King Jesus

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Trees and homes and churches are decorated with lights and wreaths and greenery. The nativity and the Elf on the shelf have made their way from the closets to prominent places within the home. There are cards to be addressed and presents to be purchased and parties to attend and, of course, holiday goodies to eat.

            But it’s actually not Christmastime, it’s Advent. The word “Advent” means arrival, and this month we focus on the Advent, or arrival, of the long awaited Messiah, Jesus. It is a time where we remember the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, as well as look forward to the day that he comes again. His second Advent.

            And during this season the most often thought of image of Jesus is as a cute little baby boy wrapped in snuggly blankets lying in a pristine manger filled with clean and comfortable hay. While this is not exactly how I picture this first night of Jesus’ birth (and I really don’t think it was a “silent” night either), the image of Emmanuel, God with us, in the form of a baby boy is a beautiful image of God’s love and His perfect plan of redemption for all of His creation.

            
            Of course there are other images that come to mind when we hear the name of Jesus.

Jesus the shepherd invokes the image of Christ carrying the lamb on His back as he walks back to the fold to reunite the lamb with the other 99 (Luke 15:3-7).

Nathan Greene

            And there is the image of Jesus as teacher, where I imagine Him on a rock while thousands of eager listeners are fed through the words of this perfect rabbi (Matthew 5-7).

            

                I see Jesus the miracle worker as He spits in the mud and wipes the mixture in the eyes of a blind man and tells him to go wash in a pool and then he received his sight (John 9:1-7).

            

               And one of my favorites is the image of Jesus as the loving father, hiking up His robe to run down the road to embrace His long lost prodigal son who had just returned home (Luke 15:11-32).

           

            The image of Jesus on the cross taking on the sins of the world, all of mine and all yours, the perfect lamb of God, is an image that I think of daily as I confess my sins and ask for his forgiveness new and fresh each morning.

            

           All of these images, and many others, reflect perfect pictures of who God is. They all show an aspect of God’s perfect and multi-faceted character.

            But this is Advent. And while the picture of Jesus in the manger may get the most air time this month, we cannot forget that is season of waiting and anticipation is as much about looking forward in hope as it is looking back in remembrance.

            And so today I want to leave you with this Advent image of Jesus that John gives us in the introduction to Revelation.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all peoples on earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:7-8)

                                            
                                           King Jesus. That’s the image on my mind today. 

          
           As we come into this Advent season, is Jesus the King of your life? Every area of your life? We do, after all, have an incredible ability to compartmentalize life. Is King Jesus King over all, or is He just a governor over certain territories you have allowed Him?

            This Advent, I pray that God’s kingdom come in a powerful and beautiful way in your life. I pray that you have accepted Christ’s Kingship and that you are living with a Kingdom-focus in every area of your life. And I pray this abundant life in Jesus (John 10:10) will be your offering of praise to the King of Kings this month, and forever more.

Confident in Christ

Many years ago, when I played high school baseball, I had a walk-up song. If you’re not familiar with a walk-up song, it is a song that is played as a batter walks from the on deck circle to home plate. My walk-up song was by a new rock n roll band, Guns N Roses, and the song was Welcome to the Jungle. I probably even strutted a little when I walked up.

            Now, let me explain something. I didn’t have this loud and in your face rock song playing because I knew that I was that good, I played it because I feared I wasn’t.

            I was about a .200 hitter in a good year. If you don’t follow baseball that means that I got a hit about once every 5 times up to bat, or so. And that’s not very good. So to try to get in the pitchers head I had a song played that I hoped made me look more confident than I was. But in reality I probably just looked cocky.

            Cocky is when you act like something you’re not. Confident is when you believe something to be true or have faith that something will or will not happen. I wasn’t confident in my batting, so I tried to fake it.

            What I did as a teenager on the baseball field, many people do in other areas of their lives. And it’s because they are not confident in who they are. The Bible has a lot to say about who we are and the confidence that we can have because of this.

