Just Jesus.

I have just returned home from the hospital. No, I didn't get a new part, just needed some maintenance. Now that I am back home again, I’m coming face to face to the reality of what is going on in our world… (you tend to lose track of all things, time included when one is "locked up")

You don’t need some washed up old Pastor telling you that the world is messed up. 

From talk of the Maple Leafs actually being good this year, (I hope not) to Nuclear war from our friends to the south; and even the nasty, terribly wrong, racist fuelled, violence in Charlottesville, it seems that we are once match away from starting a fire than we may not be able to put out. 

Another possible terrorist attack in Burkina Faso’s capital city of Ouagadougou (a place I visited back in 2013. TWC has a few teaching spots in this country)

So, what is the point of this post? 

Well, the point is to remind us that what the world needs, what you and I need, is Jesus. Nothing more. Nothing less. We need Jesus. 

I love these words taken from Isaiah about 400-600 years before Jesus stepped foot on this earth. Please read them slowly and reflect on Jesus. He alone can bring what we need: Salvation. Forgiveness. Truth. Grace. Mercy. Love. Correction. Direction. Himself. 

Read, now, the Word of the Lord:

“See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted.14 But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. 15 And he will startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence.For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about. 

53:1- Who has believed our message?

    To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?2  My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.3 He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.4  Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.6  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.8 Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people.9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.11  When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed himself to death.He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.” (Is. 52:14-15, 53:1-12, NLT2)

What we need is Jesus. Just Jesus. 

Please take a moment and talk to Jesus right now. For you, on behalf of someone you love, on behalf of someone you might never meet. What we need is Jesus. 

God's Story

John Chapter 9 is another favourite passage of mine. I have thought about the words of this passage when I was spending some serious time in a hospital bed, in a waiting room, in a recovery room.. just about every-hospital related thing…. 

I have even thought about this passage when I am no where near a hospital. It’s one that has so much truth stuffed into it that it almost explodes. While I don’t— and can’t explain everything in John chapter 9, I would like to try and explain a few things. So, here we go with John 9:

 “As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. 4 We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us.The night is coming, and then no one can work. 5 But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Ok, let’s stop here. A couple of things. 

First of all, there was a popular train of thought in Jesus’ day that if someone was sick or ill, it was because of some unconfessed sin in their life, or even the parents had sinned— or even, the baby had sinned in his (or her) mothers womb— thus making the baby a sinner.

Sickness is not due to sin. Sin caused sickness, but just because one person is sick doesn't mean that they are a sinner. Sickness can be caused by multiple reasons, but just because someone is sick doesn't mean that they have sinned. (Job’s friends would disagree with me, but they were wrong too.)

I know this is the case because of what Jesus said in response to His disciples question. Hear it again:  “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”

What. What?

This man was sick just so God’s power could be displayed in HIs life?

Yes. That’s how it reads. 

IOW, God was going to tell a story; His Story though this sick man. The Story of salvation, of grace of mercy, of healing.

Think about your life right now. You are a prime candidate for God to tell a story, His story in your life, because of your life. 

Sure your life might not be all it’s cracked up to be at this point in time, but God is still with you, He will continue to be with you, and He is at this exact moment using your story to tell His story through you. 

His story is a story that needs to be told. His Story is a story that demands to be told, and just like this man who was born Blind, He wants to use your broken life to tell of His story to your world. 

I have often thought that this is why I am at the stage of life that I am in right now— waiting for my third liver transplant— not pastoring a church— I am to let God tell of His story of grace, mercy, healing, love, salvation, through my story. Its my job to point to Jesus, and let Him tell others of His Story, though my story. 

You as well. God will use anything in your life for His purpose. If you will only let Him. 

Take a lesson from the blind man. Though He couldn't  see much, He did know Jesus was the One who made Him see. Several times he told the Pharisees who it was that healed him.. even at great loss to him. (He was tossed out of the synagogue because of his testimony about Jesus)

But what lost, He more than made up for in Jesus. He found the Light of the world and was able to see that God was telling His story though His life.

