"My God, my God why have you forsaken me?"
These were the words spoken by Jesus as he died on the cross. In a moment on the brink of death the Son of Man, with all the weight of sin upon him, finished in a moment of being Lost.
This a very significant picture that Christians look over most of the time. A child of God's walk is a long and sometimes painful road to follow. And at times you just get so tired and so accustomed to the same walk over and over that you feel like God isn't present in your life. When your life feels like it is crashing down on you, you ask "where is God?" You feel like he has drawn you near then abandoned you. For some reason or another, you feel like you've lost your intimacy with your Father.
I wonder if this is how Jesus felt on that fateful hour. I sometimes ask myself, did Jesus feel separated from his Father?
As a Christian, you have to ask yourself a question: did Jesus come to die, or did he come to live? If your answer is anything different than that he came to die, you should seriously take a closer look at what you believe. You see if we think Jesus came to live, we try to hold ourselves to Jesus as a standard. We say that if we can be like Jesus we'll get to heaven. When we do this we set ourselves up for failure, no one can live up to the standard that Jesus set. However, when we truly believe that Jesus came on this earth to die, he becomes our savior and has redeemed us for not being able to become blameless.
Jesus gives us the ability to have a bad day. He allows us to be forgiven for dry spells in our walk. He forgives us when we dwell in sin and are weak. Mother Teresa once was asked about some of her dark times and troubles. They asked, "where do you think God was in all these troublesome times?' She simple replied, "I don't know."
You see God is above us, and if doesn't want to show himself to us he doesn't have to. A lot of Christians struggle when they're facing hard times because they feel like God has abandoned them. When really he never leaves. No one knows why he doesn't show up, but I think he is testing our hearts and conditioning us so that when he does show up in our lives it is so much sweeter and fulfilling.
So don't be afraid to have a bad day or feel like God has forgotten about you. Just know that he has redeemed you and he is always with you.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Psalm 13
How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the LORD’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the LORD’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
Walk Away, and Never Turn Back
John 5: 6 & 8
- Do you want to get well?... Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.
John 5:1-9 tell the story of the invalid who sat by the well. This man sat by a well for 38 years hoping, that when the water was stirred, he would be the first one in and be cured. But not until Jesus comes along is he healed. Jesus asks him the most peculiar question, but at the same time the one with the most obvious answer: "Do you want to get well?"
Of course the man wants to get well! He's been sitting beside the same well for 38 years, unable to care for himself, and all he wants is a normal life... But I don't think Jesus' question means as little as we think it does (as his questions hardly ever do). I think Jesus asked this question directing it to everyone else who lived or would ever live. As he asked this man, he also asks us if we want to get better.
Our obvious answer is yes, because we are outwardly hurting... However, the way Jesus phrases his question gives it a spiritual pause at the end. As if he is saying, wait! Think about your answer... See what he is asking is not if you want your physical ailments to be healed, but your spiritual ones. He is asking if we are truly ready to let go of the world and let him heal us of our sin.
How does he heal us? Just like he told the man: Get up! Pick up you mat and walk. So that is what we must do. Quit complaining and having ourselves a pity party. I must get up, brush off my sin, walk to Jesus and never look back!
So are we ready? Are we truly ready to be rid of ALL our sin and never look back?
- Do you want to get well?... Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.
John 5:1-9 tell the story of the invalid who sat by the well. This man sat by a well for 38 years hoping, that when the water was stirred, he would be the first one in and be cured. But not until Jesus comes along is he healed. Jesus asks him the most peculiar question, but at the same time the one with the most obvious answer: "Do you want to get well?"
Of course the man wants to get well! He's been sitting beside the same well for 38 years, unable to care for himself, and all he wants is a normal life... But I don't think Jesus' question means as little as we think it does (as his questions hardly ever do). I think Jesus asked this question directing it to everyone else who lived or would ever live. As he asked this man, he also asks us if we want to get better.
Our obvious answer is yes, because we are outwardly hurting... However, the way Jesus phrases his question gives it a spiritual pause at the end. As if he is saying, wait! Think about your answer... See what he is asking is not if you want your physical ailments to be healed, but your spiritual ones. He is asking if we are truly ready to let go of the world and let him heal us of our sin.
How does he heal us? Just like he told the man: Get up! Pick up you mat and walk. So that is what we must do. Quit complaining and having ourselves a pity party. I must get up, brush off my sin, walk to Jesus and never look back!
So are we ready? Are we truly ready to be rid of ALL our sin and never look back?
