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Bye, bye guilt!

We live our lives and struggle with consistently figuring out how to negotiating right from wrong. Sometimes revenge feels right, but it is never right. Sometimes having feelings for someone outside of your marriage may feel right, but it too is never right. Even stealing can seem right to a person in certain circumstances. With our lust and enticement from Satan, almost anything can feel right.

What is amazing to me is that in the moment we don’t feel anything but vindication and justification. Once we come to ourselves, the only things left to feel are guilt, sorrow and regret. There are even people walking around further punishing themselves because they feel they don’t deserve forgiveness. What makes matters worse is that there are people who will exploit these relationships and seek to control another person because they have a hard time with forgiveness.

God sent his son so that we would not ever need to struggle with guilt. God giving his son was meant to be sufficient for anyone struggling with guilt. Jesus became an unlimited credit card for sins and all anyone in the family needs to do is call on him and he will take care of the tab. Some may feel guilty for running up a tab, but all Jesus says is, don’t worry about paying me back, just pay it forward. So we would allow our present experiences to control future experiences. Since I had a huge debt that was paid for me, I would extend in a like fashion this same grace to another. Sounds easy enough doesn’t it?

Well, why do we have such a hard time with this? Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a community that understands this principle? Wouldn’t it be nicer to just meet a group of church folks who believe it and consistently practice it? Truth is, this is a personal principle that is up to every Christian to uphold alone. The purpose is for one person to affect another. It’s supposed to be a domino effect. All God needs is for someone to knock down the first domino. Will that be you dear reader?

April 6, 2013
Passover + Easter = Eternal Life

We have finally reached Easter weekend and as the vernal equinox predected, Passover and Easter celebrations will not coincide. Each tradition still remains separate, even though it was meant for the two days to collide. Allow me to teach it before I preach it!

Passover began in Exodus 12 when Moses gave instructions as the last and final god of Egypt was to be defeated. This idol was supposed to protect the royal family and the Lord’s last plague was designed to destroy the first-born of everything. Pharoah was told by his spiritual counsel that his family was safe. Moses’ instructions were given so that death would “pass over” the obedient children of Israel. He was right. This first born lamb or goat was to be killed in the evening and a fellowship meal shared with family and friends.

Never had death targeted a group of people before. You see death had no bias until this time. Death had spread from Adam to Moses after the sin in the garden and was not a respecter of persons. Passover is still celebrated to remember the grace and mercy shown by God to his people. Easter is a holiday that is supposed to mirror the Passover in the celebration of the resurrection. It is within Easter that the resurrection becomes the catalyst to remember the grace and mercy shown by God to his people.

In both the Passover and Easter, God’s people are granted life and with the favor from God it is truly an abundant life. In each case God saved his people from a condition that they could not save themselves from. Dear reader, can you relate to being placed in a position that you have no control over? A condition that you just have to take because there is nothing you can do about it anyway.

Mary and Martha were faced with this realization when their Lazarus died. By the time Jesus had come to their house, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus assessed the condition of Mary and Martha, but the best conversation happened between Jesus and Martha. Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again. Martha said, “Yeah, I believe he will in the resurrection in the last days.” Although Martha’s statement was true and it showed that she had come to acceptance with the finality of her brother’s death and was looking forward to the resurrection. Jesus’ response to her was this: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Her response fell just short of a yay. It didn’t register to her exactly what he meant by saying he was the resurrection. So Martha simply said that she believed he was the son of God and that he was the one who was to come into the world.

It is with Martha’s statement that you can see where her faith stopped. She could not process Jesus’ statement so she went as far as her faith would take her. Basically, she would say to Jesus that the word on the street is that you say you are the son of God, but what does that mean as I grieve my brother? You see, if Martha believed that Jesus could truly help this situation, then we would have had a more definitive statement from her. Martha is where many of us are at today. We struggle with our belief. We have a hard time believing beyond our eyes. We in our little minds have limited God in our lives and have reduced his work to what we can imagine or see.

