Matthew 21:12-27 (Passive Jesus?)

¹² Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ¹³ “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
 ¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
 ¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
   “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
   “‘From the lips of children and infants
   you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
 ¹⁷ And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
 ¹⁸ Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.  ²⁰ When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
 ²¹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. ²² If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
²³ Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”
 ²⁴ Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵ John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
   They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
 ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
   Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

I'm not quite sure where our society gets the idea that Jesus was a weak and quiet man, and as a teenager, I can remember being a little embarrassed that my God wasn't a little more macho.  But clearly, I just hadn't read enough scripture yet.   I love Matthew chapter 21 because here we see three different examples where Jesus was not a push-over!  

I love the picture of Jesus going into the temple and turning over tables because people were defiling God's house.  Put some dramatic music behind those images and you have a just hero in an action movie!  Jesus was a fighter.  He fought for the holiness of God and His temple; he fought for the underdogs of his day when he cared for women, widows, and children; and he has and continues to fight for our souls out of His great love for us!  No, He was absolutely not passive, and I am so proud to call Him my Savior!  And yet, in this very scene, He also healed many people out of His love and compassion for them.  Now, if that's not the perfect man, I don't know what is!

In the next part of this passage, He kills a fig tree on the spot for not producing fruit, reminding us that Jesus is fully God, and Scripture also says that Jesus was hungry, which reminds us that He is fully human lest we not forget!  Now, there are many ways we could look at this and dive into it further as far as what that fig tree represents.  But what I know about Jesus, is that His followers are to bear fruit!  He despises "lukewarm" dedication from us.  In Revelation 3:16, He says, "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."  He doesn't play pretend just so that everyone can feel nice about this Christian stuff.  You either are hot or cold.  I'd say those are pretty clear-cut boundaries, and He doesn't settle for the in between.  I love that about Jesus, because even in my own life, I want to be on fire for Him.  I'm glad that He makes that the standard because otherwise my fleshy self would probably not aim so high!  So, I wonder if that tree represents self-proclaimed Christians who are not bearing fruit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). Jesus doesn't play games.  I also like this section of scripture because as a leader, He empowers and encourages His disciples, telling them that they can do the same things if they just have faith that it can be done AND the humility to ask for it in prayer.

The third thing I love about Matthew 21, and I really love this one, is verses 23-27 (read above).  The Pharisees are doing what they are always doing, trying to back Jesus into a corner about His authority.  But Jesus is sharp!  He plays their game of "asking questions" right back at them, and says they must answer His question before He'll answer theirs, because He already knows their hearts.  They know what He wants them to say, but they don't want to say it, and if they say the opposite thing, the people will be mad at them (and we wouldn't want to make anyone mad at us, right, because they might take away our power), so they say "We don't know," which isn't the truth.  Jesus response: "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."  And that's the end of that.  He doesn't give reasons; He just gives a simple answer.  And they're thinking...rats, we're out-smarted again!

My Aunt Nancy is a hopeless romantic like me.  I can remember visiting her at her farm in Kentucky as a child, and she had this picture of Jesus on her dresser that was unlike any picture I've ever seen of Jesus.  He was handsome!  Now, I know that the Bible says that Jesus was not particularly handsome (and I'd have to do a little digging to find that reference right now), but I can understand why -- Jesus doesn't want people following Him simply for His looks! (That's why He made Brad Pitt.)  But, my aunt wanted to be so in-love with Jesus, that she used this picture to remind her of who Jesus really is, and she called it her Hunky Jesus. 

Looking at Matthew 21, we've learned that Jesus was:
sure of His identity, assertive, strong, powerful, defender of God and the underdogs, compassionate, kind and tender, honest, human, God, smart and wise beyond measure, encouraging and empowering, street-smart, and many other descriptors!  I'd encourage you to read this passage again yourself and add to my list.  What a list it is.  Yes, I'd say He is a Hunky Jesus, Aunt Nancy.

This is our God, loved ones.  This is who our God really is!  He is not a passive, quiet man who allows Himself to be walked upon.  On the cross, He absolutely allowed it, but only because He loved you that much.  He could have ripped Himself off the cross at any point, but He loved you, so He stayed there.  He is a loving, sacrificing God out of His great love for you.  You do not have to be ashamed of Him.  In fact, the more I read these historical accounts of His life, the greater the chasm between Jesus and all the other gods of this world becomes.  I choose Jesus.  I hope, with a resounding YES, that you do, too, this morning.

Thanksgiving Reflections

Okay, I know I was planning to jump back into Matthew today, but instead, I would love to share with you the joy that God gave me this weekend when I was least expecting it.  I wrote this Friday morning.

 

There is something lovely about tradition.  For personalities like mine, it’s nice to know what is coming next.  There is a certain comfort in tradition, much like putting on that old, favorite sweatshirt, and before even putting it over your head, you know exactly how it’s going to feel once it’s on and how it’s going to make you feel.

            My entire childhood, our family tradition for Thanksgiving was to drive the nine-hour trek from Indiana to Kansas to visit all of my mom’s family who we saw only once a year – twice on a good year.  As a child, I absolutely detested that drive.  My sisters and I fought constantly, that is, until dad found a tiny TV that he would set between the two front armrests.  Push play on that puppy and all was quiet in the back.  For two hours at least.  And then there was that smell – the “we’ve been driving for too long, had too much fast food, and no one showered this morning except Mom” smell.  I remember the day we climbed in the van after a bathroom break, and I was shocked when I realized that we were going to allow ourselves to marinate in that smell for at least three more hours.  I was disgusted.

