Exodus 211 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
Nathanael just wanted to be noticed.
John 148 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
The leper did not want to be broken anymore.
Matthew 82 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.
Nicodemus knew at the heart of his ministry that he was misguided.
John 3 3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
And like all of these situations, we are all facing surrender. Our reality is this:
Sooner Or Later We Are All Going
To Have To Surrender To Something
Inadequate.
Unnoticed.
Broken.
Misguided.
What is your story?
If you are like me, it is a long laundry list of obstacles.
But the reality for all of us is this:
We can surrender to Jesus or lose to the rest.
And our surrender is not a detriment.
It is the greatest option that we could ever have.
So cry out to the King of the Universe … And give everything you have to Him. He is worthy.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Because if you are looking for easy … or slow … or without struggle … then you are not looking for a race.
Hebrews 121 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
My words are not meant to discourage. Just the opposite. They are meant to refocus us … to refine us … to help us to recalibrate.
What does God say?
He says to do at least three things in this passage:
Surround. God tells us to surround ourselves. With who? With other believers. But more than that—we want to be surrounded by, and filled up by, the Holy Spirit. It is only in His power that we can run this race.
Fix. God tells us to fix. To fix our eyes on Jesus. To stand with Him. To not back down. And to let our life be not just about what we are doing, but to make it about what He did, and wants to continue to do, through us.
Consider. God wants us to consider, when the race is hard, Jesus. He stood before evil men and still focused on the prize. His prize? The absolute decimation of Satan, sin, and death—so that WE MIGHT HAVE LIFE. And in one breath He defeated them all. How hard it must have been to stay nailed to that cross and carry out that mission. Yet He did. And because of Him the portals of Hell are closed and the portals of Heaven are OPEN for those who might want to follow Him.
Run the race today.
Run it with clarity and vision and strength.
Run it with gratitude for God.
And run it without apology.
For you see, at just the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
He died for you.
Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Hebrews 121 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
How Can I Be Made Right?
God Wants Me To Come To My Senses
Luke 1516 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.’
What Does God Want From Me?
God Wants Me To Be Trusted
Luke 1610 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
What Does He Want Me To Remember Today?
God Wants Me To Remember There Is A World Much Bigger Than Mine Yours Or Ours
Ephesians 612 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The bottom line is this. The answers are in our Word. They are their for us to value and use. And He desires to do a new thing and to fill us beyond our wildest dreams.
TREASURE IT
MEMORIZE IT
DO WHAT IT SAYS
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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There are few things greater than the power of choice. We get to CHOOSE. We can choose what fades away, or we can choose what lasts FOREVER. We can choose something that FILLS OUR HEARTS and something that FILTERS out the pollutants that we encounter every day. In our choice, we get PROTECTION, PROVISION, and VISION.
Today … I CHOOSE it. And I encourage you to CHOOSE it too.
The Word of God gives us CHOICE
Luke 1128 But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
The Word of God lasts FOREVER
Isaiah 408 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Matthew 2435 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
The Word of God FILLS OUR HEARTS
Colossians 316 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
The Word of God FILTERS
2 Timothy 316 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
John 1717 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
The Word of God PROTECTS
Hebrews 4 12For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The Word of God PROVIDES
Matthew 44 But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
The Word of God SEES
Psalm 119105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
The bottom line is this: Our lifeblood. Our hope. Our very existence is tied to this word and this God.
Thank you Jesus.
And as Peter spoke out to you:
“Lord, where would I go? You ALONE hold the keys to eternal life.”
Amen and Amen.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Isaiah 61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me To …
He Is Beyond Your Idea Of Time
When Jesus uttered “today this prophesy has been fulfilled” He was claiming to be God. But more than that, Jesus was saying, just as it says in John 1, I was with God in the beginning … the Genesis 1 beginning. SHOCKING! Read Isaiah 61 and then Luke 4:16-19.
He Destroyed The Temple Passover To Tell You
John 215So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
He Cares About Injustice
In the most tyrannical political system that we could imagine, ONE man started a riot. In John 2 and Isaiah 61, Jesus begins a ministry that sets in motion his road to a brutal execution. He knows this, yet STAYS THE COURSE. Read John 2.