            In 1 John, the writer says this:

“And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know that he hears us when we pray, we also can be confident that he will give us what we ask for” (1 John 5:14-15)

            I know too many people that aren’t confident. They aren’t confident in their abilities, their looks, their relationships, their faith. And then because of this they try to do things or act in ways so that other people will think differently of them. But the truth is that’s just fake.

            We can be confident that God hears us when we pray.

            While I wasn’t confident as a batter in baseball, I was confident when I played defense. I was a catcher. So at any moment that I was on the field behind the plate I was thinking about the pitcher, how he felt and what he was thinking, how his mechanics looked. I thought about the batter, my other teammates on the field and where they were positioned, and even the umpire with his hand on my back. I thought about all these other people.

            Maybe that is a truth in confidence. When we focus on others we can be confident in what we do, but when we focus on ourselves we just get cocky.

            Hebrews 4:12 says that we can come with confidence before the throne of God. This is because of what Jesus has done for us. The source of our confidence isn’t really within us, it’s within God in us. We find our confidence not in ourselves, but in Him. That’s why Philippians 4:13 says that “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”.

            You can be confident that when you pray the God of the universe hears you! Let that sink in for just a minute, please!

            You have been given confidence through Jesus. Live in this, believe in this, have faith in this, and be confident in this.

Demolishing Strongholds

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds”. (2 Corinthians 10:4)

A stronghold is a place that has been fortified so as to protect it against attack. That’s why all the cities of old had their main fortress built on a hill so it was better protected, it was higher ground and when there were dangerous times the citizens could come there for protection. There is even images in Scripture of God being this very thing for us, a mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark, a rampart, a refuge.

The city of Corinth was like this also. There was a hill that was 1857 feet above sea level and there was a citadel that sat atop this hill and all the major battles for this area were fought there. It was known that if you could capture the citadel, you could capture the city. All you had to do take secure of the stronghold, all you had to do was take possession of the high ground.

So as these guys in Corinth were reading this letter from Paul they just had to glance up to this hill and see their own citadel which they had seen battles for, from being a self-governing Corinthian city state to being under the rule of the Greek empire to now being under the rule of the Roman empire, they knew how important the high ground stronghold was, and Paul was saying there is a battle being waged in you and for the stronghold of your heart and mind. Whoever has possession of the stronghold has possession of the city. And there are issues in our lives, that when they aren’t dealt with immediately, they secure strongholds, handholds, and chokeholds in our lives, in our minds, in our moods, in our thoughts, and in our actions.

The question is not “are there strongholds in my life”, but rather, “what strongholds in my life is the devil trying to make me ignorant of”?

You will never experience all life holds living with these strongholds in your life.

Have you ever gone through security at the airport? It’s a hassle, but it’s there for a good reason. It’s there for our safety, and even for the safety of hundreds or thousands of people on the ground while we are in the air. And every person has to go through security, the officials don’t just judge by outward appearances and say, “Well, you look harmless, so you can go through”. No, every person gets inspected. And if you aren’t dangerous you get to go through.

We need a TSA security screening for our thoughts, a Thought Screening Assessment. Even the ones that seem harmless, because sometimes those are the ones that are the most dangerous. So Paul says capture every one, and run it through the Philippians Filter (look at Philippians 4:4), and if that thought doesn’t measure up then don’t let it pass through. Get it out of your head!

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, because you are IN Christ Jesus! We have divine power to demolish strongholds. The pulling down strongholds, the saying no to sin, the taking every thought captive. The Christian ground is not a playground, it’s a battleground. The mightiest weapon of all is the divine power of God in your life. The soldier on the ground needs eyes in the sky. And you have that.

Why would you rely on your willpower when you’ve been given God’s power to live an abundant life in Christ Jesus, our Lord? What strongholds are in your life today? Take time to pray specifically about this area and allow God to do His work in you right now.

