Bless the name of Jesus for His Resurrection!
We know and we are thankful that Jesus is ALIVE!! HALLELUJAH! The grave could not hold Him. "O, death, where is your sting?" (You don't have one... praise the Lord!) Jesus got up on that cross and took upon Himself the sins of the world, so that we (you and me) could live. HE got up on that cross, because He said Himself, no man can take My life, unless I lay it down. And that's what He did. He died before they took His life. (He died on the way to the cross). Hallelujah! They hung Him high, they stretched Him wide but on that third day, HE GOT UP.
And we all know how it came to be that Jesus was put to death. He made some "very important people" upset with Him. (Just a little sidenote, don't be so quick to get a VIP status). These VIPs were offended by Jesus, by some of the things He did, some of the things He said. He was more than a man, (they thought it and they knew it). He was God. And they didn't like it. He wasn't good enough to be God. He was just a carpenter's son. (That's the problem with VIPs, often times, people aren't good enough for anything).
And one day one of Jesus' very own disciples betrayed Him. But Jesus knew he would, because He said so when they sat at that Last Supper that day. And He even told him, whatever you are going to do, do it quickly. Let's get this thing over with. And we all know that it was Judas, whose name has become synonymous with betrayer. Judas... the traitor, the man who betrayed Jesus.
Now, we have to understand a little bit about betrayal. We cannot be betrayed if at first we haven't committed something of ourselves to be betrayed from. Betrayed means to be deceived. It means to be disloyal to, to go on the other side. You see Jesus committed Himself to Judas. He committed His Lordship, He committed His friendship, His trust, His Word and His love. Much like we do with others. We commit ourselves to people. Our time, our trust, our love, our care, our patience. Our hearts. Some piece of us is given away to another when we allow them to enter our inner circles. And we all have them. The imaginary boundary that we draw around our hearts, that we keep guarded and no one can come in, unless they are invited. So we cannot be betrayed, we cannot be deceived, someone cannot become disloyal to us, until and unless we give them the power to do so.
Often times though what we don't realize is that when we experience that betrayal, when someone we trusted turns against us, causes us pain, breaks our heart, it causes us to shut down. But many times, what we should do and what God has come to teach us, is to accept that it happened for our resurrection, that something may be built in us, that we may grow. Minister Jeff has been teaching so much about perseverance and trials and tribulations and the things that we grow through we should receive them with joy. Knowing that those things are God's way of teaching us to persevere. Our perseverance will give us the endurance we need to receive the promises of God.
So these betrayals build up some kind of resistance. Some kind of perseverance, and with that some kind of character, that helps us to grow and to move on. And without that betrayal, we could not have become the person that we are, or God desires us to be. And as God is teaching us, without that betrayal, that trial and tribulation, we could not receive what God promises we shall have.
When someone says they love us, especially in relationships, and they do something contrary to that or betray our trust, it causes us to be more alert the next time we're in a relationship. Maybe to take our time and get to know them better, maybe to make certain that they know God and are not just going through the motions. Maybe to use some wisdom before we take that jump and start sharing our bank accounts and living spaces. Betrayal gives us discernment that we do not make the same mistakes as before.
No Judas. No Betrayal. No Resurrection.
This is our resurrection. It is a chance for us to have a fresh start. It is an opportunity for us to start over, to begin anew. To be better than we were before. To grow.
When Jesus went to the cross and He died and rose again, He rose with newness. He rose not only with a glorified body, but with a glorified presence. He got up with all power. He was FREE. He died hurt, sorrowful, alone and burdened with sin. BUT HE AROSE. He was resurrected. He came up a different way than how He went down. This is what our Judas experience ought to do for us. Yes, we may have been knocked down, but we can get up with a renewed sense of hope. That we are not the same person that we used to be.
No Judas. No Resurrection.
So as we remember the resurrection, remember the chance that Jesus provided to resurrect those things that Judas has killed in us and know that God is making us all the better for it.
God is real.
Be blessed!
