The Bethlehem Key

Monday, August 2, 2021

Most people tend to view Bethlehem as something traditional - a nice and cuddly setting for the holidays. But Bethlehem is just about the most radical place on earth. It's so radical that even most believers don't get it, but no other faith has a Bethlehem. Other faiths and religions speakrnof man trying to reach up to heaven. But the Gospel is not about man reaching up to heaven, it's about heaven reaching down to man. We try to live from earth to heaven - seeking to be good enough, to measure up. But the secret of salvation is not about living from earth to heaven - it'srnabout living from heaven to earth. Let every good thing begin with God. Don't try to be loving enough. Instead, let God's love come down from heaven into your heart. Don't try to get into heaven, let heaven get into you. That's the Bethlehem life. Don't be like those who don't know the Gospel - don't live a Bethlehem-less life. Stop trying to reach heaven and let heaven reach you. Let it come down and transform your life - that it might become... Bethlehem.

From Message #876 - God in our Sandals