Month: July 2018

Jesus’ Biography

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bioheaderI want my life to be a biography of who Jesus is.

We are called to be salt and light, to be Jesus to the world, living as He would. We are called to love others as He loved them, to see them as He saw them and to treat them as we would want to be treated. Jesus called and equipped us, through the power of the Holy Spirit to be a reflection of Him.

I sometimes miss that; in my quest to be better, I miss that I’m not just supposed to be better, I’m supposed to reflect Him. Being ‘better’ is a relative concept, better than what, better than who? Being like Jesus is NOT relative it is constant, relevant and real.

Peter tells us that we have been given everything for life and godliness. If that is indeed true, then what am I doing?

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:3-4

I once compared our relationship with Jesus to that of a writer trying to pen a biography of a famous person. It’s not something you can do without study. Reading everything about them, what they wrote themselves, talking with people who knew them personally, how can you write about someone you don’t have an intimate knowledge of or relationship with? Our relationship with Jesus is the same, so often we go out into the world with a very tertiary knowledge of our Savior and we try to share Him with others and when questioned, on some very basic tenets, we falter because we aren’t firm in our knowledge of and relationship with Him. If we are to reflect Jesus, we need to have a relationship with Him.

I am no longer content to just ‘know’ Jesus. I want my life to be a living testimony to who He is! I don’t want to quote scripture as an ancient text that provides answers but as the living breathing Word of my Father and Savior; Words that grant freedom, Words full of love and mercy, Words that transcend letters on a page, Words that save, heal and loose. Words that penetrate my heart to its deepest core, and drive me to love and action.

I have been given everything that I need for a godly life through my knowledge of Him who called me by His own glory and goodness… EVERYTHING.

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48

I believe that God has given me what I need to be a perfect reflection of Him.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Romans 12:1-2

I can only imagine what you are thinking, I know what I’d be thinking…I can’t be perfect. Well, if that is what you think, you’re probably right. I chose to believe what my Father in Heaven has told me, He has given me everything I need to be a perfect reflection of His Son. It won’t happen overnight, it will take time. I will continue to get to know Jesus through studying the scriptures, prayer, fellowship, discipleship and worship. I will ask the Holy Spirit to guide my actions and my words, I will ask Jesus to change my heart to be more like His. I will fall, (hopefully forward) I will fail, I will forgive and be forgiven. I will be confident in the knowledge that it is possible for me to be a perfect reflection of Jesus in this world.

I chose to give Him everything I am, I have, I can be, and know that He will continue to show me the person He has always seen me to be.

I’d love to hear from you. Come back and visit at “Connectthedotblog”.

As you have believed, so let it be done…

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Lent Lenten Sermon Roman Centurion Soldiers Jesus Christ Christian Confessional LCMS Lutheran_zpsj8ppveigWhen Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” Matthew 8:10

Jesus was amazed by what He just heard. A centurion, and in case you didn’t know that means a Roman, not just any Roman, a Roman soldier, a commander in fact, had shown more faith than ‘anyone in Israel’. Yes, a Roman military commander just approached Jesus and asked Him to heal his servant.

I want to provide you a little context, the Romans were the occupying force in Judea at the time. They were not liked, they knew they were not liked. The Jews of the time considered the Romans beneath them. When at all possible the avoided contact of any kind.  The Romans were significantly outnumbered in Judea however, possessed the most technologically advanced and well-trained military in the world. A Roman centurion was proven on the battlefield, and as such, put in command of 100 soldiers, men who were there to subdue the population, by force if necessary. The centurion who approached Jesus was just such a man.

Along comes Jesus, He heals the sick and the broken, causes the blind to see and the lame to walk. His fame had been spreading across Judea to the point that a Roman centurion heard what He could do, was doing for the most unlikely and unlikable people. So, one of the most disliked men in Judea approached Jesus and asks for help.

I am ALWAYS struck by who Jesus reaches out to, who He calls, who He heals. It’s NOT the elite (Paul being the exception), it’s the least, the lost and the unlikely. In the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus says He came to heal the sick not the well. Jesus came to those that were rejected, despised and considered unclean. He came to those who had nowhere else to turn, but they had hope.

They flocked to Him, they surrounded Him, they broke through roofs to get to Him. What He had was all they wanted. A Samaritan woman, a tax collector, a leper, the possessed and the dead, if Jesus could heal them, why not a Roman servant? So, the centurion went, knowing the hatred these people felt for him, knowing he would probably be sent away but, he wasn’t. Jesus was going to come to his home.

I can only imagine what that centurion thought, “what, wait… you’ll help?” However, the centurion also knew that asking Jesus into his home could open up a whole can of problems not just for himself but for Jesus as well.

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” Matthew 8: 8-9

Jesus was AMAZED by the faith of this centurion. He understood who Jesus was and what He could do. His belief in Jesus saved his servant.

