I’ve seen this a couple of times over the last week, “More of Jesus”.  Once in our sermon on Sunday and again the Passion 202 Conference glimpse video.

Passion 2020 : A Glimpse

We also spoke about it in bible study Sunday morning, understanding the fact that if you want more Jesus, you have to give up other things.  There is sacrifice in being a follower of Jesus.

In my morning quiet time, I am reading through the book of Ezekiel and there are a few prophecies that are spoken through Ezekiel where God promises His destruction and wrath on different people groups and it ends with God saying “Then they will know that I am the Lord”.  It struck me this morning, what a bad way to know God.  Granted, sometimes we have to go through hard times and difficult things because of our sin in order to so to speak be re-centered with God or to even allow God to reveal Himself.  But these people in Ezekiel had voluntarily walked away from God and trusted in things other than the Him and because of that He was going to remind them who He was, and still is today.

God has good and awesome promises for us of we turn and follow Him.  There’s an awesome side to God, a caring and loving side to Him.  I’m not trying to discount the consequences of sin and the fact that God will allow bad things to happen if you trust in things other than Him, but God wants great things for us.  He created us for fellowship with Him and Jesus died on the cross in order for us to have that fellowship, that intimate fellowship, Koinonia, with Him.

In listening to Christine Cain’s talk from Passion 2020, she talk about the fear of missing out.  BTW, she gives an awesome talk at Passion, the link is below.  We live in a world where so much is accessible to us, we can change our mind like the wind changes directions when we see something that looks a little better or buy whatever we want at the push of a button.  But if God has things so awesome for us, we should have no fear of missing out.  Why would we want anything else but Jesus and to know Him more.

I want to know Jesus more because in His presence I can have hope and peace from the chaos of the world and be fulfilled by His love and not material things of this world.  What I struggle with is being focused on the things in my circumstances and not Him who creates my circumstances.  I worry about what my circumstances will lead to instead of what Jesus, my Good Shepherd, who walks with me through my circumstances, will lead me to.

When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. “Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree. Jeremiah 29:13 (The message)

Passion 2020 – Christine Cain

Brian & Jenn Johnson – More of You Less of Me

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him—
1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
https://1corinthians.bible/1-corinthians-2-9

My devotional yesterday morning was based on Joel 2:13, Rend your hearts and not your garments.  Its incredible how when you truly seek God and His Word He and It shows up.  I find myself more and more in my quiet time trying to put aside the distractions and worries in effort to make it meaningful and not just going through the motions.

Its so easy to live behind a facade in our Christian walk.  We can be the most loyal person at church, serve in all the right places, know all the right people.  But if there’s not a real heart behind what we do, its just motions we go through.  Its only when we strip away the things of ourselves and allow God to enter our heart and work in us and through us do we bear real fruit.  In worship its easy to just stand and sing songs, but if we let it sink in that its God Himself we are seeking and singing for and truly long to be in His presence, it can be so much more meaningful.  We have an audience of One when worshiping, He’s the one who deserves the praise, He’s the one we should be lifting up.

The commentator of the devotional, Jim Reimann, goes on to reference Job 42, when Job repents and God shows up.  The commentator says specifically about Job 42:3, 5-6 “Notice how his experience caused him to see the Lord as He is, further leading him to humble himself in repentance.”  Once Job repented, God accepted his prayer and Job was blessed even more than the troubles he faced.  The commentator goes on to quote Psalm 51:16-17, For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.  There’s nothing we have that God needs.  He just wants our hearts.  He wants to be first in our lives, above everything and everyone else.  He wants to have fellowship with us.  So much that He sent His only Son to take our sins upon Him and die in our place, making the ultimate sacrifice so we could have fellowship with him.

Throughout his trials, David knew that when everything was stripped away he only had God to hang on to.

1 Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!

2 Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” 

3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

4 I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from His holy mountain.

5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

6 I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.

7 Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

8 From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

I have found my quiet times to be just awesome when I truly try and seek God through His word and prayer.  I hope this encourages you to spend that extra few minutes preparing your heart to truly seek after God’s heart, He will show up if you ask Him to!

Francesca Battistelli – Holy Spirit

How we can mess things up.

As typical this time of year, we have been studying the Christmas story and the characters involved.  Yesterday we were looking at Mary and her encounter with the Angel Gabriel, who proceeds to tell her, in short, that she is going to have a baby, He’s going to be really awesome and have an eternal kingdom.  She then questions the angel how all this will happen and of course he tells her and say basically says okay.

