Tag Archives: Life

Healing

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Do you want to be healed today? That was the question that Jesus asked a man today in John 5. Jesus saw a man sitting beside a pool where healing happened.

Listen to what happened:

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me. “Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

This man had been sitting there for many years. Jesus came to him and said, do you want to be healed. He said no one could help him.

Jesus cuts to the chance. He doesn’t accept that statement. He heals him. He restores him. He helps him to become whole again.

The same Jesus comes to us today and asks us the same question. Do you want to be healed? Now we may be facing a physical situation that has no easy answer.

We may be facing and emotional or spiritual situation that has no easy answer.

We may be dealing with things that aren’t easy to fix. That are challenges. That may take lots of work, tears, prayers, and faith.

Our life may be full of these types of challenges. But, listen to the question that Jesus asked this man.

Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be whole? Do you want to be restored?

You can be. By Jesus.

He can make you whole. Even if He doesn’t “heal” you. You may still have you physical challenges. You may still have your emotional challenges. You may still face trials, trouble, and worries.

But, you can be healed today. You can be made whole today. You can be restored and renewed today.

Through Jesus. In Jesus. By Jesus. Today.

Today, do you want to be healed? Today, may each of us find that new life in Jesus Christ!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Have Faith

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It takes faith to live. It takes faith to hope. It takes faith to believe.

Faith that things will get better. Faith that things can change. Faith that you, that I, that we can change.

Faith that the story of yesterday will not be the story of today, or tomorrow.

Faith in a new hope, a new life, a new dream.

Faith in God.

Particularly when we don’t see it. When it’s cloudy outside. When there doesn’t seem to be any reason to hope or dream or have faith.

But faith says that there is more than what we can see with our eyes. Faith says that there is a bigger truth and a bigger hope out there than we can ever imagine. Faith calls us to believe in something, or someone, bigger than us.

That is holding it all together.

Listen to what is says today in Hebrews 11:1-3:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

The people of old believed that God created the universe, even though they didn’t see it. They believed. Even though their eyes were not there to witness it.

Faith says that there is more than our eyes see, our ears hear, our mind understands.

Faith says that God is at work.

That He is our hope. Our dream. Our change. Our life.

Faith says that there is more around that us. That we are not our only hope. That it is not up to us alone. That there is more happening than we will ever understand.

Faith says this, the God that created the universe, He’s got this.

Have faith today. Know that there’s more going on that you can know. Trust in it.

Trust in God. Even when you can’t see. And don’t understand.

Have faith. Even when we don’t know why.

Because God is alive and at work.

Have faith.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Aim at Heaven

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We can’t take it with us. The stuff that we are tempted to chase after and spend all of our time chasing the stuff of this world, we will leave it here with us.

When we pass from this life into true life, the stuff of this world will stay here.

We, in our lives, should not live for, or place our hope and identity in the stuff of earth, but the stuff of heaven.

But, here, here is the key point. When our heart and our lives are on the stuff of heaven, we find life here. When Jesus Christ is our life and our purpose and our heart and mind is fixed on eternity, we find that life here on earth is even better.

In other words, if you want to truly live a life worth living here on the earth, don’t focus on upon the stuff of the earth.

Focus on God.

And you’ll find life here.

CS Lewis said, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.”

Listen to how Paul puts it today in 1 Timothy 6:6-10:

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Notice what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t say that money is evil. He said that the love of money is the root of all evil.

Money is neutral. Stuff is neutral. It’s not good, or bad. It’s how we use it. we can use it for good. We can use it for evil.

It’s how we use it. It’s where our heart is.

Where is your heart today? What are you aiming for?

If we aim at heaven, we find life. If we aim at earth, we miss everything else.

May we aim at heaven and focus on what matters! And may we find life!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

The Little Things

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What is the life of God like? Is it full of perfection? Is it huge and amazing? It is overwhelming? It is rockets and firework and explosions?

Sometimes we think that it is, or that it has to be. Sometimes we can think that being a Christian, or living the Christian life is full of emotional experiences.

That surly being a Christian must mean a life full of perfect peace. . . . that everything is perfect. . . . that there are never any problems. . . . and that life is just one repeated vision of heaven opening and all things being perfect.

What we find though, is that the Christian life is full of getting kids ready for school. And doctors visits. And paying bills. And grocery shopping. And, well, just normal things.

