Extras

There are no extras in life.

In the background of our favorite movies, actors called "extras" fill in all the gaps to make scenes look realistic: a crowd at a baseball game, diners in a restaurant, people walking on a busy sidewalk.

Everyday, in our real lives we see people in the background too.  I was at a concert recently (shout out to Casting Crowns) and I looked around at the crowd.  There were about 3,000 people there and suddenly I realized that God knows every single one of them.  He knows each name, each life and every thought of each of those people. 

The entire Bible teaches us that God loves every single person.  He loves us all unconditionally and equally.

No one is "extra" to God.

No one has a "bit part".  Your waitress, your neighbor, the guy behind you in traffic, your coworkers, your classmates and the girl standing in your way at the grocery store are not "extras" in your life.  Each one of them is someone that God loves, someone that Jesus died to save.  Just like you.  Each one is made in the image of God and is just as important to God as you are.  And never forget that you are never "extra" either.

This is an amazing truth that should affect your life. God tells us to love our neighbors (Mark 12:31), our enemies (Matthew 5:44), other Christians (John 13:34-35) and-oh yeah-EVERYONE:

1 Thessalonians 3:12a "And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow,"     

"For God so loved"...who? Smart people? Attractive people? Friendly people? Interesting people? Important people? No.  

"For God so loved the WORLD, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 NLT (emphasis mine)

Stop condemning, comparing and coveting. Don't get down on yourself or up on yourself. These are all sins that I struggle with and they are not good for me.  They don't add anything to my life. They steal a lot of peace and joy, in fact. 

Remind yourself of who you are and who everyone else is and you won't regret it.  You are LOVED by God and so is everyone else. 

God has given you invincible love, grace and joy, so overflow!  Spread the love!!!

In God's Universe, There Are No Extras. 

The Avengers: Puny God

Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye and the Hulk. These are the Avengers. And this is their first mission together. The mission: Save The World, of course! Loki, a powerful alien, is threatening to overthrow Earth and enslave humanity. Loki likes to go on and on about his own magnificence. He thinks that he's God and that everyone and everything is less than him.  But then Hulk teaches him a lesson:

 

 

This makes me think about all of the "puny gods" out there.  The kind of "gods" that ask for worship but don't guarantee Heaven.  Gods that don't believe in an afterlife.  Gods that care more about what you wear than about your welfare.  Gods that encourage injustice, gods that perpetuate abuse, gods that cannot satisfy or comfort, gods that cannot help, cannot save...mostly because they are imaginary.  But whoever imagined them wasn't even creative enough to make them loving or invincible.  And then there is the puniest of all "gods"- the "I don't need a god".  The very experience of life and the very thought of death should make a person realize they need a God.  

 

Don't ever let anyone fool you into thinking anything "puny" about Yahweh- the One True God!  His name is "I AM".  As in: no one made Him, no one controls Him, He doesn't need anyone or anything and NOTHING can EVER get the better of Him.  Nothing happens without His permission and He will never cease to be exactly what He has always been.  His power, justice, wisdom and love are infinite.

 

“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” Revelation 1:8 NLT

 

"Trust in the Lord forever, For in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength."

Isaiah 26:4 NKJV

"The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.
The world and all its people belong to him." Psalm 24:1 NLT

"Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty;
the Lord, invincible in battle." Psalm 24:8 NLT
 

 "The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease." Lamentations 3:22 NLT
 

I don't know about you but I will only trust and serve a God who ALWAYS WINS.  The true God cannot be injured, thwarted or wrong.  Why would I want a God who is imperfect?  That's preposterous!  Puny!