On the other hand, we look at Zacharias, who has an encounter before this with Gabriel about John, and he starts to put his human logic to the prophesy and ends up not being able to speak for months because he wasn’t sure he could believe Gabriel.

So, on one hand, we have Zacherias is a priest, someone we would think would have lots of life experience and wisdom and knowledge, fully versed in what is now the old testament, lot’s of wisdom to live by, prophesy of things to come, how God worked in the past, etc.  On the other we have the young teenager Mary, getting ready to marry Joseph, making plans to get on with a happy life and Gabriel prophesies circumstances that can basically ruin Mary’s life.  And yet she goes along with what Gabriel says, all in, complete obedience!

I’m always amazed when I read this story at how obedient Mary is in this situation and the air of innocence with her.  I just wonder if Mary had the “faith of a child” and was not biased because of her lack of earthly life experience.  Obviously Mary had some knowledge on how children are conceived, but she immediately bought in to God’s plan even when it went against the human logic and reasoning.  Whereas Zacherias had the worldly life experience, priestly education of scripture and probably well respected for it being a priest.  I could somewhat relate to him in the fact that he has been living a good bit of his life in a period where God was silent to the world and maybe even wondering why God would choose him to be the first person He communicates with after 450 or so years.  I wonder at times why God has chosen me to do some of the things I have been called to do, I’m no one special, there are a lot more people out there that I think are a lot more Godly and obedient than me.

I believe that just proves that God can take anyone who answers His call and do great things for His Kingdom.  We see it quite a bit, Moses, Gideon, Joseph (son of Jacob), David, etc.

I think we have to realize that God doesn’t always have to give us the whole picture or give us the answers we seek.  But I believe that God hears everyone of our prayers and petitions and does answer them in His own way if we are obedient.  We may not always see the fruit of our obedience, but we can rest assured that God has our best interest at heart and better plans for us than we could ever imagine.

There’s a couple of instances in scripture where we see Mary pondering or treasuring something that just happened, the shepherds coming from the fields to see baby Jesus and Jesus as a preteen in the temple.  I would love to know what Mary was really thinking in these instances.  Did she think back to her encounter with Gabriel?

I think its important that we also, ponder and reflect on what Jesus as done in our life and how He has worked in the past and remember His promises for us in our future.  But we need to not let our earthly wisdom and logic get in the way, we need to heed to His wisdom and guiding Holy Spirit, because it is far greater and higher than ours.

I pray that this message gives you encouragement through any struggles you may be facing right now and to continue in seeking Him through any circumstance you face, good or bad.  He wants to have that relationship with you.  His plans are GOOD, though times may be tough in different seasons, he can make a diamond out of dust.  I know I have to continually remind myself of this.

O Holy Night (Live) – Hillsong Worship

 

In order to run efficiently and with purpose, most organizations have processes by which business is conducted.  We don’t always understand the why or what what into the devlopment of these processes.  But I was reminded on a couple of occasions this week that God has His own process for our lives.

Our local Christian radio station hosted an event with Jason Gray this week and had him on the air for some interviews.  They played one of songs, Remind Me You’re Here.

None of my pain has ever caught You by surprise
Still it’s hard to trust You when I’m lost in the wondering why
But I’ll trade every question just to lay down and rest in Your heart
And I’ll reach for Your hand, though You led me here into the dark

And I won’t ask You for reasons
‘Cause a reason can’t wipe away tears
No, I don’t need all the answers
Just be here beside me
Father, remind me You’re here

As we walk through the blessings and trials of life, which can actually go hand in hand, I too want to know at times when will this end, when will the pain or struggles stop.  But yet its God that is active in our lives, He’s the one who dictates and allows our circumstances to unfold the way they do and we can rest in that.  It’s us who choose our actions and our reactions in these circumstances.

In Jeremiah 29 God promises good things for Israel, they are in exile and bondage, yet God is still working things for their good in their life.  God knows what they are going to go through and he tells them to carry on with life, prospering in the city where He has put them.  Then He promises after a time He will fulfill His promise.

God allowed Joseph to be beat up by his brothers, sold into slavery and eventually become great in the land of Egypt.  If he wouldn’t have been sold into slavery he might not have ended up in Egypt, where he eventually saved his family from the famine.

And today, being reminded that Paul was ship wrecked, stoned, hungered along with other things, he even asked for his thorn to be removed and was denied his request.  Yet through it all Paul had God’s peace with him, Paul knew the prize at the end.  And through it all he learned and realized that through any circumstance it would be God’s strength that would help him endure through it.

