees is free while the entire volunteer staff pays to help.

Jesus said, “…as you’ve done to the least of these you have done also to me.” Society views special needs people, children and adults, as less than the least. Social functions rather than being inclusive are exclusives; education rather than being all encompassing is circumvented to core skills training; even the very manner we herd these special people to the farthest corner of the auditorium while the preacher regales us about how God loves all the little people of the world is indicative of our shallow feelings towards all those not “like” us.

At Camp Attitude inclusiveness in the true normal. Parents welcome other parents who deal with issues similar to their own and experience the comradeship in a life journey few travel. Campers, the invited children, of all ages welcome old friends from past years. These friends encompass the volunteer staff who may have been their buddy, or the cooking staff dedicated to delivering three outstanding meals and snacks each day, or the grounds crew who keeps the facility running smoothly. Each friend contributes their “Christocentric” nature which permeates the entire facility.

Everyday at camp is a celebration of firsts for each camper present. It might be the first time they’ve eaten within a large group of people where their shrill of excitement wasn’t stifled and disdained by those around them. It might be the first time that the camper has had someone spend an entire day with them doing whatever they wanted to do, not what they were told to do. It might be the first time that they’ve ever been in a large body of water with others who are just like them. It might be the first time that dancing with someone wasn’t the means of keeping them away from something more than allowing them to express who they are. Lastly, for those returning it might just be the first time since last year that they have been shown appreciation for being themselves.

Far too many Christians talk about doing the greater works of Christ without really knowing what those works entail. Sure, there is the allure of the ministry of healing, signs and wonders. But when the reality of a life of a special needs person crosses that path of ministry and these people leave no different then how they came, this is where the greater work of Christ truly begins. This is where the camp excels.

At Camp Attitude there are no prayer lines or fire tunnels, no healing evangelists, no anointing oil ceremonies. There is simply the laying on of hands. Hands of love helping a camper into their chair; hands dedicated to embracing a friend when they’ve accomplished a task; hands willing to push a swing for hours if that is what the camper wants; hands that rejoice, hands that support, hands that caress, and hands that appreciate the dirty work of caring when all others have lost the incentive to care.

Jesus said that people shall know that we are his disciples because we love one another. Camp Attitude demonstrates this point day in and day out and it is impacting lives in the process. People who come onto the facility are transformed by the love demonstrated to them as well as to the campers and their families. Skeptics at the beginning of the week are impassioned promoters at the end not because of some hyped up sales pitch but simply by the joy of seeing the genuine loving support of other people.

Camp Attitude is a shining example of those who live by the Grace Rule: Give abundantly unto others what they have no way of doing for themselves. I would urge all of you to support their work in some manner. I say this simply because I know what an impact they have had on the life of my daughter this past week. However, I also know of the impact that it has created in the lives of multiple families who had lost hope and now are renewed.

If you or organization is interested in knowing more about Camp Attitude, becoming a volunteer or a buddy, you can find them at http://www.campattitude.com for more information.

I live in a part of the country where there is a yearly, county regulated, testosterone-induced ritual known as hunting season. I recognize that there are many out there who abhor this archaic practice of slaughtering harmless animals of all kinds, but until you get out in the elements where your only means of survival is not found in a big gulp and cheesy nachos but through the sensible murder of an animal destined to the fire and a spit, you should not make a fuss. Just go back under your comfy covers and continue reading.

I have a friend who is an excellent hunter. I use the term “excellent” not because he is a great marksman, but because he is a great bowman. That’s correct, he hunts the way of the natives with a bow and arrow. He has often told me of the pleasure and thrill he gets stalking an animal through the brush trying to get close so that you can take aim with your bow. He says that in order for kill to be successful with a bow and arrow you must be at least 30 feet from the beast. Consider that this is the length of most people’s driveway. And you must remain concealed none the less!

There are times when he says that he will wait in a stand or shelter for the animal du jour to walk past him so that he can take his shot. These times he says are the most boring because you must wait for the catch of the day to come your way so often you have to be prepared not to fall asleep.

