February 26, 2007

THE DIFFERENCE IS ALSO THE LINK


As we move further into this year I am constantly encountering circumstances that convince me that 'the walls are coming down'. It is as if the Lord is at work making a beautiful garment for His Bride.
I am reminded that the garment Jesus wore was seamless, and it seems to me that He is weaving something seamless and wonderful now for the Bride, and it is truly the work of His hands.
Sometimes it feels as if He is saying to us that He let us do the best we could, and now He is showing us the best He can do for us.
Walls are coming down - denominational, cultural, traditional, gender, age - all these things are being redefined and we are being challenged as to where we stand and how we view one another.
This past week I had the privilege of praying at an event where people of many different races, traditions, and lifestyles were gathered. I stood looking out over a gathering of some 10,000 people, all shapes, sizes, colours, and ages. Some were walking with Jesus, and many did not know anything about Him.
I found myself weeping before the Lord for my brothers and sisters, the ones He had created that did not yet know Him, the ones who belong in this family and are missing from it.
I felt so at one with all who were there, and the only difference between them and me was Jesus, who in an instant of time could become the link between us if we would allow it.
Many in the crowd had lived lifestyles different to mine because they had been born into different families and circumstances, but we all have the same creator, and if we will acknowledge Him, the very same Father.
This beautiful seamless garment He is weaving in our time is put together when the difference becomes the link - when Jesus enters into a heart, and the child becomes part of an amazing family, no longer lonely, no longer lost, no longer without hope, but now joined together with all who have the same hope - Christ IN us, the hope of glory, the promise of eternity, the link that makes this family strong.