Have you ever tried to describe someone to another person? It is very hard to do. I am fascinated by police sketch artists. They can listen and draw a face that looks remarkably like the person the police are looking for based on a person’s verbal description.
God’s Word tells us that people will have marks by which the world can identify them as disciples of Jesus.
There are in reality many things in a person’s life that can point to the fact that they have a relationship with God through Jesus.
I want to focus on three which the Bible directly states that disciples of Jesus will manifest.
John 20:20
As He spoke, He showed them the wounds in His hands and His side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!
Disciples of Jesus are joyful.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:16 we are told to rejoice always.
How can a person living in a fallen, broken world that is dominated sin rejoice all the time?
We have to believe and live out the reality of Romans 8:28. It says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.”
Not everything that happens is good. But for someone who loves Jesus and obeys His will, God uses everything in our lives for our good.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about experiencing the joy of Jesus.
Joy is different than happiness.
Happiness is based on “happenings”.
Joy is based in a relationship with Jesus.
Happiness happens to you based on circumstances.
Joy is fruit produced by the Holy Spirit.
Happiness comes and goes.
Joy can be continual.
Joy will be experienced in a disciple’s life when they get their priorities in line with God’s priorities.
Jesus
Others
You
Disciples of Jesus love.
John 13:35
By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
The primary word used in the New Testament to describe the kind of love that we as followers of Jesus are to have is agape.
Agape is a limitless, with no conditions, with no time limit love.
In Mark 12:30-31 Jesus tells us that we are to love God with all that we are and to love others with the same kind of love we have for ourselves.
In Matthew 5:44 we are told to love and pray for our enemies.
Agape is the word used in both these passages.
I am to love - with no limits or conditions or time restraints - God and others and my enemies.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about loving unconditionally.
This kind of love is so unnatural that is a huge mark of a disciple of Jesus.
Disciples of Jesus continue in the faith.
Acts 14:22
Strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Following Jesus is a marathon, not a sprint.
Following Jesus is long term, not short term.
Following Jesus is for a life time, not a season.
When Jesus called Andrew and Peter;
When Jesus called James and John;
When Jesus called Philip;
When Jesus called Matthew;
it was for a their whole lives.
When Jesus called you and me it was for us to give Him our lives and follow Him until we die.
One of the things I hear frequently from people is, “I’ve done my time, now it’s someone else’s turn.
My response is , “REALLY!”
The word retirement is not in the Bible. The reason it isn’t in there is because you never retire from following Jesus. You never retire from serving Jesus.
Continuing in the faith will require:
Passion
Endurance
Faith
Grace
AND
Surrender.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about staying for the long haul.
Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we reap, if we don’t give up.”
Disciples of Jesus have certain marks that distinguish them from everyone else.
They are joyful.
They love.
They continue in the faith.
This also described Jesus.
Jesus was joyful.
Luke 10:21 says that Jesus was full of joy through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus loved.
John 13:1-5 says that Jesus loved His disciples and showed them the full extent of His loving by washing their feet.
Jesus continued to obey the Father until He had finished with the work the Father had given Him to do.
John 19:30 records this words of Jesus on the cross: “It is finished!”
The marks that we are to show as disciples of Jesus are the marks of the character of Jesus.
Disciples are to look like Jesus.
Marked by Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Disciples of Jesus Die
When God repeats a truth in His word, it indicates that truth is something that we as followers and disciples need to know so we can live it out.
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Mark 8:34
And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Luke 9:23
And He said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
Disciples die.
Jesus gives us three steps in these passages to being His disciples.
Step #1: Deny ourselves
We don’t do our will. We don’t build our kingdom. We don’t live life for our sakes.
We do God’s will. We build God’s kingdom. We live life for God.
Step #2: Take up our cross
A cross is not some burden we have to carry through life. A cross is a place to die. Jesus might say today, “Take up your electric chair or your lethal injection.” The only thing that happens on a cross is death.
Step #3: Follow Jesus
You can’t get to step three until you do steps one and two. You will give up following Jesus if you don’t first deny yourself and pick up your cross.
What do disciples die to?
Disciples die to our natural lives.
Romans 7:5
When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.
The natural life or old nature brings forward sinful desires.
