Saturday, July 28, 2012

191. He Wants You To Get Back Up


Let’s face it: Jesus knows you’re going to sin. He knows you’re going to stumble, fail, struggle and backslide. He knows you’re going to mess up about a kabillion more times before you’re finished with this life. Thing is, not only does Jesus know all that theoretically, but He knows it specifically. He knew every single sin you were going to commit before you were ever born. Jesus knows you’re not perfect yet, and that you’re going to be sinning the whole time. If you don’t know that about yourself, you’re the only one at that party. Here’s the really cool part of this seemingly bad news - Jesus is patient with you. He’s not mad at you, He’s not disappointed in you and He’s not shaking His head in disbelief, pointing His finger and saying, “You know, I really expected more of you.” This may come as surprising news to you, but Jesus doesn’t want to dwell on your sin. He wants to move past it. What Jesus is concerned about is not so much your sin, but the moments after your sin. Jesus wants to talk to you about that moment after you fall and fail. On the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter said He would die for Jesus. That wasn’t exactly accurate. Jesus told Peter, “You’re actually going to betray me three times.” But, before grief swept over Peter, Jesus said, “When you have turned, strengthen your brothers.” In other words, “I know you’re gonna sin, but there’s life after your sin. I have a job for you after you screw up. You’re going to fall. It’s okay. When this is over, get back up, because I love you and we have work to do.”

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

190. He Changes Your Relationship With God


There are people who want you to be scared. They want you to be afraid of God. They want to make sure that you understand how powerful and terrifying God is. They want to make sure you understand how serious your sin is. They want to make sure that you don’t simply walk around with your bare face hanging out forgetting that God has every right to judge and smite you right now. They don’t want you thinking grace is your right. They don’t want you laboring under the delusion that you earned forgiveness. Do me a favor: Don’t listen to those voices. If you see that crap in a book, close the book. If you hear it in a sermon, pick a new church. If you hear it in a song, change the radio station. Look, we all know that God is powerful and holy and has every right to judge sinners. We all get that we don’t deserve forgiveness and grace. But there is Good News. New information has come into the story of your life. Jesus let Himself be tortured so that you would never, ever have to face judgment or wrath! Jesus offers the free gift of grace to all who believe, no matter what. He declares believers just as righteous as Himself and He does something else that is amazing. 1 Peter chapter 1 says that Jesus changes our relationship with this holy God. He turns the judge into our dad. God, who is judge for some people is now your Dad who loves you. He’s the perfect Dad. Your Dad won’t judge you. Your Dad doesn’t want you to be afraid. Your Dad just wants you to enjoy being His kid.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

189. He's The Lifeblood


Sometimes people include Jesus in a list of famous world figures by calling Him “one of the great religious teachers.” And let’s be honest, it’s a good thing He’s not simply a religious teacher, because if that’s all He was, He’d be a terrible teacher. You see, when you look at the teachings of Jesus, they’re impossible. No one could ever live them out and no one ever has. If the life of Jesus were only presented to us as a model or example to follow and live by, then the life of Jesus would have been a colossal failure. Here’s the thing: Jesus wasn’t just a great religious teacher and His life was not about simply giving us an example to live by. On the night Jesus was betrayed He told His guys that He wasn’t just a teacher or example, but the very fuel that makes life possible. He said He wasn’t just asking them to follow some principles, but that He was actually going to be connected to everyone who knew Him in such a real and intimate way that He would actually be the power behind their life. Jesus said that He is not only showing us what life ought to be like, but He wants His very life to flow through ours. He said, “I am the Vine; you are the branches.” In other words, if we are connected to Him, life and power flow into us and through us, but if we are not connected to Him, we are just dried-up sticks: Powerless and lifeless. We can’t reduce Jesus to a set of teachings. He is the Living Person we need in order to make it day-to-day. Without Him, we are nothing. 

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

188. He Became Our Curse


The number one thing that keeps most people from growing in their walk with Lord is the fact that they are hiding. They pretend they are fine. We have all done it. I know how it feels first-hand, because I’ve done it. I’ve been that person acting like everything is great with me and I don’t need any help. Hiding comes natural to us humans. Adam and Eve started that little trend after the very first sin. We hide because we are afraid. And what are we afraid of? Rejection. We tell everyone we’re okay because we don’t want them to see the awful truth of our fears, struggles, sins and doubts and then drop us out of their lives. It’s like we have a curse on us. It’s a self-imposed curse. The curse is, if you tell the truth about who you are, they will all hate you. Your friends will reject you. God will reject you. But there is amazing news: Something wonderful has happened! Jesus became our curse for us! He took our wrong on Himself, as if He were the guilty one. He bore our shame and humiliation. They hung Him on a tree and He lived out our curse. People spat on Him and mocked Him. God the Father rejected Him and He died in disgrace. But He rose from the dead! Now, Jesus lives! Sin is defeated! Guilt is gone! The curse that made us hide has been endured and broken. Because Jesus became our curse and defeated it, you can now be honest about who you are and it doesn’t make you rejected. It works backwards! Honesty is the one thing that truly makes you free! Jesus has reversed the curse.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

