Jesus

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FLAWS AND MISTAKES

As a wood worker, I have trained my eyes to see flaws.  When I write, I look for mistakes.  The need to look for flaws and mistakes seems inherent.  However, when I apply this need to my fellow man it can easily lead to judgement.  Judgement then becomes that sinful, self-centered method I use to make others less than me. This hinders my ability to love.  How can I love my brother as myself if I judge him less than me?

Sunday during a time of worship, I found myself praying, “Lord, don’t let the flaws I see in people hinder my ability to love them.”  As these words moved through my thoughts, I knew I was onto something.  I realized I was asking God to make me like him.  God loves me and all the people around me.  Since we are all sinners that fall short of the glory of God, he loves flawed mistaken people.

Today when I walk out into a world full of flawed people who make mistakes, I’ll try to remember that they are simply a reflection of my own flawed and mistaken self.  May the love God has shown to me ever flow from me to others.  I know God will answer my prayer.  The only hindrance will be my flawed and mistaken ability to receive his answer.

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NOT AS I WILL

“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.  Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  (Matthew 26:39)

I have often thought that life as a believer is like a roller coaster ride.  It starts with the climb of anticipation, and then it begins.  You drop in and away you go.  It’s scary and faster than you thought, but you adjust.  You roll with the curves.  You’re living the life.  Then when the trilling part is over, you take the slow approach to the end.  I thought that I had reached the slow part.  I was winding down waiting to depart.  Alas, I was mistaken.  I’m still living on the ride.  Life is still happening at a fast pace, and I’m trying to keep up.  Perhaps this Christian life has a more abrupt end.

Once you accept salvation through Jesus, you’re on the ride with him; you have no control over where it is going, you have put your trust in him.  You can jump out, but that usually ends badly.  Jesus took the ride.  He surrendered control to the will of God.  Thus his prayer, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  He asked for a change of direction, yet he stayed the course. 

This morning, I’m not asking for a change of direction.  I’m just asking for help to stay the course.  I can’t do it without his help.  The roller coaster ride of the Christian life is impossible alone.  I need Jesus all the time.  Besides, life is always much nicer with a friend by your side.  We get an all-powerful, all-knowing friend for our ride.

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FIRSTBORN

I am one of eleven children.  Since I was born first, I have the position of oldest of the eleven.  For you who have explored the birth order exposés, you know what that means.  I think I’m in charge, I believe I’m important, and I am responsible.  I’ve spent the better part of my adult life trying to avoid being in charge and responsible yet inevitably winding up in charge and the responsible one.  It’s a plague!  My wife calls me a reluctant leader.  Anyway, unless you share this dubious family position, it’s hard to explain the burden and the pressure the position affords.  Sunday during our worship time at church, Jesus walked me through a progression that altered my perception and lifted the burden of this positional quandary.

As I began to worship, I raised my hands palm up to take a position of surrender.  I really wanted to maintain this position, but the weight of my arms was countering my desire.  Then I felt encouraged to turn my hands over.  I envisioned Jesus placing his hands under mine and holding up my arms.  I actually felt the weight of holding up my arms lessen.  I entered deeper into this vision experiencing the rest and wonder of it all.  Jesus then spoke to me, “You don’t have to carry the burden; I am with you. You are not the oldest; I am.”(See Romans 8:29)

From these moments with the Lord, I came away feeling lighter and relieved.  I have spent this week reciting to myself, “I’m not the firstborn!”  So this scripture that I’ve wrestled with most of my Christian walk has again proven true.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus is the firstborn!

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THE RESURRECTION

Romans 6:23  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. “

Jesus is alive!  He was raised from the dead on the third day.  We celebrate Easter because everything that Jesus came for is completed with his resurrection.   From his birth, to his death on the cross, and then his resurrection, the miraculous plan of God for our redemption was accomplished.  For us we can be confident that life does not end in death because Jesus overcame death.  God raised him from the dead, and he has promised to raise us.  Eternal life is his gift to us.

