tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-328654832024-03-13T20:02:50.798-07:00The Character of GodThis blog is about discovering who God is. What is God like? How do we relate to Him? How does God relate to us. How does He act? Is He trustworthy? All these questions beg a definition of God's Character.
Jesus said, "If you have seen me, you have seen God." The essence of that verse is: "If you know what I am like, you will know what God is like. If you know how I feel about people you know how God feels about people."
Supporting Verses: John 12:45, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-66724368481202407592009-05-01T18:42:00.000-07:002009-05-01T18:49:11.635-07:00Loosing Your Life Equates to LoveAny real follower of Jesus often contemplates the phrase "If you loose your life for My sake, you will find it."<br /><br />However, we often make an evil equation out of this:<br />"If I loose my life" means "I will be miserable the rest of my life."<br /><br />What an outlandish LIE!<br /><br />What we should be thinking is something closer to:<br />"If I loose my life" means "I will love God with my whole heart (just like He loves me) and I will deeply care about others!"<br /><br />The loosing of one's life necessarily means we are not focused or <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">obsessed</span> with ourselves but focused on God and others in care, concern or love.<br /><br />It is all about the 1st and 2nd comandments.<br /><br />But the root of both commandments is I John 4:19 "We love because He 1st loved us."<br /><br />God goes first. Then we respond to Him. Then he responds to us. And back and forth it goes until we realize we are dancing with God in Eternity!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-16579180354658074712009-02-25T08:02:00.000-08:002009-02-25T08:45:57.928-08:00The RIGHT question "If people are so good, why is there so much suffering?"This morning I woke up thinking about what people say:<br /><br />"If God is so good, why is there so much suffering on the earth?"<br /><br />There is often a lot of accusation and anger towards God in that comment. Others are sincerely just pondering the state of reality in that question.<br /><br />And I instantly realized that we are asking the WRONG question. We should be asking:<br /><br />"If PEOPLE are so GOOD, why is there so much suffering on the earth?"<br /><br />When you ask that question, you begin to see that the blame and accusation for human suffering lies at the feet of people.The choice of the everyday <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">individual</span> to the medium level politician or businessman to the highest President or King - all of these combined choices down though human history have created all the suffering, wars, famine and pollution!<br /><br />Because human beings make such evil choices the earth is filled with so much suffering!<br /><br />That's what is really happening.<br /><br />At no time had God ever come down to earth and polluted the streams, oceans and lands! God never came down and dumped Chemicals in the water supply. God did not come down and create wars. Nor had God come down and created famine so the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">hungry</span> should die.<br /><br />No, all these are things that PEOPLE do. And often we pollute the earth for money. We create wars because we are angry. We spend <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">infinite</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">amounts</span> of resources on entertainment rather than figuring out ways to harvest more food, transport it around the world and feed the hungry.<br /><br />Answer: "There is so much suffering in the world because of the choices of everyday human beings and their businesses, and their presidents and Kings down through all of human history."<br /><br />That is reality.<br /><br />The crazy thing is that God offers mercy and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">forgiveness</span> to all who make evil choices - to the average person or the president of a nation ... but so few are honest about their evil and receive His free mercy in Jesus.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-26573782530890713422008-10-02T20:53:00.000-07:002008-10-02T21:19:04.443-07:00Jesus Protects Mary's Love for HimThis is a wonderful piece of history where Jesus' protection for people is seen very clearly. Six days before Jesus is going to die He has a meal with Mary, Martha and Lazarus whom Jesus has recently raised from the dead. As he is reclining at the table Mary takes a pint of very expensive perfume and pours it over Jesus' feet and gets down on her hands and knees and wipes his feet with her hair! Wow, the devotion and love that Mary had for Jesus was extravagant! This perfume was worth a years wages and was probably her entire retirement! Mary doesn't consider her loss of the money but only Jesus. As she is in the middle of pouring out her love for Jesus in an unashamed and very vulnerable way, Judas criticizes her actions. He can't see the worth of Jesus only the amount of money that the perfume was worth. "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." Sounds pretty noble until the text continues, "He did not say this because he cared about the poot but because he was thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it."