Jesus Is A Warrior!

I Want to attack life like Jesus.....I want to live as He died....

From Isaiah 53.11-12 (MSG)...emphasis mine

Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly—
the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch,
because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
he took up the cause of all the black sheep.

Whatever it takes!

There's a story that took place right at the beginning of Jesus' ministry in Mark's Gospel that shows us just how much Jesus is 'worth' hearing and just how much our friends are 'worth' in order to bring them to Jesus!

The Master was preaching His Word in Capernaum (as Perry Noble has said..."It's all about Jesus and His Word...Jesus and His Word...it's all about Jesus and His Word...see Mark 2v2). People were crawling over one another to hear Him speak! The doors were jam packed. This was not just a youth group meeting where students sit on top of one another...this was a full church...children's ministry, elderly ministry, music ministry, singles ministry, college ministry, young couples ministry, etc. They were all packed in to hear Jesus and His Word...the text does not say that they had free coffee or Krispy Kream doughnuts...no pool tables...no xbox 3 to attract the crowd...that's not what enticed them to pack in...it was Jesus and His Word they came for...if only the current church could grasp that! Well, on that day, 4 guys did WHATEVER IT TOOK to get their paralyzed buddy to Jesus! Because the doors were jam packed and it was standing room only, they TORE THE ROOF OFF and lowered their buddy to Jesus! The Lord saw their faith, forgave the man, and healed him completly! THEY DID WHATEVER IT TOOK to get their friend to Jesus!

Some of us are the 4 guys. We have friends who NEED JESUS. Are we willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to get them to our ETERNAL GOD? Are we willing to TEAR THE ROOF OFF if we need to? These 4 guys believed Jesus and their paralyzed buddy was WORTH IT! Verse 5 says, "When Jesus saw 'their' faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

What is it going to take for you to get your friend to Jesus and have his sins forgiven? We have friends who are 'paralyzed' spiritually. Is Christ worth it? Are they worth it? Maybe you have to tear down an idol of theirs? Are they selfish? "Tear it" down? Hold them accountable. Are they money lovers? "Tear up" their credit cards. Are they addicted to porno? "Tear up" the websites...get www.xxxchurch.com! You and me have to be willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES (in Jesus fashion of course) to get our friends to Him! Christ can do the 'amazing' if we will: "This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

Intellectual versus Intimate knowledge of God

McManus Notes on "Passages"

Passages: Phillipians 3:3-11 and more
@ 35:02 mark

Speaking from The Book of Hosea

"The great danger is to spend your life learning about God, rather than knowing God"

note: there is a difference in the word know, we can (1) Know God Intellectually and we can (2) Know God Intimately

We must get to know God Intimately!

35... min mark:
Once you come intimate with God and you go from knowledge to knowing, you become a funnel of learning, of development and growth, then life itself can become a context of which you can grow!

McManus Reversal
God sent His Son into human history, not so that we could know that He exist, but so that we could not exist without knowing Him!

challenge questions: do you know Him, Is Jesus at the core of your being, is it impossible for you to live t/o the day without the reality of His presence. You were created by God to live in communion with Him, with every breath of your life, He longs to be the every present reality. Jesus came and died for us so that we would not have to spend one second apart from God!

When I get to know Jesus, His power changes me from the inside out...the mind of God becomes my mind, the heart of God becomes my heart, the light of God becomes my light, the life of God becomes my life!

Influence - Breathe In, Breathe Out:McManus

This morning I listened to one of my favorite podcast, "Influence - Breathe In, Breathe Out" in the "Chasing Daylight" series by Erwin McManus. In it he talks about how we Breathe In God, God then changes our character so that we can exhale, and Breathe out God onto the lives of others. This allows us to become people of influence, not of force. We don't force anything on anybody, we influence them in The Light of Christ!

I want you to think about people of influence, good or bad. I promise you this, there is a common denominator with every person who has influence and it is this: They take a stand for what they believe in. Someone can be the greatest person and have amazing qualities, but if they live in "Character Neutral" and do not stand for anything, always "riding the fence" but never choosing a side, I promise you that they
will have absolutely no influence on anyone's life.

Here is a challenge for you, and challenges are good right? We rise to our best when challenged, so take this one with me.....as part of your 30 day challenge (see post on October 21, 2007 by Christian) think about people you can be a Christ-like influence on. Ask yourself, where do I frequent? Who am I around everyday? How can I influence them. You might be the person God sends to give someone hope who is hanging on by a thread. You might be the person who God sends to someone who is searching for purpose and meaning and trying to understand who God is or if Jesus cares....even if you never know the influence you have on someone until Eternity, always have the mindset of being a Christ-like influence....it might be only saying "hey" to someone, you never know, nothing is too small....

You know, sometimes all we do is inhale God, always breathing in. Think though, if all we did was breathe in, we would never blow off any carbon dioxide and it would be life threatening.

It's like the Dead Sea, the water is nothing you would want to drink or even swim in, it is basically dead water because it does not have any channels in which to flow out of, it just stays within its boundaries.

We must not only Breathe in The Life of God, but we must also Exhale and influence others with The Spirit of Christ!

