April 15, 2014

"Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:24-26

Of all the things Jesus did during His world-changing earthly ministry there is one thing He never did - A FUNERAL! Where ever He went dead people lived again!

In fact, minutes after making the statement, "I am the resurrection and the life" He proceeded to raise Lazarus from the dead!

Wow!

And this was BEFORE He died and rose again to conquer death forever!

Jesus came as the Second Adam to overcome what the first Adam did when he disobeyed God in Eden. Sin brought death because sin separates from you from a Holy God, Who is the source of life.  So, when Jesus died for the sins of mankind He arose on the third day to conquer the power of death. Because He atoned for your sins, by faith in Jesus you can live in relationship with God! When you are in relationship with God, how can you die? When physical death separates you from your body you will be alive with God forever!

The Resurrection is reason to rejoice!

“Death has been swallowed up in victory." “Where, O death, is your victory Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 15:54-57

"But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you." Romans 8:10-11

If you are in Christ by faith, the Resurrection is reason to rejoice!

By the Resurrection you have been set free from the power of sin and death! 

Rejoice!

Because of the Resurrection your death will usher you into eternal life!

Rejoice!

April 14, 2014

"Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified."  Matthew 17:4

I can relate to Peter. Perhaps you can too.

Just like him there is a part of me that wants to camp out a certain comfort level. When something good happens or especially when I experience a spiritual high, I want to linger there for awhile. I understand his desire to want to pitch a tent.

But God would have none of that. Before Peter could even finish his thoughts, he was interrupted by the voice of God. God doesn't let me get away with it either.

Why is that?

God loves us too much to allow us to level off. There too much growth that has to happen in you and in me to allow us to camp out in a comfort zone. There are too many other people to be reached to let us pitch a tent at a past event. God is too dynamic and has so much He wants to reveal to us about His nature and His will to allow us to live on yesterday's experience. God wants to stretch us and grow us so he can do greater things through us and show greater things to us!

Our relationship with God is often described as a walk or sometimes as a race or even as a journey - but never is it called a camp out! When we walk with God we must keep up with Him - stay in step with Him. The Bible urges us to "wait upon the Lord" but it doesn't say He should wait on us!

Some of the old hymns used to refer to the Christian walk as a march. Marchers move forward steadily and purposefully in step together with each other and with their leaders. You may remember this one:

Come, we that love the Lord,

And let our joys be known;

Join in a song with sweet accord,

Join in a song with sweet accord

And thus surround the throne,

And thus surround the throne

We’re marching to Zion,

Beautiful, beautiful Zion;

We’re marching upward to Zion,

The beautiful city of God.

Let those refuse to sing,

Who never knew our God;

But favorites of the heavenly King,

But favorites of the heavenly King

May speak their joys abroad,

May speak their joys abroad.

Notice the hymn-writer said we are "Marching" not camping! And we are marching forward as we march! And, we are marching upward!

So, following Jesus requires us to walk with, to stay in step with Him. As His disciples, what happens if you walk ahead of Him?  What might happen if you don't really keep up with Him? A distance can develop then, right?  And what happens if He wants to lead you to a higher place or share a newer revelation of His glory and you are still looking back?

As we head into this Holy Week finalizing preparations for a great celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, intentionally order your schedule and your stuff so you can enjoy this journey with the King of Kings. Revel in His presence and praise Him for keeping in step with the will of God for you. Chase the Risen Savior with all your heart and never pitch a tent! Never get too comfortable or casual so as to lose the blessing, the significance, the hope, or the presence, or the peace of following Jesus who rose from the dead to set us free!

Comfort is over rated. God designed and wired us for challenges, not for camp outs!

What comfort zone might you be caught in?

April 13, 2014

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him. They began to shout, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the king of Israel!’ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Do not be afraid, people of Zion; look, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt!’ (His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about him and that these things had happened to him.)”  (John 12:12-16)

I found this devotional  and thought it was challenging and wanted to share it with you. It is from the Skit Guys.