<br /><br />To get the full picture here we need to wrestle with who Judas is a bit and who he is stealing from. First consider someone who steals from Bill Gates verses someone who steals from Mother Teresa. It is true that stealing is evil in either case. And sin is sin. However, there is something more wicked about the person who steals from Mother Teresa who is pouring out her life to care for others than the person who steals from Bill Gates. It is still evil, but the first person is so much more wicked. Consider who Jesus was. He was/is the only innocent person ever to walk the earth. He was the only hope for those with skin diseases (leprosy), the only hope for those who were demonized, the only hope for the poor to hear the truth... and Judas was stealing from Him! Judas was seeing the miracles first hand. Judas was hearing the truth from Jesus own mouth. Judas was seeing the compassion of Jesus on the sick, hurting and weak... and He was stealing from Jesus all the time. Consider also that many of those who were supporting Jesus were older widows and women who gave money out of their limited means. Judas was stealing that money. The offense of the sin is so great because of the beauty of God that is revealed by Jesus in His earthly ministry. The wonder and hope of God was clearly shown by Jesus. And Judas was attacking that!<br /><br />Jesus intervenses and puts a stop to Judas - "Leave her alone." Jesus possibly said this quite firmly. He is probably not shouting, but He isn't being passive either. "Leave her alone." In a moment Jesus surrounds Mary extravagant devotion with His arms of protection to reject the criticism of the accuser. That accusing, fault-finding voice of Satan is shut up! The vulnerable display of love from Mary is protected. Her heart will be covered, not trampled upon.<br /><br />That is Jesus. And if you can believe John 14:9 ("If you have seen Me [Jesus], you have seen the Father") - then that is God as well!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-49679678883726859472008-07-12T16:03:00.000-07:002008-07-13T07:48:41.199-07:00Jesus Enjoys People and Praises Them!Often I have been completely out of touch with the emotions of Jesus or of God. Usually I related to Jesus in stricly mental principles. However, the more I learn about Jesus and how He related to people, I find He has a wide range of emotions that are very delightful!<br /><br />Getting in touch with the fact that Jesus praised some people was a real encouragement to me. Often I could only see Jesus or God as finding faults with my short comings. However, when you take time to read the Gospels looking for how Jesus related to people, rather than just the words He spoke, you find some very encouraging human interactions.<br /><br />In Matthew 8:5 and Luke 7:1 you have the moment in history when Jesus entered the city of Capernaium. A Roman Centurion (captian of roughly a 100 men) came asking Jesus to heal his servant who was at home in terrible suffering. Jesus responds that He will go and heal the servant. The Centurion (a Gentile not a Jew) tells Jesus not to bother walking to his home because he knows that Jesus need only speak the word and the servant will be healed.<br /><br />The fascinating part is that Jesus is "astonished!" Luke 7:9 says that Jesus was "amazed!" Have you ever thought about Jesus being "amazed?" Well, He can be!<br /><br />Jesus turns to the people who were folling and exclaims "I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith." Jesus basically heaps praise on the non-Jewish Centurion! That is quite a compliment when you are a foreigner and Jesus tells everyone you have faith greater than any Jewish person - they have the history of the Law and the Prophets! That is pretty amazing. Jesus doesn't hold back with His praise.<br /><br />Another fascinating passage is Luke 15:21 where the Canaanite woman came asking Jesus to drive a demon out of her daughter. There is a strange encounter betweent he woman and Jesus as He describes his mission 1st to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. Rather than get offended at this I tend to think that Jesus was drawing this woman's faith out. In the end the woman persists with asking Jesus for help and He exclaims, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed that very hour.<br /><br />On of the things to notice here is how Jesus pours on the praise! Notice the exclamation mark. He doesn't just say, "Nice job." Jesus probably was speaking louder and with excitement because nothing excites Him more than faith: "Woman, you have great faith!" The disciples must have been amazed! They frequently were. The woman must have been thrilled! Jesus was.<br /><br />Another wonderful event is where Jesus praises Peter for hearing God's voice. Jesus is asking His disciples who people think Jesus is. Then Jesus asks, "Who do you think I am?" Peter replies, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus basically says, "Peter you are blessed! You have heard from my Father about my real identity" (Paraphrase - mine). Jesus praises Peter for hearing from God! Jesus is praising Peter in front of the rest of the disciples. He doesn't hold back!