I once asked him show me how to shoot an arrow from his bow. He was a little leery of such a task but obliged. Handing me his compound bow he attempted to show me how to properly hold it, load the arrow, draw it back and let it fly towards a target we had set up several yards in front of us. This was an adventure to me while it was a test in patience to him as I repeatedly apologized for my inadequate skill set which kept producing shots that first only went a couple of feet in front of me but eventually just peppered ground on both sides of the target. In a moment of frustration he even grabbed the bow from my hands and deftly spun about, registered an arrow at the string, pulled it back and let it fly in the span of two seconds and hit the target dead on. The smirk that quickly crossed his face just as rapidly turned to a frown realizing what he had done.

I patted him on the shoulder and simply said, “Don’t worry; I’m the one who has fallen short of your glory today.” We laughed and went off to enjoy the experience over drinks and chips. So is life in the realm of the Kingdom.

Romans 3:22-24 KJVR
(22) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
(23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
(24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

This is common passage used to evoke condemnation upon those who do not know better by those who should know better yet don’t. I want you to look at verse 23 for a moment, particularly that notorious word translated “sinned.” What the original writers of the New Testament knew about this word is not at all what we’ve been led to believe today. So for a moment, let’s assume that you are illiterate can’t even read (except what I’m going to put before you) and I’m charged with correctly presenting this passage to you so that you’ll be able to comprehend it. How would I offer this to you?

(22) The right-standing that Jesus has with God is for all of us that believe because there is no difference in us.
(23) for we have all shot our arrows at the target before us and kept missing the target we were aiming for which is the glory of God;
(24) we have been freely recognized as marksman by the price of the precise target Jesus Christ hit for us all.

There are days when I can’t properly balance my checkbook or I put too many scoops of coffee in the pot or forget to put the drier sheets in the dryer. There are other days that forget to say hello to a friend or co-worker, don’t help someone place a heavy load in their car at the store or don’t give my last amount of change to someone who asks. These times are called “missing the mark,” in Greek, or sin in King James. Notice that these are not egregious faults in my character before God, like snorting when you laugh or picking your nose in church.

Every occurrence of the word “sin” in the New Testament is making reference to the poor marksmanship we all have in hitting a target God placed before us. Sure we try harder, practice longer, strive greater to hit something we can see but we’ll never be able to touch. We just fail to realize that when we’ve fired the last of our arrows, Jesus goes to where they are stuck in the ground, picks them up, registers them in the string and fires everyone precisely into the target as us. It does not matter how wide we were, how short or far we missed, Jesus makes it up for us every single time.

If there was an Olympic sporting event that would be fun to watch it would be the tandem archery event. In this contest teams of two would compete against each other to see who could make the most perfect scores. One member of the team would stand with his bow and arrows and be donned with a mask that prevented them from see where the target was at. The other member of the team would stand many yards away in front of the first and shout out to their partner to provide a direction of where to shoot.

Once the first member shoots, it would be the task of the second to retrieve the arrow wherever it fell and shoot it at the target wherever it is at. What would make this such an exciting event is that multiple teams would compete at once! What would make it even more thrilling is having Jesus as the second member of each team! Everyone wins in the end, just as it has always been through his grace.

Not again!

How many times have you cried out in frustration that exact same phrase? It often means that whatever is happening presently has occurred at least once before. Yet in frustration, it simple means that the darn thing keeps happening over and over again!

So let me ask you another question. Are you born again? There is that pesky little word again. No, that’s not what I mean to say. It should read …there is that pesky little word, again, again. Yes, that is perfect. So have you been born several times in the past? That’s not the right way to ask that question, you say. But isn’t that what “again” means, to occur or repeat multiple times over a span of time? What? Am I confused? Just how do you think Nicodemus felt when Jesus told him the same thing? Let’s go look at it.

John 3:1-3 KJVR
(1) There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
(2) The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
(3) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

So here is this clandestine meeting of a religious leader and Jesus. Most people think this is conducted at night to avoid any suspicious overtones between Jesus and the temple elite. Actually, our good buddy Nicodemus meets Jesus at night for one reason: He’s been working all day.

Now Nick makes a perfectly plain introduction which clearly validates the work that Jesus is doing and how the religious folks feel about it. My paraphrase, “You’re one cool dude, ‘cause only someone from God can do what you’re doing.” You see there is no bitterness or animosity being displayed here between these two. Because of this, Jesus freely opens up and delivers the pinnacle to so many doctrines. He makes the same claim as the question that I asked at the beginning, yet, attaches the kingdom of God to it. Nick is as confused as you thought I was.

