He seated himself beside the well sun beating down, heat of the day swelling and shimmering in the heat a mirage swiveled and swirled in the distance she came, reputation and all she walked the dusty path alone she bore the scorn and shame every day like this.
He saw her pensively waiting there, waiting for Him to move on waiting for Him to step aside so that cool water, crisp and clean could be drawn and taken home… Yet He doesn’t falter He looks at her, as if He knows her shame. Yet, undeterred He remains no look of disgust of retribution of Anger He looks at her, asks for a drink then offers her something more something lasting Identities are shared, His sends her running back into town with news beyond her reputation beyond her guilt and fear of the town’s gossip… Messiah – with Eternal Water drink deeply, receive and share it is for the whosoever… after all.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
When we as a family prepare to go on a vacation there are usually two types of people in our family. Type One – the under-packer who just wants to be out the door and in the van in fifteen minutes or less and worry about what we didn’t bring with us later. Type Two – The over-packer who wants to bring everything from our home along with us on the trip and takes twice as long to get ready to leave. Also this type two person (who will not be named but I’m married to her) has to clean the house as if we were receiving an inspection from a military grade house inspector with white gloves and all.
If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m the type one person who at times sits impatiently in the van honking the horn as the type-two person (again unnamed but I’m married to her) finishes cleaning the house until it shines and is sparkling clean.
Truth be told, I am glad that my wife takes great care in our preparations and in the long run, as much as I hate to admit it, She is right.
There’s another kind of baggage in life though
Sin can weigh us down.
Make no mistake about it, the old life (before Christ) leads to death. When we come to Jesus and we accept His gift of salvation we are made into new creations by His blood. The old has gone and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17)…but at times we still feel as if we have to keep lugging that baggage around with us. It weighs us down, causes us difficulty and trouble and yet we still habitually burden ourselves with this unnecessary baggage.
What is this baggage?
1) It is the remnants of the old creation –
When Christ saved us, He did so completely yet we find it very difficult to let go of old habits and old sinful ways of living. The Holy Spirit prompts us to unclinch our white knuckled fists which are tightly holding onto these things that we needn’t any more to grasp. In times of trial and stress, these old remnants also rear their ugly heads to cause us strife and further temptation as well. When we lose our focus on the forward prize of Holiness, which is the image of Christ alive in us, we face the old self again. When this happens a flood of the old tendencies pours in and once again we find ourselves taking two or three steps backwards in our progress of Holiness. This baggage has been there all along festering and molding in a cold dark corner of our hearts and we’ve been reluctant, even rebellious in our lack of spiritual attempts to deal with it, so, instead we ignore it. The Holy Spirit knows that this baggage does not belong in our new creation. He is spurring us, even painfully at times, to let go of it. Why do we still clutch it ever so tightly? What good can ever come from its hold on us? This baggage stands blatantly in our path of real, tangible Spiritual growth and yet we allow it to stunt us.
Prayer – Dear Lord, allow me to see this baggage in my life today. Show me that which still blocks my steps to full surrender. Reveal to me the places that I have yet to let go of. I do not want these burdens of the old creation to hinder my forward progress of reflecting You. -Amen.
2) The Baggage can also be our guilt, shame and self-worth.
The old life also has a way of convincing us that we are not good enough to be like Christ. It will try and convince us that we will never be good enough or smart enough to receive such a reward from God. This has nothing to do with pride, in fact just the opposite. When Christ redeems us, the wretched sinner, He does so completely. When we commit our hearts to Him, He washes us clean. This doesn’t mean that we won’t face temptation again or that we can not fall, but it does mean that His blood sacrifice can and will cover up our sinful old creations and wash them away. Our part, within this free will, however, is that we must confront our old harmful choices that we have made. This is the consequences of sin, we have to face it. Sometimes in facing it we find ourselves so wrecked by it that we begin to doubt if Christ could truly love us because we have done so much wrong. This remnant of the old baggage clings to us and tries to convince us of the lie that we are not worth His time and that, perhaps, we were never salvageable through His gift of salvation. Don’t buy the life. This isn’t about pride, but it’s about truth. You matter to God! He loves YOU! He wants to remind you that you are His precious child and that you are a son or daughter of the Most High! Don’t cling to this old baggage, which is a lie. Let go of it, and embrace this truth of His saving grace – You are His and He would do it all over again if you had been the only human alive! When you let go of this old baggage and recognize how much it has weighed you down you will begin to see how free you will feel.
