The Authority of Jesus

 

We all want change in our nation. My heart was heavy over the massacre that occurred in Buffalo, New York and it became even heavier with the massacre of innocent children in Uvalde, Texas this past week. These are examples of the evil that is gripping our country and our world.

 

In Mark 5 we see how Jesus changes people.

 

Mark 5:1-5

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

 

This man who was demon possessed was violent.

This man who was demon possessed lived isolated from other people.

This man who was demon possessed hurt himself.

This man who was demon possessed cried out in pain constantly.

 

Then in verses 6 and 7 the man encounters Jesus and he falls to his knees and cries out to Jesus, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, do not torment me.”

 

The demons recognize who Jesus is, Son of God, and recognize He has authority over them.

 

We are living in a culture that is increasingly violent.

We are living in a culture where many are isolated from each other, if not physically, then ideologically and spiritually.

We live in a culture where people are hurting themselves increasingly.

We live in a culture where more people are in mental or emotional or spiritual pain than ever before.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is recognizing the truth about the brokenness of our culture.

 

When the man who was demon possessed encounters Jesus, the demons recognized who Jesus is and they recognize that He has the authority to torment them. They beg Him, based on God, not to torment them. They knew that their master Satan had no power to stop Jesus if He wanted to torment them.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is recognizing the authority of God and submitting our lives under His authority.

 

Jesus expelled the demons from the man and permitted them to enter a herd of pigs that, when the demons entered them, went rushing over the banks and drown in the sea.

 

The people from the town come out to see what has happened.

 

Verse 15 describes the man after the demons had left him.

 

He is sitting with Jesus; he is not isolated from other people. He is not violent and not trying to hurt himself and not crying out in pain. He is clothed and he is in his right mind.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing Jesus to transform us and to remove the things that He does not want in our lives.

 

If there is going to be change in our nation, we must turn to Jesus and trust His Word, the Bible. We must see that without Jesus we are not righteous or good. We must reestablish the family as the main source of spiritual and moral values and support the family to do that. We must recognize that change of culture comes from a change in individual hearts. Society changes from the individual out, not from society in.

 

God’s people the church must live out our faith in Jesus every day.

God’s people the church must love each other and stop hurting each other.

God’s people the church must love the world as Jesus does.

God’s people the church must focus on the head of the church, Jesus.

 

Letting Jesus Transform Us by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                     Joe

Knowing and Trusting Jesus

 

I was four years old when I got my first Bible. I couldn’t read so my mother read me stories. The first one I remember was the story of David and Goliath. I learned growing up in the church that the Bible was God’s Word. But as I grew older, I began to question that fact.

 

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

 

2 Peter 1:20-21 says, “Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

 

The Bible says of itself that its source is God, not humans. What are the things that cause me to believe this as being true?

 

First, I know Jesus. I talk to Him, and He speaks (not out loud in an audible voice). I share my life with Jesus, not as a theological concept but as a real person.

 

In knowing Jesus, I have come to trust Him. I also have come to know four essential things that enable me to trust Jesus and trust that the Bible is really God’s Word.

 

Jesus is God.

 

John 10:30 says, “I and the Father are one.”

 

John 14:8-9 says, “Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’”

 

Since I know through my relationship with Jesus that He is God, then it enables me to trust what He says. Jesus points to the Bible as God’s Word.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing Jesus as the one true God.

 

Second, Jesus is love.

1 John 4:8 and 16 says that God is love. The essence of God is love and since Jesus is God, then He is love. Jesus came into the world because He loved us as His human creation according to John 3:16.

 

In know Jesus as God and knowing He loves me, then I can trust Him.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that Jesus is love and thus came to die for me because He loves me.

 

Third, Jesus is good.

 

In Mark 10 Jesus encounters a wealth young man and the young man calls Him good. In verse 18 Jesus asks the young man why he calls Him good because only God is good.

 

Jesus is God and so He is good. We see Jesus’ goodness in His healing of lepers, lame people, blind people, and all kinds of sick people. We see it in how Jesus deals with marginalized people like the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, and demon possessed people.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing Jesus is good and being enabled, as we come into relationship with Him, to live that goodness out in our lives.

 

Fourth, Jesus is faithful.

 

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 

Jesus as God is faithful and He does not lie, so I can trust Him and what the Bible says.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing that Jesus is faithful and being about to trust all that He says and all that He promises.

 

Do I understand everything about life? – No!

Do I understand everything about the Bible? – No!

Do I understand everything about Jesus? – No!

 

I know Jesus and I trust Jesus and I believe the Bible is God’s Word. I know and trust and believe because Jesus is God, He is love, He is good, and He is faithful.

 

Knowing Jesus and Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                Joe

Jesus and the Father's Will

 

Luke 22:39-46

And He came out and went, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives, and they followed Him. And when He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 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.” And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

 

Jesus often went with His disciples to the Mount of Olives. Jesus could have possibly avoided being found and arrested if He would have deviated from His regular activities. Jesus didn’t let threats or intimation or other’s expectations or opinions divert Him from doing the Father’s will.

 

Our lives as followers of Jesus are to be directed by Jesus, not our feelings or other’s opinions.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is following Jesus, not my emotions or popular opinion.

 

Jesus tells His disciples that they are to pray, not give into temptation. Being tempted is not sin. Scripture tells us that Jesus was tempted just like us but He didn’t sin.

 

Our desire should be not to sin and to pray for the Holy Spirit to strength us and equip us to say no to sin.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being tempted but, by the Holy Spirit, not letting it lead to sin in our lives.