<br /><br />Jesus was not a boring emotionless person. He was very animated, very emotional. He was not passive. Jesus' emotions were stronger than ours! But His emotions were clean and entirely healthy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-37652638443268878182007-11-07T14:48:00.000-08:002008-07-12T16:02:27.688-07:00Audio: God Is Just Like JesusIf you would like an audio MP3 of the Women-2-Women talk: God Is Just Like Jesus please goto this link <a href="http://www.onlinethoughts.com/character_of_God/index.htm">http://www.onlinethoughts.com/character_of_God/index.htm</a> Right click the link that says "God Is Just Like Jesus" for Nov 7th 2007 and choose "Save Target As..." This will save the audio file to your computer for listening.<br /><br />If you do not have an MP3 player and need a CD of the talk, this may be possible. If this is the case please indicate in your email.<br /><br />Thanks,<br />ChrisUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-66702596283868040522008-05-26T14:53:00.000-07:002008-05-26T14:55:59.402-07:00The Things I Love About Jesus: His Anger Is So Clean & So AppropriateOne of the things I love about Jesus is that He clearly shows us how anger is supposed to exist in a healthy person. Much of our culture today strongly manipulates people to become passive... as if all anger is bad. Jesus does the opposite. He is deeply angered by evil and passive about things like people's appearances or station in life. He doesn't give more respect to a person who is influential or wealthy than a poor person.<br /><br />In Mark 3 Jesus enters a Synagogue presumably to teach. There was a man there who had a deformed hand that was shriveled or withered. The Pharisees and other leaders of Israel were present because they wanted to accuse Jesus and destroy Him. They are waiting to see if He will heal someone on the Sabbath which they feel is breaking the Law of Moses. Jesus knows all this.<br />Jesus calls the man with the deformed hand to step up and stand before everyone. The man does. Jesus then presents a question to the entire crowd and all the leaders that are conspiring against Him, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life and or to kill?" The biblical text says that all the leaders kept silent!<br /><br />Wow, don't you think even a child could answer that question? Surely God did not invent the Sabbath Law, that provides rest for people 1 day a week, to forbid that someone would get healed on that day? Any child could see that it would honor or glorify God to have a miracle happen on the Sabbath. But they kept silent.<br /><br />The text says Jesus "looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts." He then turns to the man saying, "Stretch out your hand." And the man is instantly healed!<br /><br />What I love about Jesus is that He is angry about the right things! He is angry that their hearts are so hard and un-yeilding towards caring about others. They are so committed to their religious system that is bringing shame to God's name. As if God was more concerned with a rigid and legalistic application of the Law than healing one of His humans! Their attitudes grieve Jesus! He is not passive about their attitudes. Jesus looks them all in the face clearly showing the anger on His face!<br /><br />Much of our culture would pressure us to conceal our anger in this situation. We are told to "be tolerant of all people." Our highest standard is being "nice" not honest. We are manipulated by our culture to not fight for what is right but to go limp and passive. Jesus doesn't do that. He stands up to the entire crowd.<br /><br />Most of the time our anger goes wrong because what we do with it is sinful. It is right to feel anger when someone is abused, manipulated, cheated or hurt. But how we act or react with this anger is the issue. Jesus doesn't swear, He doesn't rant or rave, He doesn't hit people or physically injure the leaders. He is angry and He doesn't hide it. But He maintains the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) called Self Control. Then He heals the man!<br /><br />Jesus' anger reveals God's anger. Jesus' emotions reveal God's emotions. Remember the verse in John 14:9 "If you have seen Me [Jesus], you have seen the Father!<br /><br />Immitation alone is not the main way we will change our emotions to be like His emotions. This is good, but the real power of change and transformation lies in the Holy Spirit. The Cross of Christ and the subsequent indwelling of the Holy Spirit are ways God deeply changes us. Our efforts to immitate Jesus are definitely required by scripture but we need to rely or lean on the Holy Spirit to bring the changes to pass. He is the One (based on what Jesus had done for us) that transforms our emotions and makes us like Him!<br /><br />Our anger can be clean AND serve the good purposes of God! Think of some of the followers of Jesus who actually got angry enough about injustice, abuse or poverty and actually did something about it?