John tells us in 1 John 4:8 and 16 that God is love.
In John 3:16 John tells that because God is love He did something. He sent His one and only Son to give His life for our sin. God’s love moved Him to do something of infinite good for us.
So if God is love and He loves us, what is love?
Our culture says that love is:
(1) an attraction based on kinship or admiration or common interests
(2) a strong sexual attraction
God says that love is very different from what the culture says it is.
God says that love is:
(1) showing undeserved kindness
(2) being faithful
(3) delighting in the presence of another
(4) putting someone’s needs ahead of your own
God’s love is about others.
God’s love is always unconditional and eternal.
Four Pictures of God’s Love
Picture #1: God’s love is grace.
Genesis 20:1-2
Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in the Gerar, and there Abraham said to his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
Abraham, a man of faith, the man God had chosen to form a nation out of for Himself lied to Abimelek about Sarah being his wife. Abraham betrays his wife and fails God.
In Genesis 20:11 Abraham explains why he lied to the king about Sarah being his wife. He says, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’”
Now, I understand. Abraham was fearful and didn’t trust God to take care of him and Sarah. He didn’t believe that God would or could protect them. And this is a man of faith?
Because of his lack of faith in God. Abraham gets into a position where he could not only lose his wife, but also hinders the promises that God had made him. He was messing with God’s will.
So what does God do?
Genesis 20:6-7
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. This is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
God intervenes and keeps Abimelek from having sex with Sarah. God also demands that Abimelek give Sarah back to Abraham.
Genesis 20:14-16
Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.” To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
Then God has Abimelek give gifts to Abraham and Sarah that enrich them. He also had Abimelek allow Abraham to live anywhere he wanted.
Grace gives us more than we deserve. God took a lack of faith on Abraham’s part and turned into a huge blessing.
Now, we need to remember that God promises us grace, but we can never presume on that grace. We cannot live like we want to and assume God will, because of His grace, get us out of any bad situation we get into.
God does assure us that His love will be there in the midst of our sin and our struggles.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is based in and on the grace of God.
Picture #2: God’s love is protecting.
Genesis 3:24
He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Many would see God’s action here as discipline or punishment for Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God.
This action is protection. God didn’t want Adam and Eve eating from the tree of life and living forever in a state of rebellion against Him. God wants us to live forever in right relationship with Him, not in sin.
God will not let His children stay in an unhealthy spiritual condition without making us desire to change.
God will confront us about our sin because He knows it will destroy us if not dealt with.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about putting ourselves under the authority of God and His protection.
Picture #3: God’s love is accepting.
In John 8 the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus who they had caught in the act of committing adultery. I have always wondered exactly how they accomplished that and where the guy who she was committing it with was.
The religious leaders ask Jesus what He thought they should do with her. They then reminded Him that the Law said to stone her, like Jesus needed to be reminded what the Law said.
Jesus simply told them that the one without sin could throw the first rock. They all dropped their rocks and left.
Then Jesus goes to the woman. He asked, “Where did they go? Has anyone condemned you?” The woman answered, “No one, sir.” Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you either. Go! From now on don’t sin.”
Jesus didn’t condemn her.
Jesus didn’t reject her.
Jesus accepted her.
God’s love accepts us like we are. But God’s love also always motivates and empowers us to change.
God loves and accepts us, but not our sin. God hates our sin.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about accepting people and loving people and, with God’s love, helping people to be transformed into the image of Jesus.
Picture #4: God’s love is restoring
John 21:15-17
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know I love You.” Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know I love You.” Jesus said, “Take care of My sheep.” A third time He said, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” Peter said, “Lord, You know everything; You know I love You!” He said to him, “Feed My sheep.”
Why did Jesus ask Peter three times if he loved Him? Peter said he did the first time and the second. Why did Jesus ask the third time? Well, let’s go back to Peter’s denial of Jesus. Peter denied he knew Jesus three times. Jesus was allowing Peter to affirm his love for Jesus the same number of times that he denied his love for Jesus.
When our fellowship, our intimacy with Jesus is broken, Jesus desires to bring us back to Himself. His will is always for us to be in right relationship and right fellowship, intimately connected to Him.
Jesus will do what it takes in our lives to bring us to that place.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about building intimacy in our relationship with Jesus. And helping others be restored to Jesus.
Jesus loves you! That is the overwhelming message of the Bible.
Jesus wants you to experience His love in your life all the time. That can only happen if you are in right relationship and right fellowship with Him.
We have to be honest with Jesus. We have to let Jesus Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls from our lives. Then we can share our lives with Jesus. We can share every part of our lives with Him.
We can share the:
Sins
Struggles
Fears
Hurts
Joys
Desires
Dreams
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about surrendering you life to Jesus so you can share all of it with Him and experience His unconditional, no boundaries, no time limit love.
In And With Jesus’ Love Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Sunday, May 11, 2014
God's Way is Truth
In John 18:38 Pilate asks what is truth. That is very ironic because he is looking right at truth.
You see, truth is not a
Religion
Way of Life
Philosophy
Truth is a person - Jesus!
In Ephesians 4:15 we are commanded to speak the truth in love.
All through Scripture, truth is who God is and a thing He highly values in us as His people.
Truth is to be part of our worship of Jesus.
John 4:23-24
But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Truth is found in and by the Holy Spirit.
John 15:26
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me.
Truth is found in God’s Word.
John 17:17
Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth.
Truth is found in the Gospel.
Galatians 2:5
We didn’t give in and submit to them for a single moment, so that the truth of the Gospel would continue to be with you.
Truth is found in the church.
1 Timothy 3:15
So if I am delayed, you will know how everyone who belongs to God’s family ought to behave. After all, the church of the living God is the strong foundation of truth.
The truth is vital because it does two things that are absolutely necessary if we are to follow Jesus.
Truth frees us.
John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Truth purifies us.
1 Peter 1:22
Now that your obedience to the truth has purified your souls, you can have true love for your Christian brothers and sisters. So love each other deeply with all your heart.
So since according to The Ephesians 4:15 passage I am to speak the truth in love, I want to share a truth that can transform you and all God’s people if we will believe it and live it.
The truth is that we were created by God to be in Community. God didn’t created us to be lone rangers. God created us to relate to others for support, encouragement, and accountability.
We live in a culture that emphasizes individuality and independence.
Jesus emphasizes community and interdependence.
So what does community consist of?
C : commitment
Psalm 37:5-6
Commit your way to the Lord ! Trust Him! He will act and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like high noon.
We are to be committed to Jesus and His church and His Kingdom, not our own comfort and convenience.
O : others
Philippians 2:1-4
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
It is not about you! It is about JOY - Jesus, others, you.
M : mature
2 Corinthians 13:11
Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
We are to grow into the likeness of Jesus. If your children were not progressing as you believed they should, you would seek out help. We need to progress by growing to be more like Jesus every day.
M : men
1 Chronicles 12:32
From Issachar’s descendants there were 200 leaders who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.
