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Living In Grace

A Christ inspired work dealing with American Christian Culture in the New Century.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

In Memorandum

Memorial: Serving to Preserve Remembrance


We memorializes our heroes and often our villains.  We memorialize our triumphs and our failures.  We have grand days of remembrance celebrated throughout our land and our own personal days where we sit in introspection dwelling on things that have gone by.  I would like to urge you now, this weekend, and this coming Memorial Day to remember those who gave their lives in service to this country.  Some were good and Godly men and women and others were not.  Some gave up families, homes, and jobs while others were looking for a way out of difficult circumstances but they all served and died for those of us who live here now and for future generations.  Regardless of your views on wars and whether any can ever be " righteous " these men and women gave their all so that you could hold that opinion in the freedom entrusted to all Americans.  So please put aside partisan politics and petty differences to remember those fallen soldiers on Memorial Day.

As a Christian what do you memorialize?
  Have you ever or are you  presently holding onto past hurts, whether real or imagined, allowing bitterness to control your life?  Have you idolized mistakes, anger, or selfish pride to the point that it is the dominant factor in your life?  Have you been hurt by the Church or those supposedly part of it and rejected the fellowship of saints in memorial of the insult, slight, or shunning?  This should not be so brethren as the root of bitterness is short of the grace of God and by it many are defiled ( Hebrews 12:15 ).  How often and how many times should we forgive which is the cure for bitterness?

Matthew 18:21-23 (New American Standard Bible)


Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”  Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
This is not an invitation to pull out your calculators and figure the number of times to forgive but rather an admonition to forgive as often and as many times as necessary.  Neither is this an open ended command to place ourselves under the feet of those who willingly and continually hurt us.  We should move away from toxic relationships when all our grace has been extinguished and turn the situation over to God.  Let Him deal with it.

How about past victories? Do you memorialize them by having your own little mental trophy case that you pull out every time you are around others?  Do you polish those same trophies when alone with your own thoughts glorying in the mighty triumph of self?  It would be prudent for you to remember that God is the one who carries us to victory:

Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me

1 Samuel 17:45
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.

Zechariah 4:6Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘ Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

It is not you who won, who overcame, or triumphed but the Lord of Glory who dwells within you.  It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we have the victory over every evil in our lives.  Christ Jesus has won the victory over death and Hell by His death, burial, and resurrection and we must abide in Him to realize that victory also.  Apart from Him we can do nothing and we are commanded to take Communion in Remembrance of Him.  We are to Memorialize Jesus in such a way that His sacrifice is an ever present reminder of the depravity of our sin.  We are to Memorialize His Resurrection as the moment when the ONE who was prophesied about conquered the grave and is the first fruits of the resurrection.  However, we are not to memorialize Him in a way that He is a dusty relic in the recesses of our lives.  He will not take second place as He is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.  He is not a trophy that we have won but we are His possessions bought and paid for by His redeeming blood.  He is not a faded and yellowed newspaper headline from a backwater Palestinian town.  He is the Author and Creator of Life,  He is the Great I AM, and He is the coming King.  Time has not dimmed His glory and humanity cannot tarnish His splendor.  He is Lord and He is worthy of all honor and praise to the Glory of the Father Forever.

One last note.  Remember those who have gone before you in the Faith.  Those who gave all and were martyred for His Glorious name.  Pray for those who are being tortured and killed today because they profess the name of Christ.  Remember Whose we are and where we are going:  these present sufferings cannot even compare to the glory that is to be revealed in us.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Amanda Daubenmeyer said...

Great post! I like how you said we can idolize mistakes and anger to where its dominating our lives. That's so true. Anything we dwell on becomes our idol because it takes our focus off God.
Have a blessed Memorial Day!

May 28, 2011 at 7:03 PM  
Anonymous Luther@Living In Grace said...

We do idolize so much. I pray you have a great weekend too.

A Living Stone

May 28, 2011 at 11:49 PM  

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