Resurrection Living

Dec 7 – John 11:25

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…”

Another “I am” statement.  I AM the resurrection.

Resurrection.  I’m going to be honest with you – there is so much power in that word, but I do not even begin to understand it.  I know that somehow “resurrection” means hope for me and hope for this world of ours.  I know that somehow, it speaks of a loving God who exists above and beyond death and who gives us the opportunity to experience part of his nature in that way.

“He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…”  What if it’s true that we don’t live until we die?  Not in the literal sense (though I think that may be true as well) but in the figurative sense.  Until I am willing to give up the things I want in order to pursue the things of God, I haven’t lived.  Maybe people from other religions who try so hard to live without wanting anything, who push away their senses to attain some different level of reality – I think maybe they missed the point.  The point of our lives is not be devoid of emotion or of desire but to surrender both of those things to God.  2 Corthinthians 5:17 says that “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”  New emotions, new desires come!  THAT is the abundant life Jesus talks about.

What better “alternate reality” to live in than a world where we experience only the things of God.  Our desires die, not in a way that removes our humanity but in such a way that what we want is replaced with stronger and purer desires of the One who created us.  That is when we begin to experience life – once we have put aside the desires we are born with that we can often sense are not of God and allow them to be upstaged by the glorious passion of a Father and a risen Savior who wants to live in and through us.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

On the Potter’s Wheel OR Your Life as Clay!

Sept 22-23 In The Potter’s Hands

I’m going to just start by saying that I LOVE the weekend article that we’re looking at today.  If you don’t have a copy of DevoZine, at least borrow one or something to check it out.  Going deeper into the metaphors God provides in the Bible is so incredibly cool!  I’ll hit some of the highlights in and around my own thoughts.

All right.  Let’s see what we have here…Here’s something I didn’t know.  We do know that potters shape the clay while it is spinning on a wheel, right?  In order to work with the clay, it has to be in the center of the wheel.  (Hmm…Funny that we should mention “centering” so recently.  Believe it or not, that was not planned beforehand.  See?  Further proof that God is cool!  )  But how does the potter know when it’s centered?  The potter knows the clay is centered on the wheel when it stops moving around.  A few weeks ago, we looked at Psalm 46 and I called special attention to Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God.”  Find God as your center.  Place Him right in the middle of everything else in your life and you will find that He gives you the ability to be still.  Yes, to be still even when the world around you is spinning out of control.  To be still when you aren’t even sure which way is up.  And when you cannot center yourself, be still enough to allow the Potter to center you.

Next, think about the shaping of clay.  Once it has been centered on the wheel, the potter begins to hollow it out and form the lump of wet gray mess into something beautiful.  But what if the clay fought back?  “What?!” you might say.  No, really.  What if the clay fought back?  I know it takes some imagination, but what if the clay began to harden itself so the potter could do nothing with it?  Or what if the clay kept trying to shape itself into something other than what the potter wanted to make?  It sounds ridiculous when we think of a lump of clay like this but we are supposed to be that clay.  So often, I feel myself fighting back against what God is trying to do with me.  “No, God.  I don’t want to change that part of me.  I’m comfortable with the way it is!”  So may we all learn to relax in the hand of the Potter and allow Him to form us just as He wants us to be.

The next part is the hardest part – the firing.  To harden the clay into something useful, it has to be fired.  This involves placing the finished pot in a very hot oven for quite a long time.  And then once it’s taken out of the oven, it cools, is glazed, and then goes back in the oven.  It is one thing to find ourselves in the center of God.  It is one thing to learn to relax enough that the Potter can shape us according to His will.  But what about this intense heat we have to go through?  Is it really necessary?  Yes.  Because we can be shaped just right but the fire is what gives us strength.  A bowl beautifully crafted won’t do much good if it is too soft to hold anything.  So what does this fire look like?  It will be different for every person.  There will be difficult circumstances that hurt, that you have to fight through, and that push you almost to your breaking point, but God will walk with you the entire way and you will be stronger for it in the end, ready to be used for the purposes for which He created you.

And finally, we have the finished product.  We, as humans, are never completely finished.  We are always a work in progress.  This process will happen over and over agin in our lives.  Sometimes, we will find ourselves just trying to be still and find the center once again.  Other times, we will sense that God is preparing us for something wonderful ahead.  We generally recognize when the fires of life come but sometimes we forget that God uses them for His glory.  And then there are times when we will see the ways that God is using us with the form and strength He has crafted.  Sometimes, He may even allow us to peek back through the entire process and see how far we have come.

