Tag Archives: Jesus

April 1, 2012 · 4:00 am

A Tale of Two Masters – Why practical love is critical to success

If we want to be successful, we are wise to study and develop the traits and qualities of those that are successful. Similarly, it is also prudent to study and avoid the traits and qualities of those that fail. No study on success is complete without studying Jesus Christ for He was the most successful man that ever lived – as if the feat of remaining sinless alone was not enough of a titanic accomplishment, He successfully achieved His mission of saving humanity after approximately three years of ministry! Therefore, since this Man tells us to care for another (see John 13:34 – 35), we are prudent to follow in His footsteps and teaching and do so. If we obey this commandment, we are blessed for our obedience. But if we choose to disregard this teaching, we do so at our own peril. While the bible contains many references to love and sowing, I find that the obscure story of Naaman and Gehazi highlights how critical to success having a caring (loving) heart and attitude towards people is.

Naaman was a leper (see 2 Kings 5:1)! In the Old Testament days, he should have been an outcast who was shunned by society. Yet, when we look at his resume, we find that he was a mighty man of valor (boldness in the face of great danger) and he was a commander of a nation’s army. Not too shabby! Upon looking at his references, we find that he was described as a great and honorable man by a king! Okay, so the man was successful. But how did Naaman ever get the opportunity to attain such an esteemed position? While your guess is as good as mine for the bible does not explicitly say, what we can say is that his caring attitude towards people contributed to his success. Let’s explore further.

“Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy”” – 2 Kings 5:3

Upon first glance, it is quite baffling that a girl who was whisked away against her will from her friends, family, and society during a raid and forced to serve Naaman’s wife would volunteer the information about Elisha’s pedigree to her kidnapper. Thinking about it, the only plausible explanation is that she liked Naaman and so was moved with compassion for him. If Naaman had treated her badly, she would not have been so forthcoming with her disease curing information. And without the servant girl’s information, Naaman may never have been cured!

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: People who we treat well and care for tend to come to our aid in time of need and volunteer potential life-changing information.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: People who are well-liked tend to be privy to extra information that makes them more productive than people who have the same ability but are disliked.

“And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”” – 2 Kings 5:13

Though the servants approached Naaman with reverence, respect, and diffusive language (hence the use of my father) for Naaman was livid (see 2 Kings 5:11 – 12), the key point is that they were bold to speak. Why? It is because they knew what kind of a man he was and cared for him, otherwise they would not have dared for they were potentially risking their position or life in speaking out.For his part, Naaman was wise to keep himself approachable despite his position for he understood he did not know everything and could make mistakes. And because he kept himself approachable to his subordinates and willing to receive from them, his servants were able to keep him from making a huge mistake when he had allowed his pride to swell-up. Again, if Naaman was an ogre, his servants would probably not have approached him and he would have missed out on his healing.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: When we sow seeds of care, we reap care. It is the fruits of caring that embolden people to share with us truths that lead us to growth and victory.

Gehazi on the other hand was a fellow that did not benefit from the loving care of his servants. If his servants truly cared for him, they would have told him he was about to make a mistake when he said –

““look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the LORD lives, I will run after him and take something from him.”” – 2 Kings 5:20

Perhaps they did not say a thing because they knew it was pointless speaking. Perhaps they knew he would not heed their advice. Perhaps he had set himself up as unapproachable.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: If we want people to speak truth in love to us, we have to set ourselves up as approachable and willing to receive.

If we really look at it, Naaman and Gehazi were in similar positions. Both of them were in a position of authority (having servants) and could exert influence (Gehazi as Elisha’s student). Furthermore, both of them were about to make big mistakes – Naaman due to his pride, and Gehazi because of greed. The difference is that Naaman’s servants were friend and neighbor to him while Gehazi’s servants were not. Because Gehazi’s servants were not his friends, both he and his entire household were struck with leprosy forever (see 2 Kings 5:27)!

