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Posts tagged with: Jesus
Feb 4, 2012    |       4 comments

HYDRATE — WINNING FROM THE INSIDE 1 (Mt.5:3) “Poor in Spirit”

“The poor in spirit are blessed, for the King of Heaven is theirs.”
Matthew 5:3 (HCSB)

DRINK IT IN…
So Jesus is in Northern Israel when He speaks his very first recorded sermon. It says in Matthew 5 that Jesus went up a mountain and he sat down and began to teach. I have been to Israel now three times. I have walked on the ground where it is assumed that Jesus taught this crowd referenced in Matthew 5. We call this first sermon of Jesus’, “The Sermon on the Mount.” In the area I have visited there are a lot of hillsides. Its funny to me, as you read the Bible, and see the word Mountain used a lot. The mountains that are referenced in the Bible, leads us to imagine mountains like the Rocky Mountains or, as I live in the Phoenix AZ area, our Valley is surrounded by larger mountains. However, please understand, if you actually saw what the Bible refers to as Mountains in the Israel area, you would do better to think more of a hillside instead of mountain. This area that I have visited where it is assumed that Jesus preached this sermon that we have recorded in Matthew 5 is an area that has a hillside that goes upward about 100 feet. Littered throughout the incline of this “mount” are a bunch of chair sized boulders. As I stood at the top of this hillside looking down, it was very easy for me to see how Jesus would have walked through the flat plain of the land, through the crowds gathered there, and walk up the incline of the hillside or “mount,” and then sit on one of those boulders and begin to teach. Its a very cool place to visit and I hope you will be able to travel there someday and see the sight for yourself. I try to lead a trip every two years, maybe you could be a part of the group I lead over to Israel next.

As Jesus begins to teach, He simply says, “The poor in spirit are blessed, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

First of all let’s simply define “Blessed.” Blessed does not mean happy. Blessed means approved. This teaching of Jesus could be translated, “The poor in spirit are approved by God and will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.”

What does “poor in spirit” mean?
I do not think it means poor as in the opposite of being rich. Its not about the lack of houses, cars and bling. The Bible is loaded with faithful men and women that God used in mighty ways and they were wealthy. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy as long as you are “poor in spirit.”

Let’s look at it this way. Mankind…especially in America…values “HAVING & DOING.” The more you have the more successful you are in the eyes of the world. The more you do or accomplish, the more successful you are in the eyes of the world.

But Jesus didn’t teach this idea. Notice this teaching of Jesus’ doesn’t say, “Blessed are those who ACCOMPLISH poor in spirit or HAVE poor in spirit.” He says, “Blessed ARE the poor in spirit.”

So here is the deal…
WHO YOU “ARE” IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT YOU DO OR WHAT YOU HAVE!
This whole Hydrate series is about “winning from the inside.” I asked in a previous blog if your “happiness is portable?” The only way that happiness can be portable is if it is inside of you. If your happiness is in what you have or what you do, then if you lose what you have or can’t do what you do any longer, then your happiness would be gone too. Its like saying your purpose is found in your stuff and in what you do. But what if you lose the stuff or can’t do what you do any longer? Does that mean your purpose ends. No! Your purpose and your happiness must be portable. Your purpose and your happiness is in WHO YOU ARE.

Purpose is an “ARE”…not a Have or a Do! Happiness is an “ARE”…not a Have or a Do! (Do you understand this very important part?)

Jesus says blessed “ARE” the poor in Spirit. Maybe this is a good way to think about it, if you are still trying to understand “Poor in Spirit.” What is the opposite of poor in Spirit? The opposite of poor in spirit is “Self-Sufficient.” If you think you are self sufficient then you actually think that you don’t need God or anybody else. If you think you do not need God, then you are not “Poor In Spirit.” Thus…the Kingdom of Heaven will not be for you! If you think you are self sufficient, then others probably see you as arrogant. Those who ARE poor in spirit ARE humble. It might be fair to say that Jesus could have simply said, “Blessed are the humble, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

I want the Kingdom of Heaven so bad. I must continue to work on my “poor in spirit.” My humility. Don’t forget that Jesus told us in the Lord’s Prayer that we should be praying, “Thy Kingdom Come on Earth….as it is in Heaven.”

