What is life really all about? We hear and read that it is about making more money, having more “toys”, being seen as a success in the eyes of your peers, being part of the “in” group, etc. We see many who have “achieved” some of these, yet they are still floundering in life. What if life is really about dying so that you can live and living so you will never die?
It is hard to remember that life is not about success, acceptance or stuff. We need to learn to let go of all the things we think we really need. We often get upset, angry or depressed when God fails to answer our prayers our way and give us what we want.
Over and over God speaks to us telling us that we can let go, release these things that have power over us and truly find life in Him. Death is the release of me so that the life of Jesus is free to run through all my life.
Living in this death means we no longer need to be first, successful, rich or valued. We are living in Jesus. We only need to be gracious, loving, giving, compassionate, caring, joyous and peaceful. Living in this way makes us more alive than ever before. We are alive to the moving of our Lord’s Spirit. We are live to how the Lord might work through us to serve others. We are living above the draw of this world and my flesh.
We are Alive!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
The Blood of the Heart
YLife hands us many wounds, hurts and pains that land in our hearts. Sometimes it seems as if our hearts have been cracked or broken. The pain can get so bad that we literally hurt physically. Have you ever been there?
YWhen life dishes out these events that damage our hearts, these events leave blotches and their imprints on us. Our hearts get cluttered by these things. As time passes, these blotches can increase in number and size. It can get to the point where we can no longer recognize our hearts and what should be in them. If we do not deal with them, our identity gets warped around these pains and heartaches of life. We are no longer able to love as we should, enjoy life as God intended it and love others.
YHow do we resolve these heart issues? We must first begin to tear down the walls that we have built around our hearts to keep us safe from any other hurts. The walls not only keep other hurts out, they also keep us from freeing ourselves from the clutter that is in our heart.
YWe read in the Scripture: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 NIV We know that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from sin and opens the door to heaven. Yet, we still live in our own little hell here made up of the hurts others have caused us. We are faced with a dilemma. We must open our hearts to Jesus and allow his blood to penetrate to the depths of our being and truly cleanse us from ALL sin, even the sins others have done to us.
YOpening our hearts to Jesus is scary. We are exposing our hearts to God and embracing the hurt so that He can heal it. We are admitting that, Yes this happened, but I no longer need to hide behind it. It has shaped my life too long. Now I am opening all of my interior life to Jesus so that He can begin the cleansing process and bring healing to my life. We are accepting the hurts and allowing God to use them to mold us into the person he knows we can be.
YWe are making a choice to give the hurt to God, letting Jesus free us from it, and letting the pain shape us into a godly person. It moves us into a place of grace, forgiveness and mercy. It is allowing the heart of Jesus to live out of my heart now. This is freeing. I am free from the events affects upon my life. The emotions associated with them slowly begin to fade away.
Y When I remember them, I begin to see the good things that God is bringing out of them. We can do what the Apostle Paul did: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:13-14 NIV
Y Our hearts and lives are no longer limited in their ability to love, enjoy life, express our faith and grow in our relationships. We are no longer critical, angry, defeated and blaming of others. The blotches on our hearts have been healed in the power of the blood of Jesus.
YWhen life dishes out these events that damage our hearts, these events leave blotches and their imprints on us. Our hearts get cluttered by these things. As time passes, these blotches can increase in number and size. It can get to the point where we can no longer recognize our hearts and what should be in them. If we do not deal with them, our identity gets warped around these pains and heartaches of life. We are no longer able to love as we should, enjoy life as God intended it and love others.
YHow do we resolve these heart issues? We must first begin to tear down the walls that we have built around our hearts to keep us safe from any other hurts. The walls not only keep other hurts out, they also keep us from freeing ourselves from the clutter that is in our heart.
YWe read in the Scripture: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 NIV We know that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from sin and opens the door to heaven. Yet, we still live in our own little hell here made up of the hurts others have caused us. We are faced with a dilemma. We must open our hearts to Jesus and allow his blood to penetrate to the depths of our being and truly cleanse us from ALL sin, even the sins others have done to us.