Likewise, no matter how powerful we are in the Lord, we need the help of others to keep us from making mistakes. We increase the chances of others helping us significantly when we swallow our pride, sow seeds of love, and open up our hearts to receive.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: When we set ourselves as being unapproachable (in pride); wall ourselves off and fail to receive from others; we tend to make costly mistakes we otherwise would have avoided.

Note: Gehazi was supposedly the man of God and Naaman the heathen. Yet Naaman was cured of his leprosy and believed while Gehazi who was a believer became leprous. It just goes to show that we will reap what we sow; therefore we should sow love (care).

Food for Thought: When we care about people, we care about ourselves

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March 25, 2012 · 11:08 pm

Secret of Success – Resilience and what it means to be a Judas

There goes Judas resigningWinston Churchill famously described success as the ability to go from failure to failure with no loss in enthusiasm. He described success this way because he understood that the difference between successful people and people who fail is resilience. While successful people fail numerous times but are undeterred and keep going, people who are failures usually fail once, take it to heart, get discouraged and quit. Whereas Churchill may have been drawing on the example of a certain Thomas Edison whom it took over 1000-tries before finally inventing a working light-bulb, we have to look no further than the bible to see how the power of resilience leads to success.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: As believers,  the word failure should never be a part of our vocabulary because God who is love (see 1 John 4:8) never fails (see 1 Corinthians 13:8). If we fail, it is because we give up on God and not because God gives up on us.

Lets explore the above statement further.

Peter, the most prominent of Christ’s disciples had an abundance of resilience or “bounce-back-ability”. Previously named Simon (which can be translated as a wavering reed; blown in any direction by the wind), he grew into the rock that Christ used to build the early church. I specifically use the word “grew” because Peter was no rock at the beginning of his voyage with Christ. After all, this was the chap that began to sink because of his lack of faith (see Matthew 14:30), the fellow to whom Jesus said “get thee behind me Satan” (fancy being called Satan); the guy that swore loyalty to Jesus but denied Him three times. And when Peter denied Him, he just did not say “I do not know that guy”, but he denied Him vehemently with an oath, a curse, and a swear (see Matthew 26:72 – 74).

Yet, it was this same Simon that Jesus called Cephas (stone) when He first met him (see John 1:42). Why? Jesus knew Peter had a certain quality and potential (just like all of us) about him. Despite his failings, Peter had the qualities of boldness, courage, and a never say die attitude. We know this because it was this same Peter that had the gall to step out of the boat and into the sea when the rest stayed; he was the one that boldly told Jesus that He would never wash his feet; He was the one that swiftly cut off the ear of a servant when the guards came to take Jesus.Through his actions, Peter tells us the following:

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Rather than being namby-pamby believers, we ought to be bold and courageous warriors who take the Kingdom of heaven by force (see Matthew 11:12). Our boldness is in Christ, for we know there is nothing He cannot fix.

What was so impressive about Peter was his ability to forgive himself, pick himself up, and press on after making a mistake or a fool of himself. No matter what happened, Peter maintained a stone like quality – he was unmovable in spirit. Jesus could work with that! Perhaps this is why Jesus called him Cephas when he first met him. All Peter needed was direction, and Jesus gave him that.

Similar to Simon, Saul was a bold and zealous man. Once Jesus got a hold of Saul, He went to work on him so that a zeal that was once applied to persecute the church was re-aligned into zeal to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! What a gift Paul became and continues to be to the modern day church.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Christ is able to mold us from Simon to Peter, from Saul to Paul, if we would just allow Him the time and not give up!

A man that did not allow Jesus to mold him but instead gave up was Judas. In a sense, Judas did not do anything that the other disciples did not do. Yes, Judas betrayed Jesus, but so did the other disciples. They betrayed His trust by abandoning Him once He was arrested (see Matthew 26:56) – especially Peter. Note that Judas’s betrayal was a betrayal of trust, for Jesus was hiding from no one but instead taught openly in the synagogues in Jerusalem where His detractors could have taken Him (see Matthew 26:55).