Our churches, our communities, our nation will not be healthy until men step up to be the spiritual leaders in their families.
Men, we are commanded by God to love our wives unconditionally
Men, we are commanded by God to provide for our families.
Men, we are commanded by God to lead our families to Jesus.
U: unity
Romans 15:5-6
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The church is a family. We are the Body of Christ. Jesus desires that we be in unity.
N : new
Ezekiel 36:26-27
I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put My Spirit in you and will see to it that you follow My laws and keep all the commands I have given you.
Jesus gives us a New mind, a New heart, a New spirit. The newness of Jesus brings refreshment. He brings new works of God into our lives. He brings changes. Changes are hard but good and necessary.
I : intensity
Romans 12:11
Do not slack in your faithfulness and hard work. Let your spirit be on fire, bubbling up and boiling over, as you serve the Lord.
We need to passionately
Love Jesus
Worship Jesus
Study God’s Word
Serve Jesus
Pray
Share our Jesus story
T : transparent
1 Thessalonians 1:5
And here is why: what you experienced in the good news we brought you was more than words channeling down your ears; it came to you as a life-empowering, Spirit-infused message that offers complete hope and assurance! We lived transparently before you so that you would know what sort of people we truly are. We did it for your sake.
We have to take off the masks. We have to let God work in our lives like He wants to. We have to let the world see who we are and how God is transforming us from sinners to saints.
Y : yield
Romans 12:1
Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice - alive, holy, and pleasing to God - which is your reasonable service.
Give yourself to Jesus with nothing held back.
Submit everything to Jesus.
Surrender yourself and all you have to Jesus as your King.
God is inviting you to go on a great adventure with Him and His people. He makes some awesome promises to us as His people, His community.
Jesus promises:
That He has a plan for us that will give us hope and success
That He will listen when we call on Him
That He will direct our lives
That He will reveal Himself to us
To know the truth, believe the truth, act on the truth we have to be in community. And we have to do it with our whole hearts.
With Truth and In Community Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
You see, truth is not a
Religion
Way of Life
Philosophy
Truth is a person - Jesus!
In Ephesians 4:15 we are commanded to speak the truth in love.
All through Scripture, truth is who God is and a thing He highly values in us as His people.
Truth is to be part of our worship of Jesus.
John 4:23-24
But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Truth is found in and by the Holy Spirit.
John 15:26
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me.
Truth is found in God’s Word.
John 17:17
Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth.
Truth is found in the Gospel.
Galatians 2:5
We didn’t give in and submit to them for a single moment, so that the truth of the Gospel would continue to be with you.
Truth is found in the church.
1 Timothy 3:15
So if I am delayed, you will know how everyone who belongs to God’s family ought to behave. After all, the church of the living God is the strong foundation of truth.
The truth is vital because it does two things that are absolutely necessary if we are to follow Jesus.
Truth frees us.
John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Truth purifies us.
1 Peter 1:22
Now that your obedience to the truth has purified your souls, you can have true love for your Christian brothers and sisters. So love each other deeply with all your heart.
So since according to The Ephesians 4:15 passage I am to speak the truth in love, I want to share a truth that can transform you and all God’s people if we will believe it and live it.
The truth is that we were created by God to be in Community. God didn’t created us to be lone rangers. God created us to relate to others for support, encouragement, and accountability.
We live in a culture that emphasizes individuality and independence.
Jesus emphasizes community and interdependence.
So what does community consist of?
C : commitment
Psalm 37:5-6
Commit your way to the Lord ! Trust Him! He will act and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like high noon.
We are to be committed to Jesus and His church and His Kingdom, not our own comfort and convenience.
O : others
Philippians 2:1-4
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
It is not about you! It is about JOY - Jesus, others, you.
M : mature
2 Corinthians 13:11
Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
We are to grow into the likeness of Jesus. If your children were not progressing as you believed they should, you would seek out help. We need to progress by growing to be more like Jesus every day.
M : men
1 Chronicles 12:32
From Issachar’s descendants there were 200 leaders who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.
Our churches, our communities, our nation will not be healthy until men step up to be the spiritual leaders in their families.
Men, we are commanded by God to love our wives unconditionally
Men, we are commanded by God to provide for our families.
Men, we are commanded by God to lead our families to Jesus.
U: unity
Romans 15:5-6
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The church is a family. We are the Body of Christ. Jesus desires that we be in unity.
N : new
Ezekiel 36:26-27
I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put My Spirit in you and will see to it that you follow My laws and keep all the commands I have given you.
Jesus gives us a New mind, a New heart, a New spirit. The newness of Jesus brings refreshment. He brings new works of God into our lives. He brings changes. Changes are hard but good and necessary.
I : intensity
Romans 12:11
Do not slack in your faithfulness and hard work. Let your spirit be on fire, bubbling up and boiling over, as you serve the Lord.
We need to passionately
Love Jesus
Worship Jesus
Study God’s Word
Serve Jesus
Pray
Share our Jesus story
T : transparent
1 Thessalonians 1:5
And here is why: what you experienced in the good news we brought you was more than words channeling down your ears; it came to you as a life-empowering, Spirit-infused message that offers complete hope and assurance! We lived transparently before you so that you would know what sort of people we truly are. We did it for your sake.
We have to take off the masks. We have to let God work in our lives like He wants to. We have to let the world see who we are and how God is transforming us from sinners to saints.
Y : yield
Romans 12:1
Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice - alive, holy, and pleasing to God - which is your reasonable service.
Give yourself to Jesus with nothing held back.
Submit everything to Jesus.
Surrender yourself and all you have to Jesus as your King.
God is inviting you to go on a great adventure with Him and His people. He makes some awesome promises to us as His people, His community.
Jesus promises:
That He has a plan for us that will give us hope and success
That He will listen when we call on Him
That He will direct our lives
That He will reveal Himself to us
To know the truth, believe the truth, act on the truth we have to be in community. And we have to do it with our whole hearts.
With Truth and In Community Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, May 4, 2014
The God's Thoughts and Ways
Isaiah 55:8-9
The Lord said, “My thoughts and My ways are not like yours. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, My thoughts and My ways are higher than yours.”
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.
God’s ways are not our ways.
His thoughts and ways are higher than our.
His thoughts and ways are better than ours.
Then why don’t we base how we live on God’s thoughts and follow His ways in our daily living?
I have seen three reasons that people don’t follow God’s ways.
They don’t know what God’s thoughts and ways are - Ignorance.
They are struggling to understand God’s thoughts and follow God’s ways - Confusion.
They don’t want to know God or follow Him - Apathy.
The solution to the first is to ask God. In James 1:5 we are told, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
The solution to the second is to seek God. In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
The solution to the third is repentance and transformation. We have to want God and to know Him. That is not an automatic thing. We have to turn from living life based on our desires and turn to Jesus and living life based on His desires. The turning is our choice and the living based on Jesus’ desires is God transforming you.