I like Paul’s analogy in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 where he compares resurrection to the planting of a seed.  You put a seed in the ground and bury it.  If conditions are right, a living plant rises from the ground.  What comes up is totally different in appearance than the seed you planted, but it has new life.  When we die and are buried, our bodies as we know them are finished, but when we are resurrected, we’ll have a new body.  Unlike the old body, our new body has eternal life which is God’s gift to us.

Jesus is alive!  All that we hope for is centered on this truth.  If Jesus is not alive than what do we have?  Yet, he is alive, and our future is secured.  Praises be to God!  We are like little children standing in awe and wonder at what God has done for us.  The greatest gift has been purchased, and it is now freely given to you and me.  Oh what amazing things you have done, our holy and wonderful God, through Christ Jesus our Lord.

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THE RESTORATIVE PROPERTIES OF EASTER

I find it always happens when I’m busy.  You know.  I’m busy working to accomplish my goals focused on the cares of this world.  God begins to fade into the background as an abstract concept.  It is very easy to ignore God for a time.  Then Easter comes.  “Oh, Hi God, I’ve been busy.”  “I’m looking forward to eternity with you, but I have these things to take care of now.”  It sometimes takes me the whole of Easter week to refocus to the reality of God’s presence.

 When I’m busy, I’m full of pride and self-concern.  From this position to the humble place of kneeling at the foot of the cross is a long distance.  One of my favorite scripture for the journey is from 2 Corinthians 4:18, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  As I contemplate these words the tasks that so occupy my thoughts begin to fade.  Though I don’t see Jesus physically walking down the street, the reality of the steps he took some two thousand years ago, and there eternal significance, loom before my mental eyes, and I’m transported to his place of sacrificial love.

As the week proceeds and I think about what Jesus did, that which I am busy about dwindles to its temporary, insignificant place in the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  I can finally humbly kneel at the foot of his cross, and there I’m refreshed in my relationship with the God of creation.  And oh what peace I find there.  Burdens are lifted, and priorities are clarified. 

I pray that the restorative qualities of this week of Easter celebration may find you and work an eternal transformation in your soul.  Happy Easter!

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THE DEVIL’S SCHEMES CONTINUED

Last week I wrote about how the devil schemes against us through lies.  The lies are often distortions of the truth that plant an idea in our heads.  That idea can color every aspect of our life, and hinder us from experiencing healthy relationships.  Let me give a simple example:  “The reason you are treated this way is that you are not good enough.”  The situation you are facing may easily support the lie.  If you buy into the lie, and the subsequent reinforcement from the devil’s whispers, your entire life will now be tainted by the idea that you are not good enough.

 

Of course the lie can’t be true.  You exist therefore God planned for you to exist, and Jesus died on the cross for you.  You are good enough!  But if you believe you are not good enough, it is hard to change your mind.  The devil is winning in your life.  The damage has been done, and you need healing.  Only Jesus can heal this distortion and bring you to new life.  Only Jesus restores our souls.

In the armor analogy found in Ephesians chapter 6, the only offensive part is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.  The word of God tells us that God loves us.  Use this fact against the lies of the enemy.  Trust in God, and the shield of faith will extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Once you receive healing from Jesus put on the “Full Armor of God”.

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THE VALUE OF SUFFERING

I have been wondering about what value might be in my current suffering.  My body is suffering through the aging process, and the trials and difficulties of life seem somewhat greater than in the past.  I am a little overwhelmed.  During prayer the other day, I felt encouraged to look in the book of 1 Peter.  This is what I found.

In 1 Peter chapter 4, Peter reminds us that Jesus suffered in his body.  Here are the first two verses of chapter 4 as they read in The Message:

Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him.  Think of your sufferings as a weaning from the old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way.  Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

I deduce from these words that my sufferings are helping me to get over myself, so to speak.  They are setting me free from the blinders of self pursuit and opening my eyes to the broader purpose of what God wants.  This passage is telling me the value of suffering.  I find it comforting to know that suffering has value.  It’s still suffering, nothing great about that, but there is an outcome that is valuable.