 

Jesus prays if there is a way to avoid the cup of suffering He was about to experience, to not have to drink it, but not Jesus’ will but the Father’s will is what He wanted to do.

 

Humanly Jesus was not looking forward to experiencing the physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering He was about to endure. But Jesus says, “Not what I want but what the Father wants”.

 

We as followers of Jesus are to be like Him and seek the Father’s will and want to do the Father’s will and do the Father’s will.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is doing the Father’s will, not our will, no matter the circumstances.

 

Jesus was experiencing such stress that as He prayed, He actually sweated blood.

 

Jesus understands the stress that you and I go through. He is able to help us in our stress and anxiety. He went through great stress and still remained faithful and obeyed the Father’s will.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is looking to the Holy Spirit to be our hope and peace in the midst of stressful living.

 

Jesus comes back to His disciples and encourages them and then goes out to meet those who are coming to arrest Him.

 

We as followers of Jesus have all we need in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to meet life and overcome.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is, with total dependence in God, meeting life and, by God’s power, overcoming.

 

With Our Loving and Powerful God

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe

 

 

   

 

What You Have

 

2 Corinthians 8:9-12

I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He become poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich. And in this matter, I give my judgment this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

 

In this passage Paul is not giving a command but he is giving godly counsel.

 

Paul gives three things we should do as followers of Jesus.

 

The first is that we are to complete what we started.

 

It does not glorify God when we start a work for God and then we fail to complete it.

 

First it is not what God wants because it leaves something God directed you to do unfinished and leaves people who need what God told you to do hanging.

 

Also, it is not what God wants because it does not accurately show God’s character. Paul says in Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

 

God always finishes what He starts and we as followers of Jesus are to do the same.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing God to use us to finish what He directs us to start.   

 

The second is that we genuinely love others.

 

God sees love as a verb, not a noun. The proof of real love is our actions, not just our words.

In John 3:16 John says that God loved the world and so He gave His one and only Son. We as followers of Jesus are to love in that same way by giving.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is loving others like Jesus did by giving of ourselves to others.

 

The third is serving God with what we have, not what we don’t have.

 

I cannot serve God in ways that others do because I don’t have their gifts or abilities or resources. So, I focus on serving God with I do have.

 

Many people use the excuse of what they do have to not obey God. Moses, when God told him that he was to go back to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of slavery, began making excuses. God’s answer to all Moses’ excuses was Himself. Moses didn’t have some things just as we don’t have some things, but as followers of Jesus we all have Jesus and that is really all we need.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is taking what we have and serving God with that and not worrying about what we don’t have.

 

Paul shares two things that God provides so we can obey Him.

 

Jesus gave up His riches to us and took our poverty upon Himself.

 

Jesus took our sin, our trespasses, our iniquities, our failures, our weaknesses, and our diseases and gave us His righteousness, His perfection, His strength, and His healing.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is trading our sin for Jesus’ righteousness.

 

We have received God’s grace so that we can obey and serve Him.

 

God’s grace, His undeserved love and favor toward us just because we exist, empowers us to desire and do what pleases Him.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is depending on God’s grace to empower us to do His will.

 

God never calls us to do anything that He does not resource us to do, and the resource is always Him.

 

Focused and Resourced by God

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

Joe

 

 

 

 

Called to Follow Jesus

 

In Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus calls Andrew, Peter, James, and John to come follow Him.

In Matthew 9:9 Jesus calls Matthew to come follow Him.

In John 1:43 Jesus calls Philip to come follow Him.

 

Notice the calling Jesus gives.

 

It is not a calling to follow a religion.

It is not a calling to follow a worldview.

It was not a calling to follow rituals or traditions.

 

It was a calling to follow Jesus, a person.

 

How do we respond to a calling to follow Jesus?

 

We love and obey Jesus.

 

John 14:15

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

 

Following Jesus means loving Jesus and loving Jesus means obeying Jesus.

 

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments.

 

Loving and obeying God is a mark that we belong to God and are following Jesus.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is loving Jesus and obeying Jesus.

 

We acknowledge and lived based on the truth that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life.

 

Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the way and the truth and the life.

 

Jesus is not a way or one of many; Jesus is the The One and Only.

 

Colossians 3:3

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

 

We have died to any other way.

We have died to any other truth.

We have died to any other life.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is having Jesus as the way and the truth and the life in your life.

 

Luke 6:5

And He said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

 

Jesus is the sole ruling authority in our lives.

 

Jesus is who directs our lives.

 

Jesus is over the way we were raised.

Jesus is over the traditions we may have grown up following.

Jesus is over the rituals that may have been a part of our lives.

Jesus is over any human authorities that we may have followed.

 

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is having Jesus as Lord, the sole ruling authority in our lives.

 

John 15:15

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

 

Jesus is our friend and we spend time hanging out with Jesus.

 

We just spent the weekend with our grandkids. When we asked them on Friday night what they wanted to do, they said plan some games with us.

 

On Saturday we hung out with them playing games, watching television and baking goodies.

 

Our grandkids just wanted to spend time hanging out with us. That is what Jesus wants for us: to spend time with Him. Spending time with Him by talking to Him, that is called prayer. Spending time with Him by listen to Him, that is called studying the Bible. Spending time with Him by working with Him, that is called ministry. Spending time with Him by telling Him you love Him, that is called worship. Spending time with Him by inviting others to be His friend also, that is called evangelism.

 

Being a Christian is not about religion, theology, traditions, or rituals.

Being a Christian is about having a relationship with Jesus by following Him.

 

Following Jesus by Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                                Joe