You Can Be Replaced

Acts 1:23-26 -  The assembly nominated two men: Joseph Justus (also called Barsabbas) and Matthias.  Then they all prayed for the right man to be chosen. “O Lord,” they said, “you know every heart; show us which of these men you have chosen as an apostle to replace Judas the traitor, who has gone on to his proper place.”  Then they drew straws, and in this manner Matthias was chosen and became an apostle with the other eleven.

 

Jesus had disappeared into the clouds and left the disciples with the promise of the Holy Spirit to take His place till He returned. So they left the Mount of Olives where they watched Him rise into the clouds ….returned the short way back to Jerusalem…and gathered in the upstairs room where they were staying to pray. They stayed there for many days…praying….waiting for the promise …and letting God help them know what to do in the meantime.

 

One of the things He revealed to them was the need to replace Judas…the one who had betrayed Jesus.  They nominated two men that God laid on their hearts….then drew straws to let God let them know which one would be best.  Then Peter began to speak to them about the importance of all that had happened while they had been with Jesus.

 

I am reminded by this time in the disciple’s lives that when I choose not to do what God has asked me to do…I will be replaced with someone that is willing and ready to follow Him anywhere and everywhere. Judas chose self over God…and even though God used it as part of His plan …(remember God knew what Judas was going to do)….it could not go unjudged.

 

I also find comfort in the promise of the Holy Spirit. It empowers all believers to have extra strength…courage…confidence….boldness….insight…..ability…and authority on Earth to do what God leads us to do.  We don’t have to wonder about what God is thinking…we can use the Holy Spirit to know…that we know…that we know what He is telling us He wants us to do.  I don’t have to depend upon my own strength and will…I have access to the Holy Spirit’s power to help me accomplish all things through Christ.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that your love includes a 24/7 hotline to the Holy Spirit. Forgive me for the times that I have chosen self over Your will….and you have replaced me with someone more willing to do your desire.  Help me to always remember that my ways will never accomplish your full will...so I will call on you to give me strength and courage to follow you no matter what.  Amen.

Grow Up...Feed God's Sheep....Not Yourself

John21:17-18 -  Once more he asked him, “Simon, son of John, are you even my friend?  ”Peter was grieved at the way Jesus asked the question this third time. “Lord, you know my heart; you know I am,” he said.  Jesus said, “Then feed my little sheep. When you were young, you were able to do as you liked and go wherever you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will direct you and take you where you don’t want to go.”

 

Jesus appeared to a few of the disciples that went fishing on the Lake of Galilee one morning. Even though they had not caught any fish…they followed Jesus’ directions to cast the net on the other side of the boat and caught so many the net should have torn from the weight.  They sat and ate a breakfast of fish and bread while they visited for the third time since His resurrection.

 

He pulled Peter off by himself to chat about His true feelings.  He asked Him three times if Peter was His friend. Perhaps to remind Peter about the three denials he had made before His crucifixion….perhaps to meet Peter at His level of dedication for the moment…..perhaps just to let Peter know He loved him no matter what he had done. Then He spoke the strong message tat it was time for Peter to let go of the past….enter into a new frame of mind that was more self-sacrificial….and follow Christ the same way He had loved him.

 

What a great reminder that Jesus calls us all to a new level of love when we come to know him. We can be children…demanding our own way …pitching that tantrum…crying in the isles of life for what we want…crying and having pity parties when things go south so bad we just don’t understand.  OR…we can follow Jesus’ directions and grow up …stretch out our hearts and hands to what God called us to….be a servant to others like Jesus modeled for us.

 

I admit that it is not the easy road to take.  I admit that I can’t count the many times that I have failed to be the grown up. I take so much comfort in the promise that God will never leave or forsake us….He takes us back with open arms …just like He took Peter back after His epic failure to keep the promise He made to the best friend He ever had. Jesus allows us to be human…He forgives what we ask and reinstates us to use our failure to speak His love to others.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you love us beyond what we can understand. Thank you for the reminder that love calls me to be a grown up in Christ…to let go of my childish ways and be strong in the love that only you can give me.  Forgive me for the many times that I have let the world trick me into sitting in my failures and pain for longer than I needed to learn the lesson you intended when you allowed that pain and failure in my life.  Help me to lean completely on you…and let your love strengthen and guide me to a deeper understanding of your love for me.  Amen.

