Tag: believe

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God chooses outliers.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

”The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Just to be transparent. These exact verses came up a year ago, but I have recently been in a sermon series called, “Stepping into God’s Story,” so I’ve been marinating in Abram’s call all week. I’m copying over some discoveries from my notes, because it is absolutely fascinating to see how God chooses and who He chooses to allow them to partner with Him to save humanity. Here’s what we know about Abram…

▫️His dad was an idol worshiper. The Bible confirms that his father, Terah, was an idolater, worshiping other gods (Joshua 24:2)
▫️ He was considered to be a pagan, a non-God or multi-god believer.
▫️ God pursues him, speaking to him, promises are made.
▫️ At 75 years old – he listens, believes, and obeys God.
▫️ Abram was wealthy.
▫️ Sarai was stunningly beautiful, but barren, she could not have children.

And even though God reminds Abram several times that He will keep His promises, Abram still has a lot of questions. He BELIEVES, but tries to figure out how the promise could be fulfilled because he and Sarai were barren and old! Abram asks God how it will happen!

Maybe you were taught or believed that you could not ask God questions. Maybe you were taught that questions equal doubt or disbelief. I am here to tell you – that’s just not true. Here we have the most famous, ancient patriarch of Judaism asking God a lot of questions! Now, I realize, God did not answer him with specifics, but continued to reinforce His promise and His ability to fulfill that promise. It’s almost a comical dance that takes place when Abram asks about his future kids, God says “look at the stars, count them – that’s how many kids you’ll have.” God didn’t give details He gave an object lesson in truth and trust! Isn’t that beautifully FRUSTRATING! We want details, God just says, “TRUST ME.” Faith over form! Let God handle the details. Thats hard for us as “checklist,” scheduled, calendared people! We want to control the details and the timeline, but that is not our job. Our job is to believe and obey!

Abram and Sarai get themselves in the biggest mess by trying to circumvent or help God with His plans! Sarai gets weary of waiting, gives up on God’s plan, and makes her own. She convinces Abram to use their slave girl as a surrogate to produce an heir. The Ishmael/Isaac story is one of the most famous feudal fiascos of all time! And, we are STILL paying the price for that decision thousands of years ago.

A couple of things we can learn from all this: 1. God often chooses the least likely people to accomplish His purposes. Maybe God is calling you to listen, obey and follow, no matter where He leads. 2. God makes and keeps His promises. Through the Holy Spirit, God wants us to listen for His voice, His leading. God wants us to believe and have faith in Him. God wants us to obey and follow him, even if no one else does.

Prayer

God,
As I read Your living Word, sometimes I have to remind myself that life is, or can be, very simple. By listening, believing and obeying – it becomes so uncomplicated. Not easy, but simple. Faith is difficult but also very freeing. Looking back on my life I know this to be true because you chose me – the outlier, the underdog, the underperforming nobody. This alone brings gratefulness and joy. It brings a humble confidence, not at all in myself, but in you. It also has me convinced, if you can do this wondrous work in my life, you can do it through anyone! It has not been easy, but it has been good, because you are good. Amen.

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A commander who knows about authority.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.” Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭5‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

First of all — SHOCKER — a military officer, a government sponsored individual is comfortable approaching Jesus and asking for help in an area of specific expertise! The unnamed centurion knows a lot about life and men, command and crowd control, war, loss and death. But one thing he is not good at… healing and miracles. Leaders know they don’t have to know everything. They just need to know one person that knows about things they don’t!

As a man who was required to track the stories and the “word on the street,” this commander had heard about Jesus and knew when he was in town. I just think it’s ironic that this centurion’s job was to know things and get things done. But, this rough, tough, seasoned soldier had something else greater than his ability to command. He had compassion. Isn’t it interesting that a Roman Centurion and Jesus could have something in common? The commander had compassion for the servant in his care. He had a heart. The officer approached Jesus not with a order, nor with power, but with a plea.

