We are Barabbas.

THIS WEEK I got the flu, and I spent most of the week getting better. Being so busy all day in Peru last week, I got into the bad habit of doing my Bible Study late at night when I should be going to sleep. I've continued that habit this week, and I know need to stop.

But one day I did read a bit earlier because it was Thursday, and every Thursday I call my grandma to read her a passage. I read her something that I've read many times before, something that has a very special meaning.

Matthew 27, a rather long chapter, has a lot of good things in it. I read verses 11 through 26, which focus on Jesus being tried and condemned to death. Sometimes I fear that we hear the story so often that we start to forget why it's amazing:

Jesus was not guilty. He knew it. He could have proved it. But when they were accusing Him, He didn't say anything. But somebody was guilty. There was a crime and a criminal.

v. 16 "And they had then a notorious criminal called Barabbas."

The governer asked the people who they wanted him to set free, and who should die. He had a guy who was a well-known criminal, and he had someone whose crime nobody could really specify. Barabbas and Jesus. The authorities persuaded the crowd to move in their favor and kill Jesus.

v. 17 "So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?'" And as many times as he asked the crowd, they called for Jesus.

So they took Jesus away, and they whipped Him with whips that had pieces of bone and glass set inside to make it more painful. Then they drove nails through the nerves of His hands and feet and pinned His body to a wooden cross, where He died by 3:00 PM. And we know the rest of the story. On the third day after that, Sunday, He wasn't dead anymore. He beat death, and He made sure plenty of people saw Him alive.

But wait - Barabbas went free?

When I read this, I realize that we are Barabbas. Whether you're an axe murderer or Mother Teresa, nobody is good enough to be on God's level. Everybody's below Him. Everybody is a criminal like Barabbas, because nobody deserves to go free.

The entire crowd that condemned Jesus was Barabbas. In fact, Jesus is the only One who isn't Barabbas. And He is the One who gave His life away.

Barabbas walked away free that day. We know nothing at all about his thoughts and feelings. Maybe he thought he just caught a lucky break. Maybe it changed the way he lived the rest of his life. But however he handled it, we each have a decision to make about how we react to God's grace.

Think about this. You are up on the platform where everyone can point their fingers at you. Unless a miracle happens, you're going to die. But God sends somebody up there to trade places with you. The governor asks the crowd who should die, and they say he should release you and kill Jesus.

v. 23 "And he said. 'Why, what evil has He done?' But they shouted all the more, 'Let Him be crucified!'"

I don't think anything more amazing can happen to a person that to be saved by Jesus. Let's never forget that anybody who is saved is just like Barabbas - called innocent and set free. How amazing is it that we get to trade places with Him? He gets the shame and punishment for our mistakes, and we get to be labeled as righteous and come close to God.

God loves to set us free because He loves us. And He doesn't love us because we're perfect. He knows we're not. He loves us because it's what He does. He is love. The humbler we are before Him, the closer we are to Him. The closer we are to Him, the better everything gets.

Like Barabbas, we get to go free. But unlike him, we know the whole story. Let's love God back.

Jesus Te Ama

THIS WEEK I was in Peru on a mission trip, and more miracles happened than I can even tell you about right now. I am still a little speechless to describe it, and yet I cannot seem to stop talking about it.

My team and I visited about six or eight schools, at each of which we were the first Christian group to visit them. We danced with them and played games, and then we performed a powerful drama and shared testimonies with the help of translators. My team is a group of amazing people with strong faith and a desire for God to work through them. We saw God move in us and in the people He sent us to.

I have seen firsthand that when God wants you to do something, He makes it work. He provided more than enough money for each one of us to go. My parents did not have to pay anything at all. He also blessed us by protecting us. We had no problems at the airport or in the bus. And when one of us tripped and got a hairline fracture, she was soon able to come with us and to see as hundreds of young people came to Christ. Also, He showed His presence by answering our prayers for one another. When I lost my Bible at one of the schools we visited, we prayed until it turned up and someone brought it to on of our parties.