The Lord showed them something that day that they would never forget. He walked in to an uncontrollable situation and controlled it. He walk into impossibility and made it possible. He walked into hopelessness and gave it hope. He met unbelief at it’s strongest point and turned it into belief. I hope, dear reader, you will revisit John 11 and see this unfold for yourself. Jesus made sure the world would know that the Father in heaven sent him, by doing something that only the Father could have orchestrated. He brought Lazarus back to life without breaking a sweat. With this one act he gave us a model of our very own salvation. We will all be saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus and we will all have to answer the question as to whether or not we believe that Jesus is the giver of Eternal Life. Passover and Easter are our witnesses and we must now act. Do YOU believe this?

March 30, 2013
Jesus — I am the true vine

When Jesus said, I am the true vine and my father is the vinedresser” (NKJV), the people who originally heard it had a better grasp of what it meant than we do. I believe this because who would have thought these 11 words would ring so powerful and answer the question: Why do bad things happen to good people?

Do I have your attention yet? It is difficult for us to handle when we plan for things to go well and they don’t. It’s equally difficult for us to handle uncontrollable situations. It’s hard for us in this privileged society to not get our way.

I’m speaking of real life scenarios like cancer, Alzheimer disease, death or simply the inability to get people to do what we think they should do. John 15:1 addresses this problem.

You see, everything we have comes from God. But this scripture informs us that as long as we are a part of the true vine, we’re good to go. Outside of the true vine we are nothing! This is the easy/obvious part.

Now to the shouting part! While Jesus, in his role as the true vine sustains us, the Father (vinedresser) prunes us in one of two different ways.

The first pruning is when the vinedresser cuts the branch all the way to the edge or cordon, at which point he doesn’t expect fruit for that season. This is equivalent to the job you thought was right for you only to find out you didn’t get it. God saved you from something and should be thanked for it. Or we were at a comfortable place in life and some calamity happened. This type of pruning is designed to make us better/stronger. It’s also what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote Romans 8:28.

The second type of pruning is when the vinedresser does an assessment and determines that the direction of your life is going to a place that is too much for you to bear. This type of pruning is very common in the wine making industry because if a branch bears too many clusters not only does it break, but some of the grapes become sour. We know that God promised not to give us too much to bear and he is faithful to that cause (1Cor. 10:13).

So why do bad things happen to good people? If they are really a part of the true vine, then God is simply pruning them. Just stay with the true vine and you’ll be fine!

March 23, 2013
Thank God! Spring is here!

Spring symbolizes a new beginning. The death of winter is gone and all things are made new. Spring is like a second chance.

Have you ever been in an unhealthy relationship? Or worked a dead-end job that stressed you out whenever you thought about the drive to it? Or how about a bad circumstance that needs to end? The advent of spring should be the start of a new beginning for you.

New beginnings are symbolized in scripture by the number eight. It means the next in a new series or a new beginning. For example, when Noah was told to build the ark and warn the wicked world that God was angry, he preached about the next chapter or new beginning the world would take. You see, God was getting ready to start over and Noah and everyone who listened to him would be part of that new series.

It is no wonder then in 1 Peter 3:20 that it says of Noah’s time that “8 souls were saved by water”. And in 2 Pet. 2:5, Noah is referred to as a preacher of righteousness and called the “eighth person”. I would’ve thought with Noah being the head of his household, he would be number 1. This text calls him the eighth person for a reason: He represents the new beginning. He was the next in a new series.

There are many others in scripture that could be pointed out, but the point is to show the healing power of Spring. This is your new beginning. What are you going to do with it? The rest of your year will be dictated by what you do now, today, during the spring season.

It’s time to stop planning and making excuses. Now is the time for action! Don’t let everything around you change and become beautiful and you stay the same.

You deserve a new beginning. God knew that and allowed you to live and see the Spring. Make the most of it! This is your season!

March 20, 2013
Jesus — the way, truth, life (Part 3)

What is your life worth?

Each year thousands of people commit suicide because they don’t see their worth. We go through life trying to prove to ourselves that we are worth something. We put in overtime with our jobs, we help out when we can and we even give money away to prove our worth. Kids in school are troubled by bullies who point out all of their flaws. They take to heart everything negatively that is said to them without regard for the good things. When kids (and adults) are faced with these type of challenges it seems as though the only option is to stay at home and cry.

