Tag Archives: Jesus

(John 15-18) In Jesus’ Name

Leave a reply

Do you end your prayers with the words, “In Jesus’ name?” I do. It’s the way I was taught to pray. But I don’t always give it a lot of thought.

Love ya. See ya later, alligator.

Here Jesus tells us why we should pray “in His Name.” In fact, He says if we do, we will get what we pray for.

Abracadabra!

Is praying in Jesus’ name the magic words to getting what we want? On the surface, it would appear so.

Then why am I still overweight?

If I pray in Jesus’ name, why am I not receiving what I’m praying for? My CSB Apologetics Study Bible (Holman Bible Publishers; 2017) says this on page 1332:

“‘In my name,’ corresponds to ‘according to my character’ and that is parallel to other texts that require us to leave room for God’s will to overrule ours.”

So when I pray in Jesus’ name I have to ask myself if what I am praying for is according to His character.

“Dear God, take away COVID.” Am I asking God to take away society’s deserved punishment for rejecting Him? I don’t know why this virus exists. But judgment is part of His holy character.

“Dear God, let me win the lottery.” Is greed or material wealth part of Jesus’ character?

God’s character is holy, just, loving, compassionate… Do I form my prayers according to His character? Praying in Jesus’ name isn’t merely tagging on a few words at the end. It’s adopting the mind of Christ, focusing on His character before we utter a word.

It’s praying, “Not my will but Thine be done,” and meaning it, trusting His character to do all things well.

In Jesus’ name.

(John 6:47-59) Eat Your Fill

Leave a reply

I bet you think I’m talking about Thanksgiving dinner, right? Wrong. In fact, my thoughts today might cause you to lose your appetite all together.

I gotta be honest. Jesus’ words revealing Himself as the Bread of Life is gross. If a person didn’t know how often Jesus used metaphors and spoke in parables, they would be right to be disgusted by Jesus’ words in this passage. Be warned, my friend, before you turn to John 6.

But Jesus is not talking about cannibalism. He is not inviting anyone to gnaw on his physical flesh or drink the blood running through His veins here. It is true, however, that people who feed on Him will live forever.

Confused much?

Think about what Jesus is saying while using His body as an example. Being a Jesus-follower isn’t merely a nod at His diety, or acknowledging He is the Savior. Christianity isn’t merely a set of rules to follow, although obedience is certainly proof of being a Christian.

Jesus’ example of eating His flesh and drinking His blood tells me there is something uniquely different about being His. It’s an all-in, total transformation from the inside out. Here’s the correlation: when we eat and drink physical food and water, it enters our bodies and becomes nutrients, calories, energy and makes us healthy and strong. Eating and drinking sustains life.

And that’s what Jesus want to do in us. When we “take Him in,” He becomes our energy, strength, and spiritual health that will help us in this life and take us into eternity. He will transform us from weak, sinful people, into strong and healthy eternal individuals. It’s not about these rundown flesh and blood bodies. It’s about our spirits and souls.

When we ask Jesus to come “into our hearts,” we are asking Him to fill us completely, to become in us what we need for living today and forever. Just like food does for our bodies, Jesus does for our souls.

And Jesus isn’t talking about an occasional taste here. A nibble of food now and then isn’t enough to sustain a physical body. Neither is an occasional connection with Jesus. Read these verses. Jesus is talking about gorging ourselves on Him!

Take a bite. Read His Word. Take another bite and put your trust in Him. Eat some more by spending time with Him, growing in your knowledge and love of Him, allowing Him to transform you, strengthen you, direct your steps so that you look more and more like the One who fills you to overflowing.

Eat your fill. Then eat some more. You can’t get too much Jesus in you!

(The Book of Luke) Meet Your Savior

Leave a reply

What does it mean to me that Jesus rose from the grave, that he died, was buried, and lived again? What does it say that many people who witnessed his very public death, watched his body placed in a tomb, then days later sat and talked with him, touched his flesh, saw the nail prints in His hands?

To me, it’s the difference between holding to a belief system, and holding to the Truth. If Jesus died and rose again, I can only bow to His power and proclaim, “He is God.” If He can do that, I can know His Words are true, said with authority no one else has.

I don’t have to hope I know the Truth. He is the Truth. If I see Him through eyes of faith, I see the Father. If I confess my sin He is faithful to forgive. If He tells me He’s preparing a place for me in eternity, I can know that’s exactly what He’s doing.

