Alive!!!

"In John 19:30, Jesus said, “Tetelestai . . .” which means, “it is finished,” the debt is paid, the punishment has been fulfilled!" (excerpt from the It Is Finished Was Just the Beginning devotion from Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale in Youversion) 

This morning alone, this word has set me on yet another level to journey... Tetelestai. I started merely thinking, "Ooh! That's a word I want to get tattooed!" And then I began to wonder where to put it, and then what would be the best reason, like why am I getting it and why am I putting it there because I am psycho- analytical like that... And I mean... PSYCHO and analytical separately and fully... So there's that...  anyway, that led me to look up the word in the Blue Letter Bible, which seems to be my "original text" go to. What I found was that the word was not the same. It was transcribed as "teleo" which also means finished. But there was a difference that I needed to understand and so Holy Spirit put in me this hunger to know why it was different and to learn which was which. *Side note: I wish I did this with more practical things like what I and my kids watched, what we listened to, what we read and even what we ate. Don't you?* 

As I jumped into trying to figure out the difference and which was right, I asked for guidance and for God to show me which was right. I went to my rusty, trusty Google and typed in asking what the Greek meaning to the biblical text of "It is finished" and this popped up: https://carm.org/it-is-finished and Holy Spirit used this to rock my existence!! 

Although I love to write and am a lover of certain English subjects in school, I never really grasped the concepts of certain grammar lessons or sentence structure and so I never paid attention to that portion because of it. But I just learned today the sentence structure of this one POWERFUL word is known as perfect passive indicative. Never heard of it either? Welcome to the non grammar boat! I almost went back to the Google list when I read that! But Holy Spirit had me stay on it and read (something I really hate doing if it has to do with learning). What I learned is this: the word tetelestai creates a "perfect tense which indicates that progress of an action has been completed and the result of that is ongoing and in full effect". Gibberish to English translation? Sure! It means that when something is done, when the work is completed and you still get results from it!! How about an example cause I think some may have let that fly by!! When you grow a fruit tree in your backyard and it begins to bloom and fruit is produced, the tree will continue to produce fruit long after you close your eyes on this side (unless someone tears it down). There's nothing else that you have to do!! It's done!! HOW INCREDIBLE!!!! 

So when Jesus said, "It is finished (tetelestai)," on the cross, he had fulfilled everything needed for our salvation!! We can't make ourselves anymore saved, anymore redeemed!! We DO need to carry our cross daily, we do need to remember that faith without works is dead, we do need to bring people to Christ, spread the Gospel, love our neighbors, love each other, care for those who need it, etc., but we cannot make one more deed that will ensure our salvation. We only need to grab hold of it, much like the fruit tree. We don't NEED to prune or cut or prim like we do, we just need to pick the fruit!! How AMAZING is our God!!! What really stuck out to me is the fact that God is an English Teacher!!! Hahaha!!!!

ABBA, thank You for Your teaching, Your grace, Your mercy with us such a slow moving people! Thank You for the gift of Your Son who not only lived in such a way as a blue print for us but fulfilled prophecies, gave himself up to be tried, found guilty and crucified, died on the Cross but also rose from the dead so that we could live as He loves in us!! I love You Lord!! You. Are. Worthy. To. Be. Praised!!! Amen!!

He Has Risen!

"He is not here; for He has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." Matthew 28:6 NKJV

It seems that these days, everyone is searching for the existence of something. Historians are searching for the existence of certain things in history; paranormal investigators are searching for the existence of ghosts, demons or whatever. What are you searching for the existence of? 

The one thing Christians, true followers, should NOT be searching for is the existence of Christ. We should be able to feel it, live it. We should be able to look at our lives and others who are in the Family and say, "I see Christ." But that's not always the case, is it? Sometimes we don't feel Him near or see Him at work in others. Sometimes we even blend in with the world. It's at those times that I will find myself searching for His existence in what I used to do; I will go back to where I was to find Him. 

What a wonderful reminder this angel gave to the two women and gives to us each time we don't feel Him or forget. "He is not here..." are some of the most powerful words I know! It's proof of His resurrection! He is the only historical figure that we can say that about! What a refreshing and hopeful bit of knowledge! To know that our LORD and Savior not only died for our sins but He also conquered the grave by rising from it! And we will do the same when we close our eyes on this side if we believe! But it doesn't stop there! We can die to our old ways and be resurrected in Him by living a new life! The promise is that "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" and in order to be that we have to let the "old things" be passed away. 