So…yes…we want to be in the Kingdom of Heaven for eternity. But in order for that to happen, we have to bring some heaven down to earth. That happens best when you ARE like the Kingdom of Heaven. Lots of people “DO” what Jesus commands, or “HAVE” Bibles they read frequently, but they ARE not like God internally. Do you know what I mean?

Be the ARE!

“SWEAT IT OUT”
The “Sweat It Out” section is simply meant to challenge you to action. In the “Drink It In” section I share some history and teaching. Now that you drank in the material above. How will you “sweat it out.”

If you will…I ask you to get a sheet of paper and write out, in one or two sentences…”Who You Are.”
Some rules. You can’t write what you do or what you have. Remember, who you are must be portable. You could lose everything in your life due to a tragedy but that wouldn’t take away “who you are.” So write down who you are. Keep it with you today. Revise it as you think of other things that describe who you are.

Another thing to ‘sweat out’ is to ask somebody you trust whether or not you ARE humble or ARE arrogant. Ask them to tell you straight up. Make sure you don’t get angry at them for being honest with you. LOL If you get angry at them for being honest…then you will know for a fact that you ARE not in fact….”Poor In Spirit.”

Be humble today. Be poor in spirit. Don’t think you ARE self-sufficient. Ask for God’s help and strength in everything you do. Make sure you ARE a friend to others so that you may have friends in your life too.

Being poor in spirit must be a huge thing to God because it is the first sentence Jesus spoke at the very first sermon He ever preached. Poor in Spirit is a sense of need. I need God. I need others. The day I think I have arrived and I can do everything on my own. That’s not a good day.

Be thankful that you need others. That is how God made you. Write down the names of people in your life that you are thankful for. Use technology to send them a quick thank you note telling them why you appreciate them. Let them know they are important to you and that you need them in your life.

Don’t forget to pause and thank the Lord for how He made you and thank Him for promising to never leave your nor forsake you. You need Him. I do too.

Blessed are the Poor In Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!

Feb 3, 2012    |       3 comments

Hydrate — Winning From The Inside — The Preface

Is your happiness portable?

What do I mean by, “portable happiness?” Think with me…

What if you lost your job today and couldn’t find any work for the next six months?
What if your son went undefeated in his basketball season but lost the championship game because he missed his final free throw?
What if a tornado or a fire completely destroyed your home and everything in it, including your family’s creative memories albums?
What if your four year old daughter were diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and were given a 10% chance of living to age six?
What if you lost your wife and children in a car crash as they drove home from Walmart today?

The “What If’s” game is not a fun game to play. But, the “What Ifs” are a likelihood for each and every individual, everyday. A likelihood for you. Please understand that I am not deploying fear tactics here. I am simply reminding us all that the “What Ifs” are realities for people, everyday.

The hard reality is this. If we place our “ultimate” joy and happiness in these temporal elements of our lives, then we potentially face, each and every day, such a heart wrenching reality that we would not be able to live the rest of our lives with joy or happiness.

Introducing — “Hydrate.” Winning from the inside.”

What do I mean by “Hydrate?”

There is a story-of-old about a man who encounters a woman drawing water from a well for her family at noon on a hot and dry day. At this encounter, the man begins to converse with her, he simply asks, “would you be so kind as to draw a drink of water for me?” She is quite surprised by the inquiry because he was of different ethnicity than she, and it was counter-cultural for such conversation to take place. However, she agreed and drew up some cool water from the deep well. After being refreshed by his drink of water. He said, “If you drink this water, you will only thirst again, but if you drink the water that I can give you, you will never thirst again. It will be like a bubbling spring of water and life inside of you. ” Then the woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw the water!” And, so, the conversation went on.

If you don’t know the “characters” of this story-of-old, this is a woman from Samaria speaking with Jesus of Nazareth. You can read all the details in the Bible in the book of John, chapter 4.

“HYDRATE”

If Jesus of Nazareth is who He says He is…then I would think that we should deeply consider and learn from Him. One of His teachings actually commands us “to teach people to obey everything that I have commanded.” (We’ll get to that teaching in this Hydrate series…but not yet!)