So what are God’s thoughts and ways?
First is AVAILABLE.
Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is yet near. Let the wicked abandon their ways and the sinful their schemes. Let them return to the Lord so that He may have mercy on them, to our God, because He is generous with forgiveness.
We are commanded to:
Seek God while He may be found
Call on God while He is near
This passage implies that there are times when God cannot be found and when he is not near.
We have grown up in the American church being taught that God is available whenever we want Him or when we are ready for Him.
I believe that is a lie.
In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I choose and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
In John 14:6 Jesus says, “No one come to the Father except through Me.”
We come to God:
Through Jesus
On God’s Terms
On God’s Timetable
We are blessed by God:
Through Jesus
On God’s Terms
On God’s Timetable
We don’t relate to God based on our terms, but based on His.
Second is FORGIVING.
Psalm 103:10-12
He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins, for His mercy toward those who fear and honor Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.
God is a loving and forgiving God.
God’s love is unconditional.
God’s forgiveness is NOT!
David outlines conditions for God’s forgiveness in Psalm 103:13, 17-18.
Verse 13: The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.
Verses 17-18: But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear Him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to His covenant, of those who obey His commandments.
God forgives those who:
Acknowledge Their Sin
Repent of Their Sin
Obey Him
God loves us no matter what.
God forgives us when we turn to Him in confession and repentance.
Third is FAITHFUL.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God faithfully keeps His promises. He called you to be partners with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Timothy 2:13
If we are not faithful, He remains faithful, because He cannt be false to Himself.
God will never go back on any of His promises. God will not back off His promise to bless or His promise to not bless.
God will always do what He says He will do.
Psalm 145:13
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all His promises and faithful in all He does.
You can count on God.
Fourth is HOLY.
1 Peter 1:15-16
But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
We are commanded to be holy. What does that mean?
Holiness has two aspects to it.
One is separation. We are to be separated to God for His purposes and His alone. We are not to be focused on our will but on God’s will. We are to be focused and living to do God’s will exclusively.
Two is moral excellence. We are to live according to God’s values and standards not the values and standards of this fallen world.
We are to live holy!
Fifth is TRUTHFUL.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Everything Jesus said was true.
Everything Jesus did was right.
The Word of God is absolute truth with no error.
Anything that disagrees with God and His Word is wrong, it is a lie.
Lies lead to captivity.
Truth leads to freedom.
John 8:31-32,36
He said to the Jews who believed, “If you keep and obey My Word, then you are My followers for sure. You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free for sure.”
If anything in your life disagrees with Jesus or His Word, it should have no place in your life. You need to get rid of it.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about acknowledging that God’s thoughts and God’s ways are better than our thoughts and ways.
If you want a life that has
Purpose
That is Full
That is Eternal
The only way is God’s way.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about coming to Jesus and letting His thoughts and ways be what you base your daily living on.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gives us the invitation of a lifetime. He says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Look at that invitation.
Come to Jesus
Get Away with Jesus
Walk with Jesus
Keep Company with Jesus
The results are
Rest
Grace
Freedom
So come to Jesus and let His thoughts be your thoughts.
So come to Jesus and let His ways be your ways.
With Jesus’ Thoughts and In Jesus’ Ways Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
The Lord said, “My thoughts and My ways are not like yours. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, My thoughts and My ways are higher than yours.”
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.
God’s ways are not our ways.
His thoughts and ways are higher than our.
His thoughts and ways are better than ours.
Then why don’t we base how we live on God’s thoughts and follow His ways in our daily living?
I have seen three reasons that people don’t follow God’s ways.
They don’t know what God’s thoughts and ways are - Ignorance.
They are struggling to understand God’s thoughts and follow God’s ways - Confusion.
They don’t want to know God or follow Him - Apathy.
The solution to the first is to ask God. In James 1:5 we are told, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
The solution to the second is to seek God. In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
The solution to the third is repentance and transformation. We have to want God and to know Him. That is not an automatic thing. We have to turn from living life based on our desires and turn to Jesus and living life based on His desires. The turning is our choice and the living based on Jesus’ desires is God transforming you.
So what are God’s thoughts and ways?
First is AVAILABLE.
Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is yet near. Let the wicked abandon their ways and the sinful their schemes. Let them return to the Lord so that He may have mercy on them, to our God, because He is generous with forgiveness.
We are commanded to:
Seek God while He may be found
Call on God while He is near
This passage implies that there are times when God cannot be found and when he is not near.
We have grown up in the American church being taught that God is available whenever we want Him or when we are ready for Him.
I believe that is a lie.
In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I choose and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
In John 14:6 Jesus says, “No one come to the Father except through Me.”
We come to God:
Through Jesus
On God’s Terms
On God’s Timetable
We are blessed by God:
Through Jesus
On God’s Terms
On God’s Timetable
We don’t relate to God based on our terms, but based on His.
Second is FORGIVING.
Psalm 103:10-12
He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins, for His mercy toward those who fear and honor Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.
God is a loving and forgiving God.
God’s love is unconditional.
God’s forgiveness is NOT!
David outlines conditions for God’s forgiveness in Psalm 103:13, 17-18.
Verse 13: The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.
Verses 17-18: But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear Him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to His covenant, of those who obey His commandments.
God forgives those who:
Acknowledge Their Sin
Repent of Their Sin
Obey Him
God loves us no matter what.
God forgives us when we turn to Him in confession and repentance.
Third is FAITHFUL.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God faithfully keeps His promises. He called you to be partners with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Timothy 2:13
If we are not faithful, He remains faithful, because He cannt be false to Himself.
God will never go back on any of His promises. God will not back off His promise to bless or His promise to not bless.
God will always do what He says He will do.
Psalm 145:13
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all His promises and faithful in all He does.
You can count on God.
Fourth is HOLY.
1 Peter 1:15-16
But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
We are commanded to be holy. What does that mean?
Holiness has two aspects to it.
One is separation. We are to be separated to God for His purposes and His alone. We are not to be focused on our will but on God’s will. We are to be focused and living to do God’s will exclusively.
Two is moral excellence. We are to live according to God’s values and standards not the values and standards of this fallen world.
We are to live holy!
Fifth is TRUTHFUL.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Everything Jesus said was true.
Everything Jesus did was right.
The Word of God is absolute truth with no error.
Anything that disagrees with God and His Word is wrong, it is a lie.
Lies lead to captivity.
Truth leads to freedom.
John 8:31-32,36
He said to the Jews who believed, “If you keep and obey My Word, then you are My followers for sure. You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free for sure.”
If anything in your life disagrees with Jesus or His Word, it should have no place in your life. You need to get rid of it.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about acknowledging that God’s thoughts and God’s ways are better than our thoughts and ways.
If you want a life that has
Purpose
That is Full
That is Eternal
The only way is God’s way.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about coming to Jesus and letting His thoughts and ways be what you base your daily living on.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gives us the invitation of a lifetime. He says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Look at that invitation.