            But as we pulled into Topeka, Kansas, on those Wednesday nights, and saw the diner where we were sure to order enormous shakes on Saturday, and the mall where we would undoubtedly walk around for hours on Friday but not buy anything, and the cinema where we would see a movie in an actual theater on Thursday, the nine hour drive was suddenly worth it because we were about to see our long-lost family. Then the scurried search for socks and shoes began because we all wanted to be the first ones to jump out and give Papa and Gramary Lou a hug.  Oh, how the drive was absolutely worth it in those moments.

            About two hours into our visit, we would get bored, and especially during my teenage years, all I could think about was going home to be with friends or boyfriends.  This side of the family was quieter that us, so we had to be quieter than we were normally, and we couldn’t make messes in their immaculately clean home the way we did at our kid-crazy home.  I now see this was a great experience for us to have because it forced us to be respectful when we were in other people’s homes – it was not always about us, who knew? 

            Then on Thursday, because we didn’t have all of our usual games and play dates, we were forced to slow down. And that was a good thing.  I would read my grandpa’s National Geographic magazines and my soul was stirred to go visit these places someday; or I’d read his Smithsonian magazines and I would actually learn something for the pure wonder and pleasure of it.  We would play cards with my legally-blind grandma using her “big number” cards while sipping Shirley Temples, and we would contentedly watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, ooo-ing and ahh-ing over the floats.

            By early afternoon on Thursday, we’d climb into the van, which was finally beginning to return to its normal smell, and head to my aunt’s house down the road in preparation for the feast.  Upon arrival, we’d hug my aunts, uncles, and cousins, and smile, and make small talk until we’d all warmed up to each other once again.  The wine would get poured for the adults, and the kids would drink bottles upon bottles of sparking grape juice because we wanted to be classy, too, but had absolutely no self-control and were not legally allowed to drink the real stuff anyway.  During dinner, I looked longingly, from my seat at the kid’s table, to my aunt’s hand with her painted, long nails so delicately cupped around the wine glass which sparkled with celebration, and my heart brimmed with anticipation of the someday when I could look that fancy, too. 

            The feasting was always followed by football, naps, and more feasting.  Later all the musicians, and there were many of them, would gather around the piano to sing songs together as my aunt just played along without written music.  It was in those moments, at the end of all the festivities that I felt so secure, my heart warmed by the familiarity and tradition of it all.  Yet by Thursday night, I usually wished I were already back home, and we still had two days to fill before we’d be driving the nine-hour misery back home.

            I’m not quite sure how it happened, but one year, I think my junior year of college, I can remember beginning to anticipate that nine-hour drive in early November, and excitement bubbling up.  All the little details of our Thanksgiving traditions were suddenly like treasures that I couldn’t wait to pull out and savor once again, and yes, even the drive had new value to me because it meant all six of us were together.  We weren’t young kids anymore, and I had hope that maybe we could love each other and laugh for those nine hours in the van. That year, I relished my time to just sit and read magazines and play cards and wander the mall just for the sake of soaking up the season.  I even got a few sips of wine from my mom’s glass.

            For the next three years, we enjoyed “the perfect family Thanksgiving” according to Hollywood.  Those years were truly precious to me.  Now, as I write this, I am three years on the other side – three years since my mom died, and all of those traditions and joys have changed in their appearance and in their meaning to me.  The first year after my mom died, Thanksgiving marked the first major holiday without her.  We didn’t travel to Kansas that year, but a dear family friend made an incredible Thanksgiving meal for my entire extended at our house, but I have to say that I don’t remember much of that day – the “firsts” are all a blur to me.  The second year, Josh and I went to be with his family, since we had abandoned them for a couple years in order to be with my family for that sad season of illness and death.  Again, I don’t remember much from that day either.

            And now, this year, just a couple days ago, I think I got to experience Thanksgiving again.  My mom’s family from Kansas all came to Indiana to be with my cousin who lives here now, and Wednesday night, they all poured into my home for pizza.  The fire was blazing in the fireplace, the candles were lit, and the wine was poured, and we all laughed and cried and laughed and talked and laughed.  The loss of my mom was very apparent as the Kansas family all met Jackie, my dad’s new wife, but I also observed incredible amounts of grace in those conversations as I intentionally stood back and watched for a few seconds.  We were all very aware of the past.  But living in this moment, this present moment, was the choice we boldly made that night.

            In Mark chapter 7, the Pharisees are pressing Jesus with the importance of keeping their religious traditions, and Jesus answers them in verse 8, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”  What command is He talking about?  The people are twisting the laws given by Moses to make them say what they want them to say.  But I wonder if we could also put it this way: the people are no longer following and honoring God and His desires for them, but are putting their human traditions above Him.  When we do this, when I do this, it’s idolatry.  If I hold up my traditions as more important than God and His will for my life, then Tradition has become a god to me.  To cling so tightly to my traditions that I can’t surrender my life to God and His plan is idolatry.  He wants more for us than that. I know that Jesus grieves the loss of my mom with all of us, but He also wants us to trust that He is doing a good thing in our midst in spite of it.

