Constant Appeal...

An important understanding gained during Jesus’ walk to the cross is how His words revealed His reasons…
“When they got to the place called Skull Hill, they crucified him… Jesus prayed, ‘Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.” ~Luke 23:33-34
Jesus death was indeed a great act of love. But the reason beneath the act is what gives it great meaning. As He hung on the cross, He uttered these words, “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing”. I wonder if sometimes this simple sentence gets lost amidst the more poignant parts in the crucifixion retelling. If His paying the price for our ransom with His blood wasn’t enough, He called out to the Father that we be forgiven even before He died. He based this appeal on a very human truth, that mankind simply didn’t realize the full extent of our sinful actions and couldn’t comprehend how deeply we contradicted the world of God’s holiness. It’s a powerful thing when a dying son makes a last request to a Father. Can we even begin to understand how those few words affected Jesus’ father? If anything reveals Christ’s greatest desire for coming to earth, these words would be it. When you put all of Christ’s appeals in order; His prayers for us listed in John, this appeal on the cross and then His ascension to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father to plead for us daily, it’s a continuous truth. What would we do if we didn’t have a Savior making such a CONSTANT APPEAL for us! ~Verlon

included...

If there was ever a message communicated by God at the cross, it’s His willingness to embrace us and pull us again to Himself. Jesus spent His last moments of strength proving this great desire yet again…
“One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him. But the other one made him shut up; ‘Have you no fear of God? We deserve this, but not him, he did nothing to deserve this’. Then he said, ‘Jesus remember me when you enter your kingdom.’ He said, ‘don’t worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise.” ~Luke 23:39-43
I love this part of the cross story. The fact that Jesus spends his final moments reaching out for ‘whosoever will’ is a wonderful thing for us to behold. John later wrote that Jesus didn’t come to condemn us, but to save us. And did Jesus ever prove that in these final actions. Many people don’t let the Savior help them because they have done horrible things…but Jesus’ final act before He died was to ‘include’ a criminal. Others don’t let the Savior help them because they think their opportunity has run out…but Jesus was available to ‘include’ right up to His very last breath. Still others don’t let the Savior help them because they don’t know how to ask…but Jesus included the man who asked only to be remembered. Paul says that those who even call on the Lord will be saved. If Jesus’ final interaction on the cross proved anything, it’s that anyone who will reach toward the Savior in any way…will be INCLUDED! ~Verlon

separation...

Jesus’ steps to the cross to become the Savior of the world was indeed the most important event our world has ever encountered. Every person to ever walk on earth’s soil would be affected by His actions.
“From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani’, which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” ~Matt. 27:45-46
The untimely darkness set a perfect mood for what was occurring. The injustice of hanging the undefiled son of God die on a criminals tree was too unimaginable to watch. So God ordered the sun to stop shining. Then as Jesus embodied the historic role of the scapegoat and took upon Himself the sin of all mankind for all time, God had to look away, His holiness couldn’t look upon the sin. At that moment Jesus felt something He’d never encountered, separation from the Godhead. So He cried out from the agony of the divine emptiness. That was worse than the physical pain by far. But if He was to be the Savior of the world, He would engage in the work of taking sins far away from the people. This action caused His undefiled nature to be marred. It also caused the unity of the trinity to endure its first and only fracture. But amazingly, it was a price they were willing to pay. Jesus’ separation from the presence of God won the opportunity for us to find SEPARATION from our sin. ~Verlon

Margin...

Finding white space for ourselves is tough in our culture. There are so many things to do, and all of them seem so urgent. I remember reading a small book entitled, “tyranny of the urgent”, which pointed out that just because something felt urgent didn’t mean we were supposed to respond immediately. There is an ‘urgent’ trigger in our brain that marketers understand. If they can create urgency regarding their product, people will rush right down to their store and stand in line to get that ‘last offer’ chrome plated blender. We live in a time when there are many skilled voices trying to push our urgent button. But there is a cost to consistently chasing the urgent…
“Sow your land for six years and gather in its crops, but in the seventh year leave it alone and give it a rest so that your poor may eat from it. what they leave, let the wildlife have. Do the same with your vineyards and olive groves. Work for six days and rest the seventh so your ox and donkey may rest and your servant and migrant workers may have time to get their needed rest.” ~Ex. 23:10-12
God loves us. And he built us to need rest. Here He even gives a ratio for us to understand about ourselves. For every six days of work, we need one to just rest. We even need to rest our income and spending sources. If we don’t, sooner or later we will have to work on our day off to manage our investment or to pay for what we overspent. And then we get tired and worried and sick. Do you need to restore some white space in your life?...regain some MARGIN? ~Verlon

Love Changes Many Things...

