Tag Archives: Life

The Secret to Life

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One of the relentless commands Jesus gives to His disciples in Gospel of John is this –  Follow Me.

Over, and over at the end of John He gives this command, they are leave behind all that have, all that they are, and they are to follow Him.  He has a plan, He has a purpose, He has a goal, He knows what He is going to accomplish in them, and through them.  Listen to what He says in John 21: 18-19:

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

secret-to-life-He is talking to Peter in this passage, and He tells him that He is to follow.  But, before, He tells Peter – it won’t always be easy.  There’s going to be some tough times, you will be lead to places that you don’t want to go, and have to do things that you don’t want to do, and yes, Peter, you will even die a way that you don’t want to die.

And it’s ok.

Because in all the places that Peter will go – it will glorify God.

You want to know the secret to life?  You want to know how to live a life, truly worth living, a life that is full, and abundant, and full of joy?  An amazing life?

The secret to life is to understand this.  It’s not about you.  It’s not about me.  It’s not about any of us.  It’s about God.  It’s about living for Him, His glory, His purpose, His plan.  That’s where life is found. That’s where purpose is found. That’s where it is all found.  Not in our stuff, but in His stuff.

And so Jesus tells Peter, it’s not going to always be easy.  Follow me anyway. Because when you follow me, you’ll actually find a life worth living.

That’s the secret to life.  To understand that it’s not about us; it’s about Him. When we understand that, then we actually, actually get to live. And that’s when the fun really starts!

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, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

Blessed

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You will be blessed today!  You will. But, what does that mean?  What does it mean to say that we will be blessed?  You are probably like me, when something good happens, we say, wow, we are blessed.  That is true, because the Bible teaches that all good gifts from above. So, those are blessings.

But, that’s not the only way that the bible looks at blessings.  That’s not the only way that the bible talks about blessings.  Listen to a passage that you’ve heard from many times from before, The Beatitudes.  Listen to what it says in Matthew 5:2-12:

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

3106306_11563085_lzEach one of these things that makes us “blessed” this morning – poor in spirit, mourn, meek, hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted, revived, lied about, each of these things, we don’t see them as blessed.  We see these as being opposed to, or being attacked, or being hurt, or maybe even being punished.

Nothing on this list is fun.  Nothing on this list is easy.  Nothing here is something that we even want.

But yet, Jesus, in his teaching, says that when these things happen to us, we are blessed.  We should be thankful.

Why?

Because when this happens, when we feel this pain, when we feel this loss, when we feel alone, hurt, and forgotten, you know what?  We find that Jesus is all that we really need. When He’s all that we got, He’s all that we need.

When all the stuff of life is stripped away.  When all the busyness, all the distractions, all the things that draw us away from Him are gone, and we find that all that we really have in life is Him; we have everything that we could ever need.

We have life, we have peace, we have joy, we have hope, we have everything.

We are blessed.  Now, it may not look like the blessings of the world, it may look different. But it truly blessings that can’t be taken away, by anything.

Today, even if life isn’t easy, and in fact, especially if it isn’t, you are blessed. Today.  In Him, you are blessed.

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, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

A Reset

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ResetSometimes in life, because of business, because of stress, because of work, or family, or hobbies, or whatever, we can forget who we are.  We can just forget who we are and who we are made to be.  In this moments, we have to reset.  We have to remember. We have to return to what we we know to be true.

How do we know what is true?  We return to the truth of God’s Word.  When we look at scripture, we see what is good, what is noble, what is good, what is true.  Today, to help us reset and remember, let’s look at what God’s Word says about us in 1 Peter 2:9-10:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

This text reminds us two very important things.  Who we are and what we are supposed to do.

Who we are – we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood.  Once we were no people, now we are God’s people. That’s who you are.  Your identity is found in that; your worth is found in that.  Not anything else.

The world tries to tell us what who we are comes from all these worldly things – from possessions or status or achievements.  And in that we have to keep getting more and more and more and more.

Today, the word reminds us, no.  Who are you comes from this.   You are God’s very own.  He loves you.  He bought you.  You are His.  You don’t have to do more and more and more.  You just have to know that you are loved.

What we are supposed to do – We are His possession.  Why?  So we may proclaim His excellencies.  So that we may tell others of how He has called us from darkness to light.  That’s what we are here for.  That’s what we are supposed to do.  That’s our purpose. That’s our reason. That’s our very life.

And in doing that, we are living.  We are achieving the purpose that He has for us.

In the world, our worth is determined by what we do.

In God’s view, our worth causes us to do what we are called to do.

Remember the correct order.  You you are (a child of God) determines what you do.  You are loved.  May that love filter through into every part of our being, into every part of our 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, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!

This Week Come Celebrate Easter!

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he-is-risen-printableThis Sunday, whether it be at Asbury, or another church, I really hope you will be in church to celebrate Easter!  I really hope you come out and be with us as we proclaim that the Lord is Risen!  He is risen indeed!

Come out this week and celebrate Easter!

Wait, what?

Wasn’t that last week? Is Andy just recycling old posts? What is he talking about?

