Category: Jesus Moments

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. Hebrews 5:8

I wonder if I’ve been realistic when I’ve thought about Jesus’ perfection. I’ve always viewed Jesus as an adult in ministry. He was One who certainly had instant access to righteous thoughts and behaviors. He listened expectantly to His Father and never struggled with what He was asked to do. But how do I connect that picture with the scripture that says Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted? The two concepts are both true but to marry, there needs to be an adjustment.

There is a pregnant moment between an offense and a sinful response – whether a thought or a behavior. The offense happens, then comes the temptation, and then comes the pregnant moment of decision when the heart decides how it will respond. To ‘learn obedience’ is to learn how to handle the pregnant moments within that temptation time period. That’s where Jesus achieved victory. That’s where my victory lies.

Think of Jesus as a child and let’s consider a few pregnant moments.

• He’s a toddler. He’s happily playing with a new wooden toy Joseph carved for him. A sibling or a friend takes it away from him. Mary encourages Jesus to share it. If Jesus were tempted as we are tempted, there is a pregnant moment where Jesus is encouraged by Satan (not His own nature – since He is holy) to hoard it, not share it. He’s like me. Temptation says, “The toy is mine. My father made it for me.” But Jesus chooses to share.
• Jesus is outside playing with his friends and is having a good time. Mary yells from down the street that it’s time to come and help His father with the chores. There is a pregnant moment where He is tempted to ignore His mother’s voice. He’s having too much fun. But Jesus chooses to obey.
• Jesus is a teenager and sees a group of friends plotting to cheat. He speaks up to expose their sin. They turn on Him and He is beaten up and bruised badly. There is a pregnant moment where He is tempted to disown their friendship and find a way to get revenge. Anger is hot and His body is sore from their beatings. Jesus moves through the temptation successfully and chooses a righteous reaction.

None of this was easy for Jesus. None of these pregnant moments are easy for me. As I think of Him in the throes of temptation, having to learn obedience, I am very aware that Jesus is my refuge when my temptations are too great and I fear that I will choose to sin. He knows. He is the perfect confidant. He is the One who lives to pray for me day and night – that I will learn obedience. He, from the inside of me, gives moment-by-moment grace to move successfully through the temptation phase to victory.

Open my eyes to Your struggle with Your humanity. You are a refuge for a soul in distress today. Amen

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” Matthew 23:13

Are you living around someone contentious? If so, you’re probably dreaming of deliverance – either for them or for you. You crave peace and harmony.   Perhaps the argumentative person is in your small group or in your Sunday school class. God’s grace is a stumbling block to them. That person sows discord by the many arguments he presents in favor of the letter of the law and God’s judgment. As a teacher, you wonder if he is hurting other’s faith. When class is over, you feel that he ruined everything that God was trying to do.

While I do believe that dissenters like this are under the influence of religious spirits, I am encouraged that they can cause many to think and study for themselves. People who experienced the tension are able to compare the appearance of a God who was presented as angry and unreasonable with the real God who shows mercy through Christ and forgives extravagantly. The discord was really more productive than destructive. The beauty of the Gospel was on full display against the backdrop of dead religion.

In this scripture, Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees for misrepresenting what was required to enter the kingdom. They were all about keeping the law, which in and of itself, wasn’t a bad thing. It’s just that they did it void of a relationship with God. They promoted self-serving obedience. They also added thing after thing to the existing law to make the whole package burdensome. Jesus’ words were strong and all who heard it felt the dissonance.

Was the discord productive? I imagine so. Suppose you were a bystander and you wondered who Jesus was. You had labored under the law and were tired of going through the motions of Judaism. Jesus’ rebuke would have shaken you to the core — a shaking that might have resulted in new faith and a new paradigm. Jesus’ scolding reinforced what you had already felt deep in your spirit. At that moment, in Jesus, you tasted something that made your heart feel alive.

If you are frustrated by the presence of one who promotes something other than the Gospel of grace, consider that God might have that person around for the purpose of providing comparisons. Sometimes, people learn what they want by seeing, firsthand, what it is they don’t want. For those in sincere search for Jesus, discord might propel them faster to the arms of the Grace-giver.

This just shows that I never know what you will use for Your glory. Open my eyes to see You at work, even in this. Amen

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

Self-loathing plagues the church. Because I know that there was once a chasm between God and me, that shouldn’t erode my present view of myself. I shouldn’t wonder how God could, and will, love me if I have so far to go to be like His Son. That makes it all about me when it should be all about the nature and character of a loving God.