The difference between the disciples (especially Peter) and Judas was that while they bounced back from their betrayal, Judas chose not to bounce back from his. Instead of asking Jesus for forgiveness, he hung himself even before Jesus was ever tried and condemned to the cross. As far as we know, Judas (unlike Peter who failed numerous times but was resilient) failed once and gave up. He saw his failure (betrayal) as too grave and therefore hung himself.

Seriously! After seeing all the miracles that Jesus performed, the least Judas could have done was wait to see if Jesus was actually going to do what He had told the disciples (including Judas) and perform the “Houdini Act” of being resurrected.

“Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up”…….”

– Matthew 17: 22 – 23

But no! He allowed Satan to convince him there was no way to bounce back from his failure. If Judas had only waited a few more days, he would have experienced the forgiving love of His Savior.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: We should never give up and hang our dreams because of our inadequacies and failures but rather, we should wait a few more days and wait for God to show up in our lives and shower His love upon us.

We always have to remember that no matter what we have done, no matter how many times we have failed, nothing can separate us from the love of God. We have to stay resilient and resist the negative jabs of the devil. We have to break up our fallow ground and allow Christ to mold us, and He will bless us in ways we have never imagined!

Food for thought: Just like the disciples, we are all guilty of betraying Jesus. We choose to become Judas when we choose to give up on God

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March 17, 2012 · 3:11 am

Superman’s Kryptonite – How did Jesus Stay Perfect?

We are all undergraduates in the school of righteousness. The moment we think we have graduated is when we become a menace to anyone we come across and society at large. If we fail to admit our weaknesses, it is because we are wearing a mask to hide our true identity, except it is more like a balaclava (what robbers wear in movies) rather than a super-hero’s mask. Many of us try to mask our weaknesses because we are uncomfortable with who we are and so are uncomfortable allowing others to see how we truly are. Unfortunately, this mask wearing is rampant amongst those of us that have convinced ourselves that being conformed to Jesus’s image is to be conformed to the image of perfection. While this is correct, what we get wrong is our definition of perfection. We wrongly convince ourselves that perfection means that we have no chinks in our armor – no fears, no wavering, and no weakness! Therefore, we wear the mask of false fortitude because we want to show ourselves “strong” for we do not want to be counted as a weakling!

But I have not yet found where in the bible being perfect is equated with having no weaknesses. What we find instead about being weak and being perfect is that we should rather boast in our weakness, for God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness through His grace (see 2 Corinthians 12:5,9). It is important to say here that this is not a license to sin. Rather the passage is telling us that we can only achieve perfection (not sin) through His grace and by His strength when we are weak (susceptible to temptation).

This is exactly what Jesus did – rely on God’s grace when He was weak! If you are asking yourself if I am saying that Jesus in his humanity had moments of weakness, then I am guilty as charged. Yes He did. The reason He is such a wonderful intercessor for us is because He himself had weak moments – times when he had chinks in His armor. Here is what the bible has to say about it.

“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” – Hebrews 4:15

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Weaknesses are areas in our lives where we are susceptible to succumb to temptation (disobedience); this may be different for different people. Perfection for man is found in resisting temptation (not sinning) despite our weakness.

Now, we know that the devil tempts us at times and in areas we are weak – that is why we at times have crazy and unspeakable thoughts. It is not surprising that we are tempted for this earth is Satan’s domain (see Revelations 12:9). Likewise, it is not surprising that superman (Jesus) was tempted when He walked the earth as a man. Note that Jesus as God (not in his humanity) has no weaknesses and hence is not tempted.

“…for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” – James 1:13

The question then is:  How was He able to overcome His kryptonitic (weak) periods to remain perfect (sinless) as a man.

Here is how He did it.

