Happy Resurrection Day!
May you be filled with joy today knowing our Redeemer lives!
Category: Sacrifice
The Story of Christmas, and All God’s Blessings, Don’t Come with Pride, They Come with This
A million thoughts could have gone through young Mary’s mind as she was suddenly and astonishingly visited by an angel and told that she would be overcome by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of the Most High. She wasn’t yet married (though pledged to be), and she was a virgin, yet was asked to believe this miraculous conception would take place inside her own body.
What would Joseph think? Would he leave her? What would her family think? Would they disown her? What would society think? Would they cast her out, or worse, stone her to death? But she put aside her fears, humbled herself to God’s will, and immediately answered “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” Because she did, she gave birth to the Savior of the World.
When Joseph discovered she was pregnant, his mind was rattled, and he planned to divorce her. (In those days, being pledged to be married was as serious a commitment as marriage.) Could he trust that the angel that came to him was telling him the truth, that Mary had not been unfaithful, but had amazingly become pregnant through the Holy Spirit? But he put aside his fears, humbled himself to God’s will, and married her, and watched the Son of God brought into this world.
The shepherds, living out in the field with their sheep, were visited by a host of angels and were told that an almost unbelievable thing had happened – the Savior of the world had been born, and was lying in a manger of all things. Leaving their sheep and their fears aside, they humbled themselves to God’s will, and not only went to see this newborn King, but spread the amazing news that the Messiah was in their midst.
The Magi left their home, followed a star, and humbled themselves to worship the King of the Jews.
And Jesus, though being God, the very one by and through whom all things were made, humbled Himself to His Father’s will, left His Heavenly throne, His identity as God, the worship of angels, and was born a helpless, vulnerable baby.
Even the Father revealed His character of humility by sending His own Son to be born, to suffer, and die for a sinful people.
The power of the Christmas story lies in putting aside fears, rights, and pride, and putting on humility. It is a picture of the beauty of fully trusting God and His will, no matter what, and submitting to it.
God’s character is one of humility, and that’s why it’s so powerful. We see that in the person of Jesus through His birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection to life again.
We don’t see a lot of humility in our world. Instead, it’s about pride, and rights, and self. And in living in the flesh, it lives outside God’s character, and loses the very power and blessing it’s striving for.
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.
Submit yourselves then to God.
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and He will lift you up.”
James 4:6b, 7, 10
We see that play out in Luke 1:30 when the angel appeared to Mary and said,
“Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.”
And further in the story told by Luke, when Mary visited her relative, Elizabeth (who was also miraculously carrying a child in her old age), and worshipped God:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for He has been mindful
of the humble state of His servant.”
It’s not easy to humble ourselves to God’s will, especially when a million scenarios can run through our minds and fears stand ready to act as a wall, threatening to stand between us and God along with His favor, His will, and His blessings.
But the more time we spend with our Savior, the one who knows what it’s like to humble Himself and face those scenarios, coming out the other side victorious, the more we will love Him and be filled with His character of humility, ready to trust and obey Him in a moment’s notice, and stand with Him in victory on the other side.
This Christmas, in more ways than one, my Heavenly Father is reminding me of the beauty and power of humility, that good things come with it, and though I don’t understand the hows or whys of any given circumstance, if I will, in the strength and courage of the Holy Spirit, put aside my fears, then God’s goodness and untold blessings will fill my life.
May you find favor with God, and may you have a very blessed Christmas,
Sunday Praise and a Prayer for Dependence
“During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven…” Daniel 2:19
Dear Heavenly Father, we praise you. We praise you for who you are, for your unending love and wisdom which you have freely shared with us through your Word, and that you continue to give us as we seek you with all of our heart. Lord, no matter what we’re going through right now, whether it’s a matter of life or death, or simply getting through another day, may we never be so arrogant and prideful to think to ourselves, “I’ve got this.” May we continually lean you on, depend on you for wisdom and direction every moment of every day. You are our God, our Lord, and you’ve been so gracious to fill us with your Holy Spirit to continually minister to us, lead us, teach us, and comfort us. Help us turn down the sound of our world and of our own voices. Anoint the ears of our hearts so that we may be attuned to Him, and grow accustomed to the sound of His voice speaking to us in that still, small way. Give us the courage and strength to turn left when He says to turn left, to be still when he says to be still. May we obey you in all things, our Lord and Savior. In the mighty and precious name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
It Is Finished
“Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood.
Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.
Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.
Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself.” Hebrews 7:23-27
In the world people believe that if they do enough good, if they’re better than the other guy, if they’re more good than bad, if they just tip the scales, they will earn a place in heaven.
Those with no religion believe it, and those with religion alone believe it. My friends, this is a lie from the pit of hell, designed to keep people believing they’re saved without actually receiving salvation.
Sometimes even believers can slip into a subconscious belief that we must add good works to the grace of God given through the sacrifice of His Son, maybe not for salvation, but for acceptance and love.
The sacrifices of old were given as a forerunner, a sign of the full and complete Sacrifice to come. Jesus Christ, and He alone, was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. Any attempt to add onto that perfect sacrifice is sin. It is an offense to Christ and His work done on the cross, and to the Father who gave His Son to do it.