‘Poor in spirit’ does not mean pathetic. When someone we love suffers, we might say, “You poor thing.” We mean that they are laid low, downcast, and languishing. Is this the posture Jesus is advocating as a way of life?

No. To be poor in spirit is to know that I am completely dependent on God. I’m not arrogant. I’m honest with others and myself. I don’t inflate my abilities to look good. I don’t pretend to be perfect in order to rise to a position of spiritual leadership. I know that I struggle with my flesh and can freely admit it without injured pride. With great confidence, I cast myself on God’s grace.

The one who has never acknowledged his sinfulness and need for a Savior cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus made it clear that someone like the tax collector had it right, the one who beat his chest in the temple and said, “Be merciful to me, Lord, a sinner!” He would inherit the kingdom of heaven because he was poor in spirit.

Knowing that I am sinful and dependent on God for spiritual life is not the same as living with a nagging, low self-image. If a drowning man is rescued, does he live his life condemning himself for having nearly drowned? I think not. He’ll rejoice that his life was saved and extol the one who snatched him from the waters. He’ll be joyful that he was given a 2^nd chance at life.

I am poor in spirit and I am grateful that You saved me. I live life loved with my head tilted to the sky. Amen

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:16-17

Ron’s father, Jack Wyrtzen, was a well-known evangelist. His sermons were simple but powerful and memorable. The one I remember most was the one entitled, “What Is That In Thine Hand?”

He re-told the story of Moses holding a shepherd’s staff in his hand. God called him to become a leader of His people but Moses declared himself unqualified. God asked him what that thing was in his hand? He answered, “A staff.” God didn’t intend for Moses to leave his shepherding skills behind. Moses would use that same staff to lead people out of slavery.

Simon and Andrew were fisherman. It’s all they knew. Jesus didn’t tell them to stop being fisherman. They would keep fishing but would fish for men instead of fish. Their fishing skills would be translated into the kingdom counterpart. God gave them two decades of experiences related to fishing. He wasn’t going to waste their knowledge. He would expand it. Fishing is about timing. Fishing is about using the right bait. It’s about catching a few one day but then hitting a windfall the next. Doesn’t this sound like evangelism?  And isn’t strategy and timing also pertinent?

What was in my hand as a teenager? A piano and a flute. A love for telling stories. A love for hurting people. A love for creative language.  Instead of going into social work or attending music school to play the flute in a symphony, God called me to relinquish control of what I was grasping for myself. A ministry was born. Today, I use all the passions and experiences of my childhood in this ministry.

Perhaps you’ve wondered how your love for a certain ‘thing’ could have anything to do with ministry. Maybe you’ve felt like your past experiences (painful ones) were wasted. No. God doesn’t work like that.  Today, someone’s eyes (maybe yours) are flying open to put the puzzle pieces of their life together in a new way. In God’s work, even with suffering, there is joy and wonderment. What is in your hand?

You do all things well. I’ve seen 66 years of it. Amen

Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him.  Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, sir.”  And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.  Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”  John 8:9-11

Jesus did not do away with the law of Moses.  He simply applied it to the woman’s accusers.  They desired to see her pay for her sin but all the while, they turned a blind eye to their own sinfulness; sins that also required judgment by law. God does not pro-rate sin.

As the sun continued to rise in the early morning dawn, the judges disappeared.  The voyeurs fled.  The accusers vanished.  Stones hit the ground one by one and as they fell, I can imagine the woman’s disbelief.  The iron grips on her arm loosened as the vengeance of the hot blooded Pharisees began to dissipate under the convicting presence of Jesus.

Within minutes, there were only two people left standing there.  The warming rays of the sun bathed the encounter between Jesus and the woman as they faced each other.  She had never seen such a pure gaze that resonated nothing but love and compassion.

John revealed Jesus in the beginning of this book as ‘full of grace and truth.’  Never did a story showcase this better than this particular one.  Jesus was gracious and truthful.  He withheld condemnation but, simultaneously, told her the truth about a needed change in her lifestyle.   “Go, and do not sin again.”  

I do not know what happened to the woman when she went home.  Did her friends continue to point the finger?  Did her family shun her?  Would the man with whom she’d been involved with punish her for turning him down the next time?  If so, she would gain strength as she re-lived those beautiful moments with Jesus.  She would remember how He addressed her tenderly and gave her a gift no one had ever given her; love, forgiveness, and a fresh start.

