Beyond Surrendered

Imprinted

“Bible Imprints, $5,” the sign read. I’ve never had a bible that had my name on it. To celebrate my third re-birthday I decided the time had come to get that done. I rushed home to grab my bible and rushed back to get it in before the shop closed.

Is this a Test?

The red lights were flashing and the sirens were going off. The obnoxious “errrrrrgggggghhh” sound echoed throughout the halls as girl after girl stepped outside of her respective room.

It was Bound to Happen

I was bending down to put on my cool new trainers when I saw it. I paused before bringing it closer to my eyes. Could it be? Surely not… Why blasts!

Heartbeat Detected

Sweat dripped down my forehead and my muscles cried out with each step. My heart pounded and my lungs gasped for air. I was nearing the end of my jog but my body was nearing exhaustion.

Matthew 26:50

Posted by Reba on May 26th, 2010

Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. Matthew 26:50

This verse is taken from the betrayal. The footnote says Jesus could also have said, “Friend, why are you here?”. Either way, it is interesting how Jesus addresses Judas here. The 1917 edition of Scofield Reference Notes describes this exchange as “the most touching thing in the Bible.” And I’d have to agree.

Where Judas brings betrayal, Christ responds with love. Where Judas spits on friendship, Christ still invites it. Where Judas fails miserably, Christ’s perfection is proven. How truly amazing is the savior’s love that even as he is delivered into enemy hands, he stays a friend to even his betrayer. It is true that no greater love has been known.

He doesn’t disown, he doesn’t accuse, he doesn’t condemn – all things Christ justifiably had the right to do. No, he chooses love. He chooses forgiveness even in the moment of disobedience.

When our hearts and our actions disobey Christ, what more assurance do we need of his grace and of his love than this verse? If Christ had the ability and the desire to forgive even in the moment of his betrayal, how much more will he look upon you, a repentant sinner.

Christ willingly and obediently offers himself up for love’s sake. He offered friendship to his betrayer, and he offers friendship to you. Will you continue a life of sin or will you step into a life of friendship with the one who desired to set you free even to the point of death?

Precious Jesus,
How often do we glance over this verse. How often do we betray your commands. And how often do we doubt your willful forgiveness. We are too guilty of this too often and we come again now to thank you for your sacrifice, to ask you for your forgiveness and friendship, and to seek to follow you. You died in complete humility and we stand in awe of the friendship you offer to your own betrayer. There is no greater love than yours – a love that even while we were still sinners brought you to the cross. Lord, forgive our constant betrayal, and remind us of your continued mercy and friendship. Amen.

Imprinted

Posted by Reba on May 12th, 2010

“Bible Imprints, $5,” the sign read. I’ve never had a bible that had my name on it. To celebrate my third re-birthday I decided the time had come to get that done. I rushed home to grab my bible and rushed back to get it in before the shop closed.

The shopkeeper took my bible in his hand and brushed his thumb against the damask design. The raised design against the flat leather raised his eyebrow.

“Oh, these bibles give us trouble. The raised design sometimes makes it hard to imprint a name clearly,” he said.

I frowned and was just about to turn away but I asked him if he would try it anyway. I convinced him that if it came out imperfect that’d be okay because despite salvation I was still an imperfect person.

He laughed and took my bible. He placed it with a pile of other bibles and said it’d be done in a few days.

I picked my bible up today. The silver scroll is a little crooked in places and the e’s seem to tilt a little too much to the right, but I don’t mind. There’s something about having my name imprinted on the front of my bible that makes my decision to follow Jesus that more real. It’s like I’m marking His word the way His word marked me.

This isn’t just a bible anymore, this is my bible – this is my daily bread, my red letters, my eternal life. Even if someone were to wind up with my imprinted bible, I wouldn’t mind because I’d want them to be able to be imprinted the way I’ve imprinted my bible.

The scroll’s a little crooked and the e’s tilt a little too far to the right but that doesn’t matter. That doesn’t matter because not only is my name imprinted on my bible now, but it is also and more importantly, imprinted permanently in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

It took imprinting my name on my bible to remind me of an eternal truth I sometimes forget – that I have been forever redeemed from death and presently waiting until my name is called from the Book of Life at the end of this age. This revelation is one that never gets old, and it’s one I ask you to receive with me – the mystery that is the freedom found in salvation in Christ.

But nothing unclean will ever enter it [heaven], nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. Revelation 21:27

Matthew 5:19

Posted by Reba on May 10th, 2010

Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called leastin the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19

Murder, adultery, theft – all three are usually well-accepted no-no’s in Christianity. Nearly everyone accepts that God forbids these things. There are other no-no’s that too often, we overlook. They aren’t “big” in our eyes and too often we justify them because they won’t “hurt anyone”.

