Because I cannot....Colossians 1:9

Colossians 1:9 says it all.

As I am getting very close to moving to Beverly, MA; I am just overwhelmed with both joy and anxiety as I seek to begin to do what the Lord is calling me to do. If you would have asked me 2 years ago as we were starting to think through the church plant and all that we envisioned, my thoughts about this would have been totally different. I honestly used to think that I could do this. I used to think that, "if I just preach good enough" or "if I am just funny enough" or "if our music is just anointed enough" or "if our welcome team is just nice enough".........etc etc etc; then we will have a great church plant. I now recognize that I am nothing; just a pawn in the hands of a loving and gracious God.

The past 2 years of my life have literally been life altering. I want to thank dudes like Wagoner, Gene, Dave P, TJ, Pearce, my team and board, my A29 assessment team, and the many others who have come around me to both encourage me and rebuke me. Most importantly I want to thank my wife and kids who have loved me so well though all of the transition and have modeled Christs love so well through this.

As I was with the Lord this morning, I came across a verse that I have probably read 100 times, but today it hit me hard. Colossians 1:9 says "since he day we heard of you we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding."

Paul gets it and sadly I have not gotten it. Theologically I understood it, but my heart was deceived to think that I was more than I am.

As I am moving to a dark area of our world, where sin and paganism, idolatry and wickedness, unbelief and doubt, are all the norm; the only way to fight this is prayer that "God" not "Matt", will fill people with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. So, today I am praying as I type, as I read and as I drink my coffee. Lord, for those who I meet in Greater Boston and have an opportunity to love and tell about Christ; fill them with the knowledge of your will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.....because I cannot.

Amen.

Judas the Betrayer

Read Luke 9

Have you ever wondered about Judas the betrayer? Recently I have. It is crazy when I think about all that he did while he was with Jesus. When you read Luke 9, you will see that Jesus sent him out to preach the good news about Him. He gave Judas power and authority to heal and cast out demons. Judas was sent to be a specific messenger about the Gospel of Christ. That is just crazy to me.

The other thing that is crazy is that Jesus, being fully God and all knowing, prayed to the Father all night when he was picking out the 12 disciples. In other words, he prayed all night to the Father about who to choose and went through great lengths to make sure that Judas was a part of his 12, while knowing full well that he would betray him and hand him over to be crucified for some silver.

How can this be? Jesus literally set himself up to be betrayed and killed.

This just shows the absolute glory of Christ. He was determined to save his people, regardless of the cost. Like the scripture says, he was willing to go through death, even death on a cross. Our God is great. Yet, while we were still sinners and rebelling against God, Christ willingly went to the cross to die so that we may live. That is an awesome testimony of the love, knowledge, sacrifice and glory of Christ.

Do you love him today? I do!

Spending March w/ Jesus 3-1-09 "Jesus Foretold"

For the next 30 days I will be studying through a "Reading Plan" called 30 days with Jesus. Each day I will go through the life of Jesus and blog about what I am learning. I will share what God is doing in me personally and in my life all together. I invite you to join me on this journey. Each day I will give the scripture reference that I read along with thoughts.

Jesus Foretold. Read Isaiah 53

There are so many amazing things about this passage of scripture but lets start with the author. Isaiah is referenced in the NT more than 65 times which is far more than anyone else from the OT. His name literally means "The Lord is salvation" and I think that meaning applies so strongly in this passage. This is probably the most referenced passage in all of scripture when we think of the prophecies of Christ. Isaiah literally walked me through the entire life of Christ even to the details of his appearance and method of death. All of that being said, it was written 700 years before Christs birth. Isaiah was a great man of God. Ministering for about 60 years without seeing one convert as far as we know. Tradition has it that he was martyred by his king by being literally cut in half with a wooden saw.

The one point that I want to pull out of this portion scripture is this. "What Christ has done, directly impacts those who believe. This entire chapter is about Jesus of Nazareth, but yet was written hundreds of years before his earthly existence. Colossians says that he is the image of the invisible God; the firstborn among all of creation. From my study, I counted that Christ is referenced over 40 times by using the words "Him" or He". Almost every time that Christ is referenced, there is an application to what He has done for those who believe. You can see that when you count that amount of times the words "We, Us, My, Our, etc." are used. In just 12 verses I counted over 25 times that those words are references.

The big theme here is "Atonement". That word can literally be taken as meaning "At one with God" or in other words, "What Christ has done, through his life and death on the cross, created a way for us to be one with God." Through what was done in Christ's life and death, those who believe, can come to him and actually know the Father.

In small group last week I made a comment to someone which was quite controversial. This is what I said. "God does not hear the prayers of those who are not born again." Now, I did not just throw that out there because I felt like it. The reality is that we all want God to hear and answer our prayers. However, listen to what Isaiah says in Chapter 59:1-2.

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

In essence, this is stating that our sin separated us from God and because of that we do not know him. How can we talk to someone who we don't know?

However Isaiah closes chapter 53 with these words:

"For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors."

That is a beautiful statement in which I need to continue to remind myself. I need to remember that "I Know God." I am no more special than anyone else in the world. I am wicked in my thoughts, deeds, and motives. I struggle like everyone else and sometimes I think I struggle more. However, I know God. I know he hears me and listens to me. He speaks to me both through scripture and supernatural revelation. He loves me and cares for me. I am able to cast my issues onto him and trust that he is both Good and Sovereign in everything that I walk through. More importantly I am a part of his plan. He knew me before the creation of this world. He knew that I would run from him and sin against him. And through it all, Isaiah prophesied 700 years before that a Savior would come and provide a way for me to know God. I celebrate that truth today; the truth that "I know God."