JESUS: The Perfect Gentleman

...for everything that becomes visible is light.

Therefore, it says: "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."

Ephesians 5:14, NAB

http://weheartit.com/entry/11169206

I have always believed Ephesians 5 to be the perfect example of the mission one ought to set for their life. It's beautiful, it's comforting...it has always set me on fire for my life in a manner different from what other passages can do. No matter how many times I read it, or how many times I am going to read it, my reaction to it will always be the same: It makes me realize my self-worth. It reminds me that in Christ I will always be so much more than you see on the outside. I can shine if I choose to. I can live as a child of The Ultimate Light that brings joy and peace to the whole world. Though nobody can shine as brightly as He does, we can shine enough to help bring light to our own world.

A couple of days ago, there was a thunderstorm. It was the biggest, most epic thunderstorm I have ever seen in my life. It made me afraid at first, then I decided I was overreacting. I remarked jokingly to a friend, losing my mind for just a moment, "Wow, god must be really angry to send us a thunderstorm like this." Perhaps at that moment I was thinking of the Greek god Zeus, because on retrospect I know that our own GOD loves us too much. I just cannot imagine Him sending a storm like that out of anger. He could, but do you think He would?

My friend Jenn promptly put me in my place with her reply. "Or maybe He's putting on this really great show because He loves you so much."

I felt a little bit embarrassed at my own remark. She was so right. "Yeah," I replied thoughtfully, "I think that's it."

But it was only later that I would realize how right she was. I went to the window to watch the thunderstorm. Since at that moment the lightning was taking place behind the house where I could not see it, I instead listened to the thunder and wondered...

I had read a post on someone's Tumblr moments ago about the love of Jesus being a perfect love. No gentleman could beat Him--He is the Holy One, the Hero Who died for us and then defeated death. He created the universe. He is so big. What did I do to deserve such love from Him that He would put on the thunderstorm of such magnitude because He loves me that much?

I have done nothing to deserve this. If this is a love story, I am the ragged beggar with nothing to boast of, and He is the glorious knight Who loves me when there is nothing I can ever offer Him at all.

But the saddest part is, I no longer pray as often as I ought. It took a thunderstorm for Jesus to get me off the computer and to the window where we can talk and spend some time together.

He is so big, but with the worldly things dominating my mind, I BLIND MYSELF TO HIM!

HE DOES NOT DESERVE THIS, to be 'throwing stones at my window,' so to speak, just to get me to look at Him.

But you know what is so beautiful about this story? He forgave me. He forgives all of us in a manner that a normal gentleman never could. He keeps coming back when I forget Him. He keeps giving me chance after chance when I, the ragged beggar, have done nothing to earn it. I don't deserve it. Neither do you. We never will, but Jesus doesn't see that.



http://weheartit.com/entry/11155738
Need help getting out of your jar you put yourself in?
Just ask GOD. He'll open it for you.
But only if you tell Him you want to get out. Are you
having fun in the jar with the common butterflies, or do
you want to be free?

 He loves us more than we could ever possibly imagine. More than we can love Him back. More than a human guy can love us. Why does he love us?

There is no reason. He just does.

I will put my all into loving Him back as much as I can with the tiny human heart I have. He died for me. I do not want to leave Him waiting out a window for me to come speak with Him through the glass. Either I let Him in to be with me, or I come out to be with Him.

To do either of those, I need to pray. To do either of those, GOD needs to help me. He needs to open the jar of worldly things I put myself in, and then give me the courage to climb through and be with Him.

Take, for example, the gorgeous photo of these butterflies being let out of their jar. They have probably been put on display for being beautiful. Maybe a couple of them showed off so someone caught them in a net. One might have done it on purpose to become famous. Maybe they were born in a little cage and have never seen freedom but from an outside source. They were put on a shelf, and people stared at them and said, "Look! What pretty butterflies! See how they have wings?"

They have wings, but if they're in a jar to show off, can they really fly like they're meant to?

Similarly, I might have light, but if I'm stuck in a worldly box with just a little window, can I really shine like I want to?

What I have to do is ask, "GOD, please open this jar...I desire so strongly to be with You and fly by Your side among the saints and angels in heaven. But I can't open this jar I put myself in without Your help. It's closed too tightly...I can't open it."

You can ask this, too. And guess what? He will open it. But only if you tell Him you want to be by His side...and not with the other butterflies in the jar who prefer to be distant from Him.

It's up to you. It's up to me. Where do you want to be?

At the window, we talked about Ephesians 5. He told me that if I wanted to be a child of light, if I wanted to shine, I need only ask. If I wanted to get out of the jar of worldly things, He can take me up to the sky where I can shine like nothing you've ever seen before. He can make me brighter than the stars. So I asked Him to open the window tonight, after a couple of days contemplating what happened. Right now I'm in the process of climbing hesitantly through the window, thinking--what if I fall?

The thing is, I might be going through that process all my life, but I know that He's helping me through the window, so what have I to fear? And the least I can do is love Him with everything I've got. So I'm going to risk climbing through that window!

Guess what? He can make you shine, too. He's PERFECT! Better than a hero in a novel or anyone that will ever exist. And He wants you! How amazing is that?

So my question now is this: Do you love Jesus with everything you've got? Or are you going to make Him throw stones at your window?

Does He deserve that?

Don't you want to get out of the jar of worldly things and become radiant like a star in the heavens? Are you going to ask GOD to open the jar? Are you scared to fall out the window? Jesus will catch you.

Think about it.