White lies, crooked speech, and sensuality are just a few of these lesser no-no’s. With God, though, a sin is a sin. No sin weighs greater than another in its wrongness because every sin is something that interferes with the intimacy we have with God.

Christ warns us in this verse not to relax our standards. As mature Christians we should want to obey God’s commandments even if they are inconvenient because it means a closer walk with Him.

Christianity is not a buffet. You can’t pick and choose which commandments you will obey and which commandments you will ignore or relax.

Not only will this harm your relationship with Christ and ruin your witness to others, but the severity of such an error could have eternal consequences. It is bad enough to damage your relationship with Christ but to teach others to do the same will earn you a spot at the end of the line.

The reverse of this though will move you to the front of the line – a life of obedience means a life before the throne. True intimacy with God means true obedience. We should all pray to be made more obedient so that we might see more of God’s plan for our lives and so that we might see more of God himself.

There is nothing greater than that – so why settle for table scraps when we could be seated next to God?

Precious Jesus,

We make a joke of your sacrifice when we settle for less than you have called us to. We mislead others when we think our sidestepping won’t affect the way they view you. We are to reflect you but too often we fall short. We thank you for the forgiveness that is so readily available and ask that your Holy Spirit convict us of the areas and the ways that we try to scoot by. Help us to grow in maturity and make us to walk upright all for your glory. In your name we pray, amen.

Is this a Test?

Posted by Reba on May 10th, 2010

The red lights were flashing and the sirens were going off. The obnoxious “errrrrrgggggghhh” sound echoed throughout the halls as girl after girl stepped outside of her respective room.

The sirens and lights warned of danger, but still each girl looked to me, “Reba, is this real or is it only a test?”

As I walked down the hall, knocking on the closed doors I responded to each in turn, “It doesn’t matter, let’s get out ladies.”

All of the RAs had been briefed on this test, but we were to treat it as if it were the real thing. It surprised me that regardless of the sirens and the lights flashing, the girls still doubted and failed to treat the situation with the seriousness it called for.

As I corralled the ladies – some with backpacks, others with curlers still in their hair, all with that question on their face – I was dumbfounded. And then I realized, this situation exemplifies what we as humans do to God.

Every time we begin to get into a situation – whether it be with temptation or other everyday occurrences – we still question.
“God, is this a test or is it the real thing?”

Why do we waste that moment to question instead of following our spiritual instinct that tells us danger is around the corner? It doesn’t matter if it’s a test or the real thing; God’s grace provides us that internal siren for a reason – so that we can abide in him. It is an opportunity to be led from danger into safety and victory.

Our human nature leads us astray. We try so hard to get as close to the fire as possible without getting burned when what we should be doing is running as far away from the fire as possible.

There’s a reason the sirens in our residence hall are so ear shattering. One’s ears can’t stand the sound for more than a few seconds. The sirens scream, “Get out, as fast as you can, danger!” They don’t say, “Take a second to pause and figure out if this is a test then act from your own judgment.”

The same is true of the sirens and signals God sends our way, “This is no place for you. Follow me, my child, I will lead you to safety.”

The test with my girls was to prepare them for if a fire ever does occur. I care for their safety and am responsible for them. God cares for your safety and your well-being. He sees and values how precious and fragile you truly are. He is our protector and our rescuer.

Trust your father and run to him when those lights and those sirens begin to sound. Run right into his arms because that is where you belong, not amid the flames!

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

It was Bound to Happen

Posted by Reba on May 10th, 2010

I was bending down to put on my cool new trainers when I saw it.

I paused before bringing it closer to my eyes.

Could it be? Surely not… Why blasts!

Smack in front of my eyes, the proud and repugnant black smear became clear.

Its center was as black as coal. The smudge had streamlined to cross the boundary where the sole meets the fabric (outsole). I rubbed it and found that that only caused the smudge to become forever interwoven with the fabric, much to my chagrin.

Always one for taking pride in her shoes, I had diligently waited in line the day after Thanksgiving for these cool new trainers. They were specifically designed for high impact running. Running was something I planned on adding to my elliptical and Pilates exercise regime.

I envisioned the miles I would run as I paid for them that day. I excitedly laced up my trainers and proudly strutted around my room. It had been years since I had purchased white trainers. They are so prone to filth and we know that filth is not becoming to a lady, even a sweaty-athlete lady.

As I pranced about my room springing from the wonderful arch support and shock resistance, it was then that I decided to reserve these shoes solely for gym-use. After all, I wanted to preserve their pristine condition.

