Ch. 783 - The List: Jesus

You are Good, You are Good,
You are Good, and I worship You.

You are Love, You are Love,
You are Love, and I worship You.

You are Truth, You are Truth,
You are Truth, and I worship You.

You are Light, You are Light,
You are Light, and I worship You.

You are God, You are God,
You are God, and I worship You.

You give rest, You give rest,
You give rest, and I thank You, Lord.

You give grace, You give grace,
You give grace, and I thank You, Lord.

You give peace, You give peace,
You give peace, and I thank You, Lord.

You give joy, You give joy,
You give joy, and I thank You, Lord.

You give life, You give life,
You give life, and I thank You, Lord.

Jesus is the Son of God.
Holy.
Perfect.
Sinless.
A Lamb.
A Lion.
Alpha.
Omega.
Eternal.
Beautiful.
Powerful.

Glorious in all ways, worthy of all our praise.

Ch. 743 - By and Through...

Luke 1:35
Jesus was born of the Spirit.

Luke 3:22
Jesus was baptized by the Spirit.

Luke 4:1
Jesus was filled and led by the Spirit.

Acts 10:38
Jesus did miracles through the Spirit.

Hebrews 9:14
Jesus offered himself to death through the Spirit.

Romans 8:11
Jesus rose from the dead by the Spirit.

......

Click here to revisit Chapter 255.

Ch. 722 - Footsteps

I desire to follow in His footsteps.

'I will follow the Lamb.'
[My Confession by Misty Edwards]

... What an odd-sounding statement.

Aren't lambs supposed to follow?
He is the Shepherd and and the Lamb.
[Regardless...]
His path is narrow.
Uneven.
Rocky.
Sandy.
But it is well-traveled.

And we have a beautiful Guide to call out to if we stray off the path and need help.

He is the Navigator.
The Compass.
The Light.
The Retriever.

He is Power.
Strength.
Boldness.

He is a risk-taker, even.

I can rest in Him. Take heart and courage... find peace. Yet He also comes to rest in me - His garden. I am His lovely dwelling place. And like any garden gives me joy, I give Him joy and delight.


'The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" '
[John 1:29]

......

Click here to revisit Chapter 178.

Ch. 721 - Thoughts, Pt. Five

Strength.
Follow-through.
Edification.
[Encouragement.]

Prayer.
Worship, always.
Spontaneous praise.

Anoint, Lord God.
Wind.
Rain.
Fire.
Oil.

Isaiah 64:1

King of Glory.
Carpenter from Nazareth.
Lamb of God.
Lion of Judah.
Son of Man.
Of David.

He is alive.
His "story" is true.

Ch. 699 - Anchor For the Soul

'We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.'
[Hebrews 6:19-20]

Unlike high priests of the past, who could only enter God’s presence occasionally, Jesus entered into heaven and is continually in His presence. Jesus only had to offer His sacrifice once, gaining eternal redemption for all who come to God through Him. His sacrifice and selection as High Priest has displaced all ways of the Law. Jesus is now the intercessor for God’s people, for His blood has covered their sins. Praise and thankfulness is due to this great High Priest. Oh, how blessed I am!

Ch. 696 - Bread

'Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." '
[John 6:35]

I think if Jesus were a type of bread, He would be WonderBread.
Wheat bread, though... none of that white bread crap.
... Stupid white-Jesus paintings...

Ch. 691 - Capacity

Before class this morning I began my day by praying in the gym.

Lord God.

Chapel.
People.
Hearts.
Change.

Jesus Christ.

Peace.
Fruit.
Power.

Holy Spirit.

Hope.
Time.

The Church.

Joy.

Me.

My mind was racing, my heart was pounding.

Even though I felt as if a million and one thoughts were running through my mind, I felt as if they all centered around a single theme: love.

My love for God.
My love for others.
God's love for me.
God's love for others.
The body's love for God.
The body's love for others.
And so it goes on...

I've come to realize that sometimes, throughout the day, all I pray for is love.
More love.

What I really desire is for us to love God more.

'Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."
[Matthew 22:37-38]

How often are we asked, "Do you truly obey the greatest commandment?"

Or how often do we hear, "You know... it all comes down to love. That's what it's all about!"

So this morning, as I'm praying and "love" recycles itself through my thoughts, I hear the following line from the song All Consuming Fire by Misty Edwards:

'Let us fall more in love with You.'

Oh, the joys of putting the iPod on shuffle: what a pleasant surprise...

