Beyond Redemption

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The warmer air circulating around me brings hope for an early spring.  I love the springtime and the symbolic “new life” it promises to bring. 

In spring, the buried life of the seeds in the earth emerge to show off the glorious beauty of a cycle that has been established by our Creator and operational since the very beginning.  It is noteworthy to me that not even a worldwide flood interrupted the cycle of nature, as the earth was purged of most living things. 

I hear the voice of my Counselor urging me to get up, “You have been redeemed, now move on in your mission”.

The Holy One knows how I can get stalled along the journey and His words are an encouragement to press on.  If I am truthful with Him and myself, I have to confess (agree with Him) that self-focus is like a flat tire and it needs to be fixed so I can get back on the road and the mission.

The Holy Spirit speaks to each one of us in uniquely personal ways.  His way of speaking to me lines up with my personality, and our relationship flows in that comfortable security.  He prods me with mental pictures and even sarcastic humor.  It is His knowledge of me that makes it all acceptably “Holy” even if no one else understands. 

This morning I know what the Holy One is pointing out to me:  Redemption is the top priority for the human soul.  Once we come to know and accept our redemption (bought with a price and released from sin) through the only Redeemer who is Jesus Christ then we need to move on and go beyond our own glorious redemption to help other souls find theirs.

His reminder takes me back to John 15:16-17, “You did not choose Me but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you.  These things I command you that you love one another.”

This fits right in with understanding our mission beyond redemption.  We have been chosen and appointed by the Lord Himself.  Our Salvation is not random because God is not content that any should perish.  It is according to His perfect will that all humanity come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ His Son, our Redeemer. 
  

That all will choose Him is not guaranteed BUT that all will have the opportunity to choose Him is guaranteed.  The Gospel is shared one on one and each person is responsible for making the decision as to whether or not they will accept the message and the gift God is offering AKA eternal life with Him.  The sharing of that amazing Truth falls to us, His disciples. 


Love is the Lord’s command.  Love motivates us.  Every miracle and even strength to endure the brutality of Cross can be found to have originated in His love for us.  We are asked to take that same love and share the wonderful news that God’s gift of eternal life is available to everyone. 


Our mission is to bear fruit.  We cannot bear fruit in and of ourselves. For that we need the “supernatural” Presence of the Holy Spirit and to have a heart of willingness to be in submission to His lead. 
 

The mission can be stalled and even rendered incomplete if we lose our outward vision to an inward self-focus.  The danger of that is real considering we have an unseen enemy in the midst of every situation pointing out all the personal hurts and pains and even temporal death that go with life here on earth.

Contentment with our Redemption is the flip side of the attack.  If we are obsessed by our own pains or fears and immobilized on the mission or apathetic to the lost state of the world around us, so content with our own salvation as being all that counts, and therefore unwilling to share the Good News with others,  both serve the same evil end.   

The Lord’s Divine antidote to the poisonous thoughts administered by the enemy of our soul is the Truth of Eternity and keeping that as our focus makes for victory in the mission.   This world is not our home.  We are just passing through.  Where we are heading illuminates the pathway to get there. 


Flat tires for me come in the form of self-focus on my placement and circumstances that are not my first choice for life or ministry.  Be still and stand down is not the command a warrior type (or a spoiled child) likes to hear.   We cannot know the mysteries of Sovereignty but I see how to slow down in His will is different than experiencing a flat outside of it.  


A slowdown is not a “death” even if it feels like it is.   There is eternal purpose that is often beyond our view in this life.  What we are given as lessons in today may be what we need to impact someone else’s tomorrow. 

His directive today has enabled me, with His help, to fix the flat and get back on the road….I know I am alive and OK both now and for eternity.  The mission is to get beyond my own redemption and make sure I offer God’s plan to others in whatever way I have been gifted to bring it and wherever I have been placed to do so.

My personal redemption is just that:  personal.   But if I love the One who redeemed me, I will make it my ambition to go beyond my own possession of His personal gift to me and offer it to others with every opportunity I am given.   

The mission beyond redemption is to share that redemption with others. 
    

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?