Jesus

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Stormy Weather

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“In the end I chose to let Him love me and then chose to trust that love.”  – Peter *

Sometimes life is stormy. And when the storm comes, we usually struggle for awhile, then we pray, asking God to stop the wind and relieve our pain.

Instead, maybe the scenario should be more like this:

Think of yourself in a big wooden boat with Jesus – just the two of you. He looks at the sky and tells you a storm is coming, it’s time to go down into the hold. You remember that He did that when He was with the disciples, so you follow Him gladly.

Once there, a ferocious storm breaks out. You are afraid and are being thrown from one side of the boat to the other. Panicking, you ask Him to calm the storm like He did before. He doesn’t seem to respond. But He reaches out, pulls you gently toward Him and holds you so you are no longer being tossed about.

Then He speaks quietly, “The storm will pass, but I am not going to stop it from running its course. Instead, we’re going to stay here together. With Me you will be safe. And when it’s all over, you will trust Me more. The kind of trust I want you to have can grow only in the storm.”

Can we trust Him to take us through the storm? To hold us close when it’s darkest? To love us enough to do the right thing for us at the right time? We can. We learn that in the storm.

“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.” – Psalm 33:20-21

 *From The Fisherman by Larry Huntsperger

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Heavy Load?

"My yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Jesus (Matthew 11:30)

“My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Jesus (Matthew 11:30)

Are there days when you want to shut down the email, turn off the text, and not answer the phone because yet another person will have something for you to do for them?

Jesus talked about that problem when He said, in essence, that other men will put burdens on us that are too great to bear (Mt. 23:4). We don’t have to let that happen.

It appears that Jesus doesn’t expect as much of us as others do sometimes. Instead, He says something like this: “I am in the yoke with you. Take on only what I give you, not what you want to shoulder, not what others want to put on you, only what I give you. Then we will do it together. There will be joy!”

So, if you have too many burdens, think about the ones that others have put on you that you need to give back. Or the ones you picked up along the way because you wanted to prove something. Let them go.

Jesus promises the burden will be light as long as we are yoked to Him. Maybe we shouldn’t require more of ourselves than He does. It’s something we may need to talk to Him about. Today.

“Empty hands bring peace of mind. Your burden is much lighter than my own.”  Karen Money

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Mosaic Jesus

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“I looked again. I saw a huge crowd, too huge to count. Everyone was there—all nations and tribes, all races and languages. And they were standing . . . before the Throne and the Lamb and heartily singing: Salvation to our God on his Throne! Salvation to the Lamb!” – Revelation 7:9-10 (The Message)

Nataly is a friend of mine who is a mosaic artist and teacher. We were talking with some women one day about how, as Christians, we are a reflection of Jesus to those around us. Nataly thought for a moment then said, “But we each show just part of the image of Christ as if each of us is one piece of a great mosaic. Every chard, shape, and color is needed to present a complete picture of who Jesus is.”

That concept resonated with me. Jesus is so far beyond human understanding and so complex in His person, than none of us alone could possibly reveal Him accurately or fully. But joined together, with our various colors, shapes, and uniquenesses, we can give the world a more complete picture of the beauty and glory of God in the person of Jesus.

So we shouldn’t feel inadequate or unable to be Jesus to those around us. We just need to remind ourselves that we need each other to bear His image as He deserves and in ways that the world can recognize and receive.

I never would have thought of that, but Nataly did and I just had to share it with you as we join in the goal of reflecting His image today!

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? – A. W. Tozer

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Getting Used to Him?

"Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight. I will put my Spirit on Him and He will proclaim justice to the nations." - Matthew 12:18

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight. I will put my Spirit on Him and He will proclaim justice to the nations.” – Matthew 12:18

Think about where you live. Do you have opportunities to see God in nature? To hear about Him on Christian radio? To attend church? To talk about Jesus without fear of persecution?

During much of His public ministry, Jesus lived in Capernaum. Yet He condemned that town saying that the wicked cities of Tyre and Sidon will have a better chance on judgment day than Capernaum. Why? We have no record that the people of Capernaum kicked Jesus out, arrested Him, or caused Him trouble. Why does Jesus condemn them?

Maybe, for these people who knew Him so well, Jesus was just the guy next door. It’s possible they just got used to Him and when the novelty of His teaching and even His miracles wore off, they went about their business no longer paying attention to the God who lived among them.

In America we have many of the same freedoms of access to Jesus that the people of Capernaum had. Let’s not ever get used to Jesus. Let’s not ever lose the awe that the God of the universe is with us and is involved in our lives – every day. Let’s pray always to see Him with fresh eyes, to enjoy His presence, and to grow to know Him better and better.

“The true lovers of God never get enough of Him.” – Calvin Miller

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Thinking of Him

 

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“He is the wellspring of everything that has ever romanced your heart. . . What we have sought, what we have tasted in part with our earthly loves, we will come face to face with in our True Love.” – John Eldridge

When the lights grow dim
Are you thinking of Him?
Or is your mind too cluttered
With thoughts un-uttered
And words unspoken
And promises broken?

When the day is at end
Do you talk with your Friend?
Or are you doing the dishes
And pondering wishes
And things yet to do
E’re the evening is through?

When you woke in your bed
Was it His name you said?
Or were you thinking of rights
And yesterday’s fights
And battles to win
When the sun comes again?