Think about this my friends: God is using everything in your life, good, bad and ugly, and telling a story. His Story. Don’t get too angry or upset if things don’t turn out exactly as you had imagined, God is at work and he will use you to tell His story. Will you take after the blind man and point to Jesus, or will you be like the Pharisees and miss the miracle completely? the choice is up to you, but I am choosing to let God tell His story thought me. 

Check out this song, by Big Daddy Weave here. This is allowing God to tell His Story through us. 

Go, and Sin no More!

If someone were to ask me what my favourite passage of Scripture would be, It would have to be John Chapter 8. I love the first 11 verses of this chapter. 

Now, some of you, when reading from a physical copy of the Bible might notice that it is “set apart” (for lack of a better term) from the other sections of Scripture.

Most, NIV Bibles will offer a statement, saying something along the lines of “most ancient manuscripts do not contain Mark 7:53-8:1-11.” 

These passages are included in our bibles today, because they are in accordance with Jesus and His teaching on Grace and Mercy…. So, here is the passage:

Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” (NLT)

Notice a few things about this passage…

I’d always wondered about the chaps who caught this woman in the act… how did they know? 

How long had they been watching her?

Were they hiding outside her house, waiting for her to mess up? 

Did they follow her on twitter and know where she would be spending her time? 

If so, wouldn't they be guilty of sinning as well? 

If they had caught her in the act… then they had to be watching the act going on, and, well, what about their thoughts? Were they thinking things they shouldn't have been?

I realize that I am speculating here, but the main point i’m trying to make is they had were just as “guilty” as this woman was…

So this woman was brought out into the open, and thrown down in front of Jesus and Jesus was told to make a decision…. the Law said stone her. What do you say?

(What about the man she was committing adultery with? Why wasn't he brought out as well…?) 

Jesus was in a conundrum. If He said stone her, He would be in a mess, but if He let her go, He would be in a mess… (talk about your ultimate no win situation) 

Of course, this was all a set up by the religious elite, trying to get Jesus to mess up so they could find reason to kill Him.

Instead of making a judgement call— which He could have done— He simply stoops down and begins writing in the sand. 

While we don’t know what Jesus wrote, we do like to speculate, and many people think that Jesus was writing people's sins on the ground. As He was writing in the sand, the crowd  “kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 

This is awesome. Jesus never has to say a word.. The people gathered there, dropped their stones and slowly went away, one by one. Probably confronted with their own sin— this is something Jesus did often—- they walked away, leaving Jesus and this woman to talk.

10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” (NLT)

Notice, that Jesus condemn her, like other people had done. 

He forgave her and told her not to continue on sinning.

No matter what place of life you find yourself in, Jesus will not condemn you. While He will not overlook the sin in your life, He will not condemn you. He will forgive you and cleanse you and then tell you to Go and Sin no More. 

Our God is not a God who condemns; He is a Loving God who forgives! He invites all of us to come to Him and experience His grace and mercy, to help us in our time of need. Which is each and every day. 

So, what's holding you back from coming to Jesus? 

Don’t be scared, Jesus will love on you, too. 

Seek the Lord while He may be Found.

When Emma was younger than she is now, we used to play a game. I would get down on the floor beside her and begin to sing: "where did Emma go, where did Emma go, I wonder where Emma went." 

The whole time I would be singing that song, she would be grabbing on to my head, pulling me in her direction, until my face lined up with her face. 

When we saw each other, she would let out a big scream, as if to say "you found me"', she would then laugh, and I would continue on with the song, doing the same thing over and over again. 

Each time, she would grab my face and say the same thing: "here I am dad, you found me."

I think God is a lot alike that. When we are having a rough day, we need to remember that God is looking for us, "seek the Lord while he is near…." (Is.55)

not only is he looking for us, He has actually found us!  "the son of man came to seek and save the lost." 

That's us! 

We're lost, wandering around in the wilderness, unable to find our way.....

Unfortunately, I get me sense of direction from my mother, she couldn't find her way out of a wet paper bag.... so I can't tell you where to go, or even how to get there; when my family leaves for a trip, we have to make sure that my wife knows the way, because we will never arrive where we want to go...

Jesus is our GPS! : 'Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith."  (Heb. 12:1-2a)

Jesus knows the way to go, because He is the way. (John 14:6) 

I love the verse is Isaiah 50:10: if you're walking in the darkness without a ray of light, trust in the lord, and rely on your God. 

