Good Morning Friends,
It is not as easy as it looks when you are trying to forgive yourself for something that you have done wrong. As a society there are several things, we have done that in retrospect are not healthy mentally or physically. Cultural forces have an effect on our health. For example, despite the existence of a vastly improved health care system and a multi-billion-dollar antidepressant industry, the rates of depression in the US remain high. Some age populations have exceedingly high incidents of depression, and it has been associated by some with a disconnection of those populations with a spiritual family that lives on…a connection with community. The rates of teen suicide are alarming. In our industrialized, technologically advanced, service-oriented society our minimal engagement in beneficial endeavors may be leading to a compromised resilience when we are exposed to life’s stressful challenges. But do not get depressed about it. That is part of the problem. So today we explore the need to bounce back from failure. Today we explore the nature of resilience and ask… Will We Be Transformed By The Reality We Are Loved Into Being?
Scripture: Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”
Mark 1:15 (NRSV)
and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming; and now it is already in the world. Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 3:22—4:6 (NRSV)
Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles–the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 4:12-17 (NRSV)
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought to him all the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, and he cured them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Matthew 4:23-25 (NRSV)
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep. ‘He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.
John 21:15-17 (NRSV)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:3-12 (NRSV)
Message: There are certain things that I have done in my life that I punish myself for …over and over again. Collectively we can have the same problem. At times these failures seem almost impossible to overcome. But we can we glean from scripture some things that will help us get past those things that keep us chained to the past. Today as we look to the New Year, I am exploring the need to be connected to something that will last. I have been starting off the year hoping for the light and salt of a new creation to inform my life with the nature of resilience… that rejects the world’s ways and substitutes the love of Jesus. And here in God’s moment of creation we might just discover fulfillment…we might just encounter a living God even as we get back up after falling down. Here repentance is not an end or a season but a proclamation that signifies the nearness of God as a way of life that transforms. Here blessings and happiness are not far from reach. For here in our hearts, in our minds and in our relationships with others Jesus will reign if we submit to live in the love we can share. Yes, we are asked to repent and believe. To enter this Kingdom, we are asked to do those two things…repent and believe. But it might not be the repentance and belief that tradition leads us to embrace. Friends, God has freed you to be who God created you to be. So, realize that what Jesus is telling us is to be who God made us to be and rejoice in it because you have been loved into being.
And So, it is that in truly repenting of the reality that we have not fully enjoyed the life we have been given that we can discover that the Kingdom of hope has already arrived…and though it has arrived with power…. it has also arrived powerfully upside down to our typical way of thinking. So, we await the invitation of forgiveness that Jesus brought to us on the cross and understand that God’s grace is sufficient to guide us into what we are becoming. Forgiving ourselves is part of the Christian package. And the reason we need to forgive ourselves is so that we can love in abundance.
We are compelled by the love of God to continue to return to the love of God as the basis for our lives. We are compelled by the Word of God to make behaving in loving ways toward others a part of our character, part of our conduct, part of who we are already as salt and light disciples of Jesus. The problem is that love can be missing in our lives. The solution is to discover forgiveness as we each day walk more closely with God and submit to the will of the divine in the Spirit of God. The call is to love. The call is to live a life of loving God and loving others. The way Jesus loves us is by giving of Himself. The way Jesus wants us to love others is by giving of ourselves who we are and not just what we might become, and when we do in this moment the darkness is broken and the light of life rules and we are transformed not just in our thinking but in realizing who we are. Friends, we are important enough for God to die for us. Treasure that.
Pray we rejoice in the life we have been given. Pray we seek righteousness with a focus on the transformative love of Jesus. Pray our joy in the Lord be our strength. Pray the fruits of our confession, forgiveness and reconciliation are always ripe for harvesting. Pray our efforts and rewards are more about meaning than measurement. Pray our efforts be collective in naming our affliction, regretting our actions, and changing our directions to allow God to connect us to something eternal and in the process transform us. Pray we are called and recalled by the amazing love of God to discover a resilience that lasts in relationships of love. Pray we fulfill the vision God has for our lives and guard it in our heart as the treasure it is. Pray we be prepared to move from the comfort of an if then world to a faith position that submits to God’s rule. Pray we overcome our natural resistance to risk. Pray therefore that the Lord disturb us when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little. Pray the Lord disturb us when we have lost our thirst for the waters of life and ceased to dream of eternity. Pray we never allow God’s vision of the creation of Light in us to help build a new earth dim the greater vision of the New Heaven in Him.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 