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John 12:32-33 (The Message) "Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out. And I, as I am lifted up from the earth, will attract everyone to me and gather them around me." He put it this way to show how he was going to be put to death. Greetings from our Father in Heaven! We, the church, many times become stuck in tradition. You know, not that we aren't serious about what we do and how we praise God, but ritual; doing something automatically because of repetition and/or redundancy. This passage has been on my heart lately and God has allowed me to meditate over its meaning. God be forever praised! Now, when you read it this scripture, it is pretty simple and self explanatory. This was Jesus flowing prophetically regarding his impending death and victory. However, Jesus also gives us instruction in the same words he uses to predict his passing, "Lift me up!" or "Exalt me!" So, now that we have our instruction, how do we execute the will of our Lord? There are 2 answers: 1. Praise him with your lips, lift your hands, bless him in song, dance, cry out, run, fall out, etc, etc, etc!!! (lol) more importantly... 2. Live right. Giving glory and honor to God is synonymous with a lifestyle of faith. Doesn't the word say to live righteously before others so they would praise God for us? Just as Jesus is our example of a life lived by faith, even till the end, so are we an example to the people who have not experienced the heavenly gift as we have. In all situations people are watching us. The adversary is watching. Jesus even told Peter that he wishes to sift us a wheat (Luke 22:31-32). Meaning, Satan is looking for areas in our lives to expose in order to discredit not only ourselves, but God. Lifting Jesus up is simple. Jesus is the word made flesh. That word never died but was passed from life to the deep only to defeat death. To those who have accepted that undying word who sacrificed himself in order to save them, you have that same word living in you. That word is a light to the world and it shines brightly when you trust the one who saved you. The more you trust, the brighter it shines. The brighter that light shines - the more you bring your light to dark places, the more attractive you become. See a pattern here? Attract: transitive verb draw somebody's attention: to draw or secure somebody's attention, or become the focus of somebody's attention This is how we lift up Jesus. Also, keep in mind, this is an ongoing cycle between you and our Lord. For, when you lift Him up, He in turns lifts you up! The higher you put him, the higher you go, the more people will come to Jesus! Thus, we are winning souls for Christ; building up the Kingdom with a new generation of sons, daugthers, sisters and brothers in which YOU are firstborn! Peace be to all of you in the Lord.
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