Put your love on the line

In his book, "The Gospel According to Starbucks," Leonard Sweet* tells a story about a man, a Franciscan priest, who put his love on the line for another. He had what Sweet calls,"holy boldness." His name was Maximilian Kolbe. He became known as "The Man for Others."

The man Maximilian
In the summer of 1941, a prisoner escaped from Kolbe's cell block at Auschwitz. Normally, when one person escaped from a cell block, it effected the others as well. The guards would randomly select 10 prisoners. They would do one of two things: (1) Line them up to be shot for everyone to witness or (2) Send them to an underground bunker to be starved, severely beaten, and executed.

When Father Kolbe heard that one of 10 selected was a husband and a father, he acted with "holy boldness". Maximilian Kolbe, the one who would become known as "The Man for Others", took the selected prisoners place in the lineup and was sent to the starvation bunker. Two weeks later he was killed via lethal injection of acid.

THE MAN JESUS
Before Maximilian Kolbe, there was Jesus Christ, "THE MAN for others". He took our place in the lineup. "We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put His love on the line for us by offering His Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to Him." (Romans 5:7-8;MSG)

Be the man...Be the woman!
May you and I be the "man" or the "woman" for "others". Let our cry today be, "Holy Boldness!" Let us put "our love on the line" for someone today who can't pay us back. Exist for someone else besides yourself!

*The Gospel According to Starbucks," Leonard Sweet, page 89

Pass the Ketchup

We are nothing
I think one of the greatest “blessings” of all time is to recognize we are NOTHING/ have NOTHING without Jesus.

He even said in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”

In other words, “You are blessed when you are EMPTY of yourself, and FULL OF ME (JESUS)!”

God is our everything
I like Psalm 40:17 in the Message and NIV respectively:

“And me? I’m a mess. I’m nothing and have nothing: make something of me. YOU can do it; You’ve got what it takes—but God, don’t put it off.” (MSG)

“Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer O my God, do not delay.” (NIV)

God can do it!
It is the first of all blessings in the Beatitudes. It was the beginning of our salvation…to realize we are a mess without Jesus. He can make something of our lives, our marriages, our families; Jesus can make something of our work/income; our present and our future. HE CAN DO IT…HE’S GOT THE GOODS. Jesus, may you make something of our lives…

Ketchup Christians
Maybe at times, Jesus takes so long to “help” us and “deliver” us because He’s got to “shake” the “us” out of “us”…Sometimes, we are like ketchup…we take a long time to get to the “end of ourselves”.

When He finally “squirts” us out of ourselves, we are empty, ready to be filled with His life…His Kingdom!

May the Lord think of each of you. May the Lord make something of each of you, our families; our ministries, our work. I know He does. I know He will. He can do it.

Lay Hold Of God = Triumph

But Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Yes—and if you embrace this kingdom life and don't doubt God, you'll not only do minor feats like I did to the fig tree, but also triumph over huge obstacles. This mountain, for instance, you'll tell, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it will jump. Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God." ~ Matthew 21:21-22 ~ (emphasis added)

A few points:
1. Lay Hold of God...everything else falls into place.

2. Embrace The Kingdom Life and don't doubt. If we ever find ourselves doubting what Christ says, then we need a reality check. I believe sometimes that the main reason we doubt is because we begin to think that we are God. We must remember God is our creator, we are not His.

3. Triumph - look, if Jesus says we will have triumph over huge obstacles, then I am going all out and will take every challenge head on. Who are you going to believe? Jesus, yourself, culture?

4. Jesus pays attentions to details. He says "Absolutely Everything, ranging from small to large." Next time we think something is too small to pray about or that God has other concerns on His mind than us, then we must repent for putting our limitations on God...then we must Praise Him for His abilities and bring our request to Him for His Glory!

5. Believe when you Pray. It is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11.6). We must believe in Him.

Undeniable vs Unexplainable

Undeniable = adjective
unable to be denied or disputed

Unexplainable = adjective
unable to be explained or accounted for

I was listening to Andy Stanley's series on Defining Moments, and he mentioned how we don't have to understand everything in order to believe in something...I like that, I even go on to say that we don't have to understand everything to believe in The ONE Thing: Jesus Christ.

There are always going to be 'unexplainable's' about creation, salvation, etc...but you have to admit, there are more 'undeniable's' about Creation, Salvation, etc...

If ever in a conversation with a non-believer or anyone who is doubting their faith, I want to make sure I point to the 'undeniable's." These are 'hooks' that they can hang their belief or potential to believe on...

