​WE ARE IN HIS IMAGE

            Consider a song you like to hum or sing to yourself. Isn’t it easy to reminisce the rhythm or immediately recognize the melody? It is something you know quickly when only hearing a few notes. You would love to be challenged with this particular song if ever you found yourself as a contestant on “Name That Tune”. Or consider one of your favorite food dishes. Something easy to recognize by smell; your saliva connects instantly with your taste buds when thinking about the experience of eating it. Plus, you are brought to satisfaction while eating and become new again to an old pleasure, somewhat like a childhood memory. Now consider the meaning behind this scripture:
            “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring then also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life- only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
                                                                                                                        John 10: 14- 18
What does it mean for Jesus to know you? What does it mean for you to know your spouse? Is it possible for another existing entity to be intimate with you? Is it possible for the creator of the universe to really know you so intimately and it still be good? Do you feel good about Jesus knowing you? Do you dance to the rhythm of the music of heavenly angels? Are you comfortable knowing that your Messiah died for you? Do you feel that He needed too? Why… why such deadly blood for the simplicity of pure justice? Who are we to question the audacity of grace? What day will come when all this reasoning will change? How can pain balance the currency of fate? Where does the moral flow? What does it mean to be a God… a creator of the universe? This is what it means to be good.

​GET IN THE GAME, THE FORCE OF LOVE

            There is a popular saying when it comes to passion or work ethics for a central cause or purpose which is, “it doesn’t matter until you put some skin in the game.” What does this quote mean? Like the thought, “until you sweat blood you have not endured pain.”, when you put your heart or something of personal value within a situation the outcome matters to you. This is the bloodline of evangelism. Until you are able to cry for the lost, you will never work hard enough to save them. Nevertheless, how are we able to judge, in other words, who do we know is saved, how can we condemn one who is lost. Empathy does not happen without action. Sympathy allows one to see someone else’s pain while empathy causes one to be repugnant and do something about the pain they witness. Empathy is the cornerstone of Christianity. We see in the Book of James, Chapter 2 the argument of faith without the proper lifestyle is meaningless.
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about the physical needs, what good is it? In the same way faith by itself, if it is not companied by action, is dead.”
                                                                                                James 2:14- 17
If we don’t adopt the proper attitude towards being a Christian, we will never successfully grasp the concept of being a Christian. Love is a verb. It is action. It is a moving force. Read this scripture in I John and allow it to marinate in your heart & mind.
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fear is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command. Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”- I John 4:16- 21
Now consider the cross; the single act of love/pain/passion and salvation. Read the scripture in II Corinthians and think about the driving force within humanity based on the love Jesus Christ has for our creation.
“If we are ‘out of our mind’, as some say, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one dies for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
                                                                                                            II Corinthians 5:13- 15
Why does one fight to guard the gospel? Where does the journey of evangelism cease? To what end of the Earth are our treasures found? Where are the horizons for our eyes to glimpse into eternity? How are we capable?

​JESUS PROFESSION

                Jesus was a caregiver. We may have become aware of this, perhaps some of us have not. Nevertheless, I want to address the term base on our modern day understanding.
            “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gather her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing”- Matthew 23: 37
Some illustrations from the Bible gives a clear perspective of an image from the spiritual realms. Especially, those dealing with animals- “descending on him like a dove”, “on the hills like a sheep without a shepherd”, “they will soar on wings like an eagle”.
            “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters covers the sea”- Isaiah 11:6- 9
In the illustration in the scripture which I am highlighting on for this article (Matthew 23:37) we see Jesus’ heart of compassion for His people; God’s people, the offsprings of the nation of Israel. Here we see an image of the hen’s wings over her chicks, passionately, yet masculine power of protection for His young. Caregivers can experience a noticeable amount of stress; 35% caregivers take care of someone 50+ and reports it being highly stressful, 4-10 caregivers of people of 50+ are highly stressed. We usually don’t picture our Savior and King as a person who was distressed. This missing image of our redeemer leaves a void in the picture. What is it for Jesus to experience salvation without the experience of walking within this life in our shoes? What is it to be human and not understand joy & pain. What does it mean to know God’s heart bleeding for His people and not listen to the lyrics of His songs on Lamentation? Jesus was depressed. Although, he did not remain in this mental state throughout His life. What is the moral of Gethsemane?
            “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground”- Luke 22:44
Consider Jesus with the professional term “trauma dump” His loved ones, the multiple issues within His personal life as He was going through daily therapy sessions which He heard, plus, he personally felt. Think about it, who was Jesus’ therapist? - Answer: His prayers. Where did His sorrow fall? How was His stress extorted?
            “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’, he asked Peter.”- Matthew 26: 40
Consider the professional term “vicarious trauma” when it comes to Jesus’ psychic make-up. We know he was mentally healthy. Here we see how & why our Savior could be an intercessor for us as a human shield…. He has the experience.