I was dreaming last night and God asked me in my dreams, “Do you love the real Me or do you love the fluff that people make me out to be?” I was stunned!! I said to Him, “I love the real you.” “Really now!” was His reply. So this morning I have really been thinking about what I know about Jesus and what I am really saying when I say I love the Redeemer of my soul.
Jesus is so often portrayed as a small child or as meek and humble or even a slain savior on the cross.that it’s easy to recognize the Him religion has portrayed Him to be. Those portrayals are familiar and non-threatening to the general public. It tends to make the masses believe the images being fostered are a true reflection of who and what He really is to the world. In the settings society has chosen to pigeonhole Him into He is not recognized as Judge, Holy, Vengeance or King.
There are a least three reasons why God specifically warned us against the practice of making mental, physical or religious imagery of Jesus Christ:.
Our first reason is found in the Ten Commandments. We tend to put a physical likeness of the Savior in our minds that leads to not recognizing those whom He specifically told us to reach out to. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven (carved, artistic) image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that it is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth…” Who said Jesus was an Italian man from the 14th century? Last time I checked he the Son of David (Middle-Eastern descent, Israelis). So if the REAL Jesus walked up on you today, would you physically recognize Him? Remember, Jesus told us when the judgment comes and the righteous are standing on His right hand, He will say to them “Verily, inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of these my brethren, ye have don it unto me.” (Matthew 25:31-46) When we start forgetting the hungry, sick, naked and imprisoned (physically and mentally) among us are one and same as Him, then we will end up on the left, my brothers and sisters. Recognize, Jesus is in the face of every person on this earth. We are all made in the image of God, whether it’s acknowledged by that person or not. By forsaking ANY member of our society just because we don’t recognize the Jesus in them, we are not only forsaking our birthright (everlasting life) but outright forsaking Him.
Second, our tendency to make Jesus out to be only a sufferer and a meek and humble servant leads to a great misconception about what His true character consists of. It takes grace, meekness and humbleness to allow a true man to be a great leader. Jesus’ strength is verified throughout the scriptures. “For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy” Psalm 61:3 “Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” Isaiah 26:4 All of these attributes are perfected in Jesus. Just as it was when Jesus walked the earth, it is true in today’s society: a meek and humble man is considered weak and unassuming. However, true inner strength lies in the knowledge that you can overtake someone or something but choose to grant mercy and forgiveness instead. God chose to send Jesus, and Jesus chose to accept the call, knowing in advance the outcome would be a painful and shameful physical death. At anytime, Jesus could have called upon the universe to collapse upon itself while He was on the cross. Think about it, He made it, He could destroy it. But His strength of will and determination to save US is what makes Him the most powerful human being the world has ever or will ever see. Now does that sound like a wimpy, meek man to you? Recognize, the strength of Jesus is as boundless as the Triune God is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent.
Lastly, do you not know, when Jesus comes back again it’s not as Savior (He did that already, very well, thank you very much) but Conqueror!! He is going to put down the rebellion of sin in the earth once and for all. There is a reason why Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings. “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11-16. Those that stubbornly refuse to see Jesus as redeemer will ultimately know and acknowledge Him as Lord, Governor and King. “Wherefore… That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11 Recognize, Jesus is not only our Redeemer and Savior from ourselves and our sinful nature, He is the great Conqueror of the world and WILL establish God’s kingdom for all of eternity. selah
Don’t believe the fluff.
Prayer
JESUS, I KNOW AND LOVE YOU AS A STRONG TOWER, LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS. I RECOGNIZE YOU IN THE FACES OF EVERYONE I MEET. THE LOVABLE AND THE UN-LOVABLE ALIKE. I THANK YOU FOR REVEALING YOURSELF TO US, YOUR PEOPLE AS ALL OF THESE THINGS. YOU ARE SO MANY THINGS TO US, THE ROSE OF SHARON, THE LILY OF THE VALLEY, THE GREAT COUNSELOR, OUR GOVERNOR, THE PRINCE OF PEACE AND THE SOURCE OF OUR SUBSTANCE. YOU ARE JEHOVAH JIREH, SHALOM, NISSI. YOU ARE THE BEGINNING AND THE END. YOU ARE WHO WAS AND IS AND IS TO COME. YOU ARE THE LAMP UNTO OUR FEET. YOU ARE THE WORD, OUR DAILY BREAD. YOU MEET US IN SO MANY PLACES, WHILE WE ARE HIGH OR LOW, BIG AND FAT, SKINNY AND ANOREXIC. WHILE WE ARE UP, DOWN, HAPPY AND GLEEFUL AND DEPRESSED AND DESPONDENT, YOU KEEP US. IF WE MAKE OUR BEDS IN HELL, YOU SAID YOU WILL MEET US THERE AND BE WITH US, UNTIL WE DECIDE TO PICK UP THE BED AND WALK AGAIN. THANK YOU FOR REVEALING YOURSELF TO BE MORE THAN THE PICTURE BOOKS AND PORTRAYALS THAT THE DYING WORLD WANTS YOU TO BE. JESUS WE PRAY THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE TO REVEAL YOURSELF TO US AS WE CONTINUE TO SEEK YOUR FACE AND NOT YOUR HANDS.
WE WANT TO KNOW YOU AND LOVE YOU JESUS, THE TRUE STUFF AND NOT THE FLUFF.
IN YOUR MIGHTY NAME, JESUS WE PRAY…
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