Holy Week: Day 4: Jesus' Last Week

Expectations were running high when the disciples returned with the colt for Jesus to ride into the city. In a way, that colt ride represented the arrival of a king. The disciples and the crowd knew it, and they could feel the tension of the moment.

It was a kingly arrival. There was tension. They were right. Their interpretation of what they saw and felt was not right, however. 

They expected an earthly kingdom and the defeat of their Roman conquerors. Jesus had come for something much bigger than they could even imagine, much less expect. 

He was about to enter the worst battle of His life, the one for which He had come. Jesus would set them free from their lifetime conquerors, Sin and Death. He would set up an eternal heavenly kingdom, one that would extend even to us.

Jesus knew that the donkey ride was just the beginning of a week that would seem to spiral out of control. It would leave his followers reeling in despair before only a few days had passed. 

He knew the pain and the fear and the agony He faced. He dreaded what was to come, but He climbed on that donkey anyway. 

He listened to the crowd's celebration anyway. 

He walked, and talked, and ate with His disciples anyway. 

Even though they had almost everything wrong.

Within a few days, He would make things clear, but for those terrible few days, He poured as much teaching into His followers as He could, despite His dread. 

He taught about the power of prayer, the kingdom of God, and His coming death, burial, and resurrection. He spoke of it in more ways than one, but no one understood. 

He continued His march to the cross anyway.

The sacrifice of Jesus was not dependent upon anything the crowd or the disciples did. It was only dependent upon the Loving, Merciful Sacrifice of our Suffering Servant Savior.

Early that week, Jesus spoke these words: 

But the greatest among you shall be your servant, 

And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled;

and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:11-12 nasb

That's exactly what He did. He humbled Himself, even to the cross. Because of His obedience, God the Father exalted Him.

Jesus didn't start that weeklong march to the cross with exaltation. He started with fear, dread, humility, and obedience. Despite all that, He went on anyway.

As we approach the celebration of His death on Good Friday, the horrifying Silent Saturday when it appeared that all was lost, and His glorious Resurrection Sunday, let's pause today and remember that, despite His own fear, His own dread, He persevered to the cross for us.

He set us free, but we choose to live in bondage anyway.

All too often, I choose sin over freedom anyway.

All too often, I choose failure over the Victory of Jesus anyway.

We all do.

This day, let's begin to choose something different. Let's choose obedience. Freedom. Victory.

Christ has redeemed us. He has set us free. Let's live like we believe what He accomplished on the cross. 

Let's live free. 

It was for freedom that Christ set us free...

Galatians 5:1 nasb

~~~~~~~
In case you missed part of this series, here are the links:
Holy Week day 1: The Scandalous Act of Love
Holy Week day 2: The Betrayer
Holy Week day 3: Instant Obedience

#holyweek #jesuslastweek #livefree #linesfromleanna #leannahollis

The Debt We Cannot Pay

My mama was big on predicting the weather from the "signs". She'd look at the sky and proclaim what was coming. One of her favorites was, "Red at night, sailors delight. Red in the morning, sailors take warning."

I'm not so big on predicting weather. Instead, I tend to look at the signs of the times, the culture around us, and predict which direction our world is going. We're a mess, and we're not going in a good direction.

Of course, it's easy to see what's wrong with the world outside us. Jesus calls us to turn our eyes from others to look inside our own hearts. He wants us to see what's wrong inside us.

“You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? "And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent."”       Luke 12:56-59 NASB

We should be able to see our hearts as they are and anticipate our appearance before Almighty God. Jesus presents His discussion in the framework of a court proceeding. 

In this mini-parable, the person is taken to court by an opponent (or complainant) who has a valid complaint against him. We know it's valid because, unless the defendant settles, the opponent will drag him before the judge, who will turn him over to the officer, who will throw him in prison. He owes a debt he cannot pay.

We, too, owe a debt we cannot pay. It is a sin debt, and the payment required is so vast, we have no hope of settling our case. 

Jesus makes a few things abundantly clear, and we do well to review them, for they are the situation in which we all find ourselves.
1) A debt is owed and payment is demanded.
2) The debt is astronomical. There's no way for us to pay it.
3) There will be payment of some kind, and we will either settle with our complainant or we will be imprisoned with no chance of release.
4) The only hope is to make a settlement.

This is my condition. This is your condition.

There is a solution. The debt must be paid, but God knew it was hopeless unless He intervened. So, He did. Jesus left heaven to wrap Himself in flesh and dwell among us. 

I wouldn't have done it, but God did, because He loves us. Jesus lived with us and loved us and died for us. He took our sin, paid our debt, and conquered death and the grave. 

Jesus settled our accuser's case against us. It is finished.

If payment has been made, we have two options. We can rejoice in the magnanimous gift and accept it or refuse it. If we refuse the gift Jesus so graciously gave, we're on our own with our sin debt. Where is the sense in that decision? 

If, then, we have been set free from our debt, we should live free.

We should live as if every moment of freedom is incredibly precious and valuable. We should live as if sin, which has cost Christ so much, is abhorrent and to be avoided at all costs. 

I am reminded of a song from a few decades ago, written by Andy Williams. "Born Free" 
Here's an excerpt from the lyrics:

Live free and beauty surrounds you

The world still astounds you

Each time you look at a star

Stay free, where no walls divide you

You're free as the roaring tide

So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living

But only worth living

'cause you're born free

The only way to "live free" is to be free,  but freedom is found only in Jesus Christ, our debt-payer. We are "born free" when we are born again by the Spirit of God. We live free when we embrace His gift and follow Him.