Come to Jesus
Get Away with Jesus
Walk with Jesus
Keep Company with Jesus
The results are
Rest
Grace
Freedom
So come to Jesus and let His thoughts be your thoughts.
So come to Jesus and let His ways be your ways.
With Jesus’ Thoughts and In Jesus’ Ways Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, April 27, 2014
God is at Work All the Time
Jesus says in John 5:17, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too am working.”
Jesus is saying that He and the Father are ALWAYS at work.
I will be completely honest. I have not always believed that.
I thought for a long time that God worked when “good things” happened and He was not working when “bad things” happened. I now get it. I understand that good and bad are human judgments on events and circumstances, not God’s.
Let me share some examples of “bad things” leading to good things.
I was spending several hours per week doing marriage counseling. I was spending additional time dealing with issues of conflict between spouses. These problems led me to cry out to God to show me a better way to help them. He had me put together a marriage weekend.
The weekend touched dozens of couples and made a huge difference in all the marriages.
I saw the hours spent in counseling as a “bad” thing. God saw it as an opportunity to bring me to a point of letting Him bring something awesome into couples lives.
Another example is when I was feeling that our church’s outreach into the community was ineffective and I asked God to show us how to do it better. He brought a huge outreach that touched the students in every school in our community and thousands of others.
In both of this situations I was seeing them as “bad“. God was seeing them as opportunities to do something big when I sought Him.
What do we need to do so we can see that Jesus and the Father are working all the time?
First, we have to understand who we are and who Jesus is.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Colossians 1:18
And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the first born from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.
Jesus is the Head and we are the body.
As Jesus’ body we are His hands and feet. We are to take our direction from the Head. The body obeys the head.
Second, we have to a heart to seek God.
In 1 Samuel 16:7 God tells Samuel that people judge by outward appearance, but that the Lord looks at the heart.
In Acts 13:22 God describes David as “a man after My own heart; he will do everything I want him to do“.
If we are to see and experience Jesus and the Father working, we must have a heart to seek Jesus and a desire to focus our hearts and lives on Him.
Third, we have to allow Jesus out of any box we might want to put Him in. We have to let Jesus be who His is and do things His way.
Isaiah 55:8-9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
God’s thoughts are better than ours.
God’s ways are better than ours.
His thoughts and ways are better than ours because:
He is all-knowing.
He is all-loving.
He is completely perfect.
Fourth, we have to know His Word.
Psalm 119:105
Your Word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:130
The teaching of Your Word gives light, so even the simple can understand.
God’s Word:
Gives direction so we know how to live in a way that pleases God and frees Him to bless us.
Give us understand so we can make godly choices and decisions.
Luke 11:28
Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.”
Matthew 4:4
But Jesus told him, “No! The Scripture say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
If we don’t know God’s Word, we can’t know God at a personal and intimate level.
If we don’t know God’s Word, we will never begin to understand God.
Last we have to focus on hearing God’s Spirit speak to us.
1 Corinthians 2:10-11
But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.
It is through God’s Spirit that He reveals to us His Word and His Will.
It is by God’s Spirit that He reveals to His Purposes and His Ways.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls involves trusting that Jesus and the Father are always at work in the world.
Raise the roof and Remove the Walls is about
Knowing who Jesus is
Knowing who we are
Seeking God with all our heart
Letting Jesus out of the box and letting Him do it His way
Knowing and obeying God’s Word
Hearing God’s Spirit
Jesus and the Father are always at work. Our responsibility is get out of the way and let God work.
Sidewalk Prophets have a song called Wrecking Ball. The chorus expresses what needs to happen in our lives so we can see and experience God working.
I need a wrecking ball
Slamming inside my heart
Breaking me all apart
Tearing the old away
Killing the fear in me
Until I can finally breathe
Even if it hurts so bad that I can’t even stand
Take it all, let me fall into Your hands
We need less of us and more of Jesus. Then we will see Him working in us and through us and all around us.
Working With Jesus to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls
Joe
Jesus is saying that He and the Father are ALWAYS at work.
I will be completely honest. I have not always believed that.
I thought for a long time that God worked when “good things” happened and He was not working when “bad things” happened. I now get it. I understand that good and bad are human judgments on events and circumstances, not God’s.
Let me share some examples of “bad things” leading to good things.
I was spending several hours per week doing marriage counseling. I was spending additional time dealing with issues of conflict between spouses. These problems led me to cry out to God to show me a better way to help them. He had me put together a marriage weekend.
The weekend touched dozens of couples and made a huge difference in all the marriages.
I saw the hours spent in counseling as a “bad” thing. God saw it as an opportunity to bring me to a point of letting Him bring something awesome into couples lives.
Another example is when I was feeling that our church’s outreach into the community was ineffective and I asked God to show us how to do it better. He brought a huge outreach that touched the students in every school in our community and thousands of others.
In both of this situations I was seeing them as “bad“. God was seeing them as opportunities to do something big when I sought Him.
What do we need to do so we can see that Jesus and the Father are working all the time?
First, we have to understand who we are and who Jesus is.
1 Corinthians 12:27
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Colossians 1:18
And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the first born from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy.
Jesus is the Head and we are the body.
As Jesus’ body we are His hands and feet. We are to take our direction from the Head. The body obeys the head.
Second, we have to a heart to seek God.
In 1 Samuel 16:7 God tells Samuel that people judge by outward appearance, but that the Lord looks at the heart.
In Acts 13:22 God describes David as “a man after My own heart; he will do everything I want him to do“.
If we are to see and experience Jesus and the Father working, we must have a heart to seek Jesus and a desire to focus our hearts and lives on Him.
Third, we have to allow Jesus out of any box we might want to put Him in. We have to let Jesus be who His is and do things His way.
Isaiah 55:8-9
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
God’s thoughts are better than ours.
God’s ways are better than ours.
His thoughts and ways are better than ours because:
He is all-knowing.
He is all-loving.
He is completely perfect.
Fourth, we have to know His Word.
Psalm 119:105
Your Word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:130
The teaching of Your Word gives light, so even the simple can understand.
God’s Word:
Gives direction so we know how to live in a way that pleases God and frees Him to bless us.
Give us understand so we can make godly choices and decisions.
Luke 11:28
Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.”
Matthew 4:4
But Jesus told him, “No! The Scripture say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
If we don’t know God’s Word, we can’t know God at a personal and intimate level.
If we don’t know God’s Word, we will never begin to understand God.
Last we have to focus on hearing God’s Spirit speak to us.
1 Corinthians 2:10-11
But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.
It is through God’s Spirit that He reveals to us His Word and His Will.
It is by God’s Spirit that He reveals to His Purposes and His Ways.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls involves trusting that Jesus and the Father are always at work in the world.