Ephesians 4:22
Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
Paul tells us to throw of or get rid of the natural life because it is characterized by lust and deception.
So because the natural life leads us into sin and ultimately causes us to die we need to take action.
Colossians 3:5
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you.
The action we need to take is to put the natural life, the old nature, the old life to death.
Disciples die to the law.
Romans 8:2
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.
If we try to follow Jesus based on the law (rules, traditions, rituals) we will fail. If we follow Jesus based on the filling of His Spirit, we will succeed.
Romans 7:4
Likewise my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
If we try and follow Jesus based on the law we will ultimately follow the law. If we die to the law and follow by the leadership of the Spirit we will truly follow Jesus.
Disciples die to our own will.
Luke 22:41-42
And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”
Jesus as He went to the cross was completely following the Father’s will. He had surrendered His will to do the will of the Father.
Disciples pray, “Father, let me have no will of mine own, but only Your will. Let me have no desires, but Your desires. Let me have no thoughts, but Your thoughts.”
Following Jesus is not about doing what you want and asking Him to bless it. Following Jesus is about not doing or saying anything that He does tell us to do or say. It is about seeking and doing His will exclusively.
Disciples die to sin.
Sin kills.
Sin destroys.
Sin is hated by God.
Sin activates God’s wrath.
Romans 6:6-7
We know that our old sinful self was crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
When I am crucified with Jesus, I die to sin and come alive in Him and live by faith in Him.
Sin holds us captive and only by dying can I really live in relationship with Jesus. Only by dying to sin can I really live.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about dying. It is about dying to our natural life, the law, our will, and sin.
Death is painful. When we die to these things it will be painful, but it will lead to experiencing life as God created us to experience it. It will lead to true peace.
Dying So God Can Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls
Joe
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Mark 8:34
And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
Luke 9:23
And He said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
Disciples die.
Jesus gives us three steps in these passages to being His disciples.
Step #1: Deny ourselves
We don’t do our will. We don’t build our kingdom. We don’t live life for our sakes.
We do God’s will. We build God’s kingdom. We live life for God.
Step #2: Take up our cross
A cross is not some burden we have to carry through life. A cross is a place to die. Jesus might say today, “Take up your electric chair or your lethal injection.” The only thing that happens on a cross is death.
Step #3: Follow Jesus
You can’t get to step three until you do steps one and two. You will give up following Jesus if you don’t first deny yourself and pick up your cross.
What do disciples die to?
Disciples die to our natural lives.
Romans 7:5
When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.
The natural life or old nature brings forward sinful desires.
Ephesians 4:22
Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception.
Paul tells us to throw of or get rid of the natural life because it is characterized by lust and deception.
So because the natural life leads us into sin and ultimately causes us to die we need to take action.
Colossians 3:5
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you.
The action we need to take is to put the natural life, the old nature, the old life to death.
Disciples die to the law.
Romans 8:2
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.
If we try to follow Jesus based on the law (rules, traditions, rituals) we will fail. If we follow Jesus based on the filling of His Spirit, we will succeed.
Romans 7:4
Likewise my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.
If we try and follow Jesus based on the law we will ultimately follow the law. If we die to the law and follow by the leadership of the Spirit we will truly follow Jesus.
Disciples die to our own will.
Luke 22:41-42
And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.”
Jesus as He went to the cross was completely following the Father’s will. He had surrendered His will to do the will of the Father.
Disciples pray, “Father, let me have no will of mine own, but only Your will. Let me have no desires, but Your desires. Let me have no thoughts, but Your thoughts.”
Following Jesus is not about doing what you want and asking Him to bless it. Following Jesus is about not doing or saying anything that He does tell us to do or say. It is about seeking and doing His will exclusively.
Disciples die to sin.
Sin kills.
Sin destroys.
Sin is hated by God.
Sin activates God’s wrath.
Romans 6:6-7
We know that our old sinful self was crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
When I am crucified with Jesus, I die to sin and come alive in Him and live by faith in Him.
Sin holds us captive and only by dying can I really live in relationship with Jesus. Only by dying to sin can I really live.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about dying. It is about dying to our natural life, the law, our will, and sin.
