Why is it that the people who are the most idolized in our society are also the most troubled? Have you ever noticed that? Our world picks certain people and just raises them up to a status of basically being worshiped. They have everything the world can offer in the terms of riches, opportunities and fans and then, before you know it, they destroy themselves with addictions, ruined relationships and even mental illness. The crazy thing is, we’ve watched this happen over and over again from Elvis to Lindsay Lohan and yet, way down deep, so many of us still want to be them. We want all that money. We want all those fans. We want those cars, those awards and those opportunities, but why? You see, the truth is, the human heart doesn’t function very well on all that worldly stuff. The truth is, there are homeless and hungry folks who are happier today than any pro athlete, pop star or fortune 500 CEO. The reason for this is a simple secret that few are willing to accept: The world is backwards. Living for yourself will ruin your life, but giving your life away will give you real life. Jesus lived this out. He was and is God, but He became poor, homeless and a servant. We assume His life of self-sacrifice was all because He was teaching us what He wanted us to be, but what if it was something else? What if He became a poor servant because it was actually the fastest way to His own personal happiness and fulfillment? Jesus told us the secret to happiness by living it out, and the secret is this: Give your life away and you find it.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
135. He Doesn't Calculate Your Acceptance
You know that feeling you get after you’ve had a really bad day full of failures where you want to try and make it up to God somehow? It’s as if you’re life is on a scale - all the good stuff on one side and all the bad stuff on the other side and you’re just hoping the good outweighs the bad. This can be an overwhelming feeling because how can you ever really know where you stand? Even if you tried to keep a mental record of all your stuff, surely you’re not counting it all, right? It’s like counting calories verses exercise. I know because I just got one of those calorie apps on my phone. The thing is, you never really know. I mean, you try to put all your food in there, but what if you forgot something? And when you tabulate the exercise you do, how can it really know how many calories you actually burned? At the end of the day, the science isn’t all that exact. You’re really just guessing. And look, guessing is fine when it’s just your food... but what if it’s your relationship with the Almighty God? You don’t want to be guessing then. You want to know! Here’s the truth: God isn’t calculating your status with Him. He doesn’t have a scale up in heaven where He tabulates sins verses good works. If God did things that way, we’d all be screwed. No, Jesus bore all your wrong on the cross and offers you all of His righteousness for free just for trusting in Him. He credits His goodness to you forever. You’re in. You’re His. It’s free. It’s eternal. It’s not a calculation. It’s a gift.
Monday, January 9, 2012
134. He Wants You To Level With Him
How are you doing? How is your heart today? Stop reading and really take a second to think about that. How full is your spiritual tank? Are you bursting with life and joy, or are you bone-dry, down and depressed? Most of us just answer those kinds of questions without even thinking about them. We say, “Oh yeah, I’m great. Everything is going awesomely. I couldn’t be better.” Why do we do that? Why do we pretend we’ve got it all together when the truth is that sometimes we’re struggling like crazy just to make it through? One time some folks begged Jesus to heal a blind man. Jesus spat on the dude’s eyes, touched him and then asked, “Do you see anything?” Okay, time out. Let’s pause the story for a second. If Jesus asked you that question right now, how would you answer? I mean, He has worked in your life, right? But are you completely healed? Are you totally finished right now? How would you answer? The blind man had the guts to level with Jesus. He said, “I see people. They look like trees walking around.” In other words, “I can sorta see, but I’m still pretty confused.” I bet Jesus loved that answer. He touched the guy again and completely healed him. Jesus didn’t heal in stages because His power was fading. He healed in stages to teach us a lesson. Your spiritual life is going to take time. It’s a process. Jesus has worked in your life, but He’s not finished. Don’t be afraid to say that you still don’t have it all together. Don’t be afraid to admit that you still need Him. He loves your need for Him.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
133. He Can Make You Enough
All of us who love Jesus and rely on the fact that He saved us when He didn’t have to are thankful for that grace - that love we didn’t earn. I mean, grace is our hope and our ticket; but even though we know that, we also want to get better at this, right? You want to grow, right? Have you ever felt like you just want to get to the place where everything you do just puts a smile on the Lord’s face - like you just want to grow and grow until you please Him with every single step? Here’s the thing: That is an awesome desire that comes from a heart of love for God, but at the same time, be careful. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing to want to please the Lord. What I’m saying is to make sure your growth is the kind of growth God wants. Do you remember the second time Jesus fed thousands of people with a tiny amount of food? Well, right after that miracle, Jesus and His boys got into a boat and He told them to “Be careful.” and to “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees.” Yeast is something you add to bread to make it big, puffy and tastier. The Pharisees added extra stuff like rituals and rules to their faith to make it the best so they could impress God the most. Fact is, the stuff they added just ruined their faith. Jesus reminded His boys of the miraculous meals. He has the power to take nothing and make it more than enough. In the end, the thing that pleases God the most is when we are dependent on Him for everything.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
132. He Works His Way
Why in the world does God take you through such hard times? Why does He allow so many confusing, strange and difficult things into your life? I mean, God can do anything, right? And if He loves us so much, what’s with all the pain and difficulty? Huh? If He can spare us from a lot of our pain, why doesn’t He? Well, I may as well go ahead and tell you that I simply don’t know the answer to any of these questions. As a good friend of mine says, “I never get invited to those meetings.” In fact, if anyone ever says that they have the explanation for why God does things the way He does them, that person is about to stick their foot squarely into their mouth. No one knows why God does what He does in the way He does it. One time, some people begged Jesus to heal a man who was deaf and blind. Jesus took the man away from the crowd, stuck His fingers in the guy’s ears, spit on the dude’s tongue, then looked up to heaven and said, “Open up!” with a deep sigh. I mean, dang. That’s just weird, right? Who touches a person inside their ears and spits on their tongue? And Jesus didn’t have to heal him that way! He could have spoken a word or just snapped His fingers or just thought the healing and it would have happened. Why make it so personal? Why make it so invasive? Why make it so strange and dramatic and difficult? Well, I don’t know. All we really know is, in the end, the healing worked. Jesus does what He wants His way, and in the end, it works.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
131. He Wants You To Push Back
What are you supposed to do when God slams the door in your face? You’ve been there, right? Have you ever asked God for something, only to have Him give you a resounding “No” with absolutely zero explanation? How do you cope with something like that - especially if it’s something you felt like you really needed? I guess most folks would probably just give up. Now, they may slap some paint on the phrase “give up” so that it sounds better than giving up. In other words, they might call it, “accepting your life” or something like that, but what they’re really doing is just giving up. And look, there’s nothing wrong with truly getting your heart to a place of peace with the life God has given you, but most people give up when God slams the door on them. They don’t just give up asking... they give up on God altogether. Here’s the thing: That’s not the way Jesus wants us to treat Him. One time, a woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter, but Jesus said, “No, I don’t think so. Not you.” She didn’t give up though. She reasoned with Him, pushed back. She searched for His heart in the middle of His reply, believing that He loved her and wanted to help her. And guess what? Jesus decided to heal her daughter! Seriously. You know what this means? It means that closed doors aren’t final with Jesus. He doesn’t want you to give up on Him. Maybe He wants you to push back. Maybe a closed door is just an opportunity for you to get louder, spend more time knocking on His door. After all, what Jesus really wants is a relationship.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
130. He Doesn't Care What It Looks Like
Let’s do a little experiment, okay? I’m going to ask you a question in just a second, and in your head I want you to try and answer it immediately, before you have a chance to think about it. In other words, I want you to simply read the question and then react - as quickly and as naturally as you can. Are you ready? Here goes: What is your definition of someone who is really spiritually awesome or impressive? Now - don’t think about it... just react. Get a picture in your mind or even a person you know who you think spiritually rocks. What is this person like? Are they really good-natured and pure-hearted and basically a nearly-finished product? Is it one of those people who never seems to mess up or ever have any problems or issues? Be honest... And if you answered ‘yes’ because your mental image of a spiritual rock-star was a person who is all lined-out and fixed already, I don’t blame you. In fact, most folks would probably choose someone just like that. Here’s the thing though: Jesus doesn’t see it that way. One time some religious guys looked down on Jesus’ disciples because they busted them eating food without going through all these religious hand-washing ceremonies. Most of us would have been really impressed with those religious guys, but Jesus called them “hypocrites” - which was the Greek word used for an actor... Essentially Jesus said they were pretending at religion, but their hearts weren’t in it at all. Jesus is looking for people who are honest, even if they are a wreck. He doesn’t care what a person looks like. He cares about your heart.