When I heard that line, I just stopped.
I was overcome with the weight of the Presence.
I doubled over.
['Whoa.']

Unexpected.
But welcomed.

That's a heaviness on your heart that you should never want lifted.

No restraint.
Freedom in the Spirit.
All out of love, and the desire of love for God from others.

Desires from within that I'm not even fully aware of, made known to God.

Is that truly such a terrible thing?
[What are people so afraid of?]

God is listening.
"It's not time.
... They're not ready."
But He is listening.

Before all else, we need to increase our capacity to love.

Devotion.
Adoration.

Ask for more.
Love God.

Acceptance of self.
Love of self.

Ask for more.
Love God.

Acceptance of others.
Love of others.

Ask for more.
Love God.
Ask for more.

Ch. 674 - Mission: Salvation

JESUS COULD HAVE SAVED HIMSELF.

But He didn't.

People mocked Him, both before and during the time He spent on the cross.
They said He saved others - so why not Himself?

He had said He was going to destroy the temple and raise it in three days, so surely He could come down from the cross.

But He did not come to save Himself, but to give Himself as a ransom for many.

He had a mission, and nothing was going to stop Him from accomplishing it.

He, being fully God, had the power to save Himself... but He loved us too greatly to do so. All glory, honor, and praise are due Him, forever and always.


'Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!" In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself!" '
[Mark 15:29-31]

Ch. 254 - All These and More

Jesus came as someone the people were not expecting - a tiny infant.
They were expecting a mighty king.
A conquering hero.
A brave warrior.

These things are all true of Him, of course, but it may have not seemed like He was any of those at the time He was on earth. He was merely human, although God incarnate, a baby. He died a sinner's death, crucified.

But He is still that mighty king. And even though He is that mighty king, He is still our king. He is personal. Not only to believers as the Church, but also to believers as individuals. He is ours. He lives in each of us (given we've invited Him in, that is). But are we living our lives in a manner that is evidence of this?

Walk the talk.

We should be wanting more of Him.
We should be bowing down to this King.
We should be turning to Him for counsel and rest.


' "Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty. The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress. Therefore, men revere him, for does he not have regard for all the wise in heart?" '
[Job 37:21-24]

Ch. 235 - No Other Name

' "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." '
[Acts 4:12]

It is through Jesus alone that we are saved.

Ch. 214 - Man of Sorrows

'He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities, and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitted by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.'
[Isaiah 53:3-5]

26. August 2010 Edit:

Our Savior knows of everything that we could experience.
He knows joy.
He knows anger.
He knows frustration.
He knows love.
He knows opportunity.
He knows doubt.
He knows suffering.
Yet He knew no sin, dying for us.
And that is how we are able to know His Father.

Ch. 81 - A Simple Reminder

JESUS
JESUS
JESUS
JESUS
JESUS
JESUS
JESUS
JESUS

He is everything.
I am nothing without Him.


'Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." '
[John 14:6-7]

Ch. 68 - Praise God!

He is risen!


'On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee; 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " Then they remembered his words.'
[Luke 24:1-8]

Ch. 63 - Let US

'Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." '
[Genesis 1:26; emphasis my own]

'But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." '
[Genesis 11:5-7; emphasis my own]

US.

Ch. 53 - My Jesus

'Have you ever thought about what Jesus looks like?
How does he act?
What is his attitude like?
How does he speak?
What does his voice sound like?'

These questions were presented to my Sunday school class a few years ago by our teachers, Gary and Larry (what a team).

We were told to simply close our eyes and picture Jesus in our minds. 'Have a conversation with him. Make mental notes of what you see, what you hear, what you, technically, come up with.'

The class shared with one another what they saw, speaking up if they felt like doing so.

There were some pretty interesting Jesuses out there.

There was a surf-bum Jesus.
A homeless Jesus.
A teenage Jesus.
A genie Jesus.
A zoologist Jesus.

These are among the most memorable Jesuses of the class.

As people started to share, I started to feel... uneasy. My Jesus wasn't as cool as everybody else's. We hadn't 'said' anything to each other. He didn't have anything really special about him. He was your stereotypical Jesus that you see in paintings and pictures - short beard, shoulder-length brown hair, semi-long robes wrapped around him. He was standing in front of me, arms outstretched. Yep, stereotypical down to the pose, even. But it was Jesus, and He was mine. There were two notable things, however, about the whole 'imagine your Jesus' experience.

One, my Jesus was wearing tennis shoes.
Two, what I kept focusing on in my mind were His hands.

