Fearing God

"The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of knowledge."

-Proverbs 1:7, HCSB

This idea of "fearing God" is something I have just recently started pondering on. It is a foreign, understudied concept for many of us. I mean, doesn't Jesus want to be our Friend and Father? Why does the Bible encourage fear of God?

It all lies in our definition of fear. When Scripture talks about fearing God, there is more to it than the quaking, trembling sensation that we feel when a wolf is bearing down on us (what, that's never happened to you?). Instead, it is a far larger concept.

Robert Strimple described it as a "convergence of awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love, and, yes, fear." C.S. Lewis described a person who fears the Lord like this: "...one filled with awe, in which you feel wonder and a certain shrinking or a sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitant of or prostration before it."

I have been reading R.C. Sproul's book The Holiness of God, and a large focus of this book is the fear of God. You see, God is holy, and holy is a big descriptor. Holy means more than just pure, although that is certainly part of it. Holy literally means "separate." God is separate from everything and everyone else. There is nothing like Him or even close to being Him. He is completely separate and set aside from the world, so there is no sin in Him. He is an entity that we cannot even fathom, and even to say this has really been a bit of a struggle for me. God's holiness isn't just hard to define, though; it is even harder to approach.

In Isaiah 6, we see the prophet Isaiah before the throne of the Lord. The angels and other beings are flying all about, praising God and His holiness. God is in His full glory, beaming in holiness on His throne. Isaiah, the prophet of God, responds to this immersion in holiness by dropping to the ground in worship, and yes, fear of the Lord.

Isaiah, when confronted by the holiness of God, didn't have any other response other than "woe is me!" He was overcome with everything Robert Strimple mentioned in his definition of fearing God: he was filled with awe, reverence, honor, fear and worship to start, and once he realized that God wasn't going to smite him on sight for his sin, he experienced adoration, confidence, thankfulness and love. Isaiah feared the Lord.

I've gone through all of this to get back to my focus verse for today, Proverbs 1:7. This verse is considered the theme verse for the book of Proverbs, and it is huge. If fearing God is the beginning of knowledge, then we need to fear God. We need Isaiah's approach to God. We need to look at God with awe, worship, adoration, confidence, love, honor, thankfulness and even an element of fear. He may be our Father and Friend, but He is also our Creator God.

Sovereign Lord.

King of Kings.

Ruler of Everything.

Punisher of Sin.

Holy, righteous, pure.

This is the God we serve, this is the God that has saved us from our sins. Let's look at Him through the lens of all that He is, not just a portion of it. He's a holy God; let's live lives that reflect a fear of the Lord. He commands no other response.

Why is Good Friday Good?

"It is finished!" -John 19:30, HCSB

It is finished. Que se termine. 它完成. она будет закончена. Il est fini. Consummatum est. それが完了しました. يتم الانتهاء من ذلك. 그것은 완료. Está consumado.

One could say that these may be the most important words in the entire Bible. Out of everything that Jesus said in His ministry, these three words may just be the most impactful, the most loaded, the most beautiful words that came out of His mouth. This is the climax, the highest point, in the entire plot and story of the Bible.

As He hung on the cross, He was not only experiencing the physical side of the crucifixion. Yes, He was in physical pain, but the spiritual pain was much worse. As hung on the cross, He took the burden of the wrath of God on Himself.

I once heard Jesus' taking God's wrath like this explained like this: imagine that we are in a canyon. A small river is trickling through, the product of a dam upstream. That dam is holding back a massive river that would flood the canyon if the dam broke. Needless to say, we don't want to be here when it breaks. Regardless, we throw rocks at it. I mean, it's a huge dam. How could it break?

One rock we threw hit another rock in the wall of the canyon, which in turn caused a group of larger rocks to become unlodged and fall into the dam.

 A crack runs up the middle, splintering across the facade of the dam. Time has worn the dam thin, and it is breaking. Suddenly, the river behind blasts through the cracked dam. The pressure was too much, and the river busts through.

We have since walked a little way downstream from the dam. We hear a loud noise, and turn to see a wall of water headed toward us. This deadly, overwhelming flood will destroy us, and it is our fault that the flood is headed for us.

We start to run, but there really is only time to turn away from the water when we hear a massive roar. Afraid to turn, we run a bit, but then realize that we are not dead yet. We turn around and see that there is no more wall of water.

Instead, a massive hole has opened up in the ground, creating a waterfall. The ground took the death from us and absorbed it all.

