May 25, 2017

What does love look like from Jesus' perspective?

How can I show my love for Him in a way that makes Him feel loved? What is His "love language"?

In John 12, He gives us some insights into that important question.

First, love is extravagant.

On Jesus' next trip to Bethany He attended a dinner in His honor to celebrate the miracle of Lazarus. It was a grand occasion! All of their friends were there, the ones who had shared the incredible event that snatched joy from the jaws of sorrow. All were reclined at the table, including Lazarus. Martha, of course, was busy serving them. What grand fellowship!

Amid the celebration, the other sister, Mary, entered the room bearing something in her hands. Hardly anyone noticed until she approached Jesus, knelt before Him. At that point she held out an alabaster box filled with an expensive perfume. She broke the box and poured the fragrant offering over His feet and washed His feet with her hair.

Ironically, we only know the extravagant value of the gift because of the calculations of the greedy Judas, who bemoaned the fact that the gift could have been given to feed the poor. After all, it was the equivalent of a year's income.

What a contrast between someone who loved unconditionally and one who was calculated in His giving! There may be no clearer picture of extravagant love in the Bible.

Mary gave the best she had to demonstrate the highest love she possessed. Everyone in that room knew the cost of that offering and immediately grasped the depth of her love.

Jesus was moved. He was ministered to at a critical moment in His life.

Do you love Jesus? How would He know? When was the last time you offered your most treasured possession to express your highest love?

Second, love is expectant.

The next day, word got around that Jesus would be entering Jerusalem to prepare for the Passover celebration. Those who had followed His ministry knew that when Jesus showed up exciting things happened. Some had seen Him raise Lazarus. A few had been at the feast. Perhaps the blind and the lame and the possessed people that he had healed and delivered were all there. They came with great joy and expectation, grateful for what He had done and anxious to see the next great thing He would do.

Isn't that the way we are toward people we love? We can't wait to see them again! We get excited as their arrival draws near. We run to meet them when they arrive.

What are you expecting from Jesus today? 

Are you running to meet Him? 

Are you excited by His presence? That is how love behaves.

Finally, love is expressive.

Jesus was about to offer the ultimate expression of love, Himself. He tells a His disciples and a small group surrounding them that love is expressed in sacrificial service. Like the alabaster box, His body was about to be broken as an extravagant expression of love.

He explains that His earthly body must die and be buried so that His eternal life can spring forth. And through His sacrificial act of service, we will also live.

In the currency of God's Kingdom, a life spent in sacrificial love is accounted as an investment of love.

How have you expressed your love for God lately? 

Have you served Him? 

Have you given your life to something that He loves?

How will you sacrifice today?

Love that blesses Jesus is extravagant, expectant, and expressive.

The Power Of Your Testimony

I am still in John 9 thinking about the blind man that Jesus touched. This guy impresses me as I think how he stood toe to toe with these Jewish religious leaders who were trying to bully him. They were relentless but he was rock solid. They demeaned him. They doubted him. They disrespected Jesus. They doubted Jesus. But nothing phased this fellow? Why was that?

What are we to take from this encounter?

Here's what I am taking away from it - the power of a personal testimony. This man had been blind all of his life. Then Jesus touched him and his eyesight is fully restored. The first face he ever saw was the face of Jesus. Not bad!

This newly sighted man didn't know much about spiritual doctrines. He had not been formally trained in matters of faith and was no match for these well educated religious professionals. He had never been to a Bible study or a preaching service. He had no formal evangelism training. All he had was his testimony. All he knew was that for his entire life he had been blind and this morning he had an encounter with Jesus and now he could see. It was a fact! A strange, powerful, wonderful fact!

Apparently, the Pharisees and other religious leaders didn't have a testimony and they obviously didn't want this man to have one either. But their empty accusations were far overwhelmed by the fervor of this fellow.

