This verse is trailing me wherever I go. It must be the work of

the Holy Spirit since it is so persistent.

Galatians 2: 20…

“I have been crucified with Christ   and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.   The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,  who loved me  and gave himself for me” (NIV).

Here’s my sticking point. Why not write, I am devoted to Christ so that I no longer live…

No, it says I’ve been crucified with Christ. Crucifixion was a messy, gory, cruel

business. I’m not sure all that seems so necessary. I’d rather Paul wrote,

I’ve been inconvenienced by Christ….I’ve had to sacrifice…but to be

crucified with Christ?

Metaphorically, if you haven’t become a mashed, bloody pulp of a man

for the sake of Christ, then maybe you haven’t had the encounter

Christ desires to have with you.  He will wreck you. Beware.

Crucified with Christ…

Praise His Holy Name!

For the past five years or so, I have committed to the same prayer every Christmas and Easter season.  It’s a simple one, but I pray it because I want to learn the deeper things of God.  I do not want to fall into the temptation of routine and miss what God desires to reveal.  So far, I’ve been blown away by how faithfully God answers this simple prayer.

My prayer: “Show me more of You, teach me something new this (Christmas or Easter) season.”

Through a set of personal circumstances that seemed rather devastating at the time, God allowed me to see the days leading to Christ’s crucifixion differently. I understood a bit more the verse in Galatians 2 which says,”I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

This brought my thoughts to Christ and the garden of Gethsemane. I’m not positive this is theologically sound, because I am not theologian. But I feel it is compelling enough to share.

I believe there is a point in time in our Christian walk where our physical reality (what we see, do, touch, understand) conflicts with our spiritual calling.  It creates a deep, deep conflict because the choice boils down to sight versus faith. I believe even Jesus experienced the agony of that decision when he prayed twice, ” My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  (Matthew 26).  Jesus’s spiritual calling was so extraordinary that we can’t really comprehend all of it. Certainly, we will not be asked to take on such a monumental task, but in our own way we must suffer in our garden. There will be a time when we will be asked to choose between our physical reality and our spiritual calling if we keep pursuing the deeper mystery of God.

What an example of faith we have in Christ.  Thank you, Jesus!

 
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  Hebrew 11:1

Sounds a bit morbid. Who wants to think of such a thing? Where is the encouragement in that thought?

I’ve learned the importance of the death-bed. Recently, a dear uncle of mine passed from this life to the next earlier then we expected.  I learned a valuable lesson as I realized that my  visit with him in the hospital would be my last.  Those gathered around his death-bed is what matters in life. Why death teaches so much about life is one of those great mysteries. However, what was reaffirmed to me was that relationships matter. Relationships last. The impact that he had on his children, his wife, his family, and his community is the thing that matters.  The hundreds of people who poured into the church during his funeral showed that he must have understood what matters.

As a young person, I easily get consumed with personal ambition. I have goals and dreams. But, it is so important to live with a correct frame of reference. It’s so important to remember what matters.  Will I care if I owned a beautiful home?  Will I care where I worked? Who would be at my funeral? How would they tell the story of my life?  I want to live in such a way that they’d say  that I was a woman who knew God and loved Him and loved people.

I may never obtain the job I have always dreamt of . I may never obtain the “things” I wish I had. But, I can invest in what matters.

The Bible says in John 15  “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends“.  Just before these verses Jesus speaks about his love for us and just following these verses he talks about being our friend. So, Jesus showed us “the greater love” by laying his life down for us so that we could be called friends.  It is one of the foundational doctrines of Christianity that sets it apart from other religions. God would die for us. And at the same time, we assume that this type of love won’t actually be asked of us….its reserved for the spiritual elite or perhaps military personnel, who do willingly sacrifice their lives for our nation’s sake.

This Christmas season, I’ve been wondering what this verse would look like in everyday life. I’ve come up with only one conclusion.  Christ picked up our pain, our punishment, our sin and carried it away. Perhaps we cannot carry another’s punishment, and certainly cannot carry away their sin.  We can help carry their pain.  Maybe what love is the willingness to carry a piece of someone else’s pain. As a pastor’s wife, I see people’s pain. The loss of loved ones, health, jobs, children, security, independence, it is so much sometimes that it’s hard take it in without getting overwhelmed. But,what if as a body we could all carry a piece of their pain? We all might move about with more ease. Laying down the life that’s all about me and caring enough, stopping long enough to remember their pain and pray.

Merry Christmas!  

 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:8-10

Christmas is coming!  It is an important time for families to gather together.  One of those times in a year when people return to church. It’s a good time for churches to share the gospel with those who are yet to find saving faith. All of which is good….beautiful even.

This is our 4th year in “official” youth ministry where one of the major goals is sharing the gospel with teens.  We’ve noticed a trend in the many youth conferences, rallies and camps we’ve attended aimed to be evangelistic in nature.   Many present a truncated version of the gospel that can be summed up in two words:  Believe. & Receive.  It’s not the whole truth.