            My Thanksgivings look different now, and the traditions of my childhood may be over.  But what a treasure they are to me, as I remember those rich times of love, laughter, and life with people who are ever-increasingly dear to me.  Loss has taught us that the people are what matter.  Not the traditions.  Because the traditions are great while you can keep them, but they will end one day, and what do I want to be left clinging to when they’re done – the candle that smokes when the tradition was just blown out, or the hands of the people that I have loved and still love as we remember the past, chose the present, and give thanks for every moment of both.

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving!

Thankful for Heaven: Part 3

One of the other many things I didn't understand about Heaven was where it is!  Paul thinks of it in terms of the presence of God.  God is perfect, so wherever He currently abides must also be perfect.  Remember when He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden BEFORE they sinned?  That was Heaven!  The Garden was perfection and God was with them.  The Bible says that when Christ returns and satan is destroyed that God will once again walk with and live with the people!  Can you imagine God the Father actually being on Earth with us?

1)   WHERE WE WILL BE:  THE NEW EARTH

John said in Revelation 21, “ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…”  Remember that God is going to RESTORE our current Earth!

(Randy Alcorn describes those where the dead are now as “Intermediate Earth” because the Bible says that Jesus is still coming back to defeat Satan!  After that, He will restore our Earth, and it will be perfection, and God will come and abide with us here.  We don't know a lot about this "Intermediate Heaven" but if that is where God is, then all the people with Him are feeling the best they have ever felt!)

Back to the New Earth...The Earth is under a curse – sin.  The Garden was perfection.  God is going to restore that which is broken.  Remember that scene from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe when Narnia is all dead and gray and evil because the White Witch has taken over and destroyed everything?  Then Aslan re-enters Narnia after defeating the White Witch, and we see this color and life sweep back over the land that was dead, and now everthing is full of life and beauty again!  So it will be with this Earth, when Jesus comes back to take His Kingdom after defeating satan!

What we see now is under a curse – thorns, drastic weather, weeds, starvation and death.  That is the dead and gray Narnia.  But soon, we will see this Earth as it was designed to be -- bolder colors, fresher smells, juicier fruits, grander mountains, clearer lakes.

Whatever we enjoy about Earth now will be 100 times better when Jesus restores our Earth.  Genesis tells the story of Paradise Lost.  Revelation tells of Paradise re-gained. God made this Earth to be our home.  When He restores it, it will be back to its original, perfect condition. 

2)   SO, WHAT FOR NOW?:  SEEING EARTH FROM HEAVEN

Romans 8 held new meaning for me after my mom died. Let me share some…

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that^[i] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We are experiencing present sufferings, and we will until Christ takes us.

Our Job:   According to these verses, one of our jobs is to wait, with eager expectation…talk about Heaven, think about Heaven, dream about Heaven with the imagination God gave you, and tell others about Heaven to get them excited and having an eternal perspective.

Well, what do I think about?  Here's something that I hope will excite you: We are not alone in this race.  There are many other believers and the saints who have gone before us…

Hebrew 12:1  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great CLOUD of WITNESSES, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

The cloud of witnesses that surrounds us is the multitudes of people who are already in the presence of God and are waiting for all of us to be together when satan's time on Earth is through!  

In the midst of my mom’s funeral, we FELT that.  There was a sense of eternity when we were there together praising God and thinking about where my mom was!  Many people told me they felt as if they had experienced some of what Heaven will be like....and it was such a small scale compared to what it will be!

They are watching!  The big game is happening down here as they watch the battle play out between good (Jesus) and evil.  The fourth quarter is coming when Jesus wins!  The people in Heaven are not oblivious to this.  They have their eyes on us!

Here are some places where we have evidence of this:

a)   -- 1 Sam. 28:  King Saul appealed to the Witch of Endor to bring Samuel back from the afterlife, and the medium was terrified when God actually sent him.  But Samuel remember what Saul had done BEFORE he died, and he was aware of what had happened SINCE!

b)   -- Luke 9:  Moses and Elijah are called back from Heaven to the Transfiguration (just before Jesus was taken up into Heaven) and they spoke with Jesus in front of Peter, James, and John about how Jesus was about to depart while in Jerusalem. (They knew what was happening and about to happen on Earth).

c)   -- In Revelation 2-3, Jesus is watching closely from Heaven what is happening on the Earth.

d)   -- In multiple places in Scripture, angels see Christ on earth and know what is happening on Earth.  Surely God’s people in Heaven would be just as concerned about the spiritual happenings on Earth. 

e)   --  “There is rejoicing in the presence of angles over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15).  It’s not rejoicing BY the angels but IN THE PRESENCE of…meaning it’s not just the angels who are doing the rejoicing!  Imagine you die before your sibling who you are still praying will accept Christ…and then he does and you can watch from Heaven!

Well, how can people watch us when Heaven is without sin?  It’s all based on perspective.  They are in the presence of God and can now see the bigger plan and picture.  They are not frail beings who can no longer see the things happening on the Earth.  Surely, God’s joy is the prevailing mood of Heaven despite the pain on Earth.

Go ahead, give 'em a little wave... :)

So...

This longing for Heaven and for something better is not a flippant desire in us.  If your soul is stirring about what I am saying, there’s a reason:

My friends, it is God “who has set eternity in the hearts of men”, according to Ecclesiastes.

