The Judas Situation/Groove

The Judas SituationMatthew 27: 3-5
When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.


It seems like there are many selfish things we can do. Take the last yogurt, leave our dishes in the sink for someone else to do, put the blame upon a friend to avoid bringing trouble upon ourselves. But one of the most selfish things we can do is refuse to forgive ourselves.

As imperfect creations, we mess up – a lot. When we do mess up, we have to ask for forgiveness. We ask God for forgiveness, and He forgives us. If the sin we commit hurts a fellow human, we ask them for forgiveness and are forgiven by them, also. So God forgives us, our peers forgive us... we’re all forgiven and everything is dandy, right? It may seem that way, however there is still one person who needs to forgive you. Yourself.

We have all the tools we need to be forgiven completely. Through Christ we have the power to have our slate wiped clean. The only thing holding us back from absolute freedom is our selfishness.

Judas confessed his sin, and even if he didn’t know it, he was forgiven by God. But Judas could not move on because he did not forgive himself. It was selfish of Judas to hang himself, for he did not know what God had planned. God had already forgiven Judas and would have continued to use Judas in fruitful ways. But Judas couldn’t forgive himself and look past his mistakes long enough to ask for that forgiveness.

We get ourselves into a Judas-situation when our focus is in the wrong place. When we focus on ourselves, we can’t see the forgiveness God has for us. Then we become overwhelmed with our mistake, and not only can we not focus on God, but we can’t focus on others. If we were to stay in that Judas-situation, we would eventually destroy ourselves mentally and emotionally.

Judas didn’t know how to get out of that situation. He didn’t know that all he needed to do was rearrange his focus. When you focus on God’s forgiveness, the place originally intended for our focus, you suddenly have the power to forgive yourself. And with that forgiveness comes absolute freedom. When we stop being selfish and correct our focus, we can be selfless. We can serve God and do things for others, because we have been freed from our guilt and selfishness.

Prayer: Lord, guide us as we lose our selfishness. As we throw off the chains that keep us from being free, remind us why we are doing it. Father, it can be uncomfortable shifting our focus to something much greater than ourselves, but we know it is worth it. And Lord, after we have succeeded in rearranging our focus, lead us to the next steps. Show us things we can do for others in our attempts to be wholly focused on You.

Madelyn Leembruggen


Groove
I've been having a little trouble writing during the past couple weeks. Hopefully writing this TJ has helped me get back into my groove, but I'm still having a bit of trouble connecting. Prayers would be much appreciated.

Rebuilding The Wall

Last month I read the biblical book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah is an amazing book. It gets a little dry toward the end, but if you dive into the text, it will change your way of thinking. Probably the best way to do this, is to share the notes I took on each chapter.

1: Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king. When he heard that the land of his people had been attacked and destroyed, he mourned and prayed.
2: The king noticed he was upset and inquired. Nehemiah explained that his forefather's city had been destroyed, and requested he be able to go to his forefather's home. God put a mission in Nehemiah's heart: He was going to rebuild Jerusalem. The king was gracious and allowed Nehemiah to go.
3: Jerusalem began to be repaired. People of all sorts gathered together to rebuild Jerusalem, and I mean all sorts of people. Jewelry makers, blacksmiths, tailors, all sorts of people.
4: The wall continued to be rebuilt, but they ran into people who wanted them to stop. Instead of getting discouraged by the enemy opposition, they prayed for help and stayed armed.
5: The government officials were taxing the people of Jerusalem so wrongly, that the people had to mortgage their fields and had to sell their children. So Nehemiah did something. He made the officials stop. And when Nehemiah himself became an official, he did not act in the despicable ways the others were acting, but instead focused on the wall.
6: Nehemiah's enemies kept trying to scare him off, but Nehemiah was not intimidated. The wall was finally finished and Nehemiah prayed throughout the entire ordeal.
7: God put a mission into Nehemiah's heart, and he didn't back down.

People from all sorts of roots and all sorts of professions joined together to do one thing: rebuild their city. Their city was dying and broken, yet they helped revive it. Nehemiah was an average person who managed to lead a group of revolutionaries. If Nehemiah could do that 3,000 or so years ago, how much more could we do that now?

Look at our cities. They are falling apart. They're dying, and we're doing hardly anything about it! It infuriates me, and it really should infuriate you, too. I want to change things. I want to rebuild the wall. Would you like to join me?


Bleeding Hearts