53. He Loved Us When We Didn't care

Isaiah 53:3

I feel sorry for Rebecca Black. Two weeks ago no one knew who she was. Now the whole world knows and pretty much everyone is making fun of her. She released “Friday” which is a video for a song that’s so bad, you can’t help but watch it. It’s like when someone says, “Oh man, this thing smells nasty... here, you smell it.” And you do! You can’t help it! The video has only been on YouTube a little over a month and already has over 64 million views. Thing is, of the 1.3 million people who have voted on the video, over 93% dislike it. What if you were the person everyone disliked? Not many people know this, but the Bible calls Jesus “The Man of Sorrows.” It says He was despised and rejected by people. It says that “we held Him in low esteem.” In other words, not only was Jesus disliked, He was basically ignored. When it comes down to it, people in general didn’t really care about Him. We’ve all been like this. We’ve all dissed Jesus. You may have heard this before, and you may even know in your heart that it’s true, but the next true thing may surprise you. You see, a lot of people think that because we have dissed Jesus, He is going to come down hard on us. We’ve been bad, so He’s coming to Judge, but that’s not really the whole story. The Bible actually says that even though we ignored and even hated Him, Jesus loves us and wants to know us. I love Jesus because He came here to give His life for us out of His unstoppable love, even though we dissed Him.

52. He's Not Surprised By My Failures

John 13:38

I didn’t pick up a golf club until I was 30 years old and when I finally did try the game, I assumed I would be awesome at it. I mean, I’m fairly athletic, so how hard could it be, right? Spoiler alert: I sucked. Golf pros make it look easy, but I quickly found out that this game is a highly complicated amalgam of physics on-the-fly and very specific muscle memories resulting from countless hours of repetition. In other words, it’s not a game you can pick up at age 30 and expect to be good at. I was surprised with how bad I was, but none of my golfing friends were. I think deep down most of us believe that when we do something, say something or think something that’s wrong, God is so surprised and disappointed with us that we can’t approach Him. Like our sin is such an offensive shock to Him, that our best bet is to grovel in a guilt-ridden self hatred. Here’s the thing though: God already knows when you’re going to sin. He already knows everything. You have never shocked or surprised Him one time in your life. He knows us, through and through. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, He looked one of His best friends in the eye and told the guy how and when his next sin would come, and loved the guy anyway. I love Jesus because He already knew everything bad I would ever do (including stuff I haven’t even thought of yet) and still He decided to come down here and die for me. He knows you better than you do, and He loves you more than you could imagine.

51. He Wants To Use The People You Wouldn't

Matthew 9:9

When I was a Junior in High School, I was working out in a P.E. class called athletic conditioning when all of a sudden, the door to the weight room opened and in walked Steve Spurrier. This was 1997 and Spurrier’s Florida Gators had just won the National Championship. The man was at the height of his success. As soon as I saw Coach Spurrier, I knew why he was there. Mike Gipson was in our class. Gipson was a freak athlete who was sure to play football for one of the nation’s best schools. Coach Spurrier walked right past me and every other person in the class and went straight to Mike Gipson. But what if Steve Spurrier had walked in an approached me? Ha! It would be a shock! It would be ridiculous! And yet, Jesus is that way. I love Jesus because He recruits people no one else wants. He uses people everyone else finds unfit. One time he walked up to a man named Matthew and said, “Follow me.” Matthew was a tax collector, which was kind of like being a national traitor, con-man and mafia thug all rolled into one. Matthew was the kind of societal scum everyone loved to hate. Except Jesus. Jesus loved Matthew and wanted to honor him and use him. Jesus had a job for Matthew. In fact, this traitor to the Jewish people wound up writing the Gospel narrative intended just for them. I think Jesus is mainly just looking for people who want to serve. No matter who someone has been or what they’ve done, Jesus wants to use them. And yes, He even has a job for you and me.

50. He Loves The People You Don't

Mark 1:41

Do you remember that feeling of being a kid and then seeing your teachers from school out around town doing normal things like having dinner or grocery shopping? I remember seeing a teacher at a restaurant one time and feeling disoriented and thinking, “Wait... she’s a normal person, just like the rest of us?” I guess I thought teachers lived at school or else were some kind of robot they turned off at the end of the day, and I was shocked to find out they were just humans. We’re all just people, and that’s a terribly important thing. A couple of months ago there was a guy at the jail who was hard to talk to. He was a mess. He smelled bad, had very few teeth, scraggled hair and a patchy four-day beard. He couldn’t exactly look you in the eye when he spoke and could hardly speak without crying. On top of all that, it was very hard to understand what he managed to say because he had been through a couple of brain surgeries that left him barely able to function socially. This is the kind of guy most people ignore completely. The natural reaction is to simply avert your eyes. Here’s the thing: Jesus loves him. Jesus is absolutely crazy, head over heels about this man no one sees. In fact, He gave everything, even His own precious life for this man. Once, a guy filled with leprosy told Jesus, “I know you can heal me. I don’t know if you would want to.” Jesus not only healed Him, but He touched Him and then healed Him. I love Jesus because He loves the people no one else does.