As I examine this idea of value in suffering, I comprehend the growth.  I now see the hand of God in my provision more readily than I have before.  My dependency on him has become more obvious.  My eyes are more directed toward him.  I am gaining from my suffering!  Now I am encouraged.   Walking through the current difficulties now seems a little easier.  I will focus on God, and relax in his strength.

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THE SOURCE OF LOVE

On Sunday we celebrated Valentine’s Day, the holiday of love.  The word love stimulates a flurry of images, but what is love?  When I first encountered love, I was willing to put aside all other things and become single focused.  Love was about receiving.  Now I know that love is giving as well as receiving.  I have learned that love is caring for and giving to someone else.  Love inspired me to step beyond self-concern and focus on the needs of another.  Love is about relationship.  Yet I wonder how love got into my heart.  Where did it come from?

This whole topic has been stirred by reading 1 John chapter 4, and I think it provides answers for the above questions.  The apostle John first tells us that Love comes from God (verse 7).  In verses 8 and 16 he states that God is love.  I conclude that the reason I have love in my heart is that God put it there.  In verse 19 John says, “We love because he first loved us.”  When I love someone, it is because God loves me.  I am, though imperfectly, a reflection of his love.

The Apostle Paul clarifies for us what love is in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, “Love is patient, Love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.”  Since God is love, these verses highlight his character.  God loves us with these attributes.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)  God made the eternal declaration of his love for us via the cross.  The Bible tells us of his love, but on the cross he demonstrated his love.  The great source of love has given his love to us in an irrefutable act.  God loved us in this sacrificial way in order to restore our relationship with him.  His command to us, love one another.  May his great act of love grow and flourish in our hearts.

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WHAT JESUS DID

A couple of weeks ago my wife was reading to me from Revelations chapter 5. 

It starts:

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.  And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”  But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.  I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.  Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep!  See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.  He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals”

As I listened to these words the significance of what Jesus did on the cross expanded from an occurrence on the earth to a universal, infinite event.  Jesus’ work on the cross is pivotal in God’s plan for his creation, and Jesus alone is worthy to bring about our transition to eternal life.  Jesus’ sacrifice has blossomed in my understanding to something awesome and everlasting.  The cross will forever remain at the center of our existence.

Having this broader understanding has refreshed for me the coming Easter celebration.  Everything for Christians is centered upon Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection.  Nothing else can compare with this.  He alone is worthy to bring to us salvation and eternal life.  Everything of eternal significance rests on what Jesus did. 

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REFLECTIONS ON 2015

With just a few hours of 2015 remaining, I am reflecting upon the hours of this year that have passed so quickly.  I am wondering by what standard I should measure these hours spent.  Work, leisure, parties, major events, and quiet moments have all traveled across my mind as I ride this train of memories looking to form a valuation of the year nearly gone.  I have chosen to ask myself this question. What did I give to this year, and what did I receive?  As I contemplated the answer to this question, one word seemed to surface on the lake of my considerations.

This word has surely defined the most notable increase of the year’s activities.  The time I spent with family and friends, on the job, and even my encounters with strangers was affected by this word.  Perhaps the greatest place this increase occurred was in my interactions with God my Father.  I am delighted to find this word so prominent, but I put forth no claim of accomplishment on my own.

The word, as you may have guessed, is love.  I have experienced a greater ability to give and receive love.  Surprisingly, with this greater ability has come peacefulness.  There is indeed a deeper peace in my heart.  I haven’t yet asked those around me if they’ve noticed this.  I may be self-deceived.  I know the peace is there, and I know I feel the love.  I hope it has shown.

This love and peace came about because I asked Jesus.  Looking over the year, I realize he answered my prayer.  I didn’t do anything different.  He worked it in my heart in his gentle, subtle way.  I continued to seek him, and he provided the difference.  I think that recognizing his love for me helped soften my heart.  This provided the larger capacity necessary for the increase.

Well, I certainly haven’t reached the pinnacle.  There is plenty of mountain left to climb, but I now know how it’s done.  Please join me this year in a quest for greater ability to love.  It will greatly please our Heavenly Father, and oh yes, we’ll have deeper peace in our hearts.

I pray God’s blessing for you and yours in 2016.