Monday, February 6, 2012
Passionless Hope
Somewhere along the way I lost my passion for what I believe in. It has become a stagnant, everyday process; as common as a thorough brushing of a person's teeth. my passion for Christ Jesus seems to have faded away somewhere. Yeah, sure have I have occasional moments here and there where I feel his unsurpassed love overflowing in me, but only for like a week or so.
But why do I feel this way? I know I'm not the only one, but sometimes it feels that way. Is it because I find myself caught in a desire to live the life I've turned away from? Because it way easier back then?... Is it because I don't feel God anymore? Due to the fact that I've blocked his voice out because I think mine's more beneficial... Or is it because I don't feel loved? I feel like my brothers in Christ have outcast me from community with them, my family shuns me for doing ministry, and the only people that remotely want me are the ones pursuing the desires of the flesh.
I know, on the surface, that these things I've convinced myself aren't true. They are ways Satan draws us away from God. He wants us to fill our lives with distractions, he wants to convince us our way is best, and most of all he wants us to feel alone. He wants us to feel unwanted and unloved. I can sit here and say this, but do I truly believe, deep down in my core, that these things are a lie?
It's so hard to grow in Christ when Satan is constantly trying to take your passion away for him. It seems impossible to live a life God has planned for you when, even in ministry and community, Satan can deceive a person into sinning. That word impossible definitely shoots up a red flag in my mind. I'm right, it is impossible for me to live a life blameless and good. Which shoot up another red flag word: Me... It's Impossible for Me to do anything. However, with God, everything is possible.
When Jesus said pick up your crosses, he didn't say; "pick up your crosses and come find me." Jesus said, "pick up your cross and follow me." So when I'm trying to find ways to be loved or find ways to fight Satan's lies I don't need to whip myself for it. That's the beauty of Jesus dying for us. In our weakness we are strong with Jesus. He covers us from Satan, and we follow close behind. Hand in hand, we run toward everlasting life.
So why try to crucify ourselves and go at this struggle alone, when Jesus has already done it for us. It's okay to be weak, we have Jesus. We never have to be alone, we have Jesus. We are not unloved, Jesus loves us more than anything
I want my passion back. I want my passion for the hope I have in Jesus back. Like a slave in bondage, who among them wishes for freedom without all the passion in their heart. So let us, knowing that we will one day be free, follow Jesus in our weakness. Let us follow him with all the passion in our hearts.
But why do I feel this way? I know I'm not the only one, but sometimes it feels that way. Is it because I find myself caught in a desire to live the life I've turned away from? Because it way easier back then?... Is it because I don't feel God anymore? Due to the fact that I've blocked his voice out because I think mine's more beneficial... Or is it because I don't feel loved? I feel like my brothers in Christ have outcast me from community with them, my family shuns me for doing ministry, and the only people that remotely want me are the ones pursuing the desires of the flesh.
I know, on the surface, that these things I've convinced myself aren't true. They are ways Satan draws us away from God. He wants us to fill our lives with distractions, he wants to convince us our way is best, and most of all he wants us to feel alone. He wants us to feel unwanted and unloved. I can sit here and say this, but do I truly believe, deep down in my core, that these things are a lie?
It's so hard to grow in Christ when Satan is constantly trying to take your passion away for him. It seems impossible to live a life God has planned for you when, even in ministry and community, Satan can deceive a person into sinning. That word impossible definitely shoots up a red flag in my mind. I'm right, it is impossible for me to live a life blameless and good. Which shoot up another red flag word: Me... It's Impossible for Me to do anything. However, with God, everything is possible.
When Jesus said pick up your crosses, he didn't say; "pick up your crosses and come find me." Jesus said, "pick up your cross and follow me." So when I'm trying to find ways to be loved or find ways to fight Satan's lies I don't need to whip myself for it. That's the beauty of Jesus dying for us. In our weakness we are strong with Jesus. He covers us from Satan, and we follow close behind. Hand in hand, we run toward everlasting life.
So why try to crucify ourselves and go at this struggle alone, when Jesus has already done it for us. It's okay to be weak, we have Jesus. We never have to be alone, we have Jesus. We are not unloved, Jesus loves us more than anything
I want my passion back. I want my passion for the hope I have in Jesus back. Like a slave in bondage, who among them wishes for freedom without all the passion in their heart. So let us, knowing that we will one day be free, follow Jesus in our weakness. Let us follow him with all the passion in our hearts.
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