How Jesus Stayed Perfect   

The scripture tells us that Jesus asks that God pass the cup from Him (see Matthew 26:39). WHAT! Pass the what? The whole purpose of Him becoming flesh in the first place was so that He would drink from the cup; that he would pay the wages for the sin of mankind and thus redeem us to God (Himself). Jesus knew this, He said it many times, and he had no doubt that it was coming. Yet, when the hour was upon Him, He buckled as Satan unleashed an unfathomable spiritual attack upon Him. Satan did this because the stakes were extremely high – the souls of man. This attack was so intense that it brought Jesus to the cusp of disobedience (sin). It took all that Jesus had to resist that attack. The bible puts it this way:

“You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin” – Hebrews 12:4

The author of Hebrews here is referring back to when Jesus prayed three separate times in the garden and his sweat became like blood (see Luke 22:44). But  glory to God that when his “star” disciples deserted Jesus by sleeping and thereby leaving Him to fight this battle alone, He stayed dogged in doing the will of God (being obedient) and got on His knees in prayer. When He did this, God showered His grace on Him by sending an angel to strengthen Him in His time of weakness (see Luke 22:43).

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: In our weakness, God shows Himself strong when we purpose in our mind and heart to do His will and pray. Thus, a consecrated mind and fervent prayer are keys in warding off temptation and remaining perfect.

Second, Jesus shows some weakness when He screams out ““My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me””. Here too, Jesus being God knew exactly why, but that did not stop Him as a man who had weak moments from crying out all the same. Superman was still after all man with some chinks in His armor until He went back to heaven to take His rightful place as God (without the humanity)

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: With Christ in us, we can be supermen too, but that does not mean we have no weaknesses. We all have our kryptonite, but we can overcome it by the blood of the lamb; by God’s grace

Lastly, the gospels describe Jesus coming under attack when He was tempted in the wilderness. This time, the keys to remaining perfect were fasting, rebuking the devil with the Word of God, applying the Word of God correctly, and acting on what the Word says.

Thus, Jesus warded off temptation and remained perfect by doing the following:

  • Relying on the grace of God (to help Him out)
  • Having a determined and consecrated mindset (to resist to the point of bloodshed)
  • Fasting and praying
  • Rebuking the enemy with the Word of God
  • Knowing the Word and always doing what it says to do and refusing to do what it tells not to do

If we are to be Christ-like, then we have to do what Jesus did. We have to rely on the grace that God has already granted us rather than receive it in vain (through non-reliance). Like Paul asked, we should also ask God to take away our weaknesses (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-8). He can do it! For the ones He chooses not take away, it is because He does not want us in pride and so we become our own gods (which leads to destruction). He wants us reliant on Him so He can bless us beyond all measure when we have resisted and stayed obedient. So what’s stopping us?

Food for Thought: If we are superman because He lives in us, we should stop pretending and acting like Clark Kent

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March 9, 2012 · 3:30 am

Temptation – Oh the Forbidden Fruit

The bible says that God does not tempt anyone (see James 1:13). Yet, Jesus includes “lead us not into temptation” when teaching His disciples how to pray to God (see Matthew 6:9 – 13). So what then is Jesus saying? Is He saying that God allows us to undergo temptation…or leads us into temptation? While it is certainly implied in The Lord’s Prayer, the proof can be found in the gospel of Matthew where it states:

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” – Matthew 4:1

Jesus being specifically led into the wilderness to be tempted tells us that God (the Holy Spirit) does allow us to be tempted. It sounds crazy until we take a look at what the temptation that God allows looks like.

First, the temptation did not occur till Jesus was well prepared. See, Jesus had just undergone spiritual calisthenics (fasting) and so was buff and ready to swat away any temptations the devil would levy against Him. Likewise, God does not allow us to be tempted without readying us and giving us the tools to handle the temptations that come our way. So does that then mean that God allows us to be tempted to test our spiritual maturity and our readiness to handle what He has for us? Absolutely! Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted to gauge His level of readiness for the ministry to which God called Him. We know this because the temptation occurred before He ever started preaching.