He Touched A Leper To Tell You
Matthew 82A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,”
He Is Not Afraid Of Your Mess
How can this Royal Official do this? This is like the president of the United States climbing, in his suit, down into sewer to hug those covered in their mess.
He Met A Reject At The Well To Tell You
John 423Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
He’s Not In Your Group
In John 4, Jesus shows that He Cares NOTHING About Your Gender, Political Affiliations, Socio Economic Status, Popularity, or any of it. When you realize this—you won’t want it anymore either! Read John 4.
He Said It Is Finished To Tell You
John 19 30 “It is finished.”
He Is Paying Your ENTIRE Bill
The bottom line: You owe 50 Billion dollars and He is going to pay it off in one swoop. Unfathomable! Take an assessment of your life and decide if you need this Jesus.
I have been thinking about this verse since the moment I heard it:
Proverbs 3015 “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’: 16 the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’
God never ceases to amaze me.
In my rat race of a life I read these things like they are pauses in my life to be eaten like an apple as I go to my next thing.
LORD, forgive me.
Because this word … this Proverbs 30:15-16 advice is a look into the portal of eternity for little ole me … and little ole you.
Number one. Check out a leech with two mouths. They suck the life out of you until they cause sickness or even death. And these bloodthirsty animals can not get enough of it. When I looked on line, I actually saw a leech with two mouths. Heck, maybe they all have two mouths. But for me, it was a great educational moment and a great connection to the word.
And it gets better.
God warns us of three things that are never satisfied:
The Grave
The Barren Womb
The Dry Land
I don’t think that God just meant these literally. And I think it is necessary for us to think about it.
The Grave. How many of us live as though dead? Constantly in a fight to avoid, or not deal with, death. And yet, we must somehow face it. But not just death. Maybe God wants us to rise up and get rid of the emptiness or the feeling of: “what is this all about?” As a parent, I must take this into account. YES–I can teach my children something. But YES–they, too, have something to teach me too. And it goes like this: Get off your butt, dad, and quit looking for the living among the dead. I mean, come on! Jesus tells us in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son … I need to get up, celebrate that, and live like I am going to live forever! Because…I am!
The Barren Womb. Maybe this pertains to the dreams that we give up on … the idea that we can somehow have life. Maybe we need to stop sitting like the lonely woman by the window waiting to be visited. Maybe we need to get up and activate our dreams again … not like Joseph when he initially bragged to his brothers but like Mary—who basically said: “To God be the glory!” Amen! I can dream again because God gets the glory!
The Dry Land. Jesus told the lady at the well “if you drink the water I have you will never go thirsty again.” EVER! Maybe I need to live in contentment, to be grateful, to find the things I DO HAVE and not the things that I DO NOT HAVE and maybe, just maybe, I need to stand up and praise the Lord for what He has given me.
The thing about the Proverbs verse is that I believe it is never ending. Three goes to Four. And I believe that God is telling us that perhaps this thing can grow to a point where we are actually crippled.
NO MORE!
Jesus doesn’t have that for us.
Rise up from the dead and dare to dream again.
Rise up from the dead and dare to thank God for all that you have.
Rise up from the dead and dare to challenge your immortality.
After all….Easter is coming.
And us sitting there being harassed by a blood thirsty two mouthed leech is no way to celebrate it … and no way to live.
Be blessed.
Be empowered.
Be the one that cries out to God and actually walks in freedom.
That’s what you are called to do.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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In one of the most radical transformations in human history, Paul goes from:
“Let’s round up these Jesus followers and throw them in prison” (or worse)
To
“I am willing to go to prison for this God who has saved my soul”
Grace is a scandal … and the gospel is a scandal. But that is not the question we should tell others to ask. The question we should be asking is:
Is This True?
Because when we ask “Is This True?” we find out that this is the greatest rescue story that has ever been written … and we are the recipients.
We go from destined for the pits of Hell … to a son or daughter of the King of the Universe with immediate access to Him and all that He holds dear.
