Tag Archives: Peace

It All Comes Down to Jesus

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I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday at lunch and we were talking about church. Talking about leadership and connection and fellowship and growth and all the stuff that goes into church.

We talked about our excitement in church, over frustrations, over all types of things. And as we were leaving, we both just though the same thing.

It all comes down to Jesus.

Everything. Everything comes down to Jesus. Not to theology. Not to denominations. Not to preferences. Not to styles. Not to anything else in all of creation.

Jesus.

Everything comes down to Jesus.

Listen to what He says today in John 6:38-40:

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

He says today that God’s will is that everyone that looks to Jesus should have life.

Everyone that looks to Jesus. That’s it. That’s what it is all about. Everything else in life fades away. Everything else in life withers. But it all comes down to Jesus.

Everything. In Him, we have life. In Him, we have purpose. In Him, we have hope. In Him, life has meaning.

Without Him, we are hungry, tired, and weak. Rudderless and purposeless. In Him, we live.

Today, it all comes down to Him.

I had a professor that used to tell us that everything in our life comes back to our walk with Jesus. Every problem, every trouble, every worry, it all comes back to Jesus.

He is life. He is hope. He is all. Today, may we be found in Him. And today, may we find our strength, joy, and purpose 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.

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!

Greatness

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What makes you great?  What defines greatness?  What leads to a great life?

What would you say to these things?

In our lives, very few of us want to be mediocre.  Most of us want to live a life that would be “great.”

Ok, true.  What does that mean, though?

Is a great life all the material possessions you would want?  Is is power?  Is is success?  Is is great wealth?  Is it respect?

Greatness may mean different things to each of us.

And, we haven’t even hit upon faith.  Which is the key issue.  As we talk about greatness, I wish the Bible had something to say about it.

Oh wait, it does.  Listen to what Jesus says today in Matthew 18:

About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Greatness is not found in the stuff of this world.  Greatness is not found in wealth, or power, of possessions, or fame. That’s not the stuff of greatness.  Greatness, true life-giving greatness, true life changing greatness, it is found in this.

Turning from your sins and humbling coming to God.

That’s the thing with God. To become great, we must first become humble. To know, we must lay down our lives.  To be free, we must take on His yoke. To become great, we must become humble.

Like a little child.

A little child trusts.  Hopes. Believes.  Loves.  Cares.  laughs.  Lives.

Maybe, just maybe, that’s greatness. When was the last time you were at peace?  Of all things that the world’s “greatness” can offer, that’s the one thing it can never offer.  Peace.

When was the last time you felt that peace? When was the last time you felt that greatness?

Today, what type of greatness are you chasing? Today, may we chase the greatness of God.

A New Peace Podcast

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The sermon podcast for Sunday, December 5 is up on Asbury Church’s website. This is the first sermon in our Advent 2010 series “All Things New.” This is entitled “A New Peace” and the text is Matthew 3: 1-12.  You can listen to it by clicking here, or you can listen to it here on this blog by clicking below. And, as always, you can subscribe to my sermon podcasts through iTunes.

Good Reminders

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What is it in life that worries you?

What scares you?

What robs your sleep?

We’ve all got something.  Something that makes us uneasy, something that makes us fearful, something that keeps our hearts afraid.

What is that for you.

I’ve got a list of things that worry me.  I’m a worrier, it’s just how I’m wired.  I worry about church, I worry about family, I worry about friends. It’s just what I do.

So, I need to the words of Psalm 71 quite often

3 Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe; *
you are my crag and my stronghold.
4 Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked, *
from of the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.
5 For you are my hope, O LORD God, *
my confidence since I was young.

As big as my worries are, God is bigger.  As big as my problems are, God is bigger. As big as my stresses are, God is bigger.

And God is at work in all our lives. Do we really believe God led us to this point to leave us here?  Do we really think that God will abandon us after all these years?

God is with us. He is now, He has always been. He will be with us today and will be with us tomorrow.

What do we have to worry about?  What do we have to fear? Why do we have to be afraid?

We don’t.  God is with us.

I need to be reminded of that every once in a while.  Like today.

I don’t know if you needed this word this morning, but I did.

Thanks be to God, who is bigger than whatever it is we face.

Now, go out and live today with the confidence of being a child of God!

God is Bigger

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One of the things in life that many of us know and experience is fear.  It’s something that as children we all know, the fear of the dark, the unknown, strangers, whatever.  We each have what is sometimes called “childlike fear.”

But, as we grow older we find that while our fears change, fear remains a constant in our lives. We, especially now, have many fears. I’ve seen in the past few years, the church become very afraid. Afraid of what’s happening the world. Of politics.  Of war. Of divisions within the church.  Of divisions within culture.

Of the economy.  Of losing our job.  Of note being able to pay our bills.  Of losing our home.  Of many, many things.

Fear is something we each have tasted recently.

And, perhaps, that’s why I found such comfort in a prayer that I read today in my morning prayers. It’s simply entitled “A Collect for Peace”

God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

I love that line – surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of our adversaries. .

Today, we all have something we fear. We all have something we dread.

Perhaps it something at work.  In our family.  In our finances.  In our personal life.  We all have something that robs our peace.

But, today, know this as well.  Whatever it is. God is bigger.  God’s defense is bigger than whatever it is you fear.

Don’t be afraid.  Trust. God is bigger. God is stronger.  God is more mighty.

Do.  Not.  Fear.  God is with you.

Today, trust in His defense.  Trust in His strength.  Trust in His might.

Know His peace, His life, His life. Do not be afraid. Trust.

And find His life.