Tag: Jesus

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Sick of Sweating!

I am not usually one to complain, but this heat is finally getting to me.  It’s not really the heat, its the humidity.  No, its not that is just that I am so tired of being covered with sweat – I mean soaking sweat, every time I walk outside.   On Saturday I was searching for a tool in my garage and when I was finished I had to change shirts.  And this was just standing and looking through some tool boxes.  ( I know that is pretty gross).  And I am usually not much of a sweater, not at all like the guy in my small group, apparently he sweats rivers.

And the thirst.  I can’t drink enough.  Its pretty amazing that my weight is actually staying close to the same, as on Saturday at my nephew’s birthday party I felt like I sweated out 10 pounds.  There was not enough sweet tea in the joint to keep me hydrated.  What a blessing it is to have such a great clean water system that makes it so easy to hydrate during the hot summer months like this.  Even when I am the most uncomfortable, I can still head inside and get a nice cold glass of water and I usually have a shirt that I can change into.  That’s so nice that it almost makes you think you can handle anything.  However, even with that blessing there is still a water that is better.  Its the water that your spirit thirsts for, and unlike the water we drink, it can really quench your thirst.  Listen to this exchange at the Jacob’s well.

Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

11“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”

13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:6-14 (New International Version)

Wow, what a great promise.  The contentment of having no thirst – mean I think means no sweating!  That’s a great peaceful promise.  A constant source of spiritual refreshment.  A well to to eternal life.  That seems the right place to be.  And then look what Jesus says later in John.

35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.  John 6:35

Its by belief you can get that living water, and you can be constantly refreshed.  That’s something to consider on this extra hot August days.  Is your spirit thirsty?

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Add it up

Last night I was given the opportunity to hear Rich Little speak.  No, not that Rich Little, the preacher Rich Little.  He’s heading out to be a professor at Pepperdine and was speaking in town last night.   He was very engaging as he spoke of sharing the grace with have received with other people.  The whole time he was whittling away on stage, I keep thinking to myself, that these ideas seem like they are a little risky, and radical.  He spend most of the night exposing hidden secrets from Matthew 7, part of Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount.  However, it was the place he ended that really started me thinking:

12So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.  Matt 7 :12

How simple!  The entirety of the law in 11 words.  “Do to others what you would have them do to you”.  But how complex and how radical.  How many times have your heard this relay in word or action as “Do to others before they do to you?” or “Do to others as they do to you?”   But Jesus, always the radical, says “Treat them how you want to be treated.”  How many times to I tell my boys those exact same words?

But can we really live that way?  I mean, I know that I want the people I work with to bring me ice cream at 3pm every afternoon.  Hm, I wonder maybe if thats what I want then I should bring ice cream to them at 3pm.  Or I should find out what they like and bring that to them.  For many of my co workers that may be a bowl of gajar halwa.

But I guess its more then ice cream.  Its the words we use, its the way we listen.  Its the attention that we give to others.  Its our concern.  It’s a text message of encouragement, a smile, forgiveness and mercy and grace.

Hm, sounds radical and risky.  Maybe its worth some serious prayer and attention.  I know that I would want you to do it for me.

Are you summing it up today?

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One Faith

Tonight I am heading to camp.  Not as a camper but as a speaker!!! I remember those “guys” from my youth.  The mystery speakers that  show up at night and share a sometimes boring, sometime interesting camp talk.  The problem is that I know that I actually did learn stuff from these guys and so tonight I am extremely nervous as to what to say to a bunch of 8-14 year old children!

My topic is one faith (Ephesians 4) and since the topic is so broad, I am not sure whether to talk about mustard seeds, martyrs, righteousness or forgiveness.  Should I demonstrate a trust fall, or blind fold one of them and have them listen as I walk them through a maze.  Should I talk about the assurance of things hoped for? Should I do an exegesis of Romans!  What do you think?  I would love some ideas!

It’s so difficult because its so complete and big and complex, but at the same time it is so simple and straightforward:

8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.   9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  Romans 5:7-9

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Paid in Full

I dunno about you but I hate paying bills.  It’s not so much about getting rid of the money ( although that part is stinky), is more about the accounting and making sure it’s paid on the correct date and getting the right amount and all of that stuff.  For those things that I don’t have automatically paid, it’s a struggle every month.  Usually there is a frantic middle of the night rush on the due date to pay the bill.  What a blessing on line bill pay is.

So isn’t it good to know that as followers of the Christ, there is no due date.  Well, there will be a judgement day, and for those not follower the Christ, that will be quite a problem.  But for those who have put on the grace and mercy of Christ, your sins will have been paid in full, and on the due date, your balance due will be a big fat zero!

23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (New International Version)

So, doesn’t knowing that you owe nothing and that its been paid for you provide some relief from the anxiety of the day and create a desire to repay that through your actions?  Get out there and impact those around you today.

Its freeeeeeeeeeeee!

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Jesus Didn’t Tapout

Over the weekend while I was traveling back home, I saw on a small church sign in the backwoods of the Florida panhandle the words “Jesus Did Not Tapout”.  My initial reaction was like, what does that mean?  Isn’t tapout some MMA fighter stuff?  Sure Jesus fought.  He fought more then we can ever imagine.  So I decided to look this tapout stuff up.

To my surprise, to tap out means to give up.  It’s the sign of surrender in MMA or even in just plain ol’ wrestling.  Of course that makes me wonder why all these rough and tough MMA guys wear TapouT clothing – since it essentially says “Give Up” on the clothing.  As I kept digging to find out what this church sign could be referring to, I found that there is also Never Tapout clothing for MMA followers, and even a Jesus Didn’t Tap website.

So, even though my initial reaction was one of “what are you all talking about”, I agree with that little sign on this church.  It’s not that Jesus would be a big MMA fighter dude.  I don’t think that at all.  Actually, I am not a big fan of the MMA, and not a hater – just neutral.  But that’s not really the message here today.  It seems this message fits the idea of buffeting your spiritually body daily. The idea that Jesus did not give up.  He was presented with trials and temptations bigger then we will ever face, and he did not give in. He did not tap.  That’s the idea.  One of persistence and focus and forging ahead no matter what was in his way.  When Jesus came to this Earth he had a very challenging mission and he fulfilled it.  That’s not to say he didn’t grow weary, or even dread it, but he continued to move, continued to fight and didn’t “tap out”, as they say.

How about you today. Will you tap out, or will you stay focused on your mission?

5-8Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. (Philippians 2:5-8, The Message)