Picture Jesus As

Try picturing Jesus as:

With one hand He is holding yours and with His other hand, He is clearing your path.

One of the most beloved of David’s poetry is Psalms 23. It describes God as the caring Shepherd and the dependable Guide.

He leads us beside quiet waters and refreshes our soul. With one hand He gently guides us along the right path and with the other, he makes a banquet. Even as enemies approach, we have nothing to fear for God is with us.

By allowing Jesus to guide us, we trail in His goodness and love and we dwell in His house forever.

How beautiful.

How simple.

How could you refuse Him?

God bless!

Drifting

Have you ever been boogie boarding, riding the waves and having a good old time at the beach and then you look at the shore and see that the current has pushed you far away from your towel? You didn’t even realize it, but you were drifting away!

Hebrews 2:1 warns against “drifting."

We get so wrapped up in our lives and before we know it - we’re a long ways from our towel! Be diligent, keep your focus on Jesus!

God bless you!

Where Else?

Jesus had just started gaining followers when He dropped the bomb: He was sent by His Father and His Father was God.

Mind=Blown.

Many “withdrew.” Jesus turns to His 12 and asks if they would also leave. Peter replies, “To whom shall we go?”

I’ve been thinking about that answer. Where else would I go?

I choose where I go. You choose where you go. The people who left Jesus, decided on their own. Jesus did not kick them out.

You are either walking with Jesus or you are not. There is no third path. If you are not walking with Jesus, where are you going?

God bless!
#walkwithJesus

The View From The Valley

I am not the wise man on the mountaintop dispensing knowledge. Far from it! I am the exhausted guy caked in dirt trying desperately to climb that very mountain as it repeatedly kicks my sorry butt back down to the valley. I am in the trenches, just like you.

The height of the mountaintop is measured by the dismal drudgery of the valley, but it is in the valley that we have to live for the glory of God (Oswald Chambers). When you are on the mountain you can believe anything. But in the valley, you only have Jesus to get you out!

Pray with me Mark 9:22 - "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us!"

God bless!
#walkthroughthevalley #JesusSaves

Switched On

Following Jesus will change things. It will change everything actually. Your life will transform from night to day. Jesus will disrupt your thinking, your views and your attitude. If there is no change, if there is no illumination - you have not let Him in. You have not fully committed.

I described to Brittany how it's like a light switch being turned on that cannot be turned off again. And really, why would you want to? Why would anyone go back to the shadows? No! What you do is, you get closer to the light. You try to make the light as big as possible. You want to tell everyone about the light! You want everyone that's bumping around in the dark to flip that switch too!

I envision people with their eyes vehemently shut... almost spitefully so. There's nothing covering their eyes. They are not blind. They are not even blindfolded. They cannot see because they are purposely shutting their own eyes!

"I got it, I got it. I can see just fine like this. Leave me alone!"

"Ah! OPEN YOUR EYES, MAN! You're about to walk straight over a cliff! Let me help you!"

"Listen crazy-pants, I don't need your help! Who are YOU to help ME? There is no such thing as light! There is no such thing as cliffs either!"

By the way, I'm aware of the double meaning of "switched on" as meaning "alert" and also "in love" because both apply. Following Jesus is being alert and it is being in love.

Commit to following Jesus today. Allow him to change your life. Walk in the light, man. Darkness is for chumps.

God Bless!

#switchedon #lamptomyfeet #lightformypath #understanding

Rooted

Oswald Chambers* moved me today in my daily devotional. He was speaking to Christians about their witness.

What do I mean by "witness?" The way you present Jesus and his resurrection to others is your witness to them (Acts 1:22). But it's also the way you present yourself! You can either be a good witness for Christ and help the Holy Spirit's work in their life or you can be a bad witness for Christ and hinder the Holy Spirit's work in their life.

Saint Francis of Assisi is attributed with saying: "Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words." We represent Christ here on earth. We are the Lord's first line of defense and many times we fail Him. We mis-represent Him. We cause more harm than good.

For example, when missionary Stanley Jones met with Gandhi, he asked him though he quoted the words of Christ often, why he rejected becoming a follower. The Mahatma said, "Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ."** The Christians Gandhi met were poor witnesses.

Oswald Chambers suggests this verse: "My speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" - I Cor. 2:4

To help strengthen your witness you must surrender to this fact: It is the Holy Spirit that can accomplishes the miracle, not mine or your's or anyone else's words. Remove yourself from the equation and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. "He will create His own life in people."* If anything, you and I just mess things up by getting in the way. Get out of the way and let God work! Once you are rooted in that reality, you cannot be shaken. Base your faith on that!