He died for me. He died for you! What are you dying to for Him? He didn't stay the same, and neither should we.

Have an awesome Resurrection celebration and a happy Easter!! 

Transparent Journey

“Go in through the narrow gate, because the gate to hell is wide and the road that leads to it is easy, and there are many who travel it." Matthew 7:13

This journey called life is full of ups and downs. It can be uplifting and full of awesome markers such as birth, graduations, weddings, celebrations, promotions and just plain laughter. It can also be full of heart breakers such as death, divorce, suspension or termination, back stabbing and the like. Then there seems to be the mediocre. The ups and downs of emotion: joy, happiness, love, laughter, depression, hatred, loneliness, etc. This is the journey we call life and there is no way to jump off the train without getting hurt or dying (attempted or successful suicide) as well as there is no way to bear it all without the Conductor of our lives to reassure us of the bumps and bruises we may get when we are pushed, forced or fall down. 

The verse today speaks so much to me. I picture this very narrow but worn path met with distractions, vines in the way, hanging limbs that look as they may fall at any time and a dusty, sometimes uncomfortable road leading to the Way, the Truth and the Life; Jesus. But in all actuality He is the reason that path is worn. He walked that path centuries ago to pave the way for us, to make it a little bit easier to see this very small, very narrow path. The three years of His ministry was marked with ups (deliverances, miracles, little children, converts) and downs (death, denial, lies, ignorance of his own disciples, abuse, slander and eventually his own brutal death). But the miracle of His story, of his life on Earth is that it didn't stop there! He rose again 3 days later!!! That can be the truth for us as we who continue to walk, stumble and even fall on this very narrow path, we too can take heed and rise as well. The point is not that you have fallen; the point is that God loves you regardless and you can raise back up as Jesus did as a Holy Example!

The opposite of the narrow path is that wide, very traveled path that everyone who does not care to be careful, all those that have traveled the road that is less comfortable and those who don't know there is another road are content to walk on. The road is made in such a way that many can fit on it at a time. It's made to be more comfortable and there is less bumping into folks, less stepping on shoes, less chance to ruffle someone's feathers on the journey. Who wouldn't want this path? I walked this path for 38 years. It was comfortable, it had tents in case I wanted to rest or give up for a while. There were pit stops to sit and drink, mingle and even meet up with desirable people. What it didn't have is Jesus. I could tell there was something missing. Even when I was young. I tried talking to this God I had heard about from different churches but couldn't seem to yell loud enough over the crowds of people walking with me, and I certainly couldn't hear what He was saying to me. That became irritating and I would eventually say, "Oh never mind!" each time I tried to start this conversation. All the while the only thing He was saying was, "I love you, beloved child. Come walk with me." But that wide road looked so much more comfortable than the narrow one He was walking with those few worn, tired looking, sometimes carried people. I didn’t want to leave this road and lose my place on the road to "success" just to go over and see what He was saying to me!

What road are you on? Little do we know, the wide road has its bumps as well. Those bumps are messages sent from the One who longs to walk beside us on the narrow road. It's His way of saying, "Come to me and I will give you rest." We are so busy walking that we don't realize we need rest. We don't realize we are more tired looking than the few on the narrow path. They just don't seem to be having fun and He has to carry them sometimes! We never have to be carried on the wide road, do we? Or maybe it's that we have no one to carry us and so we just keep moving. Aren’t you tired of walking? Don't you desire rest? His arms are waiting. Walk the path of Jesus and get that rest you need! Its okay that you fall, He will catch you. He won't condemn your fall. He will only brush off the dirt and either carries you or set you back on the path, depending on the pain from that fall.

Have you been on the narrow path and gave up because you couldn't "see" God from where you were? There is a popular poem called Footprints that says on the times you only see one set of footprints, those times when you don't feel Him near, it's because He is carrying you. I like to say when I can't feel Him or He seems far away, He is preparing my table in the midst of my enemies! But I forget that and want to look to the right and the left and that's when I lose my footing. Come back to Him. His arms never get tired of being wide open for you. Walk, run, and jog.... come to Him. After all, Jesus walked this road initially and paved the way for us. He made it and He was on earth as flesh just like us, why can't we?

Jesus, thank you for marking this hard to walk road for us. Thank you for not stopping at dying for us but also rising again with all power to then give us that same power in you. This road is hard to stay on. It seems to be filled with distractions to trip us up and knock us down. Those on the wide road have their eyes always on us waiting for us to trip and fall. Give us strength to continue this journey and show them the way to walk it victoriously. In Jesus name, Amen!