Saturday, March 31, 2012

157. He's Going To shake This World

Hebrews 12:26


How can you know if the stuff you care about really matters? How can you determine whether or not you’re wasting your life or else wisely investing your life? This past week I was in Chicago, and when we went downtown, I found myself staring around with wide-eyed astonishment at all of the buildings. You see, I live in a small town with only a handful of buildings that have more than three stories. So, you can imagine the kind of awe and wonder I experience when I go to big cities and see those gargantuan towers of steel, glass and stone. No matter how many times I go there, I gasp with amazement as I imagine the amount of planning and work that must have gone into the design, the infrastructure and the artistic beauty of those buildings. On the very morning we went downtown, I was reading Mark 13 where Jesus and His boys were in downtown Jerusalem and the disciples were marveling at all the magnificent buildings. Jesus says, “Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” This world is going to be shaken one day soon, and when God shakes it, lots of things are going to topple into ruin and be eternally forgotten. Much of human effort and art will expire. Man’s accomplishment and pride will decay. It turns out that human awe is largely misplaced, and the question is this: Am I giving my life to things that will survive the Great Shaking Day? After everything is shaken, God and people will remain. Love will survive. The Gospel will be intact. Are you living for the unshakable?

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

156. He's Watching Your Money

Mark 12:41


Did you know Jesus talked about money more than He talked about any other subject? Wow. That includes subjects like heaven, hell, sin, grace, faith, love or anything else you could come up with. That seems crazy, right? I mean, why was the subject of money the thing Jesus talked about most of all? I mean, if this world is passing away soon and we are all going to heaven for the rest of eternity, then why did Jesus spend so much time and energy focussing on and talking about something so temporal and terrestrial as money? And that’s not all. Not only did Jesus talk a lot about money, but He got in people’s business about their money. Jesus literally watched people giving away their money to God and then evaluated the gifts out loud. No kidding. In Mark 12, Jesus went to the temple, took a seat by the offering box and watched people put their money in and made comments on what He saw. I don’t know about you, but to me that just seems crazy. It seems invasive. Why did Jesus care so much about the way people handle their money? Well, I think there are two reasons: One, the way you handle your money says a lot about what you care about. Two: The way you handle your money says a lot about what you think of God. If you only care about yourself, you aren’t understanding the Kingdom. If you think God won’t take care of you, you don’t know Him. If you think your money comes from you being awesome, you don’t understand the Gospel. Your money tells you where you are, and Jesus cares about your money because He loves your heart.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

155. He Adopted You

John 14:18


Have you ever felt completely left-out? Do you know that kind of rejection that leaves you feeling like you just don’t belong anywhere? I bet you have looked around at the folks in your life and thought, “Everyone fits in except me. No one gets me, no one understands me, and I don’t really have a home here.” I know I’ve felt that way before. You know, Jesus says that when we come to know and believe in Him, it’s so much more than a person simply deciding to follow a religion. In fact, He says that we’re family now. The truth is, He has adopted us and made us His very own kids. My brother and sister-in-law are going through the adoption process right now, and it’s so cool to watch them working so hard to make it happen. They pray for their baby, they think about him, they look at his picture all the time, everyday, just longing to hold him. They have filled out impossible amounts of paperwork, raised tons of money and all the while, the little guy probably thinks no one wants him, no one cares and he doesn’t fit anywhere... Just wait till the day when they finally get to go pick up their baby boy and bring him home! That’s what Jesus did for us. It sometimes feels like we’re alone in this world, but it’s not true! We have a home! We are loved! Soon, we’ll see Him face-to-face and know just how deeply He loves us. Jesus won’t leave us as orphans, but is coming to get us! You belong in the heart of the One who laid down His life to make you His very own.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

154. He Wants You To Have Good, Strong Desires

Matthew 5:6


A lot of folks think the definition of holiness and goodness means you don’t ever want anything and you don’t really need anything. People think desire is bad simply because some of the things people desire are bad. They think passionately wanting something is wrong because sometimes people passionately want things they shouldn’t. In fact, the whole Buddhist religion is focussed on eliminating desire, because they think all suffering comes from desire. The problem is that some Christians are more Buddhist than they think, because they also believe holiness has to do with depriving yourself of desire. Here’s the deal: Desire is good. Passion is healthy. Wanting the right things (and wanting them really badly) is the fastest route to holiness I can think of. When Jesus’ disciples were arguing about who was the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, He didn’t chew them out for wanting to be the greatest - instead, He told them exactly how to achieve it. We’re supposed to want stuff! We’re supposed to live a full, abundant life with passion and desire for our highest pleasure. It just so happens that the very highest pleasure a human heart can know is loving Jesus. Giving your entire self to Him without reservation is the way to purpose, meaning, satisfaction and joy, and the explanation for that is really simple: Jesus made us, and since He’s the creator, He gets to make the rules. If you made up a game or a story, you would get to decide how that game or story works. Jesus made you for Himself. He made your heart to flourish when it loves Him. Being hungry and thirsty for Jesus is the greatest desire you could possibly have.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

153. He's Going To Seem Harsh Sometimes

John 11:3


Sometimes people who talk about Jesus don’t give you the full picture of what He’s like. They portray Jesus in a way that only deals with His sweetness and kindness. (And He was sweet and kind - but there’s more to see when you really look closely) If your image of Jesus is someone who is constantly sugary-sweet, who only ever encourages you and is always smiles and pop songs and bunny rabbits, you may need to take another look. You see, Jesus was surprising. He was unpredictable. Jesus was sometimes infuriatingly confusing. For instance, one time two sisters sent for Jesus because their brother was really sick. Now, Jesus loved this brother of theirs, and He was able to heal, so obviously Jesus would show up and heal the brother, right? Wrong. They waited day after day, but not only did Jesus fail to show up, but He didn’t even write them back to explain Himself, and eventually, their brother died. Can you imagine that? It must have seemed extremely harsh to those sisters. Sometimes Jesus won’t answer your prayer in the way you thought He would. Sometimes He may even seem downright harsh. Why is He like this? To tell you the truth, I don’t really know. Maybe He just wants us to trust in Him even when He seems harsh. Maybe He wants us to believe that there are things going on we can’t understand. Maybe He wants us to love Him, even when we feel confused and slighted by Him. In the end, He showed up and raised Lazarus from the dead. He’s going to make everything right in the end. Our job is simply to trust Him, even when that’s hard to believe.

Monday, March 12, 2012

152. He Makes You Fight For It

Mark 10:48


Do you have people in your life who oppose your spiritual growth? Are there folks who want to drag you down with them into their own personal fears, worries, bitterness, jealousies, petty competition and pride? You know what I mean, right? Some people in your life are miserable and it’s almost as if they want to make just as miserable as they are. They don’t want you to be all hyped up on the joy of the Lord, so they hate on your walk. And look, sometimes this is very subtle. Sometimes they don’t even mean to do this - they don’t even necessarily know they’re doing it, but they’re holding you back because of their own distance from the Lord. Here’s the deal: When you have people like that in your life, you have to fight for the health of your walk with Jesus. You have to fight for your joy in the Lord. You may even have to shout down the haters. One time a blind man named Bartimaeus was begging by the side of the road when Jesus came by. He shouted for Jesus to help him, but the crowd told him to be quiet. They didn’t want him to bother Jesus. They didn’t want Bartimaeus making a fool of himself and making a big scene. Jesus knew Bartimaeus was there, but He didn’t respond right away. I think he wanted to make Bartimaeus fight for it. The crowd tried to shut him up, but Bartimaeus didn’t care. He shouted all the louder for Jesus to help him! He shouted down the haters. Jesus knows you’re going to have to stand up for yourself and your walk and He’s going to make you fight for it.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

151. He Loves You When You're Depressed

Psalm 34:18


I think a lot of Christians feel like they’re not allowed to be depressed. They think, “Well, the life of a Christian is a life of joy, peace and victory, right? We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us, right?” - And yes, those verses are in the Bible. Yes, Jesus offers us the chance at a life like that, but that doesn’t mean every Christian is going to experience those things every minute of every day. Sometimes, you just feel like crap. There are days when you just feel low. You don’t know why, and you don’t know what to do, but you just feel down. For those of you who are prone to depression and just spend a lot of time down in the dumps, you need to know something: God isn’t mad at you because you’re down. Jesus isn’t wringing His hands, frustrated that you’re having another off day. He’s not gritting His teeth, wishing you would just pull it together and get happy already. No, Jesus understands. Jesus loves you. What’s more, He knows how hard you’re trying. All you have to do is look at the life of Jesus to see that this is true. Jesus reached out to people who were depressed. He had compassion on them, He listened to their problems and He met their needs. Look at Bartimaeus, Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, and the crowd of 5,000 who were like sheep without a shepherd. Psalm 34:18 says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” When you’re down, people can sometimes make you feel like you’re far away from Jesus, but the truth is, He’s right there. He loves you and He understands.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

150. He can Do It Again

Matthew 15:33


Is there anything in your life that you’re afraid to pray about? Do you have something weighing on you, wearing you out, but you just don’t ask God to do anything about it because you think the solution is simply not possible? The other day, I was reading Matthew 15 where Jesus miraculously fed 4,000 people, and there was something that really shocked me. Before Jesus miraculously multiplied the food to feed everyone, He told His guys that He had compassion on these folks and wanted to help them. The disciples answered by freaking out and saying, “Where do you expect us to get enough to food to feed these people?!” When I read that, I was like, “Dudes, are you kidding me? This is Jesus we’re talking about, here! He just fed 5,000 people with a sack lunch in the last chapter! That was like one page ago! Did you already forget what happened one page ago?! He can do the same thing again, no problem! What do you mean, “Where are we going to get food?” - You don’t have to get anything, you have Jesus right there! Dang!” I was so frustrated with those disciples until I realized that I do this same thing all the time. I forget who Jesus is constantly. I forget what Jesus has done for me repeatedly. I get caught up in the panic of a moment and feel like the world is caving in when the truth is that I have Jesus. The One who stilled the storms is in my boat. The One who healed disease has His hands on me. The One who raised the dead is breathing new life into me and promises to be with me forever.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

149. He Will Never, Ever Condemn You

Romans 8:1


Has anyone ever made you feel afraid of heaven? I know that sounds weird, but some of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Some of you have listened to Christians who made you nervous or even scared of facing Jesus. I’ve heard well-meaning Christians say that believers are going to be surprised when they actually see our Lord face-to-face because so many of us are banking on “cheap grace.” (who knows, maybe those people weren’t well-meaning after all) I’ve heard Christians say that tons of believers are going to be shocked when they realize that seeing Jesus isn’t the picnic they thought it would be. Let me just say that if you have ever heard any nonsense like that, move on. It’s time to find a new church. Here’s the deal: We’re not believers who are banking on cheap grace. We’re banking on free grace. Jesus said that whoever believes in Him has eternal life and won’t be judged or condemned but has already crossed over from death to life! Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” That means that if you believe in Jesus and you died today and stood before the Lord, He will have absolutely nothing to condemn you of, but will joyfully accept you! In Greek, that verse begins and ends with two words that mean “none” and “not” - it’s like the Apostle Paul is saying that you are so accepted by Jesus that He will never, never, (not ever) judge you or condemn you for all of eternity - but only completely accept you no matter what because you’re in Him. Now, that’s Good News, and I can’t wait.