Category Archives: hope

Jesus’ Last Words and Sticky Faith Prayers

Sticky Faith Prayers

John 17 has Jesus’ last prayer on earth before the crucifixion.  It’s His “last words”, if you will, and I am always fascinated by it.  I’ve noted before how Jesus prays for the 11, talking about how they are the ones He was sent for, and how He delivered all of them to the end.  That amazes me, that Jesus grand plan was primarily for 11 people.  Not quite a mega-church model, in and of itself.

I’ve also written before about how Jesus prays for us, you and me, in the prayer.  He prays for us specifically, and that continues to break me down and remind me of how loved I am.  It was as I was reading that passage of the chapter today, that a new thought hit me.

Jesus says this:  ”20″My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”  Jesus prays for us, through the disciples.  What I mean is, Jesus prays for the ones He had taught, and then prays for the ones they would teach, generation after generation.

I do ok praying for my students and families.  But what about the people they will teach?  For some reason, it’s hitting me that I don’t pray for them.  My students will have varying level of “success” in growing in their faith.  I’m spending a lot of time right now in the Sticky Faith co-hort discussing it, thinking about it, planning for it, and re-working ministry for it.  But here, in John 17, Jesus prays a sticky prayer, if you will.  He prays for His students, and then prays for their students.  When I consider this, and apply it to my kids, it reminds me of the impact that God is planning down the road.  My investment isn’t just in them.  It’s in men and women I will never meet who they will impact.  It’s in future students who aren’t born yet, that one day my students will grow and pass their faith onto.  This is a side of Sticky Faith that I simply haven’t given much thought to.  I’ve given even less prayer to it.

But Jesus did.

At the end of His life, with the clock ticking, this is what He prays for.  He prays for those He loved and taught, and He prays for the ones they would one day love and teach.  And their spiritual grandchildren, great-grandchildren, all the way down to me.  And you.

It seems that this might be one of the most fundamental elements of Sticky Faith for us to engage in.  If Jesus knew its value, at this time and place, it’s surely worth our daily investment.

The only question is: will we?

I Am a Wanted Man

Pray to be together

I am reading through the prayers of Jesus again today, and I read his amazing prayer in the Garden in John 17.  If you’ve never taken the time to read it, and think about it, I highly encourage you to do it today.  Every time I read through that prayer, it changes me and I understand Jesus just a little bit better.  It is such an open door into how He thought, what was important, and how He wants us to live.  He prays specifically for you in there as well.  I’m not kidding at all, he prays for you.

So, today I’m reading it again, and this is what hit me:

24 ”Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

It’s the phrase “I want those you have given me to be with me…” that jumped into my soul.  He wants us.  I know Jesus loves me (I mean, the Bible tells me so, right?) but to hear him say it like this, that he wants me to be with Him, is just somehow earth shattering.  He….wants….me.  I don’t know about you, but there is a part of who I am, a part of how I’m wired, that is designed to do nothing other than crave that love, to jump at these words, to push me to tears and joy at hearing him say it.  It’s hardwired in me to need this.

So hearing it today brought that flood of hope to the surface.  He wants me to be with Him.

It’s hard to imagine sweeter words than that.

And He wants you.

He…

Wants…

You…

May it be so today.

Stand

ephesians 6 10-20

I am reading through Ephesians 6 today, and it’s a fairly common set of verses.  We talk about it, teach on it, make up entire vacation Bible school weeks around it, and sell plastic warrior toys in Christian book stores based on them.  They go like this:

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

I love Paul’s description and his call for us to be strong and understand we are in a battle.  But each time I read this passage, one word stands out to me … “stand”.  It appears, as a command, four times in the passage.  Stand.  It’s not exactly our understanding of battle, is it.  We like words like Charge!, Attack!, Conquer!, Destroy!  We like the thought of charging hell with a water pistol, kicking butts and taking names, in the name of Jesus.  We want to be little Christian Rambo’s blowing up everything in sight.

But Paul calls for us to stand.  To dress for battle, to arm ourselves, and stand our ground.  Why?