Longing for Heaven and being with God is the way He made us.  It pleases Him for us to think about what is to come…and we should because our time on Earth is so short compared to the eternity we will have in perfection with Him.

What I have learned:

Heaven is real.  I believe that with my whole being.

My mom is there, enjoying the presence, perspective and love from the Lord.

She, and all the others with her, can see me at times.

Heaven is going to more LIKE Earth than not.

I can be excited about what I will do and see in Heaven, and I want to go there and be in the presence of God!

I no longer have to be afraid of dying...or of living.

My hope today is that this week you have gained some excitement about Heaven and can start dreaming about what it might be like.  I hope you can now trust that all of life’s pleasures are from God and will be even better in Heaven!  And WHEN you experience grief, I pray you find strength in the knowledge and hope of Heaven.

Thankful for Heaven: Part 2

This week marks the start of the holiday season, and for many people it marks the start of a really difficult and sad season as they remember the loss of loved ones who will not be with them this year.  I will be right there with you, my friend.  But, I also am so excited to continue to share with you what God is teaching me about Heaven because if we can claim this truth, our lives and our holiday seasons will change forever!  If you didn't get to read the "Part 1" post yesterday, I encourage you to do that so you're not confused.  Then we'll pick up where we left off...

1)   WHO WE WILL BE:  OUR RESURRECTED BODIES

Job 19:25-27:  “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.  And after my SKIN has been destroyed, yet in my FLESH I will see God; I MYSELF will see him with my own EYES – I , and not another.  How my heart yearns within me!”

Job knew that in his own flesh, he would see God.  Not his spirit, but his flesh.  This is such hope to me, because as I told you yesterday, this idea of floating around in ghostly bodies for all of eternity didn't excite me.  And no wonder it didn't!  That's not the way we will be in Heaven!

Words for eating, drinking, meals and food appear more than 1000 times in scripture, and the word translated “feast” appears 187 times, and get this: The resurrected Jesus invited His disciples to “Come and have breakfast” with him (John 21).  He could have abstained from eating with them at that moment, but He didn’t.  Do you know what this means?!  It means that our newly restored bodies will be able to EAT!  Perhaps they won't even NEED to eat, since we wouldn't be able to die again, but we will GET to -- for the pure pleasure of it!

Take a look at these two scriptures: 

Phil. 3:20-21 “The Lord Jesus Christ…will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”  Note the word “spirit” is not used, but “body.”

“Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding SUPPER of the Lamb!’  And he added, “These are the true words of God.” ” Rev. 19. 

What do we do at a wedding supper?  Eat, drink, tell stories, celebrate, laugh.  Why use the word "supper" in the above verse if we weren’t going to be eating? 

Now, I know what you're thinking:  What about all the figurative language in the Bible?  The word "supper" is probably just symbolic of something else.  And I agree with you -- the Bible definitely contains many figures of speech.  But just because the Bible uses some when describing Heaven, doesn’t mean that they ALL are!  We shouldn’t assume that everything about Heaven is figurative when we don’t assume that everything in Matthew or Romans is figurative.

Oh, and look at this!  When Jesus returned in His resurrected body, he proclaimed that he was NOT a ghost (Luke 24), yet countless Christians think they will be eternal ghosts or dis-embodied spirits in Heaven.  Christ’s resurrected body was suited for life on Earth.

Then the risen Christ said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?  Look at my hands and my feet.  It is I myself! Touch me and see; a GHOST does not have FLESH and BONES, as you see I have.’  When he said this, he showed them his hands and feet.  And while they still did not believe it because of the joy and amazement, he asked them ‘Do you have anything here to EAT?’  They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ATE it in their presence.” (Luke 24:39).  Oh my gosh -- there He is eating again in his resurrected body!  In fact, He requested to have something to eat in order to prove to them that the food would not fall right through Him.

When Christ was with two disciples after His resurrection on the Emmaus road, he walked and talked with them, asked them questions, taught and guided them, and they didn’t know it was Christ until “their eyes were opened” (v.21).  So, looking at Jesus, they thought he was a regular man – his feet didn’t hover about the ground, they WALKED on it.

And remember, too, His body could be touched by Thomas.

So, though He will give us new bodies, we will still be the same people – just as when we become Christians, we see changes in our attitudes and actions, but we are still the same people.  In order for Christ to be who He says He is, He needed to resurrect as Himself, not as a new creation, but as Himself.  The same is and will be true with us!

The restoration He does in us involves transforming the old, not eliminating it.  God is not going to scrap His original creation and start over.  Instead, he will take His fallen, corrupted children and restore, refresh, and renew us to our original design.  To the way He created you perfectly to be -- body and all!

2)   WHAT WE WILL DO:  ENJOYING GOD IN SECONDARY PLEASURES

This is one of my absolute favorite things to talk about!

  Before I couldn’t get excited about singing forever in heaven, as I mentioned yesterday.  I though that singing forever would also get boring after a while.  But now I look forward to worshipping God in Heaven because I know that worship is more than just singing!  Look at this quote from Randy Alcorn's book, Heaven:

“Most people know that we’ll worship God in Heaven. But they don’t grasp how thrilling that will be. Multitudes of God’s people—of every nation, tribe, people, and language—will gather to sing praise to God for his greatness, wisdom, power, grace, and mighty work of redemption (Revelation 5:13-14). Overwhelmed by his magnificence, we will fall on our faces in unrestrained happiness and say, “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” (Revelation 7:9-12).