There are approximately 300 different teachings that Jesus publicly declared in His lifetime. I am hopeful that you will devote yourself to drink in this material as often as you can. Do not “drink it in” out of duty. Have you ever consumed a bottle of water out of duty? Its not refreshing, is it? I hope that you will place this material at your easy access and when you “thirst,” you will take it up and drink it in. And, as you continue to drink, my hope for you, is that you will find a “bubbling spring of water and life welling up inside of you.” I call this joy and happiness.

When your Joy and Happiness begins to flow internally.

Then it is portable.

Each teaching of Jesus will be an entry in the Hydrate series. You will see that each entry will be in two parts. First there will be an easy to understand history of what Jesus said and I will call that section, “Drink It In.” Then there will be a simple practical challenge for you to consider and activate into your life after learning about what Jesus taught. This second part will be called, “Sweat it out.”

Drink it in and sweat it out.

Its totally portable!

I hope you enjoy it and are forever impacted.

Please keep me updated along your journey.

Trent

Feb 1, 2012    |      Comments Off on Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #14”

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #14”

Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands! –JC
Luke 23:46

The very next sentence that Luke records in the Bible is, “And with those words He breathed His last.” (Would you pause for a few seconds and quietly thank Jesus for what He suffered through so that we, His followers, would be forgiven and free?)

Jesus’ last words on the cross were a Tweet of Trust. Of Letting go. Of ultimate submission. He could have controlled. But He chose to trust His Father in Heaven with the control.

The way Jesus “behaved” on the cross must have made quite an impression on the Roman Guards. Luke records that one of the guards said something right after Jesus breathed His last. Its recorded in Luke 23:47, “When the Roman Officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.”

Can you imagine the burden and sorrow this Roman Officer carried home with him? I imagine it haunted him the rest of his life. I wonder if this Roman Officer was aware of what happened 3 days and 3 nights later. If he did know that Jesus rose from the dead, was it good news for him, or did it only make him feel worse about how he had to oversee and approve of in the killing of Jesus?

I hope to meet this Roman officer someday. It says that he worshiped God, so I am hoping he became a true follower of Jesus after Jesus rose from the dead. I’d like to ask this Roman officer some questions about that horrible day at the cross. I’d love to hear his full version of the story.

So Jesus says…”Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands.”

The human side of Jesus at the tweeting of this sentence must have been a bit nervous. Of course Jesus knew He was going to raise from the dead in 3 days and 3 nights. I still think the human side of Jesus had to of struggled in this final moment. He spent 33 years walking the land, encountering people and representing the Father in Heaven perfectly. We know that the Father never let Jesus down…but the “what-ifs” might have tempted Jesus to have bouts of nervousness while hanging on the cross. I wonder if those 33 years flew by or if it was one long day after another. He sure was mistreated a lot. But I also believe that Jesus laughed a lot. I mean…most of His time was spent with 12 other guys. You know how guys are when they camp together, walk together, spend a lot of time with each other. The fun side of Jesus had to of played some pranks on the guys. When a group of guys get together, somebody is trying to scare someone, sooner or later. Have you ever wondered if Jesus’ miracle of walking on water wasn’t to top a previous attempt by one of the Apostles’ at one of their “Gotcha!” moments? I don’t know. It sure seems like Christians have settled into believing that Jesus didn’t have any fun. We all know He faced many hardships and sorrows. The book of Isaiah says this in a couple prophecies about the Messiah. We know that Jesus faced unbelievable mistreatment at the hands of His own created people. But I still hold onto the hope that Jesus laughed…a lot. Surely, after Jesus caused the Blind man to see, while walking away from this miraculous moment and talking with the Apostles about it, surely Jesus said….”Hey guys…did you see the look on the faces of the religious leaders when I healed that blind man?” Or when He raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead for four days. Lazarus’ sister warned Jesus that it was too late and not to open the tomb for the smell would be unbearable. I wonder if Jesus, after raising Lazarus from the dead whispered in Martha’s ear, “I told you so,” and then laughed a laugh of love and joy…while giving her the perfect hug. Think about it…you have to be a pretty “fun guy,” to be accused by the religious leaders of being a “drunkard and a glutton.” We know Jesus wasn’t a sinner of any kind…but He must have had some fun to be blamed for being a drunk.

