Good Friday is the most solemn day of the year. It is the day we remember the crucifixion of Jesus. While the event was necessary to prove the power of Christ over death and ultimately resulted in His resurrection, there is still no more ominous moment in history. Never before, never since, and never again will such a tragedy occur. We remember this day because the very creation of God, acting in the freewill given to them by their Creator, nailed His Son to a cross and watched Him die. Jesus willingly allowed them to take His life from Him so that He might be the salvation of us all.
humility
Dying Every Day
We are not enslaved by Satan, but rather by ourselves. It is our own selfish and carnal nature that stands between surrendering our lives fully to Christ. Satan cannot force us to sin or disobey. But we ourselves, as agents of freewill, have the ability to choose between obedience and disobedience; between life and death. Blaming the devil for our lack of commitment is an easy excuse for our own lack of devotion and self-discipline. Jesus instructed us to take up our cross daily (Matthew 16:24-26) because He knew we would battle our selfish desires each day, and so each day we would need to place our old cravings on the cross and kill them. We truly must crucify the old man. It isn’t just an analogy. Each day we must decide whether our selfish desires will live, or if instead we will crucify them so that we might live in Christ.
A Kingdom Victory
Keith Green once said that, “This generation of believers is responsible for this generation of souls.” I would also argue that this generation of believers is responsible for modeling how to live for Jesus to the generation that is following us. I saw this displayed beautifully today. A single mother of five children had her tire blow out on a busy freeway. Because her spare tire was flat, she ended up walking miles (literally) to get to a phone, where she reached out to a pastor and his wife with whom she was acquainted. She needed help, and she needed a friend.
Rediscover the Joy
Growing up, I remember Christmas as a very magical time. Like most families, we had many traditions. Putting up nativity scenes, daily gatherings around an advent calendar, reading the Christmas story, and listening to classic Christmas music all promoted an air of something special. I remember most every room in the house having some sort of decoration and my mother painstakingly hanging tinsel (the old kind made of lead) strand by strand on a real Christmas tree. The smell of the Douglas fir and a seemingly endless array of fresh baked cookies only enhanced the magic of the days. As children we obviously were giddy about what we might receive on Christmas morning, but in my house at least, it was always tempered with a healthy recognition of the reason we were celebrating. [Read more…] about Rediscover the Joy
He Knew
Sometimes I get impatient. It seems like the current season of my life is moving too slow. I see the season of life that others are in and get a little jealous, wishing I was in that season. I’m also overly anxious to move into the next season as soon as I enter a new one. It’s no secret the attention span of our world is diminishing every day. We have instant everything. News is delivered in 30 second sound bites and 140 characters at a time. No wonder we have become an impatient generation. We are becoming more selfish by the hour. We want what we want, and we want it now!