Inspired by...: sacrifice

Showing posts with label sacrifice. Show all posts

Monday, May 27, 2019

It's messy. Bloody. Tragic.

Liberty may be an unalienable right but it's not guaranteed.

And it is most certainly not free.

It is paid for by the blood and sacrifice of men and women.

Today we honor them by remembering that sacrifice.

Today we honor them by continuing to stand for the truths that our forefathers set forth as self-evident.

In Remembrance,

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Inspired by . . . silence the stones

In my memories, Easter is a wash of pastel colors; fresh greens, robin eggs, lavender buds, and sunshine.

It was a time for dressing up and going to church. We knew about the cross but the concept of sacrifice was lost somewhere in the Easter baskets that were overflowing with gifts and candy.

Peanut butter eggs may be the best thing since sliced bread but the real gift of Easter is the sacrifice.

Sacrifice.

It's an unpopular concept in our world today. Prosperity is a gospel loudly proclaimed and universally accepted but someone giving out of their need rather than their excess is scarcely mentioned and rarely celebrated.

How can a world of instant, personal gratification understand a God who laid aside all His glory and power to become a man? A man who allowed Himself to be tortured and killed to save the very people who shouted, "Crucify!"?

I don't know.

But I do know that those of us who believe live a life woven with the reality of this Truth. We are the heralds of His sacrifice. Our lives: a canvas to display His glory. Our lips: an instrument to praise His name.

And silence the stones.

Shalom,

Friday, May 11, 2018

Inspired by . . . that the world may know

Have you ever done something you didn't want to do out of love for another person? I'm going to bet that you have. And when you did, it was a beautiful witness of sacrificial love.

Scripture tells us that Jesus laid aside His glory and power (Phil 2:7) when He became a man. He did this willingly, knowing the purpose of His earthly time from the drawing of His first breath.

He knew it when satan tempted Him in the desert, offering Him the Kingdom without the pain of the cross. (Matt 4:8) And He knew it that night in the garden when He asked the Father to spare Him. (Mar 14:36)

More than the manger, the garden shows me the fullness of Christ's manhood. No sane person would submit to the torture of the cross without first determining that there was no other way. Gethsemane shows me the sanity of my Savior. [click to tweet]

Before Jesus went to the garden the night of His arrest He told His disciples: "I shall not talk much longer with you, for the prince of this world approaches. He has no rights over Me, but the world must be shown that I love the Father and am doing what He commands;" (John 14:30-31)

There is no question that Jesus went willingly to the cross. His sacrifice is proof of His great love for us. But the cross is not just about us. One of the last statements Jesus makes is, "the world must be shown that I love the Father."

The cross is not only evidence of Christ's love for us, it is an affirmation of His great love for the Father. [click to tweet] One of the primary lessons of the cross is Jesus' love for God. We are often so focused on His love for us that we overlook the testimony of His love for the Father.

The enemy has degenerated love into many shades. But love is only pure when given freely. Perfect love cannot be coerced, faulted, or oppressed.

Love is a choice and when love is chosen, it is true. [click to tweet]

God gave us free will, even knowing the evil that would come of it because He could do nothing else. God is love and love is God. Love does not exist without God.

What God asked of Jesus He asks of us. Sacrifice born of love.

The acts will vary but the results are the same:

That the world will see our love for the Father.

By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples,

if ye have love one to another. (Joh 13:35)

Shalom,

Sharing inspiration here:
#TellHisStory, Faith On Fire, Grace & Truth,
Inspire Me Monday, #HeartEncouragement,
Thoughtful Thursdays, #w2wwordfilledwednesday,
Sitting Among Friends, #Glimpsesofhisbeauty
Counting My Blessings, Grace Moments,
#DanceWithJesus; Imparting Grace

Monday, March 26, 2018

Inspired by . . . Holy Week: Monday

Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for Him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with Him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples (he who was about to betray Him), said, "Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, "Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have Me." When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of Him but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (Joh 12:1-11)

Mary didn't know what she was doing. She was simply responding with love from the depths of her soul to this Man Who had changed her life.

