Everything

November 25, 2012

In the book of John it says this, “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.”

Do you see the transfer…once again?  God sent his only son, this son only spoke and did what his Father directed, and God gave (without limit) his spirit.  God loved his son so much that he gave EVERYTHING into his hands.  

That all sounds great and wonderful…for Jesus. Right?  He was perfect, he obeyed, he even died for his cause, so it makes sense that his Father would love him.  After all, he was the model child! 

However…the bible clearly says that what Jesus did on the cross was give us entrance into God’s house to receive the same blessings, the same power…in fact even greater power…to do what he did and walk as he walked.

So why do we have so much trouble?  Unworthiness and shame taunt us into thinking God only doles out blessings to select people – those who are lucky enough to have good parents, healthy relationships, and nice looks.  NOT SO!

The Father loves His son, and we have been adopted into his family when we believe, and so all of that inheritance is ours!  That’s a mind-blowing thought…but one to think on daily…until we believe it.

The Touch

November 23, 2012

I enjoy watching The Voice singing competition on TV and last night I watched as those who were “saved” walked the runway and people reached out just to touch their hands.  Why do people want to touch the hands of celebrities?  Somehow they feel connected, blessed, honored, when the hand of someone “famous” touches their hands.

In Luke it says people brought their babies to Jesus for him to touch them, and yet Jesus’ followers scolded the people for doing it.  Jesus replied, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”  

There’s something about a touch from someone we know has power.  Is there a transfer of that power or status?  I think that somehow we think so.  In another place in the bible, a lady with a disease pressed through a crowd just to touch the hem of Jesus’ robe…and he felt it.  Was it her touch he felt…or her faith?

I’m really not interested in standing in a crowd to see a famous celebrity and have them stoop down to my level to brush my hand as they strut across the stage in their fame. But I am interested in a transfer of power and healing when the Maker of the Earth, the Savior of my soul, the Lover of all Lovers, reaches out to touch me daily.  His touch restores, heals, blesses, and transfers…all that is HIS to me.

They Missed It

November 22, 2012

Hands are so interesting.  In Matthew, Jesus laid hands on the sick and they were healed.  And silly people kept asking him and quizzing him as to why his disciples ate without washing their hands.  They completely missed what Jesus was doing with His hands.

Yesterday we said hands can cause us to stumble.  These guys who were quizzing Jesus were certainly allowing hands to trip them up.  It was “custom” to wash your hands before eating, so when they saw the disciples go against custom, it tripped them up.  They were focused on rules and not religion.  Another place in the Bible it says true religion, pure and faultless, includes looking after those in distress and keeping oneself from the pollution of the world.  Wow, these guys missed it altogether!

Jesus was using his hands to bless and heal those he encountered, and the onlookers were only seeing unwashed hands of the disciples.  They concluded that the disciples’ hands were filthy, unworthy of sitting at the table.  But Jesus was showing them that keeping one’s hands unpolluted required more than running them under water – it required reaching out to those under pressure – and relieving it.  He was demonstrating true religion.

The term “religion” gets a bad rap these days, but Jesus lived true religion. He is our example of how to use our hands.  To sit at His table didn’t require washing the dirt off one’s hands before eating; it required following Jesus himself and reaching where he reached, touching where he touched… 

Cut Them Off?

November 21, 2012

There’s a verse in Matthew that says if our hands or feet cause us to stumble, it’s better to cut them off and go through life maimed, rather than have two hands or feet and end up in eternal fire.  That’s a stern statement!  And it implies that if we’re stumbling, we have the power to cut off the things that are making us fall.  It’s in our hands…to keeps our hands…out of trouble.

So what does all that mean?  How can our hands cause us to stumble?  All I can think of is that hands hold, hands give, hands clinch into fists, hands soothe or slap, and hands clap.  I’m sure our hands do a number of things, but this is a good start.

If our hands hold onto old patterns, hatred, etc. we will stumble.  If our hands hold onto what we’ve been given and refuse to share, we will stumble.  If we clinch our fists at God when things don’t go our way, we will stumble.  And if we slap instead of soothe, and forget to clap for joy when we are blessed…we might just stumble and fall over.

We want and expect God’s hands to be always open, always holding, always caressing and always full.  We are made in His image and He wants the same from us, as we learn His character and His ways.

Are your hands causing you to stumble?  Before cutting them completely off, try emptying and opening them, and offering them up to the One who created them.

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Do Your Hands Hang Limp?

November 20, 2012 Do your hands ever hang down “limp?” I suppose limp hands indicate exasperation and despair. Limp hands usually come before weak knees, and then weak knees precede a collapsing fall. Not a fun place to be, is it? That obscure book in the bible Zephaniah says that God takes away our punishment and turns back our enemies, that He is with us…and we do not EVER have to fear harm. So if no one is out to rebuke us for our wrongs, those who accuse us are running the other direction, and the King of Kings is beside us – He then admonishes us to not let our hands hang limp. In other words, we have a choice. What then, are we supposed to do with our hands? The next verses state that the Lord is with us, He saves, He delights in us, He loves us and He rejoices over us with singing! The only response, the only logical choice, when we realize how great His love is towards us, is to reach upwards. We can take our limp hands and lift them in surrender, wave them in praise, and wiggle them with delight right back at the One who delights in in us. If your hands are raised already, then lift the limp hands of a friend. If your hands are the ones hanging low, make the choice to obey his command to NOT let them remain limp anymore.