This is our story. God's wrath was bearing down on us, punishment due us because of our provocation and rebellion toward Him. Yet, instead of the death we deserved, Jesus took the punishment. He took the full wrath of God: not just my punishment, but also the punishment for you, our families, our friends, the guy across the table from me at the library...everyone. He took it all. Sin and death were defeated forever, all because Christ took the punishment for them away from His people.

If you have believed in Christ and confessed in Him as Lord and Savior, it is finished. There is no more punishment due to you, and there is no more power that sin can hold over you. Jesus took care of that. It's over, it's through, it is finished.

If you have never put your faith in Him, do so today. Feel free to trust in Him as Savior. None of us deserved for Him to die, but out of grace, mercy and love, He did it anyways. He took the punishment. Now it is up to you to accept Him as Lord and Savior and follow Him.

They call today Good Friday, the day that Christ died. But why is today good? Because it is finished.

Jesus: Mocked and Dying, Ultimately Loving

"He saved others, but He cannot save Himself! He is the King of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. He has put His trust in God; let God rescue Him now—if He wants Him! For He said, ‘I am God’s Son.'" -Matthew 27:42-43, HCSB

Jesus wasn't in the best spot here, y'all. He had been beaten, stabbed, dehydrated, whipped, slapped, pushed, shoved, and oh, by the way, nailed to a wooden cross. His breathing is becoming harder and more difficult. His legs ache, lactic acid in His calves building up from holding Himself up. His hands are throbbing in excruciating pain from the bones in His hands, shattered as a nail went through them.

Meanwhile, the crowds around Him are mocking Him. They are jeering at His condition, laughing at the fact that He is dying. They questioned His power, His authority, His trust in God, how much God loved Him and what exactly His relationship with God was.

And isn't that the case today? Do people not question His ability to save others? Haven't you heard people who doubt His authority as King of all? Don't people scoff at His power over this realm? Don't people question whether or not He was the Son of God, or even a deity at all? Could He have saved Himself?

Thank God He did not save Himself!

It wasn't that He couldn't save Himself, it was that He wouldn't, in order to save us instead.

It wasn't that God didn't love or want Jesus, but rather that God wanted and loved us, too.

It wasn't that Jesus wasn't God's Son. No, no it definitely is not because Jesus isn't God's Son. But, praise be to God above that He wanted and desired many sons and daughters, not just One.

"For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!" -Romans 5:7-8, HCSB

We didn't deserve the death of Christ. We are not good or righteous; we are sinners. Yet, to show His love for us, Christ, Jesus Christ, died for us. He died so that sinners could become sons and daughters of God.

So the next time people are mocking Jesus, praise Him. Praise God that He would sacrifice Himself, that He would kick His Son to the curb, that He would die for us. Praise be to God, the God who died in order to love the unlovable!

The Prize, Part One: What's In Your Rearview?

I have a few books in God's Word that really impact me regularly, and I'm bringing a passage of one of them today. Check out this passage from Paul's letter to the Philippians:

"...But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly [or upward] call in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 3:13b-14, HCSB

What a great passage, right?! I mean, what an approach to life! Let's break this down and see how we can live this out:

1. Forget what is behind
-Your past doesn't mean a thing. I'm not saying to totally forget your past; I'm not one those types. What I am saying is this: no matter what is in your rearview, it is in your rearview. No matter what I see behind me when I am driving my truck, it is still behind me. Good or bad, I have driven past it and it is relatively unimportant to my further travel.

Yes, our past shapes the present and future. If I just drove through a rainstorm, my truck is now covered in water. If I just left the gas station, my tank is full. The events of our past often direct and effect the manner and appearance of our travels. Yet, we must also move on.

The bad things, the rain storms in your life, can be seen in a new light in Christ. I am not saying they will go away; if anything, I've found that the radar gets more shades of red and orange the further towards Jesus we go. However, our approach to these hard times can be altered by His guidance. If you are in a storm, trying to navigate on your own, it can be easy to get lost. Discouraged. Hurt. You may even veer off the road in the torrential downpours of life if you have no guidance.

With guidance from the Lord above, however, you are able to approach these storms with confidence. You can know that He will guide you through the heart of the difficulty. He will never abandon you, nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

In the end, we must forget the past. Our life before Christ is filled with not only storms, but rebellions, lusts, mistakes, lies, troubles... the list goes on. We cannot proceed toward the glory of God if we continue to carry all of this baggage with us.

