grace | LiveForgiven

Good Friday- The Saddest Day in History

06 Apr , 2012 No Comments

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46

We call it “Good Friday”. But like so many things in the Kingdom of God, it was good for us, but bad for Him. What we call “Good” was terrible for our Lord Jesus. As you go about your day today, consider these facts: Early on that Friday morning, after no sleep the night before, Jesus was taken to Pilate’s prison. He was beaten by professional torturers who knew their craft all too well. He was then presented to the crowd who chose the notorious prisoner over the very Son of God. Throughout the day Jesus was silent and, ironically, directing every move that took place. He was taken into the courtyard (called the Praetorium) and the entire company of soldiers surrounded Him. They stripped Him, put a crown of thorns on His head, a staff in His hand, and knelt down before Him in mockery. They spat on Him and punched Him many times, as hard as they could. Later that morning, exhausted and famished, He carried His own cross to Golgotha and was nailed to it at about noon. Darkness came over the earth from noon until 3:00 p.m. Not much later that afternoon, Jesus cried out “It is finished!” and He died. Around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. the women came to prepare His body for burial and they placed it in the tomb. The massive stone was rolled into place as the sun went down on the saddest day in history. And the angels were silent as all creation watched to see what would happen next.

As you go throughout the day today, be in a constant state of remembering what happened to our Lord Jesus. Think about each event as though it was all happening today. Consider the horrific emotional strain of knowing you are about to be killed, and greater still, the anticipation of the very wrath of God upon sin that would come upon you. And remember, He did all of this for one reason: you. Remember also that it’s Friday, the saddest day in history, but… Sunday’s coming…

Pray: Lord, today I will walk with You through Your sufferings. I will meditate on every phase of Your sacrifice for me. My heart breaks over my sin that put You on the cross.

You’re Invited to a Party

03 Apr , 2012 No Comments

In the final week of His life, Jesus invites everyone into the Kingdom.

“Come to the wedding feast.” Matthew 22:4

I once heard Billy Graham say, “Jesus has two verbs in His vocabulary: Come and Go.” Our God is an inviting God. He says, “Come.” “Come let us reason. Come and drink. Come to me all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, I will give you rest. Come and I will make you fishers of men.” And, “Come to the wedding feast”, He says on the last Tuesday of His life. His invitation is to life eternal with Him. His invitation is to come eat at His banquet table. Who can come? Whoever wishes. The invitation is both universal and personal. But you must decide.

Have you ever had a personal invitation ignored? If so, then you know a fraction of how Jesus must feel. It’s amazing that He leaves this choice to us. You can’t choose the weather, or your parents, or whether you’re born with a little nose or blond hair – or born at all. But you can choose to attend the wedding feast. You can choose to “come”, but you can also choose to “go”. The other side of this story, told with great urgency, is that we have a choice to go as well. This Holy Week many people are thinking about Christ’s death. Many more are not and have no idea what Easter is about. Will you go to them? Look for opportunities to tell others about the wedding feast. Invite someone to church this Sunday!

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14

Pray: Lord, I praise You for putting me on Your guest list for the big wedding feast. I praise You that You have made a way for me to have eternal life. This week I’m especially mindful of what it cost You for me to come. Today I will watch for others I can invite to the party.

Why Forgive?

27 Feb , 2012 No Comments

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34 The first of seven phrases from Jesus on the cross is a prayer, not for Himself, but for His executioners.

Now, you think of someone you need to forgive. But remember, we forgive people, persons, (individuals) not institutions or groups of people. You forgive what they have done, not what they are. And you can only forgive someone who has done something to you directly that has wounded you.

1. It breaks the chain of “ungrace” Only grace breaks the cycle of retribution. If Jesus had prayed, “Father, give them what they deserve” there would be no forgiveness- no grace. Do you forgive others who are “executing/crucifying” you? You see forgiveness has that maddening quality of being undeserved, unmerited, unfair. But as I forgive, as you forgive, we break the law of retribution- the chain of ungrace is broken.

2. It sets us free from anger Often we think, “I have justifiable pain!” This is simply another way of saying, “I will not forgive.”

3. It sets the offender free Forgiving does not remove our scars any more than a funeral takes away all of our grief. We often carry a scar even after the wound has been healed. But if we continue to have resentment over time, we are “feeling again” the pain caused and our response in hatred. “Forgiveness” in the Greek means, literally, “to release, to hurl away, to free yourself”. You know you have forgiven the person when you release the person to God- and even hope for good.

4. It heals the relationship Forgiveness brings life to the relationship again. But, not always- Jesus forgave but not every one was reconciled. Forgiveness doesn’t always mean reunion or reconciliation. Sometimes we pay for our sin by being shunned, let go- we are left to our desires and pay the consequences.

5. It sets us free to love again One of the best books I’ve read on forgiveness is Lewis Smedes’, “The Art of Forgiveness”. In it he writes, “When we genuinely forgive, we set a prisoner free and then discover that the prisoner we set free was us.”

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”- Colossians 3:13

Theologically, the Gospels give a straightforward answer as to why God asks us to forgive: because that is what God is like. We are never more like Christ than when we forgive. Why? Because Christ has forgiven you. We are to forgive “AS” HE has forgiven us. How has He forgiven you? Completely. Unconditionally. You cannot fully forgive until you’ve been forgiven. Was Jesus’ prayer answered? Every prayer He ever prayed was answered. You have been forgiven so that you might be one with God.

You and I cannot muster up forgiveness on our own. We must allow Christ to transform us from selfish, prideful, unforgiving people into those who extend grace to others. But it begins when we embrace the One who is Perfect, the Giver of grace.

“The object of my faith is not personal change. It is the unchanging perfection of another Person.” Byron Yawn

Forgive.