This brings me to Epheisans 2.  and a simple question: What is the free gift of salvation?   “Free” means it cannot be purchased, earned, or bartered. You can’t “do” anything to qualify for it.  Free doesn’t mean it is cheap, easily obtained, or there is no type of obligation . The gift of salvation is free to us in that we can’t earn it, but it certainly wasn’t free for Christ and it carries a cost for us, too.  If your faith hasn’t cost you anything, then I wonder if your faith as saved you. You must be changed through the work of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus asks for your life….to deny yourself and follow after Him. To reject this world and be transformed. It costs everything…your life and the way you want to live it.  A gift with no pricetag, but of great price. The message puts it this way in Luke 17:33, “If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you’ll lose it, but if you let that life go, you’ll get life on God’s terms.”

The deeper I get into my faith, the more I realize the disparity between Christ’s way and the world’s.  I can empathize with those seekers or unbelievers who have such trouble understanding our faith when looking at it from the outside. It sure does seem counterintuitive in many ways. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.”  I often wonder how things got so upside down and backwards. Did we “fall” harder than we could have ever imagined, or is this just a consequence of being human? Perhaps, it is one in the same.

Love.   Power.   Money. are three signficant catalysts in our world. They get mashed together all the time to create all sorts of heartache.  These three areas are also three ways that the Christian life differs from the secular life.

Love.

The world says find someone who makes you feel good, fulfills you, “completes you.” Don’t bother with people who disagree with you, you don’t need them in your life anyway.  Get someone who will do for you….this is love.

The Bible says, in Matthew 5:44: “love your enemies….do good to those who persecute you.”   Submit to others, sacrifice, be a servant, others, others…this is love.

Power.

The world says take, or someone will beat you to it. Do what you have to do to get a head. The first are the best and you better  be the best.  Become number one…do what needs to be done to make it happen. Take no prisoners…this is power

Bible says, in 2 Corinthians 12:10 …”I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” In suffering, in weakness, strength comes from God not ourselves…when we surrender our lives, we find power through Christ….this is power.

Money.

The world says work harder. Get more. Spend more…more. More. MORE. You can never have enough…you need stuff to be someone. To be happy, I must have more stuff.

The Bible says, give your money away to find contentment and blessing in Malachi 3.  First give, then receive from God. This is the way to contentment and joy.

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. ²⁷ Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. ²⁸ God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. ²⁹ As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God ( 1 Corinthians).

When we look at our Christian life and find it to be the opposite of what seems logical or natural, there is a good reason for it. God gets the glory. When we decide to life by faith and do life as the Bible teaches, and find joy in suffering, blessing through giving, and love in serving….God gets the glory for it. And,  I’m alright with that.

Ephesians 6 is a familiar passage.  “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” (Ephesians 6: 10-11).  It’s common place to see small children running from their kids program with a shield of faith and a belt of truth in decorated paper plates and construction paper. Cute, right? There is nothing wrong with teaching biblical truths to children at a level they can grasp.

BUT….

The armour described in Ephesians 6 is for a serious battle.  A real battle.  Yet, an invisible one. 

Could it be that many are woefully unprepared to fight?  In a physical war, we prepare troops by training and give them powerful weapons and intelligence.  They all have specific jobs and work together to keep each other safe.  And still tragedy  strikes. 

What about this invisible battle with eternal consequences?  Are we trained, skilled in our weaponry, and working together to secure our safety, listening to our Intelligence, and working under the authority of the Almighty?

Suit up.

In Mark 5, Jesus heals in response to faith. Please excuse my paraphrase as I highlight the dialogue.

Remember that Jarius’s little girl is dying and he approaches Jesus asking him to heal her. And while they are on their way a woman who had been suffering for 12 years went through the crowd where she did not belong and wanted to touch Jesus’ robe so that she would be healed.  She said, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”  After she touched him, Jesus said, “Who touched my robe?”  The disciples thought it was a crazy question for anyone to ask since there were people all around him: “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”  Jesus replied to the woman after she confessed, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” Then the messenger from Jairus’s house came and said that the girl had died,  but  Jesus’s repsonse to Jarius  “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

This woman was on the fringes. An outcast and suffering for years and years. Certainly, she’d given up on her condition ever leaving her on natural terms.  I love that she pressed into the crowd and just wanted the fringe of Christ’s garment. She understood that it would be enough. What faith.  What acknowledgement of the power of Christ. By faith, she was healed from such a chronic impossible existence.

Then there is Jarius.  Asking for a miracle.  And asking Christ to rescue his daughter quickly.  It seemed that Jesus was too late.  But, Christ replied “have faith” and the girl lived again.

The degree of healing we  are requesting, how impossible it seems, and the duration of our suffering is irrelevant to Christ’s ability to heal.  Jesus said, “Just have faith.”  Are we willing to  reach for the fringes of his robe?  

You’ve probably read this story before…

As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.  Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. ⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!  There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10: 38-42 NLT

I have always been intrigued by this story because I’m a Martha. I feel helpless and unimportant if I’m not busy doing, going, serving.  I would have complained as Martha did. In fact, I’m almost certain I have.  I identify with her and always felt  sympathy for her when Jesus sets her straight. 

In this story, Mary’s got it right.  She’s sitting at the feet of Jesus.  Spending time and soaking in whatever she can from being in His presence.  Letting  the little things go and concentrating on Christ. 

Jesus, make this Martha…a Mary. Teach me to sit at your feet and be focused on the one thing that is worthy of my concern. 

Any other Marthas out there?    Join me in becoming a Mary.

-Insights from my life….just another pastor’s wife.