Monthly Archives: November 2014

When God Talks…We Should Listen!! (Part 2)

God Loves You,

For details or context necessary from Part 1; see the below post….

The second time God spoke audibly was at Mount Hermon, or the “mount of transfiguration,” when He said…   Matt 17:5…“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” Again God expressed His unfailing and precious love for His Son as well as the pleasure enamored because of Him. Jesus was being transfigured or changed into another form. Some say Jesus’ appearance was changed to that of Christ and was resplendent with divine brightness. His immortal body was revealed in all of it’s splender. We will one day have bodies like this and I can’t wait. However, on this night, three disciples were fortunate enough to see it, but what exactly did they see?

Matt 17:3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” So check it out, they saw two men appear, talking with Jesus. Men that they’d only heard stories told about. Seeing Moses and Elijah for them would be like us seeing George Washington or the Apostle Paul (why did I choose these two; I have no idea) today having a conversation. We would immediately be smitten and we’d want to hear what they were saying as well as show them how appreciative we were for their contributions to our lives today. This is what I believe Peter was feeling in all of his excitement. He wanted to commemorate, what they were witnessing as he knew nobody would ever believe him when he’d tell. Peter failed to just sit and soak in the presence of Jesus and the miraculous event he was witnessing.

Check this out, Peter was in the midst of trying to do something good rather than receiving (remember Martha)… actions without direction…. God then cut Peter off and said this: Matt 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” The same thing He said before, even though the three disciples were there the first time. So why? Peter was distracted by all that was happening on mountain and had lost focus… Remember: Jesus is my Son and I am pleased with everything about Him. That was His message, but He went on to add something else… Hear Him!” God thought it was important to hear what His beloved Son had to say.

So what did Jesus have to say after God spoke… “Arise, and do not be afraid.” the Greek word Arise means to awaken from sleep, WAKE UP!!! (for my School Daze fans) Then He encouraged them to no longer be scared. Words we need to adhere to. The Church today needs to be reminded; Wake up from your deep sleep; stop being scared (we’ve got all the power and we know who wins). We often listen to smart, successful, humble and impressive people who are great leaders and have significant accomplishments. However, while it is great to get advice from these people, there is only one who God wants us to Hear from (listen too; comprehend) and that is Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus continued to speak and continues to talk to us all of the time.

I believe the key is in verse 8. The text says that When they had lifted up their eyes, our focus is on our situation, circumstance which are often our problems…these are all typically in low places, so we have to look up. What we know from scripture is that Ps 121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. Heb 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. When we look up, we can Hear Him! As a matter of fact, when all of the dust had settled they saw no one but Jesus only…And He is all we need.

When God Talks…Hear Him!!

….Up Next When God Talks…We Should Listen!! (Part3)

When God Talks…We Should Listen!! (Part 1)

God Loves You

Matt 3:17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

I preface this illustration as a kid born in the early 70’s. I recall a commercial for a brokerage company called EF Hutton, the company has since been bought and sold a few times and I believe is now a part of Citi Group. In the commercial, two business professionals would be engaged in conversation about advice given to them by their broker. The commercials always had the same ending with the professional who had EF Hutton as a broker was asked what his broker thought. Here take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6ua5xCOlhM (not responsible for any other media on youtube). So much weight was given to EF Hutton, that everyone would drop everything just to hear what valuable information was about to be revealed. The commercial was successful because it was very memorable and the company obviously lasted a long time.

So what does that have to do with the bible or with this verse??? Well, while everyone back in the 70’s really cared about what EF Hutton had to say, today very few seem to care about what God has to say. God speaks in many different ways to His children, but He spoke audibly on only 3 occasions in the New Testament. You would think that God would carry a lot more weight than a brokerage company and I want to share why we should be listening.

The first time God spoke audibly was at Jesus’ baptism; He wanted to world to know two things: Jesus was His beloved Son and everything about Jesus pleased Him. If you recall, John the Baptist was telling the world about the coming Lamb of God who would take away all the worlds sins. When Jesus showed up and was baptized by John, it was there that God spoke aloud about His Son. “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

God loves Jesus; every bit of Him, every part of Him; every inward part and everything associated with Him. Why is that important? Because when you understand how much God loves Jesus, it will help you understand just how much He loves you and I. You see as much as God loves Jesus, He was not willing to spare Him from suffering in order to demonstrate the love He has for us… John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. He SO loves us and He will never let us forget it!!!