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-21381691284474325512008-05-25T14:16:00.000-07:002008-05-25T14:18:08.551-07:00Jesus' Words Can Only Be Understood in the Context of WHO He IsOften it seems that we listen to and wrestle with Jesus' words on their own apart from WHO Jesus is. We don't consider how He related to people AS we are trying to understand WHAT He said. Jesus' words can take very different meanings depending on who is uttering them. The issue concerns the character of the person uttering these words. What we need to do is consider the character of Jesus and then use that to interpret or apply His words. (Both interpretation and application are subject to His character.)<br /><br />Therefore I propose to examine Jesus' character and emotions to learn how to interpret and apply what Jesus says. The way I suggest doing this is to dig through the Gospels and look at how Jesus relates to different people. Once we get a more firm picture of Jesus' compassion, His mercy, His clean anger, His intensity, His patience and other character attributes ... then we are in a more healthy position to evaluate what He says. The difficulty is building a comprehensive picture of Jesus' character and emotions. It is easy to build a lop-sided view of Jesus as if He were only or excessively compassionate. Or draw a picture of Jesus that was only angry and intense. The liberal left in the Church want to portray Jesus as excessively compassionate without balancing it with Jesus' anger at evil or His justice. The extreme right in the Church want to portray Jesus as excessively angry or intense without remembering His tenderness or compassion or patience. Both of these extremes are heresy. That is a pretty strong word but it is true. C.S. Lewis often comments that Satan loves to get us to one of the 2 poles of extremes. We can be easily defeated in these positions. We need a healthy Biblical picture of Jesus that holds in tension His compassion and anger, His mercy and judgement and His other attributes. Then we have a clear less-distorted picture of Jesus... who is the very image of the invisible God! ("If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father!" - John 14:9)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-57012650807678581182008-05-22T09:17:00.000-07:002008-05-22T09:23:03.949-07:00The Things I Love About Jesus: Jesus Accepts the Sinful Woman but the Pharisee Rejects HerThere are lots of them. My heart throws off the heaviness of the world by gazing upon Jesus. He is absolutely stunning!<br /><br />Jesus is invited to have a meal with a Pharisee. During the meal a 'sinful' woman hears that Jesus is eating with this Pharisee and finds Him. (Luke Chapter 7: The text does not specifically mention her sin but is may very well be she was a prostitute.) The woman enters the house and stands behind Jesus weeping! Who knows what everyone was thinking. Did Jesus and this woman know each other? Why is she weeping behind Him? They are watching this woman that they know is an immoral woman weep and cry, at Jesus feet. Then she starts to wash His feet with her tears! She wipes them with her hair. Wow - that is pretty intimate, or strange, or something...<br /><br />The Pharisee reasons in his heart that Jesus definitely isn't a prophet because if He were, He wouldn't even let her touch Him! But here is what I love about Jesus: He is calm, steady and makes no move to reject or criticise this woman. In fact, he makes no move to distance Himself from her. He feels no need to clarify his relationship to her at all. Everyone can watch and think what they want. Jesus isn't worried about their opinions. He is just being all that He needs to be for this woman to be completely cleansed and healed. She is being given a new lease on life!<br /><br />Jesus accepts broken sinful human nature that falls at His feet! He is God! (John 14:9 "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father") So Jesus shows you exactly what God is like.<br /><br />The question that this passage answers is, "How do God and Satan relate to imperfect, sinful, weak human beings?" The other question is not even worth thinking about, "How do God and Satan relate to perfect human beings... beings who always do what is right and good." This 2nd question is worthless because there is not a single human that always does what is right and good. We are all evil, somewhere on the spectrum between Mother Teresa and Hitler. If Mother Teresa did things that were bad so that she needed to ask God for mercy (forgiveness) then certainly everyone else on the planet needs God's mercy as well. Therefore we are all imperfect, sinful, weak human beings.<br /><br />The wonderful thing to discover is how God relates to us. He longs to help any of us, from the most wicked to the least, to be honest about our evil and change. He wants us to ask for His help and mercy to make this possible. But He also wants us to put in our effort as well. You can see this as Jesus accepts the sinful woman, rejects all the accusing thoughts of the onlookers, and pronounces the woman forgiven. Then He compliments her on her great love!