Their own recieved them not.....

John 1:11 - He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (NIV) 

Came to my own, and my own received me not. But we wonder why, we don’t accept diversity in the body of Christ; it should not be a surprise. The question is – Why not? Is it because it was not part of what we know, understand, or have a frame of reference to comprehend? So, we discount it because it is different, instead of seeking God out for directions.  We seek consensus from man. Although man is the author of contradictions, confusion, disorder, and God is not the author of confusion and does everything in a divine order. However, because it does not fit in our limited concrete constructs, and the looming nebulous of authenticity we hold fast too, we shy away from it, or downright reject it. The investment of time that would usually result from our being open to it, is not forthcoming; we elect to ostracize instead. We fail to see how our choices; decisions made today have far reaching effects upon generations we shall never see, with consequences we cannot comprehend; just as our forefathers and mothers did. Souls are touched and changes in the butterfly effect of life, base on one choice made today.  Yet, we do not even consider the consequences of our choice, as we refuse to accept one of our own.  We forget just how powerful speech is. It can stir people to act, not act, to fall, move to tears of both sorrow or joy, and more importantly, inflict great pain that scars another for a lifetime, even after we are long gone in the body. 

Just because a difference, and that is their truth, and their authentic self lies there; we say, go away.  We refuse to accept them as legitimate or aligning with the word of God, even though they are living their truth.  Even though, we do not always align with the word of God, and we pick-n-choose when and what we will apply to our life. While holding steadfast to a standard of accountability for others, but we do not adhere to in this life. It is as if Christians have chosen as a mantra -  do what I say but not what I do. The irony is we would not accept the contradictory mindset from anyone. What a tangled weave of light and dark we create as we do not own, our own.  Mark Twain once said, - You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. This I believe is the reason we do not receive our own because our faith focus,only encompasses the comfortable, familiar, usual, traditional, or what works for us. The sad thing is if Christ came back today, many of us religious folk would not accept Him either…smile…John 10:16 - I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.(NIV) For the course of paradigm shift, transformative move of His grace presence, come through and lies in the difference, not the similarities...

The Response is different.

Today this is going to be a little different. I am going to start off with an analogy that I read. It is about a shark and it natural adaptability. See a shark will adapt to its surroundings, no matter what size it should be, it never grows beyond it living environment. It will grow to maturity but not to it true size. For instance, if a shark is fully grown at 20 feet but it is a caught and put in a home aquarium, it will not reach its full maturity size but yet be fully grown. However, if it is remove and put into an area, no matter when, it will grow to its full maturity size. Yet, if it is left in the home aquarium, it will live out its life full grown on the molecular level, but not the physical level. Now why did I bring this up, well, lately there has been death around me. Not directly touching me, but it has touched people who I am connected too, and I realized as Christians the Father knows just what will grow our faith and help us to reach out full potential. Therefore, He puts us in the place, position at just the right time where we can grow our faith. Death does that for us, if we just stop and understand the process of God.  Now, it does not mean we do not grieve, feel sadden by the lost of the loved one; it’s just done differently. Like the shark we are able to adapt to the environment we are put in, when we are move to it. Even when we do not have the context or frame of reference to think it so, but the spirit does. This verse  Psalms 126:6 - Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves( bundles, stacks) with them. (NIV) because of what the Father knows best even when think we know better. 

For the tears other see as just sadness of what happened, it is clarity. Clarity is essential to our growth as we obey the voice of God and become the instrument of His hand, subject to will. For God knows, we have more impact with what we do, how we handle things, than what we say, any day. We look at the horrific or the unexpectedness of the lost, but God looks upon the work of His hands. His artistry, masterpiece He created, and how He is reconciling those remaining alive to Himself. Yet, the problem is man begins to try to understand the reason, and trace the hand of God, but that is not it. We are only to submit to the will of God, and trust the heart of the Father flawlessly perfect timing.  Knowing that the goodness and grace inspite of mistakes calls us home, and it is not too soon. How can I say this? How many of us know of people walking away from what should have killed or crippled them. God has a master-plan. So, when we are ‘Why God?’ remember Gen. 50:20 - You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (NIV).   It will not ease the pain or the lost of the person, yet the response is different.

The analogy of the shark works for all things, and it helps us to understand life better as we reach each new level in this life.