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WITH DOUG JOHNSON

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498 The Leech or The Savior?

I have been thinking about this verse since the moment I heard it:

Proverbs 30 15 “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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Coach J

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497 Only Jesus

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 1 9 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.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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495 How Great

1 John 3 1 How 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 … 

  1.  He Thinks About You When You Are Not Thinking About Him

Luke 15 20 … “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.

  1.  He Wants To Promote You

Luke 15 22 “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!

  1.  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 1 How 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.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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493 Justified Access and Unlimited Grace

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 1 Therefore, 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 1 Therefore, 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 Demonstrates Unlimited 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.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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492 Tetelestai

So much of what Jesus taught about referenced money.  It was his way to teach us in a way that we could understand.  And when He walked into the Temple on Passover and cleared it out, He showed everyone how much He cared about money.

It wasn’t just about the money to Him.

It was the idea of people getting ripped off.

And He was to have none of it.

And so He made His cord and sent everyone into backpedal mode.

Fast forward to the end of Jesus ministry.  This action at the temple directly lead to Him being executed.  And in His last moments, He was executed in the most humiliating fashion.

The meaning of the word Tetelestai in the Greek is “it is finished”.  It is the final words of Jesus as recorded in John 19:30.  It makes sense that this was the last thing uttered by Jesus on the cross as He gave up His life.

The interesting part about this is that this is not the only way Tetelestai was used.  The Greek word “tetelestai” was also used in business during Jesus’ time to indicate a debt or bill had been paid in full.  And this changes this entire situation, especially to the seeker.

As I saw this beautiful word on a tattoo yesterday, it brought up an interesting conversation at track practice.  In conversation with a young man who I coach and who I know very well, I asked:  “Why would someone utter ‘IT IS PAID IN FULL’ right before they died?”

There is only one thing that makes sense to me.

Jesus died for me (and you) to pay off a debt that we couldn’t.

He paid debts that we owe, and continue to owe.

But Romans 5 states:

Romans 5 20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more 

The trespass?  It is Paid In Full.

I can’t outdo on the evil side what He did on the side of grace…and neither can you.

This is incredible.

And it is my testimony moving forward.

He can forgive.

He can forgive me and He can forgive you.

For God is the ONLY one who can set out in a situation and make it so all of us can win.

Thank You Jesus.

Tetelestai

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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491 Blessed …

So much of the Old Testament is hard to read.  Blessings and Curses … and a lot of rules.  But only if you read it without considering who wrote it.

John 1 says “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was with God from the beginning”

Let me say this again:  He was with God from the beginning.

Yes.  Jesus.  He was with God from the beginning.

So let’s read this through those glasses:

Deuteronomy 28 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 

As you move forward in your life, God wants to bless you as you arrive and when you leave.

What a promise!

Now certainly we need to read one small verse and seek to understand it by putting it in context with the entire passage and the entire book.  At the beginning of Deuteronomy 28 it says:

Deuteronomy 28 1 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

IF.  IF we fully obey.

Certainly God is not asking us to be perfect.  Noah found favor in his eyes.  So did David.  So did Abraham.  And ALL of them made major mistakes that made them far from perfect.

In reading this in context, I think His point is for us to do each of these items:

  1.   Trading Pride For Repentance

Proverbs 16 18 “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”

  1.   Trading Religion For Worship/Devotion

1 Samuel 13 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

  1.   Realizing The Magnitude Of Our Forgiveness

1 Timothy 1 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

In these three things, we have a chance … to receive the promise of Deuteronomy 28:6.

Deuteronomy 28 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

So I encourage you this very day to raise your hands to the heavens and cry out the Living God … to thank Him for loving you beyond your sin.  He is worthy of our praises.  He is greater than our sins.  And He is certainly worthy to save.

And that makes you, and me, Blessed …

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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490 Saved For A Purpose

Jesus is seeking you out in the same way that He sought out a rejected woman at a well some 2000 years ago.

And when you understand this very important truth, you understand that you are saved for a purpose.