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment. Matthew 8:13

A Roman Centurion, the most unlikely of candidates for Jesus mercy but, is he really that unlikely considering who Jesus is? Jesus doesn’t make the distinction; Roman, Jew, adulterer, drug addict, thief, lonely, disabled, downtrodden, abused and unloved…Jesus answered the request of a Roman soldier, one possibly responsible for the death of Jewish people, is there anything that can keep us from the love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ?

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:38-39

NOTHING!

I’d love to hear from you. Come back and visit at “Connectthedotblog”.

 

Salt Free Seasoning…why?

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salt substitute“Therefore, salt is good; but if salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? “It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 13:34-35

Salt is the seasoning of life. Salt enhances flavor, dries and preserves food, salt is everywhere. In the Old Testament, salt was regarded as a necessary ingredient of daily food and as such a required part of all sacrifices offered to God (Lev 2:15). As Christians we are called to be the salt of the earth, to bring the flavor of Jesus to a tasteless world.

Think about it, we spend so much time, energy and money trying to find meaning, and purpose in our lives (flavor). We are constantly making substitutions for the real thing. We look for satisfaction in relationships, entertainment, careers, possessions and substances but we never find true fulfillment in them.

I remember when my father was told he needed to cut back on his salt intake. This was not a pleasant conversation to have with my dad because this man LOVES salt! He loves salt as much as I do. My mom had to get very creative with alternate ways of seasoning food. Our table had ‘salt alternative’ in the shaker (yuck), she used a LOT of garlic and onion and then she discovered Mrs. Dash Salt Free Seasoning. Man were we excited. It was so colorful, so well advertised, packaged beautifully and man on man did it look good on your food…it wasn’t salt.

I recall my dad saying how he liked it, that it made the food taste great, very flavorful. He put on a good face and utilized all the flavor alternatives that were presented to him, although I have to say the salt alternative was terrible. Even Mrs. Dash didn’t cut it…dad still wanted salt.

It’s really amazing to me that this is how so many people go through life, substituting anything and everything for what will truly fill them, fulfill them, restore them, and make them whole. If we are truly to be the salt of the earth, to bring Jesus to the world, then we need to be just that. Not a salt alternative, not a salt substitute… the real salty deal.

Salt is an enduring mineral that can’t spoil. We are to be the same to the world. Salt and light; flavor and good news, one can’t be separated from the other. The world is full of all kinds of ‘alternatives’ to what will truly satisfy. The word alternative has its roots in medieval Latin alternativus, meaning ‘purporting to be a superior choice to what is in general use.’ I can tell you from first hand experience, Mrs. Dash is not superior to salt, nor are worldly alternatives superior to Jesus.

If you want to enjoy all that life has for you, to be whole, restored and complete, don’t turn to an alternative that is ‘reported’ to be a superior choice, go to the truly superior choice, the only choice, Jesus!

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,  he[c] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” Ephesians 1:7-10

I’d love to hear from you. Come back and visit at “Connectthedotblog”.

Freedom from not Freedom to…

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It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened  by a yolk of slavery. Galatians 5:1

What does it mean to be free? Jesus speaks frequently in the Gospels of the freedom He brings, but what does that mean to us today? Free from what, free from whom? The Bible tells us we are free from sin, we are free from the result of sin which is death. We are free to live in a way that gives glory to God.

The simplest way for me to state this is we are free…to live! I am free to speak the truth (in love always), I am free to make decisions that will bring my spirit joy, not my flesh. I am free to live without the constraints that hold me hostage; fear, anxiety, worry, jealousy, hate, judgement, lust. These things cause my soul to hurt, the restrain me to a way of thinking that is both self-perpetuating and self-destructive.

Have you noticed when you allow these thoughts to take you hostage, to encourage sinful behavior, you feel trapped. You feel guilt, you want to hide what you thought, what you did in a hope that no one will see and God won’t notice. Yea right…like He won’t notice! But still we try to hide what we’ve done, which encourages dishonesty, anxiety, worry, and the cycle continues. This is how you are held in bondage.

Christ died to free us from this. We have already been forgiven! We have been freed from this cycle, we can chose to turn toward Christ and live in a manner that doesn’t lead us down this wide windy road to death. We have been freed to not live by the tenets and precepts of this world.

We don’t have to strive to achieve what the world tells us to. We are free to love and care for people. We are free to put our families first, we are free to be happy with what we have, regardless of what others have.

Romans 5:8 tells us, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

While we were still sinners, striving to achieve a world view expectation of who we should be and what we should want, Christ went to the cross with the image of our face in His heart.

The freedom that Christ bought with his sacrifice makes me want to enjoy every blessing He has to offer, not to waste a moment. We have freedom chose life over death…what will you do with it?

I’d love to hear from you. Come back and visit at “Connectthedotblog”.