Easter

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GOD DOES NOT ABANDON US

(Hebrews 13:5) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

When we go through a time of struggle, does God abandon us?  For example, a struggle can be with our faith, our situation, or our emotions.  There are many things we can struggle with in our walk with God.  I recently struggled through an emotional stretch.  At times, I couldn’t even feel the presence of God.  I eventually discovered, God was there all the time.  He was just waiting for the right time to help me.

As an object lesson on what I went through, I have a kitten story to share.  It helped me understand God’s timing, and why he sometimes delays his intervention.

I have three kittens growing up in my garage.  They are very cute, and their antics are quite entertaining.  They have now reached the time of introduction to the backyard.  While exploring the backyard, they have discovered trees. They’ve discovered that climbing trees is easy; getting down is much more problematic.  Two of them have worked that out, but the third one got scared and needed to be rescued.  Her first three climbs ended in a rescue mission.  However, on the fourth climb, I just pulled up a chair and watched her struggle.

She made at least a half dozen attempts, moved forward then backed up.  Finally, she made it.  Since then, I’ve seen her do another tree and come down all on her own.  The lesson has been learned.

 I think in my case, God pulled up a chair and watched.  He was right there to save me, but he wanted me to learn how to handle the situation.  I gained a great deal from the experience.  The best part was that I recognized God did not abandon me; he just gave me time to learn.

God never leaves us or forsakes us. He is always there.  However, he might just wait in the background giving us time to learn.

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OUR LIFE COACH

(John 14:25&26) All this I have spoken while I was still with you.  But the Advocate, The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Jesus died on the cross to be an atonement for the sins of the world.  This includes all sins past, present, and future.  I became a recipient of his great sacrifice when I surrendered to him and put my trust in him.  At that moment, The Father forgave all my sins: past, present, and future; and He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell me and become my teacher.

Since that beautiful experience of salvation, the Holy Spirit has led me on the path of righteousness.  When I falter, he corrects me; and I repent.  There were times when I resisted, but he never gave up on me.  He was training me to become more like Jesus.  I will still be in training till my last breath.

Justification means that our sins are forgiven. That happens when we receive salvation.  Sanctification is the training that happens throughout the rest of our time here in this world.  The Holy Spirit seals us to identify us as God’s children, and he then takes on the task of our sanctification.  You might say he is our life coach.

There have been times when the Holy Spirit has tasked me with going to someone I have sinned against and asked for their forgiveness.  Difficult as that was, It always produced good fruit for them and me.  Over the years, the Holy Spirit has trained me in what to do when I faulter.  I have learned to first go to the Father and repent and then ask the offended person or persons for forgiveness.  

I believe complete righteousness happens after we leave our physical body.  Until then, we will wrestle with our sinful nature and the temptation from the devil.  God loves us, and he has provided us with the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us through this life till we go home to him.

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THE PROPHECIES THAT PREDICTED OUR REDEMPTION

(Isaiah 42:6-9) “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand.  I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.  I am the Lord; that is my name!  I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.  See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”

Isaiah wrote around the years 740-700BC.  The accuracy of his prophecies has been proven time and time again, and he is considered to be the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.  Here in this passage, he quotes the words of the Father about the coming of Jesus his Son.  Our Easter celebration is about the fulfillment of the Father’s plan of redemption. 

As Isaiah predicted, Jesus brought to us the new covenant for the people.  He brought light to us who live in this sinful world, and he has set the captives free.  We have been released from the dungeon of darkness.  All this has been offered to the whole world.  And we are celebrating with our whole hearts.   

Jesus carried the sins of the world to the cross.  He died for our sins, and on the third day, the Father raised him to life in victory over death.  I can’t think of anything more worthy of celebration than this.  May our gratitude overflow as we celebrate our Savior, Christ Jesus – the Son of God.

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KNOWING THE DEPTH OFGOD’S LOVE FOR US

(John 17:20-26) “My prayer is not for them alone (his disciples).  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me – so that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.  Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me.  I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Shortly before he went to his death on the cross, Jesus prayed this beautiful prayer for those of us who believe in him.  In this prayer to his Father, he expresses his love for us, and his desire that we would be with him.  This is why he was willing to surrender his life on the cross – because he loves us and wants to be with us. 

In his prayer, Jesus talks about the unity of believers.  He wants us to be brought to complete unity.  I’m not clear what that might mean or when that might happen.  Perhaps, we believers should also pray about our unity.  Why is the unity of believers important?  Jesus says, “Then the world will know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Jesus concludes by praying that the love the Father has for him might be in us. I believe that this shows the depth of Jesus’ love for us and clarifies our true worth to our God. We are about to celebrate all that Jesus did for us.  Let us take time to reflect on how deeply he and the Father love us.

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EASTER, CELEBRATING WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US

(Philippians 2:6-11)  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used for his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

From the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, till the time when Jesus died and rose again, God’s plan of redemption was unfolding.  The plan, as far as I can understand it, was to bring about a population of living beings, created in his image, which would be recipients of his love and live forever in his presence.  These living beings are identified as the ones who have chosen to receive the redeeming actions of Jesus on the cross, and they have entered into the resurrected life he gained for them when he rose from the dead.  We are celebrating the climax of God’s plan this Easter weekend.

  On Good Friday, we bend our knees and mournfully weep as we acknowledge the suffering and death that Jesus experienced for us.  Who can comprehend what Jesus, God the Son, suffered when he took on the sins of the whole world?  What we can comprehend is our own sins for which he died.  In humble gratitude, we take time to remember what he went through for us.  He has given us freedom from our sins.  He died that we might live.