<br /><br />Isn't it great to see that Jesus compliments us? If you have had bad parents you may feel like God is always accusing you when you are not perfect. Well, none of us are going to be perfect. But some are actively trying to repent and respond to God. To do things His way. These people Jesus relates to as His sheep. May other people are not making the least effort to grow in righteousness at all.<br /><br />The other thing to discover in this passage is that the Pharisee basically represents how Satan relates to imperfect, sinful, weak human beings. He accuses the woman in his heart. He is not focused on helping the woman at all. The Pharisee's inner thoughts go something like this, "I am righteous, I wouldn't even let's this immoral woman touch me!" The Pharisee doesn't care about this poor woman. Yes, she has sinned. But haven't we all? How can we say our sin isn't serious but her's is? Isn't the condescending and accusing thoughts themselves sinful?<br /><br />Basically, in this passage you get a clear picture of how both God and Satan relate to weak sinful people. Both know that we have sinned. Satan seeks to accuse us, drive us to depression and despair and finally kill us. Jesus, however, helps us to repent and be freed from guilt and shame. He seeks to help us develop healthy patterns relating to ourselves and others. Jesus seeks to fill us with life. Healthy life causes the person to grow and everyone can see the good benefit. The life that the world seeks to bring us robs and we end up with a broken, cynical, burned out heart.<br /><br />If your "image" of God (in your heart not just your mind) becomes identical to Jesus, you internalize and experience the Good Life more fully.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-6246240255102321922008-05-20T12:56:00.000-07:002008-05-20T13:03:28.057-07:00The ways that Jesus showed He was God:Have you ever wondered how and where Jesus showed that He was God in the Bible? Interestingly he demonstrates it with particular actions more than He declares it with literal words. He seems to preserve 'free will' choice and allows those who will believe to believe and allows plenty of room for those who will not believe. No one is ever to be forced or coercered to believe in Jesus. Free will is crucial to the human heart being fully bonded to God. Said another way, union with God can only occur where both parties are freely consenting. And God, for His part, is fully desiring us to be 'with' Him.<br />Below are several events from the life of Jesus where He reveals His divinity. ( A Muslim person emailed me asking for evidence that Jesus claimed to be God. That is when I composed this list.)<br />1. Jesus Accepts Worship<br />--- The disciples worship Jesus after He calms the storm on the sea: Matthew 14:33<br />In the chronology of Jesus' life several events have occurred. Jesus has sent the 12 out to preach and demonstrate the power of the Kingdom of God. They returned and tell Jesus what they taught, the demons they cast out and all those they have seen healed from sicknesses. They are tired so Jesus takes them to a deserted place for some rest. (Mark 6:30-32) The crowds, however, find out where Jesus is and follow Him. Jesus teaches the crowds. After some time Jesus is concerned that the people may faint on the way home. Moved by compassion Jesus multiplies 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish miraculously to feed 5,000 men and who knows how many women and children. After this He instructs the disciples to get in the boat and cross the sea to Bethsaida while He sent the multitude away. The wind is contrary to the disciples so they end up struggling at the oars of the boat to get to the other side. In the early hours of the morning Jesus sets out over the sea walking on the actual water. When the disciples see Him they are terrified. Through a series of events Peter actually steps out of the boat and walks on the water towards Jesus a bit. When Peter and Jesus both step foot the text says that the disciples "who were in the boat come and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:33) Jesus accepts this worship and does not prevent them from doing so.<br />This is contrasted with Revelation 19:10 where John falls at the angel's feet to worship him and the angel prevents John from doing this. An old testament Prophet would have said the same thing, "I am only a servant like you John, don't worship me." Jesus, being God, rather than an angel or a prophet does not prevent people worshipping Him.<br />--- Jesus accepts worship from the Canaanite woman who's daughter had a demon Matthew 15:25<br />A gentile woman approaches Jesus asking Him to heal her demonized daughter. The text says, "Then she came and worshipped Him, saying, 'Lord, help me!' " The woman worships Jesus and He makes no issue about it whatsoever.<br />2. Jesus forgives sins. Only God can forgive sins. Mark 2:5<br />--- Jesus heals a man who is paralysed. The man's friend actually tear a whole in the roof of the building where Jesus is teaching. They let the man down through the roof. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you."<br />The Pharisees understand what is happening. The reason in their hearts, "Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"<br />There are other examples of Jesus forgiving sins - but one should suffice.