Emotions change. Human experiences change. God does not change. Root yourself in our unmovable God and your faith will be secure. This will help you be more like Christ. Once you are more Christ-like, the Holy Spirit can use you. Only then will your witness do any good. Only then will your witness have any power.

God Bless!

* "My Utmost For His Highest" Dec. 3rd. • www.utmost.org

** "The Christ of the Indian Road." E. Stanley Jones

The Nose On Your Face

I read somewhere that your brain can always see your nose, but it chooses to ignore it. There is a section in your field of vision that gets continously... deleted.

Sin can be like that. It's gets so constant, that we just sort of ignore it. We knows its there, we can see it... but we continously delete it from our sight.

Conversely, Good can be like that also. Far too often we ignore what's so plainly in front of us: good health, amazing riches, and unbelievable blessings. The fact that you are reading this right now means a coulple of things: 1. You can see. 2. You can read (14% of US Adults are illiterate). 3. You have access to the internet (119 million lack broadband internet). How about thanking God for any of those?

Ignoring something doesn't make it go away. If it's something bad - address it. Proverbs 3:6 says in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. If it's something good - give thanks for it. Psalms 95:2 says let us come before Him with thanksgiving. Either way, let's stop deleting things from our sight and acknowledge our Lord and Saviour!

It's as plain... as the nose on your face.

God Bless!

Mercy Over Sacrifice

Twice Jesus said that He desired mercy over sacrifice (Matt. 9:13 & 12:7). Telling us something once is enough, but twice? He really must've wanted us to get it! So what does it mean to desire mercy over sacrifice?

Jesus was quoting from Hosea 6:6. The Israelites were offering sacrifices to God because it was their duty not because they desired to please Him. Their hearts were not close to God. There was no relationship.

Jesus is saying He desires that we genuinely love him. He desires that we follow His will because we truly want to. He doesn't want us coldly following rules like the Pharisees.
God sees the heart and no amount of rule following can replace a heart that isn't true. Mercy wins over sacrifice, everytime. God bless!

God is...

Even I know if a=b and b=c, then a=c. My wife, the Mathlete, however informed me that it is called: the Transitive Property of Equality. I love Brittany and her math-brain! She was telling me how by applying I Cor. 13:4-8 to the Transitive Property, we can learn about the character of God.

Anyone who’s ever been to a wedding is familar with 1 Cor. 13:4-8. It is the whole “love is patient, love is kind” spiel that softens even the most stubborn of hearts. John tells us in1 John 4:8, that GOD IS LOVE. Therefore, we can insert God for “love” in 1 Cor. 13 and get a closer insight into who God is.

God is patient. God is kind. God does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. God does not dishonor others, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails.

Take a minute in your busy schedule today to meditate on this and to thank God for all His astounding attributes! God bless!

*Thanks to Brittany for my math lesson for the day.

**Thanks to Jessica Sell for the pic.

Restore My Joy

Are you a happy witness? That may sound like a childish question, but I would like for you to take a few seconds to meditate on it. Am I happy in my Christian walk?

Everyone loves a camp fire. Camp fires put out a lot of heat and light. But if you don't keep your eye on it, the fire will die down. Ever notice how cold it seems AFTER a fire burns out? It didn't seem that cold before you started! It also seems so much darker AFTER a fire. Your body got used to the warmth. Your eyes got used to the light.

To keep the fire going you have to keep stoking the flames. You have to put more logs on the fire. You have to keep your eye on it. David prayed, "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation," (Psa. 51:12).

Only Jesus can restore your joy. Only He can sustain you. It is through His salvation that all things have their luminance. It is through His salvation that all things have their warmth. Renew your relationship with Jesus and then you will rekindle your happiness in your Christian walk.

God bless!

Intercede

Anyone ever ask you to pray for them? Sounds… almost… peaceful, doesn’t it? In reality they are asking you to engage in warfare. Intercession is throwing yourself into the spiritual battle raging all around us (Eph. 6:12).
How do I pray for someone? Charles Stanley mentioned this once and it always stuck with me: Pray Eph. 1:17-19. This scripture is the perfect intercessory prayer to get you started.
Take comfort that you are not alone in this fight. As you intercede, Jesus intercedes for you (Heb. 7:25). As sons and daughters of God, we have a direct line to go boldly to the Throne (Heb. 4:16).
So, the next time someone asks you to pray for them, roll up your sleeves, arm yourself with Eph. 1 and get ready to fight! God bless!