The Great Irony

"When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.” - Matthew 26:1-5

Do you notice the irony in these verses? The religious leaders plotting to kill Jesus, but not during the holy festival. The people entrusted with keeping the laws (including, 'You shall not murder') willing to break the same laws for their own benefit. 

Holy Week reminds us of how fickle we are as people. It shines a light onto the church, as much as it does to the world. Jesus is not some kind of 'convenience' that we latch unto when it suits us. His call is for us to surrender all to Him.

Living in Grace

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What are you surrendering to?

“Everyone eventually surrenders to something or someone. If not to God, you will surrender to the opinions or expectations of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, or to your own pride, lusts, or ego. You were designed to worship God—and if you fail to worship him, you will create other things to give your life to. You are free to choose what you surrender to, but you are not free from the consequences of that choice.” Rick Warren

I find these words to be deeply challenging, and I invite you to spend some time meditating on what Rick Warren is saying. We may not like to use the word surrender but try using this phrase instead - "give in to."

What am I giving in to at the moment? Am I finding that my time and energy is being spent on doubts and fears, worry, anger, ego, social media or someone else? 

Once we answer this question, we may have a clearer idea of what we are surrendering to.

James 4:17 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Living in Grace

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He does not ask much of us

He does not ask much of us. 

Well, this is the opinion of Brother Lawrence, in his book Practising the Presence of God. He writes to all followers of Jesus:

“He (Jesus) does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him. One need not cry out very loudly; He is nearer to us than we think.”

I understand what Brother Lawrence is getting at - it doesn't take much for us to acknowledge Jesus in our daily lives - to honour him with every waking moment. Sadly, for some people, even this is too much.

1 John 5:2 - This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.

Living in Grace

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Leave it all to Him

"He will provide the way and the means, such as you could never have imagined. Leave it all to Him, let go of yourself, lose yourself on the Cross, and you will find yourself entirely." - Catherine of Siena

Leaving the real work to the Lord is something we all battle with. We sweat, we strive, we plan and we try to work things out by ourselves. However, all the time, the Spirit of God is wanting to work in our lives and to show us that God cares abundantly.

What do you need to 'leave' to God?

What in my heart must I let go of?

Matthew 8:13 - Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”

"You are rewarded not according to your work or your time but according to the measure of your love." - Catherine of Siena

Living in Grace

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Fighting the urge to take over

Most of us like to know that we have some control over our lives. There are many of us who like to advise God on how he should be doing things and we would be willing to become God's PA if the post was ever advertised. Sadly (for us), God is never going to need a personal assistant so we are faced with the choice of either letting God be God or trying to be our own Saviour. 

Corallie Buchanan offers us some remarkable insight into our dilemma. She states: "When we look to God as provider, we are surrendering our independence and trusting in someone else to meet our needs, over which we have no control. We need to fight the urge to take over and just let God be God, because He can provide for us better than we can." 

Matthew 10:39 (Living Bible) - “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will save it.

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Let

"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." - Colossians 2:7

As we take a few moments to unpack this verse there are a few things worth noting. 

The word "let" implies that we must make a conscious choice to allow our 'roots' to grow down deep into the heart of God.

Then our lives must be "built" on the foundations of God and there is also the attitude of surrender - the word "let" appears again.

Once we allow this process to start, then our faith starts to take root and grows stronger and stronger.

It is interesting to note that the overflow of this decision is thankfulness.

What do you think?

Are you able to "let" God lead and guide you at the moment?

Living in Grace

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The quiet anaesthetic of prayer

I am busy working through an old book written by Jean Vanier entitled "Followers of Jesus". The depth of his insight is truly remarkable and I am challenged by many of the words in his book. One of these goes like this:

"We must have long moments under the anaesthetic of quiet prayer, because Jesus can teach us certain things only if we are under an anaesthetic."

At first glance it may not seem to make much sense, but read it again imagining that you are under anaesthetic for an operation. Duirng this process we place our trust fully in the doctors, believing that when we "come around" again we will be on the road to healing.

Translate this image into our times of prayer with God. Too often I don't abandon myself to Christ during my times of prayer - it becomes too controlled and quick. However, I am challenged today to allow the Holy Spirit to do some surgery in my spirit and to release myself fully into God's care.