“From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” – Matthew 4:17

Jesus passed the test in the wilderness and so moved on to the ministry which eventually led to salvation for all humanity and His glorification.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Many are called but few are indeed chosen because we keep failing the test that God levies on us to see if we are ready. In the process, we miss out on the glory (honor, distinction, prosperity) that God wants to shower on us.

Thus, while all temptation comes from Satan, God allows us to be led into some temptations to test our readiness for His goodness.

Second, the temptation that God allows will not be more than we can withstand.

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13

Therefore, God makes a way out for the temptations He allows through His grace; we just need to follow it. When Jesus foiled Satan’s plan, the angels ministered to Him, and He left the wilderness. He was ready!

Temptation we allow

But now, there are those temptations into which we lead ourselves. These are not of God and these are no good for us. This is what happened in the garden! What I have always wondered is this: Why of all the places to hang-out in the garden were Adam and Eve anywhere close to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; why were they hanging about the forbidden fruit in the first place?

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: In the story of Adam and Eve, the bible teaches us its first lesson – stay away from temptation. Thousands of years later, we are still having a hard time learning it.

Just like Adam and Eve, we tend to willingly put ourselves in situations God would not have us be a part, all the while using every reason, excuse, and rationale to justify our behavior. To illustrate this, imagine a recovering alcoholic who deliberately steps into a wine bar to get away from the rain outside. When asked why he stepped into the bar, the excuse is instant – to get away from the rain. When asked why not choose an adjacent store, again the justification is instant – the bar was the closest. All the while, Satan is laughing all the way to the bank to deposit a “slip” into the account of the man who ended up having a few too many harmless “samples” from which he ought to have stayed away.

For the man described, the act of going into the bar iteself was an act of disobedience because the man did not abstain from every appearance of evil (see 1 Thessalonians 5:22) – for the bar was his evil. He was disobedient to the word of God, and so it was not God that led him to be tempted…he led himself. In this situation, we are simply reliant on God’s mercy to pull us through.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment:  We set up a snare for ourselves when we disobey the promptings of the Holy Spirit and lead ourselves into situations where we are likely to compromise God.

In summary, we have to be prepared to swat away the devil by keeping ourselves battle ready through renewing our minds, our fasting, and our prayer.  We also have to make sure we are being obedient and so do not lead ourselves into temptation.

When we do the above, we find that what the bible says holds true:

“…he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” – 1 John 5:18

Food for thought: If you look too long at the apple, you will eventually take a bite.

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February 29, 2012 · 7:36 am

Stop Being a Jonah – Answer God’s Call Willingly

Stop Running Away

If we are not impressed by our gifts, abilities, and talents (because we know everything we have is from God and by the grace of God), then we should not be depressed by our weaknesses (because our weaknesses keep us humble and reliant on the saving power of Christ).

God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). If any of us think that we have conquered all our weaknesses and have arrived at our destination in life, then we have become puffed up and are on our way to a downfall. Paul puts it this way:

“For though I desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth…” – 2 Corinthians 12:6

When we truly realize how much we need God and how nothing we accomplish is by our own strength, we become maximally useful to carry out His will. See, God foreknew all of us before we were born and called each one of us to achieve a particular purpose (good work).

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10

Shying away from God’s purpose is disobedience so we should not do it since it displeases Him. Furthermore, its a fool’s game! But why?

Here is why. As children of God, the Spirit yearns jealously for us (see James 4:5). We can run around in the wilderness for years trying to dodge the purpose to which He has called us –using every excuse in the book – but He will use people, situations, and circumstances to break us down and get our attention. No matter how hard we try, we find that His purpose cannot be withheld from Him and that what He has ordained will get done, for no word that He has spoken can ever return back to Him void (see Isaiah 55:11).

