Sunday, August 28, 2011

97. He's Got Crazy Stuff In the Works

Matthew 17:27


Are you scared? Are you worried about what’s going to happen next? Are you wondering where that next dollar is going to come from? Are you concerned about what’s going to happen when this job dries up and you have to find more work? Are you completely at a loss to find any people in your town who really love Jesus the way you do, who could be your friends? Some of you have deep problems and when you look at them with human eyes, they seem to have absolutely no solution. The good news is that if you know Jesus, you never have to look at any problem through human eyes ever again. Jesus is God. Do you realize what that means for you? It means you have unlimited power and resources on your team, now! One time, Jesus’ friend Peter needed to pay some taxes he didn’t have the money for. Jesus told him to go down to the lake and go fishing. He said that the first fish Peter caught would have a coin in its mouth that would cover Peter’s tax and Jesus’ tax. Now, I want you to think about that for just a second... At some point in the past, a person lost some money in that lake and then some time later a fish decided to snack on that coin. It turns out that Jesus organized and orchestrated the whole thing and then made sure Peter caught that fish out of all the fish in that lake that day. His power is unlimited. His love for you is off the charts. He knows what you need before you ask. He may be cooking up something insanely amazing for your story too.

96. He Cares What You Think Of Him

Matthew 16:15

For a lot of the people I work with, the number one thing holding them back from a deeper walk with the Lord is that they care way too much about what people think about them. They always want to please and impress everyone and they are always worried about how people took what they said, or what people will think about them. Now, you may have felt this way before... in fact, you probably have. I know that I struggle with it at times - just wanting to be liked and accepted. Thing is, if I didn’t care what other people thought of me, I could just be free. I could just be myself! I’m so tired of insecurity! If I really believed what Jesus says about who I am in Him, I wouldn’t worry one bit what anyone else thought about me but Him, and His good opinion would be enough for me. The funny thing is that caring about others’ opinion of me is bad for me, but it’s not a problem for Jesus in His life. You see, Jesus really cares what people think about Him, but His concern over your opinion of Him has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with insecurity. Jesus isn’t insecure. He knows exactly who He is. Jesus cares about what you think of Him because the way you see Jesus affects the rest of your life. If you think Jesus was just an important but distant historical figure, He won’t change your life, but if you see Jesus as God in the flesh who loves you and gave His life for you, that will change everything. So the question for you today is, who do you say Jesus is?

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

95. He Was A Real Man

Matthew 11:29


What does it mean to be a ‘real man’? I guess it depends on who you ask, right? Traditionally, I think most folks would say a ‘real man’ is someone who is strong, confident, capable, successful and has integrity and all that crap. I bet most people (if you could really dig it out of them) would say that a ‘real man’ is someone who can bash some skulls if he needs to and can work on cars. Well, let’s be honest, that metric puts a whole lot of the male population on the bench with no hope of upward mobility. I bet some women would say that a ‘real man’ is someone who isn’t afraid to show his emotions and be vulnerable in a relationship. On the other hand, no dudes would ever say that, unless of course that dude were trying to get with the girl who said it. One thing that we can all agree on is that Jesus was a ‘real man’ by anyone’s standards. I mean, He invented photosynthesis and hand-crafted the Rocky Mountains! He calmed a raging sea and raised three people from the dead! Jesus went without food for 40 days and then battled Satan head on! He was powerful, brilliant, captivating and He completely changed the world. The funny thing is, the one time when Jesus actually described Himself, He didn’t use words that are normally associated with manliness. Jesus didn’t draw attention to His strength or His success. He said, “I am gentle and humble in heart.” That word translated ‘gentle’ literally means “sweet” in Greek. Wow. Jesus was the manliest man ever and according to Him, humility and sweetness are a big part of the equation.

Friday, August 19, 2011

94. He Caught Peter

Matthew 14:31


Okay, we have a time-sensitive issue on our hands. We are racing against the clock here, and it is absolutely imperative that you handle the next three minutes well. I want you to sit up straight, focus on these words on the screen and listen very carefully as I tell you that everything is going to be okay. Nothing changes. You aren’t going to be cast out. Everything is cool. (Are you still wondering what exactly it is I’m talking about?) Okay, fair enough. Let Me explain: It’s like this... you fell again. You sinned again. Yes, it was even that one sin that you swore you were through with. Now, if you’re surprised by this information, you’re the only one. I knew you’d mess up again and God not only knew it in theory, but He knew exactly when and how you would do that thing again. And this is where you need to pay attention. God isn’t mad. He’s not going to chuck you out. Do you remember that time when Jesus was walking on water and Peter asked if He could come to? Jesus said, “Go for it!” And Peter walked on the water until he stopped looking at Jesus, and then he sank. Now, when Peter started sinking, He called out for help and Jesus said, “That’s it Peter! I’m through with you! Climb back up here on these waves like a man!” - Wait... that’s not what Jesus said at all! Jesus immediately caught Peter and pulled him up. You’ve been living a whole new kind of life in Christ, and sometimes you fall, but Jesus isn’t through with you! Just call for help and He will reach out His hand and pull you up again.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

93. He Knew What Was More Important

Matthew 12


Aren’t you just completely sick and tired of listening to those Christians who are always upset about something? You know who I mean, right? There are those ‘Christians’ who are always mad, always fighting somebody and always against stuff. I mean, really... it seems like some folks who claim to love Jesus and go around saying they speak for the rest of us act like there is nothing more holy than simply hating certain things. They stand up against stuff and hate stuff like it’s their dang job! These folks love nothing more than having a list of rules that they can check off so that they can categorize everyone as ‘in or out,’ ‘good or bad,’ ‘them or not them.’ Thing is, these rules always seem to be only the things these folks are good at, like not smoking, not having tattoos and not being gay. They love to keep the rules they were already naturally doing when a life with Jesus is all about supernatural change. Well guess what? Those angry-faced, argumentative, so-called Christians don’t speak for me. When Jesus Himself showed up, the super-religious folks couldn’t stand Him. They got in His face about the rules, but He said that One more important than the rules had arrived. He said people were more important than rules. He said One greater than the old system was in their midst. Yes, some things are sinful. Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious! Some things are wrong, and we all know that already; but what if loving people in the midst of their wrong is more important than just being against them for being wrong? What if hating someone for their sin is worse than the actual sin?

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

92. He Knows When You Don't Feel Like It

Matthew 11:28


Sometimes you just get tired of this whole Jesus thing, right? I mean, it gets tough to be all spiritually pumped day in and day out! What makes it worse is that there are folks in your life who never seem to struggle, right? And they’re always up... always so dang stoked to be walking with Jesus. They have that smile on their face like they just got saved, don’t they? You know what I mean, right? And look, you’re not mad at them for it... I mean, it’s great that their walk with the Lord is always the most awesome thing in their life; but truth be told, it can be a little exhausting sometimes when you’re going through a rough patch and you’re surrounded by people who constantly have the joy, joy, joy, joy down in their heart! And it’s not like you’re ditching Jesus to believe some other thing, it’s just that you’re worn out, right? Here’s the deal: Sometimes when Christians feel this way, they immediately feel guilty for it. They start to think that being spiritually worn out is the same thing as abandoning Jesus, as if their relationship with Jesus was all about how much they were putting into it. Let me tell you something: Your relationship with Jesus was never about what you could put into it. Your relationship with Jesus is a gift He gave you for free. You had no part in it besides just taking it. Jesus doesn’t need you to hold onto Him. He’s holding you. He knows when you’re worn out, and He feels for you. He said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

91. He Knows Your Real Problem

Matthew 9:2


Sometimes the people in your life are flat-out wrong about you, aren’t they? Every time you’re around them, they want to talk about that one thing. Of course they do... it’s the most obvious-looking, so-called problem in your life and everyone you know wants to fix it right now. For instance, maybe you’re single and everyone you know is always trying to fix you up with the right Christian guy (or gal for you fellas) and the the truth is, you wish everyone would just drop it. Now, the folks in your life really do love you and I’m sure they have your best in mind, but dang, sometimes they have you figured the wrong way around, right? Here’s the awesome thing: Jesus doesn’t. Jesus knows the problems that are on the surface of your life, and He also knows the stuff you have never showed anyone. He sees the immediate issues as well as the stuff you’ve buried deep down and what’s more, He knows what needs to be worked on the most. One time some guys brought a paralyzed man to Jesus, and to everyone’s confusion, Jesus looked at the guy and said, “Take heart son, your sins are forgiven.” Now, you know everyone there was thinking the same thing: “Uh Jesus, it’s his legs...” But Jesus knew what the real problem was. Jesus knew that this guy had some guilt way deep down over something he had done that he knew was wrong. Jesus knew the guilt was a more immediate problem than the legs and spoke forgiveness, then healing. Jesus knows you too. He sees the real problem that’s eating you up inside and wants to deal with that first.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

90. He's Making You His Home

Matthew 8:20


Do you remember the last time your feelings got hurt or your heart was broken? Maybe someone said something stupid that touched on that one thing you’re really sensitive about or maybe good stuff always happens to that one friend of yours; and even though you hate it, the thing you’re really feeling is jealousy. I hate having that heart-broken, insecure feeling. I know because I’ve felt it so many times. When you’re down like that, you feel like everything would be okay if only that person would just stop saying that thing to you, or if only some of the cool stuff that happens to your friends would actually happen to you. It’s really easy to feel like your problem is circumstantial - in other words, if these situations change or if those people would change, you’d be just fine. Here’s the deal: You’d still be a wreck. The problem is not those other people. The problem is inside. The problem is that you believe lies about yourself that make you insecure. What if you really believed the truth of who Jesus says you are? What if you really believed that Jesus is madly in love with you and came on a rescue mission just for you? One time Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” Animals work hard to make their own homes. Jesus was God. He could have made an amazing house for Himself! What if the reason Jesus was homeless here was that the only home He cared about building for Himself was right down inside your precious heart? What would happen if you dared to believe that?

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

89. He's The Romance You're Waiting On

John 6:37


Everyone is looking for that dream romance, right? We all want a love story that is so intense and epic that it winds up being the stuff of legend, right? We want that amazing someone to want us so badly that they would move heaven and earth just to have us and then accept us no matter what and never, ever reject us, right? I know you want to be loved like that, and the reason I know is because we all do! You want to be the object of someone’s undying, immovable affection and passion, and you want to know that they’re so crazy about you that nothing in this world could ever change the way they feel. Of course you do! In fact, if you’re not sitting there wanting that very thing right now, the only reason is that you’ve given up thinking it could ever happen. That kind of thing only happens in old English novels or in cheesy movies, right? Or, if it does happen, it doesn’t happen to someone like you, right? Wrong. Check this: Your dream romance is waiting on you! Jesus is absolutely bonkers about you and He can’t get over it. In fact, He actually did move heaven and earth to have you. He faced sin and death head on, clashing with the powers of evil and the grave, and then defeated them all just for you. What’s more, He not only wants you, but He accepts you. He knows everything about you and promises that He will never, ever (no matter what) not in a billion years, cast you out or drive you away or reject you. Your dream romance is waiting on you. What are you waiting on?