What is Success?

What do Noah, Moses, Jeremiah, and Jesus all have in common?

They would all have been considered failures if they would have been in ministry today.

Noah preached for 120 years and the only people saved were his immediate family.

Moses led people that grumbled and rebelled against his leadership and God for forty years. He didn’t lead them into the Promised Land.

Jeremiah preached for forty years and no one listened. He was rejected as much as any spiritual leader has ever been rejected.

Jesus had one of His own followers betray Him and it was only after His death that growth really occurred.

So were these men failures? - Not in God’s eyes!

Noah was a man who found favor in the eyes of God. - Genesis 6:8

The favor here means grace. God looked upon Noah with grace. God accepted Noah.

In Genesis 6:22 and 7:5, God’s Word says that Noah did everything God commanded him to do.

Genesis 6:9 says this about Noah, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, he walked faithfully with God.”

Hebrews 11:7 says, “By faith Noah when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.”

According to God’s Word Noah experienced God’s grace and was obedient, righteousness, and faithful.

That looks like a successful man.

In Exodus 7:6 it says, “Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded.”

In Exodus 33:15 we find Moses praying to God and telling Him that without God’s presence Moses wasn’t going to lead the people.

And in Exodus 33:17 God says that He will do what Moses wants because He is pleased with Moses.

In Numbers 12:3 Moses is described as not just humble, but as “more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.”

In Numbers 14 God was ready to destroy the nation of Israel for their continual complaining against Him and their disobedience to Him. Moses interceded on the people’s behalf and asked God to destroy him, not the people. Moses is concern was for God’s honor.

The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 3:2, “He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.”

Then in Hebrews 11:24 we are told, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”

God’s Word shows us a man in Moses who was obedient, focused on following God, devoted to God’s people and God’s honor, very humble, faithful, and willing to sacrifice to do God’s will.

That looks like a successful man.

In 2 Chronicles 36:12 we are told that Jeremiah “spoke the word of the Lord.”

In fact thirty-three times in the book of Jeremiah it says in some form that “the Word of the Lord came” to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 20:8-9 says, “Whatever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, ‘I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,’ His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed I cannot.”

Then in Jeremiah 13:1-10 there is the story of God telling Jeremiah to go and buy a belt. After Jeremiah has bought the belt, God tells him to go bury the belt. Then God tells Jeremiah to dig up the belt and God uses it as an object lesson for the people of Judah. Jeremiah all through the story simply obeys God. He does things that seem to make no sense. He does it all without complaining or questioning God.

Jeremiah is pictured in God’s Word as a man whom God trusts with His Word and who has a passion to share God’s Word. He is pictured as a humble preserving man.

That looks like a successful man.

Jesus is humble, loving, totally focused on doing God’s will, forgiving, and one who puts others before Himself.

That looks like a successful man.

So why is there such a difference in the way God views these men and the way the world does?

The difference is because we have wrongly defined success.

The world sees success from the perspective of results.

For people, that means wealth, power, position, achievement.

For the church, it means budgets, baptisms, and buildings.

Let’s be honest. You and I are never going to have books written about us. We are never going to have a movie made about our lives. We are never going to have a street or a building named after us. School children are never going to study about us in history.

But we can be people who change the world.

In Acts 4 Peter and John are arrested for proclaiming Jesus. Acts 4:13 says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

We can be unschooled (ignorant, unsophisticated ), ordinary people but if we have been with Jesus we can shock the world with what He is doing in our lives.

In Acts 17:6 followers of Jesus are referred to as “These that have turned the world upside down.”

They turned the world upside down because they were letting Jesus live His extraordinary life in and through them.

Micah 6:8 simplifies what God wants from His people. It says, “He has shown you, O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

If we act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God, we will help to change the world.

I am a nobody. I have no great talents or abilities. Few people in the world know who am or care. I am not wealthy. I don’t have great human power or authority. I pastor a faith family that I love but we are located in a part of our state that is rural and remote. Most people aren’t sure if we are even part of the United States.

But according to Psalm 17:8 I am the apple of God’s eye. You are too.

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about making a difference in our community, our nation, and the world.

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about not depending on our abilities or our personalities to do the changing, but depending on Jesus.

God has chosen the foolish things, the weak things, the nothing things to blow the world away.

An Ordinary Person with Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe

Leaving a Legacy

We just celebrated my grandson’s birthday in July and will celebrate my granddaughter’s birthday in a couple of weeks. They are getting to the age where they know Grammy and Pops. They are getting to the age where who we are will be remembered by them. So what am I going to leave them? What will be the legacy I leave my children and grandchildren and the faith families I have pastored?

