A New Language

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hide food.

You might find a bag of Sweet and Spicy Jalapeño Cape Cod chips under the seat of my car. You might discover a Coffee Crisp chocolate bar, courtesy of my mom’s latest visit to Canada, in the back of my nightstand drawer. You might discover a can of Coke in the cupboard above the fridge.
And yes, sometimes I act surprised that I bought the hot salsa even when I knew it was the hot salsa. Why, because I am the only person in the house that likes the salsa hot and because I have a son who is always “starving.”

Many years ago, when Ethan was four, he woke Karen and me up in the morning to tell us, “Stay in bed, I won’t eat all the sticky buns.” He lied.

Hypothetically: If I were to come home with four donuts, any or all of my three amazing and generous children might act as if there were a worldwide donut crisis. Including myself, there are five people who live in my house but, “Seriously, Dad, four donuts?”

Earth revolves around need; earth’s math is solid, its measurements true. If you have five people and everyone wants their own donut, you either need five donuts or someone has to go without…and that’s why I hide things.

But there is a greater truth, a greater revelation that trumps the math of need.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over (Luke 9:16-17).

I bet Jesus didn’t hide stuff. He didn’t need to. He lived from heaven to earth where need was a foreign concept. He lived in the measureless need-trumping love of His Father.

I don’t know about you, but I have lived a great portion of my life from earth to heaven. My understanding of my need has been, for the most part, greater than my revelation of His love. I have done most of my thinking, talking, praying, and worshiping in the limitations of need, both with God and the world around me.

I have related to my Father in heaven and others through the lens of limited resources. I have confined heaven to the measurements of earth and I have discovered that if the reality of need, the limited resources of earth, is my compass, insecurity is a daily companion.

Insecurity can lead to strange bedfellows, so to speak. Insecurity is often the invitation to a wrestling match with feelings of hopelessness, envy, greed, lust, and all the other desperations of need. When need is bigger than love, dysfunction will worm its way into every relationship.

When we live from the limited resources of earth, we will intrinsically believe that for one person to have, another must go without; for one to be blessed, another must be cursed; for one to experience joy, another must know sorrow; for one to have peace, another must be oppressed; for one to be rich, another must be poor, and so on.

It’s the exact opposite of what Jesus revealed. In the measureless revelation of heaven, the last is also first, the weak are also strong, and those that give, receive.

There were no limited resources in Jesus’s reality; there were no limits to His love, generosity, mercy, grace, healing, hope, and life. There were no needs Love couldn’t trump, no measurements that couldn’t be surpassed.

Jesus taught us a new language. Jesus was a new language. He walked the earth as the Father’s love perfectly revealed. He was surrounded by the question of need and lived as the answer—Love. He taught us a new language—the measureless perfection of our Father’s need trumping always-good love…

Excerpt from Prone To Love which releases Feb 18.


Jason Clark
is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE…

Does Hell Exist?

I don’t believe in hell as a place of eternal torment and punishment. I don’t believe in punishment. I do believe hell exists after this life because I believe God is love and love requires that we are free to choose…

The Thorn…

Here is a thought, the grace that was sufficient for Paul was the same grace Jesus operated in; the same grace in which Jesus become poor that His rich power would be available to all of us. It’s the same “grace of God that brings salvation” Paul wrote about in Titus 2:11. Could it be that the power of this grace is the whole point of Paul’s message? Of course, it is!

Why Does God Test Us?

Every test by God is an invitation to transition from one narrative to another, from control to love, from orphan to son or daughter, from bondage to freedom, from fractured thinking to wholeness, from our perspective to His, from our best thoughts about who He is, to the truth about who He is, from our story, to the whole story; the one He is telling.

We Are So Worth The Blood Of Jesus!

As my friend, Dan Mohler says, “I am so worthy of the blood of Jesus.” He loves me! And it’s never ever had anything to do with my behavior or performance. I am enough! And so are you!

LEAVING & FINDING JESUS

Jason introduces the book he is currently working on, Leaving (& finding) Jesus, which challenges readers to stop building their faith upon the broken foundations of a transactional view of God, and instead, embrace the powerful understanding of reconciliation and self-giving love that truly transforms our lives and our world.

JASON GRIMSLEY / CROSS STITCHED

“Whether I’m high or low, in heaven or hell, nothing can ever separate me from God’s love.” Jason dives into a memoir he helped his friend, baseball legend, Jason Grimsley, write. They guys talk about Jason’s wild and unbelievable life. This conversation is part storytelling, part revelation, and all testimony of the love of God.

Jason shares about several hardships he’s faced, including a botched suicide attempt and the near destruction of his marriage. The guys shared insights and wisdom for the highs and lows of life. And all along the way, they highlighted the message of the book. Cross Stitched displays the very real and present love of God and the abundant life He offers us when we surrender to Him.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This

Share This

Share this post with your friends!