jesus

448 How Can It Be?

Many might question Jesus choice for disciples.

But His choice to spread the gospel was even more radical.

Could Jesus have planned to have a demon possessed crazy (blog 447) and a town prostitute (this blog, 448) to take His good news to the world?

The fact that they did, the fact that the gospel even survived, and the fact that He predicted His death and resurrection say that it was much deeper than we could even surmise.

In the middle of daytime heat, in a place “inconvenient” to where the disciples might have chosen to go, Jesus began changing the world.

And his methods were radical.

As the disciples attempted to steer Him in the wrong direction, He told them:

John 4 ³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

Our pursuit of Jesus often includes are thoughts as to what He is and who He is.

But who He is runs contrary to all that we sometimes think.

We think that His conversation with the woman at the well was necessary for Him to save “them”. But what we can not fathom was that it was necessary to save us.

WE are the broken ones. ALL of us.

John 4 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.

The gospel of Jesus has the ability to enrage the rich, the privileged, the well-behaved, and the reliable. And this is because in our very narrow vision of who we are, we believe that we are somehow worthy.

But the reality is that we are not worthy.

The reality is that He has made us worthy.

In reality, we are no different than the woman or even the crazy man from the graveyard.

We are so in need of His everlasting grace.

Without it, we are sitting ducks for Hell.

Growing up, my beautiful daughter Jenna would listen to Lauren Daigle. I grew to love her music because Jenna did. And her words in this song could not be more true.

Thank You, Jesus. How Can It Be?

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

January 21, 2024 0

The battle between good and evil has been going on since the beginning of time. And it should be of no surprise to us.

I was captivated by the first movie of Wonder Woman as it paints the gospel picture so perfectly clearly.

The man, Jesus, takes the death of mankind on a poison loaded plane into the atmosphere.

The evil Ares who is the god of war, Satan, celebrates the demise of humanity.

The heroine Wonder Woman, God, faces off with Satan in a final battle.

The poison making woman, man, sits on the ground waiting for God to punish her. But the heroine does not, instead focusing all of her attention on Ares, the god of war.

In their final showdown, Ares says:

“They do not deserve your protection.”

To which, Wonder Woman replies:

“It is not about deserve–it’s about what you believe. And I believe in love.”

A compelling story that represents the gospel. If you would like to watch it, here it is:

The horror story in Mark 5 is also right out of a movie.

This demon possessed man came came from the graveyard.

Chains could not hold him, even if they shackled his hands and feet.

He cut himself with stones.

I am quite positive that everyone feared him greatly and stayed well away from that graveyard.

And I have to think that Jesus approached without, worry, fear, or even a second thought. He was going to break a foothold and fight the most powerful force of evil the world has ever seen.

But the drama ends there.

This man sprinted to Jesus and was at His feet on two knees begging for help.

Jesus is not afraid of your sin.

He is not afraid of your tempting and evil thoughts.

And He is not afraid if you carried out some, or all, of them.

He isn’t afraid of a man who could break chains, or the evil in the graveyard, death, or the devil himself. In the horror movie, He is the Savior, and He walks into the teeth of death to meet the most evil presence we could conjure.

Demons begged.

Pigs died.

A man was freed.

Read it in Mark 5.

Mark 5 ¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

The ten cities in Greece were saved because of a demon possessed crazy man’s testimony. And it expanded out from there.

As you go into your weekend, I want to leave you with three thoughts:

1. If you are going to the graveyard, take God with you. He is good for opening caskets, driving out demons, raising the dead, and redeeming your broken life.

2. The Physical, Mental, and Emotional are all controlled by the Spiritual. And the Spiritual has a King that will not be sharing with anyone else (thank God). Beware of anything that will challenge His reign on your spiritual health. And remember, filling up your emotional, or your physical, or your mental needs will work for a while … but it won’t be long until you have come to the end of this pursuit and feel empty. Fill up your Spiritual tank. Daily. With Jesus.

3. Weigh The Cost. We worry, with our faith, about how it looks, about what we fear, about how much it might cost us, and, certainly, about what it would do for us (what’s in this for ME?). Let me just say: You can’t afford NOT to do it.

So enjoy the weekend.

And if Jesus wants to go to the graveyard to face up with the scariest person you could imagine, go with Him. He is not afraid.

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

446 Deny Yourself

Matthew 16 ²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

Right after telling Peter, “Get behind me Satan”, Jesus said these words.

And we must always remind ourselves of them.

It is not our job to tell God what we will do and where we will go and what will happen when we get there … It is His job to tell us.

Our lives are not forever. They are temporary and quickly fading. Our time is short and our days are numbered … and that’s the bad news.

Even worse news is what the enemy has in store for us as his days are numbered at an even higher degree. God has not yet dealt with him, and he has ruined the lives of many. As Jesus said to Peter: “Satan wants to sift you as wheat … but I will pray for you.” And so it is with us: Satan wishes to STEAL, KILL, and DESTROY … no easy words to fathom.

But this is not about bad news … this is about returning to the castle. It is about kneeling before the King. It is about the Eutopia that we all seek to have but have not fully grasped. It is about the Kingdom of God.

Jesus has our back.

He holds us in high regard.

He fights on our behalf.

And He has prepared a place for us … on earth and in heaven.

So:

Deny yourself.

Pick up your cross.

And follow Him.

Thy Kingdom Come (Jesus, You Are King)

Thy Will Be Done (Jesus, Your Way Is Better Than Mine)

On Earth As It Is In Heaven (Not Just Later, But NOW)

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

January 17, 2024 0

2 MINUTE WARNING

WITH DOUG JOHNSON

Tag

448 How Can It Be?

447 Jesus Is Not Afraid

446 Deny Yourself