ali's Corner. [The Red Coat.]

I've been reading the gospel

of Luke and of Matthew for the past 2 hours.

I've been learning things that

God told His people of Israel

about the birth of Christ long before

Jesus was actually born.

Then, when Jesus begins His

ministry, He reads the EXACT words

proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah and Jeremiah

years before He came to Earth!

God's word came alive.

I'm learning about Jesus' personality,

what He thought about,

how He related to people, etc.

He didn't strive to be accepted

by people He came in contact with,

Rather, He said was what needed and moved on.

He left their actions up to them.

Our society has made Christianity into

some sort of thin horizontal blanket

that we try to "slip" into the middle

of people's lives.

We try to convince them to understand,

and we want to be accepted by them.

But Jesus never did that.

He put His father above everything.

He spoke what He was asked to speak.

He did what He was asked to do

by God.

And that same "blanket,"

He put high up above all else,

meant for only the people who truly believed.

Who wanted to know Him.

Who wanted to believe.

and who wanted to follow Him.

They would have to

go out of THEIR way,

reach up,

put down THEIR nets

and FOLLOW Him.

Christianity is not a convenience.

It is a faith that demands,

hard-work,

true-faith,

and a complete surrender

of our own desires, wishes, and wants

in order to embrace what

out-of-this world blessings

our Heavenly Father has in store for us.

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Upon writing this,

I got up to use the bathroom

after sitting and reading my bible for 2 hours.

During the time I was in there,

I explained to God my analogy

of the "Christianity Blanket."

I told Him all of what I've learned

about Jesus, just by reading about the things

He did and said during His days of His ministry.

I heard a voice that said,

"Your wisdom is great, my child."

Me: "Only because You've given

it to me, Lord."

He said, "Preach it."

"Where, Lord?

And how do I know this is You

speaking and not me talking to myself?"

God said, "You will see a red coat."

"WHAT? I don't even OWN a red coat. There isn't even one in my whole house"

I got up to wash my hands.

According to Francis Chan, people obsessed with God, will do and believe things that the world does not understand. They will appear to others as having lost their mind.

I really hope this is the start to me "losing my mind."