Maundy Thursday

The following is strictly John Piper's writing, nothing of my own. It is taken from his ebook for this week as we prepare for Easter on Sunday. I emailed a copy of it to many of my family and friends, and hope you have been enjoying it this week as well. Today's was too good not to share. I never knew what "Maundy Thursday" meant, but I do now...

Maundy Thursday
Thursday of the Commandment
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)

Today is Maundy Thursday. The name comes from the Latin mandatum, the first word in the Latin rendering of John 13:34, “A new commandment (mandatum novum) I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” This commandment was given by Jesus on the Thursday before his crucifixion. So Maundy Thursday is the “Thursday of the Commandment.”

This is the commandment: “love one another: just as I have loved you.” But what about Galatians 5:14? “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” If the whole law is fulfilled in “Love your neighbor as yourself,” what more can “Love one another as Christ loved you” add to the fulfillment of the whole lawI would say that Jesus did not replace or change the commandment, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” He filled it out and gave it clear illustration. He is saying, Here is what I mean by “as yourself.” Watch me. I mean: Just as you would want someone to set you free f rom certain death, so you should set them free from certain death. That is how I am now loving you. My suffering and death is what I mean by ‘as yourself.’ You want life. Live to give others life. At any cost.

So John says, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16). Was Jesus loving us “as he loved himself”? Listen to Ephesians 5:29–30, “No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.” In the horrors of his suffering, Christ was sustained “by the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). And that joy was the everlasting gladness of his redeemed people, satisfied in the presence of the risen king.

Therefore, let us see the greatest love in action on Maundy Thursday and tomorrow on Good Friday. “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). He loved us to the uttermost. And let us be so moved by this love that it becomes our own. “He laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” This is the commandment. This is the Thursday.

Not Ashamed

Our pastor has been preaching a sermon series on Proclaiming the Gospel on Sunday nights.  As Christians, that is what we are SUPPOSED to do:  actively share the gospel with those we come in contact with on a REGULAR basis!  Often times, though, we (myself included) go about our business and rush through our days not once sharing about the hope we have to someone who may desperately need to know what we know.  Woe is me…

In the “Bible Belt” where we live, we assume everyone knows about Jesus.  We assume they know how to get to heaven, and that they are just backslidden if they claim to be a Christian but yet they aren’t living right.  No one can judge someone’s heart except God, for only they and God know the status of their salvation.  The Bible says they will be known by their fruits, though, and in 1 John 2:19 it says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they HAD been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”  If they truly ARE Christians, they can’t escape the Holy Spirit for He is living IN them.  They DO repent and come back.  But those who never come back, the Bible says they weren’t really ever a part of us.  That’s hard to swallow, I know.  I doubted my salvation for a lot of years but I now see that I hadn’t truly repented of my sins…I was as the Bible says, “a dog returning to his vomit, and a fool who returns to his folly.”  Gross, I know.  But that’s what we do when we continue to live OUR way and give in to our fleshly desires instead of dying to ourselves and following Christ.  THIS is what people need to know about the gospel, that He TRANSFORMS us; NOT that we just believe in Him and yet continue to live life our own way! 

Josh and I have been convicted about how much we DON’T share with our waitress, our cashier, our coworkers, etc.  Yes, sometimes I am in a rush with two kids and not always able to get into an in depth conversation.  And yes, I don’t work in a secular workplace anymore, but am home with my girls more than anything.  THEY are the majority of my mission field, and believe me, I try to teach and live the gospel as much as I can with and before them.  But that’s not enough.  There is ALWAYS SOMEONE that I come in contact with that needs to hear the gospel.  I try to share things with my friends very openly on Facebook, as I know that is a large venue and there are a lot of unbelievers on my friend list.  I have pleaded with those that may read things to please come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  That doing good things, or just the lack of a lot of bad things, WON’T get you to heaven.  Sadly, there are many people who know “how” to be a Christian, as in accepting Jesus as your Savior, so they believe in Him and profess that He is indeed their Savior because of a prayer they prayed at one time.  But they haven’t made Him LORD by repenting and TURNING from their sins.  That was also ME for a lot of years.  As a friend and I were discussing it last week, your HEAD knowledge HAS to match up with your HEART.  I was raised in church and knew a lot of the answers, but the HEART had to eventually match up with all that.  Only then could I profess Jesus as my Savior AND Lord.