In today’s journey, I ask you: What do these verses from Paul have in common?
Philemon 19 yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul–an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus– 10 I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains.
Ephesians 1 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
Philippians 4 13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Colossians 1 28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
If your answer is that all were written by Paul, you would be correct.
I want to emphasize that they were all written from a prison cell. Paul is proclaiming freedom over our lives … from a prison cell. And that, my friends, is the Hand of Jesus.
Only Jesus can give you freedom EVEN in a prison cell.
And really, that’s the answer to every question:
Only Jesus
Only Jesus can convert a bitter and hateful Christian chaser like Paul and convert him to a disciple.
Only Jesus can raise the dead.
And only Jesus can save you … and me.
Only Jesus.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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1 John 3 1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
In the King James version it says to “BEHOLD what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God!”
As I read this verse and see the two translations, I can not help the love of the Father described by Jesus in the story of the prodigal son.
Some things to remember today on Thursday March 20 as you walk out your day …
He Thinks About You When You Are Not Thinking About Him
Luke 1520 … “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
His Father was waiting for Him! And watching for Him. Even though the son had dishonored Him.
He Wants To Promote You
Luke 1522 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it …
His Father wanted to actually promote Him!
The Gifts That He Offers Are All That You Long For
Restoration
Promotion
Forgiveness
Authority
Walking In Honor
Covering
Jesus tells us what the Father does, and John tells us to plant this idea on our hearts in our daily walks.
1 John 3 1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
When you walk in the idea that God has taken your shame, and your bad moments, and your failures and replaced them with
Restoration
Promotion
Forgiveness
Authority
Walking In Honor
it is hard to go the wrong direction. So John is proclaiming it as a reminder to his spirit, and ours, that we are worthy of nothing …
But if we want to be worthy of selling the gospel we will have to take a memory of what the Father did for us so that can truly sell it.
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”
Amen
Amen
and
Amen
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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The greatest lawyer in the history of the world (besides Jesus) wrote Romans. And Romans 5 is the greatest passage in the Bible (besides all the others).
Romans 5 1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 5 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more
One of my favorite movies (for adults) is A Few Good Men. And if I am to be fully transparent, I love a great “lawyer” or “court room” show. I love how a lawyer can “work the room”, and whether it is this way in reality or not—it is very appealing in a well written drama. There is a particular moment in A Few Good Men that is an iconic Hollywood moment:
(The Lawyer) Caffee says: “I want the Truth.”
(The Marine Colonel) Jessup responds with: “You can’t handle the Truth! I live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it?
You? (to Caffee)
You, Lieutenant Weinberg?” (another attorney)
The movie continues and certainly captures the viewer’s attention as the drama continues right up until the ending scene.
Today, I want to go a bit deeper. The issues that come up in A Few Good Men bring us to an interesting intersection of who we are and where we might be going in life (and thereafter). As we go through our lives, one could ask: What can we hang our hat on?
If we hang our hat on the Legal System or The Law ALONE, we operate in a system of rules with no regard to the situation and, in fact, with no regard to the truth. As is boldly proclaimed in the movie: “It doesn’t matter what the truth is, it only matters what we can prove.” In God’s world, the Truth means everything.
If we hang our hat on Grace and Mercy ALONE, we get lawlessness, a lack of respect, no honor, and, eventually, complete rebellion.
If we hang our hat on Absolute Power ALONE, we get what Satan has been petaling since the beginning of time. We get only the idea of power and, ultimately, unadulterated evil.
In the legal courtroom, we are trapped with no hope of escape. But take a look at what the incredible lawyer Paul tells us.
Romans 5 1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
In Jesus, we are Justified
Romans 5 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but
In Jesus, we have Access to God
Romans 5 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In Jesus, God Demonstrates His love for us
Romans 5 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more
In Jesus, we have Unlimited Grace
The plea deal is this:
In Jesus, you get:
Justified Access from a God who DemonstratesUnlimited Grace
That’s the best deal you’re ever going to get.
John 1 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Take the deal.
In The Name of the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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2 MINUTE WARNING 