This Changes Everything

     It is important to not misunderstand, isn't it?  Sue De Kelver tells of the phone calls she receives at her family's tire business.  She says, "If we don't know what kind of car they have, we can still determine what they need.  One day a woman called to say she wanted to buy tires.  She didn't know what type or size she needed, so I asked her what kind of car she had.  She answered, 'Blue.'  I patiently asked her if she could be more specific.  She replied, 'Light blue.'"  Obviously, she misunderstood the situation.  While that can be bad enough when it comes to the issues of life, it is even more tragic in the spiritual realm.

       Last year, I saw this newspaper ad for a church's Easter services: "THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is an event that is unparalleled in all of history.  God fully expected it to have such an impact.  Has it impacted you the way God desires?"  Has it?  Have you allowed His life-changing resurrection to do just that—change everything?  Many have misunderstood and thought that His resurrection was all for Him—His way of saying, "That's alright, I understand if you continue to sin—you can't help yourself, you are only human."  That is a total misunderstanding of the resurrection life He wants to plant in you.  Many  misunderstand the resurrection appearances of Jesus, as well.  They think the sole purpose was to prove that Jesus had risen from the dead, but is that the real reason?

     Luke, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote, "...He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3)  This changes everything!  Yes, the appearances prove His resurrection, but more importantly, they make clear the truth of His Kingdom.  What mercy!  Those forty days could have been spent at the right hand of the Father in glory, but He chose instead to appear to hundreds of His followers and make clear to them what it really means for Him to rule and reign in their lives, for this is the Kingdom of God.  If He could set up His throne within them, and consequently, within us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, His Kingdom would be forever established.

     John 20 tells us how Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb early on Sunday morning, only to find the stone rolled away.  Immediately, she ran to tell the others.  Peter and John ran to the tomb and then returned home.  Mary had followed them to the tomb and remained there crying.  All of a sudden, something told her to stoop down and look in.  She hadn't done that before—she only saw that the stone had been moved, and then she ran.  It was when she stooped down that she saw the two angels.  When we are willing to get lower, humbling ourselves in obedience to His word, then we will see the truth—the real reason, and it changes everything.    The angels asked her why she was crying, and she admitted that her Lord was missing.  When your Lord is missing, when you don't surrender and allow Him to be the One who truly runs your life, you are misunderstanding His real purpose.  Do an "about face," that is, turn around, like Mary did.  "And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing." (Vs. 14)  She turned herself back around and her misunderstanding turned into "Jesus standing."  By the way, in the Greek, it also means "to convert, to change."  It changes everything!

     As He stood there, she thought He was the gardener.  Guess what?  He was, and He was there to bring up from her ground, good ripe fruit.  He asked her why she was back to crying, for He had come to bring joy, and to wipe away the tears.  "Mary!"  At the mention of her name, she turned herself again.  That’s twice now, which means she must have turned the other way towards the tomb again at sometime in between—facing away from Him.  She had gone back to her sorrow, her grief, and her hopelessness—no one could get her to see God, no one could give her joy—no one except Jesus.  "Mary!"  When He made it personal, she saw His majesty.  When He zoomed in and focused the spotlight on her alone, she saw His vastness.  "Rabboni!"  Only one other person had ever called Him that—the blind Bartimeus, sitting along the streets of Jericho.  He had seen, even without eyes, the greatness of Jesus, calling Him the Son of David.  As Jesus passed by, he called out for mercy from the Messiah.  Jesus stopped and had personal mercy on him and gave him physical sight.  So many today are just looking for a "savior" who will fix up their lives, cast off all of their problems, and replace them with material and emotional blessings.  They think His only purpose is to give them all they want, satisfy their "needs," and thereby, make life easier.

     How foolish!  You can't even really see Him until you see His majesty—He is Lord of lords and King of kings.  "Rabboni."  It is the highest title of honor in the Jewish mindset.  It was only used to refer to the President of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body, and that only if he happened to be a descendant of the great rabbi, Hillel.  You see, Jesus was not just "master", and not just "great master," but "my great master," for this is what the word really means.  Now, this changes everything!  He is not just a teacher, a helper, a gopher—He is God, Lord and King.  He paid the price and purchased you—He has the right to rule over your entire life.  He stands right before you, handing you His Kingdom.  The Bible tells of kings who have offered others "up to half" their kingdoms. (Esther 5:3 and Mark 6:23)  Praise God—Our King is far more gracious, for He offers all of His Kingdom to all of us—His total control and sovereignty.  Don't misunderstand—don't try to reach out and shape Him into what you want Him to be.  Don't touch Him that way.  Jesus told Mary, "Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father." (Vs. 17a)  In other words, don't try to hold Him down and keep Him tied to this earth.  He fully expects to have a far greater impact than that.  He fully intends to ascend in your heart until He is your All in All!  "Ascended," in the Greek, means to go up or come up from a lower to a higher place.  Of people or animals, it means to climb up, to enter a boat, to embark on a journey, or to get up out of the river and get moving.  Spiritually, it is a picture of having intimate communion with God and dwelling in it.  Don't touch Him until you have allowed Him to give you that Kingdom, and then you will be touching Him rightly.

     This is the Kingdom of God and it changes everything!  What heresy to say it is for someone else and not for you, or for another time, and not your own!  That touches Jesus in a very wrong way, for it tries to keep Him in a box that only you can open.  Many today think they would like to get rid of the Kingdom of God—His rule and reign over their lives—for they don't want to be concerned with purity, holiness, and obedience.  Hebrews 1: 8-9 tells us, "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy Kingdom.  Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."  You enter into His Kingdom when you love His rule, and hate your own, for it is a joyful thing to be surrendered to His Lordship.  Paul told the Corinthians the same thing when he wrote, "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Cor. 3:18)    Peter makes it clear that this is not just something for the future, or something that will be accomplished some day in heaven—it is NOW, for: "He has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness...But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." (2 Peter 1: 3,9)

     This changes everything, doesn't it?  Let Him anoint you with His oil of gladness, the exhilarating influence of the Holy Spirit—filling you with joy unspeakable. (1 Peter 1:8)  When Jesus met the women as a group that morning, he said, "All hail," meaning, "all joy"—all joy to all of you.  Yes, it is for you—His rule, His reign, His ascending in your heart—"righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost—that is the Kingdom of God. (Romans 14:17)  It changes everything, even in you—if you will let it!

 

 

 

May 1              Psalm 7-11                              16                    Psalm 89-94

2                      Psalm 12-18                            17                    Psalm 95-101

3                      Psalm 19-23                            18                    Psalm 102-105

4                      Psalm 24-29                            19                    Psalm 106-109

5                      Psalm 30-34                            20                    Psalm 110-118

6                      Psalm 35-38                            21                    Psalm 119:1-96

7                      Psalm 39-43                            22                    Psalm 119:97-176

8                      Psalm 44-48                            23                    Psalm 120-129

9                      Psalm 49-53                            24                    Psalm 130-136

10                    Psalm 54-59                            25                    Psalm 137-143

11                    Psalm 60-66                            26                    Psalm 144-150

12                    Psalm 67-71                            27                    Proverbs 1-4

13                    Psalm 72-76                            28                    Proverbs 5-8

14                    Psalm 77-80                            29                    Proverbs 9-12

15                    Psalm 81-88                            30                    Proverbs 13-16

31                    Proverbs 17-20                                              

 

June 1              Proverbs 21-24                       3                      Proverbs 29-31

2                      Proverbs 25-28                       4                      Ecclesiastes 1-4