Photo By: Laura Ruth
In Him was life and that life was the light of men. John 1:4
I write to you, dear ones, to remind us:
Before we can really understand who we are, we must know who HE is. Re-reading that statement it seems rather grand and sweeping. “As if!” I’m saying here that we must know HIM: where he comes from, what he plans, his desires for us, the character that informs how he lives. And most of all, I’m saying we CAN know Him. Possible is just one word to describe the great journey of living life with Jesus. But you don’t have to wait for your pastor to download the goods into you. Jesus wants to be your teacher!
I write these pages to encourage you who know Jesus … belong to HIM, walk with HIM, rejoice IN Him and suffer on behalf of Him. I pray if you’re far away that God will open your eyes and perhaps something here will spark LIFE for you in a new way.
To be saved:
If you’re headed for the emergency room, there’s a good chance that whatever you’ve done (or haven’t done) to warrant this is not something you can handle. Granted, there are exceptions. But, if using this facility properly, you ARE in some form of pain (on a scale of 1-10) on arrival! And usually, the events that follow are beyond your control.
All that to say … you can’t do it … YOU CAN NOT save yourself. We TRY all the time. We try to fix our problems, our marriages, our relationships … all without God’s help. But, He IS our help. HE WANTS TO SAVE! And, it’s really much better than that. He already has!
THE SAVING:
Save is considered by many in the Christian community to be a nice term for a heaven ticket. “Jesus died so we can get into heaven when we die.” That’s just part of God’s plan.
The word for save means a complete protection … a wholeness and deliverance that comes not just upon our bodies failing, but here on earth as well. This is what relationship is about … allowing God to save us, to help us, to heal us. But we have to be honest with him. It’s the basis of any good relationship. Do you need to yell at God? He’s the only one I know who can actually handle that. Do you need to whisper a secret? He just wants your heart … raw, honest and weak.
This is what GOD, in HIS LOVE has done for us: He made it possible for us to be IN Jesus who became wisdom from God for us. He became our right standing. He made us pure and special. And he rescued us from dying a permanent death and living in lies. All of these things He has done and we receive the benefit when we give up living for us.
Back to Basics:
I was guilty. I was sick, broken, wounded. You name it, I had it … I,LOIS.
God knew, before he created the world, that HE would create me … that he would create YOU.
There was a garden, once upon a time, where man walked and talked with God, free from the prison that comes from deception, but not from its temptation; and, one day, man chose to be bound. The lie was that he would be like God. The reality was death. Instead of walking without shame, he hid from the one he had come to share life with.
So, something had to be done. God knew he would send His son. Jesus was born to a woman named Mary, who’d married a man named Joseph. But, Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit. He was fully man, but also completely God. He was the only option for peace in relationship with God.
Because man had chosen death over God, relationship had been destroyed. There were two options: 1) Death forever or 2) someone must pay for the crimes committed (yes, committed – remember how God knew I was going to be born? He also knew my crimes). But, who could pay? Only someone perfect … Jesus.
So he and my guilt and my pain and my sorrow and struggle and heartache were nailed to a cross … every pain from this dark and broken world was crushing him. He died rejected, wounded, spat upon, naked, and all my shame bled there that day.
Three days later the tomb they had placed him in was empty, Jesus was in possession of the keys to hell and I had a choice … LIFE or DEATH? Sounds simple enough. But, everyday we choose death. We praise “fill in the blank” over God and choose a lie instead of truth. Deceit is a tricky business.
Agree:
Confess means to say the same thing as. When we confess our sin we are agreeing with God that we have sin. He says we have sin, so we do too. (for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23) We are admitting ourselves guilty of what we are accused of and are declaring it openly. And this is the place of freedom. To know that what Jesus says about me is right and true, but is meant to unlock my chains and lead me into LIFE abundant.
If you’ve never met Jesus, agree with HIM and ask him to visit you! He will meet you where you are.
Change YOUR mind:
I’ve always been somewhat indecisive. This is not helpful at restaurants or while parking your vehicle and it often hurts your chances of being liked in the fast lane ANYWHERE. But there’s one place changing your mind can be a good thing. Repentance is a word we often hear in church and it literally means to think differently for the better … to heartily amend with abhorrence one’s past sins. It follows that this is not just with language, but with action.
And when we say YES to Jesus we do this. We change our mind. And this process should continue as God continues to refine us. As God does the work that only he can do in us, we’ll begin to see things we didn’t see before and, a change of mind will take place. We recognize the difference and agree with God.
So, he’s saved us … but we have to say YES! We agree with him and change our mind, which eventually changes our step. We can reject HIM. We can choose death. But, we have the privilege, because of His obedience on the cross, of choosing relationship … seeing Him smile.
And so it begins … My betrayal and God’s great sacrifice. This is the heart of God for you: I love you!