I dutifully carried my trainers to and from the gym and inspected the machines I exercised on. My diligence in this matter was more than a little neurotic, I’ll admit, but I had fallen in love with my trainers. I was determined to keep filth far from them. They were much too pretty.

As I wrinkled my brow dutifully searching for how I had gone wrong, how this smudge had escaped my radar or how it had even gotten there, I was struck with an epiphany.

The smudge on my white trainers is strikingly similar to the black sin that often smudges our metaphoric robes of righteousness.

My intentions were good, but it was bound to happen. I was bound to misstep and cause a smudge to tarnish the condition of my trainers.

Similarly, we all have good intentions of remaining pristine as we “walk” in faith, but we are also just as prone to misstep.

It is bound to happen.

We have not yet been perfected in Christ and so we are bound to sin from time-to-time. This fact of course is neither to condone this nor to encourage more sin. Just because I found one smudge on my trainers did not mean I was going to throw my hands up and stomp around in the mud.

Instead of losing heart at the way we slip up, we must bring our smudged trainers, our smudged robes to Christ. He alone can wipe away the filth that we may have stepped into or purposefully walked through.

You are going to misstep; allow Christ’s truth of forgiveness to help you stay free of condemnation. Continue in diligence to prevent future missteps but do not become discouraged as you see smudges or even giant stains threatening your righteousness. Christ can handle it but more importantly, he can teach you how to walk properly so as to avoid such missteps.

That smudge may permanently tarnish my new trainers and reduce them to simply trainers, but Christ can wash away any and every stain with his atoning and purifying blood.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

Romans 11:29

Posted by Reba on May 10th, 2010

For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. Romans 11:29

God is the same yesterday, today and forever. In much the same way, God’s gifts and his call are the same yesterday, today and forever. They are irrevocable; they cannot be changed or reversed.

The greatest gift we could ever receive is the gift of salvation. How comforting it is to know that once the Lord gives salvation, He won’t ever take it away. No matter how many times we misstep or sidestep, the gift of salvation is one that we can always have. We have security in the promise of this verse.

But there’s more. As if salvation weren’t enough, God shows the vastness of His love by calling us in our new life. This irrevocable call and purpose prove how much we mean to Him. He created each one of us for a specific purpose and regardless of how much we falter or fail, He continues to mold and He continues to shape us for use.

Once He calls us to Him there is nothing that will change His mind. There is no trial period, there is no expiration date, and there is no substitution. What God offers is clear – a gift without strings and a call, a mission meant only for us.

God will forever offer this promise, but we have only a lifetime to answer.

Will you rest in the security of salvation? And will you answer the call so that you might know the fullness of this promise?

Father,

We thank you that your gifts are always good. You are so unlike this world that offers half-promises with conditions and terms and fine print. We thank you that you have picked us from the rubble of our sin and not only cleaned us, but destined us for work. We ask that you would reveal the call you have on each of our lives. We ask in all our work that you might be glorified. In your son’s precious name, Amen.

Heartbeat Detected

Posted by Reba on May 9th, 2010

Sweat dripped down my forehead and my muscles cried out with each step. My heart pounded and my lungs gasped for air. I was nearing the end of my jog but my body was nearing exhaustion.

“Only 5 more minutes, only 5 more minutes,” I told myself.

As I chanted my mantra the LED screen lit up.

“HEARTBEAT DETECTED, PLEASE HOLD ONTO GRIPS”

My brow furrowed as I mumbled, “I know, I know you’ve been blinking that for the last mile now.”

The blinking LED continued prompting more annoyance.

I felt like giving up when my time ran out and the treadmill stopped. I was relieved it was over.

As my annoyance faded and my muscles relaxed, I reflected on the LED. I realized the implications went beyond a simple workout. I realized that often times God is similar to an LED, He is always reminding me to press onward.

There are times in walking with the Lord when I feel like I can’t go on. My burden is heavy and my spirit exhausted from bearing the brunt of it. I want to stop the race I’m running and just toss in the towel.

I want to take a break from the path God has me on – He’s pushing me too hard, doesn’t He realize I can’t do this? What more does He want from me? I’m exhausted! -We’ve all been there.

But God sends us LED reminders. Too often we mumble “I know, I know” instead of listening to the encouragement of truth.

“HEARTBEAT DETECTED”. So long as we are breathing we have a heartbeat. So long as we have a heartbeat God has promised to continue the work He has begun in us.

So long as He is God He will always be there as THE source of strength.

No matter how often we find ourselves nearing the brink of spiritual exhaustion, He is always there reminding us to “hold onto HIS grip”.

“PLEASE HOLD ONTO HIS GRIP” today because it will secure the treasure of your tomorrows forever.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14