“I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.” – Job 42:2

A good example of someone that tried not to do what God called him to do was Jonah. When he was given his orders, the first thing He did was head in the opposite direction.  Being self-righteous and disobedient, he almost caused a boat to sink and had to spend time in the belly of a whale before he finally headed to Nineveh to deliver God’s message. As hard-headed as he was, God’s purpose was accomplished through him – not because of Him, but despite of Him. Jonah endured unnecessary hardship because of his disobedience. In the end, it was all for naught.

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: Running away from God’s purpose in our life is pointless and is life’s biggest time waster. If He has chosen us, His desires will be fulfilled through us no matter how much of a Jonah we become.

And just like Jonah, we become miserable if we do not align our hearts with the purpose of God, for even after Jonah delivered the message to the people of Nineveh and they repented, he wanted God to take him out. Seriously Jonah!

For those of us that answer God’s call, we can be assured that If He has chosen us, He will strengthen us. Just as He strengthened Moses and gave him the words to speak to the Pharaoh and made him a great leader, He will do the same for us as long as we walk in obedience – so we need not fear. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

The story of Gideon highlights the strength of God working in human weakness. Gideon was a man who started out with little faith. In fact, he did not really believe in what God promised and thus became the first “fleece-thrower” (see Judges 6:36 – 40).  Yet, God called him a mighty man of valor and persevered with Him – showing Gideon that He is a mighty God. It was this same Gideon that did not question God when He trimmed his army from 34,000 to 300 before granting him victory over the Midianites. Now that took some faith!

Lightbulb MomentLight-bulb moment: If stubborness and lack of faith could not stop God from achieving his purpose through Jonah and Gideon, respectively, it will not stop Him from using you.

Food for Thought: You signed up to be used by God for His purpose when you signed up with Jesus, so stop fighting it! He will have His way anyway.

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February 17, 2012 · 4:12 am

Wilderness Experience – Are you missing God’s oasis by remaining a victim?

Are you missing God's oasis

It is impossible to go through life without hurting someone or being hurt by another person….even if it is unintended. Regardless of whether we are the “hurter” and the “hurtee”, as believers, it is likely we go through a rough patch – experience some wilderness – until we are restored.

This wilderness experience is not simply reserved for the victim but also for the perpetrator of the hurt. While the victim may land in the wilderness as a result of anger, resentment, bitterness and so forth, the perpetrator may experience their own wilderness because of perpetual self- condemnation and an inability to grant self-forgiveness. Here is the thing, whether we are the hurter or the hurtee, our ability to escape the jaws of the wilderness depends on how determined we are to fully surrender our hurt to Christ.

  Lightbulb Moment  Light-bulb moment: Irrespective of what befalls us, we choose whether we are victor’s in Christ or victims of life. We prolong our wilderness experience by choosing to remain victims.

Just as it is important to know what to do when in the wilderness to survive, we must know what to do to move past our hurts.

When I got hurt, I chose to remain a victim. Instead of surrendering my hurts to Christ, I took matters into my own hands and purposed in my heart and mind that I was never going to put myself in a position to be hurt again – so I guarded my heart and built a fortress around my mind. I ensured that nothing moved me deeply and so segregated emotions, feelings, and sensitivity from all things. Nothing was going to penetrate my shield…….not even God! In effect, I told God, “You can control everything else, but I control my heart, so shoo…go away”. I was at the wheel and I almost drove my life right off a cliff by making decisions based on my hurts. As a result of choosing to be a perpetual victim of my past hurts rather than surrender it to Him, I ended up victimizing the people I came into contact with.

Lightbulb Moment     Light-bulb moment: I should not be driven by my life experiences or emotions, but only by Christ!

Whilst the natural tendency after being hurt is to take control and guard our own hearts out of fear, the bible shows us a better way for our hearts to be guarded.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:6 – 7

Thus it is the peace of God which comes through prayer  and supplication that guards our hearts and keeps us alive until we escape the wilderness and are restored to our oasis.