Death is painful. When we die to these things it will be painful, but it will lead to experiencing life as God created us to experience it. It will lead to true peace.
Dying So God Can Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls
Joe
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Disciples Receive Revelation from Jesus
John writes about Jesus and says in John 2:24, “But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people.” Jesus only reveals Himself to those He can trust. He knows our hearts and so He knows who He can trust.
In Matthew 11:27 Jesus says, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
Jesus reveals Himself and the Father only to those that He knows love Him and thus He can trust.
Disciples receive revelation from Jesus.
Jesus reveals three things to His disciples.
Jesus reveals Himself.
John 21:1
After this Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and He revealed Himself in this way.
Jesus shows His disciples who He is. He wants His disciples to know who they are following.
Those who don’t know Jesus will never be able to share with the world who Jesus is. We have to know someone intimately to share who they really are with others.
Jesus wants the world to know Him so He reveals Himself to His disciples. He knows that He can trust them to share the real Jesus with the world.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about knowing Jesus.
Jesus reveals His purpose.
In John 13 Jesus washes His disciples’ feet, and in verses 13 to 15 Jesus says, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right for so I am. If I then your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”
Jesus is telling and show His disciples that He came to serve and wants them to serve in His name and spirit.
In Mark 10:45 Jesus says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus is telling His disciples that He came to ransom them from the slavery of sin. He did this by giving the only thing that could be the ransom for sin - His Life.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about knowing the purpose for Jesus’ coming.
Jesus reveals His ways.
Matthew 16:21
From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Jesus reveals to His disciples that He would have to die. He also reveals to them that He would rise from the dead.
The disciples didn’t get it at first. They had a distorted view of what Jesus, the Messiah would do and of how He would do it.
Without Jesus revealing the truth to His disciples they didn’t know who He really was, what His purpose in coming was or how He would accomplish His purpose.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about understanding the ways God goes about accomplishing His purposes.
In Isaiah 55:8-9 God tells us about His ways. He says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
The disciples in the Gospels had Jesus to reveal those truths to them.
What do we have?
Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
We have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth so He will reveal truth to us. The Holy Spirit will always point us to Jesus and reveal Him, His purpose, and His ways.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about being filled by the Holy Spirit so we can know the truth of God and experience the work of Jesus in our lives.
The result of having the truth of God revealed to us as Jesus’ disciples is awe.
In Matthew 21:20, Mark 10:24, and John 4:27 it says that the disciples marveled or were amazed or surprised at what Jesus told them or showed them. The word means they saw and heard but it was so beyond them that they were astounded. In my thinking Jesus “blew them away”. He literally “rocked their world.” It was beyond anything the disciples has ever heard or experienced before.
Jesus should awe us:
The truth that Jesus is God in the flesh should awe us.
The truth that Jesus shares truth with us should awe us.
The truth that Jesus shares who He is with us should awe us.
The truth that Jesus died for us should awe us.
If you are not awed by Jesus, you don’t really know Jesus.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about Jesus awing us.
The purpose for Jesus making Himself known to us,
The purpose of Jesus sharing His purpose with us,
The purpose of Jesus showing His ways to us,
The purpose of us being filled with His Spirit,
The purpose of us being in awe of Jesus
Is To Make Him Known To The World!
Through the Revelation of Jesus Raising The Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
In Matthew 11:27 Jesus says, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
Jesus reveals Himself and the Father only to those that He knows love Him and thus He can trust.
Disciples receive revelation from Jesus.
Jesus reveals three things to His disciples.
Jesus reveals Himself.
John 21:1
After this Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and He revealed Himself in this way.
Jesus shows His disciples who He is. He wants His disciples to know who they are following.
Those who don’t know Jesus will never be able to share with the world who Jesus is. We have to know someone intimately to share who they really are with others.
Jesus wants the world to know Him so He reveals Himself to His disciples. He knows that He can trust them to share the real Jesus with the world.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about knowing Jesus.
Jesus reveals His purpose.
In John 13 Jesus washes His disciples’ feet, and in verses 13 to 15 Jesus says, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right for so I am. If I then your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”
Jesus is telling and show His disciples that He came to serve and wants them to serve in His name and spirit.
