Seven Ways Jesus Words on the Cross Teach us to Live!

Seven Ways Jesus Words on the Cross Teach us to Live!

We come to these seven words as people of the Way who have believed in God and received the Spirit of His Son into our hearts calling out, “Abba Father, not my will but yours.” We acknowledge our weakness and the futility of trying to live a surrendered life through our best intentions and efforts, while actively yielding to and celebrating Holy Spirit who now lives in us, enabling us to live as Christ lived.   

Monday March 25^{th –} Live forgiving – Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing. Luke 23:34

Over and again, I’m reminded. We can dwell with thoughts of how we’ve been misunderstood or mistreated, or we can spend time with Jesus but we can’t entertain our wounds and keep company with Jesus at the same time. Choose Jesus, His friendship is life! And then ask Him to help you choose Him again when the thoughts return. They very well may. But He is faithful, and ever willing to shore up our resolve with His unfailing resources. 

Dear Lord, You not only forgive us for our sins and show us how to forgive, but You live in us to enable us forgive one another!  Oh, what a Savior! Help us hold to this great truth. Remind us to lean into You so we can live forgiving. In this way we can live healthy lives that make much of You before others while sharing the glorious good news of Your gospel with the world. Amen.

 

Tuesday March 26th Live soberly – Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43

None of us are meant to live holding our breath, but unless we live acknowledging the One who does hold it, we’ll fall prey to a subtle yet dangerous mindset. For believers, this mindset will soothe us into thinking we can put off righting wrongs, building bridges, and repairing fences. For unbelievers who have spurned the grace of Jesus, the deception promises they’ll be time for repentance, tomorrow. May we all resist the lie. Tomorrow is a mirage. Let’s live calling out to Jesus today.    

Dear Lord, help us live with our eyes fixed on You today, bringing You our whole heart with the sober understanding that the only moment we have is the one we’re living. Your Word says if You were to withdraw Your breath all living things would perish, so we thank you for the breath in our lungs. Help us use it to make things right with You and with our fellow man. Amen.

 

Wednesday March 27^th Live honorably – “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “here is your mother.” John 19: 26-27

Every single believer has a call on their lives, not just those in visible positions of leadership. Paul christened it the ministry of reconciliation. We’re also called to honor our father and mother. One call doesn’t negate the other. No one has ever received a call to ministry greater than Jesus, Son of God. And yet, Jesus made arrangements for his mother while hanging on the cross. Let’s follow His example.  

Lord, the way you cared for your mother during your Passion moves us. Your spirit within us equips us to do likewise. We want to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation while living in obedience to your commands for our interpersonal relationships, so we check our excuses at the Cross and depend on You. Help us answer our individual callings and love our people well at the same time. Amen. 

 

Thursday March 28^th Live trusting – Why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34

Until now, we’ve seen Jesus calling out to God as Father and teaching us to do the same. Behold Him now, as He experiences God’s full wrath for our sins. He’s being forsaken so we can be reconciled, and He is calling out to His Father as His God! The Beloved Son who no longer feels His Father’s Presence is trusting still in His God’s Faithfulness. Believer, God doesn’t ask us to trust Him when the storms of life come simply because we should, but because we can! The Cross made it possible for Jesus to live in our spirits to strengthen us and enable us to trust God now, as surely as Jesus did then!

Dear Lord, we confess that, left to ourselves, we are powerless to trust You in the face of trials and tribulations. We’re so prone to acting like we’re on our own when the storm comes! Forgive us. Help us remember to lean on Your Spirit within us for the staying power we need to trust in Your faithfulness instead of trying to gin up the courage to forge ahead under our own good intentions. Amen.

 

Friday March 29^th Live at the well – I thirst. John 19:28

Earlier in his crucifixion Jesus had refused a drink offered Him because it contained a numbing agent, and our Redeemer wouldn’t come short of bearing the full wrath He was sparing us. Now, with the atonement complete, Jesus accepts a sip of sour wine and calls out. “It is finished.” I’m reminded of John 7: 37 where Jesus lifted up His voice to cry out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” Life keeps coming for us, but we don’t have to live dry and parched. The sole criterion for having our spirits replenished by Jesus again today, is acknowledging that we’re thirsty for Him, again today.  

Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I can’t drink deeply enough at the well one day to not need You the next. Would you help me realize when I’m allowing myself to be thirsty and give me ears to hear You calling? I need you to alert me when I’m parched, dry, and running on fumes because I haven’t stopped to nourish myself in Your Presence. It’s Your desire to quench my thirst and it’s my intention to live at the well of living water that You have opened up for all who believe. I thirst. Amen   

 

Saturday March 30^th Live from victory – It is finished. John 19:30

I often say life can be hard when it’s good and the statement never fails to garner a round of amens. No doubt such agreement is built on experience, but more importantly, we have Jesus’ own words assuring us we’ll face tribulation in this world. However, immediately following that announcement, Jesus told us to take heart because He had overcome the world! His victory is our encouragement because Jesus triumphed over sin and death for us. He reunited us with His Father and ours, and nothing and no one can ever separate us again. We don’t endure hard things by deciding to have an eternal perspective. We learn eternal perspective by doing life with the One who secured the victory.

Dear Lord, this world’s sorrow blinds us to very real promise of eternal life You secured for us on the Cross when we fall into the trap of thinking of eternal life as a future event. Help! When we start thinking that way, remind us that You said, “eternal life is knowing God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.” (John 17:3). You are eternal life. Help us learn victorious living by doing life with You now. Amen.

 

Sunday March 31st  Live surrendered – Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Luke 23: 46

With His last words on the Cross, Jesus demonstrated surrender. Staring into the darkness of death and the grave, the Son of God put His life into the hands of God and laid down His life. It wasn’t taken. He gave it. And because of His voluntary death, He was raised to live again. All of us who trust in His atonement can look forward to walking out of our graves, too! As incredible as that is, there’s more. When you and I live surrendered to God, we get to taste resurrection life on this side of physical death. We get to experience a foretaste of the peace, justice, and harmony of the new heavens and the new earth, through our ever-increasing experience of Jesus.  

Dear Lord, thank you for the gift of Your Presence. We want to live surrendered to Your will and committing our walking around, getting up, lying down, everyday lives to You. All for the greater joy of knowing You. Alert us to every opportunity to choose Your will over our own, for in choosing You, we choose Life! Amen.

REJOICE! He is risen! Go tell the world that Jesus lives!