Jesus had His own process and plan to follow.  It was so agonizing that He sweat drops of blood and had to have angels come and strengthen him to endure through the process.

It is hard to trust in the circumstances at times, but having God’s peace surround you in the circumstances can be incredibly awesome, beyond words.  We have to just rely on God’s process and promises that He is working for our good, but we have to continually have that fellowship with Him.  In the garden when Jesus was sweating drops of blood He was praying, in God’s presence being prepared for the task at hand.  No human could endure what Jesus went through and that’s where we can receive God’ Spirit and joy and peace, knowing that Jesus endured what He did so we too could have fellowship with God, because He loves us and desires that fellowship with us.

We’ll face troubles in this life, we just have to have the continual fellowship with Jesus and trust in God’s process for each of our lives, as unique or similar they are, God doesn’t have to give us answers, but be assured God will walk with you through the circumstances He directs for you.  In those times of trouble stop and lean on the Creator of the universe, the One who directs yours steps and the One who loves you so much He sent His most prized possession to live a sinless life yet take our sins upon His shoulders so we could live life with Him in eternity.

Jason Gray – Remind Me You’re Here

 

Came across these this morning in my quiet times
Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, unable to rise. Psalm 36:10-12

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
Colossians 1:9‭-‬12 NIV

I pray that this blessed those who read this.

Yesterday in Church and bible study we were looking at Philippians 3 and discussed briefly success and what it means and looks like.  One person on our class mentioned that he heard previously this idea of being attached to the vine.  John speaks of this in Chapter 15.

1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes ^a so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.   5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus is pretty direct here, there’s not any gray area in His words.  But the idea of being attached to the vine really struck me.  A branch on a plant or vine gets no nutrients unless it is attached to the main trunk of the plant or vine in this case.  As we try and do things under our own strength or motivations they can fail or go awry.  I like what Matthew Henry says about this, “In order to fruitfulness, we must abide in Christ, must have union with him by faith. It is the great concern of all Christ’s disciples, constantly to keep up dependence upon Christ, and communion with him. True Christians find by experience, that any interruption in the exercise of their faith, causes holy affections to decline, their corruptions to revive, and their comforts to droop. Those who abide not in Christ, though they may flourish for awhile in outward profession, yet come to nothing.”

I’m always cautious to speak in absolutes, but this is definitely an absolute.  In our eyes or on the outside we may be successful and comfortable, but ultimately that doesn’t matter.  When we abide in Jesus, we can have that everlasting peace.  We’re never promised a smooth path this side of heaven, but through the True Vine we can be fulfilled and sustained to ensure through the trials we face.  Faith is the key to this and connection we must have in order to abide in Christ.  Without it we can’t please God.  To start, we have to have the faith the believe He exists.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

After his conversion, Paul has one goal, and it didn’t necessarily lead him down a path of comfort.  But He knew and understood as best his human mind could comprehend the goal for which he was striving and living for and considered everything else, essentially trash, compared to the glory he would receive.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 3:12-14

We have to press on, strain towards, endure through, strive ahead towards the goal of being that good and faithful servant for God’s glory and honor, not ours.

Being attached to the vine needs to be daily and it must be that way in all aspects of life, not just parts of our lives.  Its difficult to be sustained and nourished fully while away from the vine.

So we watched the new Lion King movie last night. Early on into the movie, my wife made a comment which made me realize how it parallels our Christian walk.

The comment was that if Simba would have just listened to his dad, none or what happened to Simba would have happened. But because of the deception and lies of Scar, Mufasa died, Simba ran away from his family in hiding and Simba’s family suffered because Scar, the deceiver, was on the throne.

Because of Satan’s deception in the garden, Adam and Eve fell and died spiritually. Like Adam and Eve, because of our sin nature, we are too dead. But when we make the decision to follow Jesus Christ and become obedient solely to Him we become alive again.

I was also reading in my quiet time in Ezekiel 18 says that sins causes us to die. But we can turn from our sin and live.

The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them. But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. Ezekiel 18:20‭-‬21

Like Simba, we are also heirs and children of God.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “ Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 8:14‭-‬17 NIV

It does not say that things will always be rosey and peachy, in fact it says that if we share in His sufferings, but we can have an eternal life of Living in God’s Holy presence.

Like Simba’s family, other people can suffer when we are living outside of obedience to God. Our actions can be detrimental to those we love.