Do You Recognize Jesus' Voice?

John 20:11-14 -  and by that time Mary had returned to the tomb and was standing outside crying. And as she wept, she stooped and looked in and saw two white-robed angels sitting at the head and foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.  “Why are you crying?” the angels asked her.  “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” She glanced over her shoulder and saw someone standing behind her. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him!

 

Jesus had been raised…just as He had told them many times.  They went to the tomb and even saw for themselves…but Mary Magdalene did not immediately recognize the truth of what had happened.  She went back to the place where they had laid him and cried over her loss…even more so because she could not anoint His dead body as she had planned. She did not let the carefully folded grave clothes give her hope like John and peter…she held on to her grief and continued to mourn. God even sent two angels to speak the truth to her heart…but even that hit a wall of tears.

 

It took the voice of Jesus to bring her heart to full belief. She thought He was just a gardener at first…but when He spoke …she recognized Him at once. She reached for Him but Jesus warned her not to cling to Him…He had to be transformed somehow in a return to Heaven before human touch would be allowed. Instead of a hug or touch of comfort He quickly gave her a job….to go and tell the disciples that she had seen him.

 

I understand Mary so well in this passage. I had flashbacks of my own loss in Mitchell as soon as I read about her deep emotions that morning. She was so disturbed that two angels could not convince her to stop mourning... it took a visit by Jesus Himself to dispel the misery she felt in losing her best friend. God did the same thing for me…letting me crawl up in His lap for days till I had let go of all the sadness and tears that I needed too. Then he gave me a new purpose for life…calling me to begin a new task…writing about His marvelous story…testifying how he comforted me and changed my life to be more full than I ever imagined with His love.

 

My guess is that I am not alone…we have all had an experience like Mary Magdalene at some point in our life.  Perhaps God has been sending you angels…but you are still having trouble accepting your loss as anything allowed by God.  Try crawling up in God’s lap and letting Him hold you while you cry it out…then listen for the job He will give you to help give your pain some purpose. His voice will be softer than you have ever heard it…but if you listen as Mary did…its love will power you through the pain that holds you in mourning.

 

Father…thank you for reminding me that your voice and love contain all that I ever needed.  Forgive me for allowing my pain to blind me to the angels you sent to help me. Thank you again for not allowing me to stay in my pain…but letting me stay in your lap as long as I needed to feel strong and bold once again.  Help me to listen even closer to the still small voice that tells me how to use it to testify and give glory to you for how you have changed my life. Amen.

Jesus Accepts Us Any Way We Come To Know Him

John 19:38-39 -  Afterwards Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jewish leaders, boldly asked Pilate for permission to take Jesus’ body down; and Pilate told him to go ahead. So he came and took it away. Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night, came too, bringing a hundred pounds of embalming ointment made from myrrh and aloes.

 

Jesus stumbled soon into His way to Golgotha at the weight of His cross…..requiring another man…a simple bystander to bear it the rest of the way. The soldiers continued to taunt and mock Him ….gambling for His clothes at the foot of the cross.  Jesus maintained complete control throughout the whole ordeal.  He picked a caregiver for His sweet mother…then uttered His last words and He left this world to pay the heavy price for the sin of the world.

 

Some people believed in Christ from the moment they met Him. Many people maintained their worldly connection and refused to believe in the power of Christ…even though they saw the great miracles that God allowed Him to do. But there were at several people that were changed forever in the last moments of Jesus’ life…..from the experience of watching His physical suffering and the reaction of God to His creation.

 

There was the criminal that Luke spoke of in His writings.  He was so touched by the presence of Jesus next to him that he believed …Jesus allowing Him access to Heaven the very same day.  Recorded in Matthew 27 there was the Roman captain and His soldiers that gazed on the afternoon’s happenings and believed that He surely God’s son when the earthquake shook the world during His death. Then there were the two leaders….Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus…who held back for fear when He was alive…but used Jesus death as a catalyst to be bold and help bury Him properly.

 

It is a reminder that all of us come to know Christ in different ways.  Some of us will learn of Him and develop deep relationships from the moment we meet Him.  Some go the way of the world and meet Him in the last moments of their lives. Some hold back in fear of how the world will react to our decision to follow Christ…but eventually let go of the world and completely surrender to God’ will for our lives. Each decision is unique…. precious to God and seen equally in His eyes.

