The Cross Roads
02/12/07 11:19
I had this picture of the cross that came with a revelation that was amplified and confirmed as I lay in bed reading 'The Shack'. I saw the cross as two paths of direction, like 2 roads, the vertical and the horizontal. The vertical clearly spoke of our relationship with God, our communication with Him. The horizontal speaks of our communication with each other. The two of them are crucial and together make the cross. It's not one without the other and it's not about prioritizing one over the other. They both must happen. The two commandments so often quoted, "Love God with all your heart, soul and strength" and "Love your neighbour as yourself fit in perfectly to this picture of the cross, where Jesus, son of God and son of man, demonstrated love and showed us what it is. The love of God must flow both ways, from us to God, God to us and to and from our brothers and sisters, to one another. God is love and he who lives in God lives in love.
I'll quote a little section of The Shack:
Holy Spirit says: "The trouble with living by priorities is that everything is a hierarchy ...If you put God at the top what does that really mean and how much is enough? How much time do you give me before you can go about the rest of your day, the part that interests you so much more"
Papa says: You see, I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life, even if you were able, which you're not, to give me the biggest piece, that's not what I want. I want all of you and every part of your day.
Jesus spoke: I don't want to be your first among a list of values. I want to be at the centre of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everything that happens to you. Rather than a pyramid, I want to be at the centre of a mobile, where everything in your life, your friends, family, occupation, thoughts, activities i s connected to me, but moves with the wind (Holy Spirit), in and out, back and forth, in an incredible dance of being.
So basically I feel this extract from The Shack helped bring some clarity to this sense that I have of the cross being all encompassing and this unity of us in Him, Him in us, living through every breath, not in a 'religious' compartment of our life but in all. With this in mind, while not using it as an excuse to avoid focused prayer, I find liberty from falling into condemnation for not 'praying' enough. Our efforts can never be enough. To pray continually (24/7) would be impossible in that way but if all I am is His and I live and move and have my being in Him, then every breath I take is in Him and nothing separates me from His love and presence.
I'll quote a little section of The Shack:
Holy Spirit says: "The trouble with living by priorities is that everything is a hierarchy ...If you put God at the top what does that really mean and how much is enough? How much time do you give me before you can go about the rest of your day, the part that interests you so much more"
Papa says: You see, I don't just want a piece of you and a piece of your life, even if you were able, which you're not, to give me the biggest piece, that's not what I want. I want all of you and every part of your day.
Jesus spoke: I don't want to be your first among a list of values. I want to be at the centre of everything. When I live in you, then together we can live through everything that happens to you. Rather than a pyramid, I want to be at the centre of a mobile, where everything in your life, your friends, family, occupation, thoughts, activities i s connected to me, but moves with the wind (Holy Spirit), in and out, back and forth, in an incredible dance of being.
So basically I feel this extract from The Shack helped bring some clarity to this sense that I have of the cross being all encompassing and this unity of us in Him, Him in us, living through every breath, not in a 'religious' compartment of our life but in all. With this in mind, while not using it as an excuse to avoid focused prayer, I find liberty from falling into condemnation for not 'praying' enough. Our efforts can never be enough. To pray continually (24/7) would be impossible in that way but if all I am is His and I live and move and have my being in Him, then every breath I take is in Him and nothing separates me from His love and presence.