Jesus Calls Her Name

So Jesus was crucified the evening of the Hebrew Passover, symbolizing that he was in fact the sacrificial lamb who died to save mankind.  On the first day of the week a woman named Mary headed out to see the tomb. So she finds the tomb empty and starts crying cause Jesus is missing.  So Jesus says "Woman, why are you crying?  Who is it you are looking for.."  Well she starts to explain but then Jesus calls her name "Mary" and that's when she gets it.  She's thinking, hey wait a second, I saw you die.  What are you doing out here.  Jesus had come back from the dead.  Whether you know it or not, we are all like Mary, searching for something, but in the end our search is really for Jesus. And so Jesus is standing at the door of your heart, and today, just as he called Mary's name, He calls your name.  As you hear him call you today, answer Him.  Recognize Him. Say “Oh there you are.”  He is the savior of the world and right now He is taking the time to call to you.  It's Jesus, he wants to believe Him.  The search is over, He was with you all this time.

I Believe

So Jesus is getting ready to head over and heal a little girl at her house when some guys come tell them that the little girl has died.  So Jesus says to the father, "Don't be afraid, just believe."  Now Jesus goes to the house, and he puts everyone out of the house except the father and mother, and Peter James and John.  Then he tells the little girl to "Get up", and she does.  Wow, miracle.  Score a point for Team Jesus right?  So notice that he kicked all the doubters out of the house, and just kept the parents.  Notice what he told the father right when he heard she had died.  “Don't be afraid, just believe.”  Now fear doubt and worry come sometimes, it’s normal, but God doesn't call us to ordinary, He calls us to be extraordinary.  It seems that Jesus is saying what we believe can change the outcome.  And if everyone around you is speaking fear and doubt, well do like Jesus, and get em out for now.  Get away from fear and doubt, stand in faith, pray, and believe that your God is greater, he is bigger, he is mighty to save.  So what’s going on today..  "Don't be afraid, just believe."

Let Him Help

If someone asks me, "Hey, mind if I wash your car?” I might be like, yeah, go for it bro.  And then I should respond, I should be thankful.  So Jesus is explaining this in Luke 7:32 as He says "We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not cry."  He was saying that there should be a reaction to what Jesus has come to give.  Jesus came to give, and many rejected him.  John the Baptist came to baptize and teach and help, and many rejected him.  They were playing the flute, ya know, for free, but no one was dancing.    The flute was the action, the dance should be the reaction.  So Jesus has given it all, and He loved you while you were yet a sinner.  He has teaching after teaching in His word meant to help you live a great and effective life.  So we should have a reaction.  Our reaction should be to love back, to listen to the words, to do something.  And if Jesus starts playing the flute, well I'm thinking you should cut a little rug, do a little jig, moon walk, do the robot, we should react to all the Lord has brought us.

A Poor, Put Down, Goner

Proverbs 22:4 says "Humility and the fear of the Lord brings wealth and honor and life."  Here we can see there are some things God wants from us, and some things that God wants us to receive.  Here it is humility and the fear of the Lord that God wants from us. Humility is when I realize I really don't know it all, and I allow others to teach me.   The fear of the Lord is my respect and reverence for my creator.  He is God, and I am not.  And hey, I'm okay with that.  As I learn to have these things in my life I will be bringing to me wealth, honor, and life.  But if I choose to live my life as a know it all, and I do it the worlds way instead, then instead of wealth, honor and life, I guess I might end up a poor, put down, goner.  So which one do I want?   Hmmm, let’s see.  The life one is sounding pretty good.  And honor.  Honor sounds better than the put down one.  You know sometimes we seek God’s results instead of the source of the results.  Don’t look for what you need, look for who you should become, humility and the fear of the Lord.

Snake on a Stick

In Numbers 21 there's a story of the Israelites disobeying God and finding themselves in a mess.  A plague breaks out, people are getting sick, so God tells Moses in verse 8:  "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live"  Huh?  So Moses makes a bronze snake, puts it on a pole, and sure enough, the people who look at it lived.  So here's the picture.  That snake represents our enemy, like the serpent who talked to Eve in the tree.  Now all that the enemy attacks us with, like this plague, was nailed to the cross of Calvary.  As when Jesus died on the cross He took up our infirmities, our sins, our sickness, our poverty, and he destroyed those things so that they would have no power over us.  This snake on a pole was a prophesy of what Christ would do to the powers of the enemy.  When life has become a plague to you, well maybe you just need to take a look and remember what Christ provided for you on the cross.  He gave it all for you, his death, so that you might have life, and life more abundantly.

What Did You Do?

In Psalms 1 is described this guy who is not joining in with the sinning, mocking, or bad advice, and but instead he keeps meditating on God's word.  Now our efforts don’t earn God’s love or his blessings.  But living by His principals is always going to bring better stuff in our lives.  So this is good advice.  Then later as it describes this guy, it says in verse 3 "Whatever he does prospers."  Prospers is a good thing.  God desires for you to prosper.  But note that it is what he DOES that prospers.  This means we have to do some stuff if we want to see the prosperity that God has given us.   God promises to bless the works of your hands, but the hands have to do some work.  So I get the idea that God's system is designed so that we find success when we work hard, keep trying, don't quit, and aren't lazy.  Holding down the couch, although quite pleasurable, is not producing success.  I don’t think a couch can produce fruit.  (but if it does you could probably sell it for quite a profit) When we get out there and start working then the success that God has promised can finally be experienced.

Run Away, Run Away

Isn't life as a Christian better?  So you might be all, "well what do you mean."  Think about it, you have the mind of Christ, and the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in you, and you're a child of the king, you've been marked by the seal of a covenant with the living God, who has made you joint heir with Christ Jesus, and you are designed to be more than a conqueror.  So yeah, life is designed to be better with God.  God says in Deut 28:7 "Your enemy will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven."  So there ya go, there are still going to be some attacks.  I mean, just because your a Christian doesn't mean there won't be some battles.  And you’re taking territory now.  The difference is that you have the armor of God and the sword of the Spirit.  The enemy is all, "RA!", and then the enemy sees you and Jesus living in you, and the enemy is all "oh wait, that's that guy who has us under his feet, okay, so never mind" and then the enemy takes off so afraid that they run in seven different directions.  Better, ya.  Like that.

Hope Soap

Isaiah 40:30 says "Even youths grow tired and weary."  Hey young people:  You get tired too right.  I mean we look at the young people and we are all, really, your tired, I wish I had all your energy.  But it's true, your gonna get tired.  Then it goes on to say "and young men stumble and fall.."  Yeah, you ever fall before?  Well I have, skinned up the hands and knees of life, just looking for a band aid to get me through the day.  So what's the answer here?  Well, the next verse starts with "But those who hope in the Lord..."  You see the contrast, God separates the stumbling and weary from those who hope in God.  Well anyone of us could put our hope in God.  And if you are are trying to stop falling, or you’re weary, well the answer is to join that “other group of people”.  The Hopers.  And in this case your caffeine fix and balance bracelet are as simple as getting your hopes in the Lord.  Then people will say to you, “aren't you worried, I mean the world is crashing around, aren't you scared,” and you can be all, "Nope, causing my hope is in God, and if He's not worried, well then I'm not either."