I received this email from someone this morning. I found it very timely. Life is generally going very well for me, but as in everyone's life, there are little things that make us sad, discouraged or overwhelmed along the way. I hope that this encourages you as much as it did me.
Rejoicing in Tribulation
"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience." (Romans 5:3)
One of the most powerful evidences of the saving power of the Christian faith is the ability of true Christians to endure suffering and loss with joy. The apostle Paul endured such (note 2 Corinthians 11:21-33) but could still "glory" in these sufferings. Actually this word in our text for the day is the same Greek word translated "rejoice" in the preceding verse, "rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2), and "joy," in a later verse, "we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:11).
This remarkable ability to rejoice in tribulation characterized not only great Christian leaders like Paul, but ordinary believers in every walk of life. When the early Christians lost their possessions in the great wave of persecutions they were encountering, the testimony was that "ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance" (Hebrews 10:34). These early believers, like many others through the years, "received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost" (1 Thessalonians 1:6).
There is a good reason why Christians can endure tribulations with joy, "inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:13). We always have the example and incentive of Christ Himself before us, "who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).
Therefore, we can be "as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10), knowing that "the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10), and Christ has promised that "your joy no man taketh from you" (John 16:22). HMM
Monday, September 14, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Remembering The Day
Most of us who were alive at the time of JFK's assassination remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news. We often clearly remember events from the past when they are associated with a personal life changing event. Today I am remembering the day my world changed, September 11, 2001.
I had just gotten out of the shower and sat down in front of the television in my bedroom to put on my makeup. The broadcasters were showing footage of a plane which had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers. The billowing smoke mingled with the faces of concern, fear and dismay. It is amazing that as the second plane hit the second tower...in a split second...my world seemed to change. Suddenly, in that one moment, the events of the morning went from a terrible, tragic accident to an intentional attack. My mind shifted into a shocked haze. The images and information of the unfolding events poured out of televisions and radios across the nation like water over Niagara Falls.
I was watching those images replay this morning as I was performing the same tasks of preparing to go to work. It was unsettling to remember, yet I know it is important that I do remember. The emotions of eight years came tumbling back. This time there was no haze, but there was a resentment, anger, indignation over what had occurred. I was thinking about the senseless loss, the pain, the anguish, the fear, the grief...and then He said, "You need to forgive them." Boy, I wasn't expecting that one.
When I am offended by someone, when my feelings get hurt, when I am treated badly, usually it doesn't take me very long to forgive the one who inflicted the pain. I remember that Jesus forgave me of my sins, so I have no right to harbor unforgiveness against anyone. Some how I guess I felt with this national tragedy that I had a right to not forgive, to not release it...to hang on to bitterness and anger. I am not talking about forgetting what took place. I am talking about forgiving them, even if they do not want or ask for forgiveness. I need to forgive because Jesus forgave me of every thing that I have done, thought, and said that "fell short" of His glory. We still need to be willing to fight to protect our rights as a nation, but to do it out of protection for our country and innocent people as opposed to fighting to exact revenge because we hate them.
I don't think the Lord is asking me to forget all about what happened. I need to honor the memory of those who were lost in those planes, in the buildings...those that served and lost their lives struggling to save others. The Lord is not asking me to be foolish and purposefully to invite danger in, simply because I have chosen to forgive. On the contrary, scripture admonishes us to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves." He is not asking me to trust those who committed these terrible acts. As a matter of fact, there is no place in scripture where we are told to trust anyone but God. So, I don't have to trust those who did this, I don't have to behave foolishly and enter into unsafe situations, but I am called to forgive them.
Forgiveness frees us from being tied to those we are harboring unforgiveness toward. Unforgiveness keeps a link between us and the other party. It is as if we carry that person around piggyback style until we forgive them. They weigh us down. The emotions of unforgiveness are exhausting and punish the one who is choosing to not forgive as opposed to punishing the person that needs to be forgiven. I, for one, do not want to carry around more emotional baggage and heaviness. I want to live "lightly", without the burdens of unforgiveness or resentment dragging me down. Forgiveness is the gift we give ourselves.
So, on this anniversary of 9/11...the anniversary of the day that something terrible happened, I am choosing to forgive those who committed these horrendous acts. I will never forget what happened, but I relinquish any right that I might have to punish them in return. Instead, I turn them over to the Lord. I repent of my lack of forgiveness. Yes, I fully support and am extremely grateful for our troops who selflessly fight to protect us, but I leave it up to the Lord to dole out any retribution or punishment. Vengeance belongs to God.
I pray that next year when the same images flood over my television screen, that I will notice a heart change. Sure there will be sadness over the loss and the senselessness of it all, but I pray there will also be a deep groaning in my soul because of the "lost-ness", if that is even a word, of those who were so lost in their way that they endeavored to do such evil. They are so very lost. Lord, please replace the bitterness and unforgiveness in my heart with your compassion and forgiveness. Jesus died to save them, just as He died to save me. He loves them as much as He loves me. I need to remember that.
I had just gotten out of the shower and sat down in front of the television in my bedroom to put on my makeup. The broadcasters were showing footage of a plane which had flown into one of the World Trade Center towers. The billowing smoke mingled with the faces of concern, fear and dismay. It is amazing that as the second plane hit the second tower...in a split second...my world seemed to change. Suddenly, in that one moment, the events of the morning went from a terrible, tragic accident to an intentional attack. My mind shifted into a shocked haze. The images and information of the unfolding events poured out of televisions and radios across the nation like water over Niagara Falls.