He was also pleased with Jesus; the Hebrew word; (eujdokevw) actually means to take pleasure in, to be favorably inclined towards one. Layman’s terms…God takes great pleasure in His Son and He shows Him great favor. That sounds awesome don’t you wish God would feel the same way about you? Check this out, the Hebrew word “in” here in this text means in, by and with. So God is pleased with Jesus and everything in Jesus, everything done by Jesus and every one of us who are with Jesus. You should get with Jesus… back to God’s pleasure… Jesus and everything “in Him”

Nearly 90 times in the New Testament the words “in Him” (not in him) are used to express the things in Jesus Christ. Therefore, that which is in Christ also brings pleasure to God. 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. John 3:15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” If these verses are representative of your life then you are in great shape. However if not….let’s change that. NOW!!! Believe in Jesus and begin your new life “in Him.”

….Up Next When God Talks…We Should Listen!! (Part 2)

Never Doubt Your Father’s Love

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John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

This parenting thing is not all that easy, sometimes it’s really tough. It becomes even more difficult when you have multiple little ones. We’ve got three kids that are growing up so very fast. One thing I often think about is how it is impossible to treat them the same, after all they are little individuals who will grow to be their own anointed man/woman after God’s own heart. I write this because the other day we were prepping for dinner, it was chili, a family favorite. My wife dished out the meal and I was helping for a change and putting dinner out on the table. It was then that God showed me once again how much He loves us.

My boys are growing fast and eating even faster. Whether it’s breakfast or dinner they can always be found when during meal time, they get it from me I’m pretty sure. J This day was one of those times when I watched their eyes and attempted to jump into their minds to see what they are thinking. While putting the food before my youngest son (the middle child), I saw him looking closely at the bowls. You see my wife put just a little more chili in one of the boy’s bowls. The boys are about 17 months apart in age and pretty close in everything else, including serving sizes. I know that there are times when they need a little extra love, so that day I gave him the bowl with a little extra, however he didn’t notice. What he did notice was when I dished out the chips, I watched him as I shorted him on the chips and gave his older brother a few extra ones, compensating for the chili. I watched his eyes dim and look sharply at his brother then at his chips, finally his head dropped. I was now in his mind and I knew exactly what he was feeling.

You know this scripture, you’ve heard it a million times…..But it remains so powerful and true. God so loves you and me. But let’s face it sometimes our faith tends not to agree. It is often hard to believe it’s possible for God to love us all the same. Sometime others have more chili in their bowls. There are times when we feel that God loves others more than he loves us. I want you to know it’s not just you, it’s Satan. What??

Satan wants us to feel like he felt before God expelled him from Heaven (Isaiah 14:12; Rev 12). He was kicked out because he wanted to take over, but remember, he was the worship leader for God’s congregation. A devout follower of God and then one day he wasn’t. Now there is a “brother” that he feels God loves more. God seated us in very High Places (Ps 8:5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.) and now Satan is under our feet…. and it pisses him off. So he spends a majority of his time trying to make sure that “brother (us)” believe that we could never be fully loved by God, never fully forgiven. But that is a lie strait from his pit!!!

Back to the chili… Later that evening when my son and I were alone, I asked him about the situation and how it made him feel. Eventually he admitted that it made him feel like I loved his brother more than him. For the next few minutes I explained to him that I only gave his brother extra chips because he got extra chili. I told him, how special he was and how much I loved him, that I loved all of my children the same, but each very differently and why. I hugged him so tightly (he’s a hugger) and assured him that I loved him sooooooooooooooooooooo much.

Doesn’t God do that for us all of the time, constantly reassuring us of His love? Which is why I will never get tired of hearing “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Don’t you let Satan make you think God is like us! He can love us more than we could ever imagine, and He loves us all the same, but very differently. Jesus came and sacrificed so we would never have to question the awesome love of our Father. Enjoy it, it’s all yours.