Speaking with Heaven’s Accent

Having been born in America, I then lived my formative years in numerous countries, immersed in their schools, cultures, and languages.

A few years ago I sat next to a university professor on a flight on my way to Portugal.  She had a Ph.D in identifying a person’s country of origin (or the country in which they primarily lived) based upon the content and the accent of their conversation.  An intriguing subject, for sure.

After carrying on a conversation for about an hour, she admitted that she was flustered by our conversation.  Though we had hit on a variety of subjects, I was wondering if our academic conversation regarding the philosophy and the psychology of love may have offended her in some way.  After all, we had talked about the gospel of Christ and His view of love, especially His unconditional love.

When I asked her about the cause of her being flustered, she said that I was one of just a handful of people whom she could not readily identify [using her professional skills and experience honed by years of research and travel] the country where I had grown up or in which I currently lived.

She began to list the topics and nuances of our conversation that we had shared.  She pointed out aspects of my accent and how I enunciated certain words and phrases in certain ways.  Her conclusion was that I did not have a country that I called “home” and that it was going to be near impossible to establish [based upon our conversation and my accent] who I was, where I was from, and when I had lived here or there.

While it flustered her not being able to pinpoint my life’s journeys and destinations [in spite of her expert skills in being able to do that with most people after a short conversation], I later discovered something that was a real encouragement to me.  Though the content of my conversation and the accent of my speech did not reveal where I was from, or where I was going, it DID reveal to her something very important.

• The content of my conversation revealed to her the Kingdom to which I belong, the Kingdom of God.
• The accent of my speech revealed to her the language of God’s Kingdom, the language of love… unconditional love.

As a Missionary’s Kid (MK) from almost day-one of my life, moving around from country to country, and from culture to culture, and from language to language, was considered normal.  There is a joke among MK’s that goes something like this:

You know you are an MK if… someone asks you where home is, and you pause while you search your mind and heart for an answer… and you finally answer with something like, “Wherever Mom and Dad are!”

That day on the airplane the professor could not identify a geographically defined country as being my home, nor could she identify which of the world’s languages I lived among by the accent of my English.

Instead, God showed me (and her) that day that the Kingdom that I am a part of is not of this world, and the language that I speak is not the world’s language, but Heaven’s.  The Kingdom of God is not defined by geography, but is found within the parameters of the human heart that has been surrendered to Christ.  The language of Heaven is spoken with an accent that is unlike anything in the world.  It is spoken with the accent of love… unconditional love.

So, does the content of your conversation and the accent with which you communicate a dead-giveaway to the citizens of this world as to the Kingdom of which you are a citizen, and the language with which your King speaks?

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Have You Embraced YOUR Cross?

"... and anyone who does not take his own cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me."

~ Jesus, Matthew 10:38 ~

Have you identified your cross as YOUR CROSS?  Jesus had His cross, and He KNEW it was His to bear, endure, and overcome.  I have my cross, I have identified it, and I am doing my BEST to bear, endure, and overcome the journey.  Other Christians have done, and do, the same!

What about you?  Have you identified your cross and called it YOUR CROSS?  Every cross-bearing has its end, but what are you doing between today and the unknown end-date of your cross-bearing?

Let's examine what Jesus did NOT say in the above passage:

• He didn't say, "Rebuke your cross!"
• He didn't say, "Blame and curse the people who placed the cross before you!"
• He didn't say, "Find your own way with your own cross!"

He DID say, "Take up [YOUR CROSS] and follow ME..."

Its YOUR cross, so pick it up, set it squarely on your shoulders, follow the footsteps of Jesus that have been pre-printed in the dirt by His Own faithful journey!

 

If I may be so bold, let me say this: Fall in love with YOUR CROSS!  Not because it is loveable, but because of the incredible outcome at the END of your journey... your journey of carrying YOUR cross in HIS footsteps!  For, without the bearing of YOUR CROSS (whatever that might be), there is a reward of earthly and heavenly benefits that will never be realized, for those rewards and outcomes are awaiting the person who arrives with their OWN CROSS having been successfully carried in the footsteps of Jesus.

 

I'll see you on the path of Jesus.  I'll be one of the others on the trail carrying a uniquely-me cross... like you!  Let's do this, friend!!!

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and the Perfector of our faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider Him Who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

~ Hebrews 12:2-3 ~

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Post-Script explanation of the photo used in this article:

When I was looking for a piece of artwork to insert into this article for illustrative purposes, I originally was combing through simple drawings of crosses.  But then…

My eye was caught by the picture depicting Christ mid-journey with His Own cross.  It is gruesome, bloody, agonizing, nightmarish…

Cross-bearing is not a comfortable nor a pretty looking journey.  I used this GRAPHIC graphic to remind us that cross-bearing is serious business with eternal rewards, or eternal consequences for failure to carry OUR CROSS in the footsteps of Jesus.

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Are You Snorkeling in the Sand, or Deep Sea Diving?

Wow, the Scriptures have such incredible depth! I feel like I could "deep sea dive" into the Word, and never arrive at the bottom or the end.

I have found that if I am reading the Word, and I am being bored, the fault is not the Scriptures'. The problem is my own. I am not "deep sea diving," I am just snorkeling... in the sand of the beach!

Our primary teacher of God's Word is... God! Specifically, the Holy Spirit is our teacher. When I am not making progress in my reading of The Word in my devotional life, my first step is to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help me with understanding the revelation of the Scriptures.

When I take the step to pray and ask, this is tantamount to moving from snorkeling on the beach to skin diving in the water. The Holy Spirit is our "dive partner," and our instructor. He enjoys teaching us and mentoring us, all in accordance with the Scriptures.

In the Book of Acts, the Christians in Berea are highlighted and pointed to as good examples because they diligently studied the Scriptures as part of their personal discipleship practice.

It is imperative that the Holy Spirit be our teacher and mentor in the Scriptures. Yes, God has given to us, "Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers, to train [us] the people" (Ephesians 4:11-12), but just as the Holy Spirit is to be THEIR primary teacher, so the Spirit is to be OUR primary teacher, followed by (in a secondary role) these others who have been called and anointed-for-ministry.

Thank you for reading, my friend. I pray that the Holy Spirit will answer your prayer... the prayer where you ask Him to join you as your instructor in "deep sea diving" into the limitless depths of the Scriptures, the Word of God.

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