Tag Archives: Life

A Choice

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Life is found in interesting places. One of my favorite books of the Bible is Ecclesiastes. In this book, the author seeks to gain every pleasure in life. He seeks after everything he could possible get. At one point he said that he withholds no pleasure from himself. There’s nothing that he desires that he doesn’t get.

And he says all throughout the book, vanity, vanity, it’s all vanity. In other words, all the things that he thought would give him pleasure and life were really worthless. They didn’t give him pleasure. The didn’t give him life. The left him feeling empty.

Today, Jesus offers us another pathway to life.  Listen to what He says in Luke 9:23-25:

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

So, today, we see Jesus come with another offer. Instead of seeking to gain our desires and our wants, we should live seeking His. We should lay down our lives for His sake and His kingdom, and in doing that, we find life.

So, today, we are left with a choice. Will we see to live seeking what we want and desire, thinking that this will lead us to happiness and peace. Or will we live seeking not just what God wants, but actually laying down our desires. Not choosing us, but choosing Him?

It’s sounds like a hard choice. But it’s really not. The Word tell us choosing our way leaves us empty. Jesus promises us today that laying down our life for His sake gives us life. And in dying to self and living for Him, we find more life than anything we think this world coud offer.

Today, and each day, we have a choice. Live for us, live for Jesus. Only one road gives life.

Today we a choice. What will we choose?

First Words

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Jesus was more than just a preacher. He was a friend. He was a companion. He was a teacher. He was a leader. He was a lot of things to the many people that He encountered in His ministry.

So, the Bible tells us that Jesus was more than just a preacher. But, part of what He did was preach. He would come into a town, go to the synagogue, read from the scroll, and preach to the people that were there.

Today in Matthew, we see His first words. We see His first sermon. We see the thing that He wants to start off with. And I can tell you, as a preacher, the sermon you are most nervous about and that you want to “hit” the best is that first sermon. It’s when you establish what you are about, what you want to focus on, and what’s most important.

So, today, we see Jesus’ first sermon. It was short, and sweet. It was this – repent.

Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 4:17:

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Wow, didn’t really see that one coming. We would think that Jesus might not preach so strong a word. Repenting sounds and feels bad. It sounds and feels harsh. It sounds and feels mean.

And we all know that Jesus isn’t mean. So, why did He start here? And what is He saying?

To repent is to turn from. To leave behind. To stop. Jesus first sermon was to tell folks – hey, those things you are doing that are hurting you, that are causing you pain, that you think are life giving? Stop them. They are going to hurt you in the end. They aren’t giving you life.

Jesus calls us to look at our lives and find the things and the areas that are hurting us and to stop them. Because they hurt us.

Repentance is more than just feeling bad about things. Its stopping them. And turning from them. Today, Jesus really does want us to repent of the things causing of us harm. Stop them. And turn away from them.

Why? Because the kingdom of God is at hand. When we turn from the things that harm us and turn to God, we find life. When we turn to the things of God, we find so much more life than we would ever think possible. We find life abundant, life forever, life amazing.

Life.

So, Jesus first words were these – turn away from the things that cause you harm and pain, and turn towards me. And in this you will find life.

Today, may we turn towards Jesus with all that we are. And may we find His life in every moment of our lives!

Braggin’

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As an Ole Miss fan, I don’t get the chance to brag very often on my team. Right now, it’s a lot of holding my head down and avoiding eye contact. One day I may get to.. One day!

In our lives, there are lot of things that we brag on. Our teams. Our families. Our jobs. The things that we do well. Our stuff. Our favorite restaurants. So many things that we enjoy or that are a part of our lives; we enjoy bragging about them.

We all do. If something impacts us or means something to us, we will brag on it.

So, today, let me ask. When was the last time you bragged on Jesus? When was the last you bragged on what He has done in your life and what He’s doing in your life?

Listen to what happens today in John 1:40-42:

One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

We see here in the passage Andrew was affected by Jesus. We see Him changed by following Jesus. So, what does He do? He goes and He finds His brother Peter and says, we have found Him. We have found the Messiah. We have the one that can make a difference in our lives. We have found the one that has made a difference in my life.

He went, and he bragged on Jesus.

So, today, as we spend our time braggin’ on the things that we enjoy and have impacted us, or braggin’ on the things that we are good at, have we taken the time to brag on Jesus? He makes the biggest difference in us all.

Today, and each day, if we brag on anything, may we brag on Jesus.