One aspect of the trip that was particularly noticable and inspiring to me was the way God annointed us as we gave testimonies. Whenever someone stepped up to talk about God's power to save and to transform lives, he was nervous and scriptless. No notes. We would have to speak in English, for translators to get the message and repeat it en Espanol. But we prayed for each other, that God would give us words to give the message He wanted to share. And each time, we could hear His wisdom in the way an average teenager discussed God's unselfish love, His persistent pursuit, His kindness and grace. We could hear that our friends were speaking out of love for God and a desire to share what He had done in their lives. As a result, God used us as He drew many people to His heart and saved them.

Early in the trip a particular passage of Scripture was referenced in my mission trip guide that God really used to speak to me something very specific. It was Acts 2, the chapter when the disciples begin to speak in tongues by the Holy Spirit and the people around them can understand, regardless of their languages. v. 6 "And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language."

This told me that there is no language barrier on God's grace. However He chooses to do it, He will not let His kingdom's spread be stopped because of the language His servants speak. I knew when I read this that He would not send us all the way to another continent just to let the effectiveness of our work be hindered by language. He led us to focus on a particular subject - purity and abstinence - that we did not plan beforehand to emphasize. He gave us God-fearing translators and guided the words we spoke. I saw girls hold each other and cry quietly, moved by the Spirit. I saw boys leaning on their hands and listening intently. And when Pastor Ryan asked everyone to come forward who would like to be saved, I prayed until I saw many people walk forward and bow their heads to God. I got to pray with people in English, knowing that whatever I was saying, God understood.

I have learned that if God's grace can drive people across oceans to share it, it can certainly drive us across rooms. Every Christian is a missionary, each with an amazing story of salvation. There is no unextraordinary conversion, so we all have something to celebrate. And if God has done miracles in our lives, as I love to write to you about, we have no reason or right to keep it a secret. God does miracles in us so that we can participate in bringing Him glory and helping people accept His saving grace.

I encourage you to go on a mission trip if you get the chance. Don't worry about money, because God will take care of that. But please don't wait for a mission trip to be a missionary. He provided words and actions for my team while we were in a foreign country, and I know that He will do that for us anywhere. Speaking in boldness has prepared me to do that at home as well. The world is a mission field, and everlasting life starts now.

Away for an Adventure

THIS WEEK was very exciting. My family came in from Texas to visit for my high school graduation, which was on Monday. We had a lot of fun playing Apples to Apples and eating good food, and then everyone cried when I graduated. It was by miracle after miracle that God got me through high school to graduation, even to the end: His blessing certainly made us survive the hail and thunder storm that flooded the roads on the way to the ceremony! It was a beautiful, memorable ceremony. The next day we had a party. Ask us if you need grilled chicken or rice, because we have A LOT left over.
I’m writing this on Friday instead of Sunday, because by the time Sunday comes I will be in Peru (South America) on my first mission trip! I have been packing all afternoon. It has been a busy week. When I get back I will tell you all about it. I am having my mom publish this for you because you know I wouldn’t miss a Sunday! I will leave early tomorrow and be back next Saturday. Please pray for safety, health, miracles, and the salvation of many people! I hope you’re as excited as I am. Talk to you next week!

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

THIS WEEK is my graduation weekend! My family is visiting from Texas, and we’re staying for a few days in a fun apartment complex. We all went to church together this morning, where I and my mission team were commissioned on stage. We’re leaving this Saturday – less than a week from now. We’re all working hard to get ready to go.

Having my family in town for my graduation means a lot to me. My aunt and uncle have brought their little two-year old Elijah, who is a source of endless entertainment. I always feel like watching toddlers is a chance to see what we often look like to God. They are beautiful and precious, always learning new things and running to their parents for support. But they are often difficult too, and, like us, they don’t always know that what they want is not necessarily what they need.

A few days ago, for example, Eli has rejected his food at dinner and demanded snacks from his parents’ bag. We do that every time we think we know what is best, but God wants something better for us. But toddlers don’t understand. Yesterday, Eli was swimming with his parents in the pool and decided he wanted to be in the deep end instead. But they insisted that he couldn’t go there because he can’t swim. That is a lot like how we ask God for something that is not good for us, and don’t always understand when He says no.