Strangely he knew his own way of life, although prestigious among his peers, was not the same quality of life as the rabbi. He told Jesus not to come because he wasn’t worthy of having him in his home. The centurion then tells Jesus, “just say the word,” and gives Jesus a quick summary on how authority works in his profession.

Ah, but isn’t something else happening at the same time? The commander knew about commands and authority, but apparently he also had something else that impressed Jesus. The Roman, the Gentile had faith! Not just a little faith – BIG faith. Jesus said, “I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” Hmmm, compassion, faith… sounds like this man was showing signs of believing that Jesus is who he said he was – God. What happened to the commander’s young servant? Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” “And the young servant was healed that same hour.”

I am also impressed with this Centurion. He understood authority, possessed compassion and exercised faith. There are so many people around us that may seem intimidating because of fame or fortune, power or prestige. Can I remind you that they could very well be on this journey of believing in Jesus. And, you may just be the one they approach with a question or a plea. Maybe it’s a need outside their ability to fix themselves? Do we have faith that God can heal, save or restore? I do. Will we be ready to believe for them?

Prayer

Dad,
You are such a big God with big power to restore human lives to yourself. Sooner or later folks will come up against something difficult that is way bigger than their ability to fix. And you will be there waiting to hear, to heal, to forgive and even to fix their lives. I just want a small piece of that action! A small bit-part that listens, has faith and helps connect them to you.

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Simply BELIEVE.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬-‭22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus was tempted, went home for a bit, then headed to Galilee, fulfilling another one of Isaiah’s (Isa 9:1-2) prophetic words about the messiah. Matthew was tracking his movements.

Then he immediately began his mission, preaching repentance and the coming Kingdom of God. But Jesus did not do this alone, he quickly enlisted a team around him. Four fishermen (Peter, Andrew, Big James and John) right there on the shores of Galilee. The rest of the twelve, Thomas, Nathaniel and Philip may have also worked as fishermen. Matthew was a tax collector, a Jewish sell-out working for Rome. Simon was a revolutionary, maybe a secret political terrorist of sorts. Judas may have been an accountant, but was know for thievery (John said he stole from their own ministry account Jn 12:6) and little James and Jude (no occupation mentioned).

The point is, Jesus specifically went after twelve. It is said that 70 followed, 12 were discipled but only 3 were mentored. Jesus spent a lot of time with the 12, but pulled the 3 aside to reveal/expose to them the heart and mission of what He was called to do. They were eye witnesses and STILL had doubts, fears and struggles. They lived with, ate with, travelled with Jesus and still had difficulty reconciling their faith with what they were experiencing! The twelve were first experiencers and responders and doubters all at the same time.

Jesus said something profound to Thomas AFTER his resurrection, after coming back from the dead. Thomas watched Jesus live, watched him die and physically stood in front of him after his resurrection and was forever tagged with the nickname, “the doubter!” Are you kidding, every single one of those who gathered after the resurrection were doubters until they saw Jesus with their own eyes! Jesus told Thomas the shocking truth. Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” John‬ ‭20‬:‭29‬. That’s us folks! We are the believers WITHOUT seeing what Jesus closest friends and family experienced. Why? Because in very much God’s way, he has come to each one of us as individuals and called us out – out of darkness into light. Out of slavery into freedom. Out of professions and a past into a purpose and a task. We have seen because Jesus has shown himself to us and we believe and declare just like Thomas and the others, “my Lord and my God!” It is by faith we believe and we are happy (blessed) because of it. Come in closer than the seventy. Come in closer still, more than than the twelve. Come into to be mentored by Jesus and let him reveal and expose his mission to you and through you!

Prayer

Dad,
I believe. I am blessed because I have not physically stood before Jesus and thrust my hands in his hands and side. I am blessed because you made yourself real to me and that experience changed me forever. That moment is undeniable. I don’t care what happens in all the nonsense of religiosity and polity of Church. I don’t care about the controversies surrounding the famous platform pastors and the heresy wars among the christian elite. I don’t care about the cultural lies and subterfuge suppression of truth. I know what I know because you showed yourself to me, bid me to come, called me to your mission and I BELIEVE!

