This will be a two part one from me. I thought I could get
it all in with just one. Though as I wrote I soon saw that I would have to
break it in two J… with that lets begin:
Part one “Though The Scars Remain”
As I did my daily scriptures r
eading the other day it brought me to Luke Chapter 24. In particular verses 38-39. Lets quickly take a look:
Luk 24:38-39 NKJV And He said to them, "Why
are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? (39) Behold My hands
and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have
flesh and bones as you see I have."
I am sure we all have see this before. Where Jesus has
completed His work on the cross, has now be risen, and began showing Himself to
people. As I read this verse I had to stop as I was reminded of the verses read
the day before:
Mar 16:9-11 NKJV Now when He
rose early on the first day of the
week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven
demons. (10) She went and told those who had been with
Him, as they mourned and wept. (11) And when they heard that He was alive and had
been seen by her, they did not believe.
Joh 20:11-15 NKJV But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping,
and as she wept she stooped down and
looked into the tomb. (12) And she
saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet,
where the body of Jesus had lain. (13) Then they
said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know
where they have laid Him." (14) Now when
she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. (15) Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you
weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener,
said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have
laid Him, and I will take Him away."
As I stood there I began to get a picture of the crosses
in our lives. We know that Jesus told us to take up our own cross and follow
Him daily Luk_9:23. Though to get there we
would have had to start at the beginning of it all, repentance. John the
Baptist, Jesus, and Peter preached that first. All three saying "Repent!
for the kingdom of God is at hand." Mat_3:1-2, Mat_4:17, Act_2:38. Repentance is the beginning
of a life in Christ. Though, how can we turn from anything without first having
something to turn too? Turning to Jesus to save us from our sins, pain,
struggles, etc. this is the only way! The moment we turn to Jesus in repentance
we are led through His saving grace. Though that is not the focus of today’s
writing. You see when we turn to Jesus we meet Him first as our savior, there
is no working to get saved, or anything we must do, but believe! It is as this
happens, we also meet Jesus face to face with the truth of Luk_9:23. This is the only way to be
born again! We know what Jesus said about that. If a man is not born again he
cannot see the kingdom of God Joh_3:3. To be a Christ follower we must take up our own cross,
die to our flesh, pain, thoughts, etc. We must die, and just like Jesus we must
have our death period! To have our resurrection into new life. To be born
again, just like Christ was! We must die...
You see Jesus had to die, that was a must! His greatest
ministry had to come through that death! I mean saving the whole world from
their sins, and the wrath of God, that is pretty great to me! But for Him to
even come close to making it happen He had to die! He had to remain dead for
some time, for a season. For Him it was only three days! Just as He died and
had a death period, so we too must have one! How long will ours last? that is
dependent on how hard and thick your head is, and the calling you are paying
for. We can rest assured that a death must come to us, but only for a time. You
see that is part of the repentance. Those verses earlier where Mary and the
others wept for time Mar_16:9-11, Joh_20:11-15, painted a picture of
morning in repentance, as well as how others will even see the change in us!
Remember that Jesus said if we refuses to let go of our loved ones we are not
worthy of Him, that we cannot be His disciples (followers) Luk_14:26. Our death in Christ Jesus
is not a secret but open to others! If we choose to refuse to die because it
might hurt others, we are worried about our life that we have with them. We are
worried about how it might change… Praise the Lord we have a promise in Him,
that if we lose our life (daily) for His sake, we will in fact save it! WOW! So
this death, and the season we must remain there, is in fact a
"saving" of our life? YES!!! Just as we are promised death in Christ
so we too are promised life! Just as He rose from the dead so we too are called
to raise again! We are born again, saved, redeemed, and changed! For we are no
longer the old man! We are NEW!!!
This brings us to the main point J...
This whole process is not just for us! The main reason for us to grow in such a
way is so we may spend that payment on others! Just as Jesus didn't die for
Himself, so neither to we die for ourselves! Look again at what Jesus said
after He rose from the dead:
Joh 20:27 NKJV Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and
reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing."
How amazing! Jesus could have easily come back in a new
body, but He didn’t! He came back to His old "shell." He bore the
scars of his old life! He said look at them, touch them, see what God has done!
Those scars were the platform for His greatest ministry! He used them to show
what God had done in Him, through Him, and for Him! You see we always know and
remember where we came from, we bear those scars for a reason. We are to show
people just what God can do!
some might say "there was no major sin in my life that
I need to die to or repent from. I was hurt when I was young, or later in
life…" either way it is the pain that would hold you! the hurt that would
keep you from the life in Jesus! We are still called to take that to the cross,
and die to it! The amazing thing is there is life promised on the other side!
Here is the truth, it is death that breaks the chains of sin, pain, anxiety,
depression, fear... anything that holds us down! When we die to it through the
process of the cross, its grip over us is broken!!! That is why we have the
power to show those scars to others and say "look!" that is how we
can use our past to lead others to Jesus and a freedom of their own!
Bringing this part to a close let me just say this process
is of the cross is not a onetime deal. Jesus said we must take up our cross daily!
Why? Because we are ever growing in Him, and our ministry to others! The fact
is life goes on, things happen, and we need to gain victory over things. That
victory can only come through the cross process! Once we get to the other side,
we have a new witness for others! That is what we will talk about in the second
part of this word.
Your Brother in Christ
Grace and Peace be with you
Nate Cook, Setting Captives Free Team
Member
And Jesus said to me:
Eze 3:10b-11a "...Receive into your heart
all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears, and go, get
to the captives..."
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