I want Jesus!

I want Jesus! I want all of my Savior! Jesus Christ is worth it! I want Him for my wife. I want Him for my daughter. I want Him for my future children (Psalm 145:13). I want Him for my mom, my dad, and my 2 brothers! I want Him for my future sister-in-law and her two kids. I want Him for my mother-in-law and my father-in-law and my brother-in-law. I want Him for my extended family! I want Him for my church. I want Him for my co-workers and for my seminary. I want Him for those I minister to. I want Him for Jefferson Jesus and family. I want Him for the people of Peru. I want Him for John and Erica and the people of Africa! I want Him for the hungry and the thirsty; the prisoners, the sick, the naked, and the stranger. I want all of my Savior Jesus Christ! I want His humility. I want His obedience. I want His vision from the Cross. I want His courage. I want His integrity...His heart for His Father and His Spirit...His intense and extravagant love for His creation...for His people...for the lost...for His disciples...for His nations. I want His prayers and His actions! I want His anger and His joys! I want His foot-washing towel and His cheek that He turned. I want His sermons that He preached and the lessons that He taught. I want His creativity and His humor. I want His eternal life giving words. I want His forgiveness and His grace! I want His church. I want His mission! I want His servant attitude! I want His love! I want my Friend who laid down His life for you and me. I want His mind. I want His compassion, His mercy, His peace, His attack mindset, His eyes, His mouth, His boldness. I want my Lord who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness...obeying His Father unto death on a cross. I want to know Christ and the power of His Resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. I want to live like Jesus died...strong...faithful...trusting...forgiving...loving...obeying...understanding...persevering...non comprimising...recklessing committed to His Father and our Father! I want to give myself, not save myself. I want Christ face-to-face, hand-to-hand. I want to deny myself, pick up my cross, and follow my shepherd so closely that I get covered in all of His dust. I want to touch His cloak, hear the leather of His sandals as He walks me to people who need Him. I want to smell His breath and feel His grip. I want Jesus! Not some of Jesus, but all of Him. I want His smile. I want His whisper. I want His rest. I want to be crucified with Him. I want to be resurrected with Him. I want to be glorified with Him! I want to eat with Him! I want to talk to the Father with Him! I want to laugh with Him! I want the day with Him. I want forever with Him! I want Jesus! I want JESUS for YOU!

Excellence vs Perfection

Excellence vs Perfection: where is the line drawn? We must strive to be perfect, The Letter written to us by The Greatest Author of all time tells us so, but there is a difference between striving to be perfect (excellence) and being perfect (Impossibility).

Philippians 3:12 (NIV)
Pressing on Toward the Goal

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me

1 Peter 1:16 (NIV) states, "for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

What we must understand is that perfection and excellence have the same goal, we are striving to become perfect, we will not obtain perfection in this lifetime (impossibility)... we will not become perfect until we are in Eternal union with The One who is 'Worth It', but we must strive, we must 'press on' towards this perfection and this striving is what is known as excellence...

Perfection is the goal (Eternal Life), excellence is the way to achieve it....

No one is perfect... that's why pencils have erasers. ~Author Unknown

So how does this relate to our everyday lives? Here is a list of trying to achieve perfection in the here and now and excellence which is achievable in the here and now...

Perfection says, "It's partly cloudy"
Excellence says "It's partly sunny"

Perfection is throwing one interception and losing confidence
Excellence is throwing 5 interceptions, yet coming back to lead your team to victory (see Dallas Cowboys vs Buffalo Bills week 5, 2007 NFL)

Perfection is performance based
Excellence is based on improvement

Perfection can make a victory become a failure
Excellence can turn a failure into victory

Edison example (invention of a battery): Edison must be ready to quit after having performed some 50,000 tests without success. "You must be pretty downhearted with the lack of progress", the assistant said. Edison replied, "Downhearted? We've made a lot of progress. At least we know 50,000 things that won't work!"

Perfection says, "God I am in control"
Excellence says, "God I am yours"

Perfection states intentions
Excellence creates actions

Perfection leads to insecurity
Excellence leads to greatness ( A human being in The Hands of God is an amazing tool for Greatness - Erwin McManus)

Perfection fears mistakes
Excellence sees opportunities

Perfection leads to a mess
Excellence leads to God creating a work of beauty out of our mess

Here are some inspiring quotes to sum it all up!

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault. ~John Henry Newman

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in.
~Leonard Cohen

To escape criticism - do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. ~Elbert Hubbard

Once you accept the fact that you're not perfect, then you develop some confidence. ~Rosalynn Carter

A person's pursuit of goodness leads to greatness, but the pursuit of greatness leads to ruin, Pursue goodness and you will achieve great things. ~ John E Kramer Vice pres for communications Institute for Justice

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
~Henry van Dyke

Notes and thoughts from 'The Crisis', Mosaic, Erwin McManus

Call To An Original Life: Crisis ~ 18-19 minutes

When you begin to see God clearly, you begin to live your life uniquely

When you focus on God, you see yourself more clearly If you feel small in your call, it is because you are beginning to sense the bigness in which God is calling you into....

