Apr 17, 2011
The Triumphal Entry
Now as they approached Jerusalem, near Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go to the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here soon.’” So they went and found a colt tied at a door, outside in the street, and untied it. Some people standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They replied as Jesus had told them, and the bystanders let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. Many spread their cloaks on the road and others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Both those who went ahead and those who followed kept shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. And after looking around at everything, he went out to Bethany with the twelve since it was already late.
(NET)
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Apr 11, 2011
Francis Chan, author of Crazy Love, recently came to share at our Gospel For Asia office in Dallas. I have been so blessed in the last year by his books and messages!
He drew a thought from the story of the prodigal son with which I could really identify. When the son was hungry and tired of where his foolishness had gotten him, he decided to go back to his father as a servant. Even the pigs he was taking care of had it better than him! He knew that he had blown it as a son, there was no question about that. But just maybe his father would allow him to work for some food. What a surprise he had when his father interrupted his apology to welcome him back as a beloved son!
Just so with our Father. “Wherefore you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:7) Like the prodigal son, we sometimes think “I messed up this son/daughter thing, maybe if I’m offer myself as a slave, He’ll take me back.” We try to prove something to God, trying to be holy for a couple of weeks before being intimate with Him. But I’m not a slave. I’m His girl! I don’t need to beg! He’s just waiting to lavish his love on me! What a Father!
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Apr 6, 2011
The Grateful Leper
Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten men with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance, raised their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went along, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He fell with his face to the ground at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (Now he was a Samaritan.) Then Jesus said, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to turn back and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to the man, “Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
(NET)
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Mar 24, 2011
The Beatitudes
5:1 When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. After he sat down his disciples came to him. 5:2 Then he began to teach them by saying:
5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.
5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
5:11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me. 5:12 Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.
(NET)
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Mar 18, 2011
“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.” – Deuteronomy 11:18-21
This world is broken. The heart of man is dark, not seeking after God. To change a man, you must change his heart. The word of God is the only thing that will break down the barriers, destroy the sin, change the heart, cleanse the abrasion, heal the wounds, and lead the humbled healed man to the arms of the One who heals.
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him…” – Hebrews 11:6
Where does faith come from?
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” – Romans 10:17
Where will this broken world hear the word of God? There are a few places, but above all, it will be from us.
“As you walk along the way…” We need to be speaking the word of God in the same way that we breathe. Jesus said, “…for out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” – Luke 6:45 If His word is in our heart, it will overflow to all who we meet.
To say that the word of God should overflow out of us does not mean we have to quote a verse every hour. Rather our lives and speech should be shaped by the words that He has spoken, and as a result we will be reflections of Him to those around us.
God is not silent. Once a word of God is spoken, it continues on for eternity. All other words are recorded and then looked at as history. They are in the past, read by a reader in the present. But God’s words are current, “living and active.” – Hebrews 4:12 Man’s words are a frozen river. Some of them true, some of them not. They can be examined and learned from. God’s word is a flowing river that you can jump into and swim in. Splashing, drinking, diving deeper and ultimately being drawn in the right direction. The sea, which is the goal and the source of the river.
2.7 billion people, almost half of this world’s population, lives in the proverbial desert. They have not heard of the river. They seek healing in the rivers of their own country, asking, “can we not wash in our own rivers and be clean?”
Millions bathe in the Ganges, believing that it will cleanse them of their sins. Egyptians would worship the Nile, believing it to be the source of all their wealth. And yet all the while, their souls are dying of thirst.
Jesus said, “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – John 4:14
What this world needs is to be brought to Jesus that their old self would be drowned the river, that in the rushing waters of baptism their sins would be washed away into the ocean of forgetfulness. And that they would be raised as a new creation, reborn to a new life.
This is good news! And the world is literally dying to hear it. We must bring them news of this river, by the speaking of God’s word. One of the ways that His word is living is that it is constantly shared by those who receive it. As we walk along the way, and further than that, purposefully directing our steps and our lives so that our path would be among those who have never heard.
“When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them;
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
that they may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.”
– Isaiah 41:17-20
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