It was given once. No other sacrifice, by Him or any one else, is needed for salvation ever again.
It was given for all. Anyone and everyone – no matter who you are, where you’ve been, or what you’ve done – is invited to partake of the Sacrifice, to receive it by faith, for full payment of one’s own sins, now and forever.
If you recognize that you’ve been trusting in your own good works alone, or as an “add on” to Christ’s sacrifice, or trusting in another person to be the one who sits between you and God, offering up prayers for your forgiveness, or giving you ways to atone for your sin, telling you that through them you will be forgiven, I urge you to hear what Christ Himself said on the cross:
“It is finished.”
That phrase means to end, complete, execute, conclude, to discharge a debt, to pay. It’s done. There is nothing left for us to do, and no other human being needed to remove the guilt of our sins. He is the LORD, and the High Priest who lives forever, and no other can take His place.
All we need to do is believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior sent to die as the perfect and last sacrifice that paid for our sins, and pray, asking God for forgiveness, receiving Christ and His sacrifice, by faith, as a free gift in payment for every sin we’ve ever committed, and ever will commit. And then follow Him. If you want to read more, click on How You Can Know God at the top of this page.
And to my brothers and sisters in Christ who, for whatever reason, struggle with feeling like you need to earn God’s love, to you, and to myself, I say this: rest. Take a deep breath and rest in His abiding love; rest in His grace; rest in His mercy; rest in the finished work of the cross; rest in the resurrection.
You may have had to earn someone else’s love, or try and try and still never receive it, but that’s the world’s way, not God’s. That’s not who He is.
God is love, and the source of all true love. He cannot deny Himself. The Father sent His Son out of love, and the Son came out of love, and died out of love. He is preparing a place for us in heaven out of love. He is maturing and readying us out of love, and will come back again out of love.
It was His love that drew us, and it’s His love that will keep us, and welcome us home.
The Cross is Just the Beginning
let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Matthew 16:24
It is just into the first century. The roads are dusty, the work is back-breaking, the nights are long. The religious leaders are corrupt, and the Roman Empire rules the region with an iron hand. Taxes are exorbitant and punishment is cruel. Beheading, strangling, being buried alive, and among the worst: crucifixion. Being hung on a cross. The people are afraid, looking for a savior.
A man called Jesus has risen from among them and has garnered a following. He teaches in the Temple, raises the dead, makes the blind to see, and feeds thousands from five loaves of bread and two fish.
The people begin to have hope, especially the twelve who are His constant companions, those He’s taken under His wing.
But He begins to talk of suffering. That He “must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Luke 9:22
And then He drops a bombshell.
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23
Those with Him look around at one another with a stunned and confused look on their faces.
Take up our cross? Daily? What is he talking about?
Jesus would predict His own death two more times. He would lead the way.
Still, His friends couldn’t grasp what He was saying.
The night comes and He is betrayed by one of them and dragged before Herod Antipas, the son of Herod of Great who was responsible for killing all the boys under the age of two when he heard that men had come to worship the one who was born King of the Jews. Herod Antipas sends him to Pontius Pilate, and Pilate sends Him first to be flogged, and then to the cross.
Jesus carries His cross until near collapse from exhaustion and pain. He is nailed to it, and lifted up to a punishment reserved for the worst of criminals. A punishment designed to not only torture and kill, but to shame and send a message to all those watching.
His friends scatter. Their minds are reeling from the events they’d just seen. They think back to the time Jesus said they must take up their cross.
Are we next?
Darkness comes over the land. Jesus dies and is buried in a tomb.
And that is that. Hope is lost. Death is the end.
But then the morning of the third day comes.
It is evening now and the disciples are gathered together in a room with the doors locked for fear of facing their own torture, grieving over the death of their friend and the hope He’d given them for a better life, when suddenly they hear –
“Peace be with you!”
It’s Him! Wait..is it? Is it a ghost? No! It’s Jesus! And their joy comes flooding back.
And again –
“Peace be with you!”
They laugh and hug and rejoice, and they realize death was not the end.
It was only the beginning.
Maybe the understanding about what He meant by denying themselves, taking up their cross and following Him came as slowly to them as it does to us. But He had given them a stark picture.
It doesn’t mean reluctantly accepting a disease, or a difficult relationship. It doesn’t mean sacrificing any one thing.
It means dying. To everything.
Sacrificing oneself.
Willingly, wholeheartedly, just as He had done.
The word Jesus used when He said “deny” themselves is aparneomai – to deny utterly. To disown.
If we want to follow Christ, to be His disciple, the only way is to follow Him all the way to the cross. Not a literal cross, of course, but a cross for the flesh, the self will. It is saying to the Father what He said in the garden: “Not my will, but yours be done.”
Christ might have in mind for us to go and do and say what we wouldn’t dare. Will we follow? Will we die to our desires, let go of our fears, and go with Him?
Dying to our wishes and desires, giving up the life we had in mind, is not the end!
There is the glorious morning. A new beginning.
It is the beginning to a bigger, better life than we had ever imagined. Infinitely bigger than a life of catching fish.
We will become fishers of men, and women and children and neighbors and family.
When we walk with the risen Christ, we are filled with Life ourselves, and all that He is and has for us.
Peace be with you!