May we brag on the difference He has made in our lives. May we brag on the change He has brought to our lives. May we brag on the peace, the hope, the life, the joy, the purpose, the very life that He has given.

Cause in the end, what compares to Him? What can this world offer that compares to Him? What can be as great as Him?

So today, as we live our lives, and we tell others about the great things in our lives; the great things we’ve experienced, the great things we’ve see, may Jesus be on the top of that list.

Today, may we spend time braggin’ on Jesus!

The Power to Change

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One of the sayings you hear a lot about Jesus in scripture is that He teaches with one that has authority. The wind and the waves obey Him. The religious leaders are shocked and confused by His teaching. The political leaders are left in silence by what He says. The spirits of evil are forced to leave when He commands them.

He doesn’t live, teach, heal, or care as someone “normal.” We all understand that. After all, He is the son of God. We get it. He comes forth in scripture as one called by God, enabled by God, who is the very Son of God.

He is one that has authority. He is one that has power. He is one that brings, above all, the power to change.

Listen to what we hear in Mark 1:27-28:

And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Over and over again in scripture, we see Jesus bring the power to change. We see people encounter Jesus, and be changed. We see people convicted of sin, and repent. We see people healed by His touch, His word, His command. We see change occur wherever He goes. All throughout scripture, Jesus brings the power to change.

And He brings that power, not just in scripture, but in our lives as well. He brings the power to change.

We can change. We can be different. We don’t have to be the same. Really. That’s the power and the authority of Jesus. He can change us. He can save us. He can restore us.

He can bring hope, life, and peace. He really can change us. Really.

Today, let’s truly and honestly, give it to Him. Give Him the things that we need to change. That we want to change. That we want to see healing in.

He can do it. And He can do it in us. He is the Son of God. He is life. And He can change us.

Today, may we know the power of life. And may we allow Him to change us more into His likeness.

To the Thirsty

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Very few passages in the Bible start off, hey, those of you that are doing just great, I’ve got something to tell you. That’s not how most the Bible sounds. In fact, in the few cases are talking to the one’s that have pretty well off, the message is either this – be careful, don’t get confidant right now, or give God the praise for what’s going on.

But, that’s not most of scripture. Most of the Bible is like what we see here in Isaiah.  Listen to what the word says in Isaiah 55:1-3:

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

To those of you that are are thirsty, come to the water. To those of you that have no money, come, buy and eat.

You are spending your time, your money, your effort on those things which do not satisfy. Come, find the things that do. Come, find the things that give life. Come, and on be thirsty.

Today, if you are thirsty, there is hope. Today, if your soul is parched, there is hope. Today, if you are hungry, if you are worn out, if you are tired, there is hope.

The Bible is a love story written to the weak, to the sinful, to the broken. It is God’s act to love to those that feel unlovable. It’s God’s sign of forgiveness to those that feel like they can’t be forgiven. It’s God’s mercy to those that feel like they don’t deserve God’s mercy.

Today, if you are thirsty, come. There is a God that longs to give you water and to give you life. If you are tired, come. There is a God that longs to give you rest. If you are broken, come. There is a God that longs to put you together.

Come and find what you soul needs. Today, if you are in need, there is a God who longs to meet that need. Today, to all the thirsty, come, and drink from God’s living water. Come and lay your burdens down before God. Come and receive His life. Come and live.

Today, to all that need. God is there.

Something Better

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One of the great things about the New Year and the starting over we get to do each year in this time is the chance to reaccess what is most important. What matters most. What are really living for?

There is something better than the 9-5 grind that many of experience each day. There is something more than the accumulation of more stuff. There is something more than our reputation, that our status, than the hobbies we seek after.

There is something more out there. There is something deeper out there. There is something so much better than anything this earth, our careers, our hobbies, our vices can give us.

There is something better. That’s what Peter is talking about today in this text.  Listen to 2 Peter 1:3-4:

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Through the power of God, we have been invited to become “partakers in the divine nature.” That sounds big, and sounds powerful.

And it is. That means, through what God has done for us, we are able to experience God. To know God. To know His power. To know His love. To know His life. To know His purpose. To be in relation with Him, to be in communion with Him.

To know Him. Today. In this day. In this moment. The creator of all that is, both seen and unseen, desires to know, spend time with you, and transform you.

You, at this exact moment, have access to God. You, right now, no matter where you are, have access to the most powerful, amazing, loving force in the universe.