Let go, and find this burden lifted from you!
Prayer – Dear Lord, remind me again of how much you love me. Remind me when I struggle with my identity in You that I am worthy because of Your love. Help to me see myself as You see me, and as I do help me to let go of my grip on this baggage of self-worth. Thank you for your love and for your hand upon my life, lift me up out of this pit of self-degradation and give me a passion to serve and love you with ever fiber of my being. -Amen.
Get On With It!
Letting go of the baggage that hinder us is only the first step, now we have to press on. Jesus is our living example, and this world still needs His example lived out in Holy Christ-following people. Shine so that others might see Him. Live as the Holy Spirit leads you to live. Get up and get on with this new creation…oh and leave your baggage behind!
You have all probably seen this project already on Pintrest, and I’m in no way claiming that it’s mine…because it’s not, but I would like to incorporate a teachable lesson to accompany it. Please find the elements of this project accompanied by scripture passages below free for you to use if you so choose to do so. This teachable craft can be used for youth programs, women’s ministries, senior adult ministry or even at home with your family.
Elements & Scripture Discussion:
1. The Potting Saucer –
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth – Genesis 1:1
the saucer for this Easter craft represents (at least to me) the world in which we live. God created it and we live in a location and placed that was formed by His hands. We are blessed to live in such a world and should take care of this world as best we can. Genesis 2:5 – “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” God still wants us to take care of this world that He has entrusted us with.
2. The Potting Soil –
The potting soil represents you, me and all of creation.
“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7
God created this world for us and He desires to have fellowship with us. He longs for us to love Him in return and so in this Easter story we recognize that we too play a part in the crucifixion and the resurrection. Jesus came to die for us because we really and truly matter to Him. He created us and this Easter story is about our salvation through Christ Jesus.
3. The Gardening Rocks
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” -Romans 3:23
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” -Romans 5:12
The gardening rocks represent sin in this world. It weighs us down and keeps us bound in our slavery to it. We cannot save ourselves from its weight, nor can we do enough good works to receive eternal life. We need help. We are all fallen, each one of us and because of this Jesus came to set us free and to remove the weight of sin from our lives.
4. The Three Crosses
With younger children you might want to tie these for the kids before hand.
“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!” -Philippians 2:8
The Cross of Jesus is suffering and death. But it was suffering and death for a purpose. Jesus died so that the sins of every person on earth could be forgiven and also that we could be restored in our fellowship with God. Without the cross and Jesus’ suffering we are still hopelessly lost. We must look to the cross and Christ on the cross for our source of salvation.
The bindings of the cross pieces represent (to me) the lashings that Jesus received prior to his crucifixion. It should also represent for us the truth that we (sinful man) put Him there. We bound Him to that cross, but He willingly went in place of us.
A.W. Tozer: “The old cross is a symbol of death. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again in newness of life. God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It always stands at the far side of the cross.“
5. The Tomb and the Large Rock
“…an empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!” -Bill Gaither“They found the stone rolled away from the tomb” Luke 24:2
Both the tomb and the large stone (it could be white to represent life or another color) represent Christ’s resurrection. I’m sure it’s obvious to us all, but it also represents the fact that sin & death could not hold the Son of God! We can find peace, assurance and hope in this empty tomb!
“At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.” John 19:41
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” “3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.” John 20:1-10
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” John 11:25
“For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” 1 Thessalonians 4:14
6) The Grass seed or sprouts (Plant the grass seed before you place the rocks)
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” -John 10:10
The grass seed will grow during the Easter season which will serve to remind us of the eternal life/ new life that Christ brings to us.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” John 14:3
Each of these verses talks about the new life that only Jesus Christ offers to us. New life is a free gift to us all if we accept it and believe in Christ and His love for us.
As we watch this “new life” grow during the season of Easter, may it continue to serve as a remind of God’s love for us and of our deep desire to grow in our faith. We shouldn’t stop learning about this relationship. We have also been given the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us and instruct us in this new life! “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26 The Holy Spirit will show us areas of our lives that we need to still surrender to God and He will continue to work within us, helping us along the way.
