At times like this what are we supposed to do with the whole thing? The whole thing being this: Jesus is God. Jesus is man. Jesus walked this earth loving, preaching, performing miraculous healings, signs and wonders and delivering people from demons. In John 14:12 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Then Jesus gave up his life on the cross to save us, you and me, from the laws of sin and death. He rose again conquering death not only for himself, but for each one of us. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever". So is He? Is the power that resurrected Jesus from the dead still alive and active today? I believe it is. In a Bible study I'm currently involved in the teacher says that the greek word for salvation is "sozo" which means "saved, healed and delivered". Some of you preacher/scholarly types out there please respond to this!! Is that true? I desperately want to believe that when Jesus saved us he also delivered and healed us. I just don't understand why we (myself so very included) can't walk in that victory. I said back in January that my word for the year was wonder - but I don't think so anymore - now I think it's VICTORY. That's what I want to experience more of this year - with a little wonder thrown in for good measure. I desperately want to believe Him.
Hebrews 13:1-6 from the Message:
"Do you see what this means--all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running--and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed--that exhilarating finish in and with God--he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through--all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?
My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline,
but don't be crushed by it either.
It's the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.
For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes."
7 comments:
It is all about God. Jesus died on the cross to glorify his father. He could have stopped it but he did not. We should live our lives to glorify God. Weather we are healed or live a life of pain it is to Glorify God. I cannot prove this I just chose to believe it. We go to school to learn a discipline. Faith sucks without faith.
oh yes, Clint. How do we get past the me crap? Help me out here.
It has something to do with picking up our cross but I need my hands to roll my chair.
Candy - As I prayed for you, your community, and Kerri's daughters (surely a prayer that I pray with a broken heart for these girls), holding in Divine Presence your wish to know victory, I was reminded of how Jesus victory in fulfilling His Father's will, came only after agony, and looked to everyone else as if it was a bitter defeat, and I was reminded of His strength being found in the place of our weakness. To me, that is what picking up our cross means. And when we live in that truth, God is glorified in our lives. Please know that you are in my heart and mind during this time of loss, once again.
Grown preachin'!
That's just it, Candy. We've received more than just forgiveness (though I'd take that alone in a heartbeat). We've been restored to new life; that's waaaaaay more than forgiveness - that's resurrection.
Preach it!
And please know I have had Kerri's family in my prayers all week - her bio-family, and those of you who obviously loved her deeply. Her struggle has been followed by people all over the world. I found out about her through a friend in Japan. All that to say, she has been a faithful servant indeed.
All I know is that Jesus walked with a handful of men and one of them betrayed Him and one of them denied Him...they walked and talked and touched the hand of our Jesus and they lost sight of the victory at times..We are a band of brothers all the way back to Adam, who tried to hide from the creator...
Candy, I am so sorry for the loss of your friend Kerri, for the loss her daughters are facing. Once again someone has left your life way too early it seems like.
As you hold victory, may it be a part of how the Spirit lets you walk through the pain, sit in the pain, and hold your grief.
You are in my thoughts.
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