Irresistible Invitation by Maxie Dunham - Day 14

Irresistible Invitation

 Day 14: To Live in Joy

Hallelujah!  Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. …  Hallelujah!  For our Lord God Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!  Rev 19:1, 6-7

Maxie shares with his readers a story about a butterfly found on a beach.  Maxie was on a retreat, taking time to renew and replenish.  While walking on the beach, he found a beautiful velvet black butterfly, with bright yellow splotches and orange spot on the tips of its wings.  It was stuck on seaweed, and Maxie gently pulled it free.  He looked at it briefly, while the fragile butterfly struggled to fly away.  When Maxie finally let it go, it didn’t have the strength to fly.  It fell to the ground. 

Maxie felt a moment of pain – and questioning: had he held it too long?  He looked at it closely, wishing he could perform some sort of miracle to help it.  But he could not.

In that moment, full of disappointment, Maxie experienced a deeper understanding of our human condition.  We are made for meaningful life, yet most of us are stuck in “grueling circumstances.”  Something clicked for him – the Holy Spirit – and he felt deep joy. 

He heard a flood of words rush over him. 

 

-         I have come that [you] may have life and have it to the full.  (John 10:10)

-         Because I live, you also will live.  (John 14:19)

-         Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

-         God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  (1 John 5:11-12)

-         Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor. 5:17)

“Do you get it?   How can we miss it?  But we have.  Every day – every day – is a now day of Resurrection.  Easter is not an annual experience.  The living Christ is not to be experienced only on occasion.  His presence is to be the dominant reality continually shaping our lives.”

Here are the lessons learned from this past week:

The Hint Half Guessed

We want instant gratification.  We want quick, easy answers.  But that is not the way of God.  God reveals slowly, through hints.  And it’s easy to miss those hints in the midst of our everyday lives.  God coming to us in the form of Jesus is a mystery, but real and powerful.  “Have you reflected on the meaning of God’s real, living presence in Jesus?  Have you received any glimpses, any divine hints, into this eternal mystery?”

Why We Still Preach the Cross

“Can’t you do something about that dreadful cross?”  Yes.  Of course.  We can let it remind us of the beauty that lies within it, the truths it holds for us in our very real and personal lives.  Remember 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  Think on the fact – Jesus went to the cross and yet still lives.  This is our Christian faith.  “In reading more about Jesus this week, has your perception of the cross changed?  In what way?”

He Comes As He Came

Remember Jesus on the donkey.  Remember as he wept over Jerusalem.  He comes, even so today, showing us peace and power; kindness and compassion; and judging those who do not believe.  “Have you considered in what ways you are like your Savior – and in what ways you are not?  Take a moment to ask him now.”

A Love Like No Other

Our most profound need is to be loved.  God offers us the love that truly satisfies, that can be found nowhere else.  Remember that the way “we feel about ourselves has a lot to do with the way we believe the most important people in our lives view us.”  We can live with the confidence of the love of God, that unconditional love that we can neither earn nor justify.  “Have you come across any areas of doubt of God’s great love for you?  If so, take them to God in prayer, and ask God to show you just how precious you are to him.”

The Stone Was Rolled Away

Hard to imagine – that day the stone was rolled away.  But, remember, this was not just a one-time occurrence.  We can experience the joy and surprise as we allow Jesus to roll away our stones of sorrow, despair and death.  And when the stones are gone, hope can come and fill our souls.  As you have focused on Jesus this week, “has your level of hope increased?  Have you been able to rejoice at the now-empty tomb?”

The Gospel By Which We Are Saved

Do you recall the vivid imagery of the jaws of death and hell?  Remember the story of the young lost man who came into all sorts of trouble.  It was God’s love that brought him home again.  That same love seeks you out every day.  “Is anything standing between you and God’s great generous gift?  If so, take it to the Lord in prayer.”