He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

1 Peter 3:18-22

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%203%3A18-22&version=NIV;NLT

  

One thing almost everybody admits to being afraid of is, speaking in front of a crowd.

About twenty-five years ago, I joined a Toastmasters Club to improve my public speaking and confidence.

 

Each week the ladies who organized it would honor one of the speakers of the day with some special recognition that they would make up. It was silly, but having received one of their honors, it felt good to be recognized because you knew that you had overcome your fear. You knew that you had gone outside your comfort zone.  You knew that you were growing.

 

We all like recognition. We all like to be honored. James and John, two of Jesus’ closest disciples, asked if they could sit in the seats of honor next to Jesus when he became king. Of course they had no idea what they were asking. But Jesus knew.

 

Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”        Mark 10:38 NLT

 

In fact, Jesus was able to endure the suffering because of what he knew would follow. What he knew was on the other side of the cross.

 

¹⁸ Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. ²² Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.          NLT

 

Jesus knew that one day he would sit in the seat of honor with his Heavenly Father. He knew that he would hear His Father again saying, “This is my son whom I love. With you I am well pleased.” Those words were enough to carry Jesus through all the pain and suffering that he endured.

 

Like Jesus, it will help us to endure the pain and suffering of this world if we keep in front of us that day when we will be in His Presence in hopes of hearing Him say to us, “You are my son; you are my daughter whom I love. With you I am well pleased.”

 

“He is risen!”

 

“He is risen indeed!”

 

 

 

 

Are You a Chicken or a Pig?

John 15:18-25

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015%3A18-25&version=NIV;ESV

 

Question: In a bacon and egg breakfast, what's the difference between the chicken and the pig?

Answer: The chicken is involved, but the pig is COMMITTED!

 

On January 8, 1956, Jim Elliot and four other missionaries, were killed by members of the Auca Indians in Ecuador. They had landed their plane to make friendly contact with the tribe.

 

On April 20, 1999, Rachel Scott was the first student to be shot and killed in the Columbine High School massacre. One of the shooters asked her if she still believed in God. When Rachel answered him that she did, he killed her.

 

Although very different circumstances, these six people died because of their faith in Christ. They were fully committed! There have been many other Christian martyrs during the past two thousand years. In fact, according to an April 14, 2017 Fox News report, as many as 90,000 Christians each year are martyred.

 

Jesus spoke the following words to his disciples as he prepared them for what was to come. He seems to be saying, get ready to be martyred for following me.

 

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.     ESV

 

Jesus spoke these words to his disciples at a specific moment in time and in history. What do they mean to us today? Should we expect to be martyred? And if we’re not, does that mean we’re not following Christ? I don’t believe so.

 

For sure, Rachel Scott did not anticipate that on that day she would lose her life because she said that she believed in God. She was being obedient to Christ. That is what we are called to do regardless of whether it means going to the jungles of Ecuador, the hallways of your high school or the office at your job.

 

So, the question is: Are you a chicken or are you a pig? Are you fully committed to follow Christ or just involved?

 

 

 

The Greatest Change Agent Ever

1 Corinthians 15:50-57

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015%3A50-57&version=NIV;MSG

 

Change is not easy for most people. It can take us out of our comfort zone. Even the smallest change can be disruptive. As a result, we resist change because the status quo is safer. We know what to expect. We have more control of our world when everything remains the same.

 

So what does it take for us to change? To get some idea of how to answer this question, here are the first three steps of Celebrate Recovery, a Christian twelve step program that specializes in change.

 

1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. 

2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

 

These steps tell us that in order to change requires reaching the bottom. When that happens you realize that your life is out of control; that you are powerless; that you can’t change on your own. Finally, you understand that you need the greatest change agent ever, Jesus Christ.

 

Eugene Peterson in The Message, paraphrased that change agent in Matthew 5:3-4.



 

³ “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

⁴ “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

 

 

 

This is from the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is speaking to common people; not to folks in a twelve step program. He’s telling them that in order to change, you have to hit bottom in some sense. Otherwise, there is no need for Jesus.

 

Today’s passage is about when Jesus brings us home with our resurrected body. From then on, there is no sting from death nor struggle with sin. Only the joy of living life as it was meant to be; living in the presence of our Creator.

 

Jesus is the greatest change agent ever. He specializes in taking us home. Thanks be to God.

 

 

Let Us Do the Same

1 Timothy 1:12-17

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+1%3A12-17&version=NIV;NLT

  

We honor people in lots of ways. It could be something as simple as opening the door for

someone or buying a meal or calling them sir or madam. It could be something more significant like an award. For example, last Sunday was The Oscars and the coveted golden statue was awarded to a number of individuals in the movie industry.

 

¹⁵ This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.        NLT

 

When you read this verse, do you have trouble believing that Paul was really the worst

sinner? After all, he wrote the majority of the New Testament and almost single handedly spread the Gospel throughout the known world in the first century. However, previous to that, he assisted in stoning Stephen and zealously persecuted the church. Basically, Paul was a murderer and a bully.

 

¹⁶ But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.  NLT

 

Despite what Paul had done, or maybe because of it, God chose him to be an apostle. He chose him as someone who would change, not only the first century world, but the world for centuries to come. Ironic isn’t it?

 

Paul’s conversion is an example that gives me hope; hope that all that I have done or will do, can and will be forgiven. Hope that God will use me in His redemptive work here on earth.

 

Often times, our service men and women have been honored publicly by recognizing their service and sacrifice; sometimes, their ultimate sacrifice. God understands this depth of sacrifice. Because He too made the ultimate sacrifice by sending His one and only son to die, not only for Paul’s sins, but for ours.

 

¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory

for ever and ever. Amen.      NIV

Paul responds to God’s mercy and grace by recognizing His ultimate sacrifice. He gives God all the honor and glory. Let us do the same.

 

 

Say Yes to the Dress

Revelation 19:6-9

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2019%3A6-9&version=NIV;MSG;AMP

  

Getting ready for your wedding can be very stressful. In our American culture, it normally falls to the bride and her mother to plan the event. Everything has to be perfect; the dresses, the reception, the music, and did I mention flowers.

 

At my wedding, the cut glass vase for the flowers couldn’t be found. As a result, the flower bouquet sat in the front of the church in a blue plastic beach pail. If there is one thing that you can count on at a wedding, it’s that something will go wrong.

 

If the bride is the focal point of a wedding, her dress is the spotlight. There’s even a reality TV show called Say Yes to the Dress. It’s all about picking the perfect dress at Kleinfeld Bridal in Manhattan, which will cost at least $1300 and possibly as much as $40,000. Perfection!

 

Even John focuses on the wedding dress of the bride.

The Marriage of the Lamb has come;
    his Wife has made herself ready.
She was given a bridal gown
    of bright and shining linen.
The linen is the righteousness of the saints.     MSG

 

Here, the bride is a metaphor for the church. In this picture, the bride is preparing herself; getting ready for the groom, which is Jesus. According to the Amplified Bible, “the fine linen signifies the righteous acts of the saints [the ethical conduct, personal integrity, moral courage, and godly character of believers]”.

 

In this verse she (the church) is given a gown of righteousness. That is to say, the righteousness that only Jesus, the King of Kings, can give us through his death and resurrection. Or as Paul wrote in Romans 13,”…clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

So go ahead, Say Yes to the Dress. I’m not referring to the perfect gown to shine on the bride, but to the gown of righteousness that makes it possible for us to come into the presence of the groom and say with the multitude, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.”