Many people are walking around desiring to be with someone that will give them more self-esteem credits. Each time they date and get hurt, they lower their standards more and more in an attempt to lessen the pain. They end up settling for “G” candidate thinking that they are not worthy of the “A” candidate. Furthermore, in America we spend money. Everything revolves around money so it stands to reason that value would be placed on everything here. Our lives should not be for sale. It’s tough when ad campaigns tell you that you are too fat, too dark, too skinny, too short or your hair is not good enough, your feet are too big or even your teeth aren’t white enough. Plastic surgery is a billion dollar industry. Low self-esteem doesn’t care how much money you have or what color you are. As a result we really don’t know who we are.

Thank God for Jesus! You see, he placed value on all of us when he died on the cross for the sins of the world. Through his sacrifice he is trying to tell us that we have value. His actions prove we have worth — why else would the Son of God waste his time on us? If John 3:16 is correct (and it is!) then God loved us and was eager to save us. He sent his son to die for the sins of the world and simply says let me give you rest.

Dear readers, I hope you know that there is no better life than one spent serving the Lord and enjoying the blessings he gives us. To live a life reciprocating the love God thrusts toward us is clearly an abundant life. Jesus said that he is the way, the truth and the life and he is right. There is no way to the father except by the mediator he chose and that is Christ.

Help me spread the word that salvation has been brought down to earth and by it God has added value to every life. All we have to do now is live like it!

March 16, 2013
Jesus — The way truth and life (Part 2)

Sometimes it’s hard to face the truth. It is especially hard when you are totally guilty and the truth convicts you. I have been in many situations in my life where I got that feeling deep down inside that made me uncomfortable being wrong. Guilt is something that comes from the inside out not the other way around. It might even be easier if guilt came from the outside in because then people could actually see guilt come upon them and there would be no need to cover it up.

We have become masters at covering sin and guilt. If we would only spend the time covering sin and avoiding it all together, our lives would be much better. Truth cuts. And it really hurts when it cut. It seems that it can get even worse if we first thought that we were right only to find out later that we were dead wrong. There are people serving time in prison for crimes they did not commit and it seems as though our society is not interested in knowing the truth. We could do great things in freeing these folks if we wanted to. However, we are still running from truth. Now that we have DNA testing, wouldn’t you think that we would test every rapist in prison who claimed he didn’t do it. We could improve our justice system immensely if we did this.

Back when Jesus was on trial, the Jews handed him over to Pilate and the dictator could not find any fault in him. Given the fact that he couldn’t find any fault and the Jews hating Jesus so much prompted Pilate to ask the question, “what is truth?” One of the reasons Jesus came to earth is so that we could put his picture in our dictionaries under truth. Jesus proclaimed to his disciples that he was the way, truth and life and that it was impossible to get to the Father without him.

It was these very same statements that put Jesus under fire with the Jews. This situation had escalated so badly that Pilate referred to their custom of releasing one prisoner a year and he thought for sure they would release Jesus. You see, there was only Jesus and a guy named Barabbas in Jail. Barabbas was a known thief and was totally deserving of jail time. The angry crowd said to release the robber and for Jesus, string him up on a tree! Pilate was shocked! Satan applauded! And through this act God got the last laugh. Salvation became available to the world because of what happened then and it all happened because people did not want to face truth.

Unfortunately, we still live in a time where truth is sometimes too much to bear. If we would ultimately face the one absolute truth, then all the other truths would be easy. The one truth I speak of is that God has made the same Jesus who was crucified, both Lord and Christ and if we want to see the creator’s face in peace, we must be born again! Amen!

March 9, 2013
Jesus — The Way, truth and life (Part 1)

Ever since I can remember I’ve loved the English language. And with understanding any langauge one must understand the rules of engagement. It seems that some people have forgotten about the rules of engagement when it comes to reading and understanding God’s word.

In this series I’ve been doing on the seven “I am” statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John, he constantly uses a definite article in describing himself. An article is defined as any of a small set of words or affixes (as a, an, and the) used with nouns to limit or give definiteness to the application. Whenever Jesus describes himself he needs to use the definite article (the) because of his alpha and omega status.