I put tennis shoes on my Jesus because I figured it'd be easier for Him to get around than when wearing sandals. I mean, it's Jesus - He's got things to do... places to go, people to see, sermons to preach, and parables to explain. I also like the idea of running with Jesus. I think He'd make the best workout partner in the world.

The reason I mentioned Jesus' hands is because for the longest time, I've always thought about them. I couldn't tell you why. Whenever I see pictures of Jesus my eyes go straight to the hands. More often than not they are beautiful. They look soft and smooth, very gentle. But my Jesus' hands are not. They are rough and worn, strong and scarred. He was, after all, a carpenter before He began His ministry. Think about everything He did with those hands. He smeared mud on blind men's eyes, so that they could see. He touched the leper and made him clean again. He wrote in the dust and dirt. He broke bread and gave it to His disciples. His hands were nailed to the cross as part of paying for our sins; later they were shown to Thomas as proof that He did what He said he would do, pushing aside all doubt.

In my mind, my Jesus' hands are more beautiful than the 'perfect' hands of portrait Jesuses.

The reason I wrote this post was because today I let my Bible fall open and it came to Isaiah; the first chapter I saw was 53, so that's where I started my reading. I would like to share the chapter with you. It's a long one, but it's really very lovely.

'Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the
Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender
shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract
us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we
should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with
suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their
faces
he was despised, and we esteemed
him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our
transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities,
then punishment that brought us peace
was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers
is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was
taken away.
And who can speak of his
descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the
living;
for the transgression of my people
he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the
wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him
and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life
a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong
his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper
in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life, and be
satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous
servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion
among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the
strong,
because he poured out his life unto
death,
and was numbered with the
transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the
transgressors.'
[Isaiah 53]


'He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.'
[Isaiah 53:2b]

The prophet Isaiah noted that there was nothing physically attractive about Jesus. Yet people flocked to him in droves, following him and telling others about him. This wonderful man, this Messiah - come to save the nations - was one of the most interesting, mystifying, loving men the world has ever known. What do you expect with the Son of God, though, right? I think his love for everybody is what attracted most people, whether they realized that is up in the air.

To this very day, Jesus' love for me is what holds me together. It keeps me coming back for more. And every day I learn something new about my Jesus.

Ch. 6 - The Copycat; 8. 1. 08

Me: "Hey Wes, wanna play tag?"
Wes: 'Hey Wes, wanna play tag?'

"Heyyy... you're copying me!"
'Heyyy... you're copying me!'

"Stop it!"
'Stop it!'

"You stop or I'm telling mom."
"You stop or I'm telling mom.'

"Moooooom!"

As much as I loved my brother, sometimes he could be a pain in the you-know-where. We have a great relationship, though. We're only eighteen months apart, so we're buddies. We have fun. He's not that annoying 'little brother' and I'm not that mean 'older sister' anymore (Hey, it wasn't my fault that whenever he was around me he magically ended up hurt, come on. The kid was jinxed, alright?).

You know, we continue to play little games like copycat with each other, even now, as seventeen and eighteen year olds. Why not? It's all in good fun, and we know better than to go storming off to mom to tattle.

Something has been on my heart recently, and, in its simplest form, it's copycat. We should strive to be Christlike. Sure, we can't do everything He did, and unlike Him nobody will ever be perfect. But we can try our hardest to be like Christ.

Honestly, I don't think I've ever truly cared, much less even thought about being more Christlike.

There. I said it.

But as I'm changing and God is working in me, I realize now how important it is to do so. Going along with the last chapter and devotionals... I received yet another devotional, this time from crosswalk.com, that really touched my heart. I'd like to share it. It's short and sweet. It touches on imitating God, but focuses on love:

'Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. If we are to sincerely flatter God by being like Him, imitation may be the most costly form of flattery as well. You see, love for God is never something that occurs just in our minds or our hearts. Love is something we do for another - it is action. John said in 1 John 4 that we must love in both our deeds and our words. Love means to give ourselves up - what we want, our rights, our desires - to honor God and serve others. This is a kind of love that can change the world, or a marriage, or a family.

Abba, Father, I will never fully understand how you could love me so much that you would allow your son to die for me as my sacrifice. Please help me love others sacrificially. I know the power to do this is not within me, so please pour out your love into my heart so that I may share that love with others. Through Jesus, my brother and my sacrifice, I pray. Amen.'


'Be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.'
[Ephesians 5:1-2]