Never underestimate the power of your testimony. Be sure of what God has done for you and have it memorized in a short and compelling form - ready to share it at a moments notice. Take joy in telling what Jesus has done for you! That's what he did - and it is still being shared!

Not only did his testimony impact some of the religious leaders, but as he repeated what God had done for him in the face of opposition and skepticism, he blessed himself with the recounting of the miracle God had given him.

Even when the Jewish leaders cursed him and kicked him out of their church, they could not discredit the wonderful work that God had done for him.

What life-changing work has God done for you? 

Who are you telling about it? 

Believe in the power of your testimony!

May 23, 2017

You have undoubtedly heard of the saying, "None is so blind as he who will not see." I am not sure if that originated from John 9, but it certainly could have.

The chapter is dominated by the story of a blind man who was healed by Jesus. But when Jesus healed him He not only opened his physical eyes but his spiritual ones as well. That is a good thing because his newly found faith was quickly tested by his neighbors and by the Pharisees.

Imagine if you had a neighbor who had been blind all of his life and he leaves in the morning to go begging and comes home at the end of the day seeing. Would that not make you a bit curious?

When it became obvious that he had been the recipient of a miracle, rather than celebrate with him over his incredible blessing, they chose to question the miracle. If they accepted his explanation of his healing at the hand of Jesus, they would have to accept two other truths - that miracles DO happen and that Jesus was the Source of the miracle. These men where not prepared to accept either truth. In the light of tangible evidence that this man had been miraculously healed, they chose not to see it that way. Notice how hard they worked to deny the obvious:

1) They tried to claim that this was not their neighbor, but someone who looked like him - V. 9 - "Others said, 'No, he only looks like him."

But, the formerly blind man would not allow it - "I AM the man!" He insisted.

2) The still doubted him and demanded an explanation - "How then were your eyes opened?"

Not daunted, the formerly blind man took the opportunity to tell his story, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes, He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed and then I could see!"

3) Still refusing to accept his simple story, they demanded that he show them this man. But he would not back down under their assaults, so then went after the big guns - the Pharisees, to see if they could break him down. They came and asked him to repeat his story, so he gladly recounted it. Again, rather that rejoice in his good fortune, they under -minded it by accusing the validity of the miracle since it had been performed on the Sabbath. Since it is a sin to heal on the Sabbath, that would make Jesus a sinner and sinners can't perform miracles.

But again, the man would not be intimidated, he continued to insist, "He is a prophet!"

4) Their next tactic was to question whether he had actually been blind to begin with. So they sent for his parents to get them to vouch for him. They hoped that perhaps the parents would feel intimidated and invalidate the claim of their son. But they artfully avoided the controversy, "We know he is our son," the parents answered, "and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself."

The encounter ends with the formerly blind man presenting a crystal clear picture of what had happened to him, but the spiritually blind antagonists refusing to see the truth. They continued in their efforts to discredit him, his story and Jesus.

We tend to believe that miracles force unbelievers to believe. This incident debunks that notion. Here was a clear and undeniable healing and the spiritually blind religious leaders were the ones who were leading the charge to discredit this man and his miracle.

"No one is as blind and he who will not see."

In this ironic encounter, the blind man became the one with 20/20 vision while the acknowledged spiritual leaders proved that the were blind leading the blind.

Will you approach God with eyes wide open? Will you read His Word with eyes wide open? 

Will you ask Him for 20/20 spiritual vision to see the miracles that God is working in your heart and life each day?

May 22, 2017

When I took a job selling cars the company sent me to a sales training class. One of the first things they taught me proved to be most valuable - not just for selling but for the rest of life.

What was that? They taught me this premise, "A good deal is a state of mind." In other words, the job of a sales person is to convince a customer that you have given them a good deal. That is a corollary of another popular saying, "People believe what they want to believe."

During my sales career I found that was indeed true. Some of the customers that I made the most money from were convinced that they had gotten a great deal, while some of the one who beat me down to the last dime where sure that I had robbed them.