Many times we can't see the forest through the trees, and we get lost, wandering around like crazy, in those times, we need to sing, I wonder where God is, i wonder where God is, I wonder where're God went... 

We will be surprised to learn that He is right beside us, taking our faces in his hands and saying I'm right here, and "I will be with you always".

Ask God.

We're going back to the Elisha today. We're looking at 2 Kings 4:1-7 today. 

“The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” (NLT)

A man who worked with Elisha had died, leaving his widow owing money to creditors who were knocking at her door, and would actually come and take her sons from her. 

To prove how broke she actually was, she told Elisha that she only had a little bit of olive oil left. 

Elisha gets involved and preforms a pretty sweet miracle- go get as many jars as you can find— don’t limit yourself here— get as many jars as possible— and when you come back home close your door and begin pouring the oil into the jars. 

The oil was flowing so well, that they were looking for more jars, but when they found out there wasn't any jars left, the oil suddenly dried up. 

The Widow went to Elisha, told him that the oil had dried up and the Prophet told her to sell what she needed to sell, and then to live on what was left over. 

Pretty small, but awesome miracle.

She didn't have enough money at the end of the month. 

She was going to get evicted, her sons taken from her and she would be alone. The ultimate insult. 

But, the Lord provided for her. She had enough oil left over to live on. 

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? At the end of our rope? The bottom has fallen out of, well, everything. 

What have we to give? Not much. But, God can take what we have, use it and multiply it for His purpose. 

(I remember reading about Jesus doing so in the New Testament, when he fed over 15,000 with a few sardine sandwiches.)

God wants to work in your life. God wants to use whatever you have to help others. So, just be obedient  and listen to Him, and if you have a need, go to Him.

Tell Him what you need, and ask Him to provide for you what you need. It might not be in the form of olive oil, but it could be a dinner from someone you know. 

It could be in the form of a smile from a co-worker. It could be meeting your need in another way that you never would have thought possible. 

Our God is the God who provides. Take it from a person who has been there, God will show up, right on time, with what you need. When you need it.

Don't tune God out.

A few days ago I was reading from Exodus 17. 

The following day, I was reading from Psalm 95. 

(I’m not jumping around in my Bible, reading anything I want… I’m actually following a YouVerison Bible plan. They have great plans, you can check them out here. 

As I was reading Ex. 17, my mind jumped to Psalm 95, and as I was reading Psalm 95, my mind jumped to Ex. 17. 

I hope you can guess that the two passages are connected. 

First, Exodus 17: “At the Lord’s command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.

“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?”

3 But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”

4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!”

5 The Lord said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. 6 I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on.

7 Moses named the place Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”) because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?”  (NLT2)

Now, Psalm 95:  Come, let us sing to the Lord!

    Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come to him with thanksgiving.

    Let us sing psalms of praise to him.

3 For the Lord is a great God,

    a great King above all gods.

4 He holds in his hands the depths of the earth

    and the mightiest mountains.

5 The sea belongs to him, for he made it.

    His hands formed the dry land, too.

6 Come, let us worship and bow down.

    Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,

7  for he is our God.

We are the people he watches over,

    the flock under his care.

If only you would listen to his voice today!

8 The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness.

9 For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did.

10  For forty years I was angry with them, and I said,

‘They are a people whose hearts turn away from me.

    They refuse to do what I tell them.’

11 So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’ (NLT2)

While, there is SOOO much truth in these passages, I was struck by one thing in particular, and that is verse 8 of Psalm 95. In the NIV84 edition, it reads like this: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day in Masssah in the desert….”  

Why did that catch my attention? Well, the people had the Lord God Almighty with them leading them into new territory, and yet, they had allowed their hearts to become calloused. They had become angry. They were bitter.  They were cranky. 

The Children of God had allowed their hearts to become so bitter and hardened that they didn't hear the voice of God. 

Then, there is this verse in Hebrews 3;12: “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” (NIV) (Actually, verses 7-19 also talk about these Old Testament passages as well…)

My aim for this post is to say that it is possible for God’s people to actually tune Him out. It’s not recommended, but it is possible.