~~~~~~~

Our Father, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Help us to embrace Your sacrifice on the cross and turn away from our sin. Help us live free in Christ. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#JesusChrist #adebtwecannotpay

Dealing with an unclean spirit, part 7: Living free

"When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first." (Luke 11:24-26 NASB)

These words of Jesus are so profound and full of truth that we would do well to take heed, for they serve as a warning for those who would be free. When we come to Jesus, with all our sin and the influence of evil rife in our lives, and give our hearts to Him, He does exactly what 1 John 1:9 promises. He cleanses us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NASB)

In this passage, Jesus speaks to the maintenance of that cleansing. When He cleanses our hearts from all unrighteousness, it is our job to maintain that cleansing. The place unrighteousness occupied in our hearts will be filled with something. When we fill our lives with the Word of God and the fruits of the Spirit of God (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control), there is less room for us to embrace the sin that would so easily entangle us. 

A common problem, however, is that we come to Christ, confess our sins, experience His cleansing, and celebrate that freedom, then go back to the same lifestyle without any changes at all. We don't participate in Bible study, we don't read Christian literature, we don't become active in serving our Lord. Instead, we go back to the same habits, watch the same movies, read the same books, view the same websites. Before we realize what is happening, we have embraced the same sin that oppressed us before Christ. When we do this, the world looks on in disbelief, wondering what benefit there is to our faith.

Jesus explained that, when we experience His cleansing, the unclean spirits influencing us leave, (lust, greed, anger, unforgiveness, bitterness, etc). If we don't replace that influence with Him, the spirits/temptations to sin will return with even more spirits/temptations to sin, and we end up worse than we started. Perhaps you've seen someone who has come to Christ, had a glorious transformation that lasted for a brief time, then ended up with more sin and destruction in their lives than they had before Christ. It is a tragedy and all too common. 

The only way to prevent this is discipleship. It is living the life of a disciple, committed to following Christ and becoming more like Him, that draws us toward righteousness and away from evil and sin. If we want to be free in Christ, we must not only choose it, but actively pursue freedom by our lifestyle choices. We cannot be a disciple of Christ and a disciple of the world. 

It was for freedom that Christ set us free. (Galatians 5:1). If we want to live in that freedom, we must choose it, every minute of every day. We cannot continue to do the things that brought us bondage. It requires that we take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 2:5). When we begin to ponder our sinful desires, we take that thought captive when we choose to change our line of thinking to one that pleases Christ, whether by offering praise to Him, prayers for strength, or quoting Scripture. 

In today's society, our focus tends to be on what "I" want, rather than what Christ wants. When I live my life to serve my wants and desires, however, I will quickly fill it with an incredible array of foolish choices that create a wasteland of my life. When I actively choose the life of a disciple, I will have less of the world (and likely less of those things the world holds dear) but I will also have more of the fruits of the Spirit, which is infinitely better.

Are we trapped again in the sin that held us before? Confession brings cleansing. Discipleship keeps us clean. Make a choice, then make the change that choice requires.

The question is simple. Do we want to be free of sin or not? If we want freedom, we must choose discipleship, for it is only by choosing to stay free that we can live free. 

Dealing with an unclean spirit, part 5: Victory in Jesus

When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. (Luke 11:21-22 NASB)

In these verses, Jesus gives a brief but vivid summary of the power of sin and the victory of the gospel in the lives of mankind. He portrays the devil (Satan) as a "strong man" who is fully armed to guard his territory, the lives of the unredeemed. The power of the evil one is strong and he has weapons that are effective for securing his hold on our lives. Guilt, condemnation, temptation, and lies are the weapons he uses to entice us into ongoing sin. He creates a stronghold thereby, through which he secures his position. 

Jesus, however, is stronger than the "strong man" and is fully capable of attacking and overpowering the evil one. When we allow Jesus to have His way in our lives, He "takes away", completely removes, those things by which we have been held in bondage. The condemnation, guilt, temptation, and lies of the enemy are cast out and replaced by the Spirit of God. Liberty comes with the Spirit, and it is the kind of freedom that only Christ can give.

There is a battle for our hearts and it is waged with deadly seriousness. The enemy would prove himself strong, for he is skilled in this warfare and knows how to use his weapons with precision. Having struggled with temptations of my own, I can confirm his skill, as you likely can, too.

In the midst of this battle, there is good news. The enemy of our souls has been overcome and defeated by the power of the cross. We do not have to live as those in bondage. We can be free, for Christ has broken the chains of sin and death. If we are willing to accept His gift of life and love, we can live in the freedom that He brings. 

Will a relationship with Christ remove the influence of condemnation, guilt, temptation, and lies from the enemy? Not exactly. What Christ removes is the power of the evil one. If we are willing to resist, Christ will give us the victory. Every time.

There is a strong one loose in this world, creating havoc at every opportunity. Praise God, though, there is one stronger who has overcome and set us free. If we are free, let us live as those who have been redeemed. Let us reject the lies, embrace the truth, and live in the freedom that only Christ can give.