Well…as I wrap up this “Retweeting Jesus” series, I am wondering if you and I can trust like Jesus did. “Father…I ENTRUST my spirit into your hands.”

Its crazy what we ENTRUST in. How much trust do you put in that Red Light really causing everybody to stop and not go through the intersection? How much trust to do you place in that dotted line as you drive on that two lane highway? How much trust did I place in the parachute when I sky dived? How much trust do we place in the hands of pilots and airplanes as we fly through the air at 30,000 feet? How much trust do we place in the hands of construction workers and architects as we drive over their bridges, live under their beams? How much trust do we place in the hands of physicians as they “put us to sleep,” and then use a scalpel and cut us open and literally replace organs of our bodies? We really are a trusting people. It doesn’t seem like it, but if you really think about all that we trust…we are a trusting people.

But do we really “Entrust” God…enough to…

forgive?
tithe?
help a stranger?
let go of controlling your spouse?
commit to a church every weekend?
apologize for harm we caused?
not judge others?
resist temptation and peer pressure?
not manipulate the situation?
not abuse or manipulate our power of position?
not belittle others to boost our own self-esteem?
let go and let God?

On that cross…Jesus died and His Spirit left the earthly physical body it was borrowing and went into the control of God.

Its a safe and perfect place to land. You can be confident leaving your full trust In the hands of a loving God. He really is a God of love. If you don’t believe that right now, then I challenge you to read the other Tweets I have posted in this series. You can’t read them and walk away thinking God isn’t totally love!

If you are struggling letting go of anything in your life and you are trying to control whatever it is that you can’t let go of…is it working for you?

Its hard work to control.
Its stressful.
It takes a lot of focus.
Its tiring.
It will wear you out.

There is a lot of freedom that comes with being so fulfilled and whole in Jesus Christ that you don’t have to control anything.
That’s the good life. It fees you to serve, and give and love.

What are you controlling?
What would happen if you chose to let it go and trust God with the results?

Q: How do you do let “it” go and trust God with the results?
A: You put all your focus and energy in behaving like Jesus Christ and leave the results in the hands of God.

The early church was great at this. In Acts chapter 2 it says that the “Christians” gathered everyday and they DEVOTED themselves to the Apostles teaching, to fellowship, sharing in meals and to prayer.

Think about those “actions.” Can those actions be actions blamed for being CONTROLLING?
Have you ever heard anybody say, “You are so controlling…all you do is pray!”
Have you ever heard anybody say, “You are so controlling…please stop reading the Bible and learning!”
Have you ever heard anybody say, “You are so controlling…all you are is a good friend to others.”
Have you ever heard anybody say, “You are so controlling…please stop sharing your meals with others.”

Those statements are almost too ridiculous to type them out. Those are actions of trust and faithfulness and have nothing to do with control.

Are you thinking about what you might be controlling right now?
What if you asked somebody who really knows you well? Would they say you are trying to control something in your life?

Let’s keep going for clarity on this issue.

If you are just focused on getting a certain end result…then you are probably trying to control it.
If you are just focused on responsibility and doing what is right and focusing on holy behavior…then you are probably not being controlling.

Maybe a good way to look at it is through what we call, Cause and Effect.

You can’t control causes.
You can control effects.

What are some causes in your life that you simply serve? (trust)
What are some effects/outcomes that you are trying to force to happen? (control)

You are going to have to think on this one.

Here’s what I know for sure. You are made in the image of God and Jesus Christ.

Jesus ENTRUSTED everything into the hands of God the Father.
You are to be like Jesus because you were made in His image.
What must you let go of when it comes to the final results and just trust God by being faithful and let God take care of the results?

Can you and will you pray the following prayer right now and then back it up with action?

“Father in Heaven…I entrust everything in my life into your hands. Help me have the strength to behave like Jesus and leave my life results in your control. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”

If you really want to get specific and let go of control.
Then ask a trusted person in your life to listen to you pray the above prayer out loud in front of them. And instead of praying using the word “everything,” replace the word everything with a specific thing you are controlling. Be specific…in the presence of a trusted witness.

Now that would take a lot of trust and would force you to let go of control. That is true accountability.

I know how good this would be for you and your whole life. It would be so good for you I would like to force you to do it.

But that would be controlling.

I want to ENTRUST!
How about you?