This new life isn’t only about getting into heaven, it is also about living that eternal life right here on earth so that others might see Christ through us. When we embrace this new life, we become Christ’s representatives (Light) into the world (which is still lost in darkness). Be God’s light to others as you bloom and grow!
***Disclaimer: Again I didn’t invent this craft, I simply adapted it and provided a simple yet effective method for teaching this amazing story of love that God has for all of us! I am sure you can tweak this and make it your own in order to fit the demographic you wish to do this teaching craft with. This lesson play is free to use as you see fit! To God be the Glory!****
this slurping, soupy arrangement stays my amused satisfaction. cars skidding and skirting orbiting each other a cacophony of incompetent unorganized Ice Skaters. It spills out, splashes down drowning sashes of sorrow in the middle of my selfish parade… after all this circus act cut from blistering fingers ripe with sweat and hardened calloused hands this stampede of interruptance has caused ME to suppress my de-testment of these frosted inconvenient deposits underfoot. I will trample them trump their self worth into the soles of my black leather shoes… Howling madly at their existence here on the eve of smiling spring on the prowl like a careful cat at the door
I store my response, predator ready, fist clenched and half raised yet frozen in traction taking aim to wandering eyes peering back at me. my son, snow suited and prepared joyfully standing at the ready for me to take him out into it and catch a glimpse of my childhood again.
A solider is never alone in the fight. When they enter into combat they trust their partner and team to cover their flank while pursuing the enemy. If one soldier is wounded, others come to their aid and they are still never alone.
In the Lord’s Army it should also be the same…yet sometimes it’s not.
It could be because of pride and for the fear of looking weak. Other times it could be because of trust issues or other kinds of troublesome elements in the relationship. These excuses ought not prevent us from standing together on the fields of spiritual combat. We wage a very real war with very serious eternal consequences, often times we may lose sight of how dire a toll this war can have on its fighting forces. Yet while we continue to fight this spiritual war, with the Holy Spirit as our guide, we must also find those moments of soul-repair and spiritual check-up. By this I mean we cannot fight forever, and we all need 3 crucial elements in order to continue on.
3 Elements: Friends, Lends & Mends
Friends:
“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
Perhaps what we need isn’t only surfaced friendship with a “how ya doin’?” but more of a deeper kind. A kind that asks the hard questions of us. The kind of friendship that demands more of our time and commands us to consider our points of view while realigning us with God himself. Godly friendships are more than placating our conversations and our concerns, but should have a way of challenging our preconceptions and our value systems. Sometimes these Godly friendships are also called Accountability partners, but in a long and winding road of life this long-term mentor/mentee relationship can lead to a deeper friendship. We need Godly friends like these in our lives. Some may come and go while others may walk with us for years to come, each will leave a mark on us if we are vulnerable enough to let them. A good solider in God’s army needs other fighting friends within whom they can confide and find solace in. Do you have friendships like this?
2) Lends
The second thing a good Soldier in God’s army needs to do is lend support to other fighters out there. If you have made a commitment to Christ to proclaim His name to a lost world then you’ve made a long term commitment. This isn’t some short term mission trip or a weekend warrior drill, this is for life. Does that scare you? Consider what Christ has done for us…and what does He ask of us in return? He calls us to stand up, speak up and fight on. So what about other fighters out there? Don’t they require encouragement and accountability too? YES! A part of our calling as a Solider is to step up, step out and lend a hand to others. These fellow soldiers may just require a listening ear, others might require some solace and rest on your behalf while others might benefit from your guiding hand as a more “seasoned” solider of the Cross. You are also vital to their survival. Make no mistake about it! You a matter to their well-being and their success. So step up and know that your contributions to others can make a drastic difference in their continuance in this fight!
