Wordfilled Wednesday

One of the things I love most about the Bible is how alive it is!  I can read a verse any number of times and it sort of just goes in one ear and out the other... and then, suddenly, I read it again a new day, and it is as if it is a brand new verse.  This happened to me yesterday, as I was reading in Ephesians.  I was in Chapter 2, which starts out with some very sad and humbling proclamations:

"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." (Ephesians 2:1-3)

I stopped and gave a lot of thought to this, how my life used to be, how I used to think and act and believe... and I couldn't deny the truth in these verses!  It was very sobering to sit and ponder over.  But then!  The book isn't over yet...!

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together in Christ (!!!) (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-7, exclamation points mine!)

To me, these verses are a crescendo of excitement!  The suspense begins with the "But God..." and the anticipation builds, culminating in amazement, awe, humility and thankfulness as His mercies and grace are revealed!  What a glorious, wonderful God He is, what a gift He has given us through His son Jesus! 

To be dead - dead! Lost in sin, sons of wrath!  And for God to love us... even when we were dead!!!, to bring us to life again, through the very death and resurrection of His own son!  It is nothing but amazing.  Nothing but worship-inspiring.  Nothing but everything that is ever important to all of existence.

Wordfilled Wednesday

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

John 13:34-35

Wordfilled Wednesday

The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Wordfilled Wednesday

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
Isaiah 53:7

Michael and I have been talking about the issue of "offense" lately. It is so easy to take offense at things - small, unintentional things done by others, and especially the bigger things that actually hurt our spirit or pride. Offense can very quickly turn to bitterness, and bitterness festers and joins with unforgiveness, which steals our purpose in God. There was a time where God had to really lay bare my heart and expose the unforgiveness and bitterness that was lurking there, and it was ugly. And the realization that cut my spirit the most was that through that unforgiveness and harboring of resentment, I was shutting out the Lord, the only One who can cleanse and heal me of those things.

Forgiveness is not about the offense done, big or small, nor is it about the offender and whether or not things are made right and you "feel better". Forgiveness is about Christ - it is what He offered for us, through obedience coupled with humility and meekness, though we were so undeserving, and what has brought us into eternal life with the Father. As Christians, "Christ-followers", we are supposed to model Him, become transformed into His image - and we cannot do that with the darkness of unforgiveness and offense in our hearts. To allow Him to change us, we must take our eyes off of ourselves, and fix them firmly upon Him.

So, when I feel the struggle of offense, bitterness, resentment, or unforgiveness rising up in me, I remember Isaiah 53:7. I remember the persecution that Christ underwent, as God-become-man for our sakes, and I know that no matter of offense or hurt will ever amount to what He suffered - for ME. How He suffered without a sound, without speaking a defense for Himself, or calling down legions of angels to rescue Him. I am reminded of how utterly worthless I was and am without Him. Who am I to bear a grudge against another in such a light? I am humbled, and I lay my pride down at His feet, and am cleansed.

Wordfilled Wednesday

Instead of a wordLESS Wednesday, I wanted to have a WordFILLED Wednesday. Here is a verse the Lord has put on my heart lately:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8

What amazes me about Christ and His life is the fact that He wasn't a "super-hero" savior. He didn't come in live this amazingly exciting and glorifying life and conquer the Romans in the sense that one would expect. Instead He - God incarnate - came to us as a plain man, lived an incredibly humble life, and then... died. And died in a way that was so UNglorifying - nothing like you'd see in action movies where the hero goes out in a blaze of gunfire and excitement. He died in a way that was considered a curse, despised, reserved for only the lowest of the low. He was mocked and abused, but worst of all, He was rejected. Certainly not what one might expect from the Savior of the World! Surely our hero would be handsome, popular, win everyone's hearts, show his power by killing a few bad guys, save the day, and ride off into the sunset, and everyone would cheer, right? How I love the paradoxes of God's ways!

As I go through my day to day life, striving to serve Him, I keep this scripture in my head, and think... am I being humble? Am I being obedient? Am I emptying myself for His service and those around me? Or am I trying to be loved by man, showing my "power", and focused on perserving my life and my image? Do I realize the awesomeness of God, or am I trying to somehow grasp an equality with Him?

Lord, I pray that you would daily help me carry my cross - to die to pride - to acknowledge You as Lord and sovereign over all things... and to obey humbly in all things, emptying myself for You. Thank you Lord, for your precious Son!