Hast Thou No Scar?

            After our first session at The Cove, I knew God needed my full attention. The whole idea of testing and examining my relationship with Christ caused me to pause. I truly felt He had brought me to this beautiful place to settle into who He was. I could sense my hunger rising.

            As Dallas and I walked the trails and breathed in the clean, crisp mountain air, all our tension and anxiety began to dissipate. About every twenty or so feet on the trail there would be a scripture plague to savor. Dallas and I felt God needed us to rest in him and continue to eat the fruit of the Spirit that the speaker would continue to offer.

Philippians 3:10 “. . . that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, . . . ”

            Know Him, the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.

            That’s a lot to process.

            Knowing Jesus is one thing. Understanding His miraculous, powerful resurrection is another. But to fellowship in suffering . . . well, that’s insufferable. How can I even begin to find fellowship in Jesus’ sufferings? When I think of how much Jesus suffered because of my sins, I find no fellowship in this. Yet Paul says we are to fellowship in His sufferings. How? Why?

Isaiah 53:5 states, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

            God knew there was only one way to rebuild a relationship with His people. He sent Jesus to pay the ultimate price . . . death, inconceivable punishment, and agony. He did this for me. For you. It is by Jesus’ wounds that we are healed and can find peace. Can we believe this?

            After Jesus’ death, the disciples gathered behind locked doors fearing persecution and possible death for their affiliation with Jesus. When Jesus appeared to them, they were aghast. Thomas was not there. When he showed up, the disciples told him the glorious news. Jesus is alive. Thomas was outraged at their impertinence. “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand in His side, I will not believe.”

            Eight days later, Jesus shows up again, holds out his hands, and lifts his tunic for Thomas to see His wounds. Jesus told Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”  And Thomas said, “My Lord and my God!” Thomas saw and believed.

            What about us? We haven’t seen the wounds. They are only the horror our minds have conjured up and possessed from scriptural readings and theatrical performances.

            Jesus said to Thomas, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blesses are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

            Thomas saw the wounds.

            Okay . . . think about this for a moment because this almost brought me out of my seat.

            Why were there still wounds on the resurrected Jesus? Why was He not perfect and whole?

            Dr. Price said the wounds are what binds us to our risen Lord. By His wounds we are healed. When Jesus stretched out his hand to Thomas, He was also stretching them out to us. He invited Thomas and us to put our hand in His wounds. Look and touch.

            Jesus asked us to behold and look at His suffering and believe in order for Him to provide us peace and healing. All those disciples who were barricaded inside that room, full of hurt and fear, can now put it all into the wounds and sacrifice of Jesus. He asked us not to carry the doubt and confusion, but to touch Him, put our hands into His wounds and let him carry our pain; so, that we might have peace and healing.

            Jesus was essentially saying, “Thomas it’s not over. Hey, touch me! My yoke is easy. Let me carry yours, too.”

            That’s why the wounds of Jesus are our point of deepest relationship. He shows us His wounds and says “touch Me”. We show Him our wounds, praying for Him to please touch me. Touch the hurt; You understand. Touch my brokenness, heartache, pain, doubt, and fear. You who have suffered all of it, touch me. Let me lean into You, Father, because You are the only one who understands. Our wounds are what joins us together.

            Are you hanging on hard to your wounds? Picking at them. Keeping them raw. Give them to the one who suffered greatly. Draw yourself into the brokenness of Jesus, into the very wounds that can redeem, heal, and give us peace.

            Reflect on the words to this song, “Worthy is the Lamb” by Hillsong

Thank you for the cross Lord

Thank you for the price You paid

Bearing all my sin and shame

In love You came and gave amazing grace

Thank you for this love Lord

Thank you for the nail pierced hands

That washed me in Your cleansing flow

We are saved by His wounds, wounds that were permanently scarred in His hands. We all have scars.  What are you doing with your wounds and scars?

            Here’s one of my favorite poems:

No Scar

by Amy Carmichael

Hast thou no scar?

No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star,
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?

Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned:
Hast thou no wound?

No wound, no scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And, pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who has no wound nor scar?

 

 

Living In the Fullness of Christ

 

 

            Our first speaker at The Cove was Dr. Charles Price, senior pastor of The Peoples Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His weekly television program, Living Truth, is broadcast across the United States, Canada, and more than 60 other countries throughout the world.

       

These are my prayerful considerations from Dr. Price’s first lecture.

            “Test yourself to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.” 2 Corinthians 13:5

 

            Dr. Price opened up our first session at The Cove with this scripture. Before arriving, I had prayed for a word or scripture to embolden me in my faith. Dr. Price slammed me with this verse. Test yourself. Examine yourself. The words stung and pierced. Was I a true believer? Was I a follower who was Christ centered? Did my actions represent who I am in Christ?

            Ian Thomas stated, “To so many people, the Lord is in danger of being no more than a patron saint of our systematic theology instead of the Christ Who is our life.”

            I want Jesus to be my life, my hero. I want others to see Jesus in me.

            Test yourself.

