We know that our emotions can be a powerful force that affects us, body, mind, and soul. We also know that Jesus has made a way to escape being controlled by our feelings, which can range from pesky to obsessive or even frightening.
We are told in the Word that we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. This flies in the face of feelings which indicate something is wrong with us. Our feelings are no match for the Word of God. If the Creator of the universe says we are righteous, then our emotions have no right to dispute it.
We have been made right by the blood of Christ which was donated as a divine transfusion to heal us from the inside out. The emotions we feel, the sounds we hear, the words we say, and the images we see, must all defer to the words of our King who has decreed tetelestai over all that is wrong with us.
Tetelestai Recovery – Finding Total Recovery in the Words of Christ, “It is Finished!”
We are damaged humans who have been damaged by other humans. Our only hope of recovery is to submit our claims to God and wait for Him to reimburse us for our loss.
We finally understood that when Jesus instructed us to forgive, He was not telling us we had to sustain damage and accept it as okay. He was also not telling us that we didn’t have a valid claim. In fact, He was stating the exact opposite.
The fact that forgiveness was necessary, meant a loss was incurred and damage sustained. He was not denying our claim. He was validating our loss and confirming its legitimacy.
He never suggested we just get over it. He wasn’t instructing us to learn to live with it and then congratulate ourselves on taking the high road. He instructed us to forgive because he wanted us to access His full coverage comprehensive plan. In other words, Jesus was telling us, “Submit your claim to me, and I will handle all repairs and collections.” He knew that the process was too exhausting and complicated for us to deal with on our own. He also knew that when two humans try to settle, they rarely get it right and they seldom get it done.
They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work, so I continued the work with even greater determination.
You derive a great deal of satisfaction from your work. You are considered extraordinarily reliable to those who count on you and you are given wonderful opportunities due to this attribute.
Your dependability goes beyond exceptional teamwork and collaboration skills demonstrated in your professional path. This character quality is also a vital component of your personal life as well.
You are conscientious and well-organized. You are appreciated for paying close attention to detail.
You dedicate your time and energy to building others up, and in doing so, you are performing the work of God.
God’s work does not always look religious or even spiritual. God’s work, as demonstrated by Jesus, involves tasks which identify spiritual gifts and divine destinies.
While you may not feel you are called to do God’s work on a grand scale, your daily duties are no less meaningful to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Providing encouragement and support to friends and family ushers you into a sacred space. It is there that you function in the highest calling of God’s work.
We examined the passage in Ezekiel 37, which described the valley of dry bones and the prophetic challenge to call them back to life. In the vision, God tells His prophet to speak specific words to the dry bones. In incremental stages, the bones were told to rise up, collect themselves, and grow tendons, ligaments, and skin. Ezekiel gave one final command to the lifeless creatures, as instructed by God. He told the four winds to deliver the breath of life and each skeleton begins to breathe. Gathered together, they formed a mighty army and stood ready to defeat the enemy who had once destroyed them.
The excavation process in our own emotional tar pit, revealed decomposing dreams and dried up destinies. Those artifacts might have left us hopeless and grief-stricken over our wasted years, had we not clung to David’s hope from the 23rd Psalm: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. (Psalm 23:4).
We feared arousing resentments and regret, but with God at our side, we were assured there was nothing we couldn’t face and forgive. As much as we felt our history was set in stone and fossilized forever, we claimed the following Sacred Text over the excursion, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27). In time, we became willing to enter our valley of dry bones and speak life over what had been so dead for so long.
We found the lifeless remains of enthusiasm, which had been suffocated by disappointment. We found fossils of unfinished projects, which could have been profound, had we not given up. We unearthed splintered fragments of gifts, talents, and abilities which had become casualties of our own sense of inadequacy. We didn’t see them as hopeless signs of a wasted life. Instead, we saw them as dry bones coming back to life. By faith, we saw our powerful future rising up from the wreckage of our past.
In our new normal, we spoke life over anything which reeked of death. In our new normal, we commanded those dry bones to rise up in service to our King. We did not think this was too much to expect for we had been given the resurrection power of Christ. We have been urged to follow in the footsteps of our Father, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that don’t yet exist. (Romans 4:17)
The winds of change swept through our own valley of dry bones, breathing life into what was dead inside. Slowly, methodically, our powerful army of gifts and talents began to rise. These warriors were character qualities which had been gifted to us from the Spirit:
We felt certain that we could justify anger, and even rage when it came to certain evils in the world. When we checked the Sacred Text, we found proof that anger can sometimes be appropriate; perhaps even righteous.
Jesus went into the Temple. He threw out all the people who were buying and selling there.
He turned over the tables that belonged to the men who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he upset the benches of those who were selling doves.
Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house where people will pray.’ But you are changing God’s house into a ‘den of thieves.’ Matthew 21:12-17
You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You’re nothing but show-offs. You travel over land and sea to win one follower. And when you have done so, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are. Matthew 23:15
So, after reviewing some of Jesus’ moments of fury, we concluded that there may, in fact, be times when anger or even rage might be entirely appropriate. Jesus had His triggers. He felt some kind of way about self-righteous hypocrites and conmen who use God’s house to make money.
