Death in the Garden

Jesus crucifixion started in the garden. The Father gave Him a vision. (Luke 22:41) Jesus died to His own will. (v42) Jesus accepted, visualized and internalized the Father’s plan. (v44) This sequence of steps was a defining moment for Jesus and for us. No, it was much more than that. It was the beginning of the final great battle that led Jesus to the victory that had been foretold for thousands of years. This was the established point in time for Jesus. The same point in time God gives to all of us. He gave His only begotten Son, our only chance, a vital, critical and crucial choice in the matter at hand. Make no mistake, the vision and the weight of it was clear. (v44) He chose to die.

I know I often choose to carry my cross. I do have to ask myself why. It could be of pure motives wanting to be more like the Lord. It could be I may get some sort of gratification out of it. It’s the “woe is me” syndrome that could get it the way of my sincerity. I could carry my cross all my life and never have to die. This way I can still partially have my way in any given situation in my life and not die. As long as I don’t die to a situation, I still have a bit of control in my life…so I think.

Today I’m not going to name any situations. I believe you are already thinking about them.

I’ve become tired of carrying my cross without the end game of death. I’ve had to die to what I’ve wanted in this life and cry for Him to give me the desires of His heart so I could live again.

I thought I would share this from my heart.

Andy

Picking Scabs

As a boy, I had several cuts, scratches and bruises just like most boys do. I remember one particular incident when I had a good sized scrape on my knee from a bike accident. After few weeks I had a full scab and was on my way to complete healing. Unfortunately for me, we had a friend of the family visit us. Somehow this “friend” convinced my parents to pour peroxide on my scab. In a panic I tried to talk my way out of the forced treatment but it was to no avail. As my parents held me down, I cried through the torture. I’m not sure what it was to accomplish. The only thing that happened was I felt pain, I was angry and the peroxide removed the scab. The scab had to grow again before I healed.

I’ve had to deal with some deep pains lately. What I’ve come to understand in my life concerning emotional healing is this. I couldn’t deeply believe God the Father completely and absolutely loved me. My experiences, since I was child, left me believing I was unlovable. Even though I received Christ as my Savior at sixteen years old, I was so emotionally injured I couldn’t grow in His love and grace. Even though the chains of my addictions and issues were broken through Christ I continued to destroy my life. I would accept criticism from others and would listen to the condemnation that was screaming at me in my head.

Here is the picture in many Christians lives. Before accepting the invitation to follow Christ, we were fettered. After Christ, the fetters were broken and we were set free from sin and death. Unfortunately the fetters left deep cuts on our wrist. Through our walk with Christ our cuts begin to heal and scab. The scab in the natural is protection until the wound heals. The scab in the spiritual represents Gods grace as we grow in Christ. In the natural we are constantly tempted to scratch and pick at the scab because it has a nagging itch. We tend to do the same in the spiritual. Because we do not fully believe God’s love for us is full and complete, we keep pulling His grace off of our lives. We keep going back to the past pain and sin disbelieving in full redemption through Christ. In this place of unbelief we cannot believe the Father absolutely loves us. This starts the cycle of self criticism and condemnation and keeps us from deep inner healing. This unbelief of total redemption corrupts, misrepresents and twists our perception of God and how He sees us. It doesn’t allow us to live beyond our past. Instead of healing, our damaged past becomes a logical and acceptable part of our daily lives. There are a couple of problems with this scenario. God is not logical and Jesus came to heal the broken hearted.

If this describes you, here are some steps you can take to help stop the cycle of self criticism and condemnation.

1.     Stop picking at the scabs.

Learn to filter what the media (including Christian media), family and you say about yourself. Filter the truth from the lies. Resist accepting and repeating the lies. This can be difficult at first but keep doing it and it starts to become easier to deflect the deceit of the past.

Give yourself time to heal.

We always seem to be in a hurry. Remember renewing the mind takes time. In addition, it’s not all about healing. It’s also about building a relationship with Christ. When you have a relationship with Him, your negative opinions of yourself and others opinions matter less and less. Relationship building takes time. But the closer you get to Christ, the more emotional healing takes place organically.

Use ointment.

Spend quit time reflecting on all the good the Word say’s about you. Also remember, since your salvation, you have done good deeds. Reflect on those actions or deeds for a moment and ask the Spirit to help you to enjoy this life by finding other ways of doing good deeds. There is something about serving others that helps bring healing. These actions are like a healing ointment for the soul.

Are you ready to break the cycle? Are you ready to heal? Start using these steps today to move forward in the life Jesus came to give you. Start believing in total redemption because God doesn’t do anything half-hearted.

What are other ways in which we can break unbelief in total redemption?

Andy

The City of the Dead

I recently read a very interesting article about people who live in, “The City of The Dead”. The City of the Dead is a four-mile stretch of tombs and mausoleums in Cairo, Egypt. The article states that tens of thousands live in the tombs without water or electricity. Yet they have a satellite dish and a television because it’s free. What a contrast of living and dying.

In the book of Mark, chapter 5:2-5, it describes a man who lived amongst the tombs.                  

       1.    He was under the power of an unclean spirit

       2.   He continually lived among the tombs

       3.   No one could subdue him, even with a chain

       4.      He had been bound often with shackles

       5.      He was always shrieking and screaming

       6.      He was always beating and bruising and cutting himself with stones

This doesn’t sound like a man that was enjoying his life. It reminds me of all the ways the Lord has had to change my thinking process. This man’s story is my story. It’s a story of many Christians. Let me explain.

1.      I know that we believers cannot be possessed by an evil spirit, but we can be influenced by them. It’s called temptation. With that temptation we make a choice to do it or not to do it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

2.      We may not physically live amongst the tombs but we do in our hearts and minds. (Matthew 15:19)

3.      We as human beings get set in our ways and tend to not want change in our lives.(Psalm 55:19)

4.      When we continuously give in to temptation, it always moves us closer to addiction.

5.      As believers, our shortcomings and addictions will always back itself up with a loud voice of justification.(Galatians 5:4)

6.      For believers, condemnation will scream out in our minds the hopelessness and despair of our life.

If you cannot relate to this, then stop reading because you won’t get anything out of it. But if you can relate, there is good news.

Read this: Mark 7:20-23 (AMP) ²⁰And He said, What comes out of a man is what makes a man unclean and renders [him] unhallowed. ²¹For from within, [that is] out of the hearts of men, come base and wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery, ²²Coveting (a greedy desire to have more wealth), dangerous and destructive wickedness, deceit; unrestrained (indecent) conduct; an evil eye (envy), slander (evil speaking, malicious misrepresentation, abusiveness), pride ( the sin of an uplifted heart against God and man), foolishness (folly, lack of sense, recklessness, thoughtlessness). 

²³All these evil [purposes and desires] come from within, and they make the man unclean and render him unhallowed. 

Jesus makes it very clear that our heart and mind is what makes us messed up. It’s a thought process and an attitude of the heart that keeps us from living the full life that Jesus wants us to live.

Here are 3 steps that will help you on your expedition to a closer walk with the Lord.

1.      Read the Bible daily.

a.      Jesus is the Word, so reading daily reveals more of Him and the contrasting life we may be living.

2.      Pray

a.      Praying can be an act of submission. Let the Lord know you need His help to change. Little by little He will reveal to you His thoughts and His ways. Then He will help you to renew your mind which will transform your heart.

3.      Believe that He absolutely loves you and hears your prayers.

a.      It’s take faith to absolutely know the Lord loves us just as we are. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The more you read and pray, the easier it is to believe He wants a relationship with you.

Next level thinking is thinking like Him. And thinking like Him will help you to live farther away from “The City of The Dead”.