The word legacy means anything handed down to you from the previous generation. So what will my legacy be?

First let me share with you what it won’t be. It will not be:
material wealth, success, fame, or really anything that the culture would notice. It won’t be those because I have none of those to leave them. It also won’t be those because those things are not eternally important.

What I want to leave my biological and faith families is found in some passages from God’s Word.

Luke 9:23
Then He said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

I want to leave them a picture of a person who died to his desires and followed Jesus wholeheartedly.

Philippians 3:10
I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.

I want to leave them a person who knew Jesus, who lived based on His power not my own. A person who knew they were a recovering sinner and was broken over sin, mine and the sin that dominates our world and who was being transformed into the image of Jesus.

2 Chronicles 7:14
If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I want to leave them a person who knew and lived like he really belonged to God, who was humble, who prayed and in praying sought the presence of God, not the blessings, and had a repentant heart.

Acts 20:24
However, I consider my life nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

I want to leave them a person who sought to run the race of life with holiness and integrity. Who shared his Jesus story and talked and lived grace. Who always put Jesus first above anything.

Philippians 4:8
Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

I want to leave them a person who saw the good and the right and lived that because it was Jesus.

Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.

I want to leave them a person who did not give up. Who pursued God and served God until his last breath.

That is the legacy I want to leave my family. It is not about wealth or achievement or fame. The legacy I want to leave them is of someone who loved Jesus passionately, served Jesus steadfastly and loved them like Jesus did.

I want my legacy to be Jesus.
How can I make Jesus my legacy?
How can you make Jesus your legacy?

It starts with letting Jesus be your everything right with you are.

It has to start with you and me!

Tim Timmons has a song that expresses the truth that it has to begin with you and me personally.

Starts With Me
What could I do to leave a legacy?
How can I speak with authority?
When I can’t see You, I can’t see You
How can I know the dreams You have for me?
How can I believe beyond what I seen?
When I can’t hear You, I can’t hear You
No, No, No

You’re my revival song, You start where I belong
On my knees, on my knees
When I am weak or strong You meet me here
When I’m on my knees, on my knees
Oh, it starts with me

Why do I try to work outside of You?
Knocking down doors I should not be going through
But I’m so tired, I’m so tired
You take my burdens off my shoulders
You break the lies that hold me back
I’m not sure enough

I really wanna change the world
I really wanna sing Your song
But I know revival’s got to start with me
I really wanna change the world
I really wanna sing Your song
But I know revival’s got to start with me



For those verses to be my legacy I need to be revived.
For those verses to be your legacy you need to be revived.
For those verses to be the legacy of the church of Jesus we need to be revived.

Revival begins on our knees seeking God.

Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

If our legacy is going to be Jesus, then His kingdom and His righteous is what we have to seek - First and Only!

With Jesus as My Legacy Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe

　

　

Are You Alert?

How alert are you?

We are commanded many times in Scripture to be alert.

In Ephesians 6:18 Paul says, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

Paul is not the only one who commands us to be alert. Peter does also.

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set you hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming. 1 Peter 1:13

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 1 Peter 4:7

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
So we are to be alert.

Why? - Because of the power of sin.

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. Romans 3:9

In Genesis 4:7 look at how God describes sin. He says, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Peter compares sin to a roaring lion prowling around looking to attack and devour you. God says sin is crouching at the door waiting for you to open yourself to it so sin can have you.

Sin kills!

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:15

Well, the answer is easy: Just avoid sin.

We cannot.

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

And according to Romans 6:23a, “The wages of sin is death.” Then we read the second part of that verse which says, “But the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Sin tricks us and then kills us.

For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.  Romans 7:11

The law could not deliver us from that death.

Romans 8:3 says, “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.”

We cannot avoid sin.
The law cannot deliver us from sin.
But Jesus coming as a human being and becoming our sin sacrifice by His death on the cross can free us from the death brought by sin.

According to Romans 8:10, “If Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteous.”

I am physically dying because of sin. I need to be alert to that and not panic. But because Jesus is in me, I am living and being renewed daily spiritually.

It is through righteous given to me by Jesus when I surrender my life to Him through the Holy Spirit living in me that I am alive.

In Romans 6:2 Paul says that those who have Jesus are dead to sin. Then in Romans 6:7 Paul says, “Because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”

So I deal with sin by doing what Romans 6:11 says to do - “count myself dead to sin.”