There are many lenses through which we can view this life. Some look through the lens of self interest, trying to find the best deal for themselves. Others look through the lens of self defeat, convinced that they are the eternal loser and deserve nothing. Still others look through the lens of survival, worrying about everything. Here’s another view…
“But suppose a slave should say, I love my master…I don’t want my freedom, then his master is to bring him before God and pierce his ear with an awl, a sign that he is a slave for life.” ~Ex. 21:5-6
This verse is part of the instructions Moses gave the people of Israel along with the 10 commandments. There was a serious need for a set of rules to established their newly developing society. And right in the middle of all the social responsibility talk, this most interesting portion arises in wonderful contrast. Love is a topic that goes against the grain so many times. What slave in his right mind would ignore freedom? One that loved his master! The potential of love changing the normal course of things was real enough that Moses had to make allowance for it in the law. The Apostle Paul picked up on this cross-current truth too by teaching that our relationship with Christ can be so motivated by love that we willingly enter into life-time slavery with Him. John picked up on it too, stating that this kind of love makes fear melt away. Love is a great way to view the world. It’s a great way to walk with Christ…LOVE CHANGES MANY THINGS! ~Verlon

First Attention...

I read recently that if you live near a large city you will see 2400 marketing messages every day. With so many things reaching out for our attention, it takes effort to stay focused on what’s important. God established our prime focus point long ago…
“You’ve experienced firsthand how I spoke with you from Heaven. Don’t make gods of silver and gods of gold and set them alongside me” ~Ex. 20:22
God showed Himself to Israel on the mountain in an awesome display of power. Then Moses ascended into the smoke to talk with God face to face. That is a major story all its own. During that conversation God delivered the 10 commandments. The first commandment He gave was ‘don’t have any other gods before me’. That was the biggest thing on God’s mind for His newly adopted people. He wanted to be their first affection! In the land at that time there were visible gods for nearly every human desire. The people they would be displacing in the land of Canaan had gods, gods and more gods. The temptation would be high for Israel to reach for one of these visible idols rather than continuing to trust the invisible God. We have the same temptation today. It’s easy to give our attention to many of the visible desire available today and overlook the call of the invisible leader who lives inside us. Easy as it might be, it limits our flow of strength. Christ makes it clear that He longs to be our FIRST ATTENTION. So many things hang in the balance of that commitment. ~Verlon

Stand In Awe...

The image of God that we hold inside us is very important. If we see Him as docile, then our sense of security suffers. However if we see Him as stronger than the strong, we are greatly encouraged as we walk with Him. God has gone to great lengths to reveal Himself as He really is. Here is one of those times…
“On the third day at daybreak there were loud claps of thunder, flashes of lightning, a thick cloud covered the mountain. Mount Sinai was all smoke because God had come down on it as fire. Smoke poured from it like smoke from a furnace. The whole mountain shuddered in huge spasms. Exodus 19:16,18
The repeating incidents of Israel doubting Gods strength to provide water and food and protection from attacking hoards revealed something in the people that needed to be addressed. Perhaps what Israel needed more than anything was an adequate vision of God. That’s what they got on this day. God came down in fire and smoke and peals of lightening and thunder and earthquake rumblings. And the people saw the raw strength of God. It was more power than they’d ever realized. In fact, it kind of shook them up. This isn’t the only time God showed Himself this way. He did a similar show of strength for Elijah some time later. There is value in this knowledge of God. It’s a wonderful day when we get a glimpse of Him as strong beyond measure and bold on our behalf. Many things change when we behold Him and STAND IN AWE! ~Verlon

Treasured...

Our relationship with God is a very wondrous thing. It seems however in this day there are those who think they made the relationship happen. I am sure this comes from the idea that they chose God. This reveals a very shallow understanding, because God has gone to great lengths to bridge the gap so the divine connection be restored. Lets look at how God forged the relationship with the house of Jacob…
“If you will listen obediently to what I say…out of all peoples you’ll be my special treasure. The whole earth is mine to choose from, but you’re special; a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” ~Ex.19:5-6
God spoke this to Israel only weeks after their escape from Egypt. I am sure that after centuries of slavery this divine preference felt like cool rains on dry and thirsty hearts. Here they were, being sought and chosen by God to be His treasure. Wow! He could have chosen any nation on the earth, but He chose them. Their close proximity to God made them a very blessed people. In fact, they lived and functioned more like priests than the other nations with common concerns. This is an amazing back-drop to our story. At the cross Jesus opened the door for all of us to enter into the ‘preferred family’ of the Father. John 3:16 speaks of God’s grand intention to re-gather all His children to His heart…for ‘whosoever is willing’. I find it an amazing thing that we can have a life that functions like a priest of the Lord. I find it even more amazing that we are beheld by God as TREASURED! ~Verlon

Flourish...