In Mark 10:45 Jesus says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus is telling His disciples that He came to ransom them from the slavery of sin. He did this by giving the only thing that could be the ransom for sin - His Life.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about knowing the purpose for Jesus’ coming.
Jesus reveals His ways.
Matthew 16:21
From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.
Jesus reveals to His disciples that He would have to die. He also reveals to them that He would rise from the dead.
The disciples didn’t get it at first. They had a distorted view of what Jesus, the Messiah would do and of how He would do it.
Without Jesus revealing the truth to His disciples they didn’t know who He really was, what His purpose in coming was or how He would accomplish His purpose.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about understanding the ways God goes about accomplishing His purposes.
In Isaiah 55:8-9 God tells us about His ways. He says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
The disciples in the Gospels had Jesus to reveal those truths to them.
What do we have?
Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
We have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth so He will reveal truth to us. The Holy Spirit will always point us to Jesus and reveal Him, His purpose, and His ways.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about being filled by the Holy Spirit so we can know the truth of God and experience the work of Jesus in our lives.
The result of having the truth of God revealed to us as Jesus’ disciples is awe.
In Matthew 21:20, Mark 10:24, and John 4:27 it says that the disciples marveled or were amazed or surprised at what Jesus told them or showed them. The word means they saw and heard but it was so beyond them that they were astounded. In my thinking Jesus “blew them away”. He literally “rocked their world.” It was beyond anything the disciples has ever heard or experienced before.
Jesus should awe us:
The truth that Jesus is God in the flesh should awe us.
The truth that Jesus shares truth with us should awe us.
The truth that Jesus shares who He is with us should awe us.
The truth that Jesus died for us should awe us.
If you are not awed by Jesus, you don’t really know Jesus.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about Jesus awing us.
The purpose for Jesus making Himself known to us,
The purpose of Jesus sharing His purpose with us,
The purpose of Jesus showing His ways to us,
The purpose of us being filled with His Spirit,
The purpose of us being in awe of Jesus
Is To Make Him Known To The World!
Through the Revelation of Jesus Raising The Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Disciples of Jesus Are Connected to Jesus
What does it mean to be a Christian?
Many people see being a Christians as:
- Believing certain theological doctrines
- Going to church
- Believing in God
- Living a good life (whatever that is)
- Not being something else
In Matthew 4 where Jesus is tempted by Satan, Satan demonstrates a knowledge of Scripture as he quotes it to Jesus to try and get Jesus to disobey the Father. Satan knew theological doctrines.
So being a Christian is not just about knowing and believing certain theological doctrines.
James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder!”
So being a Christian is not just believing in God
In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says that just because someone calls Him Lord does not mean anything unless they are obeying Him as Lord.
So being a Christian is not just about going to church and knowing “churchy” language.
In Matthew 19 the rich young ruler calls Jesus good and Jesus says there is only one good and that is God. So even if a person tries to live a “good life” they are not capable without God.
So being a Christian is not just about living a good life.
For may people Christianity or being a Christian is their default setting. Well, I am not a Muslim or Buddhist or Jewish or Atheist so by process of elimination I must be a Christian.
So being a Christian is not just a default setting. It is not about not being something.
Disciples are people who are connected to and with Jesus.
Being connected with Jesus first means spending time with Jesus. So disciples spend time with Jesus.
Mark 3:7 says that Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.
Jesus planned times when He and His disciples just hung out. In those times of being with His disciples Jesus primarily did four things.
He taught them.
He answered their questions.
He showed them how to follow God.
He just fellowshipped with them.
Since being a Christian is about following Jesus we need to be with Him to be able to really follow.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about spending time with Jesus in prayer, the Word, worship and ministering to others.
Being connected to and with Jesus means I see myself as a part of His family.
In Matthew 12:49-50 it says that Jesus stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus indicates here that to be His disciple means you are part of His family.
American Christianity sees being a Christian and being part of the church like being in an organization. Jesus sees it as being part of a family.
When we see being a Christian as being part of Jesus’ family instead of being a part of an organization it affects how we relate to Him and others who are also a part of the family.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about being part of Jesus’ family and relating to Him and the rest of the family in love.
Being connected to and with Jesus means to have intimate fellowship with Him.