Jan 31, 2012    |      Comments Off on Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #13”

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #13”

“It is finished.” — JC
John 19:20 (NLT)

Surely you have used this phrase before? I have spoken this after completing a Final Exam, book report, doing the backyard or eating a a large pizza all by myself.

When is the last time you said, “It is finished?”

When Jesus says this, He speaks it from the Roman Executioner’s Cross just seconds before his heart beats its last beat. He has just spent the last 18 hours going through unspeakable torment. It is Finished, is a statement of a champion. And in this case…the meaning behind this phrase impacts every person on earth from the past and every person to yet exist in the future.

When Jesus says from the cross, or as I have been pretending, “Tweets” it from the cross. Every Roman follower of Jesus’ Tweets would have perfectly understood in context what He meant. Keep reading…

You see in the Roman empire the Death penalty could be carried out in several different forms. Crucifixion or beheading were the two most popular death sentences given to non-military law breakers. The Roman Empire wanted to be known as fierce and they also wanted to avoid being known as uncivilized. So they had a death sentence “program” that was swift yet brutal. Swift so as not to be too cruel and unusual, but brutal enough to warn a potential criminal that Rome meant business when it came to following their laws.

The military had a few death penalty ways about them that could strike fear in the heart of anybody and hopefully would prevent a potential law breaker from going through with his plan. Here are some of the ways a Roman Military person could be put to death if they caused Rome to be embarrassed or if they broke the military code of ethics. If while on night watch as a Roman guard, the guard fell asleep, and his superior officer actually caught him sleeping, the commanding officer would awaken the sleeping guard, have his clothes stripped off to his ankles, then light the clothes around his ankles on fire and the guard would be burned alive. (One didn’t want to fall asleep on duty. They didn’t have energy drinks then, either!) Another tactic that Roman Officers would use when trying to find the culprit in a military regiment that had “messed up,” was to line the whole group up along a tall cliff. The entire Roman Army Regiment would then walk to the edge of the cliff and literally, while standing, put their toes on the edge of the cliff, and of course, everybody would be looking down, fearful of what could happen. The Officer in charge of the regiment would walk behind each of the soldiers as they stood on the edge of the cliff and would be yelling at them to identify the person who “screwed up,” broke the law, or embarrassed Rome due to negligence. If there wasn’t anybody in the entire Roman Regiment that would “Nark” out the guilty person, then the Officer in charge would begin to walk behind the group and push one soldier at a time off the cliff and have the group watch this person fall to his death. The hopes of the officer was that somebody would finally point out the offender, or the offender would finally confess and then be pushed to his own death, saving the lives of the others in the regiment.

If there was no cliff to be found in the area then the Roman Officer would have his regiment of soldiers line up anyway. He would take out a cup that he carried with him for this very purpose. The cup would be filled with a mixture of Hemlock. Hemlock is a lethal poison. Whether you drink a little or a lot, it is going to kill you. (Hemlock is the poison in the story of Romeo and Juliet. It is also how Socrates was given the death sentence) This cup that the Roman Officer carried would be filled with the Hemlock mixture and was known as “The Cup of Suffering” in the Roman Empire. In the Roman Empire if an officer in charge had to use the cup of suffering there was only one rule…The cup had to be completely drank for the officer in charge to be satisfied that “the crime” committed was paid for. So imagine the Roman Regiment lined up. If the officer had an idea of who the offending soldier might have been he would place that soldier in the first position, the front of the line. He would give the cup of suffering to that first soldier. Now the soldier has a moral dilemma. The first soldier knows that he is going to die whether he drinks a little of this cup of suffering or if he drinks the whole thing. If the first soldier drinking from the cup of suffering only drinks a little, he then would have to pass the cup to the next in line. That next soldier would have to drink a little and then pass it on to the next. However…if anybody in the line wanted to spare the lives of everybody else, down the line, all he had to do was drink the whole cup of suffering himself. If the soldier chose to drink the whole cup of suffering, he would drink the whole cup, give the cup to the officer in charge and the officer would say, “IT IS FINISHED!”

Do you get what Jesus did, when He “tweeted” from the cross, “IT IS FINISHED!”

Jesus was saying, “I will take all the punishment upon myself and spare everybody else for all time past and future.”