I like how Mark Batterson puts it from his transcript titled, The Evolutionary Elephant, "Sure, it takes faith to believe that the heavens and the earth were the magnum opus of an intelligent Designer but it also takes faith to believe that everything is a result of random chance; in fact, I think it takes more faith... " He goes on to say, "Our sun is 93 million miles away and astronomers estimate that if the earth was just one percent closer or farther away, that we would either burn or freeze because of the change in distance from the sun."

The facts go on and on and on and all point to a God who has designed on purpose. A God who is The Carpenter of Creation...

...can we explain everything? No. Can we deny that there is a God and that He cares about us. Certainly not...there are way too many undeniables.

The Heart Test

"But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart."
~ Jesus ~

One of the great feats of the human mind is the ability to reason inductively. **Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is reasoning which takes us "beyond the confines of our current evidence or knowledge to conclusions about the unknown."

**The Duck Test
"The duck test is a humorous term for a form of inductive reasoning. It can be explained this way and I am sure you know the saying quite well:

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

The test implies that a person can figure out the true nature of an unknown subject by observing this subject's readily identifiable traits. It is sometimes used to counter abstruse arguments that something is not what it appears to be.

The Heart Test
Jesus had His version of "The Duck Test." I call it "The Heart Test." In Matthew 15. 10-11, 18-19, Jesus says, "Listen, and take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up...But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It's from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That's what pollutes."

Our actions and our words reveal what is in our heart...What are we producing? What is coming out of our mouths? What are people 'inductively reasoning' about us from the way we live our lives? It comes down to deeds and intentions...

The smallest deed is greater than the grandest of intentions. We can mean one thing and say another, but the final product is what comes from our heart. There is no faking it...We can say we are Christians all day long, we can say we are dedicated and committed to our families all day long...we can say we do all things to Glorify God, but Our actions speak louder than our words and our intentions...are the ingredients of our hearts producing a nutritious meal of life?

Look deep into my heart, God, and find out everything I am thinking. ~ Psalm 139:23 ~

**Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_test

Hostile Indifference

Continuing in The Book of Matthew and this amazing theme of Faith that is strung throughout, I would like to add this verse today that will pierce to the core. It drives home the point how important our Faith in Christ is...

And because the people did not have any faith, Jesus did not work many miracles there.
~ Matthew 13:58 ~

The Message paraphrases a lack of faith as a "hostile indifference" toward Jesus. This is Not Cool. We all want miracles...we even Pray for them. According to this Scripture, it appears to be more important to Pray to have a stronger Faith in Christ...the Miracles will follow.

One last point: You know what shocks me most about verse 58? It is the context in which it lies. Look what comes right before it in verse 57...

So the people were very unhappy because of what he was doing. But Jesus said, "Prophets are honored by everyone, except the people of their hometown and their own family."

Set aside non-believes for a moment. Are we as Christ Followers dishonoring Christ? Is He being faced with hostile indifference among the very people who believe in Him? ...If there is anyone who should have faith and set examples for non-believers it is those who claim to follow Christ, myself included.

Honor Christ...Activate Your Faith...Miracles will Follow...

Walk, Work, and Watch

Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.

~ Jesus ~

Going On Rounds
My God-Ordained passion and dream is to become an M.D. ...I envision the day that I have the fortunate opportunity to go on rounds and learn from some of the brightest doctors who have knowledge and expertise in healing and treating human form. I want to become the best Doctor God has called me to become, but it will not happen if I am around those that do not have a patient-first mentality or those who slack off and take short cuts.

It's the same way in life and being the best person God has called us to become. We must spend time with those who have qualities we desire to obtain. And when it comes to the Ultimate Example, those of us who claim to follow Jesus Christ should aspire to be like Him. 1 John 2.6 says, "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (emphasis added)

Walk, Work, and Watch
Walking as Jesus did is analogous to going on rounds with Jesus. In Matthew 11.28, Jesus gives us the Three W's (Walk, Work, and Watch) of how we are to be the 'resident' as we follow Him, the Attending Physician. He states the following:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
(emphasis added)

Contrasting Conclusions
Who are we walking with? Who are we working with? Who do we watch? The answer to those questions have huge implications...In fact, they have contrasting conclusions according to Scripture. Take a look at two translation of 1 Corinthians 15.33 and then compare them back to Matthew 11.28:

Stop being deceived: "Wicked friends lead to evil ends."
~ 1 Corinthians 15.33 (ISV) ~

Don't let anyone deceive you. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people.

~ 1 Corinthians 15:33 (GWT) ~

And then to the contrary Jesus says, "Come to me...and you'll recover your life."
~ Matthew 11.28 (MSG) ~

*See "Jesus, MD," by Dr David Stevens and Gregg Lewis for An intriguingly fresh glimpse of Jesus from the unique perspective of a contemporary doctor examining and learning from the Great Physician.

