Spending March w/ Jesus 3-5-09 "Jesus got booted"

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

Read Luke 4:16-30

Have you ever seen something that was going really well, take a sudden turn for the worst? One time I was in a basketball game in college. We were playing Newbury college and I had just gone on one of the hottest streaks of my entire basketball career. I scored 36 points in a matter of 14 minutes. I'll never forget the game. We were down by ten at the half and I remember telling James Capozzi,who was in the crowd while we were warming up for the start of the 2nd half, that I was going to go for 20 in the half and win the game. I only had about 5 points in the first half and was quite for the first 3 minutes of the 2nd half. Then I hit a shot with the shot clock expiring and it sparked my fire. From that point on, the hoop was as big as the Atlantic. I hit 3 after 3 after 3 from everywhere on the court. And ones, up and unders, free throws, mid-range jumpers; I just couldn't miss. I remember looking up into the stands at Beth (who was holding Daniel) and then James, and making an expression like "I have no idea why everything is going in?" Next thing I know we are up 10 points with 1 minute left and I just went went on a scoring spree that I have never witnessed before. It was crazy and I remember it like it was yesterday.

Then it took a turn....FOR THE WORST. Our team literally just shut down with one minute left. Somehow, with one minute left and down 10 points, Newbury found themselves now up 1 point with 6 seconds left. I can't even remember how that happened. They were about to pull off the biggest comeback that I would ever be a part of.

End of Story...I hit the game winner with no time left on the clock and we won by 1. Best game of my career.

Luke 4:14-30 is a story of how quickly something could go wrong after being so right. Jesus is in his home town probably with his family and crew. He's at the church that he grew up in, and people were probably excited to see him. At that time there were a lot of talk about Jesus because of miracles that he was performing in Capernaum. (Side note, Luke was not written in chronological order like other gospels.) While at church, Jesus picks up a scroll and reads a prophecy about himself out of Isaiah. he basically told the group that the Messiah is here and standing before you. The crowd was overwhelmingly joyful. Scripture says that the crowd "spoke well of him and was amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips."

Then it turned! To preface his next statement, he first warned the crowd by saying, "Easy, don't talk so highly of me yet, because I am about to tell you something that will make you want to literally throw me off of a cliff." Then he shares an analogy and communicated to the Jews that the Kingdom of God is not just for the good, moral, law following Jews. Instead he tells them that the Kingdom of God is for the repentant sinners of the world." This is how the Jews responded. One minute they were filled with Joy that the messiah was before them and the next minute, scripture tells us "All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff."

Why did they turn so fast? Why were they ready to throw Jesus off of a cliff? The answer; "SPIRITUAL PRIDE!!"

The Jews thought that salvation was for only those who were good morel Jews. How dare salvation be offered to those who don't try hard. I try hard, I sacrifice, I am a good person. I deserve the Kingdom of God.

Don't we all act like this sometimes. Don't we sometimes look at people who are lost and don't know Christ with some sort of internal spiritual pride. Almost as if we are better than they are? None of us would intentionally do this or even admit it for that matter, but if your honest; it's there. It's in us to act and think like this. Truth be told, if we were one of the religious people in the room, we would have been trying to throw Jesus over a cliff as well. How dare he stomp on my self righteous party.

This is what I pull away from this scripture.

If I am not willing to put myself in situations where people are turning against me and kicking me out, than I have to ask if I am compromising TRUTH? Jesus was full of truth, he lived truth and was truth. I believe that Christians need to be less combative with their approach towards TRUTH, however stand firm in the fact that "ONLY WE HAVE THE TRUTH." Ultimately we'll walk away like Jesus; totally and supernaturally unharmed. Scripture says "Jesus walked right through the mob and went on his way."

Spending March w/ Jesus 3-4-09 "Water into Wine"

Jesus Changes Water into Wine

Read John 2:1-11

What a way to start out your ministry. Nah, don't heal a blind guy, don't walk on water, don't disappear like a bad magic trick during a game of hide-n-seek. Instead.....lets get this party started. We bout to get crunked in hear. haha. Ok. I am kidding; Kinda! For all you Hyper Nazarenes and Baptists who seem to take the FUN out of Fundamental; Jesus just blew your boxers off. Or should I say your tighty whiteys? For you southerners who are a little confused, Yes....it says Jesus turned water into wine....not sweet tea.

None the less. I did learn something else from this passage. Something that you may not see when you are fist looking at this. Most people look at Jesus in this passage but neglect to look at the two servants. Check out this story from their perspective.

Jesus just gets told by Momma Mary that there's no more wine and to fix the problem. Jesus seems a little perturbed about this and doesn't want to help out, he says specifically that it is not yet his time. However there are probably a couple of the servers around hearing this conversation. Momma Mary tells them to do whatever Jesus tells them. So what does he do? "Yo, go get me some water and put it into the stone jars." says Jesus. I am sure by now these two guys are pretty confused. then he tells them to take the water to the Master (Their Boss) to be tasted. Imagine what was going through their mind as they began to walk to their master? This is what I would have been thinking. "This is so stupid, we're definitely fired after this one." "What in the world are we doing, bring a pot of water to the Master for freakin a taste test? This is dumb."

Then it happened. Probably right before their eyes. They watched as a pitcher of water that they just got from a well, turned into some of the best wine they have ever had. They were probably absolutely blown away. Miracles like this don't just happen. Not at wedding parties. Right? Wrong!

What possessed these guys to actually begin to walk to their Master with a pitcher of water. I'll tell you what it was. Jesus spoke! Today Jesus still speaks. And...when we listen and are obedient to what he tells us to do, our eyes are open to see the supernatural miracles that only Christ can perform.

