Give Up Death

 

Happy Easter!  I pray that our Lenten series focusing on behaviors in our lives that we should consider ‘giving up’ was reflective for you.  As I wrote those words, I certainly reflected on my life and realized the times that I need to ‘give up’ the behaviors I shared and replace them with behaviors God would be proud of:

·       Give up hatred for LOVE.

·       Give up jealousy for CONTENTMENT.

·       Give up malicious words for SUPPORTIVE WORDS.

·       Give up pride for HUMILITY.

·       Give up revenge for FORGIVENESS.

The capitalized words above are definitely the person I want to be!  Today we focus on giving up death!  Many of you may be saying, “That’s impossible, we are all going to die.”  Let us start by focusing on the reason for Easter, Jesus’ death, and resurrection.  The journey to the cross begins in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus is coming closer to the time when he know he will suffer for our sins.  He reaches out to our Heavenly Father, asking for the cup of death to be taken from him, but continues with, “yet not as I will, but as you will.”  God continues the journey to the cross, not providing Jesus an opportunity to leave the Garden unchained.  Jesus was not able to give up death.

Jesus’ love is the reason he needed to walk to Calvary.  His love for us and for his father kept him moving towards his death.  Jesus did this because he knew that his death would bring his life.  He also did this knowing that our death would then have life!  Jesus died for us sinners, so that we may no longer have sin!  That love is still difficult for me to comprehend.  He also died that I may live with him again in paradise.  Today’s verse shares that, “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”  Our Jesus, our true savior, not only saved us from sin, but saved us from death.  This earthly life will fade away, but we will not die, we will move to our heavenly home, the one where a place is waiting for us!  Halleluiah!  We give up death for eternal life! 

Living in this hope means that our time on earth is truly temporary.  Our life begins when we die – our forever home is in heavenly paradise.  Jesus gave up death for life so that we may give up death for life.  This Easter, as we enter our churches and sit at our tables, may we pause to remember those who have left earth for their place in the heavenly home – and know that one day you will have your life be renewed in paradise as well.  Give up death for life!  Happy Easter.

Dear Risen Lord, thank you for conquering death so that I may also conquer death!  May I always share praise and thanksgiving to you, Jesus, for giving up death for life and preparing a place in heaven so I can continue life with you.  In your name I pray, Amen!

Give Up Revenge

 

Moving through the Lenten Series of Giving Up we come upon giving up revenge.  I will personally share that this can be one of the most difficult areas of behavior to actually execute upon.  There are a multitude of times during a day, week, month or year when we can point to situations where we have been ‘wronged’.  Stolen from, lied to, and cheated on are just a few of the events in life that has us thinking, saying or doing, “I’ll get even for that!”  Being hurt is a very raw emotion and responding to emotion with emotion can be a recipe for disaster.

Our ability to process emotional hurt or anger without responding with a strong level of emotion doesn’t seem to equate.  Similar to the scenario of being punched in the arm – your first reaction may be to punch back the person who did that to you.  The same follows through with revenge.  When we have been lied to, we believe we are justified to lie back.  When we have been cheated on, we may believe the right thing to do is to cheat on the cheater or take other actions.  These immediate emotions are the human side of our lives, that visceral response to hurt.

I’m certain we can all point to at least one time in our lives where we wanted the person that hurt us to ‘see how it feels’.  Yet, that is not what Jesus says we need to focus on.  There are many times throughout the Bible God shares with us to ‘leave the revenge to him’.

·       The Sermon on the Mount where He shares “Do not take an eye for an eye”.

·       In 1 Peter 3:9 it is shared, “Do not repay evil with evil.”

What are we supposed to do when someone hurts us so deeply, just walk away?  The answer is YES!  God doesn’t want us to respond.  When God promises something, He follows through.  His promises are always kept, He never lets us down.  We may not see all of God’s blessings in our lives even in our lifetimes.  After we are long gone, God will bless our descendants.  So, when He says, “It is mine to revenge; I will repay,” we need to believe He will keep that promise too.  By letting go of the hurt and revenge and giving it to God, we free ourselves!  Giving up the need for revenge frees OUR souls, not the person we would revenge upon.  God wants us to give Him our hurt so our hearts can love again.  God wants us to give Him the revenge so our souls can have peace. 

How do we do this?  Through prayer!  Praying and offering our hurt feelings to God frees us from the burden of the hurt.  If you are like me, this can be difficult to do.  I have a tendency to ‘giveth and taketh away’, giving my burdens and worries to God and then taking them back!  Yet, constant prayer brings release, and giving up the revenge you feel only brings what God wants for us, peace and love.

Dearest Lord, thank you for being our avenger!  Thank you for taking the hurt and disappointment that turns to revenge away from me.  I have faith that YOU will take action when and if the time is right.  May I continue to always believe in God’s wrath on my behalf.  Amen!

