Moses, Joshua, David, Samson, Daniel, Jesus, Peter, Paul...how about Lottie Moon, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther...you know all of these stories, some better than others. Besides the Bible and the place in history that they hold...do you know why you know their story? They were just ordinary humans, living for the most part very ordinary lives until one day they made a decision.
Their situations were very different, what they accomplished ranges to all aspects of human life. But the simple thing that made their life and story historical and memorable was that they made a sacrifice.
They looked beyond themselves, beyond their convenience and comfort and made a choice. They took action. They decided that the challenge was worth the personal cost.
In the story of your life where is the sacrifice? The sacrifice that costs you and benefits someone else? The sacrifice that does not want recognition or praise, but only the peace and satisfaction of knowing that your life made a difference, left a mark, changed the future of someone else. An effort that changes you. A sacrifice that leaves you with less, without, with pain. This Christmas and this coming new year...what will you do that costs you?
What will you sacrifice to give someone else's story a better ending?
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
I am Jesus.
Now before you call the facility or my family…give me a minute.
As a husband, who am I to be to my wife? Jesus. As a friend who am I to be in the way I love you? Jesus. Who am I to be one with? Jesus. Where am I? In Jesus. Whose righteousness am I? Jesus’. Who am I alive in? Jesus. Whose body am I? Jesus.
If you have an electronic bible program or search tool, do a search using the phrase, “in Christ.” Read them all in the context of who we are.
Now, I do not think that I am the historical Jesus. I do not believe I am a reincarnation or a second coming or anything crazy, cultic or blasphemous. No Waco wacko here!
But it has occurred to me that the only way I will ever really be able to be Jesus to others is I have to start being Jesus to me!
Let me put it another way. You have landed the starring role of Jesus in the movie called your life! In this movie you are Jesus in your home. You are Jesus in your career. You are Jesus in traffic. You are Jesus in your church. Everywhere you go you are Jesus.
How about this one…with whom have you been crucified? According to Galatians 2:20 who exactly is supposed to be living in you? According to the divine transaction who exactly are you?
You can play word games and semantics and give me all the reasons why I am not Him. And when you are done…I will look you in the eye and tell you that I am Jesus. And if you know Him as Lord and Savior, so are you!
I am not to have any other goal or aspiration. I am to have no other identity. I am to have no other expression toward others than one simple thing…be Jesus.
To say that I am Jesus is not arrogance or narcissism. It is not a boasting or a psychotic delusion. It’s a humble confession. It’s the embracing of a call upon my life. It is an acceptance of all the N.T. teaches me about who I am and how I am to live. It is a goal, a determination, a desire.
Jesus is who the Father sees when He looks at me…Jesus is who the world needs to see when it looks at me…Jesus is who I should see when I look in the mirror.
Imagine how you would live your life if for a whole day you had to wear a T-shirt that had a simple statement on the front and back, I am Jesus Christ. Imagine living a day being Jesus to everyone you meet…regardless of how they treat you. Imagine being Jesus in every situation. Imagine loving those around you as Jesus does.
While you may still think I am wrong, crazy, heretical or whatever for saying I am Jesus, just so you will know, I am okay with that…as Jesus I have to be!
But with all the Bible says about the lost world around me…they don’t need me. They don’t need a better me. They need Jesus. And whose body am I? Whose hands am I? Whose voice am I? Whose will am I to fulfill?
I will just proclaim again with all the faith and courage and hope and desire and will and every other fiber of expression that is trembling within me, I am Jesus…who are you gonna be?
As a husband, who am I to be to my wife? Jesus. As a friend who am I to be in the way I love you? Jesus. Who am I to be one with? Jesus. Where am I? In Jesus. Whose righteousness am I? Jesus’. Who am I alive in? Jesus. Whose body am I? Jesus.
If you have an electronic bible program or search tool, do a search using the phrase, “in Christ.” Read them all in the context of who we are.
Now, I do not think that I am the historical Jesus. I do not believe I am a reincarnation or a second coming or anything crazy, cultic or blasphemous. No Waco wacko here!
But it has occurred to me that the only way I will ever really be able to be Jesus to others is I have to start being Jesus to me!
Let me put it another way. You have landed the starring role of Jesus in the movie called your life! In this movie you are Jesus in your home. You are Jesus in your career. You are Jesus in traffic. You are Jesus in your church. Everywhere you go you are Jesus.
How about this one…with whom have you been crucified? According to Galatians 2:20 who exactly is supposed to be living in you? According to the divine transaction who exactly are you?
You can play word games and semantics and give me all the reasons why I am not Him. And when you are done…I will look you in the eye and tell you that I am Jesus. And if you know Him as Lord and Savior, so are you!
I am not to have any other goal or aspiration. I am to have no other identity. I am to have no other expression toward others than one simple thing…be Jesus.
To say that I am Jesus is not arrogance or narcissism. It is not a boasting or a psychotic delusion. It’s a humble confession. It’s the embracing of a call upon my life. It is an acceptance of all the N.T. teaches me about who I am and how I am to live. It is a goal, a determination, a desire.
Jesus is who the Father sees when He looks at me…Jesus is who the world needs to see when it looks at me…Jesus is who I should see when I look in the mirror.
Imagine how you would live your life if for a whole day you had to wear a T-shirt that had a simple statement on the front and back, I am Jesus Christ. Imagine living a day being Jesus to everyone you meet…regardless of how they treat you. Imagine being Jesus in every situation. Imagine loving those around you as Jesus does.
While you may still think I am wrong, crazy, heretical or whatever for saying I am Jesus, just so you will know, I am okay with that…as Jesus I have to be!