In the book Pilgrim's Progress, our hero is loaded down with a massive load on his back. Before we come to Christ, we all have a similar load. Like the hero in Pilgrim's Progress, we must have that load removed before we proceed toward God and His purpose for our life. That load, that burdensome past of sin and troubled heart can only be removed by one Being: Jesus Christ.

He died and rose again to remove those burdens from our backs! Our past, no matter what has happened, can be and will be removed by your Savior the moment that you place your faith in His great gift of grace and salvation, calling on Him as your Lord and Savior. Put your past in the rearview! He can put it behind you; allow Him to do so!

Check back next week for the continuation of this passage. We've got the past behind us, so the question is: what's on the road ahead?

Let's Just Worship

A worship guide for the new year (and the rest of our lives):

"Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary."

- Psalm 96:1-6, NIV

 

Isn't this a great passage? It has a lot to it, and I really just wanted to share this with you all today. Let's break it down, and I hope you follow each section, worshipping Him:

 

"Sing to the LORD a new song, sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise His name...": Oh, sing to the Lord! Sing with all your heart. May the whole planet, nay, the entire universe sing to Him who is seated above all! He is worth of all praise and glory and honor, forever and ever and ever! Praise His great name, the Name that is above all names!

 

"Proclaim his salvation day after day, declare His glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples...": The natural result of, or perhaps better called the continuation of, worshipping our Lord is the declaration of His splendor and majesty and power to the nations for all to hear. If we truly worship Him, it will spill over onto into a flowing river of praise from our lips, taking His name to the ends of the earth.

 

"For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens...": There is nothing on this planet or beyond this planet that is worthy of the praise that our God is due. Why? Because He made it all. He made light and dark and land and water and stars and moons and planets. He made birds and fish and plants and mammals and invertebrates and reptiles and amphibians. He made wood and metal and oil and combustion and paper and jewels. He made relationships and power and love and sex and passion and happiness. Everything you could ever make into an idol, anything that you could put over Him (idols don't have to be objects; they are ANYTHING we put over God) was made by Him or forbidden by Him. In fact, the very act of idolatry is sin.

 

Instead we should fear Him. A writer called the fear of God, "the convergence of awe, reverence, adoration, honor, worship, confidence, thankfulness, love, and yes, fear." All of that is what our reaction toward God should be. Anything less isn't up to par.

 

"Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary...": This is why we fear Him. Splendor and majesty and strength and glory surround Him; I don't think I have to expand. I don't even know if I can. Our Lord is so majestic and wonderful and powerful and glorious and beautiful and amazing that words simply do not do Him justice.

 

Just sing a song and worship. Just bow and lift up His name. That is the only fitting response.

A King's Prayer of Awe (That You Can Use)

As I have said before, King David is one of my very favorite biblical characters. This dude just had so much passion going on! One minute he's in the clouds, and the next minute he's scraping the bottom of the bucket, lower than dirt. Today, we are going to look at a prayer of his, and really focus on how his view of God leads to only one logical response that we can follow with.

Towards the end of his reign as king of Israel, David wanted desperately to build a temple for God. His logic was simple: if the mortal king of Israel has a majestic palace, how much more does the King of all deserve? Alas, God did not let David build. David had shed far too much blood in his life, and the honor of building the temple would instead fall to Dave's son, Solomon.

Instead of pouting about not being the one to build, David hosted a massive fundraising project, in which he gave generously (even for a king) for the project and led the leaders of Israel to follow suit. After all the fundraising is completed, and David sees the massive amount of money, he is ecstatic. He proceeds, as he did more than once, to worship in front of everyone. Here's what he said:

"May You be praised, LORD God of our father Israel, from eternity to eternity.Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. Riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler of everything. Power and might are in Your hand, and it is in Your hand to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks and praise Your glorious name." -1 Chronicles 29:10-13, HCSB

What a prayer! Let's look at the three-fold part of this prayer:

1. He states God's name and rejoices in His traits. He opens with praising the LORD God (Yahweh) of Israel, and then dives off into God's traits and characteristics. He discusses God's everlasting nature. He discusses His greatness, power, glory, splendor, and majesty.

2. He gives God His dues. He admits to God that the entire universe belongs to Him, and that the Kingdom is His. He is exalted as head over all. Even riches (like those that David and Co. just gave to build the temple) and honor and power (like David's kingship) and might and strength are all a product of God. Without His giving it, we have none of those things.

