Living in the "It is Finished"

He said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30 (NLT)

I’ve been sick. One day I realized that I was dizzy. You know, room spinning type of dizzy that makes you nauseous. It started about 2 weeks ago and has made life a little difficult. I waited a couple of days and went to the doctor. They diagnosed it as vertigo and gave me some medicine. It didn’t help. I waited a few more days and got worse. I went back. This time, they realized I had a sinus infection and prescribed medicine.

During this time, it was really hard for me to spend what I call quality time with God. Praying was hard. I tend to pray either journaling or kneeling. Both of those things set off the vertigo. I had a hard time reading. Honestly, some days I had a hard time thinking. What I could do was just pray short prayers talking to God about everything going on here and there as I tried to make it through my day. That’s it. That’s what I did.

This morning, I was reflecting on the last two weeks. I’ve felt God’s presence strongly. He’s answered my prayers and spoke to me about different things. I’ve had peace. As I pondered this, I was grateful. I was grateful that it doesn’t matter if I follow my routine. It doesn’t matter if I spend 5 minutes in prayer on and off throughout the day or if I spend an hour in concentrated prayer. It doesn’t matter if I read my Bible here and there or if I spend an hour in it. God sees. He sees me.

He isn’t up there checking some list. He isn’t saying “You are not doing this right.” He is drawing near to his child (all of his kids) inviting, encouraging and responding.

It reminds me of why we celebrate Good Friday. When Jesus died he said “It is finished.” All my striving to earn God’s favor was finished. All the activity I think I have to do to get there (where ever that is), done. Jesus took all that away. He sacrificed his life so I would know that no matter what was happening, I was loved.

I want to live my life in the “It is finished.” I want to remember that while I am called to be in relationship with Jesus, while because I love him I want to live my life for him, nothing I do earns his love or guarantees my place in the Kingdom. That was already done so many Fridays ago.

Living in the “It is finished” is living free. Don’t you want to live in the “It is finished” too? There is a peace in that place. Living in that peace is how we were meant to live.

Revelations About Revelation

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. Revelation 1:17-18 (NLT)

The Book of Revelation is often thought of as a book about the end of time. And it may have that in it but it in the first chapter it says “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” It’s really a book about who Jesus is after the resurrection. WOOT!

John was in vision. Just before he fell down as dead, he saw this.

12 When I turned around to see what sort of voice this was that was addressing me, I saw seven golden lampstands. 13 And among the lampstands, I saw One like the Son of Man right in front of me dressed in a long robe. Across His chest was draped a golden sash. 14 His head and hair were pure white, white as wool and white as snow; His eyes blazed like a fiery flame; 15 His feet gleamed like brightly polished bronze, purified to perfection in a furnace; His voice filled the air and sounded like a roaring waterfall. 16 He held seven stars in His right hand, from His mouth darted a sharp double-edged sword, and His face shone a brilliant light, like the blinding sun. (VOICE)

If you saw that, what would you do? Especially the sharp double-edged sword. In the Bible this signifies judgement. I wonder if John collapsed because he thought he was going to receive God’s judgement. I think I might collapse too if I thought that. But, let’s look just a little deeper.

First, Jesus shows up dressed in a long robe with a golden sash. This is the garment of the high priest that intervened for the people before God. After John fainted, he laid his right hand on him. The right hand in the Bible signified blessing and the power to sustain. And then he said “Don’t be afraid.” If you translate this from the Greek, it actually means “Stop being afraid.”

After this, Jesus goes on to say “I am the First and the Last. I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.”

Can I paraphrase a little?

Child of God, I am your Advocate. I have conquered death, your death. Stop worrying about how good you are. Stop being afraid of what’s next. I have overcome it all. Trust what I have already done for you. I love you.

It made my heart glad to understand this. You see, no matter what is happening all around us, we still have Jesus. We are covered. We are saved. Forever and ever. Amen.

You Are Flawless

So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace! We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue. Galatians 1:3-4 (MSG)

This thing we call the Cross......we are so comfortable with it we almost treat it like a piece of furniture. We talk about it, we celebrate it on holidays, we wear it as jewelry....it's part of our vanacular. But, do we really understand it? Do we fully grasp what it is supposed to mean to us?

There is a song that says "The Cross has made you flawless." (performed by MercyMe). What does that mean to you? What would it looked like if we lived our lives as if the Cross had made us flawless? What would it mean to us to treat others as if the Cross had made them flawless?

What would happen to our heads and our hearts if we let go of the burdens we carry about self-worth and lived unblemished, unmarked by our doubts? What would it mean if we lived our lives as if we were enough.

We are enough. God said so when Jesus said "It is finished." Done. They are all loved; they are all accepted. They are enough because I was enough.