I have had FOUR people tell me over the past week alone that we are the happiest that they have ever seen Josh and I, and they have known us for A LOT of years!  You know what that tells me?  That doesn’t speak volumes about Josh and I AT ALL.  That speaks VOLUMES about the God I serve!  Some of those people aren’t in Christ, but they can SEE a difference.  My prayer is that they see Him through us as He shows His power and grace mightily in our lives, so that ultimately, they too, will come to Christ!  Not because of anything WE do, but because of HIM.  This is a burden of ours because we love our friends and family SO much and don’t want to see them die and go to a Christless hell.  A place that people don’t really like to talk or think about, but let me tell you, the Bible clearly tells us that it is a place where people WON’T die, they will BURN forever, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Can’t imagine a place that bad is actually real?  Have you ever been in excruciating pain before, and until you had the problem relieved or got some pain medicine, you thought you just might die! Well, that is how it will feel in hell…you will FEEL like you’re going to die, you will be hurting constantly, but there will be NO relief from the pain this time!  Why would anyone want to take their chances of going to a place like that, and go through that much suffering and torment for ETERNITY?!  I’ve heard something before along the lines of, “Okay, so what if I’M wrong and there’s not a heaven and hell, then what?  All I have to look forward to is being dead in a grave forever.  But what if YOU’RE wrong, and there IS a heaven and hell…you’re going to have a lot less to look forward to than I do!”  Friends, there are NO if’s, and’s or but’s about it….the Bible IS true!  Don’t wait until Judgment Day to choose whom you believe in.  For then, it will be too late.  Believe in Him and you WILL be saved from this horrible place!!!

I’m telling you, I am typing this with tears.  It hurts me SO bad to hear people we love reject Christ.  Josh and I were talking today about the fact that certain people in our life just think we’re “Jesus Freaks” and that we take all this too seriously.  That doesn’t hurt me for ME, it hurts me for THEM.  They don’t see the seriousness of sin, or that the Lord WILL be coming back soon, and they wonder why we are so “religious.”  Who said that as long as you profess with me your mouth, but yet don’t live out your faith in ALL you say and do, you’re still good to go?!?!  Certainly not God! I’m not saying that we’re perfect by any means, but there’s been a definite change in our lives…I say this often to reiterate, but it’s nothing on our OWN MERIT, but God alone!  I want those we love and care about to have the same JOY we have!  To have the same HOPE we have!  To impact the world for Christ WITH us!  I don’t want to be a “Pharisee” and think I’m better than ANYONE, because I’m not!  I say all this in LOVE, with PASSION, and URGENCY because it IS important.  Let me tell you why.

The passage that our pastor’s sermons have been coming from is Luke 16:19-31:

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹ who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers^[b]—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

This passage should compel every Christian (myself included!) to run to their family, friends, and neighbors and tell them the good news of Jesus Christ!  The rich man went to hell and saw how bad it was.  He was in anguish it says, and asked for some relief.  He could have NONE.  Well, if he couldn’t have relief, then he wanted his 5 brothers to avoid coming to this horrible place and begged him to send someone from the dead to tell them how to avoid that awful place.  He told the rich man that there were people on earth to tell them about hell, and that they should listen to them.  But he said they would listen better to someone who came from the dead, but again, his response to the man was that if they won’t believe Moses and the Prophets, then they won’t even be convinced by someone from the dead. 

