Pain

I was at a concert the other night (Third Day, David Crowder Band, HyperStatic Union) and Mac Powell said a peculiar quote.

"Love is not the universal language. Pain is."

He said that this was told to him by his mentor when he was younger. I've thought about this a bit. Now I ask you to think for a second. Not everyone in the world is going to experience love. Some people probably won't even know what the word means. Many (delah) will not even know what an act of love is. There will only be those innate actions of goodwill, but are they altruistic? Can altruism exist? This is not the point I want to write about. The point I want to expand on is how blessed I am to know Love/love. (By the way, I say aye, altruism does exist.)

There are many loves in my life, but I want to focus on two. The first, and most important, is the Love of Jesus Christ. He came down to this earth, shedding His heavenly glory to take on the roll of a mortal man. He was tempted as we are, yet he succeeded. He lived a life that required work to survive. He had to eat. He had to rest. Through it all He never shirked His purpose: Proclaim God as God as God as Father. He was His Son, divine, immortally mortal, and the Godman. He faced hardships but never failed. He was beaten beyond recognition. His beard was plucked. He was spat upon. He was mocked. Flesh was torn from His body. His blood flowed freely from the countless wounds. His hands were nailed to some wood. His feet were nailed into more wood. Placed upon a cross He was raised toward the heavens. He looked out from His vantage point, vision undoubtedly hampered by blood, and He saw me. He knew me before I was. He knew everything that I would be. He knew all the things that I would do. He knew that my flesh and mind and body would want to be away from Him. Yet, even though I was rebellious, He died for me.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Man, died in utter agony on a rough cross, bearing the terrible burden of sin. Of our sins.

And He did this because He loves us. He wants us to be with Him in Paradise. He wants to cleanse us from our sins. He will wash our black, rebellious souls with His red/white blood. He will be our Advocate before God and grant us permission to enter into heaven with Him. We can be with Jesus forever.

All that we need to do is to simply confess Jesus as our Lord. This does not necessarily mean that there has to be a big public ordeal. It can simply be done at the privacy of your computer. You can ask God to forgive you of all your wrongs and ask Him to live in your heart. He will. It's that simple. Seriously.

Once this is done, obviously your outward life is going to change, and that is where the world will know. There will be a joy in your heart. And they--the Black-- will hate the White. But God will be there, always. He will never leave. He's never left me. I need Him everyday.

And that is the First Love. Jesus Christ, Son of God, who died for me and you, for us all, who died so that we might live. He loves me forever. His mercy endures forever. He is always there. He will always be there. And He's always gonna want us to live with Him forever.

My second love will come on the words of my next post. Until then, may your days be long and your nights pleasant.