However…please think about this with me…this is important…Just approximately 24 hours earlier, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and was begging His Father in Heaven to do what?

“Father, Please take this CUP OF SUFFERING away from me!” Jesus begged His Father three times this exact request.

Understanding the Roman’s Cup of Suffering brings about a lot more depth of meaning to this whole situation doesn’t it?

Do you have a child or children? Can you imagine one of your children coming to you…and by the way…this child coming to you has been the PERFECT child, literally. This child whom you love so intensely begs you to not do something. But this something he is begging you not to do is so intensely painful and humiliating. How could you follow through and give the go ahead and then watch it happen to your child? You give the “go-ahead” to have your perfectly innocent child beaten to an inch of his life, stripped naked in front of everybody, you watch him get beaten over the head with clubs, they force a huge thorn crown down upon his bleeding head, make him carry his own cross through the streets while people spit and jeer him. You continue to watch the people throw your perfect child on top of the cross beam and drive nails into his hands and feet. Dislocating his shoulder or both shoulders. Laughing and jeering the whole time. They then hoist the cross, with him nailed to it, to an upright position where you have to watch your only perfect child literally suffocate to death, fighting for air.

I couldn’t do it. If I had to pick who was going to go through that kind of agony to pay for all mankind’s sins. And my choice is between my own perfect child and you…the one who sinned and brought this whole curse to a reality. I’m sorry…You would die. Not my only perfect child.

How much does the Heavenly Father love you? How much does the Heavenly Father love you that He chose for you to live and have His perfect son, His only child, pay the price instead?

REALLY…HE CHOSE YOU TO LIVE. HE MADE JESUS DRINK THE CUP OF SUFFERING INSTEAD OF YOU.

This is the way God desires us to be everyday of our lives. Sacrificial, Giving, Loving, Serving, Accepting.
That’s what He did for you. That’s what He did for me. By doing this, God demonstrated to us how much He loves us and accepts us without having us do a single thing to earn His acceptance. In fact the Bible says that while we were sinners, God absolutely accepted us by having His son die for us…again…while we were still sinning, we were accepted by God. By God giving His only Son as a replacement for us on the cross. (To drink the Cup of Suffering) It shows that you can’t do one thing to earn God’s acceptance and love for you. It is a gift. That gift was given when Jesus was placed on the cross instead of you. Oh, I wish all people lived in this kind of behavior. Let me demonstrate by inserting a diagram below.

The image I have inserted below is an image that demonstrates, perfectly, the difference between Love’s way and Control’s way. I wish I could say that I created the diagram. I did not. Credit is due to the Life Training Material we used to teach at Parkway Christian Church. If you would like to check this full material out then look up www.vcli.org. Vcli stands for Victorious Christian Living. They are headquartered in Phoenix AZ. The material is actually called S.A.L.T. (Seven Areas of Life Training) Its good stuff. The following thoughts are from this material.

God is Love. He COULD control, but He chooses to demonstrate his power and position by Love not control. Please be “self-aware” enough to know which way you live your life and lead the people you influence. Do you live/lead by Control or by Love?

As you can see, Love doesn’t make you earn anything. Love gives you total acceptance first. Love gives you an “A” and then allows you to earn an “F” if you want to. Love says, “I have AUTHORITY to make you earn my acceptance, but I am going to ACCEPT you first and show you how much I love you. When you know how much I love and accept you, you will feel AFFIRMED by be. As you feel affirmed by me, then you will desire to be ACCOUNTABLE to me and when you choose to be accountable to me, you acknowledge that I am an AUTHORITY in your life.

That is God’s way. That is the way God wants you to live and lead others. It will take you totally trusting in God as you live and lead this way.

People, who have a problem with God, usually think that God leads using the Control side of the diagram.
They have had either a controlling parent or too many controlling people in their life.
They have been forced to submit to the person in authority first. It goes like this…
Somebody, with power, demands that you follow their AUTHORITY, period. They do this by forcing you to be ACCOUNTABLE to their rules/style/ways. When you prove you are being accountable to their authority, then the person in authority will begin to AFFIRM you. “Keep up the good work, you are really catching my attention,” they say. As you keep up the good work because you want this person’s affirmation and you continue to work for their affirmation and you stand the test of time…you will finally be ACCEPTED by the person in authority.