If I am dead, then nothing affects me. If I hit a dead person, they don’t feel it. Dead people don’t pay taxes. Death brings a release from earthly responsibilities and concerns.

If I die to sin, then sin has no more control over my life.

That dying to sin begins with what Paul says we need to do in Romans 3:20. We have to be conscious of our sin.

We have to acknowledge our sin.
Name our sin.
Repent of our sin.

Not letting sin control you begins with being alert to sin.
Not letting sin control you then leads to being alert to what sin does - it kills.
Not letting sin control you then leads to surrendering your life which includes your sin to the authority of Jesus.
Not letting sin control your life then leads to dying to sin’s authority in your life.

When I was five years old I started school. I was in kindergarten. I didn’t want to go to school, but I had no choice because that was the law (both my parents and the state).

Most people don’t want to sin, but without Jesus they don’t have the power to resist.

When we surrender our lives to Jesus we become alert to sin.
We see the ugliness and destructiveness of sin.
We turn away from it, and we can do that because we now have the power of Jesus in our lives empowering us to overcome sin.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about becoming alert to sin.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about becoming aware of Satan and his tricks.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about dying to sin and coming alive in Jesus.         Alertly Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe

Jesus Loves Me Anyway

Why does God love you?
Why does God love me?
Why does God love anybody?

Deuteronomy 7:7-8
It was not because you were greater than all other people that the Lord loved and chose you. In fact, you were the smallest of peoples! No, it is because the Lord loved you and because He kept the solemn pledge He swore to your ancestors that the Lord brought you out with a strong hand and saved you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king.

God loves you.
God loves me.
God loves all people.

He loves us because He is grace!

2 Corinthians 8:9
You know our Lord Jesus Christ treated us with undeserved grace by giving up all His riches, so you could become rich.

So there is nothing you can do to get God to love you.
There is nothing you can do to earn God’s love.
There is nothing you can do to be good enough for God to love you.

Grace is the truth that God loves you because He wants to love you.

You have to connect with God’s grace.

Romans 5:6-10
When we were unable to help ourselves, at the right time, Christ died for us, although we were living against God. Very few people will die to save the life of someone else. Although perhaps for a good person someone might possibly die. But God shows His great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners. So through Christ we will surely be saved from God’s anger, because we have been made right with God by the blood of Christ’s death. While we were God’s enemies, He made us His friends through the death of His Son. Surely, now that we are His friends, He will save us through His Son’s life.

You have to understand you are helpless to be acceptable to God in your own goodness.
You have to understand that it is all based on Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection.
You need to surrender. Surrendering means to stop trying and start trusting and obeying.

You have to trust in the power and plan of God’s grace.

The Power:

Romans 2:4
Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

It is not through force.
It is not through fear.
It is through God’s kindness and goodness.

The Plan:

Romans 3:21-25a
But God has a way to make people right with Him without the law, and He has now shown us that way which the law and the prophets told us about. God makes people right with Himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same: 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. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. God sent Him to die in our place to take away our sins. We receive forgiveness through faith in the blood of Jesus’ death.

Grace is accepted by faith.
Grace is available to all.
Grace leads to a removing of sin.
Grace is freely given.
Grace brings forgiveness and salvation.

The grace of God brings comfort from God. It provides what we really need.

Romans 5:1-5
Since we have been made right with God by our faith, we have peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, who through our faith has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s glory. We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out His love to fill our hearts. He gave us His love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.

This comfort shows itself in peace.
This comfort shows itself in privilege.
This comfort shows itself in endurance.
This comfort shows itself in hope.
This comfort shows itself in love.

Grace is God’s promise that as His children He will relate to us by doing what is best for us.

Romans 8:28
We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God - those whom He has called according to His plan.

The reality of God’s grace is that we experience it in everyday living.

Philippians 2:12-13
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.

Grace is given when we humble ourselves under God’s authority.

1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, then under God’s mighty hand, so that He will lift you up in His own good time. Leave all your worries with Him, because He cares for you.

Sidewalk Prophets have a song called You Love Me Anyway.

The fourth verse says:
I am the thorn in Your crown
But You love me anyway
I am the sweat from Your brow
But You love anyway
I am the nail in Your wrist
But You love me anyway
I am Judas’ kiss
But You love me anyway
And the chorus says:
But You love me anyway
It’s like nothing in life that I’ve ever known
You love me anyway
Oh Lord, how You love me
How You love me

I have five people in my life who love me unconditionally. I am thankful for them. There are two of them who have known and loved me unconditionally for 30 to 40 years and every time I reflect on their love for me it is amazing.