For example, Jesus was in the midst of teaching his disciples when he said in John 14 to not be worried because if they believe in God, they should believe in him. He then talked about his fathers house having all of these rooms or mansions that he was preparing or making ready for everyone who belongs to him. It was after he made a promise to come back that Thomas expressed his confusion with where Jesus was going and he asked how could they (his disciples) ever know the way? Jesus then boldly proclaims, “I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the father but by me.”

The first thing he said (and the emphasis of this particular blog) is that he was “the way.” Thomas wanted to know how they could know the way. Thomas did not know how important and relevant his question was. Jesus is the way maker. He can literally make a way out of no way. When Israel was trapped between Pharoah’s army and the Red Sea, it would have easily been assumed that God would simply take care of the problem and eliminate the army. The Lord instead got rid of the very thing that troubled Israel the most. You see, it would have been very easy for God to eliminate the army. God did the more impressive stunt by eliminating the hardest part. I still get overjoyed wondering how Israel felt crossing the Red Sea on dry ground.

God made a way out of no way in this situation and all Jesus was doing is introducing his disciples to the family business. For eternal life, Jesus says that he is “the way.” He is the way back to God for those who have been separated by sin. He is the way when situations are bigger than us. And he is the way when it comes to saving our souls. The question now: Is he your way?

March 2, 2013
Some blood pressure truth

Blood pressure truth

February 26, 2013
Jesus — The Resurrection and the Life

A family of five, living in a studio apartment full of little critters running around, is no way to live life. An 11 year old, having to worry about whether or not an adult will make sexual advances on him or her tonight, is no way to live either. Nor is it cool that a single mother, working three jobs to make ends meet, gets her 4 kids taken away because someone called child protective services after discovering they were left alone at home a few hours a day.

We get so caught up in living life and gathering things. We define ourselves by the things we have accumulated and none of these things mean anything when we’re dead. We spend a lot of time being angry and frustrated when things don’t go our way. We hold grudges and seek revenge and will go to great lengths to get even. We are overweight, sleep deprived and need assistance from the pharmaceutical industry just to keep up. For all these things to be temporal, why do we place such value on them?

Jesus made this statement in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live…” I wonder how many people truly understand and are comforted by these words? With these statements Jesus has changed the game.

He’s taken the focus off of the now and placed it on the eternal. If there is anyone watching the big picture here, God has given us an everlasting promise that should make our lives easier. His statements set us free.

We struggle to live life here on earth in such a corruptible state and when our loving savior promises us eternal life it doesn’t appear to be enough. I mean is it enough, dear reader, to make you stop chasing the almighty dollar and begin to covet more spiritual things? Does it make you want to spread love to everyone you meet? Does it make you want to change the game for someone else? Does it even make you want to be a better person — you know, live life because you’re saved and not to earn salvation?

This could be a stab in the dark, but I believe that Jesus actually meant for this to be the best news ever and that his disciples would hear these words and live a celebratory life in honor of His work.

Are we taking his promises for granted?

February 23, 2013
Jesus — The Good Shepherd

Sheep are not the smartest animals. I mean, they really need caring for and who better to care for them than a shepherd. There is supposed to be a little shepherd in all of us. As Christians who are supposed to imitate Christ, we need to embrace the shepherd within.

Look around you. There are many people who struggle with life’s challenges and make horrible decisions. We witness their calamity and in most cases we walk on by. Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the Good Shepherd!” He explained that he was different from those who help because they are looking to get something out of helping. Jesus helps because it’s his nature.

This being true, all who have been crucified with Christ have Christ living in them. This means that the life we now live in the flesh is a life of faith in the son of God who loved us and died for us (Gal. 2:20). So then, the Christ in me is a shepherd. And I need to take my part in the progression of the sheep. We have the ability in Christ to be game changers for some people. We know things, do things and have experienced things that would help others. A good shepherd searches for opportunities to do just that. And it’s easy to help people you know and care about. But what about the people who struggle that you don’t know? What kind of world would it be if we all took our “good shepherd” calling seriously? Albert Einstein said, “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”

The Good Shepherd was willing to lay down his life for the sheep. Dear reader, Jesus is inviting all of his disciples to be shepherds and lead those less fortunate to a path of righteousness. He wants us to join him in loving and caring for all mankind. Now what are you willing to do?

February 16, 2013