The Power of Words

More often than not... It's not what we say... It's how we say it...

    A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold

    in settings of silver. (NKJ)

 The right word at the right time
is like a custom-made piece of jewelry.
~Provers 25:11 MSG

Easter

“I have seen the Lord!”
John 20:18

“The disciples had seen the strong hands of God twist the crown
of thorns into a crown of glory, and in hands as strong as that they
knew themselves safe . . .
They had expected a walkover, and they beheld a victory; 
they had expected an earthly Messiah,
and they beheld the Soul of Eternity.”
Dorothy L. Sayers

In the book, Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee said, “Christianity begins not with a big DO, but with a big DONE.”  He continues: “We begin our Christian life by depending not on our own doing but upon what Christ has done.  Until you realize this, you are no Christian; for to say: “I can do nothing to save myself; but by His grace God has done everything for me in Christ,” is to take the first step of faith.  If I put a dollar bill between the pages of a magazine, and then burn the magazine, where is the dollar bill?  It has gone the same way as the magazine – to ashes.  Where the one goes the other goes, too.  Their history has become one.  But, just as effectively, God has put us in Christ.  What happened to Him happened also to us.  All the experiences He met, we too have met in Him.

“Our old man was crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be done away,
that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin.”
Romans 6:6

This verse is not an exhortation to struggle.  That is history: our history, written in Christ before we were born.  Do you believe this?  It is true! Our crucifixion with Christ is a glorious historical fact.  Our deliverance from sin is based, not on what we can do, nor even on what God is going to do for us, but on what He has already done in Christ.

Action: Based on this reflection, give thanks to God for what He has done.

“The crowning evidence that Jesus was alive was not a vacant grave, but a Spirit-filled fellowship.  Not a rolled-away stone, but a carried away church.”
Clarence Jordan

Join a group of Christ-followers, and together celebrate the risen Christ.

“The death of Jesus is for us nothing if we have not died with Him;
the resurrection of our Lord is for us nothing
if we have not been raised with Him.”
Swiss Theologian, Emil Brunne

Day 40 of Lent :: Tombstone

“Mary stood outside the tomb weeping.”
John 20:11

The disciples had left everything to follow Christ.  Many had abandoned personal aspirations, hopes and dreams.  They had placed all their trust in this Rabbi – Jesus.  They believed He was about to establish a new kingdom, but now He lies lifeless within the tomb.  “What will we do now?” they wondered.  “I suppose I can go back to work with my dad,” added another.  Others sat despondently on the verge of depression, unable to sort out the events of the past seventy-two hours.

Have you ever wondered what they would have done had Jesus never risen from the dead?  I imagine they would have somehow found their way back into the rhythms of life, as they had once known it.  But who knows?  After all, Peter had once said, “Where else can we go?”  What if the tomb remained darkened with death?

Reflection: Take a few moments to reflect on this dark question:

•  What if Jesus had never risen from the dead?
  
• What would your life be like today, had Jesus never invaded the darkness of your soul?
  
• What struggles, pain, wounds, and addictions would still have you entrapped?

This may, indeed, be a dark reflection, but do not be too quick to climb out of the grave.  Allow yourself to feel the darkness of sin and death without a Savior in sight.  Allow yourself to experience the ambiguity that these first disciples felt.

Day 39 of Lent :: Good Friday

“So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said,
‘It is finished!’  And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.’”
John 19:30

“Good Friday,” Virginia Stem Owens writes, “is the day when you can do nothing.  Bewailing and lamenting your manifold sins does not in itself make up for them.  Scouring your soul in a frenzy of spring cleaning only sterilizes it; it does not give it life.  On Good Friday, finally, we are all, mourners and mockers alike, reduced to the same impotence.  Someone else is doing the terrible work that gives life to the world.”

Today, we recognize we are powerless to change ourselves or to make amends for our sins.  We stand in awe of the One Who is suffering for our sakes.  We gaze at the One who willingly laid down His life so that we may live.  Today, we are reminded again that He is everything that we need.

“As you sit and gaze, it will be born in you
that only a crucified Savior could meet your need.”
William Sangster

Prayer:  Spend a few moments gazing at the One Who suffered for your sin and died so that you may experience true life.