But we have this treasure [the spirit of Jesus Christ] in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

The spirit of Christ is not inside gold vases, silver trinkets, or temple walls.  The spirit of Christ is inside of us, fragile jars of clay, though we are, and because of that, to God be the glory. 

Flawed Pots and the Dreams of God

Sept 18 – A Little Lump of Clay 

All right.  It’s time for English class.  Does anyone remember what a metaphor is?  Come on…Think hard…Ok.  Enough thinking for now.    If you didn’t remember, I’ll remind you.  A metaphor is sort of like a symbol; something is used to represent something else.  In case you didn’t know, God is a big fan of these.  He uses people’s lives as His metaphors in the Old Testament and Jesus uses parables as metaphors in the New Testament (or perhaps parables are more like similes, but I digress).  One of the easier-to-understand metaphors is found in Jeremiah 18.  God tells Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house where Jeremiah begins watching the man at his work.  In verse 6, God says, “…[C]an I not do with you as this potter does?…Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand…”

We will look deeper into this metaphor in a few days but right now, take a look at verse 4.  This is my favorite. 

But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Some days, all I can see are my flaws.  I wonder what God could ever do with me, knowing that He sees how messed up I am too.  There are even times when I wonder if He has put me down to come back to at a later time.  But did you catch that phrase “marred in his hands“?  Scarred in his hands.  Imperfect in his hands.  We are not finished until the Potter says so and even when we’re looking our worst, He is holding us.

And the Potter doesn’t stop there.  Look at the last part of the verse.  God sees the flaws we have and shapes us as seems best to him.  He takes the imperfect and makes it into something beautiful because He sees in us, not what we are, but what we can be.  Enjoy being molded by your Potter!

(For some crazy metaphors in the lives of the prophets, check out Isaiah 20:2-4, Ezekiel 4:1-13, and the book of Hosea or just Hosea 1:1-3.)

Sept 19 – Shaped

Have you ever stood in front of a great work of art?  It doesn’t matter if it’s a painting or a sculpture or an abstraction that I don’t begin to understand – I am amazed by what I see.  My mom is the real art connoisseur in our family and she has to remind me now and then while I’m looking at a painting, “That started with a blank canvas!”  or “That used to be just a huge chunk of marble!”  I agree with today’s author in that I do not understand how artists see greatness in something completely blank, bare, and plain.

And yet that is what God sees in us.  God made humans from dirt!  (Genesis 2:7)  Can you believe that?  All of our individuality and intricacy come from dirt?  That blows my mind!  Talk about something from nothing!  But each life that God places on Earth is a valuable part of His creation.  No matter who we are or where we come from, we can be assured that God has created us individually and intimately.  Look at Psalm 139.  God knit us together in our mother’s womb! (verse 13)  (Imagine those incredible hands of God knitting.  Those would be some huge knitting needles!  Not that He made us like a grandmother makes a blanket but still, it’s a great image  ) 

Our physical form is not the only aspect of our lives that God is involved with.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”  Our powerful-yet-personal God has incredible dreams for us!  How awesome is that?  His dreams for us are so much greater than the dreams we have for ourselves.  Don’t sell yourself short!

Today, remember how much God cares for you.  Consider the time and attention He gave when He made you.  Allow yourself to dream about the great things God has planned for you – but remember to follow His dreams first for your life. 

Strength in Weakness and Learning to Center

Sept 15-16  Singer/Songwriter Jason Gray: The Loser Finds a Voice 

I just love stories like this.  How awesome is it when God uses someone’s exact weakness to become their strength?!?  I mean, seriously!  Guy has a major stuttering problem – God gives him a career as a singer.  That doesn’t just happen.  That is God and that is cool.

One of the reasons I like these stories so much is that, secretly (or not so secretly), I want it to be my story.  Could God really take one of the things I am most insecure about and use it in my life in a big way?  It seems so impossible to me.  But could He really do that?  Yeah.  I guess He could. 

In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul spends some time talking about his weaknesses.  Here is my favorite section, verses 9-10:

[The Lord] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

I can just see God asking, “Where is My child the most insecure?  What is he most afraid of?  What does she want to do that she thinks she never could?  Where have I kept him the weakest?”  If God uses those parts of us, we will know without a doubt that it is God at work in us and not our skill or hard work causing us to succeed.  God receives all the glory.