Jesus is the one who attacked.  He won.  He fought the battle, swinging the cross, and He alone conquered.  He is the king, the victor, the winner, the man, the bomb, the One.  He alone is the one with all power, honor, and glory.  He already has won.  The battle is, for all intents and purposes, over.  There are still skirmishes and fights to wage.  So what do we do?

We stand our ground.  Don’t give up anything that Jesus gives us to the enemy in their desperate bids to go down with a fight.  We have to prepare ourselves for the fight, that will come to us.  We need to be ready to stand the attack.  But it is not up to us to defeat the enemy.  Jesus has that one covered.  So, as we put on the helmet of salvation, we will be in battle.  But we don’t need to be afraid, we don’t need to freak out, we don’t need to worry.  We are peacekeepers after the battle is over.

So, what does this mean?  We do have an enemy, and it’s not that person who drives you nuts.  It’s a spiritual army that can’t win.  We don’t need to live in fear as followers of the King.  We don’t need to worry.  We can rise above the mess of the day-to-day lies we live in, and follow a Jesus who is strong, vibrant, alive, and powerful.  When we move closer to Him, we will be attacked, but it’s not something that can overwhelm us, IF we use our armor.  But notice, all of our armor is based on our connection to Jesus.  As soon as we disconnect from Him, we will be overrun, and the enemy will take back ground that is ours to defend.

So, stand strong.  Trust your King, follow His plan today, and live in His strength.  He is a force to be reckoned with.

Just stand.

Hi, My Name Is Jason, and I am a Planner….

Plans

I find it so funny/frustrating/confusing/encouraging how I rarely know what God has planned for me, yet I still spend so much time trying to guess/hope/pray/assume/create/force some type of plans to happen.  I’m hardwired to be a long-term planner, it’s who I am.  And I try to hold those plans with very open hands, knowing God often changes them.  Yet, I find myself once again standing in the middle of a place that I thought was where I needed to be moving in my life, only to see those doors shutting.  I’m not mad, at least I don’t feel mad right now.  I’m just surprised at how quickly I want to make things into my new comfort zone, even when they are mostly shadow and hope.  As I sit here, wondering what the coming weeks and months hold, I am reminded once again, I am fine.  God has me, and I don’t need to be afraid/stressed/worried/unsure.


So often we make plans for ourselves, they give us some sense of comfort.  I don’t think I will ever stop planning/dreaming.  I used to wonder if I was wrong to create plans and systems.  At this point, I know it’s something God has put into me.  I just have to stop hoping vainly that they will bring me peace or comfort.  They won’t.  Only Jesus and His care will.  So, that is where I’m trying to put down my roots today.  In His care, in His comfort, in His goodness.

Maybe you’re a planner.  Maybe your plans have been disrupted.  Maybe you’re mad at Jesus for sticking His nose in your dreams.  Don’t be.  It’s not worth it.  You and I just want comfort.  THAT is one thing He offers to us in buckets.

We can trust Him in that one.  Today.  Tomorrow.  Forever.

Plan on it.

When He Stands Next to You

Sometimes we obey God, knowing we are doing exactly what He is calling us to do.  And it stinks.  Everything around us seems to crumble out from under our feet, and the more obedient we are, the more mess seems to come from it.  It’s so easy to give up, to wonder why God does this to us, to wonder where He is in all of this.  We can feel so alone, like it’s been years since we heard from Him.

I was reading through Acts 22 and 23 today, and Paul is in one of those spots.  He knows he has to go to Jerusalem.  He also knows he’s going to be arrested there.  He walks obediently into the fire, and chaos blows up around him.  A mob wants him killed, 40 men plot to murder him, the government bungles his case, his own former friends slap him and want to see him suffer.  All because he is obeying.  He stays faithfully on course, but I know humanly, he had to wonder, to doubt a little, to ask why.

Then in Acts 23, you hit verse 11.  It says “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ”Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”  Paul is locked into the barracks with Roman soldiers for his own safety, fairly alone.  Jesus shows up.  How do I know that the amazing, brave Paul was struggling?  Jesus’ first words are “Take courage.”  Jesus only tells us that when we need to…well…take courage.  As I read that, the little phrase “the Lord stood near Paul and said” made me cry.  Once again, Jesus shows up just when all is lost, when doubt settles in, in the night time where Satan always seems to come and whisper in our ear about doubt and failure.  Jesus is there, standing close, encouraging Paul.

