So, now, I am directed by my dear Lord, the HOLY ONE of Israel, JAHESHUA, the Chosen One of JAH (MischaJah), to continue and make the connection, for any who might still need that (peace to you, all!). There are really only four (4) simple principles to grasp. And it starts with the "greatest" commandment:
1. We are to "Love God with (our) WHOLE heart, spirit, mind, and strength" (and if we LOVE Him, we will OBEY Him, yes, because that's what we do as to those we LOVE... listen to and do what they tell/ask of us. With them, it's most of the time, though, because we only love them with MOST of our heart, spirit, mind, and strength, not our WHOLE heart, spirit, mind, and strength. But GOD... we MUST love with our WHOLE heart, spirit, mind, and strength... eye-ee not be half-assed, "sometimey", in THAT love... and this is LOVE... not FEAR... and so we would obey HIM... ALL of the time... yes? At least, to the extent our imperfections alllow...). And HE (God) said;
2. This is my Son, the Beloved; LISTEN to HIM"... and so we do THAT... FIRST... out of LOVE for GOD.. Because we love GOD, we listen to HIM when He says listen to His beloved SON... and that SON said
3. "Whoever has (i.e., KNOWS) my commands and keeps (i.e., DOES) them... is the one who loves ME." So, same principle here as with the Father: you obey and do OUT OF LOVE.
But he goes on, in that same verse... and tells what the REWARD is for that love, for following/obeying those simple four (4) principle/commands:
"The one who loves ME will be loved by my Father... And, well, THAT's gotta be good, right? But he goes on...
and I too will love them... Wait, okay, now one is loved by God... AND Christ?? That's GOT to be even BETTER. Right? Let's see...
and show myself to them." Say WHAT, now? If one loves (and so obeys) the Father AND loves (and so obeys) Christ, the Son... the Son will SHOW HIMSELF to such one????
You betcha! This, dear, dear ones... dear brothers... sisters... friends... and all who are my fellow slaves OF that Son... whether you are of Israel, of the nations, just going with... whatever... this... IS THEY KEY! THIS is what is it all about: Christ will SHOW HIMSELF to you... if you LOVE him. You demonstrate that you DO love him... by doing what HE said ("Love God with...") and what the the Father SAID ("my beloved Son; listen to HIM")... and what that Son "commanded." For instance:
"You must love God with your WHOLE heart, spirit, mind, and strength."
But he said other things, too, things we always hear about. For instance:
"Love your neighbor as yourself." "Love one another as I have loved you." "Go make disciples, teaching them to observe all the things I have told you."
And more. But let's take that last one, "... teaching them to observe ALL the things I have told YOU." What ELSE did he tell us? Many things, but, as my OP shared, what of things like THIS:
"If I washed YOUR feet, YOU must also wash the feet of one another."
That's right: he SAID it, SAID we must wash one another's feet... but he didn't MEAN that, at least not literally. At least, that's what religion will have one believe (funny, even the RCC Pope washed some folks feet, though, yes? Yet, what of HIS followers?). Let me ask you dear ones: did CHRIST wash the feet of the disciples... LITERALLY? Or did he just go through some motion and PRETEND to do it, then explain his not having to do so because, well, I mean, he DID heal the sick, yes? Feed some hungry folks? Give some folks superb wine? Wasn't THAT good enough to substitute for LITERALLY washing feet? But he did wash them, literally, didn't he? And after doing so said, "If I washed your feet... YOU MUST ALSO wash the feet of one another." Yes? Dear ones, we can rationalize such a "command" away any way we choose... because we don't want to do it. Because perhaps it's distasteful to us or something (who knows why we rationalize away Christ's directives). But it won't negate the obligation to do it to show love... FOR CHRIST. By OBEYING what he said to DO.
The same applies with eating his flesh and drinking his blood. We can let some hokey-pokey religion convince us that THEY know better (than even Christ himself) so we should NOT obey this directive... or we can obey the directive. The choice is ours. Of course, that hokey-pokey religion isn't going to make it EASY for us to obey. Heck, the WORLD isn't going to make it easy for us to obey. Shoot, tell someone you wash FEET as part of your service to God (through Christ)... and... holey-moley. WTFrick?! they think!
But the directive... command... is NOT to "Worry about what other people will think of you when you do what I tell you." To the contrary, we should KNOW the world isn't going to "receive" what we DO, let alone what we SAY. So WHAT? It's not the WORLD we are love... or obey... or be concerned about. IS it?
And so, another directive is the one that was the point of this thread. In one of his final directives, our dear Lord SAID:
“Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life."
When reading this, most see the words as to "coming" ("Well, okay, I'm thirsty (for truth)... and I wish to receive the free gift of life." They usually miss the "water" part). But they miss a VERY important part of that directive. The part that says:
"... let the one who hears... SAY, “Come!” ...
See, it isn't just COMING (in response to the call)... but OBEY what he says to those who HEAR the call to DO: ALSO SAY "COME!"