Changed her life and asked for nothing in return.

Mary felt the reality of the cross within herself before it ever happened.

Have you ever wept at His feet? Poured out something you held in great value simply as an offering to Him?

Because of what He's done for you.

Shalom,

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Inspired by . . . Life thru My Lens 7:52

I heard the freezing rain hit the windows and went to look outside. The boughs of the cedar tree waved back at me as the wind rocked his branches. A flash of white caught my eye. A flock of Killdeer had arrived. The poor dears. Why do they always show up during foul weather, I wondered.

I wish I could talk to them. Wouldn't they like to come in and scoot around where it's warm? Oh, how I would love to fill my home with birds! But they wouldn't understand. Merely opening the door frightens them into flight.

It reminds me a bit of how the Israelites acted when God came down to them. He covered the mountain with His presence and they were terrified! They didn't understand His voice amidst the peals of thunder and bolts of lightning. They were content for Moses to speak to God for them. Then they became content to slaughter animals as a way to atone [pay] for their sins.

But God knew that all of this, the prophets and the sacrifices, were just a shadow, a mere picture of the things to come.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the Heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. (Heb 1:1-2)

God has come down to us in His image. As a baby. Grew into a man and spoke clearly to us in ways we may understand.

Therefore He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted. (Heb 2:17-18)

He has become the sacrificial lamb. Once for all; paying our debt on the cross.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Heb 9:11-14)

People respond to this truth in a variety of ways. I hope it brings you joy and gives you a yearning to learn more.

Perhaps the next time you see an animal in danger and you long to be able to speak to them, you'll remember the great lengths and great sacrifice God has made to speak to and save you.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. (Joh 3:16-17)

Happy St Valentine's Day,

Monday, May 29, 2017

Inspired by . . . sacrifice

Because I haven't found anything that says it better . . .

It is the Soldier

It is the Soldier, not the reporter

Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet,

Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer,

Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer,

Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, who salutes the flag,

Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,

Who allows the protestor to burn the flag.

~Marine Chaplain Father Dennis Edward O'Brien

In Remembrance,

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Inspired by . . . ascent into darkness

The room is bathed in a heavy golden light. I can feel the warmth of it, even though there are walls between me and the source.

I'm thinking about hell.

The darkness that Jesus descended into after He finished the work of the cross. This time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, these forty hours, is where the season of Lent, as we know it today, began. A forty-hour fast, mirroring the time Christ spent in the grave. In darkness, separated from God.

For my sin.

I've never celebrated Lent before. I wasn't raised, and have never attended churches that followed the "church calendar." I didn't even know there was such a thing. To me the church calendar was a list of scheduled activities: game night, baptism services, Mother's Day, Fall Festival, etc.

But last year, during a time when I was entering my own period of darkness, God began to show me that there is a rhythm to His days. Just as He created the seasons, Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer, there are seasons to our walk with Him. There is more to celebrate than Christmas and Easter.

I began learning about "ordinary days" - which aren't ordinary at all. I began to see that each moment, each day is sacred, when we invite God to be actively involved.

Laura Boggess, Playdates with God

This isn't easy with the lives we have and the culture in which we live. It takes attention, and a measure of discipline. That's where Lent comes in.

It's a time of emptying. A time of sorrow over the cause of Christ's death.

My sin.

To me - a non-churched in the ways of Lent person - fasting {or giving something up} is not the point. Creating space in my life for my relationship with God, is the point. Maybe I have to give up something to create that space, maybe I don't, either way, the focus is on God, not MY sacrifice.

This year, I have decided to join my friend, Kimberlee Conway Ireton, in meditating on the Psalms of Ascent during this time. As she says,

During Lent we get to journey with Jesus as He makes His way to Jerusalem for the last time. What better songs to sing in this season than these Psalms of Ascent, sojourning songs of the faithful? What better way to prepare for the Triduum than to meditate on these pilgrim songs, songs our Lord Himself sang as He climbed the mountain of the Lord, to offer Himself as our Passover lamb?