Yes, this coming Sunday, we will celebrate Easter. We celebrate Easter every Sunday. That’s why we Christians worship on Sunday, instead of the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday. We are a Sunday people. We are an Easter people.

Listen to what happens in Matthew 28: 5-7:

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”

He is just as risen today, as He was on Easter.  Every Sunday, every time we Christian gather together, it is Easter.  We are a people of hope. We are a people of resurrection.  We are a people of life.

And we don’t just believe that one Sunday a year.  We believe that every Sunday, we believe that every day.

He is risen. And sin, death, and the grave are defeated.  They were defeated Sunday.  And they are defeated today.

Don’t let Easter be just one day a year for you.  It’s every day.  It’s every Sunday.  It’s all our lives. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and has conquered sin, death, and the grave.

He is risen.  Come celebrate with us.  It is Easter. Every day. For every day, He is risen.

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.

Through One Man

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One of my favorite things that the Bible teaches about Jesus is this. He’s the second Adam.

Wait, huh? What does that even mean, to say that Jesus is the second Adam?  Listen to what Paul writes here in 1 Corinthians 15: 20-22:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Image 4 copy_0The first Adam (you know Adam) was created, he and Eve walked with God, and all was great. Then, as we know, they ate from the tree they were forbidden to eat from, and they fell. And then all of creation fell with them.

So, as it says here, death came through one man. When Adam fell, all of creation fell him. Both creation, and humanity. So, we all now, struggle with our sin, our temptation, our stuff. All of us.

To say you struggle with sin and temptation doesn’t make you a bad person.  It makes you human. All of us, me, you, all of us struggle with sin.  We are the children of our father Adam.  Through one man, all fell.

But, it says that just as through Adam, all fell, through Jesus all can live.  So, one of the coolest things that Jesus did, was he undid what happened in the fall.

Think about it. What happened in the fall – sin and death. What happened through Jesus – forgiveness and life.  So, in other words, you don’t have to stay the same. Yes, we all suffer under temptation and sin, we all struggle, but Jesus came to restore us from what we inherited.

Through one man, all have died.  But, through one Man, Jesus Christ, all of us can live. For in the resurrection, God has overcome sin, death, and the grave.  You don’t have to be dead anymore.  You can live.  The second Adam has destroyed the work of the first.

Today, you can live!

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.

What Now?

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Yesterday, Christians all over the globe gather together to worship.  To praise.  To sing.  To  celebrate the resurrection.  I don’t know what passage you heard preached upon at whatever church you attended yesterday (At Asbury I hopped around a bit, but landed on John 20:1-10), but I wanted to read from Matthew 28:5-10 this morning:

But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.  Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.”  So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

what-nowHe is risen!  He is risen indeed!

What now?  What do we do now?  We proclaimed and celebrated the resurrection yesterday. What now?

Easter, for us as Christians, is not just a one day thing, but it’s a rest of our lives thing.  He is risen.  And He remains risen.  He is just as alive today, as He was yesterday, as He will be tomorrow.  Yesterday we were full of hope and full of expectation.

Let’s live the same way today.  Let’s live with that same victory that we had yesterday.  Let’s live with that same passion we had yesterday.  Let’s live with that same hope that we had yesterday.

For, He is risen!  He remains risen.  He is alive.

We have hope.  Today, live like it.  Live in that hope, in that peace, in that victory.

Easter isn’t just one Sunday on a calendar.  It’s the rest of our lives.  Let’s live it today!

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 Glory of God

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One of the things that Paul talks about a good bit in his writings is that whatever is behind us is not as great as what is to come.  All the stuff of the past, it doesn’t hold a candle to the stuff that is to come.  And we often think of that as negative.  The past is done. The future is great.  God will take away the past mistakes, the past failings, the past stuff, and give us amazing, full, life.

That’s how I think about it, a lot. But listen to something that Paul writes today in 2 Corinthians 3:9-10:

For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.

glory-sunshine-from-the-edge_1152x864_71915He’s talking about the old law, how the people used to have live, what they ate, how they washed, all the stuff that they had to do under the old covenant. And Paul says what had glory before, now has no glory. Because of this glory that surpasses it all.

What is this glory that surpasses it all?

Grace.  The love of God that sweeps us off our feet, the love of God that restores us.  The love of God that forgives us.  The love of God that makes us new.

Yeah, the past as good as it may have been, it really doesn’t compare to the future.  Even the best of the best, the things that were the greatest, the things with the most glory and most purpose, they are not what really matters or counts.

What does?  The glory of God that comes through grace.  The glory of God that comes through relationship.  The glory of God that comes through His life.  The glory of God.

Today, no matter how great the past was, the glory of God is better.  No matter how dark the past was, the glory of God redeems.  No matter how unworthy you may feel, the glory of God restores.  Today, may matter how drift less you may feel, the glory of God gives purpose.

This glory, it is the anchor for our life.  You were made for 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.

 

God Pulling You Closer

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You ever felt like you aren’t doing enough for God?  Felt like you don’t measure up?  Felt like you aren’t good enough?

You know that you should read the bible more.  Or pray more.  Or whatever “more.”  You feel it.  You know it.  You really know that it’s something that God is calling you to, something you should do, something you need to do to be faithful.