Get Some Rest

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest’” (Mark 6:31)

           

            This is how one of the most popular and well-known miracles of Jesus begins. It’s the story of the feeding of the 5000. But the story starts in a unique way. The disciples are tired. They’ve been doing and doing and doing, and they’ve been so busy and they’ve had so many people coming to them for help that they don’t even have time to eat. Now that’s busy! Being a United Methodist pastor it seems that sometimes time is measured from potluck to potluck. But seriously, eating is important to maintain the pace that we set. Eating is important to survival. And here is Jesus and his disciples, so busy that they don’t even have time to take care of themselves.

            Maybe you know what that’s like. Maybe there aren’t hundreds or thousands of people coming to you for healing, but maybe it feels like it. Maybe the demands that are on you right now are wearing you down. Or maybe it is just that life itself seems to be wearing you down. The constant, or the monotnant, rhythms of life are simply too much right now.

            Notice what Jesus does. He tells his weary and worn workers to come away with him to a quiet place so that they can get some rest.

            They have been doing work, but they were worn out. You can’t keep giving to others if you aren’t getting filled back up yourself. So, the plan is that they get into a boat and head to the other side of the lake to this solitary place. Jesus had been modeling this for them for a while now. Jesus had a habit himself, of getting up early in the morning and going to a solitary place to pray. I think this helped Jesus fill back up. Prayer does that. It is fuel for the empty tank. It is comfort for the downtrodden. It is life giving energy to the spiritually dry.

            So they get away with Jesus, at least for a little while. See, all those people know where they are going, so they all head over to the other side of the lake, too. So there they are, with all their issues, all their problems, and all their needs. The very same people that Jesus was trying to help his disciples get away from. And now they’ve even created a new issue for themselves, they are far from home…it’s getting late…there’s nowhere to get them food….and you know the rest of that story. Jesus feeds them all with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

            But here is what I really want you to hear today: Time alone with Jesus is critical for you.

There will be demands that you need to address. There will be distractions that vie for your time and attention. But Jesus is inviting you to come away with him for a little while, to a solitary place, and get some rest.

            The disciples do that, and then they are able to minister to the needs of the people as Jesus allows them to be a part of a mighty miracle showing God’s provision and grace. This will free us up from feeling we have to act because we are responsible for the people around us, to realizing we get this opportunity to act because we are responsible to the people around us.

            So today take some to come away with Jesus to a quiet place, and get some rest. And then when you are filled and rested…go feed the people.

Just Ask

I am reading through the Gospel of Mark. It’s a good idea to always be reading through a book of the Bible, I think. It is something that I encourage all disciples of Jesus to do regularly, in addition to other devotional materials. Just jump into a book of the Bible and read it!

            Today I read Jesus’ parable in Mark 4 about the four soils (aka the “Parable of the Sower”). The story is found in Mark 4:1-20. Let me encourage you to grab your Bible, put down this newspaper, and read that parable for yourself. There’s lots of good stuff in this one.

            So, now that you’ve read it and it’s fresh on your mind, let me point out something in this story today. It’s not exactly something from the parable itself. I love the fact that the disciples aren’t 100% sure they understood all of this, so did you catch what they did?

            “When he (Jesus) was alone, the twelve (disciples) and the others around him asked him about the parables” (Mark 4:10).

            They asked.

            I wonder if many of the things that we are uncertain about, many of the things that trouble us, could be faced more faithfully if we simply asked Jesus about.

            Is that too simplistic?

            “We have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask” (1 John 3:21b-22a).

            “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7).

            Of course this is not a magic formula, nor am I saying ask God for a new Corvette, or ask who will win the World Series this year. I am saying that if we ask God, praying in his will, that he will answer us. If we need to understand something, as the disciples did in regards to that parable, then ask Jesus.