<br />3. Jesus weeps over Jerusalem and discreetly confesses that He is the One who has been sending all the prophets and wise men into the world Matthew 23:37<br />--- C.S. Lewis notes that Jesus, as He is approaching Jerusalem before they kill Him, breaks down and weeps over the city saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"<br />Now on a 1st reading you might miss a lot in this passage. In an almost casual way Jesus claims to be the Eternal Power that has send all the prophets and messengers to Jerusalem. It is fascinating! Without introduction or further clarification Jesus just states that He is the Eternal One who has been trying to protect and nurture the people of Israel.<br />4. Jesus declares that He existed before Abraham (and any other humans) were born. John 8:58<br />--- Only God has always existed. Scripture declares that humans only exists from their conception on into the future. Humans do not exist before they are created at conception. However, Jesus declares that He did exist before He was born as a human.<br />Jesus is talking with the Jewish leaders declaring that they will remain in their sin unless they believe in Him. The Jewish leaders attack Him asking where is your father that you so often talk about. Essentially they are accusing Him of being conceived outside of marriage. They may have heard the rumors that Mary was pregnant before she and Joseph were married. Jesus and the Jewish leaders start talking about Abraham. At the end of the conversation, when the argument has come to a climax, Jesus declares, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."<br />Those 2 words, "I AM" are capitalized in the Scripture. These 2 words are the Name of God - the name that God gave Himself to Moses. Then Moses could then tell the Israelites who had sent him (Moses) to them. (Exodus 4 mentions God 1st using the name "I AM.") Jesus uses these most sacred words to essentially declare that He (Jesus) is the uncreated, eternal God!<br />The interesting thing about the events we have looked at (above) is that Jesus doesn't often declare in black and white words that He is God. However, the things that He does declares it loud and clear for any that are willing to believe in Him and obey Him.<br />Outside of these events there are, of course, the times Jesus SAYS things that reveal His equality or Oneness with God. For example:<br />1. "I and My Father are one." - John 10:30<br />2. Jesus claims to give life to people even as God Himself gives life - John 5:21<br />--- "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will." - John 5:21<br />3. Jesus equates Himself with Life Itself! Which is to equate Himself with God!<br />--- "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life."<br />There are others verses of course. But the point of this paper is to point out the Events in Jesus life where He REVEALS His divine nature in fascinating and shocking ways!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-45483666881830449622007-11-06T20:32:00.000-08:002007-11-06T20:41:19.330-08:00An Introduction to the Character of GodWhere do you get your values in life from? What is your foundation? Where have you gone to build your philosophy regarding life and reality? Most people get their values from their friends, the TV, movies, music or magazines. Usually our friend’s values are just derived from the last 4 sources. I would like to suggest that there is a unique and amazing sources to derive our values and life philosophy from. By digging into the Gospels of the Bible you run into the most intriguing, the most dynamic, the most fully alive human ever to walk the earth… Jesus. If you study his actions and interactions with people you find an electric human being who supersedes even Buddha, Gandhi and Muhammad! Consider the actions of Jesus who was a teacher (Buddha and Gandhi claimed to be teachers), who was a prophet (Muhammad claimed to be a prophet) but who additionally claimed to be the Jewish God who created all of nature that had become a human like His creation! Some of the Jewish people were so outraged by His claims that they tried to kill him on multiple occasions.I am absolutely convinced that when you see the beauty, strength, tenderness and justice of the historical life of Jesus you will find the One worth all your fascination, honor and worship! Fascination is worship.The world is an interesting place presently. China is the new superpower or will be shortly. America will have to re-define it’s position. Islam is on the rise. Much of Europe is seeing a radical decline of ‘active’ faith in Jesus. Some state churches remain and some burned out husks of vibrant faith in Jesus remain, but largely the continent has atrophied in terms of a passionate faith in Jesus. Islam is moving in quickly to fill the void. France is in dire trouble as 20% of the population or more are Muslim and laws, rules and society are being radically redefined. England and other counties are being heavily influenced as well. Additionally technology is finally developed that allows incredible surveillance of individuals. Database archives in Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and a fleet of