People of the world are always striving to celebrate—they just lack ultimate reasons to celebrate (and therefore find lesser reasons). As Christians, we have those reasons—our relationship with Jesus and the promise of Heaven. “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). Does this excite you? If it doesn’t, you’re not thinking correctly.

          Will we always be on our faces at Christ’s feet, worshiping him? No, because Scripture says we’ll be doing many other things—living in dwelling places, eating and drinking, reigning with Christ, and working for him. Scripture depicts people standing, walking, traveling in and out of the city, and gathering at feasts. When doing these things, we won’t be on our faces before Christ. Nevertheless, all that we do will be an act of worship. We’ll enjoy full and unbroken fellowship with Christ. At times this will crescendo into greater heights of praise as we assemble with the multitudes who are also worshiping him.” 

Can you even imagine?!  Millions of people praising God in unrestrained happiness?!  It is going to blow your mind!  I can't wait!

What about the other things we will do? 

A.W. Tozer says, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us!"

So, do you think God is pleased when we enjoy a good meal, a football game, laughter with friends, a cozy fire, a good book, or even sex with your spouse?  Your answer to that question not only demonstrates your view of God but also indicates the degree to which you are able to enjoy life – and it will determine how much you will look forward to the resurrection and what the Bible calls the New Earth.

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite verses: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our ENJOYMENT” (1 Tim. 6:17).  Can you believe that?!  God provides us with things purely for our enjoyment!

God should be the object of our Hope, but His is also the one who gives us all the good things in life for our enjoyment!  Failure to recognize this is the reason so many people are blinded from seeing Heaven as a place of great pleasure and enjoyment!  They think that if Heaven is “spiritual” it will be drab and empty of the “earthly” things that they find enjoyable but “unspiritual”.  Not so at all!

We should not hold anything up higher than God, but that does not mean that people, things, and pleasures are BAD – lest we forget it was God who made them.

God is not in Heaven frowning at you saying, “Stop that.  You should only enjoy me.”  That would be foreign to His nature just as when you give a child or friend a gift at Christmas you WANT to watch them ENJOY it.  I am delighted when they enjoy what I’ve given them!

Similarly, when we find joy in God’s gifts to us, we find joy in Him!  By ignoring this, we miss a thousand daily opportunities to praise and thank Him...even for the little things!

He is a lavish giver!  Remember that God “did not spare His own SON, but gave him up for us all – how will He not also, along with him, GRACIOUSLY give us ALL things” (Romans 8:32).  He sacrificed His own SON!  If He's willing to do this for us, can't you see how quickly He would be willing to give us good gifts just because He loves us?

Praise God for everything!  Give Him the glory that He deserves for all that He has done and will do!  As we walk throughout our day today, we should see Him everywhere!

It is with this knowledge that I am excited about the pleasures, adventures, beauty, and enjoyment I will experience in Heaven some day!

Wow, I hope this stirs your soul the way it does mine.  We are slowly shattering the lies and exposing the whispers of satan that this earth is as good as it gets, aren't we?   I hope you are beginning to dream about Heaven yourself, and using your imagination (another great gift that God gave you) to dream about what Heaven will be like!

Join me tomorrow, as we talk about Where is Heaven exactly? and Can people in Heaven see me?  I think you are really going to get your money's worth!  For now, chew on this today, and dream about Heaven -- I think you'll find that it will be more LIKE this Earth than not, but even better! And see if you can begin to thank God for all of His good gifts to you, even today...even the little things.

I can't wait!!

Thankful for Heaven: Part 1

As we enter this Thanksgiving week, I have to tell you that there is nothing I am more thankful for right now than the hope that we have in Heaven!  Many skeptics will tell you that there is no such thing -- that it's just a figurative place -- but I have been on a journey the past two years in my study of Heaven.  And I can tell you whole-heartedly that I believe that Heaven is REAL and it is more wonderful than we can ever imagine!  This weekend, I had the incredible and humbling opportunity to help our pastor preach on Heaven, and over the next few days, I would love us to dive in further on what I taught and to be thankful...thankful for Heaven!

May I ask you: “What do you think Heaven will be like? What has the world taught you Heaven will be like?  What has the Church taught you?”

In January of 2007, my world changed.  My mom, Susie, an absolutely unbelievable mother, Christ-follower, friend, and woman, found a questionable spot on her shin.  This spot would turn out to be melanoma, (which was really no shock to us because my mom LOVED the sun and the water).  After the initial surgery, we prayed we were in the clear.  Then, I got married in March of 2008, and what an incredible gift it was to have my mom happy and healthy and standing by my side that day, almost a year and a half after her initial diagnosis.  But in July, we would discover that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes, then later her brain, and finally her liver.  On April 27, 2009, she went to be with Jesus.

It is because of all of this that Heaven became a very real topic in our family. 

My mom was angry about dying and missing out.  She didn’t want to miss out on the three other weddings that my other sisters would have, the slew of babies that were sure to be born, and even the coffee dates and world traveling that would not get to happen now.   Watching her, a strong woman of faith, go through this season with unanswered questions and echoing fears was more than we could handle at times.   Frankly, we didn’t know how to handle it.

We knew she would die and go to Heaven, because we all were sure of her faith in Jesus Christ.  And we all knew that we should be happy for her about this.  But we weren’t.  We wanted her here.  With us.