So many times this is exactly what I need.  Only I give up an hour too soon.  I quit being faithful and take off on my own plan to try and fix the chaos.  I don’t wait quite long enough for Jesus to show up, stand by me, and give me courage.  Today, if you are in the dark, wondering why your faithfulness has you in such a mess, please hang on.  He is coming.  He will not let you down.  All it will take is for Him to remind you to “take courage”.

Don’t quit.

Time Travel, the Skull, and the Man I Want to Be Like

jesus-on-the-cross

Today I read John 18 and 19 as part of my daily reading.  It’s where John tells the story of the cruicifixion.  It strikes me how broken John is about the story.  Remember, he is writing this a couple of decades later, and most importantly, he knows how the story ends.  He knows the crucifixion is not the final act.  But when he tells the story, you can feel the pain flowing through his pen.  He travels back to Golgotha, standing and watching his Lord and friend die.  He hears the soldiers voices, relives the uncertainty of it all, the fear that coursed through him.  The agony of wanting to save Jesus, and being unable to do anything to save Him or save himself.  The brokeness, the heartbreak, the desolate fear of it all comes back and washes over him.  You can hear it, feel it, see it in how John tells his story.

I want to love Jesus like that.  I want to break every time I retell the story of how my King died for me.  I want to be so tuned in to His suffering and sacrifice that I can’ t help but be moved by revisiting Golgotha.  I want to love my Lord so deeply that even the end of the story is not enough to wash out the pain of the middle.  I want to be like John, the one Jesus loved.

Instead I let it become a story in my past.  It takes on a mythological feel, an oft told story that has become well worn and over rehearsed.  I can run through it as an explanation more than an event.  It was never meant to be a proof in and of itself.  It is Jesus’ story, the reality of what He chose for me.  When I forget that, when I become numb to the exorbitant cost and pain, I do well to travel.  I must travel back, stand on the hillside over Jerusalem and look up into His eyes.  Those eyes who saw it all, and loved us all, and called us as deep calls to deep.  The eyes of love that day were bloodshot, swollen, bruised, and tired.  Yet they were full of love.  When I stand again on that hill, and look up, I remember.  I am transfixed, transformed, and translated to another time and place.  The place where love laid itself down and died, for me.

May I never forget how to go back there.

What Happened to Judas?

I am reading in Matthew 27 today, and it is the story of the crucifixion of Jesus.  At the beginning of the chapter, we see the end of Judas’ life.  The story flows like this:

3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.

4 ”I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”
“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

 

I am always fascinated with how Judas can have spent so much time with Jesus and still missed it.  I always have a hope that I will find some place in the story where Judas turns.  I just don’t want him to miss out on a chance at joy.  But I still haven’t found that part of the story.  It just doesn’t seem to be there.  When I read in verse three that he is filled with remorse, that is as close as I can find.

Unfortunately, there is huge gap between us being sorry for making a mistake and us trusting Jesus as our savior.  If Judas had turned his heart at this point, he would have trusted Jesus, not committed suicide.  He was just a few hours from the resurrection, and he took his own life.  He never made it.

Just a few hours from the resurrection.

So close.

It just breaks my heart to read this story.  But it pushes me to constantly evaluate what is driving me in my decisions.  When I make decisions based on guilt and regret, usually it works out poorly.  They are decisions without hope; desperate and grasping.

When I make decisions based on Jesus being my living King, it’s a whole different type of decision.  It’s one based on an impossible hope created by the loving, powerful son of God.

What message are we sending those we lead and love?  It’s more than remorse.  It’s faith.  It’s more than being sorry for sin.  It’s trusting in the living one.

I’m so glad.  Hope is the best way to live by far.

Riding a Bike With God Into the Apocalypse

zomebieshirt

I have been telling my 13 year old daughter not to worry so much. She has a deep held belief that the Mayans were right, and this is the year it all ends. I keep trying to convince her that it’s not true, that we follow a God who doesn’t hold to the Mayan calendar, etc. etc. Then, we run into a three week run of temperatures in the 60′s and 70′s in Indiana. In March.