3) Mends
This is a play on words of sorts, because this last point is two-fold:
a) Make A-mends:
sometimes while in the fight we may inadvertently burn bridges that we need to re-cross. In the heat of the battle we might face off against other well-meaning soldiers and have to separate ourselves from them. Does that mean we should never speak again or never come face to face with that person again? Absolutely not! What it does mean is that we will find differences of opinions. Sometimes we will be in the right while other times we will be in the wrong. Yet we shouldn’t hold grudges against fellow children of God. Sometimes we can find ways to make amends and re-pave that bridge. Other times we might not necessarily ever see eye to eye with a fellow Christian, yet we can find our commonalities and get back out there into the thick of the fight! There are bigger, more important battles to wage for the Kingdom than wasting time on the needless bickering and disharmony amongst fellow soldiers. When we can make amends when then can face the second portion of this “Soldier’s Soul-check” –
b) Mend.
Our hearts can become so compartmentalized when we face disharmony and issues with other believers. When we seek peace within the body of Christ we also find a salve for our wounded souls as well. Mending one mends the other and in so doing we become healthier and better equipped to face the real enemy of this world.
Getting to the point:
Every soldier needs a break from the fight. Every battle worn fighter needs a friend, a comrade a support system. Every Christ-follower who wages war, through the power of the Holy Spirit, needs harmony within armor and body of Christ! How’s your soul doing today? Is it in need of a tune up? Are you desperately in need of an accountability partner or friend to confide in? Can you contribute and breath encouragement into other weary soldiers? Are there charred remains of bridges that you need to repair before you can move on? Don’t wait to make things better. Don’t wait until you’re all alone in battle fit for an army. God desires us to stand strong side by side, encouraging each other and healing the hearts of the wounded.
Psalm 40:1-17 (NIV) 1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. 4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. 5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. 6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. 7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come– it is written about me in the scroll. 8 I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” 9 I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you know, O LORD. 10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and your truth from the great assembly. 11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD; may your love and your truth always protect me. 12 For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. 13 Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me. 14 May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. 15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame. 16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, “The LORD be exalted!” 17 Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay.
2 Timothy 1:6-14 (NIV) 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life–not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you–guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Perhaps, even “relentless” isn’t a good enough description of how God loves us. Yet, perhaps it adequately speaks to the nature of God who never quits on His creation. Do you remember the story of the prodigal son? In that parable of Jesus what does the Father do? Despite the son asking for his inheritance and wishing his father to be dead, the father lets him go. One of the hardest things to do as a parent is to let a child go and have them make their own choices even if those choices are harmful. Tough love has the capacity to hurt your heart while you relentlessly pursuit reconciliation and renewal of that lost loved one.
The father waited for his son to come to his senses. The story is more than just about this lost or prodigal son. This story is about the relentless kind of love that is embodied in the father. He waits, and even while his son is still a long way off, the father goes and runs to him. (Luke 15:20) It was unbecoming of an adult in the culture of Jesus to run anywhere, and this father runs to his undeserving and wayward son.
Isn’t that what God the Father has done for us through His Son Jesus Christ? He relentless love took Jesus to the cross for us. His relentless love brought about a way for us, the undeserving and wayward sinner, to experience right relationship with Him once again.
For the love of God – Our Response
What is our response to this relentless love? Can we recognize how undeserving we are and how amazing it is to have a God who pursues us like this? Secondly, if we accept this relentless love through Jesus Christ alone, the next step in the reciprocation of that love is our desire to become like Christ. By this I mean we ought to recognize that Jesus embodied for us in His living and dying what Holiness in human form looks like. Thus we are to place our feeble feet in the very footprints of Christ for the salvation of humanity! Our response to His love will take us to places we would never have wanted to go. (John 21:18) Perhaps it won’t take us to suffering and death like the Apostle Peter, but His love will propel us to do outrageous things for the cause of Christ!
Christ’s relentless love will prompt us to take up our crosses too and follow him! (Matthew 16:24) If we truly accept His salvation and grace in our lives, we will not be able to just keep it hidden inside of us, we will want to share that ceaseless love to those who are still lost in the darkness of lovelessness.
For the love of God…be bold in your relentless pursuit of others!
For the love of God…be genuine in your passion to serve Him humbly!
For the love of God…wrap your arms around the unlovable and show them love like they have never seen before!
For the love of God…be Holy as He (Jesus Christ) is Holy!
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases His mercies never come to an end, They are new every morning New every morning Great is Your faithfulness, O Lord Great is Your faithfulness”
-May all the Glory be to God and that of His Relentless love of You and Me!
Pastor's Ponderings 