I was watching those images replay this morning as I was performing the same tasks of preparing to go to work. It was unsettling to remember, yet I know it is important that I do remember. The emotions of eight years came tumbling back. This time there was no haze, but there was a resentment, anger, indignation over what had occurred. I was thinking about the senseless loss, the pain, the anguish, the fear, the grief...and then He said, "You need to forgive them." Boy, I wasn't expecting that one.
When I am offended by someone, when my feelings get hurt, when I am treated badly, usually it doesn't take me very long to forgive the one who inflicted the pain. I remember that Jesus forgave me of my sins, so I have no right to harbor unforgiveness against anyone. Some how I guess I felt with this national tragedy that I had a right to not forgive, to not release it...to hang on to bitterness and anger. I am not talking about forgetting what took place. I am talking about forgiving them, even if they do not want or ask for forgiveness. I need to forgive because Jesus forgave me of every thing that I have done, thought, and said that "fell short" of His glory. We still need to be willing to fight to protect our rights as a nation, but to do it out of protection for our country and innocent people as opposed to fighting to exact revenge because we hate them.
I don't think the Lord is asking me to forget all about what happened. I need to honor the memory of those who were lost in those planes, in the buildings...those that served and lost their lives struggling to save others. The Lord is not asking me to be foolish and purposefully to invite danger in, simply because I have chosen to forgive. On the contrary, scripture admonishes us to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves." He is not asking me to trust those who committed these terrible acts. As a matter of fact, there is no place in scripture where we are told to trust anyone but God. So, I don't have to trust those who did this, I don't have to behave foolishly and enter into unsafe situations, but I am called to forgive them.
Forgiveness frees us from being tied to those we are harboring unforgiveness toward. Unforgiveness keeps a link between us and the other party. It is as if we carry that person around piggyback style until we forgive them. They weigh us down. The emotions of unforgiveness are exhausting and punish the one who is choosing to not forgive as opposed to punishing the person that needs to be forgiven. I, for one, do not want to carry around more emotional baggage and heaviness. I want to live "lightly", without the burdens of unforgiveness or resentment dragging me down. Forgiveness is the gift we give ourselves.
So, on this anniversary of 9/11...the anniversary of the day that something terrible happened, I am choosing to forgive those who committed these horrendous acts. I will never forget what happened, but I relinquish any right that I might have to punish them in return. Instead, I turn them over to the Lord. I repent of my lack of forgiveness. Yes, I fully support and am extremely grateful for our troops who selflessly fight to protect us, but I leave it up to the Lord to dole out any retribution or punishment. Vengeance belongs to God.
I pray that next year when the same images flood over my television screen, that I will notice a heart change. Sure there will be sadness over the loss and the senselessness of it all, but I pray there will also be a deep groaning in my soul because of the "lost-ness", if that is even a word, of those who were so lost in their way that they endeavored to do such evil. They are so very lost. Lord, please replace the bitterness and unforgiveness in my heart with your compassion and forgiveness. Jesus died to save them, just as He died to save me. He loves them as much as He loves me. I need to remember that.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Be Anxious For Nothing
Breathe already. With all of the juggling currently in our lives it is so easy to fall into the trap of anxiety. I find the need to remind myself to even breathe sometimes. I know it sounds crazy, but if you have ever felt anxiety it causes your breathing to start to change which can lead to a cascading emotional storm that is hard to stop once it starts.
I am reminded today that I need to take my thoughts captive as opposed to letting them run rampant as if they were a classroom full of malicious third graders. The emotions of my heart can be like "The Lord of the Flies"...chaotic and destined to failure if unrestrained. Instead, I need to remember to "think on these things"...things that are lovely, true, of good report...etc.. We are to think on the positive as opposed to entertaining those negative thoughts which are the yeast in a loaf of anxiety. After all, in Philippians 4:6 it says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. "
So, I will be purposeful to praise the Lord throughout the day, thanking Him for His faithfulness and the blessings I have and that He loves me...with or without anxiety. It is so nice to know that the Father's love for me is not dependent on my performance. He loves me because the blood of Jesus covers my every failing, so when He looks at me He sees Jesus. He sees me as lovable, precious and adorable as opposed to the smudgy-faced, disheveled waif that I sometimes feel like.
So, I will praise Him. I will choose to trust Him. I will pray about the concerns on my heart and give them over to God. I will take my thoughts captive. And I will breathe...slowly in and out...and have a grateful heart. It's the choice I am making today. I will not be anxious about anything.
I am reminded today that I need to take my thoughts captive as opposed to letting them run rampant as if they were a classroom full of malicious third graders. The emotions of my heart can be like "The Lord of the Flies"...chaotic and destined to failure if unrestrained. Instead, I need to remember to "think on these things"...things that are lovely, true, of good report...etc.. We are to think on the positive as opposed to entertaining those negative thoughts which are the yeast in a loaf of anxiety. After all, in Philippians 4:6 it says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. "
So, I will be purposeful to praise the Lord throughout the day, thanking Him for His faithfulness and the blessings I have and that He loves me...with or without anxiety. It is so nice to know that the Father's love for me is not dependent on my performance. He loves me because the blood of Jesus covers my every failing, so when He looks at me He sees Jesus. He sees me as lovable, precious and adorable as opposed to the smudgy-faced, disheveled waif that I sometimes feel like.
So, I will praise Him. I will choose to trust Him. I will pray about the concerns on my heart and give them over to God. I will take my thoughts captive. And I will breathe...slowly in and out...and have a grateful heart. It's the choice I am making today. I will not be anxious about anything.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