Maybe the Mayans weren’t so off after all…..

So, with this apocalyptic weather pattern, I figure if the world’s gonna end, I might as well ride my bike as much as I can in the days we have left. So, yesterday, I got out for the first real ride of the year. I took off on one of my favorite routes that drops me way south and winds along the Flatrock river, which is blue this time of year, and beautiful. As I’m riding along, I was talking to God about some decisions that I am facing, and some that I can sense are headed my way in the near future. Now understand, usually I’m so focused on a) not falling off my bike and b) not throwing up that I don’t spend a lot of time in deep prayer, other than “Oh God, please help me not fall off my bike and throw up!” Yesterday, being the first ride of the season, I took it a bit easier (READ – “I’m out of shape from a winter of donuts and Starbucks.”) Since I wasn’t at top form, I had more ability to talk to God as I lumbered along.

I was just asking Him what He’d like me to do? How can I best serve? Neither option is clear cut, it’s not a decision of sin versus obedience. These are two options that really don’t have moral complications. His answer, while similar to all of His other answers (He’s nothing if not consistent), still caught me a bit off guard, and gave me great peace. He talked to me about how I can do choice “A” in my options, and it will result in blessings on a wide scale, and He will use me and bless me as I’m faithful. Or, I can select choice “B”, and it will have a much deeper impact closer to home and in my community. Again, as I’m faithful, He will use me and bless me. Not because of anything that I am, or because of what I am doing, or anything that I have earned in any way; but simply because He is good, He is not limited by my choices and options, and He’s just not that worried about it. So, as the choices come, pick one, and let’s go.

This brings me so much peace. The options I’m facing, when left to my own devices to decide, is fraught with potential problems and mistakes, and the pallor of regret could hang over the wrong decision fairly easily. When both options are placed in His hands, it all fades down to Love God, Love Others, Serve the World. He has the details. I just need to trust and watch Him work.

HERE is where I begin to see that He’s not kidding. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. He really, literally means it.

What is that you are wrestling with, debating, worrying over? Could it be that if you will simply trust Him, He will carry you either way?

Hey, Here’s Some Gold … Now Run!!

Reading through Matthew 2 today, the story of Jesus birth, the coming of the Magi, and Joseph and Mary running to Egypt for safety.  As I’m thinking about the timeline, an interesting point came up.  Mary and Joseph are in Bethlehem, we’re not sure how long.  It is most likely quite a while since Jesus has been born.  The Magi come looking for him, and with Herod’s help, they find Jesus.  They show up at the house, offer Him their gifts, and then are warned to leave another way, and they do.  In the story, an angel also tells Joseph to leave because they are in danger, which it says Joseph gets up that night and leaves.  Herod goes on to kill the boys in that area, but Joseph and family are gone by that point.

So, in the story, Joseph and Mary settle to some degree in Bethlehem, raising their kid.  We don’t know if it’s days, weeks, months, or how long they are there.  But then the Magi show up, the whole scene goes down, and then God says “Run!”  The timing is crazy.  God holds them in place just long enough to get the Magi to them, and then shifts the whole story into another gear.  He doesn’t send them to safety right away.  He could have.  As soon as Jesus was born, He could have sent them to Egypt to be sure they were safe.  He doesn’t.  He holds them there, in danger, so the Magi can come and carry out their part of the plan.

It doesn’t seem like Joseph and Mary knew about the danger they were in.  But what if they did?  They were at risk, and God was playing pretty loose with their lives.  He doesn’t send them packing way before the risk came.  The story seems to indicate that God cut it so close that Joseph had to wake up from the dream, and leave right then.  God sure did take that one down to the wire.  What if Joseph didn’t obey?  What if he blew the dream off?  What if…..

But God doesn’t work with “what if’s”.  He is God, sovereign, in total control, with no worry or anxiety.  We worry, not Him.  We think He was cutting it close, He saw it as right on time.  How many times does He do this in our life?  We get all bent out of shape because God isn’t moving fast enough, or He’s moving too fast, or we’re convinced He isn’t moving at all?  We stress, worry, fret, and sweat, all while He is proceeding with His plan exactly as He has laid it out.  We may be convinced God has missed it, that now it’s too late for anything good to happen, all the while He has the Magi and their incredible gifts right around the corner.

