Vessels.

Sometimes I pick & choose the gospel.

I try to perfect & diagnose & convict according to the lovely one I am sharing with. I weigh their situation with verses I pretend to innocently spew out, acting as if I am clueless as to their current struggles.

 

I leave out portions that people may not agree with so that rather than showing them their filth & my filth, I give no reason for grace. I trade the necessity of Jesus for a man who just wants us to have a better life. A man no more than an addition to what is yours now. A benefit.

 

& I read the words of Jeremiah & they uncover this wounded, distorted gospel that I have fashioned myself, as I play God for different people. I have transformed myself from the vessel to the one who convicts & transforms, shoes I was never made to fill. I have taken on the weight of heart change, attempting to drag the people to Jesus, when in reality, the Lord says to simply bring Jesus to them.

 

Big difference.

 

Let the false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word.

There is a difference between straw & grain! Does not my word burn like a fire?

says the Lord.

Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?

JEREMIAH 23:28-29

 

In a world dulled by comfortable words, everyone wins, & everyone is right, we are the truth. In a kingdom blanketed by the fog of darkness, we are the stars, shining the glory of God. We are the light of the world. We are the city on a hill.

 

& I know I’ve said this, if not once, a million times. But the words are something that need more than to pass from one ear to the other. The words need life. The words need bodies to show evidence of the God within. The words need vessels.

 

Vessels unlike me. Vessels that don’t butcher the Gospel. Vessels that don’t play doctor. No. This world needs an unfiltered glimpse of the Father of Lights. This world needs Jesus.

 

No figment of the imagination.

No praying to the ceiling.

 

They need Jesus. In the flesh. Tangible. They need you. They need the church. They need to taste & see. & dear one, that could be you.

 

I have been crucified with Christ & I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me & gave himself for me.

GALATIONS 2:20

 

Christ in you, the hope of glory. You have something heaven knew the world needs, which is why the Holy Spirit lives within you. Because we can’t do this life apart from God. Whether we recognize it or not, we are desperate for a love only he can bring. A love that heals, restores, & redeems. A love that sets free.

 

& so the Lord spoke through Jeremiah, that Jeremiah would encourage those who walked in truth to faithfully proclaim his every word. To not judge which to share & which to hide away. To not tweek the message. But rather, to speak truth wholly. Then he writes that there is a difference between straw & grain. Straw is useless for food, while grain, on the other hand, can nourish. Notice, the power is not in the hands that bring the food to the mouth, but rather the food itself that has the ability to nourish.

 

God’s words are power & life. They are the ability to smash a rock to pieces. & thank God above, he doesn’t require me to do more than walk in obedience to him. I don’t have to read minds, I don’t have to judge circumstances. He is God, & I am not, & I am grateful.