John 3:4 KJVR
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

Well there is something afoot here that clearly doesn’t add up, because good ole Nick responds just like anyone else would to such a statement using that pesky little word “again.” I submit that Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews does not know his Greek very well. No, that can’t be right, they didn’t speak in Greek; they wrote in Greek. So what gives? Sit back because you’re about to see something not many will delve into.

The word “again” found in John 3:3 and John 3:7 can be found listed in Strong’s concordance under number 509 as the Greek word anothen. This word is used 13 times in the New Testament. Only in these two passages and also in Galatians 4:9 is it transcribed as “again.” Do you understand what this means? Less than 25% of its usage in the text means “again” while over 75% of its true meaning is lost in this one crucial dialogue. Why is this important? Entire denominations of the present day church are devoted, dedicated, and committed to the “born again” agenda. Yet, if they are neglecting the fullest interpretation of the cornerstone to their creed, well, how can they claim to be teaching the full counsel of the gospel? So what does Strong’s list for this word? Here is the full meaning including the root word definitions.

G509 ἄνωθεν
anōthen an’-o-then
From G507; from above; by analogy from the first; by implication anew: – from above, again, from the beginning (very first), the top.

G507 ἄνω
anō an’-o
Adverb from G473; upward or on the top: – above, brim, high, up.

G473 ἀντί
Anti an-tee’
A primary particle; opposite, that is, instead or because of (rarely in addition to): – for, in the room of. Often used in composition to denote contrast, requital, substitution, correspondence, etc.

Consider that this entire dialogue being conducted by Jesus is actually a narrative of the person known as Jesus and Nick is just there to confound those who will not search out the truth. Jesus is not claiming that people are to have multiple births if they are to see the kingdom of God. Let’s factor in that Nicodemus has already stated that if anyone does the kind of miracles that Jesus does then God must be with him. Nick obviously recognizes that there is something different about Jesus that makes him stand out from every other man. This is where Jesus now takes the opportunity to divulge his true nature to someone who appears willing to hear. Here is my paraphrase of just the words spoken by Jesus using the full meaning of this Greek word previously known as “again.”

John 3:3, 5-7 KJVR
(3) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man (like me) be born from above, from the beginning, the very first, as a substitution or contrast, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
(5) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man (like me) be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
(6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
(7) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born from above, from the beginning, the very first, as a substitution or contrast.

In these few verses Jesus clearly outlines who he is. Notice in verse 5 Jesus declares that only a man born of water and Spirit can enter the kingdom of God. Jesus is the only man born of Spirit and his birth by water came when he came up out of the Jordan and the Father announced that Jesus was his son. Tie this with his first claim that to see the kingdom of God a man has to be from above, from the beginning, the very first, as a substitution or contrast. Jesus is the only one who fills both of these criteria.

So let me ask the question that began this whole matter. Are you born from above, from the beginning, the very first, as a substitution or contrast? There is only one who holds that title and it is in Him that we live and move. He is the only one born again. The rest of us are just born to live as he lived, as a son in the family of God.

Jesus is the final sacrifice for all mankind. No one will ever be, can ever be, and need ever be a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing. Ever; or the day after that. Selah, or in today’s language, meditate on that for a while.

The book of Hebrews tells us that after providing his blood as an offering in the heavenly temple that sanctified the world, the entire population of mankind, everyone from there to eternity, he sat down at the right hand of the Father waiting for death, his enemy, to be made his footstool. He came as us into this world, lived as us in this world, died on a cross as us in this world, was buried as us in this world, rose into heaven as us into his world because as he, is so are we in this, and their, world. He sits for one simple reason: It is finished.

So let’s consider the propensity of church goers to feel compelled to sacrifice their time, resources, or bodies. I know I’m treading on sacred ground here but before you get all tied up in a doctrinal knot let’s take a brief moment to just reflect on why they’re doing it. I think the first thing that we need to take off of the table in this matter is the bible. No we’re not going to read a passage from it; we’re going to remove it as a reason for doing it.