            No one can tell me if I’m a born again child of God. It’s the inner witness of the Spirit that shows me this. It’s only been in the last few years that I realized I had to die to myself to make room for Jesus. The whole concept seems insurmountable. Die to self? We aren’t programmed to do this. Our sinful nature wants to be fulfilled in ways that are not Christ-like. Our culture teaches us to live life to the fullest and please ourselves. Nothing we see suggests we should die to self.

            So how do I die to self?

            I become less so He can become more. The things of the world become less attractive to me. I begin to see truth in places where I once saw lies as acceptable. Once I began to see the startling difference, it was exhilarating and terrifying because I had to admit that the things that used to be impressive and flattering weren’t. Then I had to say “no” and disappoint people who didn’t understand that I’d changed. If I thought it was hard to change, it was harder to hear others tell me they liked me better before “the Jesus thing”.

            “Those who obey His commands live in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us.” (1John 3:24)

            Jesus lives in us by the indwelling Spirit of God.

            Examine yourself to see if you are becoming more Christ-like.

            1. Are you hungry to know more about Jesus? The Holy Spirit resides in us. His work is Christ centered. When we begin to draw closer to Jesus, the Holy Spirit creates an appetite in us for Christ. The more we learn about Jesus, the more we desire to live like Him. As we grow closer to God our relationship deepens. Paul said, “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death.”

            The process to grow Christ-like is an ongoing process like any other relationship that is worth having and important to us.

            2. Do you hunger to be more like Christ? Qualities of Jesus are found in Galatians 5:22. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

            As I read these attributes, I checked off quite a few. Then I got to the one on self-control. A wall rose to great heights like a perpetual stumbling block. Here comes the battle between the spirit and self. I reread the attributes again. Patience struck a sour note. I haven’t been patient lately. I profess I’m tired, but isn’t that part of the self-control? Jesus, I’m in need of an overhaul!!!

            What I realized was the fruit of the Spirit is not like picking a bouquet of flowers and inhaling their beautiful aromas. Fruit is to be eaten. I have to consume the fruit to squelch my hunger, to be more Christ-like so I can feed fruit to others.

            Being like Jesus is not a trip to the fair. It’s more like going into the projects, or sitting with the homeless, the outcasts, and the misfits. It means denying self and not saying what we’d like to say in the midst of being tired, but refraining and reflecting on the situation and circumstance before speaking. To recognize that thrusting out bitter words is caustic, but when we purpose ourselves to act in love the outcome is usually quite different. This is so hard. Can I repeat this? It’s hard to push our feelings to the back, but when we remember the Holy Spirit resides in us as our Counselor then we are more apt to pause before acting.

            3. Are you hungry to serve like Jesus? This is one I can answer with a definite “yes”. I am hungry to serve. I search for avenues to be Jesus’ hands, feet, and eyes. I’m hoping this blog will be another ministry for me. There are so many ways to serve and so many needs to fill. As you grow closer in your relationship with Jesus, He will guide you to serve in capacities and areas you could never have envisioned.

            But I want to serve knowing I am using the fruit of the Spirit spontaneously in my home and on the ministry field. If I can’t be the wife, mother, and Nana I need to be, I may not be the servant I need to be. If I’m not in God’s Word, I may not be the witness He needs me to be. Daniel said he resolved not to defile himself. Resolve is self-control. I’ve got a lot of work to do!!

            Test and examine yourself.

            Do you recognize Jesus is in you? You might not until you fail the test.

Session 2 of the session from The Cove will broaden our understanding on how we can live in the fullness of Christ.

            God bless you!

Discovering More About The Power of God’s Story: A Visit to Billy Graham’s Training Center at the Cove

 For Christmas Dallas and I were given a gift certificate by very special friends to attend a teaching conference at the Billy Graham’s Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina. I had been looking at their ministry schedule for three years hoping to attend classes one day. You cannot imagine how excited I was for the prompting to finally go. In January, I booked us into the Senior Celebration.

I truly had no expectations except to hear God’s Word. On our drive over this past week, I prayed for a word or scripture that I could carry away for growth and spiritual enrichment. I had no clue who the spiritual leaders were or the entertainers. I just knew God would show up, and I would be blessed.

The drive to Asheville was beautiful. As we entered The Cove, there was an immediate feeling of beauty, serenity, and peace. The lodge was quaint, nestled into a knoll, and surrounded by blooming rhododendrons, azaleas, and daffodils. We were greeted and escorted through the main hall of the lodge down to our room. When we opened the door, we gasped. One whole wall was a window, exposing a steep incline of rock, flowers, and dense foliage. At this point, I wanted to stay . . . forever! No TV, no radio, and little to no cellphone reception. I thought Dallas would whine, but he didn’t.

Our next venture was to go to the Training Center to register. The story of Billy and Ruth Bell Graham’s life in ministry, and their impact in evangelism covered the lower level floor’s walls. You could imagine their lives being intertwined with God’s as they yielded to His business.

I want to tell you more about the ministry sessions we attended, but for now I want you to see a few of the pictures on Billy Graham and his ministry. I’ll share more in other posts. God bless you always!