 

What a great truth of God that it doesn’t matter how or when you come to know Him. What matters is that you believe on Him and the precious gift of salvation He provided through His death on the cross and  resurrection. Death bed conversions are real….and so are all the other ways that God gets His children’s attention so that they will believe on His son.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that no one conversion experience is the same. Forgive me for the times that I have judged and refused to accept someone’s faith because of how they said it happened.  Help me instead look more at the heart that was changed…like you looked upon the criminal on the cross next to you…..so that more people will understand the deep love you had to give all of us such a precious gift of eternal life. Amen.

Make The Bold Choice...Use the Truth To Do The Right Thing

John 18:28-29 -  Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Next he was taken to the palace of the Roman governor. His accusers wouldn’t go in themselves for that would “defile” them, they said, and they wouldn’t be allowed to eat the Passover lamb.  So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge against this man? What are you accusing him of doing?”

 

Jesus had been arrested late in the evening…then passed from official to official during the night.  Each one would find Him innocent and give Him back to the Jewish leaders that arrested Him.  Pilate was their last hope of a crucifixion sentence …. the last to examine the possible guilt of this man that they wanted to be crucified so badly. They had to have his approval according to the laws of that day.

 

Pilate wasn’t a believer …but He knew in His heart from his questions that Jesus was as innocent as any man he had ever tried. He wanted to let Him go…but after several attempts to free Him…he gave in to the leaders and crowd they had gathered to shout for His death.  He tried to release Him by using a scapegoat named Barabbas…. tried to appease the leaders with compromise in beating Jesus terribly….then finally washed His hands and gave permission…shirking the responsibility of His death back to the Jewish leaders.

 

Pilate reminds me so much of myself…when I know the truth…but choose to do it the wrong way anyway.  I too shirk my responsibility in things….trying to get someone else to do what I know is my job all along. I too try to find scapegoats….blaming other people for what I did.  I too succumb to peer pressure way too many times…when I know that I should really take a stand and speak out.  Pilate reminds me how very wrong it is to sometimes twist the truth to be whatever keeps me happy…and in control.

 

How very comforting that Jesus died for people like Pilate and me in spite of our twisted hearts….so that we could experience His full forgiveness and mercy in salvation. It rocks me to the very core to think that I have ever thought that acting like Pilate was okay. I want a fresh resolve to not just know the truth….but use it to power me to take a bolder stand in situations that I have recently let suck me too much into the world.

 

Father….thank you for the reminder that my human flesh wins out in way too many situations where I should be taking a stand for you.  Forgive me for the times that I have let selfishness keep me from choosing the truth.  Help me to rest in your perfect forgiveness and mercy and let it give me the discernment to know the truth. Let the truth give me confidence to bold and strong and stand the right stand…the one that will glorify you the most here on earth.  Amen.

Intensify Your Prayers ...Then Turn Your Worries Over To God

John 17:9-11 -  “My plea is not for the world but for those you have given me because they belong to you.  And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me with everything else of yours, and so they are my glory!  Now I am leaving the world, and leaving them behind, and coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your own care—all those you have given me—so that they will be united just as we are, with none missing.

 

Jesus had been teaching them…trying to help them understand the fullness of the sacrifice He was about to make for the world. When He finished saying all He felt they needed to know to process His death….days of separation form them….and His retain to life in resurrection…He turned His face toward Heaven and spoke aloud to His father. It was one of the rare times that Jesus did not go off by Himself to pray in private.  He wanted the 12 men who had become His closest friends…His students…the future preachers of His story of great love and truth to hear this important conversation with God.

 

It was time for His finale…for Him to give His life in the last blood sacrifice to save the world. He knew how difficult it was going to be for them to be left alone for even the three days they were separated…for they would all think that He was gone forever…that they had failed….misinterpreted  everything that He had said to them. So Jesus prayed out loud…in front of them….and thanked God for them….turned them back over to His care…asked Him to protect them from satan’s power….and continue to teach them how to glorify God and become holy and pure like He was about to do. 

