How Jesus Did It Part 2

Philippians 2:5 tells us to have the same mind that was in Jesus. Last week we looked at three things that were true of Jesus’ attitude and this week I want to look at three more.

Jesus was slow to condemn.

The attitude of Jesus was in direct opposition to the religious leaders of His day when it came to how He viewed sinners. The religious leaders condemned them, scorned them, and completely kept themselves separated from them. Jesus loved them, befriended them, and spent time with them.

In Luke 7 Jesus has an encounter with a woman of the city, a sinner. She comes and worships Jesus by using her tears to wash His feet, her hair to wipe His feet, and anoints His feet with expensive ointment.

The response of the religious leaders is recorded in Luke 7:39. “If this man were a prophet, He would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”

Jesus accepted the woman’s worship and in Luke 7:50 Jesus says to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Jesus could have condemned this woman.

Jesus could have condemned the woman at the well in John 4.

Jesus could have condemned the woman taken in adultery in John 8.

Jesus could have condemned Zacchaeus.

Jesus could have condemned Peter.

Jesus could have condemned me.

But Jesus did not condemn any of these. In Romans 8:1, Paul writes that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.  

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is not condemning others.

Jesus saw people as they might be.

In John 1:42 Andrew brings Simon to Jesus and Jesus says, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). Peter means rock. Jesus saw in Peter the man who would stand at Pentecost in Jerusalem and preach to the crowd and see three thousand people surrender their lives to Jesus as Lord. The man who would deny Him three times was there, but Jesus knew that real Peter would emerge.

Jesus looks at the heart, not at the outward appearance. Jesus knows that a heart centered on Him and a life filled with the Holy Spirit can be used by the Father to do powerful and miraculous things. Jesus knows who we are and who He will form us into.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is seeing the heart of people not just their outward appearance.

Jesus did not give up easily.

Jesus called twelve imperfect men to follow Him and become apostles. Jesus never gave up on them.

These men:

Misunderstood Jesus

Disobeyed Jesus

Doubted Jesus

Questioned Jesus

Denied Jesus

Abandoned Jesus

And even Betrayed Jesus

But in all that, Jesus never gave up on them. He never stopped loving them or teaching them. And when eleven of the twelve finally got it, He used them to change the world.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is not giving up on others.  

As a pastor, I have been guilty of being quick to condemn people, and I have been guilty of not really seeing people as they could be, and I have been guilty of giving up on people.

Jesus has never condemned me. He has disciplined me to move me into obedience to Him, but only out of His love for me.

Jesus has never not seen me. He has seen in me things I did not see in myself and by the Holy Spirit used me in ways I never thought possible.

Jesus has never given up on me. I have given up on myself many times, but He has always encouraged and strengthened me to believe Him and let Him use me.

If we allow the Holy Spirit to impart into us the mind or attitude of Jesus, we will be people who don’t condemn others, we will see the possibility in others, and we will not give up on others.

With the Mind of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                Joe

How Jesus Did It Part 1

We live in a world dominated by technology. That has become even more true of the last two months. The church is no exception. For the last 482 weeks I have been doing this online devotion, for the last two months I have been doing a morning Bible study on Face Book, and for those same two months we have done our worship service on Face Book and You Tube and our church web site. And though we are back meeting live together we will still be online also. So, the world and the church are both centered in technology.

But no matter the form we use to do ministry, it has to be done in the name of and for the honor of Jesus. So, how did Jesus do ministry? I want to explore that question.

I want to begin our study of how Jesus did ministry by looking at the attitude of Jesus.

Attitude reveals our way of thinking about ourselves and others. As followers of Jesus, effectiveness in doing ministry is greatly affected by our attitude.

Jesus’ Attitude

Jesus Was Sure of His Calling.

Jesus was supremely confident. He was confident because He was sure that the Father has sent Him. Jesus began His ministry in Galilee. He preached in His home town synagogue and spoke from Isaiah 61 which is a messianic passage. He began by reading, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me.” He ended the reading by saying, “In very hearing this text has come true.” Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah sent by the Father.

Jesus knew, with no doubts, that He had been sent by the Father with a specific mission. In the same way that the Father sent Jesus, Jesus has sent us.

John 20:21

As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.