Because of our flesh, we won’t always walk in God’s perfect ways, but we have a awesome God and loving Savior who wants to be with us along every step of the way and is willing to carry us and strenthen us when we can’t go on. He’s there waiting with opn arms visible in His creation if we just stop and look and listen.

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:13‭-‬16 NIV

There’s no sugar coating God’s expectations, Jesus was pretty clear in His speaking to the disciples, and us, wen obedience is all about.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
Matthew 16:24‭-‬27 NIV

I pray that you and I would with all ourheart and soul sumit to Him who hss our best interest at heart, far better than we could ever imagine.

So last week I had to report for jury duty.  It ended up being a criminal case, felony weapons and drug possessions charges.  During the jury questioning I kept asking myself why a defending attorney had this case and if the defending attorney really thought he had a chance to beat the case.  But as instructed many times by the judge and attorneys, we had to presume the defendant innocent.  So I had to make my mind up that I would in truth and fairness, if selected to the jury, presume the defendant innocent an give him my part in a fair trial.

But I kept looking at the defendant and trying to think about his situation and through this I started having compassion for this guy.  From his looks, he definitely looked like a typical felon and some of the potential jurors even stated they were biased toward his guilt because of his looks.  I get that we all make our own decisions and there are consequences for those bad decisions and we must face the consequences here on earth, but I also wonder if this guy, because of the home and or family he had growing up, or lack there of which he has very little control over, started this guy’s life off in a direction that was going to lead him down a life of destruction.  Because of lack of love in his home did he even have a fair chance out of the gate?  Did he lack the shepherd he needed to lead him to a life outside of crime?  My guess would be most likely yes, no shepherd or father figure in his life to teach him or train him up in the way he should go.

The bible tells us a few times that Jesus had compassion on the people.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:35-36

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.  Mark 6:34

I have since prayed for that man and will continue to pray for him, that God would send people into his life to speak God’s Love and Truth into his life and God would work in ways that only He can.  That God would take his life and turn it into a life with purpose, even if it is in a jail setting.

I looked further at this guy’s record and he has been in trouble with the law to various degrees for about half his life and will probably spend a good deal of his life incarcerated unless a major change takes place in his life.  But, I have to think and believe that he is not too far down a road where God can’t reach him where God can’t do a miraculous work to bring this man out of the darkness in which he walks and bring him into the light of Jesus’s love and Spirit.

I also thought during the jury selection that any of us are probably just one decision away from heading down the wrong path as well.  And if I or my family member was in that defendant’s seat I would want someone to presume innocence as well.  I guess that’s the awesome thing about having faith in Jesus Christ, He has sat in the defendant’s seat for us.  He took our sentencing and punishment for our crimes and we can now stand before God and His judgement seat with all charges dismissed.

Paul tells us in Colossians, Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:12-13.  We are to clothe, put on ourselves pity, compassion, favor, grace, mercy and extend it to those we encounter.

I have to continue to remind myself that even though people do bad things in the world and sometimes to us, we can still love them and show them the love of Jesus, because I think that’s what they truly want deep down, to be loved and felt important.  We can show them grace and mercy, for we certainly have been given more that we can ever pay back.

North Point Church – Death Was Arrested

Rhett Walker Band – When Mercy Found Me

 

 

So I’m sitting on a plane and just took off, the sun isn’t up yet so it’s still pretty dark outside and we’re taxiing towards the runway. The taxi ways are just lit up enough to see but then we come to the runway and it is really lit up.

I think God’s holy Spirit is like that. We can wander in the dark but God’s Holy Spirit will be clear to us in the darkness. It may not be loud or flashy, but it will be clear.

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord , for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord , but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 1 Kings 19:11‭-‬12

God told Elijah to stand on the mountain in His presence, then God proceeded to perform incredible acts through wind, earthquake and fire. He created those acts but was not in them. The more amazing act was God speaking in a still small voice, as the King James version says.

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
Acts 9:3‭-‬6

Paul on the other hand was a very different encounter. Bright light clear, loud voice. Even the men with Saul heard the voice.

God certainly speaks to us in different ways. I know God has spoken to me through His peace and also through music. At times we need to quiet ourselves in the chaos of life, take our eyes of the things ariund us, so we can truly hear God speaking to us. I believe we can be assured that when He does speak, regardless of the means, it will be clear and we will know it is Him. It’s up to us to choose to be looking and listening for God’s voice and presence as we walk each day.