Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

• Galatians 2:20

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

• Mark 8:34

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighboras yourself.’”

• Luke 10:27

I either read this somewhere recently or I heard it on a podcast, but Christianity is the only religion that focuses on others rather than on self.  I do not know if that is true, but on the surface, it sounds right.

But when we accept Jesus, we are thinking of self.

As examples:

• My life was a wreck, and Jesus promises a safe harbor.
• My burdens are heavy and Jesus promises to share in carrying my burdens.
• I am tormented, and I need some relief.
• I am afraid of Hell, and I know of no other way out.

There could be hundreds of examples, but we surrender our will to God’s will.  As the Scriptures above state, we are no longer our own person.  We belong to God.  And we do as Jesus taught and as the Old Testament says, we are to love others.  First, God, and then others.

And the point is that God fills us with so much love that it pours out of our pores.

When I have talked to people about Jesus, many say that they said a prayer and they got their foot in the door of Heaven and that is all that matters.

Really?  When I became a Christian, my personal reasons for coming to Jesus became secondary.  Jesus took care of those things in a nanosecond – okay there are nagging habits, part of my upbringing…

But then, I wanted to tell others about Jesus.

Note: If you are a new Christian, most people suggest to wait a few days.  For those who saw you in your rowdy days, they might not believe until they see some proof.  And when you are a “babe in Christ” it takes a while to understand how to share that gift.  But I have seen babes that started out running.  It took me a while.

Then transition from what did God just do to me and for me to what can I do to help others usually is “organic.”  You seem drawn to a certain activity, like feeding the poor.  Then the next thing you know, you work at a soup kitchen, or you are handing out food at a food bank.

God often matches the things that pluck your heartstrings to the opportunities that are available.  But then there are those that get some training and then find themselves in a strange environment on the far side of the world.

But if you are satisfied within yourself, was it the Holy Spirit who entered you or was it some other kind of spirit – the one that satisfies your mind and you are still the only thing that matters?

I have always been drawn to those who ooze love out their pores, and I wish to be that for others.  I am a little strange, so you might not see it at first, but I try to love everyone.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.