If you have doubt about the God/man Jesus, I challenge you to read Luke’s Gospel with the determination to hear the Truth. If you read it hoping to reenforce your skepticism, you’ll miss what God wants you to know. Put your doubt aside. Read it assuming it’s true, rather than assuming it’s false.

And meet your Savior.

(Luke 21) Mind-Numbing

Leave a reply

Jesus, talking about what was and is to come, said something that has me thinking. Verse 34 says:

Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly like a trap.

I get the carousing and drunkenness. Alcohol dulls the senses, muddles the brain. Someone in that state is physically unable to focus because of the drug in his system. But why would Jesus put worry in the same mind-numbing category?

Do you think our society is plagued with worry? It seems people worry about COVID, whether or not someone is vaccinated, racial issues, the economy, the very future of our society. There are still people who refuse to leave their homes because of worry.

Some of the things people worry about are real, others are imagined or exaggerated. But Jesus doesn’t make that distinction here, does He? It appears He believes any worry is as mind-numbing as alcohol.

Sitting here and going over this in my mind, I am beginning to see the implication here. If we worry, we’re not thinking clearly. If we worry, it’s hard to focus on anything else. If we worry, our minds are on ourselves and our situation. And if that’s true – our minds cannot be on God.

Now here’s where I see worry like drunkenness. One drink or one moment of worry can be controlled. We put the bottle down, or we change our thinking. The second drink makes it harder to resist a third. A second moment of worry makes it harder not to continue to worry. And when drunkenness or worry overtakes us, our minds are numb to the things of God.

Verse 36:

But be alert at all times, praying…

You can’t be alert with alcohol in your system. I get that. What stands out to me today is the idea that worry has the same effect.

God has a lot to say about worry in His Word. If you are one who struggles, let me suggest that you get out a concordance, or Google “Bible verses about worry,” and let God encourage you.

Be alert. And pray.

(Luke 12) Given Much

Leave a reply

I’ve heard it said that people who haven’t heard the Gospel will be judged less severely than those who hear and reject it. I’ve even heard it said people who never hear about Jesus will get a free pass. And often, the people who believe that will use 12:48 as the basis for their belief. But is that what Jesus was saying here?

We need to ask ourselves about whom Jesus is speaking – and to whom he is saying it. Is He referring to saved and unsaved people? If you go back to verse 41 and read this whole section, you’ll see He is referring to believers. He’s talking about servants, managers, which begs the question – whose servants are they and whose property do they manage?

This message is for His disciples, those who have been given much!

We who are believers, students, servants of God, will be accountable for more when He returns. The longer I walk with Him, the sweeter the walk, and the more responsibility I have as His child.

You don’t hold a first grader accountable for passing a twelfth grade exit exam, and you don’t reward a twelfth grader for knowing only what a first grader knows. And, yes, God punishes both for not knowing what they are given at their level of understanding.

So don’t use this verse as an excuse for not supporting missions or evangelistic efforts, thinking people would be better off if they never hear about Jesus. The truth is, Jesus is still the only way to the Father.

And you will be held accountable for what you do about that with the knowledge you have received. If you are a believer and have dealt with your own sin at the foot of the cross, you’ve already been given much!

(Mark 14-16) Remove All Doubt

Leave a reply

The Roman soldier recognized that Jesus was truly the Son of God when he watched Jesus die on the cross. The cross removed all doubt that soldier might have had about Jesus..

Have you taken a good look at the cross? Have you really seen the One who endured such abuse, such unrelenting torment in order to take the punishment you deserve? Look at Him. That’s how much He loves you.

“Truly this man was the Son of God,” who gave His life so your sins can be forgiven, so you can live forever with Him. I pray that today you’ll take a good look, then lay your sins at the foot of the cross and let His blood wash them all away.

Take a good look at the one and only Son of God, and let Him remove all your doubt, too. But don’t just stop there. Take the next step, and accept what He died to give you – forgiveness! He’s waiting. And I’m praying.

(Mark 11-13) Final Thoughts

Leave a reply

No, I’m not hanging up my blog right now. I’d like to talk about Jesus’ final thoughts shared with us by Mark concerning the Savior’s last week on Earth.

It must have been a busy week for Jesus. And I have to believe His parting words came from a heart fervently wanting His people to understand. These summed up His three years of ministry. So, what were some of the last lessons He taught?