Will you join me?

We begin later this week, with Psalm 120.

Shalom,

Ascent Into Darkness
Psalm 120
Psalm 121
Psalm 122
Psalm 123
Psalm 124
Psalm 125

Footnote: If you're interested in learning more, Kimberlee's book, The Circle of Seasons, will introduce you to the rhythms that help us slow down, and enable us to invite God into our every day. You may find it here.

Sharing inspiration here:
Playdates with God, Testimony Tuesday, #TellHisStory,
Thought Provoking Thursday, Grace & Truth, Weekend Whispers,
Inspire Me Monday, RaRa Link Up, Intentional Tuesday,
#WordswithWinter, Titus 2 Tuesday, Thoughtful Thursdays,
Encourage Me Monday, Wholehearted Wednesday,
Women with Intention Wednesdays, Word Filled Wednesday,
#GiveMeGrace, Still Saturday

Monday, May 25, 2015

Inspired by . . . thoughts on faith Vol. IV

God knows I’m a slow learner. I’m so very thankful for His patience. His mercy. His grace.

Ever since my dad passed away, I’ve been having a crisis of faith. Not a crisis of belief, mind you, but a crisis of faith. My faith.

As I shared in a previous post, my dad’s passing has caused me to question how strong my faith in God truly is. Part of the questioning has been why. Why am I even questioning my faith to begin with? I’ve been through tough, life-changing circumstances before. They never made me question my faith. Why now?

As I’ve wrestled with this, I’ve realized some things. Grief is a complex emotion. It’s a journey, as I’ve shared before, and it has layers . . . it, we change, as we move through the layers. And grief often has a target. Something {or someone} to blame. To release it’s emotions upon. For me, that target has been my faith.

I don’t know if any of this is making sense to anyone, but if it’s making sense to you, even a little bit, then maybe what God is teaching me will help you, too.

Since my crisis began I’ve been reading everything I can find about faith. Starting with the scriptures. {You must always start with the scriptures so that you have a solid basis for hearing Truth from other sources, should God choose to use them to speak to you.} As you might imagine, the bible has a lot to say about faith. Over 229 verses in the New Testament alone speak about faith. About how Jesus saw the faith in people and healed them. About how Jesus rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith. About how, without faith, it is impossible to please God. About the great faith of Abraham.

The more I read, the more I despaired. Because, right now, my faith is not great. It is weak, broken and hurting.

And then I read this:

“Some people think that I have a great faith, but that is not true. I do not have a great faith - I have faith in a great God! Jesus said that if we have faith no bigger than a mustard seed, it is sufficient to remove mountains. We understand that to mean that not quantity, but quality is important. The joy is that the Holy Spirit is willing to bring faith into our hearts. His faith in us has power, just as a mustard seed is small but has power to bring forth fruit.” ~Corrie ten Boom, Each New Day

Having read The Hiding Place last year, I had great context for this statement. I remembered that Miss Corrie wrote honestly about her lack of faith, especially in contrast to her sister’s seemingly giant, and unwavering faith. I suddenly realized that I had been reading the scriptures on faith from the wrong perspective. I had been focused on the greatness, the quantity of faith, and I was entirely missing the point. Jesus didn’t say we need a mountain of faith for Him to answer prayer. As shown in the gospels, Jesus always came through for those who gave what faith they had to Him.¹

It’s okay that my faith is weak, broken and hurting right now. It’s what I do with my faith that matters, not how much of it I possess.

I see now that what I must do is offer my faith, such as it is, to Him. It’s a sacrifice really, because I’ve always used my faith as a shield of sorts. It’s time to peel the rest of it away and offer it up.

And like everything we give to God, He will return it back to us . . .

Greater than it was before.

Going deeper,

June

¹While I’m Waiting, Laura Hodges Poole

Sharing inspiration here:

#TellHisStory

Friday, October 24, 2014

Inspired by . . . Day 24: JOY of sacrifice

This post is part of a 31 day series on JOY

You may access all the past days by clicking here.

Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me,

let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:

and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. Matthew 16:24-25

This business of Christianity really is all JOY, my friends. It is really quite simple. It is we who muck it up with our misconceptions about God.

Maybe next October I’ll do 31 Days of Correcting Our Misconceptions about God. Actually, my friend TC could ace a series like that, she’s a much better scholar than I. I’ll have to mention it to her {smile}.

For today, I want to add a little JOY back into how we think about sacrifice. Because true sacrifice is not about us giving something up that we don’t want to give up, and therefore being miserable because of it.

Sacrifice is about giving our best to God.

Sharing it with Him, really. Because when we give sacrificially to God, He returns the blessing to us.

In the Bible the meaning of sacrifice is the

deliberate giving of the best I have to God

that He may make it His and mine for ever:

if I cling to it I lose it, and so does God.

The story of the pearls comes to mind, and I wonder what I may be holding back from God that He wants to replace with the real deal.

But really, I think what a lot of us struggle with most, is giving God . . .

Ourselves.

Above all, it is a relationship with us that He truly wants.

So then, my friends, because of God's great mercy to us I appeal to you:

Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God,

dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him.

This is the true worship that you should offer. Romans 12:1

Something else to consider about sacrifice:

God’s aim is that we have to take part in our own moral development,

and we do this through the sacrifice of the natural to the spiritual by obedience,

not denying the natural, but sacrificing it.

When we think about the natural in the proper context, that our natural, human will will always choose against the things of God {it will always choose self}, then it should bring us great JOY to sacrifice it to the spiritual. I’m so glad Chambers used the term “development.” Because this denying of self, and choosing God is a process. A daily laying down, and picking up.

But it is a JOYful JOurneY, my friend.

Don’t let misconceptions steal the JOY God has for you.

Read the Word. Ask God for wisdom.

He promises to give it. James 1:5

Blessings,

Quotation taken from He Shall Glorify Me, © Discovery House Publishers

#write31days

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Friday, July 4, 2014

Inspired by . . . democracy

It’s 91 degrees and the southerly breeze is mostly hot. Yet every now and then I sense a coolness in it. It is refreshing enough to convince me to linger a little longer.

It’s July 4th and, except for the wind, which blows stronger than I would like, it is a near perfect day. Big, billowy clouds fill the sky, inviting me to find the hidden images they contain.

I sit here, on my porch, laptop in lap waiting for inspiration. I want to write about patriotism, about the foundations of our country. I want to write about the sensation I feel whenever I see the American Flag or hear the Star Spangled Banner being played.

I want to write about the emotion that clogs my throat when the VFW float rolls by; filled with weathered faces whose eyes still see the ghastly images of war.

The United States of America turns 238 years old today. It’s a birthday we celebrate. The birthday of the greatest democracy this world has ever known.

It’s a day to celebrate! And so we do, and so we should.

For some reason, this 4th of July I can’t stop thinking about the gifts. The presents we bring to the celebration. No birthday is complete without presents. Over these last 238 years we, the people, have given great and sacrificial gifts to this country.

It’s been a battle from the beginning, hasn’t it? It is still a battle.

A battle fought bravely by our military in the world theatre – and a battle fought here at home by those who still believe in the words of our Constitution.

Many are weary of the battle.

Yet I can think of few in history who might have been as weary as President Abraham Lincoln was on the day he gave the Gettysburg Address.

There is much that was different about that day than this day. But two things, I believe, remain the same:

We are standing on hallowed ground – brave men, living and dead, have consecrated it by their sacrifice both here and abroad, far beyond our ability to add or detract.

We are engaged in a civil war - it may not yet be a great war, nevertheless, this country is being tested. We may never again pick up arms against it each other, but make no mistake, these united states are becoming more divided every day.

kk_simplicity

Lincoln understood the bigger picture – he knew what was at stake if this nation did not endure.

The same thing is still at stake today.

Democracy.

We should resolve, as our forefathers did, that our dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth.