165. He Cuts To The Quick

John 4:16

Jesus doesn’t mess around. That’s what I love about Him. I mean, some folks think Christianity is just another one of the religions. They think it’s a set of philosophies and ideas. They think that Christians merely sit around discussing theology and morals. Of course, some Christians do simply sit around discussing that stuff, but I don’t think Jesus really attends those meetings. Knowing Jesus isn’t about discussing theology, morals or philosophy. Knowing Jesus is personal. The reason, simply put is this: Jesus is a person. He has a personality, a will and emotions. He is invasive. He is sweet and tender, but His pursuit of us is aggressive and at times, irritating. You see, Jesus pursues us at our very deepest self. He isn’t satisfied with simply discussing the surface level of what life is about. No, His pursuit is more like an archaeological dig. He is always going deeper, always looking for things that have been long forgotten; trying to get the whole truth and then bring it to the surface for further examination. He wants to know you and to make you deal with yourself. Are you ready for this? Once Jesus met up with a woman at a well who was all about discussing theology, religious history and the finer points of true worship, but Jesus blind-sided her by directly confronting her with her own broken, thirsty heart. He stiff-armed the theology and asked her about her life, her pain, her sin and her deepest questions. Jesus cuts to the quick because He has really good news for your heart. Thing is, you can’t hear the good news until you’ve seen the plain, dirty truth. Are you prepared to face the real you?

164. He Wasn't Reluctant To Save You

Luke 22:20

When you screw up and fall in some area of your life, what happens next? What goes on inside your heart? Spiritually speaking, what are you supposed to do? Do you go straight to Jesus, confess it and then move on? Are you supposed to feel bad about it for a while first, and then confess it? Are you supposed to bench yourself for a while, sit in the penalty box, sulk about how much you suck as a Christian, and then, after you’ve wallowed in the guilt of failure, ease your way slowly up to Jesus and then ask Him to forgive you? Look, Maybe that sounds sill, but this is good stuff to think about because we all mess up tons, and most of us don’t know what to do next. We know that we are forgiven for everything, no matter what, but I think we all still sense that something needs to happen between us and Jesus when we screw up. We are forgiven, but we still need to go to Him and make it right to feel connected again. Well, I think most people are afraid of this. I think most folks are hesitant to go to Jesus in honesty, admit their mess and ask Him to make it right, because they’re afraid He’s going to scold them - as if Jesus is hesitant to forgive or reluctant to save. On the night Jesus was betrayed, He took a cup and offered it to His friends as a promise of forgiveness and reconciliation in His blood. He offers that cup to you as well. Don’t be afraid to draw near. Draw near in honesty and joy to the One who willingly accomplished everything you need.

163. He Was Already Mocked Enough

Mark 15:29

Do you ever wonder what you’re supposed to feel when you think about Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross? I mean, when we remember the day He died, they call it ‘Good Friday,’ and to be honest, that’s kinda tough because the things that happened on that day so long ago were so awful! It’s easy to lose sight of what’s so ‘good’ about that Friday. A lot of folks who love Jesus don’t really know how to emotionally respond when they read through the final pages of the Gospels. When they read about our Lord being abandoned by His friends, lied about, betrayed, arrested, tried, tortured, mocked and killed, they don’t know what to do. They think, “Am I supposed to be sad? Am I supposed to be thankful, yet solemn?” Well, a couple of days ago I was reading Mark 15 again and it surprised me to see just how much the people made fun of Jesus. They shook their heads at Him, they threw His words back in His face, they spat on Him, they laughed at Him and it was all so angry, derisive and unkind. As I read through it, I didn’t know what to feel. I know Jesus doesn’t want me to feel sorry for Him because He endured that punishment on purpose for me. But what should I feel? And then it hit me - I am going to respond with praise. I am going to lift Him up and worship Him. I decided in that moment that Jesus endured enough ridicule that day. He’s been mocked enough. I want to spend the rest of my days making up for that ridicule by praising Him with all my heart, voice and life.

162. He Makes No Exceptions

Romans 8:38-39

You know that feeling right after you mess up and fail again that tells you God no longer loves you? Have you ever seen yourself in the mirror after committing some big, fat sin and then immediately felt that instinct to just turn away really quickly because you can’t bear to see your own face? When guilt comes into your heart, it lies by telling you that you are different. It says you are somehow an exception to the rule. See, the message of the Gospel is that Jesus paid for all your wrong, so that you are totally forgiven and sin can't separate you from Him, and it never will again. But then you fall again and you feel all condemned and separated! So what are you supposed to do when guilt comes in and starts lying to you about yourself? What do you do when those emotions are so strong? Try this: Take a look at the last couple of verses in Romans 8. Paul tells us things about the love of Jesus that we need to never forget. He gives us a list of things that can never separate us from Jesus’ love, and in this list, he covers every exception, every sin, every possible type of enemy attack and every conceivable circumstance under the sun. Paul’s saying that when Jesus paid for you, He paid for everything, no exceptions! He’s saying that nothing can change your status of being forgiven and joined to Christ in love, and if you do feel some separation because of something you did, take that list in Romans 8 and run your sin through it. Is it covered? Yes. The love of Jesus closes all the loopholes and makes no exceptions.

