Who is Jesus?

14 I hope to come to you quickly. But I’m writing these things to you so that 15 if I’m delayed, you’ll know how you should behave in God’s household. It is the church of the living God and the backbone and support of the truth. 16 Without question, the mystery of godliness is great: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached throughout the nations, believed in around the world, and taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:14-16, CEB)

This is a great Reader’s Digest version of who Jesus is: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached throughout the nations, believed in around the world, and taken up in glory.

He was born as a human, made righteous by the Spirit at His baptism, revealed through declaration before us and through us and after us, and taken back into glory, to come again for all of us.

So we can all go and share His love.

Love People, Love God.

What we know

This is why it’s necessary for us to pay more attention to what we have heard, or else we may drift away from it. 2 If the message that was spoken by angels was reliable, and every offense and act of disobedience received an appropriate consequence, 3 how will we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? It was first announced through the Lord, and then it was confirmed by those who heard him. 4 God also vouched for their message with signs, amazing things, various miracles, and gifts from the Holy Spirit, which were handed out the way he wanted. (Hebrews 2:1-4, CEB)

What we have heard or been taught is important to our understanding of who we are in Christ.

Yet I also remember the my Old Testament Professor in seminary told us the very first day of class, “Everything you have learned is a lie and I’m going to teach you the truth.” Which also reminds me of the great line from the classic movie, Return of the Jedi, “What I told was the truth, from a certain point of view…”

We all come to everything from the point of view we are in, and that point of view is based on what we have learned and what we were taught as we grew. But here again we can not beat ourselves up for not knowing then what we know now, or be afraid to let go of what we learned because that was the best those who were teaching us could do for us. God helps us all to grow deeper in faith and following as we grow in age.

Always do you best to love as you go and give yourself space and others space to know that change is needed and has to happen.

Love People, Love God.

Hello my name is…

2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain where they were alone. He was transformed in front of them, 3 and his clothes were amazingly bright, brighter than if they had been bleached white. 4 Elijah and Moses appeared and were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here. Let’s make three shrines—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”6 He said this because he didn’t know how to respond, for the three of them were terrified. 7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice spoke from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!”8 Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Human One had risen from the dead. (Mark 9:2-9, CEB)

I always laugh when I first read this passage because I wonder how Peter knew it was Moses and Elijah. I assume they did not have pictures of them. I mean were they wearing name tags, Hellos my name is Moses, Hello my name is Elijah?

But then there is the weird thing that Peter says, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here. Let’s make three shrines—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” But really what would you have said if you were on a mountain top with Jesus, Moses, and Elijah? He was dumbfounded and at a loss for words. But here we see that it is ok to be in the midst of the recreation of the world and not understand it. I mean Peter, James and John saw some pretty amazing things, and yet none of them were to be found when Jesus was crucified, and Peter denied Jesus 3 times before his trial. We are in good company when we don’t get it.

So know your name and go and tell the world about Jesus and all He has done even when you may not understand it.

Love People. Love God.

wept over it

41 As Jesus came to the city and observed it, he wept over it. 42 He said, “If only you knew on this of all days the things that lead to peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 The time will come when your enemies will build fortifications around you, encircle you, and attack you from all sides. 44 They will crush you completely, you and the people within you. They won’t leave one stone on top of another within you, because you didn’t recognize the time of your gracious visit from God.” (Luke 19:41-44, CEB)

Have we missed it? Jesus says that our enemies will encircle us and destroy us because we didn’t recognize the time of our gracious visit from God. Did we miss it?

When has God visited us and we missed it?

When have we seen Jesus in the face of a stranger or a refuge or a homeless person and ignored them rather than helped them? When have we heard the call from a friend to help them and we had something else to do that was too important to change?

Is Jesus weeping over us as we miss the opportunity to do unto the least of these and unto Jesus?

Look for when Jesus comes to visit, because He is always coming to be with you.

Love People, Love God.

poured

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength because he considered me faithful. So he appointed me to ministry 13 even though I used to speak against him, attack his people, and I was proud. But I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and without faith. 14 Our Lord’s favor poured all over me along with the faithfulness and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 This saying is reliable and deserves full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I’m the biggest sinner of all. 16 But this is why I was shown mercy, so that Christ Jesus could show his endless patience to me first of all. So I’m an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life. 17 Now to the king of the ages, to the immortal, invisible, and only God, may honor and glory be given to him forever and always! Amen. 18 Timothy, my child, I’m giving you these instructions based on the prophecies that were once made about you. So if you follow them, you can wage a good war 19 because you have faith and a good conscience. Some people have ruined their faith because they refused to listen to their conscience, 20 such as Hymenaeus and Alexander. I’ve handed them over to Satan so that they can be taught not to speak against God. (1 Timothy 1:12-20, CEB)

Have you ever known someone one and then haven’t seen them for a while and when you see them again they are a completely different person? When I see people I graduated from high school with, who haven’t really been close to me and they find out that I am a pastor, they are a little taken aback. Not because I was some hellion in high school, I was a good kid, but not really the church going type. So it is a little weird to them. That is why we really can not judge people by their pasts, or who they were, because God changes hearts.

When God pours her favor over our lives we are changed and what we knew is no longer what we know or who we are. But we can not shame ourselves for what we were. We did the best we could with who we were then, and God changed us to be the person we were created to be.