How Horrible. Right? Thank God, that God and Jesus didn’t do this to all of us!

This is the way of corporate and worldly living. This is the way of control. People who control are living as if they are God. You agree, right, that ” all control” belongs to God?

So…I say…THANK GOD that God leads us using the Love side of the diagram. God accepts first. How wonderful.
The Cup of Suffering that was given to Jesus proves it.

“IT IS FINISHED.”
That means you don’t HAVE to have control. God’s got that part.
ACCEPT first.
God didn’t force you to make Him your Authority.
Why do you make others bow to your Authority? (If you do.)

God’s Got your Back.
(Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Live like God in all your ways and He will take care of the rest.) That’s my version of Proverbs 3:5-6.

Accept first. Love first. Trust first. You really didn’t EARN anything in your life that you have. You might pridefully think you did. But everything is a gift from the Lord. Everything.

Our School Teachers are a perfect demonstration point on this. Depending on the teacher’s personality and whether or not they are power hungry, they can start you, as a student, with either an “A” or an “F”. The grades work out the same either way in the end.
Everyday you can tell the attitude difference between the teacher that accepts you first and teaches as if you have an “A.” Versus the teacher that has the attitude of not accepting you first and you come into class with the teacher seeing you as a student starting with an “F.” Its an obvious difference and everybody knows it except the teacher.
Which teacher is better to sit under as a student?
Which teacher do you actually WANT to learn from ?
Which teacher really is better at teaching?
Get it?

It Is Finished!
You don’t have to control anything.
Live for others like Jesus lives & died for you.

In your marriage, does your spouse start the day with an “A” or an “F”?
In your workplace, do those “under” you start their job with an “A” or an “F”? (BTW…Jesus washed the feet of those “under” Him.)
In your parenting do your kids start the day with an “A” or an “F”?
In your friendships do your friends start each day with an “A” or an “F”?
In your everyday life as you drive, do totally dumb drivers get to start with an “A” or an “F”? Ohhh…that’s a hard one for me! Can you tell? LOL
Shopping for Groceries does the lady slapping her kids at the check out counter start with an “A” or an “F”?
Waiting in line…wherever…did the guy that cut in line start with an “A” or an “F”?

Give people in your life an “A” first and then you’ll be following the example of Jesus Christ. Fully accept first. Then work from there.
How they treat the “A” you gave them is up to them. There comes a time where that “A” starts dwindling to a “B” or a “C”…its then you and I need to confront the offender…if you wait until they get an “F” to confront…well…that’s just a tough meeting! Its hard work. Never quit working on it. We all have shortfalls. If we follow the teaching of Jesus to treat others like we like to be treated, then hopefully that gives us a few more “A’s” in our pocket to hand out to others. Make sense?
Can I help you with anything?

All right…I can finally say about this long blog…
“It Is Finished!”

Jan 30, 2012    |      Comments Off on Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #12”

Retweeting Jesus “RT@JesusChrist #12”

“I am Thirsty.” — JC
John 19:28

Again, Jesus could have never physically tweeted this message out on His own. His hands were nailed down. If Jesus had the new iPhone 4S He could have used the text to speech feature or just had Siri take care of the Tweet on His behalf. I’m going to guess Jesus would have used technology to His advantage if He had had it back in His day. I don’t want to have too much fun with this thought because it is such a serious moment in Jesus life.

When Jesus sends this message out…I think He literally dies in the next 1 to 2 minutes after saying one more thing. His last statement/tweet will be covered in tomorrow’s blog post.

So what did He mean with this message. “I am thirsty.” The simplest idea is just what it is. He was just stating a fact. He was dehydrated. He had been through a living Hell in the last 18 hours. Sheer humiliation, degradation and torture. A simple drink might have given Him just a bit of comfort. But I don’t think this is what Jesus meant by saying “I am thirsty.” Jesus is all knowing…He knew He was a minute or 2 away from death and that a literal drink of water would have been worthless.