2,000 years ago the best, single and only acceptable offering/sacrifice was made. The bible records a whole variety of prior offerings and sacrifices which were simply shadows of that one event which was to come and then finally arrived. Saying that church folk continue to present sacrifices because the bible tells them to do so, confirms an inability to properly divide the word. They have obviously missed the many references claiming that God no longer wants or approves sacrifices. What? You question the accuracy of such claim. See Isa 1:11-13; Jer 7:22-23; Hos 6:6; Matt 9:13, 12:7

If Jesus was and is the final sacrifice, why would God require any additional? Do you think he forgot what the sacrifice meant from the Old Testament? Is it possible that he needs reminding of what Jesus did? Could God be as mean as some people think and secretly enjoys killing people and animals?

So what is behind the need of the pulpit to insist that sacrifices are our reasonable service as a backhanded reference to Roman 12:1?

“I love you, Mom.” These were the last words I spoke to her Thursday evening before she passed away early Friday morning. When my brother called me to tell me of her passing, I was relieved at first that she no longer had to deal with the pain of her condition; however I then became overjoyed, a feeling that still has not left me. I know that this has raised a number of eyebrows with those who have asked how my mother is and become sorrowful upon learning of my loss. Loss, I tell them, did not happen to me, or to anyone else for that matter, I, and/or we, have simply be handed the baton. Allow me to explain this from the following verses:

Hebrews 2:14-15 KJVR
(14) Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
(15) And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Jesus, the incarnate word of God, took on flesh and experienced all the effects of humanity, including death, as an exchange of his life for ours so that we may live in right relationship with the Father. We overcame death in his resurrection. Regrettably, many haven’t overcome the fear that death binds them with. This fear is often masked in the form of sorrow.

Consider this for a moment: The greatest fear that anyone could have possessed prior to the death of Jesus was that they would spend eternity either in eternal punishment or utter darkness void of any fellowship with God. This fear drove people to perform acts which could be deemed appropriate, or righteous, so that the desire to spend eternity with God could be fulfilled in their eyes. Jesus blew this thinking completely out of the realm of human consideration, thereby becoming the author and finisher of our faith in a perfect union with the trinity, not only in this temporal life but the eternal life.

Presently, my mother and all those who have gone on before us, are living in the very lap of the one we are aggressively seeking. They are enveloped in the love that passes all understanding and have as their desire the person who has desired them from before the foundations of the world. They know the truth that we are still trying to comprehend and are constantly in the presence of a joy that is beyond description. They have all stepped over into a realm we can only speculate on but which they live in without regret.

Now I understand that there are those people out there who will dispute this with some claim about a future eternal judgment which we all will face. It is you who I feel sorrow for simply because you don’t believe in a God who is love and who desires that none should perish. I feel sorrow for you because you have believed a lie that all the punishment of mankind wasn’t placed upon Jesus at the cross and have had to live in the fear that your actions will one day in the future be exposed before the entire host of heaven. The sorrow I feel comes from the deepest feelings you have about not measuring up to what you believe God expects of you. This is why I’m writing to you…

This loss is not about us – it never has been. There are those “believers” who feel that we should fight against the enemy of death, raising those who have died or war for those who can’t war for themselves. How does this thought encourage the “world” with the finished works of the cross when they must face the same fear? There is no more perfect love than God and it is His love for us, believer and nonbeliever alike, that casts out all of our fears. If there is any fear that binds us it is the uncertainty of life after life. Yet, we all hesitate to accept the promise of an eternal life secured for us by the faith of one greater than any of us but one of us all just the same.

I am joyful because my mother now beholds who I’m seeking; she entertains him who I worship; she tastes the goodness I am longing to be filled with. Why should I be sad when she has passed the baton of this race in life to me in order to accept the prize we both have sought? Why should any of us feel sorrow when the thrill of receiving the same reward still awaits us all? Will I miss her? Yes. Will she miss me and my family? She is the only one who can answer that, and I think that she might be a bit preoccupied at the moment to consider it.

So I celebrate her life as a victory worth striving for. I honor her efforts and commitments in this realm knowing that she is a forerunner to a greater glory which one day I too, as will you, will experience in all its majesty. Our family there eagerly awaits our family here and there is no greater joy than knowing that the Father is well pleased with all of us. Love you, mom.

