john 5:19
"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."
back to Risen.
(i'm really hoping you don't get sick of me saying that!)
peter says to clavius (sp? he's the roman tribune tasked with finding Jesus' body),
"We are followers. We follow."
Jesus does what the He sees the Father doing.
and we are to follow Jesus.
and do what we see Jesus doing.
1 corinthians 11:1
"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."
(for those that don't know, that's paul speaking there.)
i think that what paul is saying is that he is seeking hard after Christ.
and that in Christ there is no distinction between race, religion or gender.
BUT,
whatever we do, we "seek the good of many so that they may be saved."
paul didn't do what he did for his own glory but for the glory of God.
following paul as he followed Christ means that until we are able to follow Christ directly we are meant to follow his lead.
make sense?
john 5:22 & 23
"Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."
which leads me to the next bit.
since we're doing all this following.
i think, to follow well, we need to go back...to exodus.
to the ten commandments specifically.
(one little tid-bit...i'm working with my new international version bible and biblehub.com for references. if i'm off please feel free to comment with either better references or more specific information. kindly, of course. always kindly...)
the fifth commandment says:
Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
john 5:23 talks about honoring the Son and in doing so we honor the Father...but if we don't honor the Son then we don't honor the Father either.
exodus 20:12
"But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.'"
people...trust and honor are tightly woven together.
you can not honor someone you do not trust.
nor can someone honor you if they do not trust you.
but why do we struggle to trust God? He is all that He says He is.
not just holy and righteous...
but good, kind and just.
the simple fact remains that Jesus trusted the Father implicitly and so He honored the Father by obeying no matter how absurd or foolish.
Jesus was able to trust the Father because He KNEW Him.
He knew Him to be good.
to be kind.
to be just.
relationship.
it's all based on relationship.
here's a list of what makes up a relationship
(i made up this list...just so you know):
- exchanging of ideas and thoughts
- honesty and truth: saying out loud all that is within
- being touched and touching: physically but spiritually too
- seeing and being seen: recognizing that person not necessarily by their appearance alone but their attitudes/behaviors, etc
- hearing and being heard: not just their voice but hearing what they're saying underneath the words
- taste: obviously we can't EAT another person but a relationship with them leaves us wanting more
honoring the other person means you value them as a person.
honoring preserves a relationship and communicates that you trust them.
we obey because we trust and because we trust we want to honor.
it's really that simple.
it's now past my bedtime.
i pray that we all start trusting God more.
and when the opportunities arise for that to be challenged that our actions match our beliefs.
xo,
~ h
(just a side note: i understand, while looking at this, that some might call into question issues of abuse that use some if not all of the elements i've shared. everything that i wrote about is based on mutual love and trust...from God to human, then human to human. abuse and the lies that come with it use parts of healthy relationships to disguise what it's really there for...which is to destroy the lives of all involved in abuse. we can all, due to inherent sin (the word to describe anything that tears us away from God), be prone to abuse in all its various forms. if you think that you are an abuser or are involved in an abusive relationship please reach out for help! there are many ways to get the help you need to live out the life God has marked out for you.)
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