What miracle is God trying to show me? What am I not seeing because I am not doing what Christ has told me to do? This is why Christ said many time in the gospel of Mark "Those who have eyes, let them see." Jesus, I want to see. Cleanse me of my unbelief and forgive me of my sin so I can stand in the gospel and see. I WANT TO SEE!

Spending March w/ Jesus 3/3/09 "Tempted after a High"

John the Witness, Jesus, and Temptation

Read Matthew 3:1-4:11

This past week we had a friend of ours become a "Born Again, Child of God." It is such a cool story that maybe I will share the full details at another time if she gives me permission. It was one of the most beautiful transformations that I have been able to see in my Christian life so far. I can look back at this person and see how God has been literally wooing her over the past few months. God surrounded her with strong believers, softened her heart to the Word of God, and gave a few people the platform to love her and speak straight with her.

I am sharing this story because it tied into this scripture so perfectly. In Matthew 4, Jesus has just been baptized and is now set out to live the rest of his life on public mission to fulfill all that God has for him (I am not saying that he wasn't already doing that, however this was the beginning of his public ministry). Immediately after he came out of the water from baptism, scripture tells us, heaven opened up and there was a voice that said "This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased." It was this supernatural work of God for many to see. The Holy Spirit came and ascended on him in the form of a dove. How cool would it have been to see this.

Anyway, one would think that after an experience like this in a persons life, immediately the Holy Spirit wipes out all fear, doubt, lust, etc and makes the life of a believer as simple, easy, and convenient as possible. I mean we're talking about God here. Of course God would do that for us, we're his children, Right? Wrong!! That is not the case at all. Matthew 4 shows us that after the supernatural, the Holy Spirit will lead you into temptation. What???????????? The Holy Spirit leads you into temptation? No he doesn't, Satan leads you into temptation. Wrong again!! Read Matthew 4:1 again and see for yourself. The Holy Spirit does that. That's just how He roles.

I think back to my own life and it is exactly what I experienced. After I became a Christian, I was thrown into a relationship that had sexual temptation all over it, I was put on a basketball team with many unbelievers who were rebelling against God, I was invited to parties, had drugs thrown my way, and many more stories. Unlike Jesus, I failed God in these situations and fell at the feet of temptation.

I wish that someone warned me about that. I wish someone told me that after the supernatural, the Holy Spirit lead you into temptation. I wish I was on better guard against what the Holy Spirit does and Satan's schemes.

I will briefly share an excerpt of a dialog that took place after our friend was saved by Christ. I thought it ties in well.

Me:
Happy Birthday. So why the Happy Birthday? Because you've been born again!!!!! HOLLA>>>> That’s a big freakin deal. Congratulations. That is huge. The bible says that ALL of Heaven throws a party when one sinner comes to repentance and trusts in Christ. My advise to you from here on out is to just fall more and more in love with Jesus. He is so beautiful and such a gentleman to his children. Be on guard because the enemy will try and convince you that your salvation is not real and you will experience doubt. This is just his normal tactics, but I know your stronger than that.

Her response:
thank you guys so much, I really feel like I can breathe for the first time ever in my life. Pretty cool, huh? You are right, there have already been thoughts in my head, and I just let Satan know to take it up with God, his issues are not mine.

It is beautiful to see God at work in the people around you. Isn't it? Oh yeah!!!

Spending March w/ Jesus 3-2-09 "He's Born"

Christ our Lord is born: Matthew 1:18-25

There is much on my mind as I am writing this. Maybe because of the things that I am witnessing right now, God spoke to me a little differently about this passage than what is originally perceived. The two things that stand out more than anything are Obedience and Submission.

When I think of Joseph, this is almost more that I can even fathom. He is in love with the woman of his dreams, she comes and tells him that she pregnant with the Holy Spirit's baby (Yeah right), then he has a freakin dream where an angel comes to tell him that his wife is going to give birth to God in the flesh and that his child will take away the sins of the world. Wow, what a day. That's more than I could handle.

In Joesph you can see such obedience and submission to Christ the child, and his Father in heaven. I wonder how hard it was for Joseph to look at this situation and be able to self evaluate his place? Do I leave her? Do I raise this boy? What is my role? How am I going to raise God? So many questions. I wonder what Joseph was doing when he finally decided that the best possible thing to do was to be selfless and just play his part? To lay aside his goals, his desires, his dreams, his life, so that he could play his part in the most influential time in all of history. What a great model he must have been for Jesus as he was growing up; having a father who was more interested in the plan of God rather than his own plan.

You can see that before Jesus was even born, he was already influencing the decisions of his earthly dad. That forces me to ask the same question about myself. How is Christ influencing my decisions today? What is Christ doing right now as I type this blog, to mold me into his likeness? How is God moving today in my life?

In verse 19 scripture calls Joseph a righteous man. It is clear in the whole of scripture that Joseph was considered righteous because he believed and trusted in God the Father. He was no more moral than anyone else; however he was considered righteous because he knew God and was known by God. Just as Joseph showed submission and obedience in verses 18-25; verse 19 states that he had been walking with God for some time now; thus God considered him a righteous man. In the NT we are now considered righteous through belief and trust in Christ to cover our sins and Lord over our lives.

So here are the questions I will ask myself today:

1. How am I playing my part in what God has planned today?

2. Am I submitting and being obedient to Christ toady? How or how not?

3. Am I aware of the grace that is covering my sin today, which labels me righteous?

4. How am I standing in the gospel and experiencing it today?

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."