Think: As we read the gospels we see the progression of Jesus’ ministry and popularity come to a climax with his triumphal entry. People are laying down their coats and palm branches—a sort of rolling out the red carpet tradition—while praising him and the city is stirred up. The Pharisees exclaim, “Look, the world has gone after him” (Jn. 12:19). Many believe. Mission accomplished. Credits roll. 

But we know the story doesn’t end there. God has a much bigger ending planned. It’s hard to believe that within a week Jesus would be tried and crucified—the crowds would turn and against him demand a detestable criminal be released instead of Jesus. What happened? What made the crowds so fickle?

The man the crowds followed healed the sick and performed miracles. It seemed he had the favor of the world on him. But shortly after arriving in Jerusalem, Jesus became more and more a source of controversy. He overturned tables in the temple and drove people out with a whip; he spoke in confusing parables and talked about dying. The people began to doubt and the Pharisees fueled it with their own darkened hearts. Their promised king wasn’t supposed to die, he was supposed to conquer the Roman Empire and be, well, a king. They had an idea of what God was going to do and how he was going to do it, and Jesus didn’t meet their expectations.

We all have the tendency to put God inside a box. We predict how he’s going to move in certain situations, and it can challenge the very core of our beliefs when he doesn’t meet our expectations. Our struggle might be confined to just one aspect of our faith, like finances or a troublesome relationship. We can believe God in some ways but not others. Robert Robinson wrote in his famous hymn Come Thou Fount, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.” The question is, will we be faithful when God doesn’t show up the way we want him to?

Ask: Is there a time you were disappointed with God? How did you work through that?

Pray: Ask for strength of faith for yourself, your family, your church, and the body of Christ all over the world. May we believe even when it doesn’t make sense to.

April 12, 2014

"Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”   Matthew 17:4

Who doesn't enjoy a mountain-top experience?

If I ask how many would like to have to see fresh inspiring personal vision of our Lord and the manifestation of His glory - everyone would sign up! I don't think there is any doubt about that.

Is it realistic to expect a mountain-top experience every Sunday? How about every day?

Why don't we see more of them?

Even the inner circle of disciples only had one of them in their three years of following Jesus?

So, what SHOULD we expect?

While that would be an interesting discussion to have, let me tell you one thing I know from this Biblical account - REVELATION BRINGS RESPONSIBILITY!

The disciples where so excited about what they beheld during Jesus' transfiguration that they wanted to build some shrines and camp out up there! Who can blame them?

But, God Himself, shut that idea down by interrupting Peter in mid-sentence. God is not nearly as interested in happy days on the mountain as is about what happens in human hearts! He wants your worship to reflect in your walk! If your worship doesn't reflect in your witness what good is it?

Old-timers who were dubious about charismatic worship used to say, "I don't care how high you jump but I care about how straight you walk when you hit the ground!" I think that fits in this event!

Let me offer this opinion for your consideration, "We will have more mountain-top experiences when our witness and our walk reflects the passion, power and presence of our worship." Make sense?

Revelation carries with it responsibility. If you want the joy, sign up for the job! If you want to see His glory, live out His story! You can't have the experience His glory if your are willing to be an example of His glory! Mountain-top experiences are not about a thrill up your leg, it is about a transformation of your life!

The reason we are talking about this is not primarily because of what happened on the mountain-top but because what happened after they came down! John, James and Peter took the responsibility of the revelation!

Do you want more thrills on the hills? Live in the power of His Presence in your daily walk and be a witness to His glory! If you want the revelation - take the responsibility!

April 11, 2014

"They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:7-9

God's Word is powerful because of the power of the Trinity that operates through the divinely inspired message.

The Word is powerful because of the power of truth that flows from the character of the Godhead and permeates every word of Scripture.

Because of the power of the Trinity and the power of the truth, God's Word transforms!

