Jesus is the Rock - by Larry Yarrington

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"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." 1 John 3:16-24
I have a clear idea about love. God showed me what love is when He sent His Son to die for all humanity. Before I began to fully believe in Jesus, when doubts still seemed to assail me, I decided on an experiment. I would commit my life to Him for 6 months. Part of that commitment was to go into prison with another guy named Clare, from Prison Fellowship. He knew my story and was willing to take me along anyway. He did for me what Jesus did for His disciples 2000 years ago; He trusted them to do ministry before they were trustworthy. Jesus was not afraid of the mess they would create and neither was Clare. His ministry meant everything to Him and he was taking a chance I would do something to bring discredit to his ministry in prison. In a sense, He was laying his life on the line to give me a chance to really know Jesus as he did. He demonstrated a great love for me. It helped me to see Jesus in the flesh a bit more clearly.
He set the course for me in discipleship. He trusted God to preserve his ministry, not his own control. Shortly after I begin to go, he allowed me to start to tell my story; a guy filled with doubts, following Jesus as an experiment. This was when I thought the ten commandments were mere suggestions, that could be thrown out, if circumstances seem to dictate. Because of his almost cavalier approach, he won my respect for authority used right. He patiently and lovingly guided me, not by his words so much as his actions into experiencing love. Slowly, I began to see the love of Jesus in Him. It was only then that I begin to see the awesome love and compassion God in Jesus showed me when He went to the cross on my behalf. It was long before sound theological arguments meant anything to me. Certainly, I had no desire to study the Bible; i didn't even know if it was the truth. My heart needed to be convinced first. Then I begin to love theological proofs. I begin to love studying scripture.
There was still one large caution I had to learn from my mentor Clare. If my practice or my actions lagged behind my knowledge of the word, my perception of the word became academic and my growth in Christ was arrested. I needed daily, to find out what God's words meant, in my relationship with my wife and kids; my interaction with friends and my community. If there was not a correspondence between what I was learning and in the actions of my life, i was merely a pretender. Worse, I was a hindrance to the faith of others. And so, I must love others in action and deed and so fulfill the commands of God, which includes loving God with all my heart, my mind, my soul and my strength. Jesus is the rock on which I stand in thought and action.

Author: Larry Yarrington

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