Raise the roof and Remove the Walls is about
Knowing who Jesus is
Knowing who we are
Seeking God with all our heart
Letting Jesus out of the box and letting Him do it His way
Knowing and obeying God’s Word
Hearing God’s Spirit
Jesus and the Father are always at work. Our responsibility is get out of the way and let God work.
Sidewalk Prophets have a song called Wrecking Ball. The chorus expresses what needs to happen in our lives so we can see and experience God working.
I need a wrecking ball
Slamming inside my heart
Breaking me all apart
Tearing the old away
Killing the fear in me
Until I can finally breathe
Even if it hurts so bad that I can’t even stand
Take it all, let me fall into Your hands
We need less of us and more of Jesus. Then we will see Him working in us and through us and all around us.
Working With Jesus to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls
Joe
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The Lamb of God is The King
Everyone loves a winner. Everyone wants a winner to root for
In Sports
In Politics
In Entertainment
In Publishing
In Business
Why do we like, even need winners?
Because we want something to WORSHIP!
We long to worship someone or something bigger than ourselves.
It is why we turn ordinary people into heroes and celebrities.
We are wired (created) by God to worship.
God wants us to worship Him. If we don’t worship the real thing - Jesus - we will come up with something to worship.
We can also worship the right thing for the wrong reason.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the last week of His life, the people laid down palm branches and their coats as Jesus came riding into the city on a donkey. They gave Him honor and worship but not because He was God or because He was coming to die for their sin. They worshiped Him because they thought He was coming to kick the Romans out and reestablish Israel in glory as in the days of David.
There is a delight, a wholeness, a fulfillment in our lives when we worship the real thing - Jesus - for the right reason - Jesus is King.
Jesus is the King, but He is not like any other king. As our King, Jesus is the Lamb of God.
Jesus is the Lamb of God.
John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
1 Peter 1:19
It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless, Lamb of God.
Why is Jesus referred to as the Lamb of God?
Let’s look at some passages in Exodus 12.
Verse 3
Tell the whole Israelite community: On the tenth day of this month they must take a lamb for each household, a lamb per house.
Verse 5
Your lamb should be a flawless year old male.
Verse 7
They should take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and on the beam over the door of the houses in which they are eating.
Verse 13
The blood will be a sign on the houses where you live. Whenever I see the blood, I’ll pass over you. No plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
It was the blood of the flawless Passover Lamb that allow the people of Israel to live.
1 John 2:2
He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins - and not only for our sins but the sins of the world.
Jesus is our Lamb, our perfect sacrifice that takes away our sins and allows us to live.
The last few moments of Jesus’ sacrifice are described in John 19:28-30.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it to Jesus’ lips. When He had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Jesus was not murdered.
Jesus was not executed.
Jesus did not have His life taken from Him.
Jesus chose to die.
Jesus chose the time of His death.
Jesus chose the place of His death.
Jesus chose the manner of His death.
Jesus gave up His life freely for you!
Jesus is the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world.
Jesus is also The King.
Jesus cannot be your Lamb until He is your King.
Jesus cannot be your King until you surrender your life to Him.
How do we recognize and honor Jesus as the Lamb of God and King?
First, do what Jesus says.
John 14:23-24
Jesus replied: “If anyone loves Me, they will obey Me. Then My Father will love them, and We will come to them and live in them. But anyone who doesn’t love Me won’t obey Me. what they have heard Me say doesn’t come from Me, but from the Father who sent Me.”
Second, feel what Jesus feels.
Luke 19:41
When the city came into view, He wept over it.
Third, tell who Jesus is.
Many people of Jesus’ day saw Him as a good man, a great leader, a powerful prophet; but not who He really was.
Matthew 21:10-11
And when He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowd said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Peter shares the truth about who Jesus is.
Matthew 16:16
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus is God.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Wall is about being freed up to:
Do what Jesus tells us to do
Feel what Jesus feels
Share who Jesus really is.
So what makes Jesus the Lamb of God?
1 Peter 2:24
Christ carried our sins in His body on the cross so that freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God’s approval. His wounds have healed us.
He paid for our sin by shedding His blood and giving His life.
And what makes Jesus the King?
Mark 16:6-7
And when they looked closer, they saw that the stone, which was a very large one, had been rolled back. So they went into the tomb and saw a young man in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were simply astonished. But he said to them, “There is no need to be astonished. He is risen; He is not here. Look, here is the place where they laid Him. But now go and tell His disciples, and Peter, that He will be in Galilee before you. You will see Him just as he told you.”
He rose from the grave.
He defeated Sin.
He defeated Satan.
He defeated Death.
Jesus died to pay for your sins and rose to give you victory over your sins.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about experiencing and celebrating Jesus’ victory.
In Forgiveness and Victory Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
In Sports
In Politics
In Entertainment
In Publishing
In Business
Why do we like, even need winners?
Because we want something to WORSHIP!
We long to worship someone or something bigger than ourselves.
It is why we turn ordinary people into heroes and celebrities.
We are wired (created) by God to worship.
God wants us to worship Him. If we don’t worship the real thing - Jesus - we will come up with something to worship.
We can also worship the right thing for the wrong reason.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the last week of His life, the people laid down palm branches and their coats as Jesus came riding into the city on a donkey. They gave Him honor and worship but not because He was God or because He was coming to die for their sin. They worshiped Him because they thought He was coming to kick the Romans out and reestablish Israel in glory as in the days of David.
There is a delight, a wholeness, a fulfillment in our lives when we worship the real thing - Jesus - for the right reason - Jesus is King.
Jesus is the King, but He is not like any other king. As our King, Jesus is the Lamb of God.
Jesus is the Lamb of God.
John 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
1 Peter 1:19
It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless, Lamb of God.
Why is Jesus referred to as the Lamb of God?
Let’s look at some passages in Exodus 12.
Verse 3
Tell the whole Israelite community: On the tenth day of this month they must take a lamb for each household, a lamb per house.
Verse 5
Your lamb should be a flawless year old male.
Verse 7
They should take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and on the beam over the door of the houses in which they are eating.
Verse 13
The blood will be a sign on the houses where you live. Whenever I see the blood, I’ll pass over you. No plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
It was the blood of the flawless Passover Lamb that allow the people of Israel to live.
1 John 2:2
He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins - and not only for our sins but the sins of the world.
Jesus is our Lamb, our perfect sacrifice that takes away our sins and allows us to live.
The last few moments of Jesus’ sacrifice are described in John 19:28-30.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it to Jesus’ lips. When He had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
Jesus was not murdered.
Jesus was not executed.
Jesus did not have His life taken from Him.
Jesus chose to die.
Jesus chose the time of His death.
Jesus chose the place of His death.
Jesus chose the manner of His death.
Jesus gave up His life freely for you!
Jesus is the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world.
Jesus is also The King.
Jesus cannot be your Lamb until He is your King.
Jesus cannot be your King until you surrender your life to Him.
How do we recognize and honor Jesus as the Lamb of God and King?
