Alive

Years ago I did a study of the ministry of the risen Christ.  I found that it was pure encouragement, hope and restoration.  Then I wrote a song about some of the people to whom he appeared and ministered.  I guess we could codify this and call them the “Stations of the Resurrection” 🙂

(Road to Emmaus)
Are you betrayed by empty dreams?
Walking far away from the promise you had
Broken and sad
There’s a Friend you don’t discern
Walking with you, from His stories you learn
In your heart they burn

(Thomas in his doubt)
Have discouragement, disgrace
Slowly snuffed all of your trust and faith
In your doubt you wait
Jesus comes into the room
Invites you come and put your hand in His wounds
He endured for you

(Peter in his denial)
Have you failed the test of faith?
Called down curses in self pity and fear
Now guilt is all you hear
Behold, He calls to His side
Lifts your head and wipes away all your shame
And sets your faith aflame

(Chorus)
Alive! Jesus is alive!
The stone that held Him rolled away
He’s with us here today
He’s Alive! Jesus is alive!
The Lamb of God who died is raised
Worthy of all praise

Glorious discipline

Scripture:

Hebrews 12:7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?

Observation:

The struggle here is against sin – the one that clings so closely (v 1). This verse answers a question that is not often answered in the Bible, or life – why? And the answer is God’s fatherly love. “He loves us just the way we are but loves us WAY too much to leave us that way.” This reasoning cancels all pity parties, takes down anger and bitterness and puts a loving relationship in their place. Since God’s purpose in discipline (lit. “scourging”) is our correction, it is always a valid question to ask “What are You trying to teach me?”, because there is always an eternal, beneficial answer. But it is universally a humbling truth God wants to impart, so the child of God should never expect to be puffed up by what is learned though s/he will be warmed with love.

Application:

What’s my hardship? I should not compare it to that of any other, for the lesson I am to learn is an individual one. What is that lesson? It is definitely NOT one of my having it all together or being in the right. I need to remember it’s not just any sin being confronted – it is my central sin. And I need to know that it dies hard. So I need to stop building alliances with whom to commiserate. For they will take me down thought paths that doubt even God’s existence, call what I do masochistic (or worse) and humiliate my faith that sees good coming from evil. Indeed, it was the most evil act perpetrated by humankind that won my salvation. So then, I must stop considering myself as anything more than a sinner saved by grace and anything less than God’s beloved child. My difficult circumstances, unfair treatment and times of unmet want and need all prove I am no orphan. And God scourges those he loves.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for this reminder of why I am where I am and why I go through the hard times. Truly, You have crafted them for my righteousness. Grant that I might yield to Your will, see the glorious outcome and walk free of angst. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Important caveat:

The victim of abuse, no matter the gender or situation, must hear a different application.  This is not, and will never be, a call to simply bear with a more redemptive attitude the blows of a bully.  In those cases, the very lesson to be learned is to see yourself as God sees you, to learn your intrinsic and precious worth and take emotional and physical steps to affirm that worth – i.e. after seeking counsel and prayer, get out.  There are infinite variants of situations though, and there is no hard rule or measurement for when to do what.  God takes no pleasure in the suffering of His child; a bully does.  Let THAT be the distinction.

The inward lamp

Scripture:

Luke 11:34-36  Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

Observation:

A lamp shines outwardly. Yet the eye gives no light, but takes it in. So if the eye is a lamp, it is a lamp that shines inwardly. This is a statement of the importance of godly perspective. A sick eye, then, is one that darkens vision with an interpretation of deceit, negativity, suspicion and accusation. The unhealthy eye does not occur in isolation; others with such a view spread their infection through words and ill fellowship. Jesus says that when the eye goes bad, darkness fills the entire being. Such is the power and scope of faulty perception. Care must be taken to avoid that for it poisons the inner person. Eyes that see hope, employ faith and grant mercy are those brightening the body with their rays. And when that happens, just as darkness can pervade, so much more can light. It is the will of God that there be no darkness and that believer shine brightly from within.

Application:

I am cut to the quick by this word. I confess to not really understanding it before today. Or maybe I just didn’t want to. The downward spiral of hopelessness and dissipation surrounds me and if I let it, will drag me under. There is a good fight to engage in here – to find the good in things. It has been taught me but so has sarcastic resentment and the weighing down of the soul with cares that have artificial magnitude. Let me be found casting my anxieties on the Lord, confronting the stress inwardly and outwardly and sowing hope instead. This is not only a stance that things “aren’t that bad” – they are NEVER bad with God who works all things together for my good. I need to wake up to God’s work in and through me, cease giving ear to the disgruntled such that I too share their despairing view, let God heal my eyes so that light would pervade the darkness and give Him the glory for it all. There is always plenty to inspire a dim view but there is always plenty to expand that view as well. This takes the muscle of faith and its incumbent practice of faithfulness in prayer and worship. But if I want His light to shine out of me, it must first shine into me.

Prayer:

Father, I am Your project. Work in me Your will and grant me Your perspective; I want to see what You see. In Jesus’ name, amen.