3. He reacts to all this with praise and thanksgiving. There are only two responses to a God like what David has just described: indifference and awe. If you could care less about this God, you have not grasped the majesty and power and greatness of God. Just look at how the beings in the throne room of God react to Him:

"When He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song:

You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because You were slaughtered,
and You redeemed people
for God by Your blood
from every tribe and language
and people and nation.
You made them a kingdom
and priests to our God,
and they will reign on the earth.

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. They said with a loud voice:

The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing!

I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say:

Blessing and honor and glory and dominion
to the One seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever!

The four living creatures said, 'Amen,' and the elders fell down and worshiped." -Revelation 5:8-14, HCSB

That, my friends, is the correct response to this great God. All-out praise and worship and awe. I urge you to take all three of the pieces of David's prayer, and make a prayer that will leave you in awe of God.

For more into the traits of God that will spread your view and understanding of His majesty and greatness, check out:

-He has always been in existence, and always will be (Psalm 90:2, Psalm 100:5)
-He is everywhere, at one time (Jeremiah 23:23-24, Psalm 139:7-12, Proverbs 15:3, Isaiah 43:2, Hebrews 13:5)
-He is powerful over all (Jeremiah 32:17, Genesis 18:14, Luke 18:27)
-He is never changing (James 1:17, Hebrews 13:8, Hebrews 1:10-12, Psalm 102:25-27)
-He knows all (1 John 3:20, Psalm 139:1-6, Isaiah 40:13-14)

Names of God: Maker

Have you ever realized how intricate you are? Right now, look at your body for a second. Look at all the tiny lines on the top of your hands or the wide array of colors in the iris of your eyes (they may be blue, but look how many shades of blue!). Then feel your forearm while you move your fingers. Feel the muscles of your arm as they move your fingers. Watch the bones in the top of your hand as you more the fingers; it looks kinda cool, huh?

The human body has so many little intricate, awesome features, I could write all day about them. Each little part of your body has a function (except the appendix, as far as we know), and each little part has an important role in your life. And yet, each part was made specifically by God.

Each one of us is a creation of God's. Just like that artwork you did in second grade art class, you are one of God's creative masterpieces. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His "masterpiece" or "creation."

Let's look specifically at a verse that refers to God in this Maker role, and think about what it means:

"Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker." -Psalm 95:6, HCSB

You see, the masterpiece doesn't rule the master. The Mona Lisa didn't tell Da Vinci what to do, and Michelangelo didn't worship the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. In that same line of thinking, we shouldn't expect God to worship us. He is not a vending machine that we only mention when we need something. He is not just a "part of our lives." He is our Maker, and He demands all of our praise and all of our attention.

Everything we do, we should do for His glory. Ephesians 2:10 goes on to say that we are made "to do good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them." We're meant to be the hands and feet of God, doing His work all over the nation and world.

So, will you worship Him? Will you bow before our Maker, or will you be a rebellious creation that spits in the Creator's face and does your own thing?

Names of God: LORD Almighty

Last week, we looked into the name "God Almighty," and this week we will look into the name "LORD Almighty." They look like they should mean the same thing, right? I mean, we use Lord and God interchangeably. Logic would say that they should be the same title when you add "Almighty" to the end of them. Yet, they are totally different.

The first time LORD Almighty is used as a name for God is in 1 Samuel 1:3, which simply says:

"Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD." -1 Samuel 1:3, NIV

Other versions, such as the ESV and HCSB (two versions I frequently use) replace "LORD Almighty" with "LORD of Hosts." These two names mean the same thing, and that meaning comes from a combination of two words.

The name "LORD" is different from "Lord." When the Bible puts LORD in all caps, their caps lock was not stuck. Instead, this signals that we are using the English version of the name "Yahweh." Yahweh is the most sacred name in the Hebrew for God, and we will cover it in depth later in this series. However, I had to state its presence here because of its importance to the name "LORD Almighty." Without Yahweh, we don't get the full meaning of this name.

Adding the Hebrew word "sabaoth" to "Yahweh" creates a combination that has a implication of God as the "Sovereign Warrior." The sovereign part implies His rule over the Earth and universe, which I will cover a bit more later in this series (yes, there are a lot of parts in this "Names of God" series...). What I really want to focus on is His title as a warrior.

Our God is a Warrior. He is not all rainbows and butterflies, unicorns and bunnies. There is a very real spiritual war waging all around and inside of us, and He is in the middle of it. This is a nice title to remember when stuff around you isn't so great and you need back-up. Not only is our God unmovable and stable, strong and powerful as we saw last week, but He is an active Warrior, able to challenge anything in our lives. When God battles something, let's just say it doesn't hang around very long.