But there is One who knows everything about me. He knows every evil action I have ever done. He knows every wicked thought I have ever had. He knows every ugly and perverted thing I have ever desired.

AND HE LOVES ME ANYWAY!

His name is Jesus and He is beyond amazing.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about experiencing Jesus’ grace
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about experiencing Jesus’ mercy.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about experiencing Jesus’ love.

The absolutely only way to experience His grace, mercy, and love is to humbly surrender your life to Jesus as your Master.

With My Gracious Master Raising The Roof and Removing The Walls
Joe

　

　

Learning to Give It Away

The primary word used in the New Testament translated love is the word agape. It is a love that is selfless and unconditional. It is an action.

Agape is:
A Learned Love
A Choice to Love
A Non-Discriminatory Love
An Unconditional Love
A Respecting Love
A Building-Up Love
An In-Spite of Love
A Never-Failing Love

In Scripture we are commanded to love this way.

1 Thessalonians 4:9
But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God Himself has taught you to love one another.

So, who are we to love?

According to Matthew 22:37 we are to love God.
According to Matthew 22:39 we are to love our neighbor.
According to John 13:34 we are to love one another.
According to Matthew 5:46 we are to love those who don’t love us.
According to Matthew 5:43-44 we are to love our enemies.

So how are we to love?

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives us a description of what agape love is and in so doing reveals to us how we are to love. This passages give us 16 ways that agape love will show itself in our lives. I am going to use The Message’s version of these ways because I believe they give us a clearer picture of what agape really looks like.

Love:
Never gives up
Cares more about others than for self
Doesn’t want what it doesn’t have
Doesn’t strut
Doesn’t have a swelled head
Isn’t always “me first”
Doesn’t fly off the handle
Doesn’t keep a score of the sins of others
Doesn’t revel when others grovel
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth
Puts up with anything
Trusts God always
Always looks for the best
Never looks back
Keeps going to the end

As I read these ways of loving, two things occurred to me.

The first was a question: Is this how I love?

And I had to admit it wasn’t.

This is not the way I have loved God.
This is not the way I have loved my wife.
This is not the way I have loved my children.
This is not the way I have loved my faith family.
This is not the way I have loved those who don’t love me.
This is certainly not the way I have loved my enemies.

But then a second truth occurred to me.

This is the way that Jesus loves.
This is the way that Jesus loves me.

So agape love is the way that Jesus loves. If I belong to Jesus, if I have surrendered my life to Jesus, then according to Galatians 2:20 Jesus lives in me and it is not my life, but His life. That means that by letting Jesus fully indwell and control me I can love like this.

That truth gives me hope.

I don’t have to try and love this way. I can submit my life to Jesus. I can allow the Holy Spirit to fill me with Jesus and I can then have the ability to love like Jesus loves.

When that happens, some really cool results occur.

Agape love builds up.

1 Corinthians 8:1
Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up.

Agape love fulfills the law.

Romans 13:10
Love doesn’t do anything wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is what fulfills the Law.

Agape love shows the world we belong to Jesus.

John 13:35
If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

In 1 Corinthians 16:14 Paul says, “And do everything in love.”

I don’t know about you, but I am totally incapable of following that command. I can’t do everything in love.

But Jesus did. Everything Jesus did and said was motivated by love.

So I, in my own natural abilities, am incapable of doing everything in love. I can fulfill this command if I apply the truth of Romans 5:5. It says, “We’re not ashamed to have this confidence, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is loving like Jesus loved.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about being empowered by the Holy Spirit with agape love.

The way Jesus loves is the way we are commanded to love.

The way we do that is by surrendering our lives to Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit fill us with agape love.

What the world needs now is not love like the world defines and practices it. What the world needs now is God’s love, agape love.

As followers of Jesus we are the Body of Christ. We are to love like Jesus loves.

With Agape Love Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe

Why Jesus Lay Down His Life for You

Mark 8:31
Jesus began telling His disciples what would happen to Him. He said, “The nation’s leaders, the chief priest, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make the Son of Man suffer terribly. He will be rejected and killed, but three days later He will rise to life.”

Jesus shares with His disciples what will happen to Him and what He will do. Jesus is telling His followers that He is going to die. Jesus is telling His followers He will come back to life.

They heard the “die” part but not the “come back to life” part. They didn’t accept delivery.

Philippians 2:6-8
Though He was in the form of God, He did not consider being equal with God something to exploit. But He emptied Himself by talking the form of a slave and becoming like human beings. When He found Himself in the form of a human, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus gave it all for you and me!

