Jesus Wept

 

Jesus wept. (John 11:35)

Author André Resner in his book Living In- Between- Lament, Justice, and the Persistent of the Gospel says that the shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35. Its very challenging for us to resonate with this scripture because not many will truly see the depth of it. Nevertheless, this scripture will speak to those who have  gone through the pain of losing a loved one or having suffered in life unfairly.

Recently, I have come across many friends in the Lord who struggle with the agony and pain of losing someone. The question "why Lord why?" seem as if it is not crossing the roof above our heads or as if evaporating into thin air ...not strong enough to reach His ears? 

There may not be any answers for the pain or agony of the soul. It may leave us wondering whether the Lord even cares. But I was reminded of this scripture. In my imagination, I was able to see the Lord weeping along with His children who are asking Him these questions. He expresses the same deep agony of the soul with weeping and sobbing. Many children of God have gone through this phase and have struggled for years in their hearts asking questions to God, ...even wondering if they had done something wrong to deserve their loss. 

Perhaps, we as God's children may not get the answers we are seeking. But Jesus knows, He is aware and He cannot empathize in a more realistic way than this... (Jesus wept).

Abide in Me

John 15:4 (NASB) 

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

Most of us when we read the above verse, we tend to think in terms of doing Christian work. Even I used to think the same. But I don't think this only refers to outward Christian work alone. It is more in terms of our being and living. If we do not abide in the Lord, we cannot be like Him, think like Him, or behave like Him. We cannot possess an attitude like Jesus, nor our words savored like Him. 

Many of us give the excuse when we face challenging situations saying 'but we are not Jesus'. Yes, we are not Jesus, but we are called to give up on our old self and take up the cross and follow Him. Which is...We cannot choose to be or live in our old ways and still believe, convince ourselves or profess to be His followers.

That's why Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I in you...for without Me ye can do nothing." (John 15:4,5 KJV). 

Yes, without Jesus abiding in us every day, we can seldom presume, that we can think, act and behave like Jesus. I like the way when Christian nurses who attend patients say, "We have to be the eyes and hands and feet of Jesus".

How nice it will be if we can make this our only mission, rather than trying to convince others of Jesus. 

All Things? I want to dare say 'Yes'...

 

Romans 8:28 (NASB)

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
When I read this scripture this morning, I was running it in my mind over and over again. I was wanting to say, "Lord! for how long...". I didn't know how to respond to this scripture or even believe it. But I felt helpless as if I had no other option but to take it... 
I have read this scripture several times in my life. Many times it has spoken to my situation and many a time, I have honestly felt disheartened reading it as I felt that my trials are never-ending for me. Like a plaintiff who argues his case in the court of law, I have many a time presented my case to God asking for justice and fairness. Though I wouldn't have received immediate answers from Him, I would be reminded of one specific scripture which stands as the foundation of my faith....
Psalm 89:14 (NASB)
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
 Faith is not based on feelings or even on a situation. Faith is based on the unwavering Word of God. Sometimes, our situations and feelings may corner us to the extent that we want to give up and quit believing Him. But no we can't, for we realize that He is the one who is holding us and we not holding onto Him.
Irrespective of the fact that my case remains pending in His court, I just dare to believe that all things work for my good...not because that I am good, but the One who called me is good and faithful. Amen. 

Do we still need SIGNS?

It is common for believers in Christ to expect God's working in their lives through signs and miracles. We expect that God give us a sign either by answering our prayers in a way that we expect or do something to demonstrate His love and care. God does answer us and He does show us signs of His love and care. Yet sometimes we are left with nothing but His word. During times when there is no sign of God's presence or His working in our lives, even the Word of God may seem blank in our lives. Haven't we felt that?

Questions can linger in our minds when there is absence of God's signs. The waiting period can be long and weary. These are times when questions about God's love and intervention can be doubted. A weak soul can easily be wearied and lose hope. But at such times, it wont be unreasonable to ask God to renew or strengthen our faith to believe in His unfailing love towards us.

I didn't ask God to renew my faith. But nevertheless He did it for me. I personally was revived about God's love and intervention in my life when I narrated my life testimony to a friend. I never planned or thought that I will share my testimony to her. It was a casual conversation and I narrated how I met with Jesus, how I came to believe and follow Him and His wonderful blessings in my life. I am not sure whether my testimony influenced her, but I knew it was a powerful reminder to me to the extent that the very reality of me living without health complications is nothing but His pure grace.

My faith was revived. I cannot deny His love, His presence or His interventions in my life. I did not earn any of these but He gave it to me because of His love for me...

Oh! How much more of proof do I need? If for the present time I am allowed to face some lengthy trials, does that mean He no more cares for me or doubt His selection of me? I seldom not do that even if trials are pulling me down day in and out. I got to rely on His faithfulness for He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow...Amen!