            James said that “if any one of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5)

Maybe this is a lot to digest from this parable, and there is a lot more to talk about just in those verses. If we remember that our job is to share Christ with everyone, and that by sowing the seeds we are being faithful to our calling, then we are trusting God to do the rest.

And if you are in need…ASK! Our God is a loving and generous God. Talk to God today about what’s going on in your life that you don’t understand why it’s happening (or why something isn’t happening). Talk to God about what you feel that you need, and ask him to line your wants/needs up with his will so that in all the circumstances and situations of your life you can be content in his love. Make a list of what you are asking God for, don’t be afraid to this. It’s amazing at what I have asked God for and what he has in turn given me. It hasn’t even always been what I asked for, but it has been so much more and exactly what I needed, even if I didn’t know I needed it at the time!

If you need a little extra encouragement in this then read the parable of the persistent widow found in Luke 18:1-8.

God is your good Father. So just ask him today for what you need, and then trust him that this Father really does know best.

God will guide and provide

Jesus said some pretty amazing things! I mean, really, have you ever stopped to not just think about, not just read about, (not just preach about, Michael), but to really whole-heartedly-100% believe all things fantastic claims that we have recorded in the gospels?

            Today as I was sitting with my cup of coffee and a morning Scripture I read from John 14. This is not typically a passage I spend a lot of time in, except in funerals. There are obvious eternal promises in the first 14 verses of this chapter, and there is the obvious comfort from the promises of Jesus to those who are left here as their loved ones have moved in with Jesus.

            Today I wanted to share a couple of things from John 14 that I think are really important to all of us. So, (if you’ve read this before then you know what’s coming next) grab your Bible and check out John 14 with me now.

            “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).

            And that’s how Jesus starts this. Don’t let your hearts be troubled. What an amazing statement, right?!

            But we do let our hearts be troubled sometimes, don’t we? We have troubles that are present in our families, our marriages, our finances, our schools, our government, even in our churches. And this trouble can trouble our hearts.

            Maybe that’s why Jesus also said, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34)

            Trouble is unavoidable. When I was younger my mother said that trouble just seemed to always find me. Truth is, I think I did my fair share to find it, too. I don't really like country music all that much, but I keep hearing that song (I think it was Travis Tritt) about T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

            But in the midst of these troubles of life, perspective is important. First, focus on the trouble of today. Not tomorrow, not next week or next month. We deal with what we can deal with now. Worrying about anything, especially potential future events that may or may not even happen, is pointless, useless, and, dare I say it…faithless.

            Jesus also said, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27).  That’s one of those redundant questions, the obvious answer is NO! And if that is the obvious answer, then the next obvious question is, “so what’s the point of worrying?”

            Do not let your hearts be troubled. And then Jesus goes on to talk about preparing a forever home for us, and then (look at verse 14), he says, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it”.

            I have to take a deep breath and pause every time I read this verse. This is one of those passages of Scriptures that have, on one hand, been taken so far to the extreme of craziness that this promise is reduced to our God being a genie in a bottle, or a cosmic vending-machine-prayer-answerer. And on the other hand, this promise is ignored.

            I believe Jesus meant this, or he would not have said it. I also think we need to prayerfully understand what he meant.

            “Ask”. Talk to God. Pray continually, in all situations. Pray believing and pray expecting God to do something, as in answer your prayer! Believe in God. Believe in Jesus. Just, ask.

            “In my name”. In the name of Jesus, there is power in that name! But also in his will (‘thy will be done, not mine’). Believe that God knows best. Pour out your honestly and trust your good Father to answer in a way that is best for you both now and long term.

            “I will do it.” So don’t let your hearts be troubled today. God will guide and provide.

It is well

            Music is good for the soul. I’ve been preaching a series on some of the great hymns of the faith and of our church. This has been fun for me, for as much as I love newer music (and of course classic rock), I deeply appreciate the theology and warmth of our church hymns. A couple of weeks ago I preached a sermon based on the hymn by Horatio Spafford, “It is well”.  This is probably one of my favorite hymns.

