Jesus
was not a trained rabbi. He had not studied under a certified rabbi of any
kind. The Jewish religious leaders did not acknowledge Jesus as a rabbi and
certainly not as the Messiah.
Jesus
experienced rejection from many sources. Jesus didn’t view Himself or define
Himself by what others said or thought about Him. He defined Himself by what
the Father said to Him.
Matthew
3:17
And
a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well
pleased.”
Matthew
17: 5
While
he was speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said,
“This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
The
Father says:
Jesus
is His Son
Jesus
is loved by the Father
Jesus
is pleasing to the Father
Jesus
is to be listened to
Jesus
knew all this and was reminded by the Father at a very critical times in His
life.
Raise the Roof and
Remove the Walls
is letting God define you, not the world.
When
most people give their qualifications for ministry, they mention education, training,
and experience.
In
2 Corinthians 11, Paul lists the things that don’t qualify him and those that do
qualify him to be a minister of Jesus.
In
verse 22 Paul says that he is a Hebrew, an Israelite, and a descendant of
Abraham. These are not what Paul see as qualifying him to serve Jesus.
In
verses 23 through 27 Paul list his qualifications:
Prison
Time
Floggings
Exposed
to Death Many Times
Five
Times Receiving 39 Lashes
Three
Times Beaten with Rods
Stoned
(with stones)
Three
Shipwrecks
A
Time in the Open Sea
Constantly
Moving from Place to Place
In
Danger from Rivers
In
Danger from Bandits
In
Danger from His Own Countrymen
In
Danger from Gentiles
In
Danger in the City
In
Danger in the Country
In
Danger at Sea
In
Danger from False Brothers
Labors
and Toils
Without
Sleep
Hungry
and Thirsty
Cold
and Naked
Paul
list his scars as his qualifications.
We,
as a rule, try to avoid danger and punishment and discomfort. Paul saw them as
a part of what it meant to follow Jesus.
Raise the Roof and
Remove the Walls
is letting our difficult times equip us to minister the Gospel.
Paul
does not allow all these difficult times to lead him to see himself as a
victim.
In
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 Paul says, “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient
for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all
the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in
hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am
strong.”
Paul
saw his difficulties as something to boast in.
Paul
saw his difficulties as something that made him stronger.
Raise the Roof and
Remove the Walls
is allowing God to turn your difficulties into strengths.
I
experienced some of those difficulties this past week. I found myself in the
local ER Thursday night with chest pains and high blood pressure. It turned out
that is was not my heart, but it did involve stress. The stress was not put on
me from others, but stress I put on myself.
God
had been speaking to me about my worry and stress for some time. It took me
laying in an ER hooked up to machines to hear God to tell me that ministry is
not dependent on me and that I am not invincible. These last three days have
felt more peaceful and joyful.
It
has also shown me that I was being too critical of others. God’s grace is real
for me and is to be dispensed to others.
It
is truly amazing what God reveals when you slow down and listen to Him. It is
also amazing how God uses difficult times to grow and strengthens us when we
slow down and listen.
In God’s Power and
God’s Perspective,
Raising the Roof and
Removing the Walls,
Joe
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