First, do what Jesus says.
John 14:23-24
Jesus replied: “If anyone loves Me, they will obey Me. Then My Father will love them, and We will come to them and live in them. But anyone who doesn’t love Me won’t obey Me. what they have heard Me say doesn’t come from Me, but from the Father who sent Me.”
Second, feel what Jesus feels.
Luke 19:41
When the city came into view, He wept over it.
Third, tell who Jesus is.
Many people of Jesus’ day saw Him as a good man, a great leader, a powerful prophet; but not who He really was.
Matthew 21:10-11
And when He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowd said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Peter shares the truth about who Jesus is.
Matthew 16:16
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus is God.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Wall is about being freed up to:
Do what Jesus tells us to do
Feel what Jesus feels
Share who Jesus really is.
So what makes Jesus the Lamb of God?
1 Peter 2:24
Christ carried our sins in His body on the cross so that freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God’s approval. His wounds have healed us.
He paid for our sin by shedding His blood and giving His life.
And what makes Jesus the King?
Mark 16:6-7
And when they looked closer, they saw that the stone, which was a very large one, had been rolled back. So they went into the tomb and saw a young man in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were simply astonished. But he said to them, “There is no need to be astonished. He is risen; He is not here. Look, here is the place where they laid Him. But now go and tell His disciples, and Peter, that He will be in Galilee before you. You will see Him just as he told you.”
He rose from the grave.
He defeated Sin.
He defeated Satan.
He defeated Death.
Jesus died to pay for your sins and rose to give you victory over your sins.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about experiencing and celebrating Jesus’ victory.
In Forgiveness and Victory Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Jesus the Anointed Man of Sorrows
What is the purpose of life? That is a great question to discuss. But in reality it doesn’t mean much because, even if you came up with an answer, how would it affect your life?
So let me ask you a more personal question. What is the purpose of your life?
There are many people who can't really answer that question today.
Many people survive.
Many people get by.
Many people get from one day to the next.
But many people don’t know why.
In 1969 Peggy Lee recorded a song called Is That All There Is. It posed a question: Are the things we experience in life all that life is? The question hidden in the song was: IS THERE SOMETHING MORE?
So is there more to life than what we experience?
Is it possible to live a life of purpose, meaning, and significance?
Jesus says it is!
Jesus returns to His home town of Nazareth and is asked to preach and He shares out of the book of Isaiah. This is recorded in Luke 4:16-21.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Jesus says that He has been anointed by the Father. Jesus is the Messiah (anointed one).
Jesus as the Anointed One in this passage shares:
how He operates
how His kingdom operates
how everyone who is a follower of His will operate.
Jesus shares His mission.
So if you are a follower of Jesus you don’t have to worry why you are here.
Jesus’ followers are to reflect His priorities and pursue His purpose.
There are four basic things we are to reflect and pursue as followers of Jesus.
We are to accept Jesus’ Mission.
Jesus came to bring good news to the poor.
Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We are to bring the bankrupt in spirit the good news that Jesus’ spiritual wealth is there if they surrender their bankrupt lives to Him.
We are to bring the poor in material needs the good news that we will share what God has blessed us with materially with them.
Jesus came to bring freedom to the prisoners.
Psalm 102:20
To hear the prisoner’s groans, to set free those condemned to death.
We are to reach out to people who are in physical prisons.
We are to reach out to people who are in spiritual prisons.
Jesus came to bring sight to the blind.
2 Corinthians 4:4-5
The god who rules this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They cannot see the light, which is the good news about our glorious Christ, who shows what God is like. We are not preaching ourselves. Our message is that Jesus Christ is Lord. He also sent us to be your servants.
People are blind to the truth and we have the truth in Jesus and His Word. We have the light of the Holy Spirit. We are to allow the truth of Jesus and His Word to shine out from us to the blind world through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus came to bring release to the oppressed.
Zechariah 10:2
Store-bought gods babble gibberish. Religion experts spout rubbish. They pontificate hot air. Their prescriptions are nothing but smoke. And so the people wander like lost sheep, poor lost sheep without a shepherd.
People are oppressed by
sin
poverty
hate
guilt
addictions
fear.
We have been given a command to let Jesus use us to release people from oppression.
Jesus came to bring grace.
Romans 3:23-24
Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard and all need to be made right with God by His grace, which is a free gift.
Jesus didn’t come to condemn. He came to pour our God’s undeserved love. We as followers of Jesus have not been commissioned to condemn but to dispense God’s undeserved, unearned love - GRACE.
We are to adopt Jesus’ Mission
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
We are to make disciples.
We do this by baptizing them.
We do this by teaching them to obey all Jesus commands.
We do it in the name and power of the Godhead.
We are to make disciples.
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
We do this by being witnesses. Tell everybody what we personally know and have experienced about Jesus.
We are to make disciples.
John 13:34-35
A new command I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
We do this by loving.
We love:
God
Our Spouses
Our Family
Our Brothers and Sisters in Jesus
Our Neighbors
Our Enemies
Our World (the people, not the values)
Condemnation does not draw people to Jesus.
Condemnation does not change people.
Condemnation only hurts and wounds people.
Love draws people to Jesus and Jesus changes people.
Zechariah 4:6
Then he replied, “This is the word the Lord spoke to Zerubbabel: You won’t succeed by might or by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Armies.”
We don’t accomplish God’s purposes by human ways.
We don’t accomplish God’s purposes by human power or might.
God’s purpose is accomplished in God’s way which is by His Spirit.
The method is not condemnation, anger, argument, human might, or politics.
The method is dependence on Jesus, obeying Him, and loving Him and His human creation.
We apply Jesus’ measure.
Luke 7:18-19, 22
John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
So He replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
Fruit in the lives of Jesus’ followers is the measure.
The fruit is the Character of Jesus reproduced in our lives.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
The fruit is also new followers of Jesus reproduced through our lives.
Hebrews 2:9-10
But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about spreading hope, healing, joy, grace, truth, and salvation.
Is that what your life is doing?
In Isaiah 53:4-10 God gives us a description of Jesus as the Man of Sorrows, as our suffering servant. In verse 10 Jesus is called our guilt offering. Jesus gave everything for you.
Jesus was:
Beaten Twice
Spit On
Mocked
Flogged
Crucified
ALL FOR YOU!
Jesus the Anointed One was anointed by the Father to become the Man of Sorrows, the perfect guilt offering for you.
You can surrender you life to Him and become His follower.
You can reject Him and live life for yourself, based on your will.
What you cannot do is ignore Jesus. You will have to face Him and deal with Him.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about opening your life to Jesus and becoming completely transparent before Him. It is about letting Jesus fill you with His Spirit so the world can see Him.
Anointed by the Man of Sorrows to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls
Joe
So let me ask you a more personal question. What is the purpose of your life?
There are many people who can't really answer that question today.
Many people survive.
Many people get by.
Many people get from one day to the next.