But with all the Bible says about the lost world around me…they don’t need me. They don’t need a better me. They need Jesus. And whose body am I? Whose hands am I? Whose voice am I? Whose will am I to fulfill?
I will just proclaim again with all the faith and courage and hope and desire and will and every other fiber of expression that is trembling within me, I am Jesus…who are you gonna be?
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Spiritual Relativity: the purpose of life (2)
20Sep09 Ephesians One
Last week we began this study entitled:
Spiritual Relativity: the purpose of life.
Our life has meaning only as it is relative to the purpose of God.
I used the idea that Einstein’s theory of relativity E=MC2 which helped the world discover nuclear power is an analogy that if we could unlock God’s purpose for our life we might discover an equally life changing power.
And so I am excited to unveil my equation for Spiritual Relativity.
P=HKC Purpose = His Kingdom Come
In every situation of our life our Purpose is to choose the action or attitude that demonstrates His Kingdom Come into our lives…
The Purpose of God and the purpose of life is to make what is a reality in the Eternal World a reality in the Earthly World.
Last week we talked about The Principles of Spiritual Relativity.
Principle #1 We live in a multi-dimensional world.
We concluded that the great conflict in which we all live is the struggle between the human purpose to make everything about us and the purpose of God which is to unite all things in him.
The conflict is between what we see in our mind and what God sees in His.
It occurred to me this week that there is in most people a great struggle between several versions of us that exist in our own mind and the version of us that exists in God’s mind.
There are so many versions of us… for example…
In our relationships
…husband…Dad…preacher…friend…
In our self awareness…
The version of us with all the dysfunctions created by our past wounds that we don’t want anyone to see…
The version we want to be and want others to see.
But the version I need to focus on is the version that God sees me as!
Which brings me to :
Principle #2 The way we exist in the mind of God.
This is the application of the equation
P=HKC [Purpose = His Kingdom Come]
In these verses Paul describes our existence in the mind of God…
READ VERSES 1-10
“In the heavenly places” means that there is a version of us that exists in the mind of God.
“In the heavenly places” we are God’s intentionally created object of His affection.
Instead of unwanted I am chosen
“In the heavenly places” we are holy and blameless.
Instead of wounded and disgusting I am holy
“In the heavenly places” we are predestined to be adopted…
Instead of alone and unwanted and aborted…I am adopted!
“In the Heavenly places” we are lavished with His grace to make up for all of our wounds and wickedness.
Instead of being eternally separated from God…nothing can separate me from the Love of God in Christ Jesus!
From eternity past God has had us in His mind and how He was going to love us and what he was going to do for us and what He wanted to accomplish in our lives and that is His purpose.
That is the power of Spiritual Relativity - P=HKC
The Ultimate question is have you by faith embraced the version that exists in the Heavenly places?
Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, Redeemer and Lord?
Which version of you is dominant in your life?
Are you ready to make it the purpose of your life to bring to earth what exists in the heavenly places?
Then get alone with God right now and invite Him to make real in your life the Purpose of His Kingdom Coming into your life!
Last week we began this study entitled:
Spiritual Relativity: the purpose of life.
Our life has meaning only as it is relative to the purpose of God.
I used the idea that Einstein’s theory of relativity E=MC2 which helped the world discover nuclear power is an analogy that if we could unlock God’s purpose for our life we might discover an equally life changing power.
And so I am excited to unveil my equation for Spiritual Relativity.
P=HKC Purpose = His Kingdom Come
In every situation of our life our Purpose is to choose the action or attitude that demonstrates His Kingdom Come into our lives…
The Purpose of God and the purpose of life is to make what is a reality in the Eternal World a reality in the Earthly World.
Last week we talked about The Principles of Spiritual Relativity.
Principle #1 We live in a multi-dimensional world.
We concluded that the great conflict in which we all live is the struggle between the human purpose to make everything about us and the purpose of God which is to unite all things in him.
The conflict is between what we see in our mind and what God sees in His.
It occurred to me this week that there is in most people a great struggle between several versions of us that exist in our own mind and the version of us that exists in God’s mind.
There are so many versions of us… for example…
In our relationships
…husband…Dad…preacher…friend…
In our self awareness…
The version of us with all the dysfunctions created by our past wounds that we don’t want anyone to see…
The version we want to be and want others to see.
But the version I need to focus on is the version that God sees me as!
Which brings me to :
Principle #2 The way we exist in the mind of God.
This is the application of the equation
P=HKC [Purpose = His Kingdom Come]
In these verses Paul describes our existence in the mind of God…
READ VERSES 1-10
“In the heavenly places” means that there is a version of us that exists in the mind of God.
“In the heavenly places” we are God’s intentionally created object of His affection.
Instead of unwanted I am chosen
“In the heavenly places” we are holy and blameless.
Instead of wounded and disgusting I am holy
“In the heavenly places” we are predestined to be adopted…
Instead of alone and unwanted and aborted…I am adopted!
“In the Heavenly places” we are lavished with His grace to make up for all of our wounds and wickedness.
Instead of being eternally separated from God…nothing can separate me from the Love of God in Christ Jesus!
From eternity past God has had us in His mind and how He was going to love us and what he was going to do for us and what He wanted to accomplish in our lives and that is His purpose.
That is the power of Spiritual Relativity - P=HKC
The Ultimate question is have you by faith embraced the version that exists in the Heavenly places?
Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, Redeemer and Lord?
Which version of you is dominant in your life?
Are you ready to make it the purpose of your life to bring to earth what exists in the heavenly places?
Then get alone with God right now and invite Him to make real in your life the Purpose of His Kingdom Coming into your life!
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