Daily writing prompt

Tell us one thing you hope people say about you.

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I hope and I pray that people see Christ living in and through me throughout each day. I do my best to make that happen by seeking to listen to and obey the risen Jesus with all my heart. I try to avoid the pitfalls of the Pharisees and the deconstructionists.

Christianity’s not all about the Bible, we also need the living Jesus. It’s also not about ignoring the Bible because reading the Bible with an open heart keeps us focused on the omnipresent Jesus.

I don’t want to be a Pharisee who makes the Bible a religious rule book to boast about, or a deconstructionist who picks the Bible apart. I seek to follow the risen Jesus and the Bible helps keep me on track.

Yesterday I got attacked by both sides. A fundamentalist kept insulting my belief that the risen Jesus can communicate with us and personally lead us throughout the day. Then a deconstructionist criticized me for focusing too much on the Bible. But I just kept reading the Bible and listening to Jesus! The Book (Christ in the Bible) and the brotherhood of believers (Christ in His gathered people) keep me focused on the present-day presence of the Beautiful One!

False prophets distract people from the presence of the risen Jesus and from the testimonies about Him in the Bible. They disagree with what the true prophets said about Jesus in the Bible. Have you heard directly from the risen Jesus lately? If not, why not?

Go and see the Prince of Peace for yourself. Even shepherds knew that it’s not enough to simply hear about Jesus. They went searching for Him until they found Him in the least likely place. After they experienced the presence of the living Jesus, they were overcome with joy and began to go and talk about Him everywhere. Their passionate, heart-felt words amazed people! Shouldn’t we act like the shepherds today and go and make disciples, instead of merely hearing a talk about Jesus and then going away and forgetting about what we heard?

When I read the Bible, it burns in my heart and makes me want to go and see and experience the things that the Lord has told me about in His Book. I’m not content to read about “peace on earth and good will to men.” I want to see Jesus brighten up my own heart. I want to be contagious with the light of God’s peace and good will and to spread it far and wide in this dark world.

Let’s do more than sing and hear talks about Jesus! Let’s get back to the heart of worship and bring Him more than a song. Try not to have a Christ-less life. Surrender your heart and future to the presence of the living Jesus! (And by the way, have yourself a holy, fired-up Christmas full of Pentecostal power.)

We live in a fallen world between light and darkness, between God’s living water and dry places. Look to hope not to despair. My picture illustrates this point.