Why?

Why did Jesus lay down His life for us?

2 Corinthians 5:21
For our sakes He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Jesus lay down His life for you so He, the Righteous Sinless One, could become your sin so you, the sinful one, could become the righteous.

1 Peter 3:18
Christ Himself suffered on account of sins, once for all, the righteous one on behalf of the unrighteous. He did this in order to bring you into the presence of God. Christ was put to death as a human, but made alive by the Spirit.

Jesus lay down His life for you so you could come into God’s Presence and be made spiritually alive.

Hebrews 2:9-10
Jesus was made a little lower than the angels, but we see Him crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death. Through God’s kindness He died on behalf of everyone. God is the one for whom and through whom everything exist. Therefore, while God was bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was the right thing to bring Jesus, the source of salvation, to the end of His work through suffering.

Jesus lay down His life for you so you could experience salvation.

Hebrews 13:12
So Jesus also suffered outside the city to make people holy with His own blood.

Jesus lay down His life for you so you could be made holy.

John 15:13
No one has greater love than this - that one lay down life for His friends.

Jesus lay down His life for you so could be made His friend.

Isaiah 53:4-6
Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all.

Jesus overcame our brokenness and turned it into wholeness.

Jesus turns pride into humbleness.
Jesus turns fear into holy courage.
Jesus turns secrets into truth.
Jesus turns tears into comfort and joy.
Jesus turns doubt into trusting and faith.
Jesus turns shame into honor and respect.

Sidewalk Prophets have a song called Lay Down My Life. Which describes why Jesus lay down His life for you. It says:
All your pain
Will be made mine
All your troubles
The tears you cry
Give it up
All that binds
I will place it on my shoulders
And up this hill I’ll climb
Father, give me strength
I know there is no other way
I lay down my life for you
This is the moment when all will be made new
I know that you don’t understand
But this is part of a greater plan
So I lay down my life for you
This love
That had to bleed
To bring you mercy
To set you free
You are mine
I am yours
And I will wear your burdens
Just like this crown of thorns
I will take your place
I know there is no other way

Then it says:
Give me all your pride
Give me all your fears
Give me all your secrets
Give me all your tears
Give me all your doubt
Give me all your shame
Watch them wash away
Watch them wash away
In Jesus’ name

It ends by saying:
Though I know that you don’t understand
These scars are part of a greater plan
And I lay down my life for you
Arms stretched out
Upon this tree
To show true love
To set you free

Jesus loves you like you are right now.
Jesus accepts you like you are right now.

But His love is so powerful that He will transform you by it into a new person.

2 Corinthians 5:17
When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls recognizes that Jesus lay down His life for us and celebrates it.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls recognizes that without Jesus laying down His life for us we have no hope.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls recognizes our need as followers of Jesus to lay down our lives for Him.

Surrender your life to Jesus by laying it down for Him and letting Him take your brokenness and receiving His wholeness.

Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls By Laying It All Down
Joe

We Are to Live Like That

Human beings are created in God’s image.

God created humanity in God’s image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them. Genesis 1:27 (CEB)

Sin corrupted the image.

God desires to recreate the image.

We know this because God knew them in advance, and He decided in advance that they would be conformed to the image of His Son. That way His Son would be the first of many brothers and sisters.

Romans 8:29 (CEB)
God sent Jesus, His Son, to provide salvation. That means we are being transformed into the image of Jesus.

So our faces are not covered. They show the bright glory of the Lord, as the Lord’s Spirit makes us more and more like our glorious Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (CEV)

Being transformed into image of Jesus means we are to live differently than the people around us.

Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. Colossians 1:10 (NLT)

So the life that Jesus wants us to live is His life. Jesus’ life was an authentic life.

We are to live with authentic knowledge.

Accept My words as being more valuable than your prized possession, authentic knowledge more valuable than pure gold. Proverbs 8:10 (The Voice)

We are to live producing authentic fruit.

Don’t just talk of turning to God; you’d better bear the authentic fruit of a changed life. Don’t take pride in your religious heritage, saying, “We have Abraham for our father!” Listen - God could turn these rocks into children of Abraham! Luke 3:8 (The Voice)

We are to live showing authentic love.

Love others well, and don’t hide behind a mask; love authentically. Despise evil; pursue what is good as if your life depends on it.  Romans 12:9 (The Voice)

We are to live in authentic faith.

