Jesus is Risen by Ricky Sarthou

Jesus is Risen by Ricky Sarthou

Jesus is risen! So what?

You may be fully aware of the resurrection of Jesus, but have you truly experienced a transformational encounter with the risen Christ?

“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…. Your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17).

Shortly after Jesus rose from the dead, His followers had specific life-changing personal encounters with Him. Like them, our personal encounter with the risen Lord can turn our sorrow into joy, our fear into peace, and our unbelief into faith.

Sorrow into Joy (John 20: 10-16)

You may be grieving with hopelessness like Mary Magdalene who was weeping when she saw the empty tomb of her beloved Master Teacher. But Jesus called her by name, “Mary… why are you crying?”

Amidst your hopelessness, Jesus calls you by name and asks, “Why are you crying?”. Behind this question is the power that raised Him from the dead; the same power that transforms you sorrow into the fullness of His joy (John 15:11). Jesus knows what you are going through and whatever your circumstance, Jesus promises to be with you. (Isaiah 43: 1-2)

Fear into Peace (John 20:19-21)

After Jesus’ crucifixion, the fearful disciples huddled behind locked doors. Suddenly, the risen Christ appeared to them saying, ”Peace be with you… Peace be with you as the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.”

Jesus gives us peace that removes our paralyzing fear, enabling us to pursue His plan for us. Like the disciples, who were fearful, we may have fears about the future. But fear not, for Jesus has promised us His peace. (John 14: 26-27)

Unbelief into Faith (John 20:24-29)

Jesus was gracious to Thomas despite his unbelief, telling the disciples to stop doubting but believe. Thomas words upon seeing Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” attests to his transformational encounter with the risen Jesus.

  

Like Thomas, we may set conditions and demand visible proof before we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. But Jesus said, “…blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The problems of life darken our vision of the presence and power of God, resulting in struggles with sorrow, fear and unbelief. But the risen Christ has given us light to overcome our struggles. God turns our sorrow into joy, our fear into peace and our unbelief into faith. He may or may not change our circumstances, but His agenda and purpose will be fulfilled.

The truth about the risen Lord is that His resurrection transforms and impacts the life of His people for His purpose: “…these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” The world can never equal or replace the life of joy, peace and faith that Jesus gives. Jesus died and indeed rose again so that we may have life and have it abundantly.

Love is slow to anger

Love is slow to anger

Be Slow to Anger | Photo Credits

It’s easy to love strangers. But to love those who are around you, especially those who live with you, is quite a challenge. God tells us that love is not just a feeling; it is a commitment towards imperfect people. And anger is a great hindrance in practicing love.

Anger is one of the “respectable” sins that we tolerate. We condemn immorality and murder, but we think anger is okay. If we think that shouting at team members will inspire work productivity or that screaming at our kids will make them respect us, we are deluded. James 1:20 says, “… anger doesn’t achieve the righteousness of God.”

Human anger is commonly rooted in our rights being violated, in our goals being blocked. In short, it is rooted in self-centeredness and pride. But anger is not always wrong. There is such a thing as righteous anger, like God’s anger towards sin. As Arthur Pink puts it, “The wrath of God is the indignation of Divine equity against evil. It is the holiness of God stirred into activity against sin.”

While God may be angry towards sin, He loves sinners. Psalm 103:8 says, “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.” God is very patient with us because He wants us to change. Nevertheless, His anger is real and it will be manifested one day.

1 Corinthians 13:5 says this about love: “It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered. It keeps no records of wrongs.” Love is slow to anger.

People deal with anger in different ways. Some are like a tsunami or a volcanic eruption; others are less explosive. Whether it’s explosive or silent, Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.”

The word “opportunity” there comes from the Greek word “topos” meaning place. Paul is saying that we should not keep a place for anger and bitterness in our hearts. Because when we do, we are giving Satan an entry point to our lives, allowing ourselves to be under his influence.

The Bible commands us to control our anger (Ephesians 3:31-32), but how do we do this? First, we need to remain silent lest we blurt out word that we would surely regret. Next, we need to properly process our anger, just like how David processed his when Shimei cursed him,  threw stones at him and his men, and falsely accused him of killing King Saul (2 Samuel 16).

To all this, the king’s response was: “Perhaps the LORD will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of cursing this day.” (2 Samuel 16:12).

The truth is, we CAN be slow to anger. The key to this is surrender and the greatest motivation is your love for the Lord. If you love God, you will obey Him and trust Him completely. We ought to surrender our rights and situations to God and let Him take over.

Some of you are sick and tired of what’s going on in your lives. Don’t take things into your own hands. Leave the judgement to God.

As for you, be slow to anger and let David’s assurance in God’s character be yours as well: “I would have despaired… unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:13-14).

Love your neighbor as yourself

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

You gotta love thy neighbors | Photo Credits

In the 1970’s there was a song, “The Greatest Love of All,” by George Benson, which was at the top of the charts. The conclusion of his song was that learning to love one’s self is the greatest love of all. Though the idea seems good, it is not exactly aligned to what the Bible says.

Jesus tells us the two greatest commandments; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31).

To love our neighbor as ourselves, we are to love them in the same manner, to the same extent, and in the same way that we love ourselves; that is the floor standard when it comes to loving others.

But the problem with most of us is that we are either too self-absorbed or too empty and insecure. If we are the former, we find it hard to get along with others, let alone love. If we are the latter, there is nothing much to expect from us because we don’t have much to give. The Bible teaches us this:

Learning to love yourself is to know the greatest Lover of all.

Paul reminds us in his letter to the church of Philippi that among other things, we are to “dwell on whatever is true” (Phil4:8). The truth is that God places great value on us. The Bible tells us a lot about how much worth God has placed on us – He has redeemed us not by precious stone, silver or gold but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and nothing can separate us from His love.

How much are we worth? We are worth a lot! Paul goes on to say that whatever we have seen, heard learned and received we are to put into practice (Phil4:9).

The solution to relational problems is to have a great relationship with our God. We develop that by spending time with Him. Everything else that we learn from His word, everything that we have seen, everything that we have received, we are to put into practice.

How much are we worth? We are worth a lot! Paul goes on to say that whatever we have seen, heard learned and received we are to put into practice (Phil4:9).

The solution to relationship problems is to have a great relationship with our God. We develop that by spending time with Him. Everything else that we learn from His word, everything that we have seen, everything that we have received, we are to put into practice.

Learning to love your neighbor is to ACCEPT them as you want to be accepted.

We are to love our neighbor by accepting them the way God has accepted us. We accept them because we can empathize with them, because God commanded us, and because we follow Christ. We are to see ourselves as God sees us, to be thankful to God for loving us, and then to love others in the same way and to the same extent.

God accepts us, and so we are to accept others. This can be hard especially when there are difficult, demanding, disappointing, and destructive people around us.

But we are to remember that we are the same as these people, and God accepts us anyway.

Learning to love yourself is to FORGIVE all as you expect to be forgiven.

In Paul’s letter to the Colossians he writes, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”(Col3:13). He repeats it to the Ephesians, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”(Eph4:32). When Christ died on the cross, God has forgiven us all our sins.

How can we not forgive when we have been forgiven? Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love leaves the hurts and offenses of others at the foot of the Cross and lets them go!

Love hands these offenses over to Christ. Forgiveness can be hard, and most of us would say we can’t forgive but through God’s power, we can.

Let us dwell on this truth: Because Jesus loves me enough to die for me, I am a person of great worth. Knowing this enables me to love others because I see their value in Christ as well.