Upon learning how to survive, we must become action minded and start to look for a way out. We pick up the trail back to our oasis when we stop our self-pity, self-righteousness, and self-focus but instead focus our attention on our guide, Jesus. When we pay attention to what He tells us though His word, we get jolted with the  reality that all have hurt and all have been hurt. That no one has been hurt more than God (through our sin and disobedience) and no man more than Jesus when he lived. But then we also get jolted with the truth that He has paid the price for all we could ever do, say or feel. That through Him, we are restored and are the head and not the tail. When we focus on Jesus, we start to trust Him and allow Him to lead us out of our wilderness.

This is exactly what Jesus did as a man when experiencing His own wilderness. What if Jesus had not trusted God but allowed His experience and emotions to lead Him? What if He had focused on all the wrongs that were done to Him – the insult, the ridicule, the scourging, and the betrayal – none of which He deserved? What if He had not surrendered fully to God? He would not have been glorified and would not be sitting at the right-hand side of God now, and we may still be living under the law.

But He did fully surrender to God and won victory for all the hurt that could ever come our way!

The trust we build in Jesus is what allows us to lay all our hurts and burdens on Him in humility and prayer while taking all the necessary steps to find closure as He leads us – perhaps through counseling. In time, we find that our ashes are turned into beauty and have been made into new beings – with the muck of the past and its impact on our lives washed away. Truly, the old passes away and everything becomes new.

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

So, why surrender our hurts to God? He alone can heal us and will refine us. No one else can.

Food for Thought: I find my oasis when I choose to focus on God rather than on my hurts

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January 26, 2012 · 2:57 pm

Paging Doc Jesus

PAGING DOC JESUS  (listen here)

When was the last time you truly had a check-up?

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” – Matthew 9:12.

In the next verse, Jesus goes on to explain that the sick He is talking about are sinners who He has come to heal.  As sinners, we are all sick. Our malady is a cancer called depravity which if left untreated consumes our being and eventually leads to death.

Jesus on the other hand is the master physician who is forever on call ready to operate on any man who visits Him in His Hospital – the hospital being God. For those that visit, He performs major surgery of salvation and they are made well.

Unfortunately, many never visit the hospital either because they have never heard of it or because of abject pride and stubbornness even in the face of the degeneration caused by their cancer.  For those of us that have had major surgery performed, we cannot forget that we need to go in for our check-ups to so that our depravity does not return.  Our daily check-up ought to consist of the following:

  1. Spending time with God by reading His Word and Praying (see Romans 12:2)
  2. Testing ourselves to ensure we are in the faith and testing the spirits to ensure we are following the Holy Spirit (see 2 Corinthians 13:5 and 1 John 4:1)
  3. Obeying the Holy Spirit regardless of what we feel or think (see John 15:10)

If you are one of those stellar patients that go in to see Doc Jesus often, wonderful! Sadly, you are the exception rather than the rule. The rest, I have categorized into three major classes:

“Out” Patient (listen here) Quite simply, these are folks that have the major surgery of salvation but never schedule a check-up but wait until the depravity cancer returns before they go back to the hospital. As such, they have the ravages of multiple surgeries on their being and are solely reliant on the grace and mercy of God in keeping them alive. Yes, they are alive but are never thriving nor are they bearing fruit the way God intended. Here are some questions to ponder to determine if you are an “Out” patient:

  • Do you go to church only on during the religious holidays (Easter Sunday and Christmas)?
  • Do you seek God only after trouble ensues in your life?
  • Do you quote (or rather misquote) the scripture out of context to justify your disobedience? For example, I have heard some people say: “Well, the bible says we will always have the poor with us” as a reason never to help a soul in need.

Such a one who is an out-patient does not understand the extent of the love of God for them. If they did, they would never choose such to so under-utilize the power which has been made available to them in Christ.