Hebrews 13:8 (NASB)
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever

He can Never Forget

There can be times where we are left with nothing but pain and hurts and the most common question asked by the people of God is where is God when it hurts? Praying, arguing, complaining and moaning nothing works with God. Every man and woman of God has gone through this phase in life and they have found that God has not answered their prayers or given them an explanation for why they are going through such pain or mental agony. Every Christian understands that God has a reason for why He allows certain things in their lives. But this simple answer doesn't soothe an aching soul. It hurts all the more.

What do one do during such times? People turn to fellow believers for prayer and support. For some it may serve as a temporary relief at least to know they have other believers to pray and say a word of encouragement to them. Yet the deepest hurts of the heart cannot be healed by applying a balm. These agonies of the heart are so interlinked with other aspects of life that sometimes it can seem like as if faith or life seems to be purposeless. It is almost like faith is at the brink of being lost. Yet amidst all these believers are only left with the knowledge of God and His faithfulness. Even the presence of God may seem to be lacking.

During such times, though the Lord may not answer prayers as a believer expects, His Spirit does take them to times of old to remind them of God and His faithfulness in their lives by bringing those memories afresh. A believer is allowed to soar to the past and remember how the Lord helped them or intervened in times of their toughest trials.

I was reminded of this truth with a powerful scripture that speaks of the Lord's love and His faithfulness.
Isaiah 49:15 (NIV)
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!

Being a mom, I can never imagine a mother who can neglect her nursing baby. I doubt if there can be a mother of that kind. The scripture says even if there a mother who can afford to forget her nursing child, the Lord says He will never do that ...I would rather say "He can never do that".

Faithfulness is a characteristic of our Lord Jesus Christ and He very well demonstrated that on the Cross. He died not only for the sinners but even for the faithless. Those who trusted and followed Him; and those who received healing from Him were among the crowd that jeered Him. Yet even for them He died on the Cross faithfully.

If such is the love that Christ demonstrated for us and if He seems silent for the hurts and pain we go through, He is neither indifferent to our pain nor is neglecting it. He knows and He cares. He knows how to get us through it...

Two Side of a Coin

Its a while since I wrote a post on building relationship with others. Perhaps God wanted me to have a rich experience of both positive and negative sides of relationships before I pen down a post on relationships. This month perhaps from the end of January God has been taking me through varied experiences with respect to relationships. I got to experience that people got to acknowledged the love we showed them, are able to respond back with same kind of love and do their best in terms of expression of love like hospitality, love, care and genuine concern.

I had been blessed to be united to my husband's side cousins whom we had not met for many years. The richness of positive experience stays with us afresh every time my husband and I think and talk about our trip to his native place. Even before that the Lord had blessed me to get connected with my husband's cousin last November (who is more like a friend to me as we have similar kind of attitude and characteristics).

On the other hand, there has also been my share of negative experiences with people when I tried to be my original self; when I stood for what I believed to be right in doing good for others; when I tried to forget the past (being blamed for others' choice) and build relationships afresh...

What God made me realize from these two experiences is that...life is like the two face of a coin...you have both the head and the tail. So relationships that we may try to build selflessly with no secret agenda or wrong motive can still afford to produce both positive and negative results. Its up to us how we take it...

While I tried to take the negative strike on a lighter note, I was reminded of one scripture that helped my mind to be put at ease

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NASB)

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 [a]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Happiness of Sharing

One last thing I would like to touch on the topic of happiness. Happiness comes when we perceive others the way we perceive ourselves. All of us have a good perception of ourselves that we are right, we are intellects, we are good people at heart and more importantly, we are God's children. When we have the maturity to look at others in the same way we look at ourselves then we will have happiness. Only when we are able to appreciate the positive things in others we will be happy.

Sometimes, in spite of we being able to appreciate others' individuality, talents and good traits the other individual may not like us. In such cases we need to understand that it is fine if the other person does not like us though we may be good to them. It is absolutely alright. It is not necessary that we have to be likeable by all...

But once we develop the attitude of loving others, accepting others and appreciating others for their individual positive traits, God will definitely bring into our circle those people who appreciate the love and the friendship we give and share with others selflessly without restraint.

As Smith Wigglesworth the 20th century evangelist says "when you have the love, joy and the presence of the Lord in you, you cannot stop yourselves but emit the same when you meet others". The love and the joy of God is contagious. It will be accepted by those whose heart is ready for it. A heart that is open without deceit, hypocrisy and manipulation.

When we are able to experience the love, joy and the presence of God we cannot afford to hold it ourselves but leak it to others...

Matthew 22:37-40The Message (MSG)
 Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them