Then comes Easter Sunday, joy springs forth, and we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Death has been defeated, and eternal life is given to those who will put their trust in God and receive his offer of eternal life.  No other event on earth bears the weight of this day of celebration. 

As we celebrate God’s plan, we invite those around us to join in; for God’s plan is offered to all who will receive what he has prepared. 

There is a final act in his plan, but he’s waiting for you who have yet to come to him.  Don’t put it off.  The time is now.  Open your heart and seek him.  He promises that if you seek him with all your heart, you will find him.

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BEING HONEST WITH GOD

(1 John 1:8-10)If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Being truthful before God should be the easiest communication of all.  As I wrote about last week, God knows every detail of what happens on the earth.  So we can’t hide anything from God, for he already knows the truth about what we have done.  But when we go before him, he wants to hear the truth from us.  The above scripture points out the results of truthfulness before God.  “He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.”   And then he will, “purify us from all unrighteousness.”

God is faithful, just, and he loves his children.  Our Easter celebration was for celebrating what he was willing to do to make our forgiveness possible.  His only begotten son was crucified on the cross to pay the price for our sins showing God’s love for us.  Now the door is opened for our return to fellowship with God our father.  Not only are our sins forgiven, but Jesus rose from the dead – demonstrating the eternal life that he bought for us. 

Our relationship with God is safe.  We can trust him with our deepest secrets.  He is merciful, forgiving, and kind.  His love for us is undeniable.  Can we be honest with God?  No one else deserves our honesty more. 

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OVERCOMING EVIL WITH GOOD

“The only way evil ever wins victories is by making a man retort by evil, reflect it, pay it back, and thus afford it a new lease on life. Over one who persistently absorbs it and refuses to give it out, it is powerless.” (Eugene H. Peterson, Traveling Light, p.188)

I am truly challenged by the words of this quote from the book Traveling Light. Everything in my cultural training and my human nature tells me to get back at someone who does me wrong. Yet, I see in my retaliation, the propagating of evil. How can I change my natural tendencies?

I find in Jesus’ death and resurrection a definitive example of overcoming evil with good. By not returning evil for evil, he brought forth the ultimate victory over evil. I, as his follower, am challenged to carry on his example of good over evil in my daily life. When I think of the suffering and humiliation that Jesus went through, I realize that this is not going to be easy. Perhaps, I can simply trust God and do as the Apostle Paul exhorts in Romans 12:17, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.”

Paul expands on this exhortation in the next few verses then concludes in verse 21, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Evil perpetuates evil. When I repay with evil, I will be overcome by evil. The only way to break the chain of evil is to avoid responding with evil. Now there’s an encouragement. Who wants to be overcome by evil?

Jesus gave an example of how I can overcome evil in Matthew 5:38-39, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other also.” So if I hit them back the situation escalates, and I perpetuate evil.

I know that these words challenge our basic nature. Yet, if we are to have victory over evil as Jesus did, we must avoid returning evil for evil, and overcome evil with good.

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EASTER THE PIVOTAL MOMENT

Acts 17:28, “For in him we live and move and have our being.”

The life we have, the life we live, our very existence is in God. Contemplating this I realize that God is everything to us. All else diminishes by comparison. The Almighty created everything we know, everything we understand, the entire universe, and us. The creation and the history of it, to this day, is part of a plan that God set into motion from the very beginning.

Galatians 4:4-5 MSG, But the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law.

Everything Jesus did while here among us was part of God’s plan for us. Jesus suffered humiliation, torture, and a horrible death on the cross to fulfill God’s plan. When Jesus rose from the dead, our redemption and eternal life exploded forth into his creation. This was the pivotal moment in God’s eternal plan to have a loving eternal relationship with his created ones.

HAPPY EASTER!

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SAVED SINNERS

(Romans 3:23) For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

I’m a sinner. Now say it with me; I’m a sinner. Sin is a part of our human nature since the first rebellious act. However, this is only part of the truth. Romans 3:24 completes the truth, “And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

In my life, especially in my early years, I did some rather awful things. How should I deal with this? King David gives me an example. In Psalm 51, he repents before God for his sin with Bathsheba. He starts, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love.” David knew that God loved him. He understood the love that God has for us which God eventually demonstrated by sending his son Jesus to suffer and die for our sins.

David also asked God to cleanse him from his sin. In God’s sight, faith in Jesus Christ has indeed cleansed us of our sins. Our sins are no longer remembered against us. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

What I learned from King David in Psalm 51 is to humbly repent before God, and he will be faithful to forgive my sins. In Psalm 51:17 He says, “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”

It is great to be forgiven!

The celebration of the Easter season is upon us. Let’s take time to meditate on the amazing grace God has given us through the sacrifice of his Son Jesus.

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LET US CELEBRATE

Romans 3:21-24 (The Message), But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift.

Verse 25, God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear.

We have new life in Christ Jesus. That new life begins the moment we believe, and it last forever. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten. We have entered the Kingdom of God. His will guides us and protects us. He is with us no matter what we encounter in our remaining years here on earth.

When we leave the earth we will live in righteousness. We will be together forever. I’d like to add we’ll all be nice, since the sinful nature will be gone. Jesus did all this for us. So let us celebrate what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. I’m looking forward to that time when we’re all together in Heaven. Imagine the celebration.