Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Take Up Your Cross!
Holy God!
Sinful man!
Irreconcilable difference!
The cross! God's wrath poured out on a sinless sacrifice!
Reconciliation! Beautiful reconciliation!
The cross is the place where truth and grace meet. Law fulfilled. Mercy extended. Impossible reconciliation becomes possible.
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself..." (2 Corinthians 5:18a)
Christ took up His cross. He made it possible for grace to be extended without truth being compromised. If we are of those who have been reconciled by the cross to God, we are commanded to take up our cross daily...
"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." -Jesus (Mark 8:34; Matthew 16:24; Luke 9:23)
What is that cross? It for sure can be a picture of many things...
In my younger years I thought that my cross was any hard thing that I was asked to "grin and bear." At one point it was having five kiddos in the space of time that I was sure was meant for only two. Another time it was having a husband who put in very long hours away from me and those same five kiddos. I bore...but I failed miserably in the grin department! Growing definitely needed!
I remember listening to Joni Eareckson Tada some years later. She said she had come to realize that her cross was not her wheelchair near as much as it was her attitude towards her wheel chair. Light bulb moment for me! For sure our attitudes, especially towards hard things and difficult people, can be something that we need to "crucify" on a daily basis. So much truth and insight there and those words helped me grow up a bit when I heard them.
Over the past years I've been going through some very difficult things. As is God's way, He doesn't take us through the hard stuff without a purpose - or rather two purposes! Our good and His glory! Today I see another way of looking at this picture of "taking up our cross"...
Old Testament or New - God has always been, and always will be, complete and perfect grace and truth! Perfect love without compromising truth! We are all called to the process of becoming more like Christ, who modeled for us the Father's perfection in these two characteristics. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) In our sinful humanity, we are so bent toward being out of balance, towards pendulum swings one way or the other. We have our full-of-truth people and our full-of-grace people. Our my-way-or-the-highway bunch and our wouldn't-hurt-your-feelings-for-the-world folks. And then sometimes in our effort to do it right, we react and swing totally opposite of our bent! One group may look kinder than the other, and the other may look more bold than the first, but as for handling conflict God's Way, both are way off base! Neither extreme gets God's results.
Perhaps one aspect of denying ourselves and taking up our cross has something to do with bringing those two together as we meet and interact with people every day. Perhaps we are called to take up our cross by offering each person we meet grace and truth. By speaking the truth in love! (Ephesians 4:15) What a novel idea!! ;) "And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments (truth)." (2 John 1:6) Perhaps we are called to the ministry of reconciliation in this world, not by destroying with harsh "truth" only, or deceiving with soft "grace" only. I put these two words in quotes because real truth is not destructively harsh, and real grace is not mushily soft!
Another thing that real truth and real grace are not is comfortable!
Is it comfortable taking up that cross? Was it comfortable for Jesus? Are we called to "comfortable?" Never! Christ consistently calls us to uncomfortable things..."love your enemies; bless those who persecute you; outdo one another in showing honor; never be wise in your own sight; repay no one evil for evil; humble yourselves!" And on and on... We are constantly called to step out of our comfort zones!
If I am a "grace" person, that is a gift from God. But that does not excuse me from exercising truth. I am called to stop hiding behind the guise of a false grace, to stop lying to or running from my friends, family, church family... the people God has placed me into relationship with... and to step out of my comfort zone by taking up my cross and speaking the truth in love!
If I am a "truth" person, that is a gift from God. But that does not excuse me from exercising grace. I am called to stop spewing, leaking or insinuating destructive words (or looks) of "truth" and step out of my comfort zone by taking up my cross and speaking the truth in love!
"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself... and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
We are called to be ministers of reconciliation. It's at the cross that reconciliation takes place, both between God and man and on a different level, yet not really, between man and man. Both are completely super-natural events! The world is starved for both, Christian! So let's get uncomfortable! Let's ask God to grow us in the area we are less comfortable with. Let's, each one of us, with a humble courage that can come only from the third Person of the Trinity, take up our cross!!!
