275. He Made You Specifically To Do Something Amazing

Matthew 4:19

Have you ever felt like you don’t really have an obvious place in the Kingdom? Do you know what it’s like to see everyone else fit right in, but you don’t really know what God has for you? Are you ever afraid that He doesn’t really have anything for you at all? Have you ever thought that God really can’t use you because you don’t think you have anything to offer? Well, even though I may not know you, I can promise you that whoever you are, God has something tailor-made for you. There is something beautiful and eternally significant that God prepared for you to carry out and He wants you to find that thing. When Jesus was recruiting His team of guys who would one day change the world, He didn’t approach Peter by saying, “Come follow me and I will make you a preacher and a missionary.” No, He said, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” Peter had spent his entire childhood in boats and in the water, dragging nets and casting lines, setting hooks and catching fish. It was his whole life. He knew where to find fish, how to approach them and how to bring them in. Jesus didn’t waste that training. As a pastor and church planting missionary, Peter had to know how to approach people, cast a message and bring people in. Jesus used everything in Peter’s life to make Him useful in the Kingdom. Jesus has something for you too, and He made you for it. Your personality, your history, your hurts and your victories are all leading to something. Jesus is going to turn your story into the story.

274. He Defends You When No One Understands You

John 12:7

Some folks in your life don’t understand your relationship with Jesus, right? I mean, there’s no doubt that the Lord coming into your life has made you more patient, kind and devoted as a friend, sibling or child; but still, some people in your life just don’t get it. They think you’re weird for giving your time and resources the way you do. They think you’re selling yourself short by committing yourself so fully to Someone you’ve never seen with your eyes. The strange thing is that for some folks, the biggest opposition they face in walking with Jesus is from other Christians. Folks in your family or in your community who claim to be Christians, but see the way you’re living your life and become suddenly uncomfortable. They say all this Jesus stuff is “fine up to a point” but it seems to them that you’re taking this too far. Well, if you know what it feels like to endure scrutiny and even ridicule over your love for Jesus, you should know that you’re in very good company. During Jesus’ last week before the crucifixion, a dinner party was held for Him in the city of Bethany. During the meal, a woman named Mary came in, broke open a bottle of perfume worth thousands of dollars and poured it on Jesus as an act of love and worship. All the guys at the table started to question her, becoming angry and even berating her - and they were the Lord’s own disciples. Jesus defended her devotion. He defended her love. Even if no one else in this world understands the love you have for Jesus, He knows. He gets it. He loves your love for Him.

273. He Knows There's A Solution, But Not Always A Reason

John 9:3

Sometimes, when a terrible thing happens in your life, you wonder what you did to cause it, right? I know I’m not the only person who feels this way. A tragedy strikes, a situation goes south, and the first thing you do is think back through your week to see what big sin you did that God is punishing you for. We all do it. We all assume that problems and pains happen as a result of our wrong. We think that God is sitting up in Heaven smiting people for their sins by ruining their day or complicating their life. On the one hand, it seems to make sense, but the more you actually think about it, the more that logic falls apart. If God punished us for the wrong things we do, say and think, we’d be obliterated. There wouldn’t be enough time in the day for all the smiting. The truth is, we live in a fallen world and crappy stuff just happens sometimes. I know that doesn’t solve your problem, but it is true. Sometimes the answer to “Why did that horrible thing have to happen?” is that there is no answer, we just live in a broken world. One time Jesus met a man who was born blind and people asked Him, “Who sinned? Was it him or his parents?” Jesus said that his blindness wasn’t the result of anyone’s sin. Sometimes these things just happen. The amazing thing was that Jesus then healed the man. God isn’t punishing you for your sin, but He does want to work in your life. He wants to change you. There may not always be a reason, but Jesus has a solution. 

