Here you are, you’ve come to Jesus and you’re nuts about Him. In fact, you didn’t just come to Him, you gave Him your everything. But, your family thinks you’ve gone off the deep end. You’ve gone a little too far with this Jesus business. What do you do? Well, you can look at the example of Jesus. What did Jesus do when His family thought He had lost His mind over God the Father?
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[Tweet “The ones who are nuts, are those who don’t choose the Kingdom first lifestyle.”]
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel awoke one morning to read his own obituary in the local newspaper: “Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who died yesterday, devised a way for more people to be killed in a war than ever before, and he died a very rich man.” Actually, it was Alfred’s older brother who had died; a newspaper reporter had bungled the epitaph. But the account had a profound effect on Nobel. He decided he wanted to be known for something other than developing the means to kill people efficiently and for amassing a fortune in the process. So he initiated the Nobel Prize, the award for scientists and writers who foster peace. Nobel said, “Every man ought to have the chance to correct his epitaph in midstream and write a new one.” What do you want your life to be known for? Do you desire to be known as a man who followed God’s plan fully for their life? Do you desire to complete all the will of God? Then strap your seatbelt because you are in for a ride. It’s a great ride. A wild ride. A challenging ride. A ride that will test you to the max. Jesus will lead into places you never thought you’d be and ask you to do things that are way outside your comfort zone.
[Tweet “If you’re looking for a life with no challenges, you’re in the wrong business following Jesus.”]
At the University of Oklahoma, for many years a project was underway to teach a fifteen-year-old female chimpanzee named Washoe to talk by combining sign language with simple recognition. Since 1966, this chimpanzee learned 140 signs. Finally, the project directors decided that Washoe was prepared to “conceptualize.” This meant that instead of merely imitating some human’s words, the chimp would express thoughts of her own. Now, understand, Washoe was a pampered animal in the university’s laboratory—well fed, physically comfortable, safe from harm. She had security. And yet, when she was able to put words together on her own into a phrase, these were the first three—and she has said them again, repeatedly—“Let me out.” Even a chimp knows that security is not everything in life.
[Tweet “Following God, reading His Word and hearing His voice, will keep your life on a razor’s edge.”]
One of my favorite shows from long ago was Get Smart. It was a show about a goofy secret agent. One of the popular catch phrases for the show was ‘would you believe.’ Maxwell Smart would say when he got caught by the bad guys ‘would you believe.’ Here’s some of the dialogue. “I happen to know that at this very’ moment eight Coast Guard cutters are converging on this boat. Would you believe seven? Six? How about two cops in a rowboat?” Or, At this very minute, 25 Control agents are converging on this building. Would you believe two squad cars and a motorcycle cop? How about a vicious street cleaner and a toothless police dog? Or, I once trained a girl to swim across the English Channel five times. Would you believe four times? Would you believe three times across the Mississippi? How about twice around the bathtub? Once around the bathtub? Or, in a short while, General Crawford and a hundred of his crack paratroopers will come crashing into this landing. Would you believe J. Edgar Hoover and I0 of his G-men? How about Tarzan and a couple of apes? Bomba, the Jungle Boy? Or, at this very moment 100 highway patrolmen with Doberman pinschers are surrounding this entire area. Would you believe four deputies and a bloodhound? How about a Boy Scout with rabies? The question arises ‘do you believe in the Resurrection of Jesus? Do you believe it just like the Bible says it or are you believing a watered down ‘Maxwell Smart’ version of the events surrounding Jesus death?
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[Tweet “What death did to Jesus is nothing compared to what Jesus did to death.”]
As I shut the door of the office after me, it seemed as if I met the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. It seemed to me that I saw Him as I would see any other man. He said nothing, but looked at me in such a manner as to break me right down at His feet. I fell down at His feet, wept aloud like a child, and made such confessions as I could with my choked utterance. It seemed to me that I bathed His feet in tears. I must have continued in this state for a good while. I returned to the front office, but as I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any recollection that I had ever heard the subject mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to come in waves of liquid love; it seemed like the very breath of God. I wept aloud with joy and love. – Charles Finney The Spirit of the Lord was active in the life of the great revivalist, Charles Finney. And, he is and can be highly active in your life. We can learn much about His activity by looking at the workings of the Spirit in the life of Jesus.
Rejection is part of living among free-will opinionated humans. Everyone thinks they are right and if you don’t think so, just ask them 🙂 In 1902, the poetry editor of Atlantic Monthly returned a stack of poems with this note, “Our magazine has no room for your vigorous verse.” The poet was Robert Frost. In 1905, the University of Bern turned down a doctoral dissertation as “irrelevant and fanciful.” The writer of that paper was Albert Einstein. In 1894 an English teacher noted on a teenager’s report card, “A conspicuous lack of success.” The student was Winston Churchill. You get the point, rejection happens even to the most prolific and influential of men. Yet and still, the Lord instructed us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. But what do you do when people reject it? In part one of a series entitled: “The Parables of Jesus: Physician Heal Yourself”, we begin to look at this very issue. But first, let’s take a peek at Jesus in his hometown of Nazareth and His public ministry as a Rabbi in Israel.
Sometimes people try to avoid the complexities of life. As the story goes, an American businessman named Wilson, tired of the Great depression, rising taxes and increasing crime, sold his home and business in 1940 and moved to an island in the Pacific. Balmy and ringed with beautiful beaches, the island seemed like paradise. Its name? Iwo Jima . Inadvertently, we try to live out our Christianity the same way. We try to play it safe. Reduce every possible risk. But, following Jesus is not the place to skimp when it comes to risk. That’s the nature of faith.
Following God, reading His Word and hearing His voice, will keep your life on a razors edge. He will keep you trusting Him. He will keep you leaning on Him. He is going to give you assignments that require you to give up your security blanket and come out of your comfort zone. The faith lifestyle requires a full commitment. It requires a giving of everything to Jesus.
Jesus was not a wayside philosopher. He did not sit around and debate the state of the world. He didn’t engage in political banter for the sake of it. He wasn’t a baby kisser pining for office. Jesus was a doer. The tsunami impact of His life branded the world. How did He do it? He moved in God’s timing. He flowed with the Spirits direction. He left every disciple a reproducible model. What Jesus did you can do. How do we know? He told us so.
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Jesus was not a wayside philosopher. He did not sit around and debate the state of the world. He didn’t engage in political banter for the sake of it. He wasn’t a baby kisser pining for office. Jesus was a doer. The tsunami impact of His life branded the world. How did He do it? He moved in God’s timing. He flowed with the Spirits direction. He left every disciple a reproducible model. What Jesus did you can do. How do we know? He told us so.
In 1Jn 1:1-3, John testifies to his encounter with Jesus. John’s testimony is a simple one. Jesus is not an illusion – ‘we saw Him’. He is not a figment of our imagination, – ‘we touched Him’. He is not a fairy tale – ‘we heard Him’. If you believe in Him, your testimony can parallel John’s. By faith, you can see Him. By faith, you can touch Him. By faith, you can hear Him. By faith, you can encounter Him.
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God in the Flesh
Question: “Would it be possible to discuss God’s manifestation into flesh, and the triune God. I’m confused, or misled in my understanding. Essentially, some say God was Jesus all the time; yet, others he is the son and his father.” – Mary Gentry
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