187. He Loves You When It Doesn't Look Like It


The Lord has probably broken your heart before. Chances are good that He has allowed something into your life that has been a devastating blow, a confusing turn or else just an out-right heartbreak. If it hasn’t happened yet, just keep on living and get ready, because it’s coming. The question is, why does Jesus do what He does? If He’s in control of every little thing, then why does He sometimes allow the one thing to happen that is simply the most gut-wrenchingly awful possibility? What reason could He possibly have for letting us experience the very thing we’re most afraid of? Well, the only true answer a human can give to that question is, “I don’t know.” If you’ve heard a person give you some half-baked answer, chock-full of theological gymnastics, you probably felt pretty unsatisfied. And you should, because they don’t know what they’re saying. The truth is, we don’t know why Jesus does the stuff He does. When He got news that his friend Lazarus was sick, Jesus had time to go there and heal him. He didn’t even need time. He could have healed him instantly, but He didn’t. Jesus allowed His friend to die. Lazarus’ sisters were bewildered, angry and confused. Some of the people at the funeral said, “Couldn’t He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” All the fingers were pointed at Jesus, and what was Jesus doing? Crying. He was crying. Jesus was sobbing over the heartbreak of his friend dying. In the end, we may not know why Jesus does what He does, but at least we know that He loves us that deeply.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

186. He Doesn't Break Legs


Have you ever heard that thing pastors say about how shepherds in the Middle East will break the legs of their sheep if they run away? Of course you have. Pastors always say that thing. I heard it from pastors and Bible teachers in the church I grew up in. They say that if a sheep runs away from the flock, the shepherd will go find it, and then break its legs so that it won’t run away anymore. Then they spin the whole thing around by saying, “Jesus said He was the Good Shepherd, which means that sometimes He might break your legs, but it’s for your own good.” What!? In other words, what they’re saying is that if I sin, Jesus is going to punish me or hurt me in some way, but it’s so that I don’t do that thing again. I think that is a giant load of garbage. First of all, no shepherd has ever broken the legs of his sheep in the real world, ever. My pastor has met shepherds from Galilee and they would laugh at the idea of physically harming this animal they love, care for and need. Not only that, but when Jesus talks about sheep running away, He says He goes after them through the long night and brings them home rejoicing. In John 10, when Jesus talked about being the Good Shepherd, He said this: “The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” I don’t know why bad things happen in my life, but it’s not because I’m being punished for my sins. Jesus bore all the punishment for my sin with His death on the cross. When I run away, He brings me home in joy.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

185. He Can Handle The Shame


If you know Christ, you are no longer guilty of your wrong. That’s basic stuff, and yet, so many of us still get taken off track by guilt. The enemy loves to make you feel guilty and ashamed of what you’ve done because He knows that shame makes us feel like we can’t go near the Lord. Again, this is beginner-level theology we’re talking here, but the enemy does it to all of us, and it almost always works. Now here’s a trippy thought: What if the reason it works so well is something we’ve never thought about before? What I mean is this: We think that the enemy makes us feel guilty because ‘if we feel bad enough about us, we won’t go near Jesus,’ but what if it’s the other way around? What if the enemy makes us feel ashamed as a way to accuse Jesus? In other words, the devil wants you thinking you’re not the problem, Jesus is... The devil knows we’re aware of the fact that we’re sinful messes. What if he’s using guilt to make us doubt Jesus? In John 8, the enemies of Jesus brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus and it says they were using her and her sin as a trap - so they could ‘accuse Jesus.’ What if the devil is doing that? What if he uses shame against you because he wants you to think something untrue about Jesus? You see, the devil doesn’t hate you. He doesn’t care enough about you to hate you. He hates Jesus. The problem is, Jesus doesn’t mind our shame. He loves us so outrageously that He gladly bore it all. Satan’s accusations simply don’t stick.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

184. He's The Only Quench


Is it arrogant to say there is only one way to God? Christians say that stuff. We say that the only path to God and heaven is through a relationship with Jesus. I guess it sounds arrogant. Probably, for folks who don’t believe in Jesus, it sounds like something a rabid sports fan would say about their favorite team. It probably looks like a bunch of folks painted up at a stadium with their index fingers in the air shouting, “We’re number one!” Thing is, it’s not like that at all. I don’t feel the same way about Jesus that a die-hard Red Sox fan feels about his team or Fenway Park. I feel more like a cancer survivor telling another patient, “Trust me, there’s only one surgeon in the whole world that can heal what you’ve got. Make an appointment.” I’m not bragging or pumping my fist when I say Jesus is the only way. Rather, I’m making a desperate plea to folks who have the same terminal illness I was suffering from. One time Jesus was at a national Jewish festival in Jerusalem and He interrupted the most critical moment to turn the focus onto Himself. It would be like a homeless person calling timeout in the middle of the half-time show at the Super Bowl to make an announcement about himself. This wasn’t like Jesus at all. The high priest was pouring water out of a golden pitcher to signify how God had miraculously provided water in the desert for their ancestors. The whole nation was silently watching and Jesus shouted, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” Jesus didn’t do that to show off, but because it was true.