Monday, March 19, 2012

Truly You are the Son of God!


TRULY YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD. While I was reading the Bible these words stuck out to me even though I’ve read the passage multiple times.

In my quiet time I am reading the book of Matthew and I’m at one of my favorite parts. The parts of the new testament I like best are where Jesus is loving people and comforting them. I was reading Matthew 14 where Jesus walks on the water. Last blog post I talked about how the disciples are terrified at seeing Jesus walk on water, and Jesus immediately calms them. The wind dies down and they disciples worship Him, saying, “Truly you are the son of God!”

I thought about how infrequently I just sit and think about the fact that Jesus is the son of God! In the busyness of life its so easy for me to forget to take time to stand in awe of God and be filled with His presence. So this week I did an experiment. I slowed down my life and I took note of every time something reminded me of how good Jesus is and the power and authority that He has in people’s lives.

This week I saw so many people selflessly loving others in Jesus’ name and I looked up to heaven and thought, ‘Truly you are the son of God!’

I have seen people healed from sickness and I thought, ‘Truly you are the son of God!’

I hear reports of justice being brought about all over the world and people being saved from captivity and oppression and I think, ‘Truly you are the son of God!’

When I see people with hurts SO deep, forgive those who have hurt them I know that the son of God was doing the work for them.

When I hear testimonies of those who have despite all odds come up from the pit and are now living in the victory of God, I think, ‘Truly you are the son of God!’

I look at my own life and I see it all mapped out in my head, all the bumps and hills and rocky roads. Then I look at where I am now, and I see a story of hope and redemption and healing. Thanking God over and over again, all I can do is whisper, ‘Truly you ARE the son of God!’

And the men in the bible who first said this phrase were not hesitant. They were SURE! The word TRULY lets us know that they were absolutely sure of what they were saying.

Sometimes I’m not so sure. Sometimes in the struggles of life I get weary and I forget who Jesus is.

In my frustration I cry out, “God where are you? If your good and loving then why is this happening?”

I have to remind myself that of one thing I can always be positive, Jesus IS the son of God and He is ALWAYS in control.

I know people who think that the bible is just an old book with no meaning for today. But Jesus is alive today in those who proudly bear his name and strive to live their lives as a reflection of him. We are to be his hands and feet on this earth. Jesus is alive in us.

In my life I see Jesus. I see Jesus in the people that God has surrounded me with. I see a reflection of Him in them. Every time someone takes care of me, or loves me, or selflessly helps me when I really need it, I see Jesus. I see Jesus in a warm smile, a loving hug, a listening ear, or a friend’s faithful presence in my life.

I see the son of God! Imagine if everyone walked around loving others like Jesus loves them. Imagine what kind of world we would live in.

Back to the passage, I want to note something else that I found interesting. Peter actually gets out of the boat and starts walking on the water towards Jesus.

V30: “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Of course God immediately saves him but He also asks, ‘why did you doubt?’

Peter was actually walking on the water! He was doing great until he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to notice the waves. He wasn’t in any actual danger, but his own fear was what made him sink.

I’ am Peter. I am the disciple who is eager to get to Jesus but am afraid of the waves. So often I need to remind myself to keep my eyes off of the waves and place them back on Jesus.

So many times I cry out to God, “Lord I’m afraid! I’m terrified of even getting out of the boat!”

The waves of life can seem so big, but really compared to Jesus they are very very small.

I hear Jesus’ calming voice say, “I’ am the son of God! Keep your eyes on me and together we will face whatever may come.”

Song Recommendation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdbPynNI9Xo

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Forgiveness

Forgiveness. What great emotion and struggle and conflict all contained in that one word. When I first became a Christian I was all on board with forgiveness. “Me? Yeah I know God has forgiven me. I LOVE forgiveness. What? Forgive others? Hmmm, not so fun anymore.”

Everything God gives us are gifts to give away to others. Like we’ve been given love so we give it to others, grace, mercy…. So it makes sense that forgiveness is also something that once having received, we must give away. But forgiveness is hard! I mean its not even like algebra hard, its like climbing Mount Everest in flip flops, hard! While its not fun forgiving for little things, its usually not too much of a stretch for most of us. But what about the big things? The things that actually matter? The things that really hurt? It seems impossible to forgive those things right? Sins people do that hurt us are like a knife in our hearts. But thinking about it I realize, ‘my sin is like a knife in God’s heart. My sin kept Him tied to a tree.’

And He forgives me every day over and over and over. And He does it in love. Sometimes in my humanness I think, “fine, I will forgive you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still get to be mad at you.’

True forgiveness? Not really.
During worship one night at Rider the song, "How He loves," came on and I was reminded how much God loves me. But then God said to me, "I do love you. But you know that person you cant seem to forgive? I love them too." I forgot that Jesus loves those we find hard to love, He died for them too.

Every wonder why forgiveness is so hard? Because perfect forgiveness doesn’t come natural to us! Forgiveness is from God, forgiveness is divine. The way I thought about forgiveness before was just saying the words but not really meaning them. Our human nature is to be angry and protect ourselves by not forgiving.

We have to every day fight to forgive. Forgiveness is not a simple thing, it’s a battle, at least it is for me. But the good news is that God has already fought the battle for me. And He fights if for me all over again every single day. We must make a conscious effort to reverse our way of thinking. And forgiveness does not mean that we forget. It means that we choose to not hold the offense against them. 

There is a Bible verse I found that is very clear about the way our hearts are to be when dealing with others.

Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

We must be tenderhearted towards one another. Most of the time my heart is pretty tender, but sometimes it is a hard, stubborn, rock. But I remember in the same way that God was able to harden Pharaoh’s heart, He is able to soften mine.

I once heard this story about a girl who had been in a Jewish concentration camp where her family members had died. Later, she met the guard who worked at her concentration camp and he asked her forgiveness. Feeling anger pulsing through her, she lifted her arm to shake his hand and asked God to change her heart. And as He did, she felt an overwhelming supply of love for her former captor. This story amazes me and has stayed impressed on my heart since the day I heard it.

Taking a cue from this woman, every time I feel anger and unforgiveness creep back up on me I have to stop what I’m doing and ask God to once again supply the love that I cannot find anywhere. Asking Him, 

“Lord help me go through the motions and you supply the rest. Lord just help me do the best I can and You stand in for me where I fail.”

I always imagine forgiveness as a big valley with two cliffs at either end. Me on one end and forgiveness all the way on the other side of the deep valley. Its one hundred percent impossible for me to bridge the gap myself. Oh, but Jesus is standing in the middle. Jesus is standing in for me because I am not competent to do it myself.

I will forgive, even if I have to do it through gritted teeth. I look forward to the day forgiveness no longer hurts. The day I am a person who forgiveness flows from pure and freely. Until then, I will rely on the grace of God to make a way for me and be everything that I cant.

Song Recomendation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AA_UM10ARs