Without the Power!

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News about Jesus kept spreading. Large crowds came to listen to him teach and to be healed of their diseases. But Jesus would often go to some place where he could be alone and pray.

Luke 5:15-16

Have you ever been terribly disappointed by the food in an otherwise perfect restaurant? The atmosphere was right, the service was unsurpassed, the prices were great, but the food was not good. In fact, the food was awful! That eating place will provide you with a memorable first visit, but you probably will never go back and try it again.

Large crowds of people came to Jesus to hear His teaching, but also to be healed. If Jesus taught but did not heal how successful do you think He would have been? The large crowds would have quickly dwindled into only a few who would go out to hear Jesus proclaim the Good News!

You may have the message so perfectly honed that you can deliver it in mere moments. But if there is no hard evidence of the power of God in your life the Good News will be filed in the "Nice Words" drawer.

How did Jesus touch the power of God? I believe it was when He was alone in prayer. There is no record of a "Prayer Meeting" with Jesus in their midst. It is moving to hear the prayers of other believers and of course it strengthens my faith. But, hearing God's answer to my prayers as He speaks to my heart is far more empowering.

Many followers of Jesus and even some churches are like a five star restaurant with bad food. All of the externals are there, but the power of God is not among them!

The only way to change that picture is to spend time alone in prayer!

Follow Jesus in the Valley!

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“The Lord’s Spirit
has come to me,
because he has chosen me
to tell the good news
to the poor.
The Lord has sent me
to announce freedom
for prisoners,
to give sight to the blind,
to free everyone
who suffers,

and to say, ‘This is the year
the Lord has chosen.’ ”

Luke 4:18-19

Jesus read these words from the Book of Isaiah and then claimed that He was the one Isaiah was talking about. Jesus did everything that God planned for Him to do while He was here on this earth. There was not a day when Jesus got ready to sleep and pondered the "regrets of the day." Jesus was not a robot, He simply made the right choice every time He was presented with options and opportunities.

As I live my life today and strive to be like Jesus, avoiding sin is only step number one. Of course, I cannot sin and be like Jesus at the same time, but there is more. To be like Jesus is to make every choice of the day according to the will of God. Ask yourself, what is God's will that I do, or say, or think in this situation? Truly being like Jesus involves the mundane moments as much as the times of elation and glory!`

The question is not "what would Jesus do." The question is: "What is the Holy Spirit leading me to do, think or say at this moment?"

If you only do the Will of God on the mountain peaks of life, you will be a very sad follower of Jesus. If you learn to follow Jesus in the valley, the mountain tops will be easy!

Deserted by God!

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About noon the sky turned dark and stayed that way until around three o’clock. Then about that time Jesus shouted, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you deserted me?”

Mark 15:33-34

In the darkest hour for Jesus, as He hung on the Cross, He yelled at God about being forsaken. So if I am to be like Jesus I may indeed feel like God has deserted me in the middle of my darkest hour, as I bear the cross He has given to me.

Jesus lived with a continual sense of the presence of God in His life. He was aware of the Father all of the time until He came to that moment on the Cross. So for Jesus, not feeling the closeness of God was shocking.

I believe that Jesus was feeling the separation from God that we feel when we sin. Jesus did not sin, but He died for the sins of the whole world. Jesus died because of sin and God turned His back on Jesus as He does on all sin. God does not fellowship with sin. The most apparent impact of repentance in your life is that you once again feel the presence of God.

If you don't feel the presence of God in the middle of your cross, it does not mean that you are embracing some sin in your life. It may simply mean that God is allowing you to become through that experience more like Jesus.

So when you feel like God has deserted you, check to see if there is sin in your life that God is refusing to fellowship. But if that is not the case, then cherish that suffering as another way to become more like Jesus!

Jesus Will Always Remember the Nails!

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They nailed Jesus to a cross and gambled to see who would get his clothes.  It was about nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed him to the cross.

Mark 15:24-25

It was about five o'clock last evening that I stepped on a nail shaped piece of metal and pushed it into my foot more than an inch. It came close to going all the way through. I am a believer that every experience in life, including the very unpleasant ones helps me make sense of life itself and especially of Jesus.

Off and on over my now 65 years I have sincerely wanted to be like Jesus. I want to speak like Jesus, trust the Father as Jesus did, see God's power unleashed in my wake as I walk in faith, and generally come to understand Jesus as I live my life. I never thought that part of that could be impaling my foot on a large nail-like spike!