His reaction was more than simply a display of righteous indignation. It was a display of self-restraint. The Son of God, with an army of angels at His disposal, simply flipped over a few tables and ran people out of the temple. He could have whistled for an asteroid to hit the coordinates where they stood. He could have summoned a flesh-eating bacterium to consume them or an earthquake that would bury them beneath tons of rubble. He could have destroyed those sanctimonious hypocrites in a million different ways, but he chose rather to use words, with an occasional show of force for emphasis.
Tetelestai Recovery Volume 2; Chapter Six – We Know a Guy
But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
As we pondered this verse, we came to realize that whether it was our own sins or someone else’s, everything was forgivable, and nothing was a secret to God. All wrongs could be forgiven and thus, all minds could be made whole. Since God promised He would cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness, we were relieved to confess what we knew to be true about ourselves, no matter how distasteful.
We also felt liberated by the fact that we would be cleansed of whatever else was wrong with us. This was our troublesome state of unrighteousness, which in essence, were our damaged psyches. If our minds were to be cleansed of ALL unrighteousness, even the things we had forgotten or buried, we knew we could be completely clean and completely whole. We were safely positioned under the waterfall, jagged edges and all.
Tetelestai Recovery 2: Our New Normal; Chapter Three – Brainwashed
Our New Normal offered many pleasant surprises. Some of our upgrades were unfamiliar, yet welcome. We enjoyed becoming an honorable person. We were delighted to be viewed as trustworthy. We stopped demanding respect and began earning it. We appreciated the new opportunities God sent our way. We looked in amazement at the doors which stood open in front of us. We looked with gratitude at the doors which had closed behind us.
The glaringly obvious issues had been removed with Jesus’ words, “It is finished!” and once we began moving out of our active addiction, much of the chaos connected with our former lifestyle settled down. We looked to the future with hope and knew that God was working out the more subtle issues, one at a time, little by little.
Lots of negatives had been removed, leaving a huge gaping hole in our soul. We felt as if our emotional center resembled an excavation site; filled with bulldozers, backhoes, and caution tape. Once the surface-level layers were removed, the process became more meticulous and precise. An archeological dig often begins with heavy equipment, but the expert precision near the treasure is done with a toothpick and tiny brush. So too, our soul dig went through a transformation. It seemed as if it had begun with a total upheaval of our surface level behaviors and lots of changes to the landscape. But eventually, the progress slowed, and we got discouraged. We didn’t realize God needed to use a lighter touch as He sifted carefully through our broken fragments.
His work was so quiet and gentle, we sometimes wondered if He was even doing anything at all. We loved the big, dramatic, exciting changes which we passionately recalled to anyone who would listen. However, the small, hidden changes were tedious and exhausting. They were not nearly as noticeable. At times, we wondered if we might lose interest, or worse, perhaps God might.
The story of what God has done in your life is a profound message of hope which will change lives. It cannot be kept quiet. It is not meant to remain private.
The exhibition of Jesus’ healing, deliverance, and renewal in your life will be shared as a lasting legacy long after your days in the human realm of space and time have ended.
Not only are you a living display of grace, through your kindness and compassion, you are carrying the teachings of Christ within your own being.
Your message from God is one of forgiveness, love, and empathy for those who struggle.
God has revealed this to you in such a personal way; it seems as if it is simply part of your personality.
Your ability to follow the unique level of Christ’s teaching is a special gift that not many possess. Despite numerous wrongs done to you, forgiveness and your refusal to carry a grudge is the deliberate response you choose.
The teaching and actions of Jesus concerning forgiveness are part of the mysterious message of truth that God has called you to communicate to his hurting children. His message of mercy is one that most people find difficult to receive until they see it in action. You are given amazing opportunities to share this mysterious message of the healing power of forgiveness with those who seek the new life you have found.
You understand the love of God in ways that are difficult for many people to comprehend. Your trust in His love creates a bond of confidence between you and your Creator.
While there may be times you have difficulty trusting other people or even yourself, there is never a doubt in your mind that God can be trusted to love and protect you, no matter what.
You understand that God’s love is not an emotion, it is a commitment. You see the way His love has supported you during some of the most difficult and wayward times of your life.
You also realize that God’s love is not fickle. He does not withdraw His love to manipulate or punish.
You enjoy living in God’s love and as you continue to walk in it, you experience emotional balance and internal harmony.
Psalm 6:4 Return oh Lord and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love.
While journeying through life, there are times you encounter obstacles which slow your progress and block your view of the future. There may even be times when an entire fortress of emotional walls loom in front of you, standing sure and solid while blocking your ability to move toward the destiny God has promised you.
These are the times when your faith rises up and you advance, one step at a time, confident in the authority of Christ. Knowing that the He is an expert in emotional and spiritual well-being, you trust His plan to crumble those walls, no matter how solid they appear.
Relinquishing any doubts which may try to invade your thoughts, you look to the insights given in this birthday passage:
Joshua 6:3 March around the city walls one time every day. Do this for six days.
Certain of God’s desire to see you move forward and convinced that He maintains total comprehension of all matters concerning mind, body, and spirit, you follow His marching orders precisely.
With deep spiritual perception, you can envision the walls crumbling, even before the slightest crack appears. Using the authority of Christ and the power of faith, you put one foot in front of the other, and wait for the results.
Walls of fear, distrust, resentment, and regret are toppled by an unexplainable force.
As the walls separating you from your destiny begin to quake and crumble, you advance through the rubble and lay claim to your purpose.
Finding Total Recovery in the Words of Christ, "It is Finished!" 