This is part of that "just so" thing. Where doing "just so" is IMPORTANT. How so? Well, let's take Noah... and this goes to what dear FC (peace to you, luv!) was getting at: what if, after being given the instructions on how to build the ark, Noah decided, "Well, I'll use [this other kind of] wood... because it's more plentiful, closer to where I'm building, and easier to cut." The results could have been disastrous for him and his family. Because THAT wood... might not have held the pitch coating that kept the vessel watertight. Or maybe it would have split once the water rose. But his doing JUST SO... saved his household.
What of Moses... in building the Ark of the Covenant? And the tabernacle, etc.? What if he had decided, "Well, shoot, we might need that gold to buy food, etc., when we get the Promised Land. Or maybe to bargain with vandals and marauders along the way. No, I think we'll use copper instead." Knowing what some of us do now, I think I can safely say that using copper would have proved disastrous. For the entire nation.
I realize some will say, "Well, those are BIG things. Things like washing feet, though, and saying "Come, take Life's water free!"... who cares? Those are minute "details" and no one's really paying attention!" Is that the TRUTH, though? OR... what exactly did Christ mean when he ALSO said:
"He that is FAITHFUL... in what is LEAST... is FAITHFUL... in MUCH"?
Do you remember the woman who gave the offering at the temple, two coins of SMALL value? While other gave MUCH more, because they had more to GIVE? The point of that account is that although she only gave a LITTLE... she GAVE... ALL SHE HAD. The others gave out of their SURPLUS. So, it was no big deal for them. For HER, though, it was probably her next meal! But she gave... IN FAITH. Faith that JAH would provide MORE... if SHE obeyed... and gave to take care of the temple. And she WAS blessed... for her FAITH: Christ himself blessed her.
What then, if you can't, say, sell all of your belongings and then go out on a ministry purely to follow Christ and make disciples? What if you CAN'T heal the sick? What if you CAN'T take in strangers (because you live in an area where doing so might put your household at risk for harm)? What if you CAN'T feed the hungry... because you're just a meal or two from hunger yourself?
What, though, does it COST you... to wash another's feet, particular a fellow slave of Christ? And what expense is it to you to say, along with Christ and his (other) Bride (members), "Come!"? What do you LOSE by doing these things... except, perhaps, a little of your dignity... and pride?
But, back to listening to Christ, did he not say:
"For all those who exalt THEMSELVES... WILL BE HUMBLED... and he that HUMBLES himself... WILL BE EXALTED"?
Thing is... do we BELIEVE him? We KNOW that those who raise themselves up often fall right before our very eyes. But do we believe that those who humble themselves... for HIM... WILL be exalted? If we have faith IN him... and so in what he SAYS... then, yes, we will KNOW that this is TRUE... and so not WORRY about what the world thinks of or says about us. Yes? Because OUR eyes... and hearts... are not ON [the things of] this world, but are on the kingdom of God. Yes?
And so, while it might seem silly, childish, smarmy... distasteful... even embarrassing... to wash others' feet... or to say/post something like "Come! Take Life's water... free!"... they ARE (very) small things, in the stream of these things, are they not? And insignificant in the day to day things. But... they are NOT small... OR insignificant... to God and Christ. To the contrary, they are DEMONSTRATIONS of our LOVE... and FAITH... IN them, the MOST HOLY ONE of Israel, JAH of Armies, and His Son and Christ, the HOLY ONE of Israel AND that [HOLY] Spirit... who we call "Lord," and "Master"... he who is our Leader, Teacher, Savior, and King... JAHESHUA... the CHOSEN One of JAH (MischaJah).
I hope this helps any who might still need to... see... and hear... what is true as to these things. May such ones be given, if they are truly wishing and thirsting, ears to hear... as well as mouths to join... the Spirit and his Bride, as those say:
"COME! TAKE Life's (Christ's - John 14:6) 'water'... which water is the holy spirit... blood, breath, and seed... of GOD, the MOST HOLY ONE of Israel, JAH of Armies... and is poured out from the innermost parts of His Son and Christ (John 4:10. 13, 14; 7:37-39[/b])... the HOLY ONE of Israel and HOLY SPIRIT, JAHESHUA, the Chosen One of JAH (MischJah)... to ALL who TRULY wish it and thirst for it (Luke 11:13)... FREE!" (Matthew 10:8; Revelation 3:17, 18)
May those who have already been given ears remember the love they had at FIRST: for [the] TRUTH. I will leave such ones with these, the words of my dear Lord, as shared through his servant, David, to consider:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire but my ears you have opened burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, “Here I am, I have come it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart. I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly. Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me." Psalm 40:6-11
It is words like these, from my dear, dear Lord, that help ME see the "attitude"... and LOVE... I should have, MUST have, in order to do "JUST SO" in listening to him. Because it starts with love for and listening to the Father, which love is based on KNOWING Him. KNOWING Him, through knowing CHRIST... such that one KNOWS, for example, the heinous, unrighteous acts attributed to Him... CANNOT be. Because if Christ would not, could not... do them... then neither would... COULD... the Father. If one wants to SEE the Father... they must FIRST... SEE... the SON.
I, SA, have shared all of the above with you dear ones, just as I was given and directed to share by my dear Lord, the HOLY ONE of Israel and HOLY SPIRIT, JAHESHUA, the Chosen One of JAH (MischaJah).
Peace to you ALL... and to your dear, dear households!
YSSFS of Christ,
Shel
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