March 1, 2009

Acts 4:8-12

Rejected Cornerstone

Acts

'Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Leaders and elders of our nation, are we being questioned because we've done a good deed for a crippled man?  Do you wnat to know how he was healed?  Let me clearly state to you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed in the name and power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth, the man you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, 'The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.'  [Psalm 118:22]  There is salvation in no one else! There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them."

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Thoughts...

Throughout the Bible, God was rejected.  Many times throughout the New Testament, and all throughout history, Jesus has been rejected.  What he did was not understood or accepted as mainstream, or thought of as valid.  His love was so large that many could not conceptualize its vast scope.  His journey was so unusual, so unorthodox, that people could not comprehend.  They did not believe the miracles he created or those God granted in his life.  Many refused to believe the scope of pain he had to endure to get where he is today.  And today hasn't ended.  His journey continues.  Many still do not believe.  They do not believe he can continue to do what he does, or that he is still alive, or that he even had the journey he did.  Many do not believe he walked the earth.  They cannot find him or find the good in him.  They are skeptical that what he said is true or real.  They say he was a nobody, or just a man, or just a prophet.  They never believed he did even half of what he did in his life.  They have not accepted him as Savior of the world.

They attacked him, spit on him, lashed out at him and scourged him.  They mocked him, they laughed at him, they denied him, they killed him.  They hung him on a cross to die.  They betrayed him, his loyalty, his mere life, his love.  Yet even through all that, even tho' the pain he suffered on earth was at times unbearable, the emptiness barely endurable, the aloneness an empty pit of pain, he carried on.

And then he answered God's call to let his life and death mean something.  His life was an act of gifting love.  At death, it was offered for the sins of many, that they could be freed from their sins and be offered eternal life.  Even those who killed him and left him for dead were forgiven.  What a man.

Many of us walk a similar journey.  Many of us live lives so unbelievable, so pain filled, so unusual that we are not accepted, believed, or loved.  We are endured, dealt with, used, abused, left outside the circle of life.  It matters not that we love with the fullness of our hearts and gift ourselves to the service of others.  That we know joy, despite the sorrows.  It matters not that we embrace with an expectant hope for a life of fulfillment for ourselves and others.  It matters not that we are alone or in need.  We are nobody in most of lifes scheme of things.  Things....we are not even accepted as human beings at times.  Some sit alone at home with no voice except the TV, or on the curb without one.  No touch except for the dog against us, or the stranger walking by.  No visitors sans the birds flying by.  Some go out everyday to a work place that makes them a numbered non-entity, some don't have a job.   Some are in prison for crimes they did not commit, left to die an non-existant life.  Or in the prison of life.  Some are on street corners helping people cross.  Some are in families rejoicing with their love only to be laughed about and cast off like an old shoe, or abused while loving too much.

Who are you?  What does the world think about you?  Who do they say you are?  Is it different than you know yourself to be?  Is it different than who God has called you to be?  Are you walking Jesus' journey because he has asked you to, or are you walking the journey of pain for no reason?  If you walk with him, your reason is love for him...and yourself, forgiveness of sins and eternal life.    

We cannot give up our lives as ransom for many, nor do we need to.  Jesus has done that for us.   But we do need to give up our lives for him, if we are to be forgiven, receive eternal life, and have our life mean something to someone other than ourselves.  He will be overcome with joy, love us fully, accept us where we are, and take us to new heights of love and acceptance, as we grow with him.  The world will still be the world.  But we will not be doing for the world, we will be doing for him.  And that, my friends, will allow joy to abound in our hearts, lifting us to a new awareness of the fullness of love and life.  Will it still hurt when the world hurts us?  Yes.  But will it matter?  No.  We will be able to let it slide off our backs like water slides off a ducks back.  We will be a part from it, not a part of it.  And we will be able to pray for the others.  We will be able to sing from our hearts of love, knowing that the love we gift is a thank you, to the gifts of love and life Jesus has given us.  

Is someone questioning your journey?  Are you and all you have done and stand for being rejected?  Let Jesus be the cornerstone in the foundation of your life.  He was the cornerstone once rejected, but he can be the cornerstone for your life, and he is available as that for all who come to him.  He will not reject you.  With him as your cornerstone, your foundation will stay strong and firm filled with love, and your life will be abundantly blessed.  So build your house, let it stand tall.  Fill it with love for all the world to see.

Does this mean evil will not approach, or attempt to kill, steal, and destroy?  Ohhhhhh, noooooo.  Satan and his assigns will do everything in their power to 'take you out'.  Do not let them.  Just tell Satan that you belong to Jesus and to 'begone'.  Tell Satan if he has a problem to take it up with Jesus.  You have work to do.  And be about the Lord's work.  What ever he has called you to be and do....just do it.  Do it with the fullness of your heart as before.  Only this time it will be with him...you will not be rejected like he was.  God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and Mary will embrace you fully into the bosom of their hearts healing you and making you whole, and giving you a new life with them.  Accept them today in to your life, won't you?  

If you have not prayed for Jesus to come into your life, read again the references above todays scriptures to help you, or say your own prayer from your heart.  If you have already accepted Jesus into your life and continue facing life as an uphill climb, rebind your heart today with his to remind you he lives in you....he has not forgotten.  If your journey is one of a downhill tumble, make the choice to get back on the journey that HE calls you to be on.  Wisdom is a hard thing to learn.  It can be painful.  Know that God, Jesus, Holy Spirit and Mary love you and are there for you to pull you out, if you just reach up.  Tell them your sorrows and pain.  They will help you find your way again.  Ask them to send others that know them to surround you to help you.  They will.  Be open to all the gifts they have to give you.  Know that I embrace you all in Christ.  'The road is long with many a winding turn, that leads us to who knows how, who knows where.  But I know, he will not encumber you, he ain't heavy, he's my brother'...as you are my brother, and sister...and mother....and father...will I be able to call you friend...

Receive and renew with Jesus today! 

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Let Us Pray

...Please

Lord, there are times that life is too much.  Be there... 

Lord there are times when life is cruel.  Be there...

Lord there are times when life is critically painful.  Be there...

Lord there are times when I cannot even be there for myself, let alone anyone else.  Please be there. 

Lord there are times I am not looking up at you because the pain is too real...here...inside me.  Be there...

Lord, be there in my crisis moments, my everyday moments, my lifetime of 'oh my goodness' moments that are not filled with goodness at all.  Please.

And please, Lord, be there in all the joyous good time moments as well.  When they are filled with love, I will know you are there. 

Just be there, Lord, and please, help me be there for you, too, and those you call me to help in your name.

Thank you, Lord, for being there.  Please...don't leave me now.

And when the world rejects me, I will know they are rejecting you in me.  And I will pray for them to receive you as I have.  Thank you, Lord.  I love you. * 

Amen       

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Scroll down to read Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving...'The Unforced Rythms of Grace'.

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Definition of a Christian:  Anyone who believes in God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Regardless of church name or religious affiliation.  

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 to

 "Go and make disciples out of all the nations

baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

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    One last thing....

 Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

'The Unforced Rythms of Grace'

 "Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

  Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

And the people said,

"Amen."

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I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided.

* '...Peace' Copyright 2009.  Rules in effect.  Melinda R. Norstad

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Scriptures may be taken from the New Living Translations website. 

 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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