When I stepped back and put my foot down on the spike it poked a hole in my new eight dollar rubber shoes. Then I could feel it going into my foot. Amazingly, I do not remember feeling any pain when it went in. But when I attempted to take my foot off of it and could not, I began to frantically call for my wife. She stepped on the rest of it while I tried to pull it out. After several frustrating and painful attempts my foot came free from the rusty spike.

As I write this I am less than 12 hours into the ordeal and experiencing more pain that I expected.

Here is the bottom line. Being like Jesus is not just the sweet, loving and beautiful stuff. Being like Jesus includes the incarnation where He humbled Himself and lived among us, and being like Jesus includes unexpected and unwelcomed pain, both physical and emotional.

If all goes well as my foot heals, the pain will go away and I will be able to walk once again without assistance, but I will always remember feeling that spike go into my foot! Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven and His wounds have healed, but Jesus will always remember those nails going into His hands and feet! But when Jesus was nailed to the Cross, it was not an accident!

Air Support from God!

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Israel, no other god
is like ours—
the clouds are his chariot
as he rides across the skies
to come and help us.

The eternal God
is our hiding place;
he carries us in his arms.
When God tells you
to destroy your enemies,
he will make them run.

Deuteronomy 33:26-27

One vivid memory I have of September 11, 2001 is that after the attacks there were no airplanes in the skies of the United States for at least the rest of that day. You could look up and see no jet trails. Airport landing strips busily received all the planes in the air and then there were none.

One of the overwhelming strengths of the United States military is its ability to provide "air support" for troops on the ground. When soldiers are outnumbered and even out gunned, one heavily armed attack helicopter can quickly change the odds dramatically. If fighters on the ground call for air support and the request is denied the results may be tragic.

When you are fighting on the ground and you see no evidence of air support it can be frightening and even fatal.

As soldiers of Jesus Christ involved in the Battle of the Ages against principalities and the powers of Satan, we must always look to the skies for AIR SUPPORT from God Himself. God rides across the skies to come and help us! When you are discouraged, attacked and tempted call for AIR SUPPORT from God!

And when you call for help from God, He is never late, never out of ammunition and never defeated by the Enemy!

When you call on God for help make sure that you are fighting for God and not against Him!

Now is the Time of Worship!

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“The Lord told Moses to say to the people of Israel:
Offer sacrifices to me at the appointed times of worship, so that I will smell the smoke and be pleased.”

Numbers 28:1-2

What time does your church gather for worship? The standard Sunday morning hour, at least in the United States is 11 AM. When someone is not able to be there on Sunday morning they might say, "I wasn't able to worship this week." Even some, maybe many who sit in the pews on Sunday morning do not worship God while they are there.

My dictionary defines worship as it relates to God and to other men. I think we have petrified our worship of God into a ritual action or a set of words that we say, and call it worship. However the definition of worship when it comes to other men may still have the living meaning.

Worship: "To love, admire, or respect somebody or something greatly and perhaps excessively or unquestioningly."

When you worship God according to that definition, worship regains it vitality and reality.

The time to worship God is every minute of everyday, including while you sleep.

Here is a worship challenge: As you wait for the return of Jesus, worship Him excessively! Be the one who is truly guilty of being so Heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good! God will be blessed!

God is the Guardrail!

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“Offer praise to God our Savior because of our Lord Jesus Christ! Only God can keep you from falling and make you pure and joyful in his glorious presence. Before time began and now and forevermore, God is worthy of glory, honor, power, and authority. Amen.”

Jude 1:24-25

I am afraid of heights because I know that if I stand on the edge of a cliff without a guardrail, long enough I will make a misstep and fall. All it takes is one second of inattention and I am tumbling to my destruction! Guardrails are my friend. Without a guardrail I must stay far away from the edge!

In the deeper reality of life itself, God is the guardrail. Without God and His protection and intervention in your life you will fall to your destruction. It is not that most men will fall. The Bible clearly says that "all" have sinned and fallen short of God's Glory.

If you are playing on the edge of life, believing that you will not fall, you are tragically mistaken. Of all the people who have ever lived only one Man has lived this life without sin! All the others fell off of the cliff. That Man is Jesus.

Here is the deal. You can trust yourself and join the rest of fallen humanity for an eternity of suffering, or you can trust Jesus Christ and be lifted to the heights of Heaven forever!

It is the deal of a lifetime, but the second you leave this life, your fate is sealed. And don't forget, since God is the guardrail you can safely lean on Him!