It's Sunday again. It's time for my weekly reflection. It's been a lot of fun to share my thoughts and feelings with you recently. I found out not only is my Mom and my Wife reading this, but my sister too. In all seriousness, thank you for reading my blog. As I begin my 55th year of life tomorrow I had planned to take a quick look back at part of this last year before moving towards what is ahead. Then today, the speaker at church challenged us with this question, “How would you live if you were guaranteed a resurrection?” This question gave me some perspective on what and why I would share my recent journey with you.
Somewhere in the
last half of my 54
th year, I read this quote from our 16th President,
Abraham Lincoln; “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on my side; my greatest
concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” More than God always
being right, this past year I also learned once again how loving and merciful, and gracious He
is. I learned once again that His power is beyond what I can dream or imagine.
I was reminded again that His peace goes beyond anything I can comprehend.
Finally, I came to the resolution that I can trust Him.
I don’t know about
you, but for me, it usually takes tough times to learn big lessons. I’ve been
through tough times in my life, more than I care to count. As I rehearsed many of them this last year, the
lessons began to take on a new shape and my life began to take on new meaning.
There was a lot to sift through. A lot of self-induced trauma. A lot of trauma from outside sources. A lot of things were similar to what others have gone through. I was not alone, but there were difficult things to face. There
were truths I didn’t want to admit because they were painful. But the biggest
lesson of all was that God always keeps His promises! ALWAYS! The Passion Translation, quickly becoming my favorite translation, says it well in Isaiah 51:11, “Do it again! Those Yahweh has set free will
return to Zion and come celebrating with songs of joy! They will be crowned
with never-ending joy! Gladness and joy will overwhelm them; despair and
depression will disappear!”
Have you ever
fallen and not been able to get up? You know, like the old commercial. Maybe
you have tried to no avail. Finally, someone else has to help you and sure
enough, you’re back on your feet. The Gospel of John has great stories about
Jesus. I wrote about one last week. This week, in Chapter 5 Jesus says in verse
21, “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so, the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.” The preceding
stories are all about Jesus picking up the fallen, healing the sick and the
paralyzed, and offering living water. The Jewish leaders were accusing Him of
breaking several of the laws of the day. But Jesus is concerned with those who
need to be lifted up and when no one else could help, Jesus makes it happen.
Jesus is resurrecting lives.
Jesus has always
been in the business of doing what no one else can do. Romans 5:6 NLT says,
“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for
us sinners.” The Passion Translation adds “…to demonstrate His love for
sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves.” I
wonder, though, if many of us who have grown up in the Church, have gotten
bored with the stories of Jesus. Do some of us involve ourselves in religious
activities and Christian ideology because the story of Jesus is worn out but we don't know what else to do? Has
the world stopped recognizing Christ when observing some Christians because
some Christians actually need life; resurrecting? How many Christians are giving
award-winning performances, but actually need to be made alive with a fresh
understanding of who Jesus is, what Jesus has done, and what Jesus can and will
do IN and THROUGH them?
Jesus says
something interesting in verse 22. He says that the job of judging people,
which used to be God’s job, has been given away. We’ve all heard who people
think that job was given to. We’ve all heard people say “Christians are so
judgmental.” You see, the Church thinks that God has given them the job of
judging others. Oh, I’ve heard them say “Only God judges people.” But friends,
that’s not even correct. Have you ever caught this subtle truth tucked into
this story? God gave the job of judging people to the most grace-filled man
ever to walk the planet; Jesus. Jesus, the one who invited Himself to the
hated, dishonest, tax collector's house. Jesus, who told the woman caught in
adultery, that He doesn’t condemn her. Jesus, who said about His murderers,
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Even more astounding is
that Jesus not only loves people enough to show His graciousness by dying for
them, but He also gives them the answer to their ability to have eternal life
plain and simple. He doesn’t hide it, play games with it, make it a riddle to
be solved, make it some sort of quest to find a hidden treasure. Jesus says
straight up, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who
sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed
over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has
now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and
those who hear will live” (John 5:24-25 NIV).”
This last year,
Jesus once again offered me resurrection. In fact, during this past year, I
realized what our speaker at church said today, “Jesus’ one purpose was to find
you.” When Jesus finds you, He resurrects you, He brings you to life if you let
Him. Many people I know and meet have given so much power to their
circumstances, to their regrets, to their trials, troubles, and pain that it
literally robs them of their resurrection already available through Jesus
Christ. Not only does it rob them of a resurrected life of joy and hope and a
future, it completely diminishes the power and the story of Jesus.
Yesterday I received a package from my mom. It was this picture that hung in our home growing up. As you see, her card said that today is MY day. Earlier in the week, I got something else in the mail. It was from AARP. It essentially told me that I qualify as getting old and that maybe I need some assistance and benefits in life that others don’t yet need. As I enter year 55, I have a choice. I can live as someone who is aging out or I can live as someone who’s been resurrected. I want to live as eternal life has already started.
Isaiah 61:2-3 TPT is a life-giving passage. “I am sent to announce a new season of Yahweh’s grace and a time of God’s recompense on his enemies, to comfort all who are in sorrow, to strengthen those crushed by despair who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful bouquet in the place of ashes, the oil of bliss instead of tears, and the mantle of joyous praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. Because of this, they will be known as Mighty Oaks of Righteousness, planted by Yahweh as a living display of his glory.” I want to be a life-giving person. In my 55th year, I want to remember that every eye I look into belongs to someone God loves. I want to remember that every person I meet has pain that is not visible to those around them. I want people to desire to know me, not because I am great, but because they want to hear the stories about the One who is great; Jesus! I want to remember that Jesus is bigger and more magnificent than I can possibly imagine. So my life is a resurrected life. My excitement comes from who Jesus is and what He has done, and it is anything but ordinary or boring. God, give me the courage to pursue Jesus above all else.
Thanks for reading,
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