Jesus Is Worth It!

Since the Motto for this blog site is "Jesus Is Worth It," I wanted to add to the file some cool verses that speak upon this subject...enjoy!

"Stand up for me against world opinion and I'll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I'll cover for you? "Don't think I've come to make life cozy..." ~ from Matthew 10:32-35 (The Message) ~

"If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me." We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you." ~ Matthew 10:38-42 (The Message) ~

If we really want to find who we are, if we really want to find the extraordinary life, excitement, passion, purpose, etc, we need to look to Christ first and the rest will come as a result! Jesus Is Worth It!

But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me.

Enhancing Attention

Mental exercises on Enhancing Attention help us to focus on what we read as well as what we observe. Take the following test and see how you do? Then, let's see how it applies to Reading Scripture.

Take a few seconds, normal reading speed, and read the following:***

PARIS
IN THE
THE SPRING

ONCE
IN A
A LIFETIME

BIRD
IN THE
THE HAND

In each phrase, an article is repeated. If you saw it, Great. If you did not see it, it is because you are reading on automatic. You saw the phrases and felt familiar with them, skipping over the obvious.

Attention On Scripture
How do we read Scripture? Are we only reading on automatic? Are we only reading what we want to read or seeing only what we want to see? Take for example the following two verses:

Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
(Psalm 37.4)

If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
(John 15.7)

How do we read those two verses? Did we go on automatic and blow right past the first parts (see blue text) and only see the second parts (see red text)?

So many times, at least in my experience, our focus is only on the "desires of our heart" and "it will be given you" and we don't even see that our focus should be with our relationship to The Lord.

Jesus enhanced His attention for us, His Focus was on us as He hung on The Cross. I Pray my focus and attention are on Him...if they are, everything else will fall into place!


*** The above test comes compliments from Dr. Barry Gordon, M.D., Ph.D, and Lisa Berger, from their amazing book, "Intelligent Memory."

Become What You Believe

Loving The Book of Matthew...it's a book of Faith! Chapter 9 has more examples from the last post about Jesus being "taken aback" and astonished by our faith...

In Chapter 9.1-3, some men carried their paraplegic friend to Jesus so that Jesus could heal him...The Scriptures say, "Jesus impressed by their bold belief..."

In Chapter 9.18-19, a local official approaches Jesus to come and save his daughter...the man says, "If you come and touch her, she will live."

In Chapter 9.20-22, a woman who had hemorrhaged for twelve years said, "If I can just put a finger on his robe, I'll get well."

In Chapter 9.27-31, two blind men cried out to Jesus, saying, "Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!" When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, "Do you really believe I can do this?" They said, "Why, yes, Master!"

He touched their eyes and said, "Become what you believe." It happened. They saw.

The Master is telling us, "Become what you believe." We must "Really believe." I want Jesus to be "impressed with my bold belief."

Go

"Go. What you believed could happen has happened."
Matthew 8.13

Jesus Astonished
I want to have Jesus "taken aback" by my faith. I want Jesus to be "astonished" by my faith. In Matthew 8.5-13, Jesus was "taken aback" by the faith of a Roman captain. The captain's servant was sick and needed healing. The captain knew that all Jesus had to do was give an order, that Jesus did not even have to be physically in the presence of the captain, and that he would be made well.

The captain goes on to say, "Just give the order and my servant will be fine." That is when Jesus was "taken aback." And then later Jesus says, "Go. What you believed could happen has happened." At that moment his servant became well.

At That Moment
Today could be your moment. Today could be the day that Jesus is astonished and taken aback by your faith. Today could be the day Jesus tells you to "Go. What you believed could happen has happened."

Where do we need Jesus to "Just give the order..." in our lives? Or maybe the questions should be, do we really believe? Is Jesus astonished by our faith? Where are we holding back?

Let's "Go" forward with the faith of the Roman captain...Let's live our lives from this point forward to where Jesus is "Astonished."

Witness

In Matthew 8.1-4, Jesus heals a leper and then says the following to him:

"Don't talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."

I love how Jesus says for the leper to give expressions and thanks to God...and then how witness what He has done, saying "Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."

I know there is a time and place for speaking The Word with our voices because Scripture is loaded with verses, stories, and commands for doing so. But think about how many people you are around everyday, those who see you, but never have the opportunity to speak with you...they can see your clean and grateful life even if they never hear a word from your mouth...and that, according to the above Scripture, can "bear witness to what Jesus has done."