Get ready, when God calls you to his plan on your life, you will feel the pressure, you will go through an internal crisis of, "God, who am I to do this?"...but when you feel insecure and a voice saying who am i, it is not God talking to you, it is your soul fearing failure, your soul trying to make your think you are too insignificant to be significant....

my friend, God calls us to an original life, a life of significance, and when you hear this call you can never go back, this call to significance eats await at mediocrity and you will never be the same again....you can choose not to answer this call, but it will haunt you the rest of your life....

...instead of it haunting you, step up to the plate and strap on the full armor of God, take the call, say "it is me Lord, send me" and allow God to redirect your steps to an original life in which you are significant and you make a significant impact on your journey with God!

Sometimes we are paralyzed by our inadequacy, but other times we are terrified by our potential...sometimes we are afraid of our shortcomings, other times we are in fear of our greatness...Dont be afraid of greatness RECOGNIZE: A human being in The Hands of God is a powerful tool for good! A difference between fame and greatness, fame is something you do for yourself, greatness is something you do for others! God has entrusted all of His creation into the hands of men, why not allow Him to work in your life as well!

Do-you-trust-him? God says 'if we will only get to know and trust him......he longs for us to trust Him...."

Read this in Psalm14-16 (MSG) "If you'll hold on to me for dear life," says God, "I'll get you out of any trouble. I'll give you the best of care if you'll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I'll answer, be at your side in bad times; I'll rescue you, then throw you a party. I'll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!"

30 DAY CHALLENGE!

I recently heard a sermon series titled, "30 Days to live" by Craig Groeschel from www.lifechurch.tv. (See video link below!)... It WOKE ME UP PEOPLE! It also got me thinking about the theme of this blog: "Jesus is worth it". Jesus is worth "wasting our very expensive perfumes" on Him! Jesus is worth every "wonderfully significant" thing we "can do" for Him! If you had 30 days left in your life...30 days left to spend with your family...30 days left to make an impact in someone's life...30 days left to to be a mile marker in someone's road to salvtion in Jesus Christ, how would you "SPEND IT"? By the way, in Mark 14:1-11, Jesus only had 2 days left to live when the woman decided to "spend" her" perfume (which costs a years salary) on Him! What we do for others, especially for the "least of these" we do for Jesus (check out what the Master says about this in Matthew 25:31-46)! What "wonderfully significant" thing would you do for Jesus if you only had 30 days left to live? THINK BIG! THINK SMALL! BUT WHATEVER YOU DO THINK! Psalm 39:4-5 (NLT) says, "“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”

So much of our breath...some much of our day is "wasted" on arguing with family, complaining about little things, comparing ourselves to the lives of others, and veggin' out on TV. If you and I had only 30 days left to live, I hope we would WAKE UP and STOP "wasting" our life on these STUPID THINGS and start "WASTING" our life on JESUS! "WAKE UP and WASTE YOUR LIFE on JESUS TODAY as if you only had 30 days left to live! Take the 30 DAY "WASTING YOUR LIFE" Challenge...Each day, "waste" at least ONE thing on JESUS...

-How would you "waste" your time? Would you give your self "fully" to your family?
-How would you "waste" your money? Would you give money to someone needing clean drinking water?
-How would you "waste" your energy? Would you go visit a sick neighbor?
-How would you "waste" your mornings? Would you wake up early and pray for the person you know who needs Jesus?
-How would you "waste" your time on the person you don't like? Would you humble yourself and "wash" his/her feet (John 13)?

Can you WASTE at least ONE THING a day on Jesus for next 30 days? Can you do something "WONDERFULLY SIGNIFICANT" for Him beginning RIGHT NOW? IS JESUS WORTH IT TO YOU?

Jesus Said You Are Worth It!

Jesus Said that you are Worth It! That is why He died on the cross for you. His death represents life, a life that He wants you to live fully human and fully alive. A women came into the presence of Jesus, broke open a bottle of expensive perfume, poured it on His head, a pre-anointing for His burial. She loved Him so much that she did not hesitate to do so.

The high priests and religion scholars said it was a waste to pour out the perfume onto the head of Jesus, that the perfume could have been sold for money. But Jesus said she did a wonderfully significant thing for me...that wherever The Gospel was preached her story would be told!

What about you? Will your story be told in The Name of Jesus? He said you are worth it...Is He worth it to you? Will you 'Waste' your life on Him? Jesus says its a beautiful thing...a Wonderfully Significant Thing, all for Him! How will your story be told......?

Jesus Is Worth It All!

Mark 14:1-11 (The Message)

Anointing His Head

1-2 In only two days the eight-day Festival of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin. The high priests and religion scholars were looking for a way they could seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. "We don't want the crowds up in arms," they said.
3-5Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. "That's criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year's wages and handed out to the poor." They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her.

6-9But Jesus said, "Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me. She did what she could when she could—she pre-anointed my body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly."

10-11Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the cabal of high priests, determined to betray him. They couldn't believe their ears, and promised to pay him well. He started looking for just the right moment to hand him over.