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Are the Promises in the Psalms for Me?
As noted in my previous post, I love the Psalms! That love has grown greatly over the last fifteen years. If I was given the choice of keeping only one book from all of the Bible, I think it would have to be the Psalms that I would choose. The Gospel is all over its pages! God's perfection and man's depravity are both displayed and explained as clearly as anywhere in all of Scripture. My heart resonates so strongly with David's and the other writers' in their struggle with sin, doubt, fluctuating emotions... The Psalms, probably more than any other Bible passages, serve to shape my own prayers.
The promises throughout the Psalms are amazing! We are told God is our Rock, our Strength, Fortress, Deliverer, Shield, our Stronghold! We are told we can "call upon The Lord who is worthy to be praised and we are saved from our enemies!" We are told that "he rescued me because he delighted in me!" And He has "equipped me with strength for the battle." (all from Psalm 18) At least 127 times in the Psalms, more than any other book in the Bible, we are told about and assured of God's steadfast love.
I love the words of the Psalms! I want them to be for me, not just for David! I have thought they are, and passages like Romans 4:16 (I share the faith of Abraham) and Galatians 3:29 help to confirm that thinking: "And if you are Christ 's, then you are Abraham' s offspring, heirs according to promise." Also, many of the promises made to the psalmists are given again to New Testament believers. But today I was referred to these words in Isaiah, and I was encouraged afresh!
"Come, EVERYONE WHO THIRSTS, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me; hear that your soul may live; and I WILL MAKE WITH YOU (everyone who thirsts) AN EVERLASTING COVENANT, MY STEADFAST, SURE LOVE FOR DAVID." -Isaiah 55:1-3
Everyone who thirsts! That sure includes me!!! I will continue reading the Psalms with increasing assurance and delight!
And I will also read praying that God makes all of my family, immediate and extended, very thirsty!
Monday, August 26, 2013
Getting Through Turbulent Times
"Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to You at a time when You may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach Him." -Psalm 32:6
According to Strongs...
rush = a deluge
reach = to touch; it seems to have an intimate connotation
For me, the deluge is so often my emotions. Now emotions are wonderful things, and life would be dull indeed without them, but they are horrendous bosses! Yet there are times when boss they do! They take charge, and even though I purposely fight, I cannot seem to touch God. Try as I might, I simply cannot feel Him. Circumstances and life seem very dark and without hope.
The Psalmist had apparently experienced something similar, whether his "great waters" were his emotions or something else that kept him from touching his God. Having read the Psalms many times, I have no doubt that his emotions were often a factor.
Psalms 8 tells us that God has established verbal praise to still the enemy and the avenger (NIV), but there are times when even shouting His praises at the top of our lungs doesn't seem to calm the wild waters.
What do we do? What is the answer?
First of all, take the Psalmist's advice and offer to God prayer at a time when He may be found!! Be still and know that He is God during the calm times. "Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His Presence continually! Remember His wondrous works that He has done, His miracles and the judgments He uttered..." (Psalms 105:4) Soak in everything possible from His Word and quiet times in His Presence when the sun is shining and the way is smooth. And then...
HANG ON!!
The rush of great waters will pass! (Every so often I find that having a good old-fashioned cry helps to calm the turbulence.) Circumstances may not change, but hope will be restored and the waters will be calmed. God has not moved! He is once again reachable.
"You are a hiding place for me; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with shouts of deliverance!" That is verse 7, and it follows immediately after verse 6!
I love the Psalms!!!
Monday, August 19, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Words...
I've been thinking a lot about the necessity, use, and effectiveness of words lately, as well as The Word. This article goes right along with that, expressing some of my thoughts much better than I can. As always, thank you, Andree Seu!
WORLD | Being persistent in persuading | Andrée Seu Peterson | May 7, 2013
WORLD | Being persistent in persuading | Andrée Seu Peterson | May 7, 2013
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