Day 38 of Lent :: History in the Making

“These who have turned the world upside down
 have come here too.”
(Acts 17:6)

“Not only countless individual lives but civilization itself was transformed by Jesus Christ.”  These are the words of Dr. Paul Maier, professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University.  Professor Maier continues,

In the ancient world, his (Jesus’) teachings elevated brutish standards of morality, halted infanticide, enhanced human life, emancipated women, abolished slavery, inspired charities and relief organizations, created hospitals, established orphanages, and founded schools.

In medieval times, Christianity almost single-handedly kept classical culture alive through recopying manuscripts, building libraries, moderating warfare through truce days, and providing dispute arbitration.  It was Christians who invented colleges and universities, dignified labor as a divine vocation, and extended the light of civilization to barbarians on the frontiers.

In the modern era, Christian teaching, properly expressed, advanced science, instilled concepts of political and social and economic freedom, fostered justice, and provided the greatest single source of inspiration for magnificent achievements in art, architecture, music, and literature that we treasure to the present day.1

Prayer: Spend time reflecting on the influences Jesus Christ has had on the history of civilization.  Think about what the world would be like today had Jesus never come to earth.

But as we gaze, it is not pity that we feel,
but a profound reverence,
for there on Calvary is the great turning point in the course of human affairs.

Hughell Fosbroke

1 Quoted by Alvin J. Schmidt, Under the Influence, 8.

Day 37 of Lent :: Unlikely Candidates

He appointed twelve that they might be with Him 

and that He might send them out to preach.
(Mark 3:14)

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He spent all night in prayer, seeking God’s direction, and He then chose twelve individuals to be His disciples.  Consider His perspective.  As the Son of God, He was going to choose twelve men to carry on His mission on earth once He returned to the Father.  For what character and temperament qualities should He look?  What type of selective process should He use? 

Suppose Jesus had consulted a local employment agency to assist Him in His selection of future leaders.  How would this agency have assessed the twelve men Jesus selected?  Consider the following as a possibility:

Memorandum

TO:
Jesus, Son of Joseph
Woodcrafter Carpenter Shop
Nazareth

FROM:
Jordan Management Consultants
Jerusalem

Thank you for submitting the résumés of the 12 men you have chosen for management positions in your new organization.  Each of them took our battery of tests, and we analyzed the results.  Our psychologist and vocational-aptitude consultant then interviewed each one.
It is the opinion of the staff that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking.  They do not have a concept of working as a team.  We would recommend that you continue your search for people of proven capabilities and managerial experience.

Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper.  Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty.  Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale.  We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau.  James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both register high manic-depressive tendencies.

One of the candidates, however, shows great potential.  He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind and has contacts in high places.  He is highly motivated, ambitious and innovative.  We recommend Judas Iscariot as your comptroller and right-hand man.  All other profiles are self-explanatory.
We wish you every success in your new venture.1

Reflection: Are you glad God does not see things the way humans do? As you go through your day, reflect on the following verse.  As you meditate on it, ask God to increase your ability to see situations and people as He does.

No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, 

Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love Him.
(1 Corinthians 2:9)

1 Greg Ogden, Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples a Few at a Time, 77.

Day 36 of Lent :: Hope Deferred

“But we were hoping…”
(Luke 24:21)

The two disciples walking along the Road to Emmaus were confused and disillusioned.  They had possessed great hope that Jesus was indeed the One Who was going to “redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21)  But, that was before His arrest, the trial, the flogging, and, most notably, the crucifixion.  After all, this was the “third day since all this took place.” Their hope had begun to fade.  The wisdom writer, in the Book of Proverbs, reminds us, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” (Proverbs13:12)

Reflection: In what ways are you like the two disciples walking along the Road to Emmaus?  Are there prayers you have been praying, perhaps even for years, that have yet to be answered?  Is there something you have been hoping for from God that has not come to pass?  How has this deferment affected you, your outlook on life, your view of God, and how you interact with others?  Has your heart grown sick?  The tomb reminds us that things are not always as they seem.  Jesus’ body was inside the tomb, wrapped in burial clothes, void of life.  But death was not the final word.  The tomb reminds us that regardless of how things currently look, Sunday is coming!