But many people don’t know why.
In 1969 Peggy Lee recorded a song called Is That All There Is. It posed a question: Are the things we experience in life all that life is? The question hidden in the song was: IS THERE SOMETHING MORE?
So is there more to life than what we experience?
Is it possible to live a life of purpose, meaning, and significance?
Jesus says it is!
Jesus returns to His home town of Nazareth and is asked to preach and He shares out of the book of Isaiah. This is recorded in Luke 4:16-21.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Jesus says that He has been anointed by the Father. Jesus is the Messiah (anointed one).
Jesus as the Anointed One in this passage shares:
how He operates
how His kingdom operates
how everyone who is a follower of His will operate.
Jesus shares His mission.
So if you are a follower of Jesus you don’t have to worry why you are here.
Jesus’ followers are to reflect His priorities and pursue His purpose.
There are four basic things we are to reflect and pursue as followers of Jesus.
We are to accept Jesus’ Mission.
Jesus came to bring good news to the poor.
Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We are to bring the bankrupt in spirit the good news that Jesus’ spiritual wealth is there if they surrender their bankrupt lives to Him.
We are to bring the poor in material needs the good news that we will share what God has blessed us with materially with them.
Jesus came to bring freedom to the prisoners.
Psalm 102:20
To hear the prisoner’s groans, to set free those condemned to death.
We are to reach out to people who are in physical prisons.
We are to reach out to people who are in spiritual prisons.
Jesus came to bring sight to the blind.
2 Corinthians 4:4-5
The god who rules this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They cannot see the light, which is the good news about our glorious Christ, who shows what God is like. We are not preaching ourselves. Our message is that Jesus Christ is Lord. He also sent us to be your servants.
People are blind to the truth and we have the truth in Jesus and His Word. We have the light of the Holy Spirit. We are to allow the truth of Jesus and His Word to shine out from us to the blind world through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus came to bring release to the oppressed.
Zechariah 10:2
Store-bought gods babble gibberish. Religion experts spout rubbish. They pontificate hot air. Their prescriptions are nothing but smoke. And so the people wander like lost sheep, poor lost sheep without a shepherd.
People are oppressed by
sin
poverty
hate
guilt
addictions
fear.
We have been given a command to let Jesus use us to release people from oppression.
Jesus came to bring grace.
Romans 3:23-24
Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard and all need to be made right with God by His grace, which is a free gift.
Jesus didn’t come to condemn. He came to pour our God’s undeserved love. We as followers of Jesus have not been commissioned to condemn but to dispense God’s undeserved, unearned love - GRACE.
We are to adopt Jesus’ Mission
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
We are to make disciples.
We do this by baptizing them.
We do this by teaching them to obey all Jesus commands.
We do it in the name and power of the Godhead.
We are to make disciples.
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere - in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
We do this by being witnesses. Tell everybody what we personally know and have experienced about Jesus.
We are to make disciples.
John 13:34-35
A new command I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
We do this by loving.
We love:
God
Our Spouses
Our Family
Our Brothers and Sisters in Jesus
Our Neighbors
Our Enemies
Our World (the people, not the values)
Condemnation does not draw people to Jesus.
Condemnation does not change people.
Condemnation only hurts and wounds people.
Love draws people to Jesus and Jesus changes people.
Zechariah 4:6
Then he replied, “This is the word the Lord spoke to Zerubbabel: You won’t succeed by might or by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Armies.”
We don’t accomplish God’s purposes by human ways.
We don’t accomplish God’s purposes by human power or might.
God’s purpose is accomplished in God’s way which is by His Spirit.
The method is not condemnation, anger, argument, human might, or politics.
The method is dependence on Jesus, obeying Him, and loving Him and His human creation.
We apply Jesus’ measure.
Luke 7:18-19, 22
John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
So He replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
Fruit in the lives of Jesus’ followers is the measure.
The fruit is the Character of Jesus reproduced in our lives.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
The fruit is also new followers of Jesus reproduced through our lives.
Hebrews 2:9-10
But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that He, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about spreading hope, healing, joy, grace, truth, and salvation.
Is that what your life is doing?
In Isaiah 53:4-10 God gives us a description of Jesus as the Man of Sorrows, as our suffering servant. In verse 10 Jesus is called our guilt offering. Jesus gave everything for you.
Jesus was:
Beaten Twice
Spit On
Mocked
Flogged
Crucified
ALL FOR YOU!
Jesus the Anointed One was anointed by the Father to become the Man of Sorrows, the perfect guilt offering for you.
You can surrender you life to Him and become His follower.
You can reject Him and live life for yourself, based on your will.
What you cannot do is ignore Jesus. You will have to face Him and deal with Him.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about opening your life to Jesus and becoming completely transparent before Him. It is about letting Jesus fill you with His Spirit so the world can see Him.
Anointed by the Man of Sorrows to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls
Joe
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Jesus Friend Sinners
Jesus is the Son of God. John testifies to that truth in John 20:31. He writes, “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
Jesus accepts the testimony of Peter that He is the Son of God.
Matthew 16:13-17
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
John and Peter both testify to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.
Now as the Son of God, God in the flesh, we would expect Jesus to be:
Powerful
Majestic
Perfect
Above Us Humans.
So let me give you a quick quiz. Please be honest and no cheating.
Have you cried over spilled milk?
Have you hid your vegetables or fed them to the dog?
Have you read in bed under the covers with a flashlight?
Have you put Jell-O in the fish bowl?
Have you put fish in the Jell-O bowl? (Ok, that may just be me!)
But remember when you did something wrong and got caught. You had to answer to:
Your Parents
A Teache
A Policeman
A Judge.
You knew you were going to get judged and condemned. You felt like:
A Loser
An Outcast
A Sinner.
Jesus, the Son of God has a scandalous love for the:
Broken
Lowly
Sinful
Struggling
Look at how Jesus is described in these two passages from Luke.
Luke 15:2
But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
AND
Luke 7:34
The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, “He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!”
Jesus loves, accepts and is a FRIEND to SINNERS!
Jesus accepted Zacchaeus.
Jesus showed mercy to an adulterous woman.
Jesus showed grace to an immoral Samaritan woman.
Jesus invited Matthew, a Tax Collector, to be one of the Twelve.
Jesus is a FRIEND of SINNERS!
In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus tells a parable that fully illustrates His love for sinners.
The Setting: To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” Luke 18:9-10
This parable is addressed specially to the SELF-RIGHTEOUS. Jesus uses two people who were seen by the culture as being the most divergent - a Pharisee (seen as honored and holy) & a tax collector (hated and unholy).
Jesus draws three lessons from these men going to pray in the temple.
Lesson #1: Resist Comparisons
Luke 18:11
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evil doers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector.”
We are not to compare ourselves to other people (good or bad).
2 Corinthians 10:12
Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards!
Look at what Paul is saying: To compare ourselves to other people is STUPID!