We as followers of Jesus can be sure, like Jesus was sure, that we have been sent into the world. We stand in the world neither intimidated by its hostility nor arrogantly scornful of it. This is not a self-confidence that borders on brashness and pride. It is God-confidence of people who know that they belong to God and that God has sent them into the world with a God-directed mission. It is the confidence of one like Jesus who is sure of their calling.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing what our calling from God is in the world.

Jesus Really Loved People

The love of Jesus for people was so different from love as humans usually understand it that the New Testament writers used a little-known Greek word in the world of their day to describe. It is a word free from anything sordid or trivial. The word is agape. This is a word that is distinctively associated with how Jesus loved people and is used for how we as followers of Jesus are to love. It is a love without conditions or boundaries and a love that never ends.

John 13:1

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

Jesus loved His disciples with a persistent love that survived their slowness to learn and their tendency to let Him down.

John 11:3

So, the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

Jesus also loved others of His friends outside the twelve.

Mark 10:21

And Jesus, looking at him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me.”

Jesus loved those who rejected His call to follow Him.

Luke 23:34

“Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”

Most amazing of all is the love Jesus showed on the cross for those who put Him to death. And that statement is not just for the Romans and Jews of that day but for each of us also.

Matthew 5:44

But I say to you, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

The words that Jesus spoke about God’s love have the ring of truth because they are consistent with the way He lived and the way He died.

So, if we are to share in the mission of Jesus, we need an attitude of genuine love.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is loving people, really loving people, like Jesus did and does.

Jesus Cared About Unwanted Individuals

We can learn a great deal about people from their attitudes to the misfits of society. Some bully them, some despise them, some laugh at them, some patronize them, some ignore them with embarrassment. The attitude of Jesus to those no one else bothered with was like none of those mentioned above. Jesus’ care for unwanted individuals is one of the most gracious things about Him.

In Mark 1:40-42 Jesus encounters a leper. The leper implores Jesus to heal him. Most people would have gotten way from the leper for fear of getting leprosy or from fear of becoming ceremonially unclean. But Jesus says that He wants to make the man unclean and He reaches out and touches the man with leprosy and heals him. Jesus didn’t have to touch the man to heal him. Jesus had healed others by words and even words at great distances. Jesus knew that the man not only needed to be healed but needed a human touch.

In Mark 5 Jesus encounters a wild and scary man who was demon possessed. The man was violent and dangerous to himself and others. Jesus met the man with so much rage with calm and commanded the demon to come out of the man. Jesus was not put off or intimidated by the man’s condition.

The church needs to not only accept messy, hurting, troubled people, but the church needs to specifically reach out to messy, hurting, troubled individuals. Jesus did and, as His hands and feet, we need to.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is loving and accepting and reaching out to unwanted individuals.

The church is the Body of Christ. That means we are to be who Jesus is and do what Jesus did.

In the Likeness of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                      Joe

Following God's Will

Following Jesus is not for wimps.

Following Jesus is not for the inflexible.

Following Jesus is not for the self-centered.



For fifty years, since I was eighteen years old, I have intentionally been following. Since I was twenty-three years old, I have been given the responsibility and privilege to help lead God’s church. Since 1993 I have had the privilege to pastor God’s church. And, in all honesty, these last six weeks have been hardest time in knowing how to follow Jesus and how to pastor and lead His church.



Let me share with you the tension that I, and I believe many others pastors and leaders in God’s church, have been walking in.



Romans 13:1-2

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.



The one side is that a man of God inspired by God writes that I as a follower of Jesus am to obey the governing authorities. That those authorities are instituted by God and that I will come under God’s judgment if I resist these authorities.



I am a rebel at heart. God has been transforming me and my heart for over fifty years now. He has allowed me to retain that part of my God given personality that is unique and goes against popular opinion (in the world and also at times in the church).



As a person who has given the authority of running and directing my life over to Jesus, I do not want to intentionally disobey Jesus. So, I cannot just dismiss or ignore this passage.



Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as in the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.



The other side is the command of God for us as followers of Jesus to meet together. It is a command born out of need. God created humans for relationships. We as followers of Jesus were called into relationship with Him and with each other. We were called in a community, a community of faith in Jesus.



If we try to live a “long ranger” Christianity, isolating ourselves from other believers, we will be discouraged, cold in our passion for Jesus, and a weakened in desire to obey Jesus.



So, how do we as followers of Jesus balance these two commands when we are being told that the best things and the thing the governing authorities are telling us to do seems to be elevating one of these commands over the other?



There are three passages I have been using to guide me.



