This is the Gospel

You know that feeling, either as a teacher or student, when the lights come on? Like you feel revelation in your bones or you can see it light up someone's eyes?

It's brilliant and it happened to me today. With the gospel. 

What's crazy is, I'm not new to this. I've read the Bible cover to cover at least 4 times. I've preached in churches, spoken in tongues and led teams of lifelong Christians into mission fields around the world. 

But for some reason, with Father Mike Schmitz in my ear and a Catholic bible in my lap, the gospel soaked me deep today.

In all the noise (and there is plenty around Jesus) the gospel is still the truest thing I know.  Maybe you could use that today, to focus on one single bell ringing across a wide open valley.

I'll do my best. 

 This is the Gospel.

1. This world is enslaved to and by Satan - Darkness. Evil. Accusation. Greed. Sin. We know this. Look around, it's dark and it's everywhere. Always has been. 

2. Yet, when the sun rises, the dew sparkles like diamonds on the grass, and every fall, the trees change entirely, turning green forests gold. It's light and it's marvelous. We know this too.

3. Jesus called himself The Light of the World. He entered our timeline to save us, fighting for us against the darkness; while demonstrating how God's kingdom was meant to look on earth: Beautiful. Intimate. Merciful. Connected. Alive. 

4. Then he died as a sacrifice, to wash the dark stain off me and you: To make us clean before God. He rose from the dead to prove darkness can't control him, and he promised he's coming back. 

5. Now, I can continue to belong to the kingdom of darkness if I wish, or I can be transferred into the light - The Kingdom of God - by believing Jesus is who he says he is: The promised Messiah, The Son of God. 

6. That is what repent means. To turn and go the exact opposite direction. Like say from dark to light. 

7. When we do, it's Day One of learning how to follow him through this dark place, where the grass still sparkles; telling others about him as we go. 

That's it. 

See this is a war and it always has been. We (though not innocent) are collateral damage, perpetuating a system we don't even know we're in - until the Prophets tell us, which they have, over and over and over.  

Perhaps that's why Jesus said, as he was dying of crucifixion, "Father forgive them, they don't know what they're doing."

I don't know who needs this today, but if you're a person who's spent a lifetime trying to know what love is, this is a pretty good place to start. 

Happy Thanksgiving & Thanks be to God. 

ps. Don't forget we meet every Monday morning at 10CST on YouTube, not for preaching like this exactly, more on how to enter your week with a clean, hopeful mindset. On second thought, maybe that is preaching like this. 😃 Join us for Monday Morning Mindset. https://www.youtube.com/@GirlCatchFire1