Torn and Smitten part 5
In this world you will have tribulation. That's just called living. Stuff happens, to paraphrase Forrest Gump. But the thing about it is, well, let me quote a verse in Revelation and then I'll try to unwrap it. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Revelation 2:11). The second death doesn't have to hurt. We don't have to be torn and smitten before we can be healed and bound up. Jesus did it all so we could get it all. And now we have it all, because He gave it all to us. He gave HIMSELF to us. Jesus gave His life FOR us, yes. But He also gave His life TO us. Simply because He wanted us to have it. So instead of waiting for God to strike us down... we need to understand that on the cross God allowed HIMSELF to be struck down. In a sense He struck Himself down. Sacrificed Himself. Laid His life down for His friends. And He did it so that we could experience His life as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. So while stuff DOES happen, we don't have to let the stuff that happens wreck us. And this doesn't mean "try really hard to be an overcomer." Jesus is the overcomer. He overcame the world. That's why we can be of good cheer. He that overcometh is he that understands that Jesus overcame for us and as us. The one who isn't hurt by the second death is the one that knows that His death WAS our death. We are crucified with Him. When He died, I died. And when rose again, I rose again. To walk in newness of life. To live a live of love by knowing and believing that I am loved. Letting God love me and loving Him back by loving people. That's what its all about. That's what it means to be healed and bound up. Hurt people hurt people, right? But loved people love people. Healed people heal people. I saw a quote the other day and I really liked it. I don't have it in fron of me, but basically it said, "If you don't heal from old hurts, you'll bleed on people that didn't hurt you." So true. So true. We carry things with us and let those things affect everything else that happens. But we don't have to. That's what I want to say today. We may have been torn and smitten by the world. In this world you WILL have tribulation. But your heavenly Father loves you, and He doesn't want you to suffer. So He can--and has, and is, and will--heal you. If you let Him. If you run TO Him instead of running FROM Him. If you be still and know that HE is God. You don't have to fix everything by yourself. And that's good news, because you can't. But He can. He did. By His stripes we ARE healed. It is appointed unto men ONCE to die, and Jesus kept that appointment for us 2,000 years ago on an old rugged cross. So it doesn't have to hurt. Going through "bad" is not a prerequisite for getting to "good." It may happen, just because it happens. But you're not earning anything by suffering. You can't earn a gift. And that's what God has given us--a gift. So instead of robbing ourselves of it by trying (and failing) to earn it... we need to just receive it. Receive it and release it. Know that its in there, and let it out. Let the mercy, and grace, and forgiveness that we've been given out. Let the healing out. Let the love out!