Tuesday, March 19, 2013 -- What Does Jesus’ Death Have To Do With Me? (2)?

What does Jesus death have to do with me?  Well, maybe nothing and maybe everything -- the choice is ours.  Jesus makes Himself available to us as the one solution to the unmanageable problem of our own sin and brokenness.  We can ignore that wonderful offer and perish with our problems or we can choose to accept the gift of a life-changing relationship with the Living God.  How do we do that?

We make a choice.  We admit to God that we’ve been hurting others or carrying hurt from others; we desire to stop doing things our way and are willing to accept the way of life that God has for us.  We want to listen, learn and obey whatever God says works.  We commit to God to get rid of whatever is in us that is harmful to our mind, our emotions, our bodies, and our relationships.  We tell God that we now wish to live in His love and follow his directions NO MATTER WHAT. 

We bring ourselves – our will and our lives to the CARE of God.  We invite God’s comfort into the painful places in our broken hearts and ask Him to remove every angry thought from us.  We acknowledge that God cared for us when the injustice was done to us and He cares for us now.   He wraps us in His love that is much bigger and many times more powerful than the worst injustice done to us.  We embrace the healing that God is giving.  We remember how we’ve been forgiven many wrongs and choose to be agents of God’s forgiveness to the person who has harmed us.  We invite God to work in our lives to renew our minds and hearts.  We intentionally shift our focus to God’s goodness and release our minds to think different thoughts according to God’s will.  

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.  When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.   For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.  So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:6,10-11 NLT)

Lord Jesus, what an amazing gift that You gave up your life so I could have life that lasts forever.  I lay down my independent ways.  I turn to You.  Forgive me and wash me clean from all my wrongdoing.  Come into my life and save me. Give me this new life of a loving relationship with God. I give you control of what I do and think in every situation.  I commit to learn your ways and follow Your way of life.  Amen.