I was unsure of Heaven.  From all I could imagine, I thought that the streets of gold would probably lose their luster after a couple weeks, and singing all day for eternity and floating around in ghostly bodies just didn’t sound all that great to me.  At least, in the way I pictured it.

But then someone gave us a gift.   The devotional, Fifty Days of Heaven by Randy Alcorn, was about to change all of our lives.  We started reading it as family, and my dad would read some to my mom every night.  It became part of their nightly routine in those last couple months.  As we began to read about Heaven, our attitudes changed and our hope increased…as a family.  I remember sitting beside my mom one day just dreaming together about what it would be like. We had already had our last earthy “coffee date” together by this time, and so we set a couple dates regarding what we would do once I got there, too, and most of them included coffee.

I would love to share with you some of what I have learned during this season.

Paul says, “To live is Christ, and to die is GAIN”( 2 Cor. 5:6), but DO WE REALLY BELIVE THAT?  Do we really believe that dying and being with Christ would be a gain compared to staying here on this earth?

I can tell you one thing – Satan is doing everything in his power to convince us that that is a lie.  He whispers to us that this is as good as it will ever get, that we should be afraid of dying and leaving what we already know.  He loves that the people around us put doubt in our minds about Heaven, and he loves that we feel so comfortable here on Earth that we would never want to leave it and go to some other place...like Heaven.  It is scary to think about; yet he is the one who sprinkled that fear into our lives.  If you only knew how Jesus describes Heaven, you would be set free!

Playwright George Bernard Shaw writes, “Heaven, as conventionally conceived, is a place so inane, so dull, so useless, so miserable, that nobody has ever ventured to describe a whole day in heaven, though plenty of people have described a day at the seashore.”  That is how I felt!  Is that how you feel today?  Does it seem dull, useless, and maybe even miserable to you to leave this earth?

The early Christians view was in stark contrast to this.  Roman catacombs showed beautiful landscapes of Heaven, with children playing, and large banquets and feasts.  Sermons in the 1700s often focused on Heaven.  But, when was the last time you heard a sermon or did a Bible study on the subject?  We rarely talk about it!

We have believed the lie that THIS is as good as it gets, and ignored the many Biblical promises of a redeemed universe!

If we gain a new understanding of Heaven, we will no longer be “conformed to the patterns of this world, but will be transformed by the renewing of our minds,” and our lives will literally change FOREVER! (Rom. 12:2).   And I can tell you that my life has absolustely been changed because of what God has taught me about Heaven!

Do you believe that Heaven is a physical place, or just a place in our hearts and minds?    Jesus wants us to KNOW that Heaven is a physical place.  He uses PHYSICAL terms, “My father’s HOUSE has many ROOMS; if it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a PLACE for you?” (John 14.2).  He used tangible, common, every-day words to describe an actual place, where we would go and be with Him.  After all, we are physical people, made FROM the earth and FOR the earth.  We were designed for a physical place.  We were designed for this Earth!

In Genesis, God created man to live on the earth and rule the earth. He hasn’t abandoned this plan!  I love this!  This is so exciting to me!  One day, his plan is to RESTORE this earth and us who have been corrupted by sin.  He’s not wiping everything out and starting over, but he will make all things NEW!  He is in the business of restoration – marriages, relationships, individual’s relationships with Him, and the Earth!  And as Peter says, “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13).

In the United States, we want and want and want, but when it comes to Heaven, here is an area where we have been content with too little!  C.S Lewis says, “If we consider the unblushing promises of rewards in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.  We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, (and we are) like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

When it comes to understanding Heaven, have you been content with too little?

I hope you will continue to join me over the next couple days as we dig into some questions like: What will we DO in Heaven?  Can people in Heaven see me now?

I am so passionate about this topic, and my prayer is that our study this week will light a fire in your soul for the Hope of Heaven that we have Jesus Christ!

Enjoy your short work week! :)

Matthew 20: 20-28 (The Greatest)

²⁰ Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. ²¹And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." ²²Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." ²³He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." ²⁴And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Do you ever think that Jesus' disciples were "better Christians" that you?  Or, if you're like me, you think that Moses, Abraham, David, and the like, were so much more holy that you at all times?   See, this is what I LOVE about the Bible.  The Bible doesn't portray the people in it the way our Sunday school teachers did -- they are not perfect people!  Moses murdered someone, Abraham acted selfishly and deceitfully regarding his wife Sarah, and David had an affair and then had the woman's husband killed!  Those certainly aren't something to just bat an eye about -- they are a big deal -- but they also aren't the main identities of these men in God's eyes!  They are known as the faithful, righteous, and foundational men of our faith who have hearts that seek the Lord.  Wow, that is just stunning to me!  

But let us not be too quick to size ourselves up compared to them.  For God does not ask us to live to the standard that David set.  Rather, He commands us to live to the standard that Jesus set.  We are only to compare ourselves to Jesus!


With that as a backdrop, I love that we get to see the real humanity of the disciples today.


"And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him..." (Mark 10:35).  I show you this verse to prove to you that the sons of Zebedee are two of Jesus' disciples, James and John. And in the above passage for today, they have come with their mother to request that they could be seated next to Jesus in His kingdom.  Obviously, it doesn't take a genius to know that the places next to The King would be the second greatest places of honor.  I am a bit boggled by the fact that they are asking to be given the most coveted seats in eternity!  Perhaps they are just so in-love with Jesus that they want to be right next him?  I don't know.  And both accounts in Matthew and Mark don't tell us what happened right before this event specifically, but Jesus has just recounted for a third time that He is about to die.  If someone told me they were about to die, I would want to be right by them, wouldn't you?

Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?"  Where else do we hear Jesus refer to a cup?  In the Garden of Gethsemane, right before He is crucified, Jesus prays,  "And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will'" (Mark 14:36).  The cup is his death!  He's asking them, Are you willing to die for this?  To which, the two disciples say, "We are..."  So, Jesus tells them that they will drink this cup, and they did -- John would be banished to the isle of Patmos for a time according to historical documents, and James would be beheaded for the sake of Christ.  But here, Christ reminds them that the two places next to Him, are not His to grant (but will be granted by His Father).

Here's my favorite part: "And when the ten heard this, they were indignant with the two brothers."  The other ten disciples remind me of myself here -- regular, ol' human beings. They were angry, annoyed, and resentful.  I can imagine if it were me standing by while someone else was asking to be honored, it would be quite annoying!  I can only hope that in the moment I could trust God enough to just let it go...

"But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  Jesus says, you wanna be great in my kingdom?  Be a servant.  Put others before yourself.  Don't seek glory and fame.  Let others get the praise and accolades.  Give your life away to others out of your love for them.  Dare I even use the word...submit to them!  After all, this is what submission is.  Submission is not the picture of an abused wife under the authority of her violent husband!  Where did we get this picture in our heads?  Submission is willingly giving up your own desires out of your love for another.


So I ask you...how can you practice His kingdom now.  If you believe in who Jesus Christ is, you will be in Heaven, and His kingdom looks a lot different than this earth does.  The greatest is the one who serves the most -- not out of obligation, but out of love and delight for another.  Where are you going today?  Work?  School?  Running errands?  Staying home with your kids?  Helping at church?  How can you serve the people you will be with today?  How can you willingly give up your own desires out of love for them?  And may I warn you, it's addicting.

Do it.  You WILL be blessed.

Detour: God's Relentless Love

This morning, I'm taking a little detour, but we'll get back to Matthew tomorrow!  My heart is hurting today after a conversation with a co-worker yesterday.  My co-worker shared with me how someone told her that the reason God gave her her highly autistic son was because He wanted her to learn compassion, as a discipline of sorts. The end.  I could not believe it.  How can a human being tell us EXACTLY why God does what He does in the first place, and how is it that I don't see that in the Bible anywhere?!  My friend shared with me with tears in her eyes that this happened 20 years ago!  Twenty years ago...wow, words can cut deeply, can't they?  And, understandably so, with this perspective of God, she has not wanted to attend church much...though I get a sense that she wants to want to attend church.

Oh, fellow Believers, and lovers of Jesus Christ, we must watch what we say.  If we are God's hands and feet on this earth, we need to represent Him well.  Remember Jesus with the woman at the well?  After being married five times and currently living with a man who was not her husband, Jesus did not condemn, discipline, or rebuke her -- rather, He offered her His living water (a faith in Him that would supply her everything she would need).  If we're going to tell someone what the Bible says or what God's reasoning is for something, let's make SURE it's in the Bible first!

So, today, I want us to look at a few Scriptures that reflect what God REALLY feels about us.  And if you have been hurt by actions or words that "came from God" through another person and have left you with a deep cut, may I please tell you that on behalf of The Church, I am sorry.  We are all wounded, even the most Bible-beating Christian out there.  Please hear me today that God loves you.  He absolutely LOVES you.  May you soak up what these few verses have to say in reference to God and you, loved one.

"The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin" (Exodus 34:6-7).  Do you see all those characteristics of YOUR God in there?  Can you believe the God of the universe is compassionate toward you?  He is abounding in love toward you?  And He forgives anything you do when you repent!  I told you, He is crazy about you!

And how about this picture of your God...
"He tends his flock like a shepherd:
   He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
   he gently leads those that have young" (Isaiah 40:11).
This was the verse that I read the morning after my mom died.  I had gotten up early, before anyone else, because I couldn't sleep.  I did one of those, Lord, I don't even know what to read, but I'm just so sad.  I'm going to open this Bible and start reading, and I really need a word from You right now.  This was the verse I came across.  What tenderness!  The rest of that chapter talks about the POWER of God.  It's incredible -- He's so tender, but also powerful beyond our comprehension.  And He loves you.

"The LORD your God is with you,
   the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
   in his love he will...
rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).
God sings over us!  My mom used to sing sweet lullabies to us as kids, and my dad would sing silly made-up songs that would make us laugh.  I'm not sure which kind of singing it is, but I wouldn't doubt God might do a little of both.  It seems strange, but my dad was rejoicing over us even in his silly singing.  Just something to think about...

And let's not forget His ultimate gift of love toward us: Jesus Christ.
"But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)" (Ephesians 2:4-5 NLT).  While we were yet sinners...not after we became good, but in the midst of our sin.  He loves you so much!

Whether you feel His presence today or not, if you have given your life to Him, He is with you.  If you have not given Him your life, He will be relentless in His pursuit of you, desiring that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

Lord, how I pray we would sense your great love for us today.  Help us to comprehend it.  Help us to accept it.