Paramedic (listen here) These are the people that have a great zeal for Jesus. You can always find them in the field providing emergency assistance. They love telling people about Jesus and love bringing people into the hospital to meet Doc Jesus, but they themselves forget to enter the hospital. They never fail to schedule an appointment but are just too busy to make it; they are always tired and burnt out but feel fulfilled by their job. These paramedics are lauded by everyone and are the heroes of the community.

For these paramedics, the cancer of the heart (self-righteousness) slowly creeps in. Still they refuse to keep their appointment because they are just too busy doing God’s work. At the end of the year, they say to Jesus with a smile of their face, ‘Remember me? I brought you 1000 patients this year’. To this Jesus replies: ‘I do not remember you. It’s true that I saw your patients, but I never saw you’.

While it is an incredible calling to be a paramedic, we never want to be counted as part of those that never make their check-up. Yes, Jesus cares about what we do for people and that we love them, but he also cares about us and our relationship with Him first and foremost. He calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves, not more than ourselves, and certainly not more than we love him!

Lightbulb Moment

   Light-bulb moment: Our calling should never become our idol by taking the place of God!

Jesus warns us about idolizing our calling in the following passages:

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ “And then I will declare to them. ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ – Matthew 7:22 -23 (NKJV)

Here are some questions to test if you have become a cancer-laden paramedic

  • Do you often think to yourself: “Wow, I am a great Christian and a great warrior for Christ”
  • Do you always try to fix everyone and everything?
  • Are you mainly driven by what people think rather than what God thinks?
  • Do you find no fault in yourself and think you are always right?
  • Are you always trying to teach people a lesson?
  • Is it always your way or the highway?

Waiting-Room Patient (listen here) Lastly, waiting room patients are those that schedule a check-up, go to the hospital, but never see the doctor. They never allow Jesus to examine and uproot every single unsavory area of their lives. They feel good about being in the hospital and fool themselves that it is all that matters. They are perpetually encouraging those who are being operated on, bringing flowers, and praying for them. They themselves are getting sicker but they just cannot see it – since after all, they are already in the hospital!

When someone asks the question, how come you have no victory over this issue although you have been seeing the specialist for a long time now? The waiting room patient always has a reason. They say: well, it is my childhood, it is my hurts, I am a victim of circumstance etc. The most popular statement which no one can argue with is: I am waiting on God.

While waiting on God is the best thing to do, what the waiting room patient refuses to acknowledge is that in reality, Jesus is waiting on them. He is waiting on them to fully surrender to Him!

A waiting room patient is extremely difficult to recognize because they blend in perfectly with actual visitors (not patients) who are in the waiting room. In fact, the waiting room patient may not realize he or she is a waiting room patient. This is because the malady of the waiting room patient is the lack of total surrender in all things – especially in areas where unbelief exist. To everyone else, the waiting room patient is a prayer warrior who is a consummate church-goer and is such an encourager that everyone loves when they are around. Unfortunately, there is a deeper problem – lack of full surrender.

Light-bulb moment: We should never be stuck in the stage of “experiencing” God (hospital), but rather grow in God through complete surrender to Jesus (the surgeon) so that we may have complete victory over all that maligns us.

Here are some testers to see if you have inadvertently become a waiting room patient:

  • Do you never realize the promise of God in your life and you do not know why?
  • Do you twist every thought and situation to make it fit what you believe?
  • Do you use “If only” somewhat frequently?
  • Do you find it very hard to forgive and reconcile or say “I am sorry”?
  • Are you always the victim?
  • Do you find yourself becoming judgmental?

If you are like me, then you see that the traits of the out-patient, the paramedic, and waiting-room patient try to creep in from time to time. Never fear, it is the devil trying to sneak in. He always tries but thankfully he has no victory. Recognize your tendency, discipline yourself, and surrender your inadequacies to God.

Food for Thought: A check-up a day keeps the cancer away

“…but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” – 1 John 5:18

Conclusion (listen here)

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