A servant of the Lord,
Sis. E
We know and we are thankful that Jesus is ALIVE!! HALLELUJAH! The grave could not hold Him. "O, death, where is your sting?" (You don't have one... praise the Lord!) Jesus got up on that cross and took upon Himself the sins of the world, so that we (you and me) could live. HE got up on that cross, because He said Himself, no man can take My life, unless I lay it down. And that's what He did. He died before they took His life. (He died on the way to the cross). Hallelujah! They hung Him high, they stretched Him wide but on that third day, HE GOT UP.
And we all know how it came to be that Jesus was put to death. He made some "very important people" upset with Him. (Just a little sidenote, don't be so quick to get a VIP status). These VIPs were offended by Jesus, by some of the things He did, some of the things He said. He was more than a man, (they thought it and they knew it). He was God. And they didn't like it. He wasn't good enough to be God. He was just a carpenter's son. (That's the problem with VIPs, often times, people aren't good enough for anything).
And one day one of Jesus' very own disciples betrayed Him. But Jesus knew he would, because He said so when they sat at that Last Supper that day. And He even told him, whatever you are going to do, do it quickly. Let's get this thing over with. And we all know that it was Judas, whose name has become synonymous with betrayer. Judas... the traitor, the man who betrayed Jesus.
Now, we have to understand a little bit about betrayal. We cannot be betrayed if at first we haven't committed something of ourselves to be betrayed from. Betrayed means to be deceived. It means to be disloyal to, to go on the other side. You see Jesus committed Himself to Judas. He committed His Lordship, He committed His friendship, His trust, His Word and His love. Much like we do with others. We commit ourselves to people. Our time, our trust, our love, our care, our patience. Our hearts. Some piece of us is given away to another when we allow them to enter our inner circles. And we all have them. The imaginary boundary that we draw around our hearts, that we keep guarded and no one can come in, unless they are invited. So we cannot be betrayed, we cannot be deceived, someone cannot become disloyal to us, until and unless we give them the power to do so.
Often times though what we don't realize is that when we experience that betrayal, when someone we trusted turns against us, causes us pain, breaks our heart, it causes us to shut down. But many times, what we should do and what God has come to teach us, is to accept that it happened for our resurrection, that something may be built in us, that we may grow. Minister Jeff has been teaching so much about perseverance and trials and tribulations and the things that we grow through we should receive them with joy. Knowing that those things are God's way of teaching us to persevere. Our perseverance will give us the endurance we need to receive the promises of God.
So these betrayals build up some kind of resistance. Some kind of perseverance, and with that some kind of character, that helps us to grow and to move on. And without that betrayal, we could not have become the person that we are, or God desires us to be. And as God is teaching us, without that betrayal, that trial and tribulation, we could not receive what God promises we shall have.
When someone says they love us, especially in relationships, and they do something contrary to that or betray our trust, it causes us to be more alert the next time we're in a relationship. Maybe to take our time and get to know them better, maybe to make certain that they know God and are not just going through the motions. Maybe to use some wisdom before we take that jump and start sharing our bank accounts and living spaces. Betrayal gives us discernment that we do not make the same mistakes as before.
No Judas. No Betrayal. No Resurrection.
This is our resurrection. It is a chance for us to have a fresh start. It is an opportunity for us to start over, to begin anew. To be better than we were before. To grow.
When Jesus went to the cross and He died and rose again, He rose with newness. He rose not only with a glorified body, but with a glorified presence. He got up with all power. He was FREE. He died hurt, sorrowful, alone and burdened with sin. BUT HE AROSE. He was resurrected. He came up a different way than how He went down. This is what our Judas experience ought to do for us. Yes, we may have been knocked down, but we can get up with a renewed sense of hope. That we are not the same person that we used to be.
No Judas. No Resurrection.
So as we remember the resurrection, remember the chance that Jesus provided to resurrect those things that Judas has killed in us and know that God is making us all the better for it.
God is real.
Be blessed!
A servant of the Lord,
Sis. E
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