The Christian life is not defined by the big things. It’s defined by the little things. Listen to what Jesus said today in Luke 13:18-19:

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

The kingdom (or the Christian life) is like a mustard seed. It’s small. It can seem unimportant. It can seem like it’s not much.

But it grows to be a huge tree that the birds of the ear can nest in.

It’s something small. That God turns into something big.

Today, don’t miss doing something and good because you were waiting on something big and important. Be faithful in the little things. The good things. The simple things. The things that help others. The good things.

These little things, the small acts of grace, they make a huge difference. And they turn into a things that make a huge difference for God.

Today, be faithful in the small, good, honest things of life, and of God. And He will take care of the rest!

Let’s serve God with all that we are. Let’s be salt and light!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

The Proof is in the Pudding

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The proof is in the pudding. I have no idea what that phrase means. But I like it.

And I think I know what it means, just not where it came from.

In life, and in faith, the proof is in the pudding. What Jesus wants for us and from us is not just for us to talk about our faith, but for us to live out our faith each day of our lives.

Our faith must move from something that is in our mind or in our heart to something that in our hands and in our feet. Our faith must be an active thing. A thing that calls us. Pushes us. Changes us.

To love, serve, and forgive just as Jesus would.

Listen to what it says today in James 3:13-14:

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

We’ve talked a lot this week about wisdom. Today we see this encouragement (i.e. calling and command) – show it. Don’t just talk about wisdom.

Live it out.

Let your wisdom be reflected in your works. In your words. In your conduct. In your meekness.

But, if we have lives and hearts full of jealously. Or selfish ambition, be careful. Don’t boast about our wisdom.

Don’t claim to be more than we are. Be humble. Be meek. Be wise.

Depend upon Him. Live for Him. Serve for Him. Love for Him.

Today, in our lives, the proof is in the pudding. Let’s not just talk about being faithful or being wise.

Let’s do it. Let’s live it. Let’s be it!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Change of Plans

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I like having plans. I like knowing what I’m going to do. Even as I sit here typing this reflection out, my mind is thinking through the various things that I have to do today. My schedule, my meetings, my appointments.

I like being able to stick to a schedule. I like knowing whats going to happen. I like having that idea and plan for what is coming.

I don’t like having my plans disrupted. I don’t like it when things don’t go according to schedule. I don’t like it when it doesn’t go the way I planned.

So, what do we do when that happens?

Listen to what Paul says today in 2 Corinthians 1:15-19:

Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes.

Paul wanted to come by Corinth and visit the church. He wanted and had planned to come and teach them, share with them, be in ministry with them.

But, he wasn’t able to stick to his plans. Was it because he was wishy-washy? Was it because he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do? Was it because he decided to just change his plans?

No.

It was just not able to happen. For whatever reason, it was not able to take place.

So, what did Paul do? He kept on going. He kept on being faithful. He kept on being obedient to God.

You plans may not work out. It may not happen the way you want, when you want, how you want. It may be totally different from anything you’ve ever wanted.

Keep going.

Sometimes I have to remember that there plans bigger than my plans. The Bible tells us God’s ways are bigger than our ways and His thoughts are bigger than our thoughts.

That means that God’s plan for us is sometimes different than our plan for us.

Keep going. Even when the plan doesn’t make sense. Even if it’s not the plan that you had made. Even if it’s a change of plans for you.

God knows what He is doing. He has a plan. And even when we don’t know His plan.

We know Him.

Today, trust in Him!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Where is Your Treasure

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What is the most important thing in your life?

Not what you would tell me is the most important thing in your life, or what you would tell someone else is the most important thing in your life.

But, what is the most important thing in your life today? What is actually first on your list today?

Listen to what Jesus says today in Matthew 6:19-21:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

He says store up treasures in heaven, where it can’t be taken. Why? Because where your treasure is, there is your heart.

In other words, are they important things in life things that are eternal anda will last, or are they things that are fleeting and will pass away?

The stuff of heaven are thing that really matter and will ground our life in God’s life – faith. Family. Church. Relationships God. Service. Life.

The stuff of earth will pass away. These are things that seem so important now, but what do the matter in scope of eternity – money. Success. Popularity. Material possessions. Stuff.