I’m reminded of the authentic faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. I’m sure that faith is also inside you. 2 Timothy 1:5 (CEB)

What will that life look like in real everyday living? I believe it will look like the life of Joseph.

Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers because they were jealous of his relationship with their father. And because Joseph didn’t know enough not to share his dreams with them, which indicated that Joseph felt he was superior to them. Joseph’s dreams were just the reality of what was to come, but the brothers were not spiritually focused enough to understand that and Joseph might have been a little cocky in sharing them.

Joseph was bought by Potiphar. Genesis 39:2-5 tells us that Joseph was very committed to do his work and that Potiphar put him in charge of all his household. God blessed Potiphar and his household because of Joseph.

Joseph shared the blessing with Potiphar.

What God blesses us with is meant to be shared.

Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! The Father is a merciful God, who always gives us comfort. He comforts us when we are in trouble, so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (CEV)

Potiphar’s wife took a liking to Joseph. Oh, ok, let’s call what it was: she lusted after Joseph. Joseph in Genesis 39:6-12 says no. In fact in said no many, many times.

Joseph overcame great temptation.

We are going to be tempted. Temptation is not wrong. Temptation is not sin. Temptation is a pain.

God gives us a great promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13.
There isn’t any temptation that you have experienced which is unusual for humans. God, who is faithful keeps His promises, will not allow you to be tempted beyond your power to resist. But when you are tempted, He will also give you the ability to endure the temptation as your way of escape.

God will supernaturally give us the ability to endure and not give in to the temptation.

Potiphar’s wife was hurt and embarrassed so she accused Joseph of raping her. Potiphar believed her and in Genesis 39:20-23 Joseph is thrown into prison.

Joseph endured a great injustice. And he didn’t whine about it.

We are going to face injustices and persecution.

In Acts chapter four Peter and John get arrested for sharing the gospel. They are released but threatened and told not to teach about Jesus to anyone. Peter and John go back to the church and share with them all that they were told. In verse 29 the church prays this prayer: “And now, Lord, take notice of the threats they have made, and allow us, Your servants, to speak Your message with all boldness.”

They didn’t whine, file a lawsuit or petition the government for help. They prayed to God for boldness, not protection or safety.

Joseph didn’t sulk or get bitter in prison. He showed such spiritual power that the warden put him in charge of everything.

Joseph is eventually brought to the attention of Pharaoh because God helped him interpret the dreams of two of Pharaoh’s servants who were in prison.

Joseph is brought before Pharaoh and Pharaoh tells Joseph that he understands that Joseph can interpret dreams.

I love Joseph’s answer in Genesis 41:16. He says, “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

Joseph admits that he cannot interpret dreams, but God can.

Notice Joseph doesn’t say God might or he hopes God will give Pharaoh the answer. He says God WILL give Pharaoh the answer.

Joseph expected God to work.

We must trust God and believe that He will fulfill His Word.

James 1:6 reminds us of the essential need to really believe when we pray. It says, “But when you ask God, you must believe and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like a wave in the sea, blown up and down by the wind.”

After Joseph had been put in charge of all of Egypt he had two sons. What Joseph names his sons shows another truth about living a life that is authentic. He names the first son, Manasseh which means forget. Joseph says it was because God had made him forget all his troubles. He names the second son Ephraim which means fruitful. It was because God had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering.

Joseph forgave and forgot.

He forgave his brothers for what they did to do him. That is verified in Genesis 50 when after their father had dies Joseph tells them he had forgiven them.

Joseph also forgets. He doesn’t forget his family or his God. He forgets the hurts, the injustices, the persecution that he endured.

We are commanded to forgive. We are commanded to forgive as God forgave us through Jesus.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)

We are to forget what is behind us.

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Jesus Christ, is calling us.  Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT)

Sidewalk Prophets have a song called Live Like That. The chorus says:
I want to live like that
And give it all I have
So that everything I say and do
Points to You

We are to live as people who have been changed by God, transformed by His Spirit. We are to live like Jesus.

Jesus lives authentically.

Authentic living is:
Admitting when we are fearful and have doubts.
When we sin, suffering, admitting it, and learning from it.
When we pray, pray as desperate broken people and believe that God will answer.

Philippians 4:8 tells us what our mind such be focused on.
Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentically, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst, the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. (The Message)

Jesus is authentic and we can focus on what is authentic and thus become authentic ourselves when we surrender our lives (good and bad) to Him.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about living like Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about living authentic.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about letting God remove all barriers to Him and all barriers to showing Him to the world.

Surrendering yourself to Jesus allows Him to make you like Him.

Authentically Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe