Radical

Mark 1:17

Yeshua said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you into fishers for men!”

Following HIM means becoming radical... It means going against the flow of many things around us. It also means going against the flow of what appears "good and right."

The title of this blog is a word that I have used for many years. When people ask me, "What denomination are you a part of?" I simply respond that I am doing my best to follow Christ. I don't want a label, I don't want a box. I want to do my best to "love my neighbor as myself" and to listen to HIS voice.

I was reminded how much I dislike denominations again the other day when I saw a chart showing how they all started. It makes me ill. This is NOT what God intended.

I realize that people have different personalities and some will gravitate towards a service that has more liturgy, others want a service where they can dance freely. God wired us each uniquely. So, I can understand the need to have safe places for people to worship the way they want to before Him. Unfortunately, these "safe places" have turned into organizations that breed religion, which is precisely what Jesus taught against. They all tend to think that "they have the answer" and are the "only way."

To tie the paragraphs above together - the reason I use the word radical is because radicals in every denomination, and to be honest in every religion, have given God bad name. Radicals have killed people. Radicals have shunned people. Radicals have caused lots of pain in people.

And yet... I tend to be a radical. I think outside the box and cringe at what I see happening around me. By not wanting to be "in a box" I place myself into the "box" of being a radical!

That scares me in many ways because I don't want to end up causing "pain in the Kingdom." I don't want to become "so radical" that I can't "love my neighbor as myself." I don't want to become "so radical" that I do only what I want to do with no concern for His Words. There must be a balance.

Father, help me find the balance. Help me live the way YOU want me to live, and still love those around me. Help me be "radical" as I listen to Your Voice, but help me discern YOUR Words as I share them with others. Help me speak TRUTH in love to those I meet. I've chosen to follow YOU... Thank you for helping me LOVE others as YOU would love. Thank you for helping me "let go" of the past that so easily hinders me. Thank you for being with me every step of the way...

My heart today... May you all know that your walk may be unique to you, but as you LISTEN to Him and follow Him, HE will be with you every step of the way. You may feel like a fish out of water, or that you are going against the flow, but HE is with you!

Love and blessings,

Rose