Philippians 2:3

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.



Do nothing out of selfish ambition. I don’t want anything I do to be done to exalt me or enhance my position. My calling as a follower of Jesus and a pastor is to exalt Jesus.



Do nothing from conceit. I am not to do things because I want to. As a follower of Jesus, I gave up my right to control my life and have turned that over to Jesus. I want to do what Jesus wants me to do.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is doing it Jesus’ way, not mine.



Galatians 6:2

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.



Jesus bore our burdens on the cross.



Jesus bore our sins.

Jesus bore our trespasses.

Jesus bore our iniquities.

Jesus bore our failures.

Jesus bore our diseases



As Jesus’ followers, He wants us to bear each other’s burdens. Jesus wants us to bear our neighbor’s hurts, fears, and sacrifices.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being willing to love others enough to bear their burdens.



James 4:6

But He gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”



I will humble myself before God and do want God wants, His will, and not want my old nature tells me to do. I want to receive God’s grace and never be in opposition to Him. Humility will allow me to experience God and His grace. Pride puts me in direct opposition to God because pride will never lead to do God’s will.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is in all things humbling ourselves before God and doing His will.



Without Jesus, it is impossible to operate from true love and godly motivations. But as we grow in Jesus, our motives grow to be like His and we are increasingly compelled by His love, which is poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.



Only in Jesus can we exhibit humility and be motivated by biblical love rather than our own desires.



Mask or no mask motivated by God’s will

Stay isolated or open up motivated by God’s will

Follow guide lines or don’t follow guide lines motivated by God’s love



Never let anything separate you from God’s love and never let anything cause disunity in the body of Christ.



Following God’s Will Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                              Joe

Death or Life?

Many people over the years have been fascinated with death. And given the present circumstances in our nation and world death, is relevant. But I am more fascinated with life.



In Matthew 22:32 Jesus says that God is not a God of the dead but of the living. God is focused on life. God is the giver of life, both physical and spiritual. So, God being a God of the living and the source of life, and being the God that we follow leads me to believe that we should be focused on life.



Jesus came to give us life. In John 10:10 Jesus said that He came so that we would have life and have it abundantly. So, Jesus wants us to have life.



Those who are without Jesus are spiritually dead and we know that is not what Jesus wants. Those who know Jesus are spiritually alive and that is what He wants.



If people are spiritually alive, there should be signs of spiritual life. Other people should be able to see the signs of spiritual life in us. We who are alive in Jesus should show evidence of the life of Jesus in us.



1 John 3:14

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers.



Matthew 5:44

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.



Mark 12:31

The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”



A love that consumes us and that is impartial.



We are to love those who are like us and share our beliefs.

We are to love those around us just because they exist.

We are to love those who hate us and try to harm us.



Loving those who are like me and agree with me is easy and, to be honest, all people tend to that. But loving those around me just because they exist is hard and loving those who hate me is impossible. But the One whom I follow did it and tells me to and has put His life in me through the Holy Spirit. So, if I am alive in Jesus, it will be seen in me loving like He did and does.



Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is loving others no matter who they are or what they believe or what they do, because Jesus does.



Philippians 4:5

Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say rejoice.



Romans 5:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.



Another sign of spiritual life is joy that sustains us.



We are told to rejoice in the Lord always. And we are told twice in the same verse to do that. Then we are told that joy is given to us through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Joy is not an emotion, but according to Galatians 5:22 a fruit of the Holy Spirit. We are never told by God to be something or to do something that He does not equip us to be and do.



I have to be honest. I am not seeing a lot of joy in our nation right now. I am seeing a lot of anger and frustration and blaming others. We are not told to rejoice when the circumstances are perfect. If so, we would never rejoice. We are told to rejoice in Jesus. We rejoice because of Jesus.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is rejoicing because of Jesus all the time, no matter the circumstances.



1 Timothy 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.



1 Timothy 4:10

This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.



Another sign of spiritual life is a hope that encourages our outlook.

Our hope is Jesus and so we put our hope in our living God and continue to work hard and struggle in a fallen world because we know that God makes everything right in the end. Even in the most difficult of times, God is working and will accomplish His will, and His will is always for our good.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is focusing every day on Jesus and looking to Him as our hope.



Psalm 86:11

Teach me Your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to Your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.



David wants to live according to God’s truth and he knows that will take his heart being pure with no evil in it. In 2 Corinthians 6 Paul says that one of the ways that he and his companions have shown that they are true servants of God is by their purity.