Another idea is that Jesus was so focused on the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament that He was fulfilling another prophecy to help others down the road be able validate Him as Messiah by how many prophecies about the Messiah Jesus actually fulfilled. By the way, there are more than 300 prophecies that were written about a coming Messiah thousands of years before Jesus ever walked the earth. Jesus fulfilled everyone of them. One of those prophecies is found in Psalm 69:21 “for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” So when Jesus says, “I am Thirsty,” you can read the rest of the story, the soldiers actually offered him a drink that had vinegar in it. So, this could be a reason why Jesus sent out the message of “I am thirsty.” Just a little way to prove He is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
But I think I have a better idea.

Remember the story of the Samaritan Woman at the well? If you do not, you can read the whole story in John Chapter 4 of the Bible. There is a critical thing Jesus says to this Samaritan woman on that hot day. I’ll put some of the story right here, but to read the whole story just read John 4.

JOHN 4:7-15 is as follows…(I removed some sections that aren’t pertinent to my point to save space)
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 9 The 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.)10 Jesus 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? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

This story reveals a lot about Jesus. He had such a confidence about Him, but was never arrogant. He was very direct, but never offended secure people. The woman at the well must have been secure, she sure pushed back on Jesus. It seems like this back and forth banter between the two had a bit of intensity to it. (I would have loved to have been there to witness this conversation.)

Anyway…Jesus basically is saying to the woman. “I am living water.” Accept what I want to give you and you will never THIRST again. Jesus was saying…as other passages in the Bible say…that He is the ultimate way to fulfillment. What is true fulfillment? To be close to God the Father.

Think about it…if you are really close with God the Father. He is in your presence every moment of every day. What do you lack? Nothing. For in the closeness of God, you recognize that nothing else satisfies. God is the ultimate fulfillment. Be tight with God and you will “thirst” for nothing.

So Jesus is hanging on the cross. This is his 6th of 8 tweets that He sends FROM THE CROSS. Tweet #11 that we covered yesterday said, “My God, My God, why have you ABANDONED me?”

So in real time…as Jesus tweets, “I am Thirsty,” it was only moments after He cried out the question of why God abandoned Him.

For the very first time in Jesus’ existence (Jesus has always existed, He was NOT created…Jesus has been with God in eternity for ever.) So…for the very first time EVER…Jesus finds Himself away from His Father…utterly alone. Jesus says to the woman at the well, if you are close to the Father, you will never thirst again!”

So…all alone…on the Cross…carrying the sins of everyone including yours and mine…seconds from Death…difficult to breath…the only way He could truly communicate what He was experiencing was to say, “I am Thirsty.” (If you don’t understand why Jesus was all alone because God HAD to abandon Him, go back to “RT@JesusChrist #11…I explain it there.)

Another passage in the Scripture comes to mind as I think about a lack of God and thirst being the same thing. Psalm 41:1-2 says this, “As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God.”

Are you Thirsty?

Is it fair for me to say that when you have times of coveting (wanting what others have) you are thirsting for something deeper than stuff? When you find yourself wanting a bunch of things, consumed by materialism, keeping up with the Jones’, greed, etc…is it possible you have drifted from God and are “thirsty?” When you find yourself grasping and fighting for attention, love, positional power…I think its because you have drifted from God and you acting out of being “thirsty.” The solution is in Jesus Christ and drawing close to Him, remembering what He did for you, remembering that the Lord is the one who defines you and fulfills you. Not things of this world. Don’t confuse your thirst.

What have you found yourself day dreaming about lately? Day dreaming about something is not necessarily wrong. But what if you start placing your hopes and happiness based off of things you want. (If I only had “_________________” THEN I would be happy.)

If you have been thinking that lately about things other than God…You may as well be saying, “I am thirsty.”

So what is the answer?
Do you need to get close to God again or for the first time?
Do you need to commit to a local Christian church where you are taught the Word of God and challenged to be Holy?
Do you need to start reading God’s Word on a daily basis? (God’s Word is The Holy Bible…only.)
Is there a habit/sin that is keeping God from drawing close to you because your sin is keeping you away from Him? (Read 1 John 1:9)
Can you think of anything right now that you need to change to be more like Jesus Christ?

Make a commitment today to change it. Tell somebody you trust that you are going to change. Choose to be Holy. Nobody else will make this change for you.
If you need to, I hope you will make the change. If you do not make the change…You might spend the rest of your life…

THIRSTY.
How may I help you?

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