The stuff of earth, it is fleeting. The stuff of heaven, it lasts forever, and is truly life-giving.

Today, where is your treasure. Where it is will show where your heart is.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Greatness

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The world has an image of what greatness looks like. In the world, greatness is about power. It is about might. It is about being in control and being about the tell others what to do, and how to do it.

Because after all, you’re the boss. You have the strength. You have the power to bend others to your will.

Might makes right, after all.

That’s what the world tell us. That’s what the culture tells us. To be great, means to be in control. To have others do what you want. To be a the top of the food chain.

As Christians, through, what does it mean for us to be great? What does greatness look like for us?

I mean, I don’t know about you, but I want to be great. I want to do the very best that I can do. I don’t want to waste a moment of this day that God has given me, and I want to be the absolute greatest that I can be today!

So, what does that look like? Listen to what Jesus says today in Matthew 20:25-28:

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

He says to be great in the kingdom, you must serve. You must place others ahead of yourself. You must place them before yourself.

In the world, leaders have power that they exercise over their followers. He said is not so among us. We must serve. We must humble ourselves. We must place them before ourselves.

That’s the example that He showed us. Jesus didn’t come to be served, but to serve. He is the very nature and power of God, He sat at God’s right hand, and yet humbled Himself and came to earth to serve us and set us free.

And because of that, God has glorified Him and made Him Lord of all.

So, for us, we find that if live only for our “stuff” or our greatness, we find that we aren’t really living. We feel empty and without purpose. We may have what we want, power, fame, success, but it feels empty.

When we live for others, we find life. We find greatness. We find our purpose.

Today, don’t live for yourself. Live for God. Live for others. Live to serve and glorify God.

And in doing that, you will find the greatness you were made for.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Not Who We Used To Be

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We know Paul as Paul. The guy that wrote most of the New Testament. The guy that started churches all over the known world. The guy that is the reason that those of us that are Gentiles (i.e. non Jews) are Christians. He took the gospel to the Gentiles.

So, Paul’s kind of a rock star. That’s who we know him as.

But, that was not how he was always known. Listen to what happens right after Paul starts preaching in Acts 9:20-22:

And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

They say, hey, wait, how can this be Saul (when God saved him, He changed his name from Saul to Paul)? How can this be Saul? Remember what he used to do? Remember the havoc he used to raise?

Surly this guy up there preaching can’t be the same guy that we all used to know. There’s no way!

But that’s what God does. He changes us. He makes us new. He restores us. He recreates us.

He changes our name. He changes us.

So, two things this morning. First, when your past is brought (others, the devil, yourself) remember, you aren’t who you used to be. You are new. You are changed. You are different.

Remember the work that Christ has done in your life. You are new!

And likewise, when you meet a new creation today, someone that is not who they used to be. Remember.

They are not who they used to be.

Don’t allow the devil to bring up your past.

Don’t you be the one bringing up someone else’s past.

I am forgiven. You are forgiven. They are forgiven.

Today, let’s all live in the newness of life that God has given to us. Let’s be the people that God is calling us to be.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Why Do You Follow?

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One of the things we see in scripture is that Jesus always has folks following Him. We see different levels of folks that follow.

Some are very, very close to Him, like and inner circle – Peter, James, and John. And there are the 12 Disciples that go with Him everywhere, they are His closest follower and friends. Then, there is the next level, what scripture calls “the crowd.”

Some of the crowd follow because they value what Jesus says. Others follow because following Jesus is cool. Others follow for what they can get out of it – food, or healing, or attention.

Listen to what Jesus says in John 6:26-27  about this today:

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

He said you follow because of signs, because of food. Don’t focus on getting that from me.

Focus on this from me. Eternal life.

Focus on what matters. Follow me for what matters.

Today, why do you follow? Why do you follow Jesus?

Is it because it’s what’s expected?

Is it because it’s what your family does?

Is it to fit in?

Is it for attention?

Is because you believe that if you will, you will get what you want?

Or, is it because you know that in Jesus Christ, you find life. Life is found only in Jesus. No where else.

That’s why we should follow.

Today, Jesus asked His followers, do you follow me for what you can get out of it? Or do you follow me because you have found that life is found in me, and nowhere else alone.

May we follow the giver of life. Today, may we follow Jesus with all that we are!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.