Our mind is the measure
Of what we most treasure.
It shows us what holds us
And constantly molds us.
If we’re centered on Jesus
And how He does please us,

The thoughts that disturb us
And tend to perturb us
Will crumble and cower
And lose all their power.
Then when the lights grow dim,
We’ll be thinking of Him.

“Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” – Psalm 91:14

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Pray or Bail?

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“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways”, declares the Lord. – Isaiah 55:8

When the storm came and Jesus was asleep, the disciples woke Him up, almost accusing Him of slacking (Mark 4:35-41). After all, He was snoozing while they were frantically trying to save their boat and their lives. As they roused Him, what do you think they expected Him to do? I imagine they handed Him a bucket and yelled, “Help us bail!”

He had a better idea. He simply ordered the storm to cease. It seems that Jesus was operating under a different paradigm than His disciples were. He still is.

We tend to tackle our problems in ways that seems so logical, so appropriate given our circumstances. If we just work more frantically, try harder, or grit our teeth, we can manage somehow.

But Jesus has a better way. His ways of approaching the troubles of our lives are beyond our ability to imagine. That’s why there are times when we should stop bailing long enough to go find Jesus and ask Him to work on our behalf or to show us His better way of handling the mess we are in.

If we believe God will respond to our needs only in ways we can imagine, we will doubt. If we simply let God be God, we will have faith. Doubt is condemned. Faith is rewarded. We get to choose. Do we turn to Him? Do we trust Him?

“God is hanging on to you. He’s not waiting for you to save yourself and mature into someone who no longer needs Him. He will not let you go, come what may.” – Tullian Tchividjian

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Just thinking . . .

Have you ever stopped to think about what you think about? What thoughts move in as soon as you’re not intentionally thinking of something else? Very likely, those thoughts are controlling your life.

"You become what you think about all day long." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You become what you think about all day long.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Haman, in the book of Esther, helps us understand this.  He had everything he could want: wealth, power, and prestige. But he didn’t appreciate or enjoy it, because all he could think about was that Mordecai the Jew would not bow to him. That thought eventually consumed him to the extent that he conspired to kill Mordecai and all the Jews in Persia. As the story unfolds, we find that he is caught in his own conspiracy and it costs him everything, including his life.

We must not let a past hurt, a present situation, or a future concern rob us of all God has given us in this present moment. We don’t want to be like Haman – getting hung up on one troublesome thing and then missing everything else God has given.

Instead, let’s choose to think about things that draw us to God – His Word, His creation, and His actions in the world. In fact, Paul gave us a good list in Philippians 4:8 when he told us to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.

As we pay attention to our current thought habits and begin to develop new ones, we will notice that we become more joyful, useful, content, loving, and engaged. Everything changes when our thoughts change. Try it!

“Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ” (Psalm 139:23-24)

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Running to Jesus

“I will run past everything to be united with You.” (anonymous prayer)

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“When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry or fear. As long as you are running, you’re safe.” ― Francis Chan

What do we need to run past today? The troubling email? A distressing medical appointment? A wayward child? A financial stress? A needy friend? A demanding boss? It’s not that we won’t deal with any of those things, but we need to connect with Jesus first.

Picture a long passageway. As you move along it, there are problems or people calling for your attention – just a moment of time, just a short side road. But you know that Jesus is at the end of this path, waiting patiently for you to come to Him. See Him? Now run! Run to Him, past everything that calls to you, past the problems, anxieties, demands of life. Run to Him to be loved, forgiven, nurtured, and directed. Then turn around and attend to all these things one-by-one as He walks beside you.

Sometimes it’s not that what we do is wrong, it’s just that we too often do it without Jesus, without direction, without connecting first to the only One who can make a real difference in each situation we face. Let’s run to Jesus. Sitting quietly in His presence is the most important thing we have to do today. Really, it is.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1, Amplified Bible)

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Obsession

. . . I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8a)

I remember recognizing that there were obsessions in my life that should not be there. It became clear that I should not obsess about anyone or anything except Jesus – not family, not weight, not work, not world events, not health, not “to do” lists, not money, not clothes – just Jesus. I committed to making Him my magnificent obsession from that day forward. When I asked Him how to actually put that lofty ideal into practice, here are the things that came to mind:

The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God. - Irenaeus

The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God. – Irenaeus

• Pray without ceasing: Acknowledging God’s presence with me always. Not necessarily engaging in verbal communication all the time, but having heart talk that never ends.

• Always be thankful: Discovering the amazing power of gratefulness – the way it can turn me around from sad to glad in about 30 seconds, the way it takes my focus off the problems and onto Him.

• Confess sin: Learning that confession is a privilege. It is a way of making sure there is nothing between me and God and that surety allows me to live constantly in a state of forgiving and being forgiven. I love it when He reminds me that I have something to confess; it is His way of showing me how much He values the relationship that we have developed together.

• Don’t run ahead of God: Taking my time, slowing down. This is a command designed especially for me and people like me who want to take charge. God reminds me that my “taking charge” sometimes interferes with His bigger plan. So I have to stop to listen and to make sure I move forward when, and only when, He says to do so.

These healthy habits are helping me remain connected to my true Obsession, the only safe one I can have. Maybe they will help you, too.