Journeying with Jesus

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Even as the nails were being driven into his hands and feet, Jesus was saying these words. With every blow of the hammer pounding into his fists.

Were the Roman soldiers sorry? Did the Pharisees express any remorse? Did they offer an apology?

No.

Yet, Jesus offers forgiveness. Unilateral forgiveness or one-sided forgiveness. He didn’t need them to be sorry or ask for forgiveness. 

He showed us what it means to give up your rights. Even your right for retaliation. 

In doing so, he dies free from resentment. He said the words aloud to show us what it means to release people from a hold of anger and, in turn, release ourselves from the pressure cooker of bitterness.

Bringing It Home

Whom do I need to release in forgiveness just as Christ has forgiven me? Am I willing to let go of my right to retaliation? Am I trusting God to vindicate me and my cause?

Lean In

Father God, I don’t deserve the forgiveness that you offer so freely through your Son. I pray that you will help me give up my right of being right, and my right to retaliation. Help me know that when I release people in forgiveness, I am, in fact, releasing myself to live a fuller, freer life. Amen.

Source

3 Encouraging Truths to Remember When Life Gets Hard…

Think about the disciples hanging out with Jesus on a boat when a life-threatening storm erupts on the water. They’re unprepared to face it and, panicking, realize they might die. The entire time this is happening, Jesus is sleeping peacefully.

Instead of looking at Jesus’ reaction to their situation, the disciples allowed their situation to dictate their reactions.

After begging Jesus to do something, He calms the storm… But not before asking them, “Why are you afraid?”

Continued

Imitate Jesus

You hear it often: follow Jesus and life will be better.
Is this the real reason of wanting to become like Him? To have a better life?

In order to answer this question satisfactorily, we need to study His life in the Gospels and discover the type of a man He was.

In the Gospels, it is made very clear that Jesus is the Son of God who pre-existed with the Father before the beginning of the world and everything that was created "was for Him and by Him". ( John 1: 1-3)

Jesus humbled Himself by becoming a man with the intention of reconciling man to God thereby restoring the broken relationship between Creator and Creature that was initiated in the Garden of Eden through disobedience and the consequent Fall of Man. ( Colossians 1: 15-20)

Bottom line of His story is that He lowered Himself to become a Man to live a human life like you and I live with the exception that His life was sinless and He gave it up for our salvation and the remission of our sins.

Throughout His short life, Jesus showed us how to live as a man and not as a God. He grew up learning to obey His earthly parents, He laughed and He cried, He showed love and compassion and at times He exhibited anger in the face of evil, He became lonely, hungry and thirsty and tempted like us but with the exception that He did not commit any sin.

And this is what makes His life a great example to follow. It was possible for Him to live without sinning because He stayed in communication with the Father through prayer and relied on the power of the Holy Spirit to perform His many miracles of healing,  love and compassion.

It was not God who died on the cross but Jesus the man. The nails were real. The pain from torture, the spilled blood, the agony and feelings of despair when the sins of the world were all falling on Him when God the Father turned His face away from His Son, were all too real.

Yes, Jesus felt the ultimate abandonment when He shouted "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27: 46). But despite this He knew His mission was completed when He cried out , Tetelestai, It is Finished !

Therefore, to follow Jesus means to do the type of things that He did. We need to love one another, show compassion, help the needy, fight for justice and be prepared to die if necessary to protect the weak and downtrodden and do the things that are pleasing to God by staying in constant communication through prayer and delving into His Holy Scriptures for guidance and inspiration.

Is life going to be better because of this? Not necessarily. One thing is certain: It will be right and our actions will be pleasing to our Creator and that is good enough for me. Praise the Lord!

John Costouros,
In His Service