            To read the all the lyrics to this great hymn, and to read the tragic story that led to the writing of this hymn, check out this site: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-it-is-well-with-my-soul. Horatio and his wife Anna had a son die of pneumonia and then four daughters drown when the ship they were travelling on sank. And while travelling over the spot where this watery tragedy occurred, he wrote, “whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul”.

            Here is what I want us to get at today, this is the question: Is it well with your soul?

            How does somebody write those lyrics in the middle of that kind of pain? I think the truth of how that is possible is very deep, very personal, and very intimate, and is found in Psalm 34:18, “the Lord is close to the broken hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit”.

I think a key to this is to not wait until disaster strikes to look for the presence and closeness of God, but to be nearer to God every day; in prayer and Scripture reading every morning, in conversation throughout the day, in seeing how God is working in the world around you and in listening to and obeying God’s voice in your life. Day by day, minute by minute. And then, in the middle of our pain, we know that God is still present because he has been with us in every other situation, and our God is close to the broken hearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit.

That’s why Jesus said, “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. The Message translation of this verse in Matthew 5 puts it this way: “You’re blessed when you feel that you’ve lost what is most important to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you”.

No one endured more pain and hurt than Jesus. He was falsely accused, sentenced to be flogged and then crucified. He was stripped of his clothing, lots were cast by the Roman soldiers for his garments, he was then beaten within an inch of his life, a crown of thorns was placed upon his head, he was put upon a cross and nailed to it, with spikes through his hands and his feet, he was lifted up, a sign was placed above him that said King of the Jews. And people spat on him, and they mocked him, and they said, he saved others, let him save himself now. The creation mocking the creator. That's a lot of pain. In the middle of all that physical pain, there was also the consequences, the weight, of the sins of humanity, both mine, yours, the sins of all history placed upon him. And in that moment, at about 3:00 in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why? Why have you forsaken me?”

Have you ever feel like that, you ever feel like, why, I don't get it, why is this happening?

As Horatio stood on the deck of that ship and looked at the waters where his 4 daughters drowned he could have thought that. When Jesus was on the cross and it seemed like most of humanity just didn’t care he could have thought that, too.

But Horatio said “my sin, o the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin not in part by the whole, is nailed to the cross, I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul! “

Oswald Chambers wrote that “any great calamity in the natural world, death, disease, bereavement, will awaken a man when nothing else would, and he is never again the same. We would never know the treasures of darkness if we were always in the place of placid security”

This hymn, is not about deep anguish and question, this is a hymn of great hope and expectation of what God is going to do to create a treasure in the darkness. To bring hope out of the hopeless and peace frm the turmoil

In the midst of this moment, it is well with my soul---

does that describe you?

          Because for some people today, your soul isn't well. Your soul feels broken, your spirit feels crushed. And it may seem like it’s because of external circumstances, but it can’t be. It can’t be that we suffer or go through excruciating times in our lives and that breaks our spirit. Not if Jesus is in us, not if that in all things the peace of God, our Jehovah Shalom is near to us, not if the Holy Spirit actually dwells in us to offer comfort and a peace that surpasses all understanding. As awful as things can get in life it can’t be that these things break us down because he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Jesus said we would have problems and troubles in this world but he said, “take heart, have courage, don’t give up, because I have overcome the world”

So the issues are not what is happening to us. That’s not the problem, because God is with us through all these things. So there’s a different problem if our soul is not well.

And the problem is sin.

Every one of us have sinned. Everyone. We've missed the mark. And the penalty, cost of that sin is separation from God. That's not a fun thing to talk about, but it is truth. But it’s so important that we understand this, because it makes the good news even better. And the good news is not religion or theology, the good news is Jesus, the One who took not just part of our sin, but the whole, all of it that ever was and all of it that ever will be. And it was nailed to the cross to set us free.

So, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul!

And may it be well with your soul today.