Look at what the Pharisee did. He chose the very worst people to compare himself to - robbers, evil doers, adulterers and tax collector. Hey, if you have to go that low to find people you are better than, maybe you should rethink the comparison idea.
No, we are to compare ourselves to only one.
Only one is our true standard.
Ephesians 4:13
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
When we measure our lives against the true measure - Jesus - we will fall on our faces before Him and confess our sin and shortcomings.
Lesson #2: Renounce Your Own Righteousness
Luke 18:12
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.
Isn’t this guy special?
The Pharisee started his prayer well - God, I thank you - but it went down hill fast from there. The Pharisee wasn’t really praying. He was boasting and bragging to God about himself.
Fasting does not make you righteous.
Tithing does not win you brownie points with God.
Fasting is something we need to do as followers of Jesus.
Tithing is something that as followers of Jesus we are commanded to do.
So understand what the Pharisee “says” he does are good and right, but they will not earn you salvation. And with the attitude the Pharisee has they don’t even honor God because they are all about the Pharisee, not God.
God is not impressed with you personal righteousness.
Isaiah 64:6
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah says that our good deeds are like a filthy rag. That term actually means menstrual cloth (I only share that with my close friends). The best I can do on my own is like a disgusting rag I will throw away.
Then in Matthew 5:20 Jesus says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Your righteousness has to be a righteousness from the inside out, not the outside in. The only way to have that righteousness is to be filled with it by the Holy Spirit.
Lesson #3: Rely on God’s Grace
Luke 18:13-14
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Tax collector had one prayer - MERCY!
Titus 3:4-5
However, when God our Savior made His kindness and love for humanity appear, He saved us, but not because of anything we had done to gain His approval. Instead, because of His mercy He saved us through the washing in which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and renewal.
Everything - life, salvation, blessing - is based on God’s goodness and grace, not anything I can do.
This just blew the crowd out of the water. He rocked their world. He said that the tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified by God.
WOW!!!
The tax collector, sinner, unholy, hated, traitor, dishonest was justified by God. Why?
The tax collector admitted he was a sinner.
The tax collector admitted he had sinned.
The tax collector asked for mercy.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about coming before God and admitting we are sinners and we have sinned.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about going before Jesus and saying the same thing the tax collector said. God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
If you need to trust Jesus for salvation - God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
If you need a closer relationship with Jesus - God, have mercy on me a sinner.
If you need wisdom or peace or hope or strength from Jesus - God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Whatever you need from Jesus - God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
In and With the Mercy of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Jesus accepts the testimony of Peter that He is the Son of God.
Matthew 16:13-17
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
John and Peter both testify to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.
Now as the Son of God, God in the flesh, we would expect Jesus to be:
Powerful
Majestic
Perfect
Above Us Humans.
So let me give you a quick quiz. Please be honest and no cheating.
Have you cried over spilled milk?
Have you hid your vegetables or fed them to the dog?
Have you read in bed under the covers with a flashlight?
Have you put Jell-O in the fish bowl?
Have you put fish in the Jell-O bowl? (Ok, that may just be me!)
But remember when you did something wrong and got caught. You had to answer to:
Your Parents
A Teache
A Policeman
A Judge.
You knew you were going to get judged and condemned. You felt like:
A Loser
An Outcast
A Sinner.
Jesus, the Son of God has a scandalous love for the:
Broken
Lowly
Sinful
Struggling
Look at how Jesus is described in these two passages from Luke.
Luke 15:2
But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
AND
Luke 7:34
The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, “He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!”
Jesus loves, accepts and is a FRIEND to SINNERS!
Jesus accepted Zacchaeus.
Jesus showed mercy to an adulterous woman.
Jesus showed grace to an immoral Samaritan woman.
Jesus invited Matthew, a Tax Collector, to be one of the Twelve.
Jesus is a FRIEND of SINNERS!
In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus tells a parable that fully illustrates His love for sinners.
The Setting: To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” Luke 18:9-10
This parable is addressed specially to the SELF-RIGHTEOUS. Jesus uses two people who were seen by the culture as being the most divergent - a Pharisee (seen as honored and holy) & a tax collector (hated and unholy).
Jesus draws three lessons from these men going to pray in the temple.
Lesson #1: Resist Comparisons
Luke 18:11
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evil doers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector.”
We are not to compare ourselves to other people (good or bad).
2 Corinthians 10:12
Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards!
Look at what Paul is saying: To compare ourselves to other people is STUPID!
Look at what the Pharisee did. He chose the very worst people to compare himself to - robbers, evil doers, adulterers and tax collector. Hey, if you have to go that low to find people you are better than, maybe you should rethink the comparison idea.
No, we are to compare ourselves to only one.
Only one is our true standard.
Ephesians 4:13
This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
When we measure our lives against the true measure - Jesus - we will fall on our faces before Him and confess our sin and shortcomings.
Lesson #2: Renounce Your Own Righteousness
Luke 18:12
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.
Isn’t this guy special?
The Pharisee started his prayer well - God, I thank you - but it went down hill fast from there. The Pharisee wasn’t really praying. He was boasting and bragging to God about himself.
Fasting does not make you righteous.
Tithing does not win you brownie points with God.
Fasting is something we need to do as followers of Jesus.
Tithing is something that as followers of Jesus we are commanded to do.
So understand what the Pharisee “says” he does are good and right, but they will not earn you salvation. And with the attitude the Pharisee has they don’t even honor God because they are all about the Pharisee, not God.
God is not impressed with you personal righteousness.
Isaiah 64:6
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah says that our good deeds are like a filthy rag. That term actually means menstrual cloth (I only share that with my close friends). The best I can do on my own is like a disgusting rag I will throw away.
Then in Matthew 5:20 Jesus says, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Your righteousness has to be a righteousness from the inside out, not the outside in. The only way to have that righteousness is to be filled with it by the Holy Spirit.
Lesson #3: Rely on God’s Grace
Luke 18:13-14
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Tax collector had one prayer - MERCY!
Titus 3:4-5
However, when God our Savior made His kindness and love for humanity appear, He saved us, but not because of anything we had done to gain His approval. Instead, because of His mercy He saved us through the washing in which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and renewal.
Everything - life, salvation, blessing - is based on God’s goodness and grace, not anything I can do.
This just blew the crowd out of the water. He rocked their world. He said that the tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified by God.
WOW!!!
The tax collector, sinner, unholy, hated, traitor, dishonest was justified by God. Why?
The tax collector admitted he was a sinner.
The tax collector admitted he had sinned.
The tax collector asked for mercy.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about coming before God and admitting we are sinners and we have sinned.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about going before Jesus and saying the same thing the tax collector said. God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
If you need to trust Jesus for salvation - God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
If you need a closer relationship with Jesus - God, have mercy on me a sinner.
If you need wisdom or peace or hope or strength from Jesus - God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Whatever you need from Jesus - God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
In and With the Mercy of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
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