I have found the same to be true in ministry. People believe when and what they want to believe. Some people for whom God has done so much are the ones who struggle to believe. And then there are those who are so quick to embrace God and His Word without much coaxing.

In John 8, Jesus is confronting a group of religious people who are hard to sell. They are face to face with the Truth and they don't want to receive it. Their idea of a good deal doesn't match what He is telling them.

Jesus, as usual, nails the problem when He states, "He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

In another place Jesus makes this statement, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

Another thing they taught me at sales school was that most customers have already decided that they are going to buy a car when they leave home. What they are looking for is a salesman they can trust. They reminded us that we were selling ourselves as much as we were selling cars.

That is precisely what is happening in this encounter between Jesus and these Jews, He is telling them that truth is not a concept it is a Person - Him. If they buy into Him they will have the truth. It is not what you know ABOUT Jesus that matters it is knowing HIM and buying into HIM. The truth that sets you free is HIM! And they were staring right at Him.

When you are ready to buy into Jesus you will know truth. If you are ready to let Him transform your heart and mind you will sell out to Him. Then you will know that you have found a great deal!

May 21, 2017

I don't know about you, but I don't always take disappointment well. When you have dreamed of something and strategized and sacrificed to make it happen - but God says, "No!", that's not easy!"

With that in mind I was impressed and inspired by King David when Nathan the Prophet told him that he would not get to build the Lord's Temple. David had hoped that his legacy would be building the Temple during his reign.

So how did he respond to this distressing news? Here's your answer:

"Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, O God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men, O LORD God. "What more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant, O LORD. For the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made known all these great promises. "There is no one like you, O LORD, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, O LORD, have become their God. "And now, LORD, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, 'The LORD Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel's God!' And the house of your servant David will be established before you. "You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. So your servant has found courage to pray to you. O LORD, you are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O LORD, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever." I Chronicles 17:16-27

Wow! That is character! 

That is commitment to the will of God!

How does your character measure against that of King David? 

How did you respond the last time things didn't go your way? 

What will you do next time?

May 20, 2017

King David had the Ark of the Covenant returned to its rightful place in Jerusalem. He stands before the Ark, where the presence of the Lord dwelt, and sings this psalm. I share with you and it needs no further comment.

"That day David first committed to Asaph and his associates this psalm of thanks to the LORD : Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced, O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant: "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit." When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no man to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place. Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!" Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. Cry out, "Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise." Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting." I Chronicles 16:7-36

Then all the people said "Amen" and "Praise the LORD."

And I say, "Amen! Praise the Lord!"

The Desire Of The Good Shepherd

What a Savior we have!

In John Chapter 6 we see Him as the Bread of Life! He bids us to feed on Him.

In John 8 He identifies Himself as great than Abraham.

In Chapter 9 he presents Himself as the Light of the World and illustrates it by healing a blind man!

Wow! What a Savior!

Moving on to Chapter 10 he refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd. His description sounds a lot like Psalm 23!

As a pastor friend of mine once declared, "When the Lord is your Shepherd - the future is your friend!"

Here's why:

He Leads Us!

A hireling or a sheep rustler drives the sheep, but the Good Shepherd leads us. He leads us into the safety of His presence! He leads us into the security of His pasture! He leads us into the abundance of His truth. He speaks gently to us and calls us by name as He leads us. Think of that, the Good Shepherd knows your name!

He Loves Us!

A hireling or a rustler has no regard for the sheep. They mean nothing to them. To them the sheep are a necessary inconvenience. They lead the flock only for their own personal benefit. So when the sheep are threatened, they will flee to protect themselves. But the Good Shepherd loves His sheep. He provides for them. He protects them. He prays for them. He will give His life to save them. Think about that! You are loved by the Good Shepherd!

He leads us. He loves us. And, He layed down His live for us. Verse 10 sums up the desire of the Good Shepherd and the destiny of His sheep:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full!"

To quote my friend - "When the Lord is your Shepherd, the future is your friend!"