John 4

4 Now he had to go through Samaria.

6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. ) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 

12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 

17 “I have no husband,” she replied. 

18 Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” 27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ ?” 

30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” 

My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about the fact that Jesus cut the humanistic ties with racism, misogyny, elitism, economic class, religious rules, and every other item that we, as humans, have created … Even though it could be.

My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about forgiveness for all … Even though it could be.

My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about the fact that Jesus claimed to be God … Even though it could be.

My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about Jesus being the LIVING WATER … Even though it could be.

My point of emphasis is this:

YOU, just like the woman at the well, are saved for a purpose.

So if you lack Purpose, then check in with Jesus and connect with Him in a deeper way … because when He saves you He gives you purpose.

And if you are in need of saving, cry out to Him to be your Savior … He is worthy to save.  And He has such a great purpose for you.

He is worthy … and He wants to put something on your life that is bigger than anything you could ever imagine or even ask for.

YOU … were saved for a purpose.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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489 It Just Got Real

As I was preparing to speak to our FCA group last week, the phrase “It Just Got Real” was on my heart and in my head.

Two of our students were in a terrible car accident.  And when looking into the details it was truly a miracle that they were still alive to talk about it.

All of us have had “It Just Got Real” moments that challenge us to rethink who we are, what we are doing, and why we are even here in the first place.  It is in these moments that we have opportunities to make important decisions … I encourage you to do this with God at the forefront of your mind.

It Got Real with Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3 as he came to the realization that his life had no meaning.

Ecclesiastes 3 11 He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end”.

What is the meaning of life has been asked by mortal men since the beginning of time.

It Got Real for John as he penned John 1 and made the boldest claim in human history:

John 1 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

He had seen Jesus crucified and raised from the dead.  And only after did he put all the pieces together.

It Gets Real for ALL OF US when we see the true commitment of Jesus to who we are and what we are doing.

John 11 35 Jesus wept.

Mary had told Jesus that He needed to be there … and, had He been there, her brother would not have died.

But that’s just it, isn’t it?

We expect Jesus to NOT BE THERE … but Jesus IS there.  He IS ALWAYS THERE.

And as He sat on that hill and looked over Jerusalem this is a truth that you must take with you EVERYWHERE YOU GO AND IN ALL THAT YOU DO.

He Shows Up

God is there for us.

He is there for us in the flesh … but more than that, and when we can not see His work as Mary couldn’t, He is there in the spirit.

His Kingdom is eternal and it is an invitation for all who would dare call Him king.

His Kingdom is for the rich and for the poor, for the strong and for the weak.

His Kingdom is for the put together … and for the broken.

It Just Got Real.

What are you going to do about it?

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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488 Called By His Glory

Abraham had the hand of God on him no matter what he did.  Even when he was a coward, God protected him.

Afraid for his life, he told King Abimelech that his beautiful wife Sarah was his sister.  So when Abimelech took her, God punished him immediately.  (Genesis 20)

I have always struggled with this verse.  Why would God punish a man who did not know he had done wrong?

What does this mean for us today?

The reality is that God is watching over all who would dare to declare Him King.  And He isn’t watching us and deciding whether to give us an “Abraham Reward” or an “Abimelech Punishment”.  We aren’t under karma and we don’t have to walk in fear over every decision that we make.

That being said, the power of bad human choices and sin have cursed our society.  It isn’t that we made a bad choice, it is that we live in the midst of Romans 3 … For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  ALL.

We live in corruption and we are constantly facing off with it.

And today, instead of fighting against it, much of society has chosen to celebrate it.

This did not work in the time of Abraham, and it won’t work now.

And so I can declare that the need for the good news of the gospel has never been greater.

Our reality is this:

2 Peter 1 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 

To those of us who would declare Him King, we have all that we need.

God has given us the power to overcome, the power to live a Godly life, and the knowledge of who He truly is.

There is no better word than this.

We have to simply follow the Savior who gave His life as a ransom to set us free.

And we can walk in that freedom … every day.  We are called in His glory and His divine power … and we have everything we need.

And that … is good news.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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