  1. Bearing fruit is not an option for His children.
  2. Faith can move mountains of trouble when we pray from cleansed hearts.
  3. God’s kingdom is no longer Jewish.
  4. Christians ought to be good citizens of our governments, and of God’s Kingdom as well.
  5. Loving God is the most important decision we can make. Loving others flows from that love.
  6. Our world will get increasingly dangerous for believers. But Jesus will return to take us to be with Him.

And over it all is the reality that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. And there is no power greater, no love purer, no grace sweeter than His.

(Mark 3-6) Not About Me

2 Replies

Do you find it interesting that, of all the Gospel writers, Mark (who is believed to have written Peter’s experiences with Jesus) didn’t write about Peter walking a few steps on the water? Did Mark and Peter omit that fact to save the apostle from the embarrassment of admitting he sank when he doubted? Maybe. But I doubt it.

Scripture doesn’t explain this omission so I can only guess at the reason behind it. On the surface, the fact that Peter even got out of the boat in the middle of a rain storm and walked toward Jesus on top of the water is amazing, and something to celebrate. Talk about faith! Talk about a miracle! Regular old Peter the fisherman walked on water. You don’t hear that happening every day!

Yet when it came to chronicling the life and work of Jesus, Peter kept that detail to himself. I don’t think it was to hide his doubt, or to save face. I think that Peter understood that it wasn’t about him at all. This narrative was about Jesus.

Even today when people hear “walking on water,” they think of Jesus – not Peter. And that’s exactly what I think Peter wanted.

Does my life point to me, do I seek attention and applause? Do I “share” what Jesus is doing in my life so people think what a great Christian I must be?

I want to take a page from Peter’s life. Take me out of the picture. I want my life to be about Jesus, to make people think of Jesus, to shine a light away from myself and point to Jesus only.

It’s not about me.

(Matthew 7:13-23) It Is Narrow

Leave a reply

As I read these verses this morning, I was reminded of a post I read the other day, written by a woman who would tell you she’s a Christian, condemning a Christian University for discharging a female professor planning to marry a woman. The writer, who proudly identified herself as “a woman married to a man,” reeled against the University for having a narrow world-view, something she said she herself had at one time being raised in a Christian home, going to a Christian school, and attending the very University she now condemned.

It was at that University, she said, where her eyes had been open to the broader world-view she now holds. In her opinion, the University’s stand against same-sex marriage was a step back, and she was angry.

Dear One, watch out for false teachers who come to you in sheep’s clothing. The post this woman wrote, and other “woke” views seem right, and logical, and accepting of all views. Watch out.

Like it or not, the road to God IS NARROW. I didn’t make that up. Read these verses for yourself. I didn’t build the road. But I will tell you it exists, and I’ll pray you walk it. All other roads lead to destruction.

All other roads.

I applaud the bold stand this University has taken for the Truth of Scripture in this day and age when that is a stand that could have serious repercussions. So many people are looking for this fight and would love to see the University taken down, as I believe the writer of the post I read would like to see. “Punish anyone who disagrees with me,” is the attitude of our sin-sick world, the attitude of people who will in one breath tell you not to judge, while judging you.

Would you pray with me for this University and others like it that are being faithful to the Word of God? They don’t have it easy. And I don’t see it getting easier any time soon. May God be glorified even in this.

A Scripturally based world-view is both broad and narrow. Broad in the sense that we are all sinners. All of us! Broad in the sense that “whosoever” believes in Jesus’ death on the cross as a substitute for the penalty of their sin, will be saved. Narrow in the sense that Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME.” Narrow in the sense that the Bible is the Word of God, and stands as the only Truth.

Broad in the sense you can believe what you want to believe. Narrow in the sense that everything you believe might not be true.

The fact is, the plan of God from the beginning is a narrow road. It doesn’t matter if that hurts your delicate feelings. Walk it, or don’t. Just know the destination of each road is very, very different.

Is it time you narrowed your own world-view?

(Matthew 1-4) It’s A Pleasure to Meet You

Leave a reply

Jesus! The Promised Messiah. The Savior of souls.

Jesus! The One of whom the Old Testament prophets spoke, the One whose life and purpose was demonstrated in the lives of the descendants of Abraham. The entire Old Testament is about Jesus.

And here in Matthew’s gospel we finally meet Him! The One who was promised from the Garden was born in Bethlehem just as God said He would. So many intricate details described in the Old Testament are fulfilled in the birth of Jesus alone.

Reading the Gospels helps me to know Jesus intimately, love Him fervently, and inspires me to obey Him faithfully.

Jesus! The Lover of my soul. It is truly a pleasure to meet You!