We all face a couple questions when it comes to engaging in this life. First we have to find out what to do, then we have to find out how to do it. Some become overwhelmed by these two questions and disconnect from the pursuit. They become floaters in society. But others face them squarely and find their way. They ‘struggle forward’. Did you know there is a similar learning curve associated with engaging in the works of Christ?
“If you handle the work this way, you’ll have the strength to carry out whatever God commands, and the people in their settings will flourish also.” ~Ex. 18:23
Moses had now led Israel to freedom from the Egyptians, provided miraculous supplies of water, meat & bread in the wilderness, and defeated their first attacking army. A rhythm was now forming in this new nation. But daily oversight issues were now consuming Moses. Long lines of people were forming before Moses for his help. When Moses’ father-in-law saw this he protested to Mo wearing such a big load. He recommended appointing others to judge the peoples cases so Moses could focus on teaching. Isn’t it interesting, that in a day where God was very specific about what He wanted, He left it up to Moses and his counselors to figure this out for themselves? And sure enough, when they organized themselves differently Moses and the nation flourished. There are right ways and wrong ways to carry Christ's’ work. Its up to us to find where we FLOURISH! ~Verlon

By Ourselves...

We live in a culture that deeply values individual rights. It’s written right into the preamble of our constitution and our declaration of Independence. That attitude has immersed itself in almost every area of American life. This attitude has made us strong in some ways, but there is a downside to it…
“It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. But Moses got tired. So Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side.” Ex. 17:11-12
Israel was facing their first fight after leaving Egypt. As they traveled through the land, the nations that lived there were threatened by their numbers. So they decided to make war against them, thinking they weren’t organized enough yet to defend themselves well. And it was true, Israel was outmatched. But on the day of the clash, Moses stood on a hill and lifted up his staff, releasing the authority of God over the battle. This was an invisible tactic, but it had an obvious effect. To release God’s authority into situations continues to have real effects, even in our day. But exercising this kind of raw faith and focused prayer takes energy. Even the great ones soon become tired. It is at this point we all need friends to stand with us. There is a time to stare down our independent nature and let others stand in faith with us, lift up our hands beside us, and ruggedly trust God to carry the day for us. Not a one of us can always be strong BY OURSELVES! ~Verlon

Something Out Of Nothing...

There’s an old saying, we all want to see miracles but none of us want to find ourselves in need of one. If we are following God’s plan, we will see plenty of both.
“Directed by God, the whole company of Israel moved on by stages from the Wilderness of Sin. They set camp at Rephidim. And there wasn’t a drop of water for the people to drink.” ~Ex. 17:1
Here, Israel was being clearly directed by God. And yet in the space of a few days they ran out of food and ran out of water. We sometimes deride the Israelites for complaining, but we get rather grumpy when we run out of the basics too. But remember, they didn’t starve to death or thirst to death, they just ran out of supplies. There is a big difference between running out and actually being in need. We tend to merge those realities together in the mush of our fears. After they ran out, God showed up! That’s a good line to keep in mind. (say that to yourself a few times). Yesterday it was food that ran out, today it’s water. And true to form God did one of those inconceivable miracles. He instructed Moses to strike a rock with his staff, and water gushed forth for the entire million or so to drink, bathe, wash and revel in. Every grand story in scripture had its challenges. Every God directed path led straight into lack, and then right into miraculous provision. So why would it be any different for us? God has brought that same game to our lives too. In fact, he has a rather long resume of making SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING! ~Verlon

Cool Stuff...

Memory is a funny thing. We remember a couple things and everything else melds into mush as years pass. In time we color entire seasons of our life by a few events. And when things get hard now we romanticize the past, even when it wasn’t all that good.
“The whole company of Israel complained in the wilderness. Why didn’t God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat? You’ve brought us out into this wilderness to starve.” ~Ex. 16:3
This verse makes me laugh. Israel was only a few days into the wilderness, and were running out of food. Even though God had done amazing miracles in the previous week, they still weren’t wired to make room for Him to do more. They became convinced they were going to starve and longed for the ‘comfort’ of Egypt. Comfort? What comfort? They were forced to bake bricks in the hot sun from sunrise to sunset and were beaten if they lagged. They had their infants ripped from their arms and killed for population control. They were slaves! And now, rather than facing this challenge squarely, they sulked and longed for the past, that wasn’t actually a very good past. We do that too. By the way, they woke up the next morning to bread with honey on it falling from the sky and quail flying into their camp that evening. That provision continued every day for 40 years. My point? Don’t lust for the comforts of yesterday, they weren’t that good and What God has planned for you and me today is pretty COOL STUFF. ~Verlon