Matthew 26:26-28
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take eat, this is My body.” And He took a cup and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
This passage shows the intimacy that Jesus has with His disciples. He ate with them. In Middle East culture eating a meal together is a sign of acceptance and friendship. He shared the last meal He would eat as a human being with His disciples. He shared with the bread representing His body and the wine representing His blood. He told them He was going to die for their sins.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about having not just a casual relationship with Jesus but an intimate relationship with Jesus.
The invitation that Jesus gives us to come and be His disciples is not an invitation to come be religious or come be spiritual or come be part of an organization. It is an invitation to come have a relationship with Him. It is to come and be connected with Him 24/7 in every part of our lives.
Disciples are connected with Jesus. If we are not connected to Jesus, we are not disciples. If we are not disciples, then we are not Christians.
Christians are not good people who believe certain things and go to religious gatherings weekly. They are people who think and act like Jesus. The only way a person thinks and acts like Jesus is to be spend time with Him.
David wonderfully expresses the desire to connect with God in Psalm 84:10 when He says, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about being connected to and with Jesus.
Connected to Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Many people see being a Christians as:
- Believing certain theological doctrines
- Going to church
- Believing in God
- Living a good life (whatever that is)
- Not being something else
In Matthew 4 where Jesus is tempted by Satan, Satan demonstrates a knowledge of Scripture as he quotes it to Jesus to try and get Jesus to disobey the Father. Satan knew theological doctrines.
So being a Christian is not just about knowing and believing certain theological doctrines.
James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe - and shudder!”
So being a Christian is not just believing in God
In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says that just because someone calls Him Lord does not mean anything unless they are obeying Him as Lord.
So being a Christian is not just about going to church and knowing “churchy” language.
In Matthew 19 the rich young ruler calls Jesus good and Jesus says there is only one good and that is God. So even if a person tries to live a “good life” they are not capable without God.
So being a Christian is not just about living a good life.
For may people Christianity or being a Christian is their default setting. Well, I am not a Muslim or Buddhist or Jewish or Atheist so by process of elimination I must be a Christian.
So being a Christian is not just a default setting. It is not about not being something.
Disciples are people who are connected to and with Jesus.
Being connected with Jesus first means spending time with Jesus. So disciples spend time with Jesus.
Mark 3:7 says that Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea.
Jesus planned times when He and His disciples just hung out. In those times of being with His disciples Jesus primarily did four things.
He taught them.
He answered their questions.
He showed them how to follow God.
He just fellowshipped with them.
Since being a Christian is about following Jesus we need to be with Him to be able to really follow.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about spending time with Jesus in prayer, the Word, worship and ministering to others.
Being connected to and with Jesus means I see myself as a part of His family.
In Matthew 12:49-50 it says that Jesus stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus indicates here that to be His disciple means you are part of His family.
American Christianity sees being a Christian and being part of the church like being in an organization. Jesus sees it as being part of a family.
When we see being a Christian as being part of Jesus’ family instead of being a part of an organization it affects how we relate to Him and others who are also a part of the family.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about being part of Jesus’ family and relating to Him and the rest of the family in love.
Being connected to and with Jesus means to have intimate fellowship with Him.
Matthew 26:26-28
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take eat, this is My body.” And He took a cup and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
This passage shows the intimacy that Jesus has with His disciples. He ate with them. In Middle East culture eating a meal together is a sign of acceptance and friendship. He shared the last meal He would eat as a human being with His disciples. He shared with the bread representing His body and the wine representing His blood. He told them He was going to die for their sins.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about having not just a casual relationship with Jesus but an intimate relationship with Jesus.
The invitation that Jesus gives us to come and be His disciples is not an invitation to come be religious or come be spiritual or come be part of an organization. It is an invitation to come have a relationship with Him. It is to come and be connected with Him 24/7 in every part of our lives.
Disciples are connected with Jesus. If we are not connected to Jesus, we are not disciples. If we are not disciples, then we are not Christians.
Christians are not good people who believe certain things and go to religious gatherings weekly. They are people who think and act like Jesus. The only way a person thinks and acts like Jesus is to be spend time with Him.
David wonderfully expresses the desire to connect with God in Psalm 84:10 when He says, “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about being connected to and with Jesus.
Connected to Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
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