We can be so busy doing for God, that we forget that we are actually supposed to BE with God. 

We can forget that we are supposed to listen to Jesus, to listen for the Holy Spirit’s promptings. To, as Psalm 46:10 says: “Be STILL and know that I am God.”

We are actually to take time to slow down and listen to, and for the Voice of God. It takes work, but it is worth the effort. 

“Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts….”

Cant seem to get that line out of my head… I don’t want to be in a place that my heart becomes hard and I stop hearing the voice of God. It’s simply not worth it. 

So take a moment right now and ask God to search your heart and ask Him to help you listen to and for His voice.

Little is much.

One more glimpse into the life of Elisha, the Man of God as the week comes to an end. This glimpse is all about doing something for God, the small things…. Let's read it and then talk about it after. 

This passages comes from 2 Kings 5:

5 The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.

2 At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman’s wife as a maid. 3 One day the girl said to her mistress, “I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy.”

4 So Naaman told the king what the young girl from Israel had said. 5 “Go and visit the prophet,” the king of Aram told him. “I will send a letter of introduction for you to take to the king of Israel.” So Naaman started out, carrying as gifts 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothing. 6 The letter to the king of Israel said: “With this letter I present my servant Naaman. I want you to heal him of his leprosy.”

7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes in dismay and said, “Am I God, that I can give life and take it away? Why is this man asking me to heal someone with leprosy? I can see that he’s just trying to pick a fight with me.”

8 But when Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes in dismay, he sent this message to him: “Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet here in Israel.”

9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”

11 But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! 12 Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.

13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’” 14 So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!

15 Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

16 But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept any gifts.” And though Naaman urged him to take the gift, Elisha refused.

17 Then Naaman said, “All right, but please allow me to load two of my mules with earth from this place, and I will take it back home with me. From now on I will never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the Lord. 18 However, may the Lord pardon me in this one thing: When my master the king goes into the temple of the god Rimmon to worship there and leans on my arm, may the Lord pardon me when I bow, too.”

19 “Go in peace,” Elisha said. So Naaman started home again. (NLT2)

There is so much in this one passage.. but, I want to focus on one major truth… 

Naaman had a difficult time in accepting what Elisha had told him to do—- (Jump in the river…)

He reasoned that there were plenty of rivers that he could have jumped in near his home…. he hadn't come all this way to do what he could have done at home… he expected some big thing; some big way to be cured from his incurable skin disease. He even thought he should have been greeted "at his door”! Imagine! 

All of this changed, when one of Naaman’s servants told him, that he would have had no problem if he was told to do something huge; it would have been easy for Naaman to have done that, but because it was something small, Naaman had a hard time with it. 

This made sense to Naaman, and he finally did the small thing that he was told to do— which actually wasn't really a small thing— but he did it anyway, and He was cured of his skin disease. 

Sometimes I think I’m not making a difference unless I’m doing something HUGE! Like, oh, I don’t know, leading on a Sunday Morning, or preaching to a crowd, or helping someone understand a difficult passage of Scripture— (maybe this one?)

What I need to remember is that God uses all things in my life for His purpose, big or small. 

What God wants me to do is simply obey Him, and do what He might be asking me to do… either jump in the river 7 times, or sit in my chair and “be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:1) 

If you are a fully devoted follower of Christ, then this verse has tremendous application for your life, and it’s one that I am trying to remember as well…. 1 For. 15:58 reads: “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” (NLT2)

Nothing done in the Lord’s Name is ever useless. Let that sink in for a moment. 

Big or small, if it’s done in the Name of the Lord, then it is worth it. If you are teaching kids; if you are a homemaker, if you are on disability, if you are… the possibilities are as endless as there are people. Nothing done in the Name of the Lord is done in vain. 

The old saying may sound corny, but it fits: “Little is much if God’s in it.” (Elisha has a story about that as well… 2 Kings 4:1-7)

So, Loved one, take this to heart.. God isn't looking for you to do big things for Him. He isn't even looking for you to do small things for Him. He’s just looking for you to be obedient, He’ll decided if its something big or something small.. just be obedient to what He might be asking you to do, and He will use you in a powerful way. (Posted July 28)