Bible | Grandma's Ramblings

This song says it all!

Our natural inclination is to expect rewards in measure with our performance. If we test well, we expect a good grade. If we perform well at work, we expect a raise or a promotion. We tend to extend this to ethics as well. We have a general belief in reciprocity-I loan my friend bus fare, and I expect she’ll do the same for me if I leave my wallet at home. And in reality, we’re usually fairly quick to admit we have the same tendency with our salvation. We BELIEVE God loves us unconditionally and that our salvation is by faith but we often BEHAVE as though we need to present God with a checklist of salvation-worthy deeds on Judgment Day. But it is good to sit and rest in God’s love. Nowhere else is love so unconditional, redemption so freely offered. Knowing that we cannot earn it, it is our honor to marvel in the midst of it…..Mosaic Bible

We just finished celebrating Resurrection Sunday. For many when asked why Jesus came it is simply to die and rise again. But why? Unfortunately for many the whole point of his death and resurrection is simply so we can go to heaven someday.

While that certainly is the Christian story, Jesus indicated there is more to his death and resurrection than a ticket to heaven.

At one point He talked about being the good shepherd. He said, “I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.”

But He did not stop at that statement. He added “They will come in and go freely and will find good pastures…My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” The word here in Greek is perisson meaning “exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, superfluous, a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate.”

What is this richly satisfying life? In our self-focused society today, we might begin to imagine a large mansion, fancy cars and the latest fashion. There are many TV evangelists that promote this kind of thinking. I have heard that theory called “name it and claim it,” “blab it and grab it,” or “prosperity gospel.”

If Jesus is our example of what it means to follow God, then the abundant life is not about material things. If so, Jesus would have been the richest guy alive. Yet He said He did not even have a place of his own to lay his head. He depended on the generosity of others for his daily needs.

Jesus said that this eternal life is that we would know Him (John 17:3). Abundant life – a rich and satisfying life – is not about material things, not about a successful career, not about a large family, not about popularity – or any of the many other things our culture would suggest brings a richly satisfying life. Rather, it is an ongoing, growing relationship with Jesus.

How do we get to “know” God. Basically the same way we get to know anyone else. By spending time with them and sharing thoughts and concerns and dreams with them. It is a growing process.

When I married my husband, I thought I knew him. Now, after almost 39 years of marriage I realize how much more I know him today than on my wedding day. How did that happen? I have spent 39 years in conversation with him. So as we spend time in prayer, in reading God’s word, in just mediating on what we have read, we grow in our knowledge of God.

This ongoing, growing relationship with Jesus is what the abundant life is all about. While clearly Jesus died and rose again to give us access to forgiveness of our sins and the hope of eternal life in heaven someday, it is more than that. Abundant life begins now – as the death and resurrection of Jesus declares “Come walk with me and know me, have a relationship with me. In this you will find a richly, satisfying life.”

So enjoying my current study on “Encounter the Spirit” by Carolyn Moore.

A few “nuggets” from her study:

• …what if the whole reason you are where you are is to participate in God’s plan for his people?
• Church has a lot of observers, not enough worshippers.
• What if the time of waiting is more important than what you are waiting for
• Some are hoping they have been saved from hell but have no clue they have been saved for joy.
• Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.
• It isn’t our behavior Jesus wants to change….it is us.

One of my favorite parts of the resurrection story is when Mary Magdalene was standing outside the empty tomb, heartbroken because the tomb was empty, and she did not know where the body of Jesus had been taken.

When Jesus appeared to her, she did not recognize him and thought he was the gardener. “Sir, if you have carried him away, please tell me where you laid him.” At that moment, Jesus spoke her name. “Mary,”

At the sound of Jesus speaking her name, she realized it was Him!

Something is very special to us – the sound of our name in the voice of a loved one.

Jesus spoke of knowing His voice in John 10

“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

In Psalm 139 the writer reflects on how well God knows us.

O Lord, you have examined my heart    and know everything about me.You know when I sit down or stand up.    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.You see me when I travel    and when I rest at home.    You know everything I do.You know what I am going to say    even before I say it, Lord.You go before me and follow me.    You place your hand of blessing on my head.Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too great for me to understand!