Know God is constantly working on you and your life. And God loves you as you are becoming your perfect self.

So go into the world and share that love as you go.

Love People, Love God.

Smell like Christ

12 When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, the Lord gave me an opportunity to preach. 13 But I was worried because I couldn’t find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them and went on to Macedonia. 14 But thank God, who is always leading us around through Christ as if we were in a parade. He releases the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere through us. 15 We smell like the aroma of Christ’s offering to God, both to those who are being saved and to those who are on the road to destruction. 16 We smell like a contagious dead person to those who are dying, but we smell like the fountain of life to those who are being saved. Who is qualified for this kind of ministry? 17 We aren’t like so many people who hustle the word of God to make a profit. We are speaking through Christ in the presence of God, as those who are sincere and as those who are sent from God. (2 Corinthians 2:12-17, CEB)

We all smell like Christ!

Our lives give off the aroma of Jesus and we show the world who God is and how God loves us in everything we do.

None of us a good enough or qualified to do this, but we are honored to do this because Jesus loves us and equips us to do this.

So go and spread Christ’s smell!

Love People, Love God.

Crush Him

7 Jesus left with his disciples and went to the lake. A large crowd followed him because they had heard what he was doing. They were from Galilee, 8 Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the area surrounding Tyre and Sidon. 9 Jesus told his disciples to get a small boat ready for him so the crowd wouldn’t crush him. 10 He had healed so many people that everyone who was sick pushed forward so that they could touch him. 11 Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down at his feet and shouted, “You are God’s Son!”12 But he strictly ordered them not to reveal who he was. (Mark 3:7-12, CEB)

Jesus asked the disciples to get a boat ready so the crowd wouldn’t crush Him. You see people are so motivated by their own desires and needs that they will physically harm or kill others to get what we want even when it is the person we are trying to get it from.

Why are we wired in such a way that we look out for ourselves over others? We need to get over ourselves and know that the world doesn’t revolve around us.

We need to love as God loves us.

Love People, Love God.

Agree to disagree

36 Some time later, Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit all the brothers and sisters in every city where we preached the Lord’s word. Let’s see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them. 38 Paul insisted that they shouldn’t take him along, since he had deserted them in Pamphylia and hadn’t continued with them in their work. 39 Their argument became so intense that they went their separate ways. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. 40 Paul chose Silas and left, entrusted by the brothers and sisters to the Lord’s grace. 41 He traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15:36-41, CEB)

It seems like we have come to the point of saying we need to agree to disagree. While there are some things we can do this on and there are somethings we can not do this on, the above is something we can agree to disagree.

Paul and Barnabas were going back to the communities they helped see the love of Christ and started a worship community. Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark and Paul didn’t. This was more to Paul and Barnabas understanding of who John Mark is. Not that this is right but it doesn’t remove rights or privileges from John Mark.

We can not include people in our lives as long as we are not working to keep them down or not allow them to have justice.

We can agree to disagree on things that do not hold people in place of unjust means.

Share love.

Love People, Love God.

message of Hope

The same thing happened in Iconium. Paul and Barnabas entered the Jewish synagogue and spoke as they had before. As a result, a huge number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 However, the Jews who rejected the faith stirred up the Gentiles, poisoning their minds against the brothers. 3 Nevertheless, Paul and Barnabas stayed there for quite some time, confidently speaking about the Lord. And the Lord confirmed the word about his grace by the signs and wonders he enabled them to perform. 4 The people of the city were divided—some siding with the Jews, others with the Lord’s messengers. 5 Then some Gentiles and Jews, including their leaders, hatched a plot to mistreat and stone Paul and Barnabas. 6 When they learned of it, these two messengers fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding area, 7 where they continued to proclaim the good news. (Acts 14:1-7, CEB)

Even in the face of criticism Paul and Barnabas stayed and preached the message until they heard of a plot to be stoned did they leave.

Sometimes people will hear the message we bring with love and open ears and others will be stirred to hatred and not wanting to listen. Our mission is to share the good news and not make people hear or believe. There will be others behind us.

We are sharers of the message testifiers to Christ.

We do not change hearts, we bring good news.

So go every where and share the message of hope.

Love People, Love God.

Good News

29 After leaving the synagogue, Jesus, James, and John went home with Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they told Jesus about her at once. 31 He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she served them. 32 That evening, at sunset, people brought to Jesus those who were sick or demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered near the door. 34 He healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases, and he threw out many demons. But he didn’t let the demons speak, because they recognized him. 35 Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer. 36 Simon and those with him tracked him down. 37 When they found him, they told him, “Everyone’s looking for you!” 38 He replied, “Let’s head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too. That’s why I’ve come.” 39 He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and throwing out demons. (Mark 1:29-39, CEB)

Jesus came to preach good news to all. Healing is secondary.

Is healing secondary? As I typed that sentence, I thought of yesterdays healing on the Sabbath story and how healing is restoration to community. Healing is restoration to relationships. So healing isn’t secondary, but Jesus came to see the people and tell them about God’s love.

People wanted to see Jesus because of what they heard He was doing, not to hear him, but to be healed or have someone they love healed. Jesus came to tell the good news.

And the good news, restores relationships too.

Do you tell others about Jesus and the good news?

Are you going every day to love people, and love God?