He Is Risen

Acts 13:22 He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’

As I post this blog the day before Easter morning, I reflect on the love of the Lord, the heart of David, and the condition of my own heart toward God, praying to the Holy Spirit to create in my heart to do all His will.

While my physical birthday is October 24^th, my spiritual birthday is March 4, 2007. That is the day I was baptized and declared publicly my belief, love, and acceptance of my state of grace through the sacrifice of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A favorite verse and a favorite song come to mind today. The verse is from Matthew. The song is a worship song from Chris Rice. They intertwine in my thoughts because they both remind me when I call on Jesus how easy it is to stay loving and merciful and faithful. 

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT) Jesus asked us simply to remember and act upon two commandments- Love the Lord over everything else and love our neighbor.

Chris Rice wrote a song titled, “Unnamed Hymn (©2003, Chris Rice).”  In it he writes,

Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus and live!

Last Sunday, our Youth Pastor preached about the righteousness and humility of Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey. It left me in awe of a God who chose to abide in his own humility instead of displaying his power. His ministry turned the world upside down. He honored the shamed, and shamed those with status.

It also left me wondering how many times I have prayed for my own plans to be fulfilled, rather than praying for God to execute his plans through me. I know I have prayed both kinds of prayers, yet the first kind has me in the driver’s seat, has me as the focus, has me pushing my own agenda to the forefront.

The second kind of prayer has God’s strength sourcing the words, has Jesus’ own words of love uplifting them, has the Holy Spirit’s gifts and wisdom behind them. As I recall the prophet Zechariah describing the character of our King – his righteousness and humility – I pray that I will remember to keep my prayers to the second kind. I pray that God’s will be planted in my heart, that His desires become my own, that I become conscious of my perfectly fitted yoke to Jesus, and that I drink from the living water of the Holy Spirit to build His kingdom, not mine.

When I pray for God to search my heart, to help me with my doubt, to bring me patience, to give me wisdom, to speak through me, He does. He shows His expansive and unconditional love whenever I ask. I have experienced fulfilled promises and a supernatural ability to wait on His timing for me. 

He lifts me up, He calms my fears, He stays my focus. He strengthens my heart.  He lived to teach us, to bring us to the Father, to beseech us to repent, to open His arms and welcome us. He overcame death and rose again, forever renewing us in Him.

I, along with the sun, the stars and the moon, with the wind and the birds, lift my voice to praise Him and proclaim His name, and say, “He is Holy; His name will reign forever.”

What's in a Name?

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9

If you are a peacemaker and a Christian, you cannot call yourself a conservative. And if you are a peacemaker and a Christian, you cannot call yourself a liberal. If we are to follow Christ and be his disciples, we must drop these labels and love one another. That’s His message.

Jesus also said, “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” As long as we continue to call each other names and elevate ourselves by our own labels, we continue to pridefully defile ourselves, hate each other, put ourselves before God, love ourselves first, put our wills first, and take judgment out of God’s hand and into our own.

This includes, by the way, taking sides in any conflict we think we know everything about, even Israel and Palestine. Do you forget that there were Christians living in Israel at the time Jesus walked on that soil – and are still living there today? Do you forget that the people of Palestine were Christians, and that Christians, Jews and Muslims lived together in peace before the United States ever got involved? Do you forget that it is not Muslims who are encroaching on Christian land, but Israelis? Do you forget that the new covenant Christ brought to us was to love your neighbor and your enemies and to bring all nations to himself?

And if you didn’t vote for our current President, are you praying for him? If you disagree with the majority in Congress, have you been praying for wise decision-making and hands that reach across party lines to honor commitments to God and to the people they serve? Have you prayed for an end to lobbying and favoritism on both sides of the Senate and House, and a productive term that accomplishes the best of God’s will for our country?

Whether our enemies are across the sea or across the aisle, a church member who disagrees with our stance, our neighbor across the street or a disagreeable family member, we are to act in love, and in so much as it depends on us, we are to live in peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18).

Why have we as Christian chosen to become increasingly difficult as models to those of the world? We act just like everyone else, and still expect others to see our humanity, our faith, our love, our patience, our self-control, our generosity of spirit, when our hearts don’t abide in love. For if our hearts had love, we would certainly bear the fruit of that love in our actions. Jesus said that the world would know we were his disciples by our love for one another. It’s no wonder they don’t know us; it’s sadder still they don’t know Him through us.

And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. James 3:18