Give Up Pride

 

Continuing our Lenten Series on areas of our lives where we may want to consider “giving up,” we come upon the topic of pride.  Pride is a slippery slope.  Certainly, it is nice to feel proud about the achievements we may have.  Yet, when those achievements are boasted solely as our own with no reflection on who gave us the gift to achieve, we put ourselves in front of God.   That is where the slippery slope begins.

God created each and every one of us for a purpose.  He put us on earth knowing what we could achieve, knowing who we were going to impact.  Finding our purpose and utilizing it in His name is something many Christians strive for – self included!  When we are able to work towards these achievements, people may take notice and share that goodness with us.  That is great!  It is nice to have your work recognized.  I believe God wants us to have that feeling of accomplishment and joy.  Stepping into the feeling of accomplishment can be rewarding – not just for the moment, but often it spurs us to want to move forward and do more.

Then what is the big deal?  It is when we take those moments and reflect solely on our OWN abilities and our OWN achievements without taking time to thank God for His role in the achievements.  It is when we put God in the rear-view mirror and shine the mirror back on us.  Filling our hearts with thoughts of, “Look what I did” or “I paved that way” or “I made that impact” and stopping our thoughts there, at that moment, can be damaging.  Those thoughts are fine, as long as they are followed with, “Thank you God for paving that way, giving me the ability and words to help to influence goodness.” 

Pride in oneself and one’s achievements, without taking the time to thank the one who provided you the gifts to achieve is like a small snowball at the top of a snowy mountain.  As the ball rolls down the mountain, it gets larger and larger.  The same is true of pride.  As the achievements rack up like the snowball at the top of the mountain, pride gets bigger and bigger and turns to a larger-than-life ego – with a lack of humility.  That takes us to our verse for today.  When Jesus shared those words above, He knew what could come with a pride-filled life, a life that focuses only on oneself.  Jesus humbled himself to come to this earth to show us how to live.  He was humble when He washed the disciples’ feet.  He was humble when He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  He was humble as He entered this world in a manger.  The greatest gift of humbleness was when Jesus was tortured and crucified on the cross for our sins.

Jesus’ example of humbleness being exalted versus living a pride-filled life is one we should strive for.  Good things happen and we should feel good about them!  Our immediate thought after those times should be a prayer to our Heavenly Father, giving thanks for the gifts He gave us for that achievement.  May all Glory be to our God, humble servant!

Jesus, we thank you for the gift of giving us your humble life.  May your life be an example for us to give up a life where we focus and reward OURSELVES for our earthly achievements and may we quickly turn to YOU for thanksgiving of our earthly gifts we can share with others.  Amen

Give Up Malicious Words

 

As we proceed through our Lenten series, our next step is in the arena of Giving Up Malicious Words.  This is a tall order, especially as we reflect on the definition that is provided in Ephesians.  Our days are filled with not only joy and happiness, but sometimes with frustration and anger.   Typically, it is during those times that we may find words actually leaving the ‘safety’ of our heads and actually coming out of our mouths.  These words fall into many distinct categories.

·       Using God’s name in vain.  Remember the third commandment?  I cannot tell you how many times I hear, “Oh My God,” and trust me, they are not praising our Lord! 

·       Profanity.  Growing up, it was not tolerated in our home, on television, or even on the radio.  Today it is more accepted than ever.  It falls into people’s conversations so quickly.  When I have asked folks why it is so prevalent in their vocabulary, in return I hear, “That’s just the way I talk.”

·       Malicious words.  This is when bad thoughts that are in our head find their way to our mouths, hurting the person with whom we are speaking.  These words run the spectrum from projecting hurt and anger on another person to critical criticism with a tone of judgment.

·       Gossip.  Sharing harsh words about someone, even though it is not to their face, can be destructive as well.

As I reflect on the above, I know I have fallen prey to all of them, and I certainly do not say that with a sense of pride.  Malicious, hurtful, profane words never build up our fellow person.  They are rooted in negativity and evil.  They permeate our society today and can seem ‘acceptable.’

This is not our how Lord wants us to speak with each other.  From using God’s name in vain, to profanity, to malicious/gossiping words, God never wants us to build these words into our vocabulary.  Think about all the times Jesus could have used profanity or malicious words against his enemies!  Yet, even as they were crucifying Him on the cross, He uses words of forgiveness and hope, “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” 

As we walk through our time on earth, we meet hundreds if not thousands of people.  Think about how many people your words touch, from family members to the grocery store clerk.  People are listening to us – yes, even your children are listening!  It is important to spend time lifting up words of support, kindness, and compassion.  Even how we provide ‘feedback’ can be given in a way to build people up versus being critical in nature.  Let US be the change the world needs.  Let US be Jesus’ voice on earth!  Give up malicious words and replace them with words of positivity!

Heavenly Father, you have taught us from the time of Adam and Eve that malicious words to others are not how we should behave.  Help us to reflect on what and how we speak to others and may our words always provide an opportunity to build people up!  Amen.