05/09/18 - Acts 4

May 9, 2018 - Acts 4

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we can be saved. Acts 4:12

If He is our only hope, then we must put our daily hope in Him.

It’s one thing to claim that Jesus is our only hope, but it’s another thing to live like it.

I never fully saw this in my own life until traveling to Honduras and saw such a radically different hope than what we experience in America.  Here, we claim to have hope in Jesus, but then spend our lives saving up for our “retirement”, putting our daily hope in our bank accounts.  But in Honduras, I saw a culture of people who had to trust Jesus not only for their daily bread, but for any possible future support.  They not only had hope in Jesus for their salvation, but for their livelihood.

Hope is an inward motivation toward an outward direction.  Without hope, we would not make strides in education or career or activity.  Without hope we wouldn’t build lasting relationships or solve great causes.  There is little life without hope.  Hope is at the root of life.

It’s kind of silly if you think about it.  We put our hope in Jesus for our eternal life, but put hope in ourselves for our daily lives.  Yet which one is more valuable?  Isn’t eternal life more valuable?  Isn’t it more crucial and costly?  Wouldn’t we be more concerned about controlling what happens for eternity, and less concerned about the temporary life? 

Hope in Jesus is not just about our eternity, it’s about our daily life.  If Jesus is worthy of our hope for life after death, then certainly He is also worthy of believing regarding our life BEFORE death.  He is either worthy of our hope for ALL of our life, or He is not worthy of our hope at all.

Jesus died on the cross to give us hope – not just hope that we can have life in heaven, but hope that we can live a holy life on earth.  His forgiveness frees us from defeat, so that we can imagine victory. 

Maybe it’s time to start living like our hope is in Jesus – for our eternity, for our old age, for our careers and family relationships, for our communities, and for every aspect of life.  Start believing in the Hope of Jesus to lead our lives forward.

05/08/18 - Acts 3

May 8, 2018 - Acts 3

It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed this man, as you can all see. Acts 3:16

What can faith in Jesus do for your life?

There are two extremes when it comes to faith and healing. 

The first is to believe all healing comes from faith, and if a person believes, God will do the healing.  Certainly God is fully capable of doing anything He wishes, and we believe He wants us to be well.  So with enough faith, we can expect to be healed.  Believing that means anyone who didn’t get well would not have had enough faith, or had some sin issue in their life.   But the fact is:  Jesus had perfect faith and still died on the cross; Jesus healed many with limited faith, but didn’t heal everyone, even with faith.  Faith alone is not the magic formula for personal healing.

The second is to ignore faith and look for healing in knowledge or practice, expecting men to do the healing.  Certainly doctors are a great blessing to the healing of millions of people over the years, recognizing the activities in a person’s body and prescribing a remedy.  We see constant progress in the knowledge of our bodies and improvements in our ability to help it heal, and would be remiss to ignore their effectiveness.  But the fact is:  people have found healing through faith; doctors cannot solve every problem and certainly don’t heal everyone.  Knowledge is not the answer either.

Maybe extremes are not the best option.  Maybe faith is not just having faith in God’s power to directly heal us, but also having faith in God’s development of doctors to heal us as well.  Maybe faith is not limited to fixing our health, but faith is the manner of managing our health.  Certainly we can have faith in a God who has all authority over life, but we can also have faith in a God who created knowledge and called doctors to help our life.  In fact, maybe faith isn’t about just being healed physically, but instead faith is about living healthy spiritually.

Faith healed the man in Acts 3, but it came through Peter.  In a sense, Peter was the doctor.  The healed man had to have some faith in what Peter said, and by faith, he was restored.

By all means, we need to have faith in order to be healed.  We need faith in something – a medicine, a doctor’s diagnosis, a God’s direction.  Trusting Jesus for your health is wise. But how much more would faith in Jesus affect ALL areas of our life?  Put your faith in the Name of Jesus, and the people God equipped around you.  Maybe all you need to see God’s power in your life is a little faith …

05/07/18 - Acts 2

May 7, 2018 - Acts 2 

"Therefore let all know this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah." Acts 2:36

What you believe about Jesus will decide how you live now & eternally.

What we think of Jesus says a lot about how we behave.

If we think of Jesus as just a man, then following His commands is totally irrelevant.  He has no credibility and no authority.   It would have no impact on our behavior.

If we think of Jesus as a prophet, His words would be a warning to heed.  We might consider some changes in our behavior, but most likely only those that are deviant from the cultural norm.  As long as we are better than other people, we will feel satisfied with our behaviors.

If we think of Jesus as a teacher, we would use His lessons as great principles for making decisions and steering us through life.  As long as the principles gained us something, our behavior might be affected.  But if it costs us something, then we would look for different teachers.

If we think of Jesus as a Savior, it would release us from any guilty feelings, and we would start counting on forgiveness for our behavior.  The guilt and consequences might steer our behavior differently, but most likely we would simply justify our sin and expect to get off the hook. 

If we think of Jesus as Lord (God), then His words would create more angst and carry authority over our life.  While we may not follow Jesus completely, we would be concerned about what He expects.

That’s why Jesus was very specific about who He was.  Jesus demonstrated and taught that He was both Savior AND Lord.  Choosing to believe in Him as Savior frees us from guilt, but accepting Him as Lord convicts us to follow His authority.  We need to BELIEVE Him to be both – Lord & Messiah.

Behavior is affected by our training and upbringing, but it is directly impacted by our beliefs.  What we believe about Jesus drives it.  If you want to change your behavior, consider your beliefs.  And if you want to affect the behavior of family or friends, start with their belief about Jesus.

05/04/18 - Acts 1

May 4, 2018 - Acts 1

Jesus said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” Acts 1:7

Don't wait for SOMEDAY, surrender to Jesus TODAY!

There must be a calendar out there that we all use but never see.  Because most everybody has said that “someday” they will do it … but I have never found a calendar that contained a day called “someday”.  J

Important things that are not urgent often get placed on the day “someday”.   We know they are important, but feel other things are more urgent and need our attention.  Bible study, fasting, prayer, telling someone about Jesus, serving God’s Kingdom, feeding the poor, giving, and many other activities all are listed on that special day.  The problem is most people never get around to it.  One urgent activity gets replaced by the next, and important things never get done.

Important things tend to be delayed until they are urgent.  Studying for a test waits until the night before the test.  Bills get paid before finance is charged.  Houses get updated just before they go on the market.  Relationships get attention when they are in jeopardy.  And God gets our attention when death is drawing closer.  That’s why people always want to know what the signs are for the End Times.  We want to know when following Jesus becomes urgent, and then turn our attention to the important things of the Kingdom then.

Jesus knows that having a date for His second coming would not help our relationship, it would damage it.  We would delay the important things we should be doing and spend even more time on the urgent things of this life.  The Kingdom would become less of a priority, and more people would end up heading to hell.  Knowing would be a disaster to our lives.  So Jesus said “it is not for us to know”. 

We act like tomorrow is a given, but we were never promised tomorrow.  Today is all we have.  Your death could be just hours away, so start recognizing how urgent the important things really are.  Love your spouse, hug your kids, do your work, share Jesus with your friend, give to the Kingdom, serve the Lord, study His Word, pray!  Make the most important things in life urgent, and do them.

Because Jesus may delay a while longer … or He could be coming tomorrow!

05/03/18 - John 21

May 3, 2018 – John 21

Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" ..., "Take care of my sheep." John 21:16

The way to love God is to obey Him and love His people.

When people fail, it is disappointing.  But when a pastor or leader fails, it is damaging.   That’s why a pastor’s failure becomes so public.  And often, it’s consequences can become permanent.

Peter had failed Jesus in a very public and personal way.  Denying him three times was bad enough, but Jesus and all of the other disciples knowing it was another.   In his eyes, Peter thought his leadership role was lost, that Jesus would never trust him again, and he was stuck being a fisherman for the rest of his life.  Nothing against that occupation – it was quite a respectable and profitable one – but catching perch is nothing like catching souls.

Jesus shocked both Peter and the other disciples by reinstating Peter into a leadership role.  Three times Jesus had Peter affirm his love, and three times Jesus gave Peter the primary assignment of shepherding the Kingdom.  Peter was not only forgiven by Jesus, he was returned into his role of leader for the disciples.  If that’s not surprising, then the way Jesus did it would be.  Jesus didn’t ask for a confession, or review Peter’s failure, or spend time recreating trust in Peter.  Jesus simply asked Peter about his commitment.  “Peter, do you truly love me?”

Many people show up at church doubt their qualification to lead.  Like most people around them, it is out of the question to think they deserve to be leading God’s people, let alone be forgiven.  But after hearing of  the cross and Jesus’ offer of forgiveness, they get involved.  Soon they find themselves leading a ministry or being called on to set the example for others, and are at the head of a pack.  Much like Peter, they sense the incredible blessing of being in charge for Jesus.  But then a failure happens, or their family hits problems, or finances are mishandled.  Something happens that not only creates a mess in their life, but becomes something public (or at least perceived public), and it feels like they no longer can lead.  It’s like someone tagged them with a sign saying: “Disqualified”.