Do you need the Warrior God to back you up in a battle you are fighting? Call on Him. He's ready to roll for His people at any time.

What's Better Than the Daytona 500 for a Redneck?

I've recently been listening to Craig Groeschel (pastor at Lifechurch.tv in Oklahoma) and his "Better" series. In the series, he has been looking at verses that say something is "better" than something else. Today, I'd like to share one of the verses he looked at in the series, and talk a bit about it.

"For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness."-Psalm 84:10, ESV

It is hard to imagine how one day somewhere could be better than a thousand elsewhere. Yes, a day at the Daytona 500 this weekend would be pretty amazing for me, but it wouldn't be better than the combined happiness found in a thousand days elsewhere. I cannot fathom what kind of day that would be, and odds on, you can't either. My guess is that is exactly the point. Allow me to explain.

Have you ever seen a sunset or landscape (or alley-oop dunk, for basketball fans) that left you speechless? I think back to this picture I took a few years back in Ormond Beach, Florida. As I looked out of the window at the hotel, I saw this sunset and was awestruck at the beauty: so many shades of red, orange and purple, such unique cloud structure, the whole nine yards. It was such an amazing picture, and remains one of my favorite sunset pictures to date. I was simply left speechless at the splendor of the sky.

Now, imagine a moment that you were simply stunned at something amazing. Got it? Now extend that feeling until you are picturing yourself feeling that amazed for an entire day. That, my friends, is a taste of what it will be like to be in the presence of the Lord. That is why the psalmist said that a day in His place would be better than a thousand elsewhere.

Even this seems abstract to us and is difficult to imagine. I mean, our short attention spans only allow us to be amazed for brief bursts until we've moved on down the line. Yet, in His presence, we will not be able to divert our attention away. You could have the worst case of ADHD ever recorded, and it wouldn't matter; you'd be captivated by His glory.

No wonder the psalmist said he'd be willing to be a doorkeeper (aka nobody special), standing in the elements outside at God's house than live in the safety of the "wicked's tents." He got it. He understood this sense of wonder and amazement in God. He was so enthralled in God's majesty that he would be willing to stand outside, just catching glimpses of Him when opening the door.

Are you captivated by God and His glory? Would you be willing to trade a thousand days on Earth for only one with Him?

JESUS Film Series, Part Two: Jesus Ain't Yo Principal

A few months back, I started my JESUS Film series by looking at Vintage 21 Church's first video about Jesus. We discussed how Jesus is not too busy or uninterested in us, and that instead He is our friend. Now, let's look at the second video and then we'll look into another false view of Jesus.



This video highlights a view of Jesus that is overwhelmingly popular, and has run rampant in our churches and culture. It's this idea that, in order to be a Christian or come to Jesus, one must follow a bunch of rules and look like part of Jesus's clone army of brainwashed, law-abiding monkeys. You must be at church every time the door opens and listen only to Christian music. If you even think about watching a movie with Santa in it, well, just go ahead and consider yourself a pagan. If you're still a sinner, just go ahead and give up being a Christian.

We all think Jesus is our principal, following us around like children and making sure we don't break any rules. I mean, it's only natural that we would assume this mindset. Every other religion in the world runs on a system of rules that one must follow to get to their god or whatever. Even the Judaic system of the Old Testament followed the Law, which is the set of rules that God put forth in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Jewish individual had all kinds of sacrifices and practices and such that were required to make themselves right with God.

You see, we have a holy God, and man is sinful. So, for a long time, had to do different things, holy, God-given things, to be right with God. But then the New Testament happens.

Jesus Christ, God Himself, comes to earth and pays the penalty for our sin. He was and is the ultimate sacrifice. With His death and resurrection, the Law of the Old Testament was ruled unnecessary. No longer must we sacrifice animals for our salvation; Jesus has already been our sacrifice!

So, it is not longer "what must I do for salvation?". No, now it is "look at what Christ has done for our salvation!"

Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly states "8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast."

Your works can't do a THING to save you! So stop living in an Old Testament world, living as if the Law keeps you in a world of condemnation, guilt and shame for "crossing the line." Instead, gladly receive the grace of God and have faith in Jesus Christ! He has set us free! Yes, you'll still sin and screw up. But instead of focusing on the rules, just love your Savior. The more we push towards following and knowing Him, the less we will have time to focus on ourselves and the more we will focus on the One worthy of all of our praise and all of our worship.