Here is another awesome quote from another of Jean Vanier's books:

“We are not called by God to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things with extraordinary love. ” 

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In God's Hands

 

As we have come to the end of 2018 and the dawn of 2019, I quickly turned to Psalm 31 to see if there was any message for us from the words of King David. And this is what I discovered - lovely words of renewal and recommitment for each one of us.

"Into your hands I commit my spirit." - v.5

"But I trust in you, Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hands;" - v.15

"Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the Lord." - v.24

I pray that these words will guide you, nourish you and encourage you as you begin the new year. Let us seek to place all "things" into the Hands of the Almighty God.

Living in Grace
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31 - Into your hands

We are familiar with the words of Jesus when he says: "Into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46). What we may not be familiar with is where the words come from. There is every chance that they come from Psalm 31, as Jesus knew the Psalms backwards. He would have recited them over and over again, so he knew the sentiments of each Psalm clearly.

Psalm 31:5 - I entrust my spirit into your hand.
    Rescue me, Lord, for you are a faithful God. (NLT)

"I’ve put my life in your hands. You won’t drop me,
    you’ll never let me down." (Message)

"Into your hands I commit my spirit;
    deliver me, Lord, my faithful God." (NIV)

I believe that we can also pray these words - they are a sign of surrender and submission to Jesus.  Have you done this today? Our journey towards Easter is a daily journey in surrender and trusting in the character of Christ.

Prayer: "Lord, I choose to place my life, my spirit, my all, into your hands today. Amen."

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Fight the urge

"We need to fight the urge to take over and just let God be God, because He can provide for us better than we can.” -  Corallie Buchanan

I know that we walk a fine line between being passive and actively making our own 'lives.' However, as Christ-followers we come to a point where we need to surrender our lives into God's hands. This doesn't mean sitting back and waiting for a Angel to appear or writing in the sky, but it does mean that we need to let God guide our lives. Sometimes I may think that I can do better, but in the end, God can provide for us better than we can.

 1 Corinthians 2:9
  That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
    and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared    for those who love him.”

Living in Grace

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Deus, Deus Meus

In my post yesterday I shared those harrowing words from Jesus, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" As I mentioned, there are a few different understandings of these words, but I wanted to reflect on the first part of his cry today.

What could his words, "My God, My God!" mean for us? In Latin, these words are translated "Deus, Deus, Meus!" On a very simple level they remind us that even though Jesus was feeling abandoned by his father (in that brief moment), he still identified God as being "My Father." It speaks of a deep relationship with his dad, despite the circumstances.

Have we got to that point in our lives where we call Jesus, "My God?" I am not talking about this in a possessive sense, because we can never own God, but in the sense of belonging to Jesus?

Are you able to say "Deus Meus" this Easter?

The motto for the Fransicans is "Deus Meus et Omnia" (My Lord and My ALL!")

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Prayer of surrender

"Gracious and Holy Father,
Please give me:
intellect to understand you,
reason to discern you,
diligence to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
a spirit to know you,
a heart to meditate upon you,
ears to hear you,
eyes to to see you,
a tongue to proclaim you,
a way of life pleasing to you,
patience to wait for you
and perseverance to look for you.
Grant me a perfect end,
your holy presence,
a blessed resurrection
and life everlasting." - Benedict of Nursia

What a fantastic prayer to reflect on. May you experience the presence of the living God as you prayer this today.

Living in Grace
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All Out!

The phrase “All Out” is often used in a cricket match. When the batting team has lost all their wickets, then they are deemed to be “all out.” But this phrase can also be used in a different context. We can speak of people willing to go ‘all out’ to get something they desire. Going ‘all out’ to:

·       ... get a new job,

·         ...to support a team,

·         ...to make a relationship work,

·         ...to love a child.

Our call as Christ followers is to do all we can to follow Jesus – to go “all out” in service of Him and to make his Love known to everyone.

All to Jesus I surrender;

All to Him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

    Refrain:

    I surrender all,

    I surrender all;

    All to Thee, my blessed Savior,

    I surrender all.

Are you willing to go ALL OUT for Christ today?

Living in Grace

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