272. He Cares About How It Feels

John 5:6

Have you ever felt bad about thinking you have it hard? You know that there are other people out there who have it worse than you do and so you shouldn’t be having a hard time, right? The only thing is, sometimes your life is overwhelming. Sometimes it’s more than you can bear. Sure, other folks may be worse off, but for you, this struggle is real, and it’s frankly too much. I think a lot of us assume that the Godly thing to do is to simply suck it up and deal with it. We think that what God wants is for us to ignore the pain and simply rise above it like an extreme athlete training for some impossible physical feat. We think Jesus is frustrated. We feel guilty for struggling in life’s problems because we believe the Lord wants us smiling through all of it, all of the time. In John 5, Jesus went to a place covered with sick and disabled people. There was one man there who had been paralyzed for thirty eight years. That’s longer than I’ve been alive. The coolest thing about this story is that Jesus saw the man lying there and learned he had been there for a long time. That’s what John says. Jesus thought the guy had been suffering for a long time. He didn’t say, “Cheer up, dude! Thirty eight years is nothing in the light of eternity!” No, Jesus recognized it was hard. Jesus sees your pain as well and He cares about how it feels to you. He knows you’v been having a rough time and He’s not looking for you to simply rise above it. No, He wants to meet you in it.

271. He Takes Away Your Sin

John 1:29

You have sin in your life that you hate. Now of course, you’re growing and you want to be different; but still, there’s stuff in your heart, mind and actions that you know is wrong. You’re not the person you used to be - you’ve already changed so much. At times it’s hard to believe, but you’ve already come so far. If some of your old friends saw you now, they probably wouldn’t even recognize you; but still, you’re not where you want to be. You don’t want to stay this way. You hate the way sin makes you feel. You hate the gymnastics of temptation and the mental struggle of deciding in the small moments whether or not you’re going to follow Jesus, and then falling again. This morning I was reading the first chapter of the Gospel of John. One of my favorite things that happened was the moment when John the Baptist introduced Jesus. He said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” This is it! This is what your heart is longing for, right? This is the answer to that life-long struggle and that awful feeling in the gut - that frustration about who you are. Jesus came and the reason He came was to take away your sin. You hate your sin. It makes you feel terrible and gives you nothing in return. It screws up your life, but it’s not the end of the story. Jesus came to get rid of it for good. He died to pay and in so doing, He removed your sin. He erased your sin. It’s gone. Your sin isn’t even in the past anymore. Jesus has set you free from sin forever.

270. He Can Calm Your Fears

Mark 5:36

I know you’re afraid of what the future holds. I know you look out onto the uncertainty of the coming weeks and months not knowing what you’re going to do if the worst happens. Are you out of money? Is that relationship ending? Is your fate in someone else’s hands? You may feel as though you’re standing there, helplessly watching as your life crumbles in around you, and it’s scary. What are you going to do? What if you can’t do anything? Let me ask you something: do you remember being a kid and running into the arms of a parent or grandparent when you were scared? Can you remember the way it felt to be picked right up off the ground by someone so big and strong? You didn’t know what to do, so you just snuggled up into the warmth of someone who loved you and could hold you. The miracle was that it actually made you feel better. Your fear fell away in that person’s embrace. Without your situation changing at all, you were less afraid. You laid down your fear in that person’s strong arms and felt comforted. In Mark chapter 5, a man’s daughter died, and as his heart hammered with immediate upheaval and distress, Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Jesus had just healed a very sick woman and called her His daughter. He knows how to care for frightened kids like a loving dad. He’s strong enough to hold you when you’re scared. Will you run to Him? What if you went to Jesus like a scared little kid in the middle of a huge thunderstorm? Go to Him. Tell Him what you’re afraid of. Give Him all of your fears. 

269. He Just Wants To Hang Out

Matthew 11:28

Do you ever feel like you kind of suck at being a Christian? It’s like there’s stuff you’re supposed to know and things you’re supposed to do and you don’t even know what those things are. Do you ever look at folks around you who seem like really strong Christians and feel like you’re on the spiritual Junior Varsity? How many times have you felt like you’ll never have a good, consistent ‘quiet time’ because you’re just not disciplined or good enough at keeping your spiritual life strong and healthy all the time? I think many of us believe we’re supposed to read the Bible every day and pray because this Christianity thing is like some sort of course in school with homework where you’ll receive a final grade at the end of the term. The funny thing is that if you were to ask that person who you think is way ahead of you how they see themselves, they would probably tell you that they see themselves as failing and struggling just like you. Most folks, no matter where they are on the spectrum of spiritual maturity think they suck at this. Why is that? The Bible says that Christianity is having a relationship with Jesus. There is no Junior Varsity in relationships. This is not a class in school. There is no final exam. This is not about discipline or rules. This is about love. It’s about being friends. Jesus simply wants to hang out with you. He wants you to have a safe and loving place where you get to be yourself. He wants you to bring your problems and find comfort. He wants you know how loved you are. What are you waiting on?