A lot of people think that the gifts the Magi brought helped pay for their trip to Egypt.  It would have been expensive, and it’s unlikely Joseph would have had a lot of cash around.  God knew.  He always does.  He covers every detail.

He still does today.  Whatever is off schedule in your life, be patient.  God is working things out in His time, which is always the right time.  We worry, He doesn’t.  Which means neither of us need to.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, or what you’re waiting on God for.

Hookers, Lost Girls, and Cheaters Change the World

I’m reading Matthew 1 today.  It’s the genealogy of Jesus, which means it’s telling who his family line comes from.  For the most part, we tend to skip through these lists as fast as we can to get on to the good stuff.  Today, I caught a detail I hadn’t caught before.  Check this part out:

5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,

6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,

Alright, so here’s what caught me.  Salmon is a Jew.  He marries a girl named Rahab.  Rahab was a hooker from Jericho, who was not a Jew.  She was the one who hid the spies, helped them escape, and was saved from death because of it when the Jews took over Jericho.  If you need the story, go read Joshua 2, or you can watch the VeggieTales movie “Josh and the Big Wall”.  So, Rahab, this woman who should never be used by God to accomplish anything, decides to trust Him just the same, and ends up saving herself, her family, and helping the nation of Israel.  Somehow, a Jewish guy marries her.  That is amazing, but he does.  She ends up having a family.  In that family, they have a boy, named Boaz.

Boaz plays a huge role in a book of the Bible called “Ruth”.  It’s the story of another girl, not a Jew, who marries a Jewish boy.  He dies.  All the men in the house die for different reasons.  But she stays with her mother in law, and cares for her.  The mother in law, by the way, changes her own name to Mara, which means “bitter”.  So, Ruth staying with her is a HUGE act of compassion.  In the book, Ruth is eventually saved by a wealthy man named Boaz.  He’s Rahab’s son.  His mom was a hooker, redeemed and changed by God’s grace.  This has to play into why he would be willing to reach out and help Ruth.  It’s what his dad did.  It’s what he does.

Ruth and Boaz have a family together, and one of their boys in named Jesse.  Jesse grows up, gets married, and has boys.  Lots of them. The youngest one is a guy named David.  Yep, that David.  David and Goliath, King David, David and Bathsheba.  Yep, the one after God’s own heart.  David’s grandma is Ruth, and great grandma is Rahab.  It’s amazing how God chose to use these two women to change the world!

These two women were outside of the boundaries of who God should use.  They were not Jews, they were women who had little value in that day, one was a hooker, the other a “black widow” whose husband, and all the other males in the family, had died.  Rahab was untouchable, Ruth was lost.  Neither had hope, security, or a protector.  Yet, in both stories, God steps in, redeems them, uses them, and saves the world through them.

You see, if you go another 27 generations, you come to a guy named Joseph.  Joseph, following in the footsteps of Salmon and Boaz, is faced with a problem.  A woman in his life has messed up.  She’s pregnant, and it’s not his baby.  He should get rid of her, he could kill her, but instead, he marries her.  He takes her in, believes in her, and shows her grace while trusting that God is at work.  His son goes on to do a few great things.  And then his son dies for all of us, and comes back from the grave.

I’m overwhelmed at the power of grace extended.  Each of these people were changed by God’s grace, love, hope, and redemption flowing though someone to them.  It shaped them, re-figured them, set them on a forever new path.

I’m also struck by the power of family.  We must never doubt the influence we can have.  You have to believe that Joseph knew well the stories of Salmon and Rahab, and Boaz and Ruth.  They never knew Joseph was coming, but the decisions they made generations before helped Joseph obey, and he raised the One who would save the world.  The power of family, the power of parents, the power of grace is amazing!

Don’t doubt for a minute that God can, and is, using you.  You may never see it, or you may.  But either way, He is using you to shape and change history forever, all for His glory.  Be faithful today, and trust Him.  If Rahab, Ruth, Salmon, Boaz, Mary, and Joseph could trust Him, so can we.