But Jesus has a different plan.  Broken people are not disqualified.  In many cases, they are now better prepared for the ministry work ahead.  Broken people appreciate Jesus even more.  They tend to value forgiveness in a deeper way.  They show more mercy & grace to those who end up broken.  Where everyone else may think they are disqualified, Jesus sees them as prepared.

Don’t assume your past disqualifies you from God’s future.   There needs to be repair and correction, but God wants to restore you as well.  It may not be to the same role, but God isn’t finished yet.  Reaffirm your love for Jesus, and accept whatever assignment He gives you.  In loving people and obeying Jesus, you will re-establish your love for God, and even grow it deeper.

05/02/18 - John 20

May 2, 2018 – John 20

Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." John 20:21

God's peace is found by following God's plan.

I’m a guy, so that means like most men I like to figure things out without reading the instructions.  I’m not sure why so many guys are like that, but it comes with the territory.  Sometimes it has worked out okay, but other times … not so much.

Like the time I built the roll-top desk we bought our daughter for Christmas, and briefly looked at the directions to get the idea, then quickly constructed it on Christmas Eve.  It looked great! The only problem was that the roll-top didn’t work because I had mounted and glued the top together in the wrong order.  (I didn’t sleep much that night.)

Or the time I was driving a van-load of people to a remote area for a wedding party, and the GPS voice directed me to turn on a road that was way earlier than I expected.  Of course I knew it was wrong and proceeded on, only to find out soon after that we were 30 miles off course and late for the event.  That was an uncomfortable trip for a while.  (I still occasionally am reminded of that mistake.)

There’s many more, but you get the point… disobeying the plan doesn’t bring much peace!

Jesus has a plan for all of us – and although the specific plan is a bit more unique, the general plan is simple – we are to GO REACH OTHER PEOPLE WITH HIS OFFER OF SALVATION.  That means breaking away from our own agendas.  It means reading the instruction book.  It means listening to His GPS.  Following the plan will bring us peace.  Not following the plan will do the opposite.

As a kid, I didn’t concern myself with finding peace … I wanted control.  But with maturity comes appreciation for the peace of a plan.  Sleep comes a lot easier when I’m not living apart from God’s desires.  Traveling on the roads of life seems to go better when I listen to His GPS.  It’s still a lesson I’m trying to learn better (yes, I am still a guy), but the truth is that God’s Peace is definitely found in following God’s plan.

(And by the way … if you’re a girl it’s true for you too … J)

05/01/18 - John 19

May 1, 2018 – John 19

They went up to Jesus saying: "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they slapped him in the face. John 19:3

Hard reality -- every sin is a slap in the face of God -- don't let your praise be words, but be obedience.

Reading the passion story of Jesus is never easy, no matter how many times I do it.  Imagining the terrible pain Jesus went through when the guards beat him, the emotional embarrassment of their ridicule, the physical torture of the flogging, and the excruciating pain of crucifixion… I can’t imagine what the participants were thinking.  How could they do that to any man … especially an innocent man?

But there are these moments of regret and guilt that also come over me on occasion.  I try to avoid feeling them, but it comes periodically nonetheless.  It’s easy to justify my own failures and sins.  I am fairly good at reasoning out my own behaviors in spite of the way they break God’s commands.  Yet it doesn’t change the results.  In my sin, I have injured someone – myself, another person, and especially Jesus.  And that’s when I see myself in the picture of Jesus’ story … a temple guard slapping Jesus in the face as I justify myself for the sin.

Every sin is a slap in the face of Jesus.  It’s a decision to disown His righteousness for my rights.  It’s the action that chooses to pursue my pleasure over His plans.  Sin is a rejection of what is true for a lie I believe in.  And Jesus takes the hit – He is the one I am ultimately slapping, spitting on, flogging, and nailing to the cross.

We may not have been born 2000 years ago, but we are in the crucifixion story.  Our names might not be listed in the Gospels, but we are there.  Our voices may call Jesus our king on Sunday, but our hands are striking him in the face on Monday.   We have slapped Jesus in the face.

Mother’s Day is coming up soon, and it’s a time to express our appreciation for our mothers (and maternal role models).  Imagine if you walked up to your mom and gave her a sentimental mother’s day card, but then slapped her hard across the face?  How appreciated would your mom feel if you repeatedly told her you loved her but then slapped her cheeks?  Your actions would be telling a different story than your words.

Jesus warned us in His greatest sermon that many people will profess allegiance to God by their words, but not by their obedience.  And Jesus’ response would be to go away – because He never knew them.

Don’t just tell Jesus you love Him, stop sinning!  Don’t just use words to profess your faith, obey!  We need to stop being the guards and soldiers in our abuse of Jesus, and start being the Mary & John who followed Him to the cross.  Demonstrate your love for Jesus by obeying His word and living righteously.