And as awesome as playing Angry Birds is (and I love Angry Birds!) this is better. This is better than anything in life. Anything you could attain. Anything you could know.

This is where life is found. In Him. In His power. In His life. In His strength.

Today, and in this new year, you were created for something better. To know God, and transformed by His power. Today, may we live with the power of something better!

Comfort

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God desires good things for us all. For every one of us. Good things. Life. Peace. Joy. Comfort. God wants us to know life as it was intended to be.

We see in the very beginning of the Bible that God’s desire for His people is for good things. He walks with them in the cool of the evening. He wants to know them, and them to know Him. He desires that relationship.

We also see soon thereafter, through the choices of Adam and Eve, that sin enters in. They choose to disobey God, and instead of the comfort God wanted them to have, instead of the relationship God wanted them to have, toil and trouble began.

That wasn’t God’s perfect will for them, nor is it His perfect will for us. Comfort. Peace. Relationship. That’s what God wants for us. That’s what God wants to give to us.

Listen to what God says today in Isaiah 40:1-5:

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Comfort. That’s what happens at Christmas. Through Jesus’ birth God walked among us, talked among us, dwelt among us. So that we could be saved. Healed. Forgiven. Be made whole.

Receive comfort.

Today, in your pain, in your hurt, in your loss, in your sin, God’s desire for you is comfort. Comfort for my people is what the word says.

Today, no matter where you are in your walk with Him, may each of us turn to Him and find that comfort. And in that comfort, may we find the life and peace that we were created for.

God With Us

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God with us. That’s the hope of the Christmas season. That’s the hope of really, life. God with us. God of creation, God of redemption, God of salvation.

With us. With you. With me. Today.

Listen to what God says through the prophet Isaiah today:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

That’s the miracle of Christmas. It’s a time of joy and peace. A time to spend with family and friends. A time to worship, to pray. To praise. To focus on what matters the most in our lives. To remember. To refocus. To rejoice.

Immanuel. God with us.

Think about that one simple comment for just a moment right now. There will not be a moment in your life today, a moment that passes by you right now, that God is not with you. A moment where God is not at your right hand. A moment where God is not closer than your next heartbeat.

That’s the miracle of Christmas. God entered into our world. To save His world.

Through the spirit He enters into our lives. To save our lives. And so that we can be a blessing to others.

Today, He is with you. He has not, and will not, leave your side.

Remember that. May the knowledge of His presence guide you, shape you, protect you, keep you, correct you, and encourage you.

Today, God is with us! May we never forget the message of Christmas!

What the Lord Looks At

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What does the Lord look for? What does He value in our lives? What matters? What’s important.

We see in this passage the Lord tell Samuel, don’t look at the outward, don’t look at the height of a person or their appearance, look at the heart. Look at the inside.  Listen to what 1 Samuel 16:6-7 says:

When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Today, you are going to have a lot of people come into your life. You are going to have a lot of people in your life today. You are going to have conversations with many different people.

At work, at school, at Wal Mart, wherever.

How do you see them? What are you looking at? What are you looking for? What do you see?

The Lord looks at the inside. The Lord looks at the heart. The Lord is not guided by what is on the outside, but what is on the inside.

What about us? What do we look at? What do we look for? What do we see?

Do we judge others for their outward looks? Or do we look inside? Do we look at the heart? Do we look at what truly matters?

This text tells us how God looks at us. And it raises the question, how do we look at others?

Today, how will we?

Transformed

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You were not created to stay the same. We, as Christians, we created to be changed. To be transformed. To be different. To be changed.

That is reassuring. Because none of us are perfect, none of us are as we ought to be, none of us have hit the exact mark that God would want us to hit.

We are all lacking, all imperfect, all as the old saying goes “missing the mark.”

That doesn’t mean that we should be satisfied with our imperfections. It doesn’t mean that all is perfect and we should be ok with where things are wrong. We shouldn’t.

Because we were not created for that. No matter where you are; no matter what has happend in your life; no matter what is going on, God has a plan for you that is more than you can dream or imagine. God has a plan for you that is bigger than your heart’s desire. God dream for you life and and peace and grace.

And God is going to transform you to bring it into being.

Listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18:

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Our job is to be faithful. To read. To pray. To worship. To be part of His body and put ourselves in a position to be changed. And He will do the rest. He will change, transform and clean us up.

Today, be faithful. Follow Him. And He will have you where He needs you to be. God is good. You are loved. May He transform us and make us into His image!