YOpening our hearts to Jesus is scary. We are exposing our hearts to God and embracing the hurt so that He can heal it. We are admitting that, Yes this happened, but I no longer need to hide behind it. It has shaped my life too long. Now I am opening all of my interior life to Jesus so that He can begin the cleansing process and bring healing to my life. We are accepting the hurts and allowing God to use them to mold us into the person he knows we can be.
YWe are making a choice to give the hurt to God, letting Jesus free us from it, and letting the pain shape us into a godly person. It moves us into a place of grace, forgiveness and mercy. It is allowing the heart of Jesus to live out of my heart now. This is freeing. I am free from the events affects upon my life. The emotions associated with them slowly begin to fade away.
Y When I remember them, I begin to see the good things that God is bringing out of them. We can do what the Apostle Paul did: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:13-14 NIV
Y Our hearts and lives are no longer limited in their ability to love, enjoy life, express our faith and grow in our relationships. We are no longer critical, angry, defeated and blaming of others. The blotches on our hearts have been healed in the power of the blood of Jesus.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Consider the END
“Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” (Psalm 39:4) NIV
How many of us live only for the present, the now? Tomorrow does come. We know that Jesus told us to worry about tomorrow, yet the Scripture does tell us to consider the end.
Why do we frown on considering the end of our lives? Perhaps it is due to the fact that we do not want to face the idea that we are mortal. We become too busy satisfying our senses. We must feel, express, be happy and go for the gusto. Living this way causes us to not have to stop and consider our life’s end.
In the book, Tuesdays with Morrie, we read this discussion between the author and Morrie:
“Weren’t you ever afraid to grow old?”
“Mitch, I embrace aging.”
“Embrace it?”
“It’s very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. Its more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it. …(Those wishing that they were young again reflect) unsatisfied lives. Unfulfilled lives. Lives that haven’t found meaning. Because if you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can’t wait until you’re sixty-five. … You have to find what is good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now.” Tuesdays with Morrie, pages 118-120
What will really be important when we draw our final breath and our heart ceases to beat? JESUS and our walk with Him! Jesus is what is what makes this life good and true and beautiful. When we consider our life’s end we discover that living in the now for Jesus makes the end a WOW for us.
We focus on the end and live in the today and enjoy each moment of everyday but honoring Jesus. That day when we stand before Him, we will see Him smile down upon us, place his arms around us and welcome us into that eternal day. We will celebrate with Him wonders that our eyes have never seen, joys our emotions have never experienced and things we could never have imagined. Consider that end!
How many of us live only for the present, the now? Tomorrow does come. We know that Jesus told us to worry about tomorrow, yet the Scripture does tell us to consider the end.
Why do we frown on considering the end of our lives? Perhaps it is due to the fact that we do not want to face the idea that we are mortal. We become too busy satisfying our senses. We must feel, express, be happy and go for the gusto. Living this way causes us to not have to stop and consider our life’s end.
In the book, Tuesdays with Morrie, we read this discussion between the author and Morrie:
“Weren’t you ever afraid to grow old?”
“Mitch, I embrace aging.”
“Embrace it?”
“It’s very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. Its more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it. …(Those wishing that they were young again reflect) unsatisfied lives. Unfulfilled lives. Lives that haven’t found meaning. Because if you’ve found meaning in your life, you don’t want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. You can’t wait until you’re sixty-five. … You have to find what is good and true and beautiful in your life as it is now.” Tuesdays with Morrie, pages 118-120
What will really be important when we draw our final breath and our heart ceases to beat? JESUS and our walk with Him! Jesus is what is what makes this life good and true and beautiful. When we consider our life’s end we discover that living in the now for Jesus makes the end a WOW for us.
We focus on the end and live in the today and enjoy each moment of everyday but honoring Jesus. That day when we stand before Him, we will see Him smile down upon us, place his arms around us and welcome us into that eternal day. We will celebrate with Him wonders that our eyes have never seen, joys our emotions have never experienced and things we could never have imagined. Consider that end!
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