Once our loved ones die and go to hell, there won’t be any saving them from that place.  We must tell them now, and give them the chance to accept Christ before it’s too late.  What about when they denounce the Bible, and don’t feel the seriousness of this like we do?  Don’t lose heart.  I reminded Josh today that although we don’t want them to go to hell, we know that we will stand before God one day and we will receive the crown of eternal life.  They may make fun of us now, but unfortunately, they will then see that what we were pleading with them to accept, will have been the right choice to make.  It HURTS to share with them and see them reject it, but it’s Him they’re rejecting, not us.  We can’t let it discourage us.  Matthew 10:14 says, “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.”  It is very stressful to speak about this and yet not be heard.  Don’t resent them for not hearing, though.  You did what you were supposed to do, and planted seeds as you were supposed to.  Pray for good soil in their hearts so that as the seeds have been planted, they will cultivate and grow. 

I will leave you with some scriptures to be encouraged with when the fear of sharing the gospel comes into your mind and heart.  These have helped me have boldness and not apologize for the gospel.

No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.(John 15:20)

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (Romans 12:14)

Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:13)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:2-3)

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. (1 Peter 2:20)

It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:17)

If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. (1 Peter 4:16)

If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of Glory and of God rests on you. (1 Peter 4:14)

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.(Luke 6:22)

Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults. (Isaiah 51:7)

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12-13)

So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to the faithful Creator and continue to do good. (1 Peter 4:19)

For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him. (Philippians 1:29)

Dear friends, do not be surprised if the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:12-13)

 

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.
(Matthew 5:11-12)

 

 

Wonder Working Power

I was reflecting on the awesome saving power of Christ evident in Phil Robertson's life (from Duck Dynasty), and the transformation he described in the video that I shared yesterday (on FB), in which Phil shares his testimony.  I thought how strong God's power is to be able to truly change a life headed one way, and yet totally transform it as they accept the gospel, and then go on to proclaim it so boldly themselves. 

Josh and I then discussed Saul (who later became Paul), and how he killed and persecuted Christians, but after a powerful conversion experience on the Damascus Road, He went on to proclaim Christ and even wrote letters which make up a lot of the New Testament.  The infallible, God breathed Word of God came from a man who used to kill the very people that he became one of.  That wasn’t anything Paul could claim to have done on his own, it was all GOD.  God revealed Himself to Saul, and changed his heart to be turned to Him.  This is the same power that changed Phil’s life.

Praise the Lord that I have the same testimony!  God’s saving power has changed mine!  Now I’m not perfect by any means, and I still mess up royally when I battle my flesh and give into it.  But I have seen the cross as something done BY me (because of my sin), therefore, seeing His death as something done FOR me, has compelled me to live my life FOR Him, in obedience to Him, and not myself.  As Phil said in his video, he realized “that was an awful kind thing for someone to do for him (Jesus dying on the cross and taking his sin and making it His own).”  Salvation was life changing for me, when I realized this too, then repented and surrendered, vowing to live my life for Him until He calls me home VS praying a prayer and knowing I had “fire insurance” from hell.  How silly to think that is all God requires or deserves from us! 

The very same God who brought Noah through a flood safely, parted the Red Sea for His people, calmed a storm, healed lepers, made blind people see, raised Lazarus from the dead, changed Saul/Paul’s life, saved Phil Robertson, also saved ME and I just think that is pretty AWESOME!!!  I’m not the same person I was before.  Neither are any of those people after God radically SAVED and changed each of them.  If you claim to know that power first hand as well, but it doesn’t excite you anymore, that would lead me to pause and ask WHY.  Ask God to search your heart and “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” as the Bible says.  If you’ve never experienced this transforming power in your own life, then may I suggest, or should I say urgently plead with, you to know The God of the Bible today!  It’s NOT just a storybook.  Like Phil said, the Bible is too great for sinful people to just think up on their own. 