We live in a world that does not value purity, but God does because He is pure. God thus reveals His life through us by that purity.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living out God’s purity in our daily lives.



Jeremiah 2:1-2

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem. Thus, says the Lord. I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.



Another sign of spiritual life is devotion that makes others want to follow Jesus.



God reminds His people that their devotion to Him is to be like a bride to her husband. And they had shown that devotion as they followed Him into a land that was unknown to them. They fully trusted Him and gave themselves to Him.



In John chapter two when Jesus chases the merchants and money changers out of the temple, it was Jesus passion, his devotion to God and God’s house that impressed the disciples. After Jesus’s resurrection they showed that same devotion to Jesus by obeying and following Him fully.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living each day in complete devotion to Jesus, His word, and His will.



Psalm 133:1

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.



Another sign of spiritual life is unity among God’s people.



I want to quote a friend’s Facebook post today.



“Church, as we see our leaders and officials struggling to find the best way forward and torn between competing agendas, let’s keep our eyes on King Jesus, Immortal, Invisible, God only wise.”



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being in unity with my brothers and sisters by keeping our eyes on Jesus.



Spiritually Alive Through Jesus, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                    Joe

The Storm

I have been in rain storms.

I have been in snow storms

I have been in hail storms.

I have been in ice storms.

I have been in wind storms.



And now I have been in a virus storm.



There is an event in the life of Jesus and His disciples that helps us know how to handle storms.



In Matthew 14:22-33 we see Jesus and His disciples face a storm. In this passage we see truths that will enable us by God’s power to walk through a storm.



Verses 22-23

Immediately He made the disciples get into a boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone.



The disciples leave. They go on before Jesus. Jesus stays and prays.



Verse 24

But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.



A storm comes up as the disciples are in the boat in the middle of the sea. They are in the middle of a storm and they are in trouble.



Verse 25

And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea.



The fourth watch of the night is between 3 am and 6 am. The disciples had been in the boat battling the storm all night long. Then Jesus shows up. He is walking on the water. He is overcoming natural law and coming to help them.



Verse 26

But when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear.



The disciples misunderstood the situation. Their fear had overcome their faith and they didn’t recognize that was Jesus.



Verse 27

But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”



Jesus immediately speaks and tells them to be encouraged because it is Him and not a ghost and so they don’t have to be afraid.



Verse 28

And Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to you on the water.”



Peter needed more proof and so he tells Jesus that if it is really Him, command him to come out to meet Him by walking on the water.



Verse 29

He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.



Jesus commands Peter to come. Peter gets out of the boat and walks on the water going to Jesus.



Verse 30

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”



Peter is looking at Jesus and walking on the water, but he begins to see and feel the storm and takes his focus off Jesus and begins to sink. He cries out to Jesus to save him.



Verse 31

Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”



Jesus immediately grabs Peter and saves him. Jesus asks Peter why he doubted or why did he take his focus off Him.



Verse 32

And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.



Jesus and Peter get into the boat with the other disciples and the storms stops.



Verse 33

And those in the boat worshipped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”



The disciples worship Jesus as God right then and right there in the boat.



Following Jesus will lead to storms.



The Truths from this Event



Jesus is interceding for us. When the disciples are out in the boat in the storm, Jesus is praying for them.



Romans 8:34 tells us that Jesus is at the Father’s right hand and He is interceding for us.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living with the faith that Jesus is constantly interceding for us.



Jesus joins us in the storm.



Jesus overcomes natural law to come to the aid of His disciples. We are told in Luke 1:37 nothing is impossible for God. Jesus can and will do anything to accomplish His will in our lives. He will, through His power, deliver us from any storm.



Jesus’ message is “Don’t be afraid”. Because Jesus is all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present and all-loving we don’t have to be afraid.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is living in faith in Jesus, not fear of circumstances.

Jesus’ call to us is to trust Him. There are many things we are told to trust because Jesus is the only thing that can hold us no matter what the circumstances are.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trusting Jesus above everything else.



Jesus calms the storms we face. Jesus is more powerful than any storm, problem, sin, or doubt. He understands our fears and He is willing to take all of our problems, sins, and doubts and replace them with His peace.



Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing the peace of Jesus in the storm.



This is to lead to our worship of Jesus as God.



With Trust in Jesus, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                             Joe