Sometimes, others never forget our sins.  But you, Lord?  I rehearse the beautiful moments you touched me and forgave me.  Amen

Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

None of us is lacking for reasons to mourn. If we see the world the way it truly is, through the lens of the Gospel, it is enough to cause deep sadness. We are so far away from our Creator’s intentions. The fall in the Garden of Eden ushered in a curse so pervasive that there is no part of life that has not been affected. All around me, there is profound brokenness.

The best of relationships are tainted by sin natures. Everyone, without redemption and a new life built on the foundation of God’s Word, is fragile. Words shatter egos. Betrayals end a friendship. Careless accusations fracture a parent/child relationship. Disappointments usher in a grief that has no end. Then there is the mourning that grips a person on the other side of losses; death, health, vocation, friendships, loss of innocence.

It’s wonderful when God sends a comforter who speaks deeply into my soul. I am blessed to have a few around me that do that for me. And while the church should be full of comforters, they are sparse if the church is skin deep. If I am willing to mourn, or if I’m already mourning, where is the comfort Jesus speaks of with certainty?

• If I mourn the past, I find comfort in God’s embrace. He says that no pain is wasted and nothing is outside of redemption.
• If I mourn a betrayal, I find comfort in God’s embrace. Whatever I lack, He promises to provide. He fills me up so I can give and forgive.
• If I mourn my limitations, I find comfort in God’s embrace. I know that one day I will enjoy eternal life on a new earth. Every single limitation will be eliminated.
• If I mourn the deterioration of this world, I find comfort in God’s embrace. God’s plan is to restore paradise and make everything shiny and new.

The Comforter and comfort are one in the same. The Comforter speaks the Word and it means something because I have a relationship with the One who speaks it. If I only see comfort as words on a page, they will be hollow when the pain consumes my attention. They’ll be no more satisfying than a Chinese proverb. But if I have a relationship with the Comforter, the scripture He whispers into my soul bring joy, hope, and comfort even in the tears.

Brave children cry. Brave adults cry. You cried and Your Father sent you angels to comfort You. I will not fear that any abyss is too deep. Amen

 

[Samuel said to Saul] The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you and you will prophesy with them and will be transformed into another man. And let it be when these signs come upon you that you do as occasion serves you, for God is with you. And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart. All who knew him earlier saw that and said, “What is this that is come to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” I Samuel 10:6-9 

The Spirit of God came upon certain individuals in the Old Testament and as a result, they came under His influence. They were changed and equipped to fulfill their destiny as king, prophet, or servant. Is it possible that something so amazing and so rare can be taken for granted when it happens today? Yes. I can be so used to the vernacular of the ‘indwelling of the Spirit’ that I’m numb to the sheer wonder of it. The privilege of housing Glory can be tragically lost on me.

At the very moment I believed in Jesus and embraced Him as Lord, the Spirit of the LORD came upon me too. He didn’t make a visitation as He did under the old covenant. He made me His permanent dwelling place and transformed me into a new person. The same phenomenon that Saul experienced happened to me. At my spiritual birth, I was called to an eternal destiny and am fully equipped to accomplish it under the power of God’s anointing.

Those from Saul’s hometown couldn’t believe the change. They were incredulous and remarked to one another, “Who is this? Is Saul a prophet?” It was a takeover of the heavenly kind, producing the fruits and giftings of the Spirit of God. His new, unnatural abilities could only be explained by his encounter with God.

It is our privilege to walk out our calling. We are to be seen as weak, yet strong in Christ. Dull, yet brilliant in His wisdom. Unqualified, yet uniquely gifted in ways no one can explain. Anything done in the flesh will leave others quite bored. Our efforts will lack the power of that synergistic connection between God and His child.

Take me outside of what I can naturally accomplish so that Your signature is clearly legible. To You be all glory. Amen

But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Then they were willing to take him into the boat.  John 6: 20-21

Jesus’ disciples are in a boat in the middle of the sea.  The opposite shore is nowhere in sight.  It is dark and the sea is churning.  Uncertainty and fear overtake them.  At that moment, Jesus appears and is walking toward them on top of the water.  They had just seen Him feed five thousand people with one small meal yet this sight is beyond comprehension.  His power continually surprises them.  Each time it is manifested, it is in an other worldly context and their finite minds are challenged.

Jesus, knowing their fear, “It’s Me. Don’t be afraid.”  Like a child whose parent shows up to take care of everything, their fears turn to calm.  Pounding heartbeats normalized.  Adrenalin subsided. Consider how the elements of this story live on past the disciple’s time.