What hope do you have if you don’t have your hope in Jesus?  What meaning do you have in your life if you’re not living a life lived for Jesus?  I was there!!  I was coasting along in life, self seeking, pleasing myself, and yet never being totally fulfilled.  There was always a void, always a longing, and always an empty feeling behind my mask I wore well.  Jesus can fill you up, though, and change all that!  People often times think that you have to get “cleaned up” or change your lifestyle BEFORE you can get right with God.  That is a lie from Satan himself!  He discourages and wants to deter you from making the biggest and best decision of your life!  You come to Jesus and surrender your ALL (no one ever said the price was low or it would be easy), and He will give you SO much more than you could ask for, imagine, or dream up on your own.  HE will clean you up as you grow in Him…you DON’T have to do that yourself!  You CAN’T!  It’s impossible!  Don’t think you’ve done too much wrong, you’re in too deep, what will people think, they’ll think you’re a fraud, etc.  None of that matters!  Your eternal security and having a relationship with the Creator of this world is what matters. 

There was a saying I heard many years ago in my youth group, and it was said by a young man in 1980 from Rwanda that was forced by his tribe to either renounce Christ or face certain death. He refused to renounce Christ, and he was killed on the spot. The night before he had written the following commitment which was found in his room:

“I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed, the die has been cast, I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made- I’m a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed vision, worldly talking, cheap giving & dwarfed goals.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I won’t give up, shut up, let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up for the cause of Jesus Christ.

I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till everyone knows, work till He stops me & when He comes for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me because my banner will have been clear.”

That is all this blog post is about.  I’m not giving up or shutting up about the saving power of Christ until that final day that he calls me home, too!!!  Until then, may I glory in Him alone and be a faithful daughter of the King.

FAMILY

Well, it has certainly been awhile since I've posted!  The fall decor from 2012 is still up on my blog!  Looks like I need to do some "tidying up" and refresh things!  :)  I will get around to that when I can!  The Christmas season came and went, and although it was a very fruitful time for blogging, the business of it all just kept me from doing so.  Maybe life will slow down enough again soon, and I can get back into the swing of posting.  I do enjoy blogging, and putting my heart and thoughts on "paper." 

One of my homeschool mom friends who is in charge of the yearbook at our cover school, read my blog and asked me to write a short piece on FAMILY, and how our families compare/prepare us to be a part of God's family, in that we all have different roles, etc.  This was a theme based on 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.  You can read this passage of scripture below.

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,   and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”


I asked the Lord to give me the words to say in this article for the yearbook, and here is what I came up with.  Maybe it will be a small reminder for you on the importance of FAMILY...not just our biological or adopted families, but the family of God.  The Lord has blessed my family with a church family who seems to understand and has a desire to carry out this passage well.  They are not a perfect Church body, for no Church is, but they have a love for the Lord, one another, and the lost like I have never witnessed before.  May the Lord continue to bless their efforts as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission by being the hands and feet...and ears and eyes...of Jesus.


"What is a family?  It is a group, who may or may not all be blood relatives, but that live, learn, grow, serve together, and more!  Not everyone in a family enjoys the same activities, books, or movies.  While we may enjoy some of the same things, no two people are alike.  Not everyone is the same height and weight, nor do they all have the same hair and eye color.  God made each one of us uniquely different.  Not everyone has the same responsibilities in a family.  We all play different roles to help our family function well. 

Our families are very similar to the family of God.  We have one thing in common as believers, as stated in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14:  we are all a part of the body of Christ.   “Whether Jews or Gentiles…we were all given one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part, but of many.”  It goes on to say that we all play a different role in the body of believers.  We are not all “ears, feet, or hands.”  We all have different spiritual gifts and talents.  As verse 17 says, if the whole body were an ear, how would we have a sense of smell?  Each of us have different gifts and talents that the Lord has given us, because if we were all the same, we wouldn’t be able to effectively minister and serve in all the different ways that we are able to. 

We can learn a lot from our families and apply it to the family of God…we are not all the same, but we each play an important role to make it a functional, thriving family of God.  We must each strive to carry out our role with excellence as unto the Lord, just as we do with our families at home.  Not only will that help us be a healthy body, but it is most glorifying to God when His people work together for His name’s sake, each one using the gifts and talents He has given us to help further His kingdom."