Saturday, March 30, 2013

The cross: Jesus decided that you were worth it


Today I’m thinking about Easter in a new way. Jesus never fails to meet me in new ways and in whatever place I might be at the time. I have heard over and over that Jesus died on a cross for me, was tortured for me, but for some reason, this Easter, those words have taken on a whole new meaning.

            Jesus went through the absolute worst pain imaginable for me. He CHOSE to go through that pain, and He didn’t have to. He counted me worthy enough, valuable enough to say YES to torture and humiliation.

            Jesus was not only hung on a cross, He was disgraced in every way possible. He was treated unfairly, they took him in secret, in the middle of the night, and He got no sleep all night. They called Him names, He was mercilessly mocked.

Jesus was bloody, bruised, and broken for me, for you.

HIS OWN PEOPLE betrayed him. He was treated like an object; they took His clothing and made a joke of Him by casting lots for them.

He was disgraced, humiliated, to make us clean.

Nails in His hands, nails in His feet, He hung on a cross near the city, for all to see His shame.

            As I was manuscripting John 19, I suddenly realized that there is not a single hurt I have that Jesus Christ cannot identify with. Jesus died to guarantee me salvation and a life of freedom and complete joy in Him.

            But I was struck by the fact that by dying on the cross, Jesus also did so much more for me.

I feel connection with Him because He knows what it is like to hurt. He knows the pain and shame and disgrace that we feel in our world and our lives. He KNOWS. He gets it. Jesus has felt it. Never are we alone in our sorrow and our suffering because Jesus has lived it.

Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Jesus cried out for rescue, and He wasn’t saved. No one came to help Him.

            All of our sins and the sins committed against us, Jesus has bore them all. Jesus has CHOSEN to bear them all. He could have stopped it in a second, but he chose to stay silent.  Jesus became sin for us. He became murder, adultery, rape, a liar, a thief, because He decided that you were worth it.

Not just the people we decided are worth it, Jesus decides the murderer, the liar, the thief, the rapist; they’re worth it too.

Sometimes I forget my worth, but on days like this when I remember all He did to buy me back, everything else going on seems so insignificant. All the worries, cares, fears of this world fade away when I remember that I have a father in heaven who loves me so much that He gave up everything so that we might be together.

As I sat with the passages and saw the ways Jesus was disgraced and devalued and abused, I started to cry.

When Jesus holds us in our pain, He holds us as one who has been there, who has seen and felt and suffered. Our hurts are His hurts.

I just love Him. I’m so glad that He intimately knows me, I’m so glad that He intimately knows my hurts. He completely knows and understands the words that hurt too much to even say.

I’m so glad that He knows me so well. Though God is faithful, and will always be faithful, humans aren’t always like that. He cares enough to want to make sure that there isn’t a single doubt in my mind about how much He loves me.

Jesus said, “I love you,” and then He proved it.
                                                                                                             

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Remembering who we are in Christ

I have come to the conclusion that spending time with God daily is one of the most important things you can do. 

Without TRUTH from God, its SO easy to forget. To forget who you are and what you were made for.Without memorizing God's truth, its SO easy to believe the devil's lies, the world's lies.


James 1:23
23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.


If we listen to what God says and put it into practice in our lives, we combat the enemy.

But I know that if I don't spend time in God's word and with Him, I forget what He says.


Because I don't want to forget who I am. But more importantly, I don't want to forget WHOSE I am. 


I was watching the Bible series on TV and the ways I saw Jesus interacting with people literally brought me to tears a couple of times. The tax collector, the woman caught in adultery, the leper, all who devalued themselves because of their situation, or what they had done, or what life had handed them. 


And Jesus gave them their identity back, He gave them their value back. No longer were they categorized by any of those things, Jesus identified them as God's child, a valuable human being, full of worth.


To pursue me even when I didn't want Him. Though I turned my back on Him, He NEVER turned His back on me, not for a single second. I want the constant reminder that the way God views me never changes, I'm secure in my identity with Him. I don't want to keep forgetting that.

There is not a lie the devil can throw at you, that God does not give you a truth for. 


Every lie, every doubt, every fear, there is always reassurance and truth in the word of God. 


Sometimes though, even if I do spend time with Him in the morning, by afternoon I feel the lies creeping their way back in. And thats where memorizing God's truth is especially necessary.




I want the constant reminder that I have a God who loves me enough to pursue me.
When I'm doubting and unsure, I want to remember my God who pursues me.