161. He Didn't Serve The Rules

Mark 2:27

Why is it that you can never please some people because they only look at the ways you are failing? Why are some Christians so hung up on what people do? If we are saved by grace through faith, what’s with the emphasis on rules? Look, the reason so many Christians place a huge importance on following rules is really quite simple, and don’t forget this: It gives them a measurable way to be better at the spiritual life than you, period. It’s a way for them to make life with Jesus into a competition and make sure they win. The way it goes down is like this - a person realizes they really do have it together in a certain area of their walk with the Lord. As in, they naturally don’t really struggle in this one thing. That person’s next step is to turn the whole focus of their spiritual life on that one thing they are already doing well and ignore everything else they really do struggle with. As a result, they look more spiritual than you despite the fact that they are probably missing the whole point of what that one thing they’re good at is actually about. The Pharisees did this with the Sabbath. When Jesus relieved people’s suffering on the Sabbath with healing, they persecuted Him for breaking the law, (which they never did) but the whole point of the Sabbath was to be a gift of rest to people, not to become a burden people were always failing at. Following God shouldn’t be a burden. His way should give you life and obedience should flow out of love so that whatever rules there are actually serve you instead of you serving the rules.

160. He Had To Feel It

Matthew 27:34

Do you ever have so much pain in your life that you wish you could stop feeling things altogether? For some people, the pain on the inside of their life is so deep and overwhelming that they think the only way they can cope with it is to cut themselves on the outside. That way, they seem to control the pain. Some folks start cutting and can’t stop because the relief they feel from their inner pain is only a short-term illusion. It goes away for a second and then comes rushing back in like a flood. Some people have so much pain that they start to become numb to normal life. They don’t feel happy or sad, angry or excited... they just feel nothing. I know some people wish they could feel nothing. Some folks see themselves as the root of all their trouble and hurt and they want to stop feeling so that they can put an end to their outrageous guilt. The fact is, this world is broken, splintered and filled to the brim with pain. When Jesus was dying on the cross to pay for all of our wrong, He became severely dehydrated. At one point, He asked for a drink. They took a sponge and filled it with wine vinegar mixed with a mild pain medicine. Jesus tasted it and then spat it out. He wouldn’t drink even one drop because it had that pain medicine in it. See, He was bearing the sin of the world. He was wearing our pain, and part of the deal was that He had to feel all of it. Whatever hurts you have, Jesus knows. He felt it with you and He felt it for you.

159. He Went First

Colossians 1:18

Have you ever gone to see a movie that was hyped up to be the biggest, best, most amazing thing to ever happen in the history of entertainment only to find that the movie completely sucked? The trailers are playing at every theater and on every TV commercial break for months. The producers have spent the most money ever and hired the best actors of all time and you’re so freaking pumped to see it, and it totally bombs. Don’t you just feel so robbed by a movie like that? Well, I want to tell you that in the best possible way, death is going to be like that hyped up, but very bad movie. Here’s what I mean: You know how they always say we’ll never know what it’s like to die until we actually die, because no one has ever died and then come back to tell us about it? Well, that’s not actually true. Jesus died. He died the most horrible death ever conceived by man, and then He got up out of His grave into a whole new kind of life to tell the tale. Jesus defeated death and now lives forever. He came back from the grave and told us some things. He told His boy Thomas to touch His scars, which means that old wounds don’t hurt anymore. He told His boys to go preach even though people would torture them, which means there’s nothing to fear. And He told us He would never, ever leave us. You see, in the end, death is going to be like that bad movie - it’s not all it’s hyped up to be after all. As Paul said, “Where O death is your sting? Where O grave your victory?”

158. His Way Just Works

Matthew 7:24

Why do you think certain people don’t want anything to do with Jesus? Is it because their lives have been so hard and they blame God for their troubles? I guess there are probably a few folks out there like that. Is it because they have been burned so much by mean and judgmental churches and Christians? Sure, there are probably even more of those, I guess. There are probably thousands of factors that contribute to keeping certain people away from the Lord, but I bet you anything that the number one reason non-believers don’t want to believe in Jesus is simply this: They don’t want someone telling them what to do in their life. They want to do their own thing. They want to please themselves, and let’s be honest, Jesus wants to be in charge. There’s no getting around it - He wants to run the show. I mean, Jesus said some pretty audacious stuff. One time He said that if you build your life on anything besides Him, it’s like building a sand castle - it’s guaranteed to fail. Wow. How could Jesus say something so bold and sweeping like that? I mean, He literally said that life His way works, and life without Him simply doesn’t. Why is this? Well, it’s simple. Jesus invented life. He created us. He gets to decide the rules of how life works, because He created life, and He made us in such a way that we absolutely and completely need Him to make it. We all have storms to face and He made us so that we can’t face them without Him. He made us to need Him and life only works when we admit that truth and run to Him.