Sunday, March 30, 2014

Resurrecting Jesus

Resurrecting Jesus?!?!  You may think or say, "What do you mean by those two words?"  Individually, they are good words.  They are also powerful words by themselves.  But, together they can take on a whole new meaning.

What I mean by those two words is this...

There are people within the body of Christ who try to resurrect Jesus before He is ready to be resurrected in the lives of others or, perhaps, even in their own lives.  They try to force Jesus to be resurrected too early, because it is just uncomfortable for them.  They don't like being in a temporary situation which, to them, seems unnecessary.  They choose to circumvent the process and choose to jump out of them way too soon before God has provided His way out for them.  They 'make things happen' in their own way in their own strength in their own timing.

However, those temporary circumstances are necessary.  They are necessary in order to mature members of the body of Christ.  (James 1:2-4)  They help develop our faith in Jesus Christ.  (1 Peter 1:6-7)  Most of all, those temporary situations whether hardships or trials are used in believers' lives to make them more Christ-like.  (Romans 8:29

Even Jesus, over 2000 years ago, had to go through some suffering before He was resurrected by the Almighty power of God.  So, what makes believers today think that they are any different or any better than Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  Once God the Father raised His Son, Jesus, from the dead; it was the Father who was glorified through the Son. 

The same is true of all believers today.  Once we have suffered, it is God the Father who resurrects us from those temporary circumstances.  (1 Peter 5:10)  Most importantly, it is God the Father who is glorified through us, His children.  (Romans 8:18

Therefore, when your flesh wants to try to resurrect Jesus too soon, resist the urge and wait on Almighty God to resurrect you from your hardship or trial.  Then, everyone will know that it was God the Father who did it.  It will be Him who will receive all the credit.  (2 Corinthians 10:17)  It will be Him who receives all the honor, glory, and praise.



Copyright 2014 by Dawn Freeman. All rights reserved.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Forgiveness



 
The above video is a song entitled 'Forgiveness' by Christian music artist, Matthew West.  I saw him on a daytime talk show a few years ago where he shared a true story which served as the inspiration for this song.  According to West's interview, a young man had been driving under the influence and got into a vehicle accident with a couple of young girls in another vehicle.  At least one of the young girls was killed in that accident which was many years ago now.  The young man went to prison for awhile as a result of his actions.  The mother of the young high school girl who passed away got in touch with Matthew and shared her story with him.  This song serves as the backdrop of their story. 

Have you ever experienced a tragedy or something that was really traumatic or difficult to get passed it?  Perhaps, it was the death of a loved one.  Maybe, it was the end of a relationship.  Whatever it may be or may have been, it can take some time for someone to not only recover from that kind of experience but to forgive the person(s) responsible for hurting, disappointing, or wounding us.

The mother did forgive the young man who had been responsible for her young daughter's tragic accident.  However, it took some time.  It was a process for her.  It was also a process for the young man to forgive himself.  The lady eventually reached out to the young man who was in prison at the time.  They began corresponding through the mail.  She met him at one time and actually became involved in getting him released early from prison.  

Now, I am not saying that everyone's story begins or ends that way.  We can know that all things are possible with God though.  (Matthew 19:26)  He can help us to forgive people.  He can heal us.  He can restore us.  He can make us better and stronger than we were before the tragedy, trial, hardship, or incident.  (Philippians 4:13; James 1:2-4)

We have to make the decision to ask God to help us though.  We must depend on Him to work in and through us to accomplish His perfect will and good purpose for us. (Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:12-13)  Then, we can point to God and say that it was He who helped us.  We can give Him all the credit afterwards, because we are unable to do anything truly honorable and worthwhile in or of ourselves.  (2 Corinthians 10:17; John 15:5)



Copyright 2014 by Dawn Freeman. All rights reserved.