All of us are navigating our lives.  Often, there’s no light on our path. Wisdom for the next step is completely elusive. The shore is behind us. Everything familiar is out of sight.  We are in uncharted waters, feeling inadequate.  The sea is beginning to churn.  Passages are difficult enough without storms complicating them.  Fears begin to intensify and rational thought decreases.  Roar of the waves bombard our senses and functioning normally is not an option.

Where is Jesus?  He is on the horizon and asks to be invited into the boat.  His words can be heard even in the midst of the storm.  “It’s Me.  Don’t be afraid.”  We realize we don’t have to make the voyage alone.  The One who can control the storm with a mere whisper is our companion.

Never has a voice been as sweet as Yours, Lord, heard quietly beneath the noise of my life. You have not abandoned Me. Take me safely home.  Amen

 

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And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. Mark 1:10-12

The same Spirit of God that descended on Jesus at His baptism proceeded to lead Him out into the desert to be tempted. That can be emotionally confusing to me as I seek to find a comfort zone in God’s character. One incredibly tender moment during His baptism ushers in stark moments when the humanity of Jesus is stretched to new limits. Why was that necessary?

Many bible teachers weigh in on the answer. One belief is that Jesus needed to be tempted in every way that we are tempted so that we know that we can run to Him as our High Priest. That was certainly accomplished in the wilderness. But there is another possibility.  By being led into the wilderness to be tempted, and by prevailing with righteous choices, He fulfilled what the Israelites had not been able to do during their 40-year wanderings. They had been led from Egypt to the Red Sea, then to the wilderness, in order to test their new faith. The pressures revealed the immaturity of their faith.

Ah, but testing would reveal the perfection of Jesus’ faith. He repeated Israel’s journey to complete what they had failed. One indication that this might be true is the passage Jesus quoted when Satan first tempted Him to turn the stones into bread. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The context of Deuteronomy 8 is Israel’s wilderness experience.

Jesus came to redeem what was broken. The nation of Israel failed miserably while on their journey to the Promised Land. Jesus redeemed it by going into the same wilderness and doing it right. As His child, I am called to share in the redemption of what is broken. The Spirit of God leads me into situations where I can redeem the sinful patterns of my family. I am often led into places that mirror my own past experiences so that I can do it right the 2^nd time around. I find that the stakes are high when I feel the most fragile. I can enter a wilderness with the best of intentions and with great resolve to succeed. But the nature of my wilderness will test my limits. Passion to succeed never brings success. This is a spiritual endeavor, not a human one. For me to pass the tests that the wilderness brings, I will have to humble myself and acknowledge my utter helplessness without the Holy Spirit’s help. Prevailing with righteous choices will only happen as the Spirit of God, resident in me, rises up to empower what is impossible with human effort.

Jesus redeemed Israel’s sin. What sin, whose journey, might He want to redeem through me today?

It’s exciting. It’s impossible without You. I am Your servant. Amen

“What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.” Mark 4:30-32

Kingdom seeds are so powerful when they are planted on earth. Jesus gave an example of this when talking about the tiniest of seeds, the mustard seed.  Each one grows into a 10 foot plant. Great things always start small.

How much do I really believe in the seeds of scripture? When a need is so great, whether in someone else or in me, it can seem hopeless to personalize a few verses. What difference is it really making when I don’t see immediate results? Does speaking a few kingdom words over an ocean of need even impact the void?

My greatest mistake would be to be misled by earth’s odds. If I look at the probability of change like I look at filling up a beach ~ one grain of sand at a time ~ of course I’ll give up. But that is not what happens when I consistently sow the seeds of heaven. These agents of the kingdom are energetic and highly effective. When inspired, and then spoken, they begin the process of change. How do I know? Jesus said, “If you plant it, it will bear fruit.” Whether I can see the changes is immaterial. God works in the deep, in the unseen and imperceptible.  He does soul surgery in masterful ways long before human beings can see the fruit.

What kind of seeds do you need to plant today? Belief. Joy. Peace. Unity. Sobriety. Pure sexual appetite. I need to plant faith seeds ~ faith that God holds the answers to unanswered questions and is trustworthy.  So, I speak God’s Word outloud over myself.  When declared, faith is ignited and spiritual forces are put on notice. It is the legal equivalent of serving the enemy legal papers. Oh, the cumulative effect of God’s spoken Word over time – spoken over me – spoken over the earth.

I believe and I have seen with my own eyes ~ my own transformation. Amen