Snakes and Stones

Starting on January 10, 2012, this blog will become increasingly more active. With an easier schedule, I will be much more able to post this semester. I haven't posted in almost two months, and it's been killing me that I've abandoned the posts. I will be doing a minimum of two posts each week, coming out on Tuesdays and Fridays. Tuesday posts will look much like the Bug's posts have always looked: basically a mini-message, in written form. Friday posts, of which this is the first, will be based off the lessons I teach in my Bible study. Currently, we are reading through Matthew, and this week's lesson is from Matthew 7:9-11.

9 What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! -Matthew 7:7-11, HCSB

Imagine that someone is drowning in a river, screaming out for help. A sense of desperation is in their voice. They cannot swim, and they need help to survive. They look to you, and call out your name. You have a lifejacket, which they can attach to themselves and survive, or a rock, with which you can toss in their direction and hope for the best. Which one would you give them?

Of course, you'd give them the lifejacket. Why would you give someone that is so desperately in trouble something that is only going to make them sink faster? Yet, if you'd be willing to do save them, how much more capable and willing is God to help us?

You see, often times it's us that is drowning. We're stuck in the rivers of life, drowning in our troubles. We can't get out of our sucky situations, and so we cry out to God for help. We have a God who is all-powerful and all-loving. Will He not help us out?

God always works for the good of His people (Romans 8:28). We may not understand when we are drowning, and God doesn't just come over in His boat and get us. Sometimes, He tosses a lifejacket nearby, and we have to stretch a bit to grab it, and then dog paddle to safety. We want everything to come easy to us, and usually it doesn't. God lets us go through hard stuff for a reason, and we just have to put our faith in Him to get us out of the river. He is a refuge for those in trouble (Nahum 1:7); He's working for our good!

We have an amazing God. I urge you to watch the video below, and spend a few minutes gazing upon how beautiful and breathtaking His Creation is. Then, remember that the God that made all of that is looking out for you, and will save you from the river. Worship Him now. Praise Him.

JESUS Film Series, Part One: Jesus Is Your Friend

It has been a while since I last did a series, as I usually just write free-standing blog posts. Starting today, and going for the next four weeks, though, I'll be doing a four-part series on Jesus and what He is really like. I'll be basing this series off of four videos made by Vintage21 Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. Each post will feature one of these videos, and then we will look at what the video is displaying about Jesus, and how it isn't a Biblical version of Him.

DISCLAIMER: This video is not meant to be offensive. It is a satirical look at how Jesus is usually portrayed. No disrespect is intended by this video.



Ok, so, let's look into this. Peter is a bit bummed out because Jesus is apparently too busy for him. Jesus doesn't have time for Peter's silly games, and is indifferent to Peter's problems. Another guy is bugging Jesus with what he wants for Christmas. He claims to be Peter's friend, He just doesn't have time for him.

According to this view of Jesus, He is an incredibly important and busy heavenly Being that is far too concerned with running the world and "heavenly things" to worry about being Peter's friend. Let's look at this.

Yes, Jesus is an incredibly important heavenly Being. In fact, He is the most important Being in the universe. He is the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8, 2213), Head over everything (Eph. 1:22), and the Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 10:42). Those are some pretty important titles, and it only scrapes the surface. Jesus is the Son of God (Mt. 4:3), the Savior of the world (John 4:42). He is holy, God of the universe (2 Peter 1:1). It doesn't get more important than Jesus.

Yet, there is another title that is found in the Bible, and it seems to stick out. Look with me at this curious verse.

"19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'" -Matthew 11:19, HCSB

The Son of Man, another title of Jesus (Mt. 8:20), is a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Jesus is a friend of people who sin. Guess what? That's everyone. You, me, your neighbor, Uncle Timmy: all sinners. Yet Jesus says that He is your friend. But does He have time for you?

The overwhelming answer is: yes. Proof that God (who Jesus is) has time for us is all over the Bible.

-He listens to us (Jer. 29:12)

-He watches over us (Ps. 33:18)

-He protects us (Ps. 23)

-He loves us (Ps. 36:7)

-He wants to hear your problems (1 Pt. 5:7)

No, He is not the cosmic vending machine that you pray for your Christmas list to. But Jesus cares deeply about you, and has more than enough time for you. After all, He's God. There are no limits on Him. He can love you and be the best friend that you can have because He alone is capable of unfailing love.

Will you remember that you have a friend in Jesus, or will you continue to think that you are a bother? Approach Him today as the friend that He wants to be for you.