But yet, something happens, and you don’t do it.  And, here’s the kicker.  You feel like a failure.  You feel further from God than you’ve ever felt before.  You are sure that He can’t stand you know.  You  just know it.

Listen to what Paul writes today in 1 Corinthians 12:1-3:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

31-jesus-embracePaul is talking about spiritual gifts in this section and in most of chapter 12.  But I want you to notice what he writes at the very end of this passage.  No one can say Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit.

That’s what I want to focus on here.  You can’t say that Jesus is Lord, unless lead by the spirit.  So, the very fact that there is anything in you that wants to know Jesus, follow Jesus, serve Jesus, that come from the spirit.

Anything in you today that wants to be faithful, that’s from God. Anything in your that desires to do “more” that’s from the spirit.

So, there’s two ways to look at it.  We can beat ourselves for not being as faithful as we should, or we can choose to realize that anything in us that wants to be faithful, that’s God pulling us to Himself.  That’s God pulling you closer.

Today, chase after God’s movement in your heart. Chase after His spirit.  Follow where He is leading.  If there anything, anything in you at all that wants to know Him, that’s Him calling you to Himself.

Chase after that.

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.

Take Up Your Cross (SOAP Method)

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Since it was so well received last week, we’ll continue using the SOAP method of scripture for some posts this week.

Let’s start!

S – scripture

Remember to read slowly.  Don’t worry about the things that you have to do today.  Don’t focus on the problems of the day, or the regrets of the past.  In this moment, slow down, and listen.  Listen for Gods’ voice in Mark 8:34-37:

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

O – observation

urlTake up your cross

Jesus tells us that His disciples must take up their cross.  That sounds a little unpleasant to us, and our western ears, but in Jesus day, to take up your cross would be a terrifying thing.  The cross was a means of death in that day, a terrible, painful, humiliating, awful death.  It was the means that Rome used to make a example of someone.  It was the public hanging of it’s day.

And that’s what Jesus calls us to do.  He calls us to take up our cross.  The cross, in Jesus day, was not the serene symbol of peace that we have made it to be.  It was a means of execution. And that is what Jesus calls us to.

Living for the gospel

Jesus doesn’t just call us to death (thankfully!) but He calls us to live as well.  He tell us whoever lives for the Gospel will find life, and is truly alive.  He tells us that if we live for our life, we will lose it, but if we live for the Gospel, we will find more life than we could ever again.

So, first, we die to ourselves, because if we are living for ourselves, we will not be able to focus on anything but ourselves.  And then, when we take the focus off ourselves, we find something really worth living for, the Gospel.

What is worth your soul

Jesus poses as question in the end.  Is is worth it?  Is what you are living for, it is worth losing your soul. Because in the end, we each must make a choice.  We can gain the whole world, all the power, all the fame, all the wealth, everything. But, if in that process, we lose our soul, what have we truly gained?  Jesus asks us to consider that question this morning.

A – application

What difficult thing is God calling me to?

Today, we are called to take up our cross?  What does that mean?  It means taking the focus off of us, and our “stuff” and focusing on what God is calling us to do. And, today, He may be calling us to something challenging.  He may be calling us to something hard.  He may be calling us to somewhere that we don’t want to go.

And hears the thing. He has promised us, that place that we may not want to go, if He has called us there, that place actually is the way of life.  By taking up our cross, we will find life.  He has promised us.  By dying to us, we can live for Him.

Am I finding my life in God or my my stuff?

Simple and sweet.  What are we living for today?  Where is my life?  What is the point of my life?  Is it for me?  My stuff?  My dreams?  My life?  Or is it for God. Scripture tell us that the only way for life is to live for Him. That’s it.  That’s the only way. If we live for ourselves alone, in time, we will lose our soul.  If we live for the Gospel, we will live.

It’s our choice.  Today, what are we living for?  Today, are we alive, or are we running the risk of losing our soul?

P – prayer

Holy God, help us each to remember where our life is found, and help us to make sure that today, and each day, we are living for the right purpose.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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 phone.

Something Unexpected

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One of the things we see so often in scripture is that one of the main things that Jesus will do sometimes is push us out of our comfort zone.  He will call us to a place that we may not want to go, He will ask us to do things that we may not want to do, He will place us in place that we would not place ourselves in

Listen to Luke 5:1-5:

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”

imgresJesus tells Simon (Peter) to let down his nets on the other side.  Peter was an expert fisherman.  He had done it his entire life.  He knew what he was doing.  He was a pro.  Why would he do that?

He knew what would happen.  He knew this was a waste of time  He knew there was no point in this.

And then something unexpected happened.  Listen to Luke5:6:

And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

Peter did what Jesus asked, even through it looked a little crazy.  Even through he had no reason to expect that it would change things.  Even through he thought it was pointless.

He obeyed.  And Jesus did something unexpected.  He did something amazing.  He did something no one could see coming.

Because that’s what He does.

Today, will you do that thing that is different, that Jesus is calling you to do?  You have no idea what He may do with that.  Today, He wants to do something unexpected.

So, hold on tight. And see what He is up to.

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 phone.