2 Peter 1:2 KJVR
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

How many times have you stepped into this trap of trying to know more about God? You study the meaning of His names. You try to explore the depths of His nature but somehow always get stuck in His love from the New Covenant and His wrath in the Old Testament. Somewhere in the midst of your study you stumble on Isaiah 55 and discover (again) that His thoughts and ways are higher than ours and you just throw in the towel. Then just to rub salt in the wound, as you’re closing your bible you come across this passage from 2 Peter.

Grace and peace can be multiplied to you, but it comes at the means of knowing more about God and Jesus. Is it possible that this is some sick means of getting you to spend endless hours trying to find something illusive in the scripture that only a mystic can comprehend?

Consider this for a moment. What if the “knowledge of God” wasn’t about knowing God but knowing what God has always known about…hold on, here it comes…what God knows about you. Radical, I realize, but it changes a whole lot of your efforts in trying to figure something out about Him to accepting what He has always known to be true about you.

Now this might seem hard for those of you who don’t feel comfortable with your past. However consider that “your” past only goes back to your birth, while His recollection of your past is before the foundation of the world. This is what He knows of you and what the “knowledge of God” is all about in your life. The more that you focus on knowing this part of your life in Him, you will find that grace and peace suddenly is multiplied in your life.

One of the main things that grace achieves in our live is rest. Striving to know more about God is works-based. Accepting what He knows about us brings rest or peace. When we understand what His grace accomplished for us, not only at the cross, but daily, even back before time began, we begin to see the wealth that is our inheritance in Christ.

There is a bumper sticker that reads, “No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace.” I might suggest it be changed to read, “Know me, know God. Know grace, know my peace.

Colossians 1:16
(16) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

What does it mean to be made for Jesus?

All you spiritual people know, right? To give him glory, yes amen. To the lay person that doesn’t mean anything. So try again. This time from the heart, the heart he gave you, not the head that has been filled with some un-renewed doctrine.

I like cooking and I make all sorts of dishes for me all the time. They make me full. Do you think that we were made for Jesus to fill his appetite? Consider his comment to the disciples when he was at the well with the Samaritan woman. “I have meat you not of.” I don’t think he was gnawing on the woman’s thigh as he spoke to her cause she ran off to tell everyone about all that she had been revealed. Yet, it appears that his appetite was…

Let’s go take a look at how John addressed this for some added insight.

John 1:10-11 KJVR
(10) He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
(11) He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Notice that the Creator was not known by the creation. That doesn’t appear to be to uncommon these day. How many times have you witnessed a child exclaim to a parent, “You don’t know me!” or heard commentators quip, “Do we really know anyone anymore?” It seems that the identity of Jesus is in jeopardy of being eclipsed by…by…by any and everything that he made!

So let’s go back to the opening question. What does it mean to be made for Jesus? Consider that Jesus is face to face to Father God and Holy Spirit. He is in a deep, satisfying relationship with them. This is the fount of our original design, to experience this relationship also. The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is not ashamed to call us “bro”, or “brother” to you more conservatively minded. We were made for Jesus because He wanted siblings.

The Father liked the idea so much that He adopted us before the creation events took place. He then placed all of us inside Jesus so that we could all experience the love that they all share together. This entire plan is centered around relationship. The Father yearns for His children to enter into the family circle of love where He can pamper us like every proud father desires.

Now I realize that your myth of the Father’s responses to you may not align with the truth that He is trying to get across to you, but this is an area where He is trying to renew your mind.

Crazy Footnote: As I’m writing this last line, a program on television is playing this line. “My Dad hates me. He has always hated me. I was never good enough for him. He never wanted me.”

This is the claim of too many people today simply because they have never experienced the love of a father. They take this pain which resides deep in their soul and process all of their spiritual actions through this lens. As things develop in their life they craft the myth of a father-god who is distant, uncaring, who has turned his back on them. When they expected him to swoop in and scoop them into his arms and he never shows up, they reinforced their myth of theological parental abandonment once again.

The pains of the soul were what Jesus was addressing to the woman at the well. He deftly went past the filter of her perceptions and projected to her the true image of a face to face encounter with the Father. He never spoke to her past she had collected in a myth but touched her enduring wound to heal her. He made her and knew just what was needed to restore her. The relationship, the siblings united, this fed Jesus more than we’ll ever know.