Dear Friend,
Ouch!
You sent a text to someone, and he or she didn't understand your humor. You left a voicemail that was supposed to be cute, but your words hurt the feelings of a good friend. You sent an email before you proofed it and left out a word or two and left some stuff in you wish you'd never said, and these things crushed the spirit of someone you love.
It's very easy to misunderstand simple words on a page, in a text, or in an email. There's no body language, you can't hear the inflection or tone of the voice, you can't get a sense of the pace at which the words were said, and you don't get a feel for the heart of the person from just reading the words. These messages can feel like isolated bits of data rather than words spoken from the heart of someone who cares deeply for you.
Your experiences with being misunderstood give you a glimpse of some of the Father's challenges in communicating with you. Words written on a page, no matter how inspired, are not enough to reveal the full heart of the Father. So to bridge the distance between you and your Father in heaven, the Almighty God entered human flesh in Me, Jesus of Nazareth, to give you His greatest and clearest message
(Hebrews 1:1-3).
Yes, you heard Me correctly. God's greatest message was not the Bible or even the words of the prophets
(2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21). As important as these are, you must know that they all point to Me as the source of life
(John 5:39-40). I came as My Father's greatest, fullest, and clearest message... for you!
As you look at Me - what I did, what I said, and why I did it all - I hope you can understand the heart of the Father. I hope you realize how much We - Father, Son, and Spirit - love you! That's why My story is called the gospel - the good news from the Father, sent to people He loves, in a person Who is both fully God and fully human. I AM the Message, the Voice, and the Word of God.
Notice how the angels announced the good news of My birth to the shepherds. I came as the Father's greatest message, wrapped in a blanket and placed in a feeding trough!
Today, in the city of David, a Liberator has been born for you! He is the promised Anointed One, the Supreme Authority! You will know you have found Him when you see a baby, wrapped in a blanket, lying in a feeding trough.
(Luke 2:11-12)
I came, God in human flesh, to be heaven's Voice for you to hear and heaven's presence to see, the ultimate expression of the Father's heart!
The Voice [Jesus, the Word] took on flesh and became human and chose to live alongside us. We have seen Him, enveloped in undeniable splendor - the one true Son of the Father - evidenced in the perfect balance of grace and truth. John the Baptist testified about Him and shouted, "This is the one I've been telling you is coming. He is much greater than I am because He existed long before me." Through this man we all receive gifts of grace beyond our imagination. You see, Moses gave us rules to live by, but Jesus the Anointed offered us gifts of grace and truth. God, unseen until now, is revealed in the Voice, God's only Son, straight from the Father's heart.
(John 1:14-18)
Father in heaven, I have mangled my words in emails and texts so many times that it is embarrassing. So as much as I love that You spoke to us through the words of the Bible, I am even more thankful that You came and spoke to us in human skin - One with us and One of us - so we could not only hear Your words but also see Your heart. Thank You, Jesus, for coming so we can pray with confidence, in Your name, with Your authority. Amen.
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