49. He Touched People

Luke 4:40

There is a dispenser of hand sanitizer in the lobby of the Anderson County jail and the guards there strongly encourage us to use it after we visit Unit 2 for our weekly Bible Study. The jail is such a closed system that I imagine the spread of sickness in that place is pretty fast and furious. This past winter they got the stomach flu and apparently it wiped the whole place out for about a week as it quickly took down most of the 300 or so inmates. You know, one of the things that stands out about Jesus as you read the Gospels is the fact that He was always touching people. In Mark 10, little children were brought to Jesus and He touched them and blessed them. In Luke 4, every sick person in Capernaum was brought to Jesus and He touched every one of them and healed them. The thing is, Jesus didn’t need to touch them to heal them. He was and is Almighty God. Many times He healed people with a word who weren’t even there with Him. Jesus was the only man in the world at that time who knew about germs and yet, He wasn’t afraid to touch diseased people. He could have spoken a word and healed every sickness in the world, but He didn’t. You see, Jesus’ mission in the world wasn’t just a campaign against disease and illness. His was a mission of love to individual hearts, some of whom happened to have a disease. That’s why He came. That’s why He looked people in the eye and touched them. I love Jesus because He wanted individuals to know Him one by one, including me.

48. He Always Tell Me The Truth About Myself

John 4:18

Satan is a liar. He’s like one of those seedy used car dealers with the creepy mustache and greasy combover. He’s like one of those guys at a party who makes the rounds, spitting a line to every girl there until he finds one desperate enough to go home with him. He’ll say anything to get what He wants. Satan thrives on the power of suggestion. His biggest weapon is his cunning voice, and he will literally tell you anything to make you discouraged, afraid, filled with doubt and full of guilt. In other words, he wants to neutralize you, and he does it by lying. The cool thing about this is, that the next time you get discouraged, guilt-ified or afraid, look around and see if you smell sulfur, because that diabolical rascal is probably close behind. Then, instead of just letting yourself get neutralized, ask yourself this: “Okay, what is the lie? What line am I being sold right now?” Do that, and you’ve mastered the first step towards working your way out. Jesus, on the other hand, never lies. He’s never put up a front or tried to sell you. Every word that comes from His mouth is life-giving, chain-breaking truth, and that includes words that are hard to hear. One time Jesus exposed a whole truckload of sinful junk a troubled woman was hiding behind. It probably hurt, but it was the truth and right after He did it, she became the first person to find out Jesus was the Messiah who could save her. I love Jesus because He only tells me the truth, and even when it’s hard to hear, it’s exactly what I need.

47. He Will Bring Us To Paradise

Luke 23:43

She had one of the brightest smiles I’ve ever seen. Her face was simply full to bursting with an other-worldly joy and life and love. I only met her a few times, but those encounters have left on me an indelible mark. You see, I want to be happy and energetic and just so full the way she was. She was aptly named ‘Angel’ and this week, all of a sudden, she suffered an aneurysm, underwent two major surgeries and then passed away within a matter of days. Her dearest friends are very dear to me and my heart breaks as they grieve her loss and yet, these same friends are not without hope. They know and I know that the very moment Angel passed from this world, she went to be with Jesus. In fact, she is more alive today than she, or any of us have ever been and she will forever live in paradise with her Lord in gladness, peace and love. One of the most remarkable things that happens in the whole Bible is the moment when a dying man turned to another dying man and asked to be remembered. A crucified criminal turned to the crucified Jesus and asked to be included in His kingdom. You might think, “But wait! He’s dying! What kingdom can He include you in?!” I love Jesus because His kingdom is not of this world. He turned to the dying thief and said, “Truly I tell you, today, you will be with me in paradise.” Paradise... Angel is there. And when I leave this old world, I am going there too. Jesus will bring all who love Him to paradise with Him forever and ever.

46. He Wants Us To Pester Him

Luke 18:5

Have you ever had somebody in your life that just talks to you too much? You know who I mean, right? This person just doesn’t know where to stop. When you’re on the phone with them, you can’t get out of the call. When you have to text them, they send you 50 responses when you only needed one. Their emails are like Russian novels and if they need to ask you something, you know you need to pack a lunch, ‘cause you’re going to be there a while. We all have people like that in our lives and they wear us out. Sometimes, I think folks don’t pray very much because they’re worried they will annoy God. People think there is a quota of how many requests they get a month, so they try not to wear Him out. Or, they try to pray about world hunger or the Middle East because they think God is more interested in that stuff than in hearing about their frustration with their boss or their kids. Here’s the deal: When Jesus taught about prayer, He never said any of those things! In fact, He said God wants us to pester Him, beat down His door and wear Him out with our requests! In Luke 18 He talked about a woman who was annoying a judge so much, the judge was afraid she was going to ‘beat him black and blue’ and then Jesus said, “That’s the way to pray!” I love Jesus because He wants me in His face all day long, beating down His door with whatever in the world is on my heart. In fact, He doesn’t just want that, He loves it.

45. He Doesn't Just Tolerate Us

Hebrews 12:2

There are some things in my life that I just put up with, like my ancient minivan, and then there are things in my life that I love, like my Apple iPad. It’s easy to think God is that way with us; that He has His favorites and I’m probably not one of them. I mean, I can mentally process the fact that His rescue mission worked to save my soul; but that knowledge doesn’t always pacify this feeling I have that, just because He saved me doesn’t mean He likes me all that much. Have you ever felt that? It’s like a gnawing sensation in the back of your heart somewhere that says, “Yeah, He saved you, but it was because He promised He would and that’s His job.” There’s a verse in Hebrews 12 that says “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning the shame.” I remember reading that as a kid and feeling like a burden to Him. Recently, however, I discovered something that changes that whole deal. See, the word translated ‘scorning the shame’ in that verse really means to ‘look down on’ or to ‘write off’ as nothing. In other words, the writer of Hebrews was really saying that compared to the joy set before Him, all the pain, humiliation, bewilderment and terror of the cross was like nothing to Jesus. He gladly endured it and wrote it off, looked down on it all because of you and me. We were the joy set before Him. I love Jesus because He doesn’t just tolerate us, He likes us. He didn’t save us because He had to. He died for us out of His outrageous love for you and me.