 

As a mom…I immediately thought of the deep connection God granted to me in three great children…and the precious life of two grandchildren. The children God gave to me have all grown up and made lives of her own. They make the choices I turned them over to God a long time ago….which gives this mom a great deal of peace. But I don’t remember my prayers for God to keep them safe being quite this intense….and for sure it has been years since they have heard me verbalize a prayer aloud for their safety and growth.

 

One last thought….Jesus was fixing to go through the hardest part of the job God had given Him to do….but in this moment he was praying for His disciples. I know just a few hours from now He will intensify the prayers to His father for Himself…but it is huge in my mind that He took the time to stop and let these men know just how intimate His love for them had become. It wasn’t just a simple thank you God and help me out here…it took John a whole chapter to describe its powerful contents.

 

I feel a deep need to intensify my prayers.  I need to thank God more frequently for the gift of them in the first place….pray for God to protect them from the power of satan in the world…and ask God to help them grow in faith each day He allows them life on the earth.  I need to intensify my simple prayers to God of thankfulness and protection into a full blown pleading for their faith in God to grow into a testimony of glory to God….a way to give them the power and courage to be in the world but not of the world.

 

Father thank you for the reminder that you gave me the precious gift of children…and that they still belong to you. Forgive for the times that my prayers to you for them were weak models of what you intended when you taught me to pray.  Help me to intensify my prayers so that they are intense pleadings of love for the safety and protection of the world’s crazy problems and temptations.  I will thank you in advance for the peace that you give me in this moment to handle whatever happens after I turn them completely over to you.  Amen.

No Veil...No Limits...We have A 24/7 Direct Line To God

John 16:23-24 -   At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything, for you can go directly to the Father and ask him, and he will give you what you ask for because you use my name. You haven’t tried this before, but begin now.  Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and your cup of joy will overflow.

 

Jesus had used riddles….parables to teach so many truths that He wanted His followers to grasp before He took His seat next to God after His resurrection. Sometimes the disciples understood... but others they scratched their head in confusion.  This particular time….Jesus was trying to help them understand the reason the Holy of Holies veil was going to be torn when He died on the cross.

 

Up until that time no one but a select few could handle the pure presence of God….and no one could look upon His face. God always appeared in a watered down form… a burning bush…a cloud of smoke….a dove….to name a few of the first ones that come to my mind.  Jesus was really blowing their minds with this teaching…praying directly to God…with no blood sacrifice or priest to take their petition to the father was radical to say the least.

 

I admit that I take for granted my direct line to Heaven…even though I know I have it…and depend on it in times of storm…I sure don’t take advantage of it on a regular basis. I have learned to be pretty content in my adult years…feeling that my cup of joy is maybe two thirds full…most of the time.  But this morning’s reminder has me wondering what it would feel like if I let this great gift that God gave us to speak to Him directly…to be in His presence any time we want …start filling my cup to the brim so that it would really overflow.

 

The key seems to be embedded in Jesus’ words to His closest friends.  Even though He knew that they were all going to abandon Him….He wanted them to know that they could visit with Him in spirit any time they wanted…to draw comfort…to draw strength and courage…to draw wisdom…to draw power. The world was going to split over the death of Jesus.  Many would believe and draw courage to continue  to teach His truth and resurrection from the Holy Spirit….and many would rejoice that their ideas of a blasphemous false prophet was true….twisting the truth so that many would run from the one thing that would save them from eternal death.  We might as well be talking about this moment in time….for things haven’t changed much in the years God has watched us since. 

 

One last thought…or let me present the thought in the form of a question.  What if I spent as much time with God as I do on my mobile device? That smacks me right in the fat fingers that type so many misspelled words a day that I am ashamed. I carry that phone around with me 24/7…and lift my head at the slightest ding from a notification.  How sad that I don’t have my ears and heart tuned to God’s notifications on a 24/7 basis. How convicted I am that my intent nightly Bible reading and morning reflection to the blog are simply a vapor compared to what Jesus was talking about here.

 

Father…thank you for the reminder that you opened a way for me to experience you fully through the death and resurrection of your son Jesus Christ. Forgive me for the times that I have taken that powerful connection for granted…letting the world’s disbelief limit the power I have received from your precious Holy Spirit.  Help me to remember to stay in an attitude of prayer 24/7…to jump at the chance to come into your presence and worship you….to spend intent time with you as much as I can. Amen.