We have that problem a lot. Just as toddlers don’t understand, we don’t understand either. We don’t know what God is doing. When He lets go of our bike, we don’t know it’s to teach us how to ride without training wheels. It takes a child’s faith in his parent to keep their young relationship healthy and the child safe.

Why can’t we have ice cream for breakfast? Why do bad things happen to good people? That’s what we ask God, expecting Him to be at a loss for words. When we suffer loss, is it the devil that takes it, or is it God? How do we understand the hard times? Why can’t it always be easy? We all want to know. Would you believe it? God actually has a good answer for all of this. There is a reason we can’t have ice cream for breakfast.

I read the first chapter of Job yesterday, asking God to talk to me through it, and He gave me an answer to these important questions.

Job was a godly man who had everything, and lost everything. His story is sad, but it has a happy ending. He was the wealthiest and most blessed man in the east. He had seven sons and three daughters, livestock and servants by the hundreds and food to spare. He made sacrifices regularly for his children just in case they had sinned against God. What happened to him was not to punish him. It wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t perfect, but he honored God, and he didn’t commit some fatal sin that brought about his punishment.

One day the devil approached God and claimed that Job would turn against God if he were no longer safe and happy. God was so certain that satan was wrong that He accepted the challenge.

Job 1:12, “And the Lord said to satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”

So the devil proceeds to cause disasters that leave Job deprived of life’s most precious blessings. In one day he loses his livestock, his servants, his camels, and his ten children. One servant after another brings the soul-rending news of a catastrophe. At a loss and left broken, Job speaks and proves God wiser than the devil.

v. 20-22, “[20] Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. [21] And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ [22] In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”
When I read that, I prayed that when things get hard for me, I’ll do what Job did then. When the world was falling apart, Job didn’t claim that it wasn’t fair and God wasn’t just. Instead, he worshiped in the midst of his mourning. And he declared that everything he ever had always belonged to God, and was always His to take away. My favorite song is “Praise You in the Storm” by Casting Crowns, which at one point goes, “As the thunder rolls, I’ll raise my hands and praise the God who gives, and takes away.”

But wait a minute: Did God take it away? I thought God gave the devil permission to take it away. When Job’s kids were killed under their collapsed tent, whose doing was it? And why? I asked God that because I didn’t know whether to say that loss is caused by the devil, or by God. And as you might guess, there is a big difference.

God has helped me understand that although catastrophes are caused by the devil, the devil cannot cause us any loss without God’s permission. He had to go stand before God and get permission before he could touch Job’s belongings. But that doesn’t mean that God and the devil are working together! They hate each other and have opposing goals. God only said yes to prove a point: that Job’s devotion was not dependent on his circumstances. He would continue to revere God despite the catastrophe. Now, that isn’t the entire book of Job. It’s just the first chapter. Things get harder for him, and he does have a struggle with pride and faith. But in the end, Job dies happy again.

So, the devil takes things away in the sense that he causes calamities. Someone once described it by saying that satan has your face on a dartboard in his room for target practice. He hates our guts, because he knows we have amazing potential serving God. But God takes it away in the sense that He permits it. He doesn’t command it, but He permits it. Sometimes He wants to teach us. Sometimes He wants to test us or strengthen our faith. But He always wants to draw us closer to Him through it. Disasters can either destroy our faith or strengthen it. It just depends on whether we blame God or praise Him, because He remains the same and stands by us regardless or our circumstances.

What gets me the most is the fact that when God allowed satan to mess with Job’s life, He forbid him from touching Job himself. He said “Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” God is faithful to those who love Him. He wanted to let Job go through some things, but He would never throw His faithful child to the devil to chew up and destroy. I thank God that through all the hardest, stupidest messes we deal with in our lives, nothing can touch the children of God. I thank Him that He will never make us go through anything we cannot overcome. Because with God all things are possible, and no mountain is too big to move.

So if God says you can’t have ice cream for breakfast, don’t worry. And whatever you do, don’t scream and cry. Daddy is cooking up something better for His child.