I have one more element of the Word's power to share with you!

God's Word is powerful because of it's triumph!

As we look forward to Palm Sunday, let's consider what was triumphant about the Triumphal Entry which we will celebrate Sunday.

What appears to be triumphant at first view, the "hallelujahs" and "hosannas" were misguided tributes. Those lining the road that day were excited about a "showdown" with the might Romans who were oppressing them. Most of the cheering throng were expecting a "gunfight at OK corral".

Obviously they were wrong. They totally misunderstood and high expectations do not go down easily. Within a matter of hours their cheers would turn to jeers and their fervent cries would become fevered condemnation.

I am not sure about you, but I don't think misguided enthusiasm qualifies as triumphant. In hindsight, their hollow praise at such a vital and vulnerable moment in Jesus' life was actually cruel.

The triumphant part of the the Triumphant Entry was the obedience displayed by Jesus! He rode into Jerusalem, enduring the faint praise, knowing He was facing extreme suffering and injustice. Yet He mounted the colt and rode.

Therein is the triumphant power of the Word - which is obedience. As powerful as the Word is with the Trinity involved and the truth inherent and the transformation initiated - only obedience makes it triumphant. All the powerful potential contained with the Word can only be unleashed by obedience.

The power of His Word depends on the permission of your will!

Will you obey His Word today?

April 10, 2014

I read an interesting story about an old miner who had lived the life of a hermit deep in the mountains of Colorado. When he died, some of his distant relatives came to collect his valuables.

They arrived to find a miner's shack with an outhouse behind it. Inside the shack, there was an old cooking pot, some mining equipment, and a cracked table with a three-legged chair that stood next to a tiny window. A well-used kerosene lamp stood as the centerpiece on the table.

As the relatives gathered up the miner's possessions, loaded them in a truck, and got ready to drive away, the miner's old friend came walking up. He called out to them, "Do y'all mind if I take what is left in that old shack?"

"Oh, no," they said. "Take it. We have all the valuable stuff. You can have whatever is there." The man thanked them, and off they went.

He walked over to his friend's shack, went in, and looked around for a little bit. Then he reached under the table and lifted up one of the floorboards. Little by little, he lifted out all of the gold his friend had discovered over the previous decades - millions of dollars' worth of gold.

Apparently, the old miner had died with only his true friend knowing his actual worth.

In the same way, our friend, Jesus Christ, wants to make Himself known to us, but we can be like a distant relative sometimes. Yet, if we would get to know Him better, we would discover the riches that He has for us.

And where are these riches? They are in His Word!

"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discern-er of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  Hebrews 4:12

The power of the Word is the power of the Trinity, it is the power of the truth AND it is the power of transformation!

What is the transforming power of the Word of God?

God's Word is the scalpel of the Holy Spirit that He uses to do soul surgery on you.

Only God's Word has the power to change your heart, soul, and spirit to become more like His.

As the Word takes up residence in your heart and mind it adds His value to you at the same time is removing your impurities!

His Word can make you good as gold but only if you dig deeply into it on a daily basis.

April 9, 2014

"They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth." John 17:16-17

God's Word is powerful because all the omnipotence of the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are active through the Word! The Trinity gives power to the Word!

A second source of power from God's Word is His Truth!

What is the power of God's Truth?

Obviously, God's Truth is powerful because it is the expression of His character. It shows you Who He is.

Life is without meaning or substance until you fully know Who He is and surrender to Him in faith.

It is also powerful because it shows you who you are!

The truth of God's Word convicts you of your sin and points you to your Savior. There is no other reliable source of exposing your sinful nature apart from the Holy Word of God.

God's Word reveals the truth of what you can become in Christ!

In Christ, through obedience to His Word, you can be sanctified or "set apart" unto God and made holy. 

Studying and obeying the Word of God can keep you from being "of the world" while you are "in the world".

The Word is powerful because truth is powerful!