Matthew 19:16-30 (Open Hands)

¹⁶ And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" ¹⁷And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." ¹⁸He said to him, "Which ones?"  Can you believe the young man is asking Jesus which ones?  Does that not sound like us though?  There are over 600 laws in the Old Testament Jews were to follow, and this young man somehow thinks that he doesn't need to follow all of them.  Do we not like to do just the bare minimum?  I wonder if this question pointed to the true condition of the man's heart which would lead to what Jesus would ask him to do later.  The young man was willing to follow Jesus, but he wanted there to be a limit on what he would have to do!  Do you ever question whether you have already given God enough?  Yet, Jesus still engages with the man.

And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ²⁰The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?"  Now, I'm wondering, does this man really think he's close to being perfect?!  He's questioning what else he could still lack.  Sadly, I must admit that there was a time in my life, when I compared myself to people around me and thought I was doing "pretty well," and even still, the temptation is still there.   But let us remember that our standard is not other people, our standard is Christ.  Now, we can also look at this young ruler's question as that he does know he still lacks, and he's asking Christ to search his heart and tell him.  That is a GOOD thing!  That is how I had to start to break the incredible foundation of pride in my own life -- I ask God regularly to show me what I lack, or where I miss the mark, and let me assure you, He is faithful in pointing these areas out to me! 


²¹Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." ²² When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 
 ²³And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."  Who is the rich person you think of when you read this story?  Of course famous millionaires come to mind first, right?  Then, perhaps its the person down the street who drives the nice car, or the co-worker who can afford a cleaning lady, or your friends who have a condo in Cancun.  But may I suggest to you that as Americans, we are automatically in this category.  WE have lots of stuff, and we like our stuff!  You are this man, and I am this man if the idea of parting with our stuff leaves us feeling sorrowful.
 
²⁵When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" ²⁶But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." ²⁷Then Peter said in reply, "See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?" ²⁸Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. ²⁹ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. ³⁰But many who are first will be last, and the last first.  The Kingdom of God is upside-down to us isn't it?  It is in stark contrast to what our present world tells us.  Commercials tell us we cannot live without our stuff, that we deserve our stuff, and that we're worth it.  But the Bible says, You can live without all your stuff;  Jesus deserves all of you, because He's worth it!  It's not the things themselves that are bad -- remember Solomon was extremely wealthy, like Bill Gates wealthy, and God honored him.  But Solomon also said near the end of his life that all of his possessions were meaningless!  They did not control his heart and affections.  

So whether you have two cents or two million dollars today, Jesus desires that we could live with open hands.  The Lord can take from us what He desires, and He can also put into our hands what He desires.  Keep in mind that He can't put anything in our hands if they in in closed fists around what we do have!  The main goal, my friends, is that we might follow Christ with everything.  Surrender control to Him today...again...and keep surrendering to Him as long as you walk this earth.  Your reward in Heaven will be totally worth it IF you surrender everything to Him: "a hundredfold and eternal life."

 

Matthew 19:1-12 (Divorce)

¹ When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. ² Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.  ³ Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
   ⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ ⁵ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
 ⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
 ⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
 ¹⁰ The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”
 ¹¹ Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. ¹² For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

I don't have to tell you that divorce is the end of most marriages, and by most, I mean more than 50%.  Of the people who got married this weekend, half of those marriages will not make it, including the people who are marrying for the second, third, or fourth time.  In fact, the number of failed marriages goes up the more times people get married, which shows me that it wasn't the "other" person who was the problem. 

In our culture, women especially feel that they don't have worth unless they are married.  Marriage means you are wanted when you live in the United States. But marriage is not designed to make us happy.  I see that absolutely no where in this monologue on marriage that Jesus Himself gives.  The purpose is that they would become one -- they would be unified -- for the glory of God (vs. 5)!  And in their covenant of marriage, God the Father has personally joined them together according to verse six!  As Jesus continues His boundaries for marriage and divorce, the disciples conclude, well then, if this is the way it's going to be, it's better for us to not get married!  To which I want to say a resounding YES!  Marriage is not easy -- it's not just something we can turn in when we're tired of it or tired of working on it or tired of not having our needs met by our husband or wife.  This covenant is a big deal.  But I can promise you this, if you stick it out and remain faithful to God, you will be blessed!  But may I caution you who are engaged or are single and wish you were engaged...marriage does not solve your problems.  Marriage highlights the problems that are already in YOU.  Perhaps, we Americans, should listen more intently to Jesus when He says, "The one who can accept this should accept it."  It is a good thing...if and when you follow God's design for marriage.

If you are wavering on whether to marry a particular person, I urge you to think about more than just a beautiful wedding day.  Think about the two of you when one of you loses their job, one of you has a long season of dealing with addiction, one of you "checks out" for a while, one of you feels more alone than when you were single, or one of you gets a terminal illness.  Can you really marry that person for better or for worse? 

And for those of you in those seasons right now with your spouse, I commend your faithfulness.  "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged" (Deut. 31:8).  He will not abandon you in your fight for what He has joined together!  "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD" (Ps. 27:14).  You simply remain faithful to God, faithful in prayer, and faithful to love your spouse as you WAIT for Him...He is the one who will have to do the work in your spouse.  Not you.  Wait for Him, my friend.  In the meantime, I pray that you sense the work the Lord is doing in your own heart.  Our pain is never wasted, dear one.