Whenever you worry about the things you’re not so good at, think about that first verse.  God’s power is made perfect in your weakness – He is able to show everyone just how great He is in you! 

Sept 17 – Molded by Movies

Last night at youth group, we talked about what kinds of things people have at the center of their lives.  Some of our youth said things like family and friends, school, or themselves.  Others wrote down chorus, softball, or band.  Other people might have money, success, church, or music at the center of their lives.  It’s probably not too hard for you to imagine one of these things (or something like them) being at the center of your life, but what would happen if you put God in the center?

Whatever your “center” is is probably where you spend the majority of your time and what you spend the most time thinking about.  Whether you want to face it or not, these things will influence the ways you act and think.  Many different things in our lives mold us, but perhaps nothing more than the people we spend time with.  Proverbs 13:20 says “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”  Basically, you are who you hang out with! 

Today, think about the things and the people you have at the center of your life.  Consider ways that you might start to move God more to the center of your life, and ask Him to mold you into the person He wants you to become.

Hallway Horrors – A Change in Conversation and Loving Like Jesus

Sept 10 – The Power of Jest

The verse for today is one of my favorites.  I think it came in most handy in high school when I had to work on keeping my conversations positive, and I wish I had had it in middle school when joking quickly turned inappropriate or vulgar.  The magazine gives you part of it but here’s the whole thing:

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.  – Ephesians 5:3-4

Um, how hard is this to do???  “Not…even a hint”?  In today’s world, that’s practically impossible!  That being said though, we are chosen by God to be His holy people.  The word “holy” means “set apart.”  Sure, everyone else at school or on TV might be diving into sexual immorality or making fun of people or bad language but that doesn’t mean that you need to – set yourselves apart for God by living as an example in the way that you talk with your friends.  Take on that challenge to remove all of that kind of language and conversation from your daily life. 

One day this week when you’re hanging out with your friends, I encourage you to stop and listen.  Is the majority of conversation negative?  Vulgar?  Filled with sexual jokes or swearing?  If this is something you feel convicted about (feeling guilty with the desire to change), consider what it would take for you to stop participating in that with your friends.  I’m not asking you to stop talking to them or even to say anything to them about the things they talk about, but take responsibility for you and clean up your act.  Don’t be surprised if people notice and be prepared to share with them that you’re trying to make your language pleasing to God and uplifting to other people.

 

Sept 11 – All Alone

The girl who wrote this story has walked a difficult road.  Not only did she have a baby in high school, something which requires swallowing a lot of pride and great emotional strength, but she also faced the cruel abandonment of her friends.

There are so many issues and struggles people go through that seem to drive away friends who don’t know how to react or who are too fast to judge.  Some people might struggle with depression, other mental illness, pornography, self-injury, or same-sex attraction.  Others may have gone through a pregnancy at a very early age, had an abortion, or experienced abuse.  Some may have gone through the death or illness of a parent or close friend.  Any or all of these things have been known in the past (and present) to shame or isolate the very person who is already hurting.  When we surround the people in these situations with love, we recognize the hurt they have been through and demonstrate our willingness to walk through their struggles with them, giving them the hope and assurance that they are not alone and have someone to lean on when times get tough.  Even though it may be hard for us (and for them) and even though they may mess up along the way, our hope-giving love and understanding in the midst of these situations can literally save someone’s life. 

In John 8:1-11, Jesus’ wise words save a woman from being stoned (killed by having rocks thrown at her) after she had an affair with someone’s husband.  There are many lessons to take away from this story but what I wonder tonight is if anyone walked with her after Jesus rescued her.  Did some woman from her village take her hand and tell her she would help her as she fought to change her life?  Did anyone love her enough to say “Yeah, I know what you did, but you’re after a different life now.  How can I support?”  Would I have done that?  I wonder.

Ask God to expand your heart to include the people who struggle with things you don’t understand.  Pray for the wisdom to know when to reach out and the courage to follow through.  It’s one of the best ways I know to “be Jesus” to someone.

*Sidenote:  The verse from today is what the Hebrews verse from last week quotes.  Deuteronomy 31:8b says “[The Lord] will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed.”