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Who rudely interrupts a funeral and tells a widow to stop crying?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Luke‬ ‭7:13-15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​How rude for Jesus to tell this grieving widow – WIDOW, “don’t cry.” Does Jesus not have an awareness of what she has lost, what she has been through. And who is he to tell her what she can or can’t do with her feelings. Jesus must have been displaying some kind of patriarchal control over this woman and she shouldn’t put up with it. Did he not have any respect for her journey, or her present situation? I’m surprised that one of the women, if not the widow herself, didn’t stop the well-intentioned Rabbi and say, “excuse me, you don’t know me or my boy. Who are you to tell me not to cry?”

Oh, that’s not how you read the story? This is where we find ourselves today with an over-inflated sense of self and a misperception of gender identity and interactions.

Luke writes that Jesus was in fact OVERFULL with compassion. The scene, the circumstances and the grief of this woman and friends surrounding her were loaded with deep emotion. If Jesus did not know what was going to happen next or did not have the power to change the direction of the procession coming out to bury this young man – it might have seemed very rude to tell a grieving widow, “don’t cry.”

Also, my curious brain wants to know, did Jesus have full access to his real nature, being fully God to the point that he knew the beginning and the end of every person in the funeral procession? Or did he self-limit that knowledge and in his fully human capacity depend completely on the voice of the Holy Spirit to speak to the dead and tell it to get up?

Jesus really took a risk as well. Luke says he touched the “soros”, the open coffin! There are rules about touching dead things or even being around them. What exactly are the rules for having contact with the resurrected dead?

When I was a new believer I worked for a flower shop and delivered flowers all over town. One my duties was to deliver flowers to funerals. I was told it was my responsibility to pin a boutonniere on the deceased while he lay in the coffin. As a teenager, I didn’t want to see or be around a dead body. It seemed super creepy. The funeral was held in our local senior citizen community called “Leisure World.” Yeah I thought it was a strange euphemism for old people housing as well. When I arrived early at the church to deliver the flowers and fulfill my delivery boy duties, I had this overwhelming sense of spiritual curiosity. I kept thinking, “What would happen if I walked up to the casket and commanded the man to get up?” I was new to Christianity and hadn’t been told I couldn’t or wasn’t supposed to think like that or certainly DO something crazy like that either. Granted, I was NOT moved by compassion. I was moved by a new believer’s curiosity. I have talked with a few Pastors who have had similar experiences asking, “what if” or “should I?”

Do you wonder about such things? When you see grief, or suffering. When you see torment and oppression. Do you feel something rise up within you and to want to say, “get up, be healed or get out to a demon?” Okay, maybe not. Maybe it’s just me. Ok, one more question. Do you ever wonder what the world would be like if believers DID the things Jesus did? Raising the dead, healing the sick, kicking demons back to hell?

I’ve buried children in little caskets. I’ve walked the childrens’ hospitals hallways. I’ve driven down Main St in Santa Ana and seen demonic possession. I wonder, if not out of compassion, but even out of frustration, if I’ll ACT on those thoughts and DO what Jesus did – raise, heal, deliver.

You know what, it’s not that I don’t believe it could be possible. It’s that I believe I’ll look so foolish if it fails, feeling like I FAILED.

Where did Jesus get the cojones to do such things? Yeah, it’s so sunday-school just to say, “God.” Because, God wants us to live in this world and BE like Jesus to the grieving, sick, even possessed! But I don’t. We don’t. What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with us?

PRAYER:

Dad,
How do I get my life, my behaviors, my actions to truly reflect what I believe? I see the pain in my city, in my neighbors, but I just don’t think I’m enough. I’ve got my own sins, my own struggles and I hate looking stupid as well. Clearly, I’m missing something. Can you help me figure this out?