others aggregate information on the lives of the masses. Emails, chat sessions, blogs, web sites – any form of electronic communication is archived for searching at later dates. Satellite photography is able to present you will a picture of your own home and many other areas. The resolution is such that police can use real time digital satellite imagery to search for objects as small as bullet shells on the ground. GPS satellite positing system can track any object or anyone who bears a transceiver. RFID (Radio Frequency ID) technology are miniature chips that can be implanted in objects, pets, children or adults for instantaneous location. The power available is staggering.In an ever changing world, what is your foundation for living? What will you live for? What will you die for?Into such a forum I would like to put forth The Character of God. My premise will be that you can know the Character of God who is invisible but ever present but knowing one person. That person would be Jesus. Listen to a few verses from the Bible as it informs us regarding the most unique human to walk the earth.Jesus has told His 12 followers that He will shortly be killed and taken away. There is confusion about what exactly Jesus means. The disciples are stressed and depressed! Jesus tells them not to be worried. They will be able to find Him. Thomas speaks up saying, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus responds mysteriously saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except thought Me. If you really knew Me, you would know the father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen him.” The disciples love that statement! Philip says, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus replies making an earth shattering statement:<br /><br /><br /><strong>“Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father!” John 14:9 </strong><br /><br />That is the whole focus of our philosophy of life. If you want to know what God is like look at what Jesus is like. Do you want to know about how God feels about you? Look at how Jesus feels about you! Do you want to know how God relates to people? Look at how Jesus relates to people! Do you want to know about God’s emotional makeup? Take a good look at Jesus’ emotional makeup! If you have seen Jesus you have seen God the Father! This is not another teacher like Buddha or Gandhi. This is God who put on the DNA that He created and became a human. Why? To bear the sins of the world? Absolutely. He is the victorious King that is come to deliver us from our selves, sin and Satan. But there is even more. He came to show us what He is like so that we could relate to Him and trust Him! Life consists of knowing Him, not merely going through the traditions of Church or showing up on Sunday.Consider another verse. Jesus declared what people would see when they looked at Him:<br /><br /><br /><strong>“When he [any person] looks at Me, he sees the One who sent Me.” John 12:45 </strong><br /><br />When anyone looks at Jesus and see’s His Character and how He relates to people, he or she see’s the One who sent Jesus into the World.Consider how the writer of Hebrews puts it:<br /><br /><br /><strong>“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.” Hebrews 1:3 </strong><br /><br />Isn’t that fascinating? Jesus is the exact representation of God! How does God forgive and enjoy weak and insecure human beings? Just look at how Jesus related to people. How does God resist the proud and arrogant full of their agendas willing to crush anyone who stands in their way? Just look at Jesus. How does God regard the children? How does God relate to the women, even in old times when they didn’t have women’s rights? Just look at Jesus. He is the exact representation of God’ being!Lastly look at a verse from Paul as he writes to the Colossians:<br /><br /><br /><strong>“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God...” Colossians 1:15 </strong><br /><br />How much clearer does it get? Jesus is the clear image in a human world of God who is invisible! Given all this, let’s take a look at how He relates to people.I want to consider the full spectrum of Jesus character. I will use 2 terms from scripture to serve as extremes to cover the breath of His wonderful character… the Lamb of God (John 1:29) and the Lion of Judah (Rev 5:5). The Lamb of God will be used to describe Jesus willingness to lay down His incredible life for us, the tenderness of Jesus and the compassion of Jesus. The Lion of Judah will represent the other extreme. It will denote the fierceness of Jesus, the anger of Jesus and His imperial resolution to destroy Satan and all of his works. In between the two we will consider Jesus patience, his approachability, his consistency.<br /><br />8.27.2006<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">The Character of God equals The Character of Jesus</span> </strong><br /></span><br />Let’s first consider the tenderness of Jesus. In Mark 10 we see Jesus relating to the children. Remember that this is somewhere in the middle of Jesus ministry. He has called the 12 disciples, they have been sent out on missionary journeys to villages to prepare for Jesus arrival, he has ascended the Mount of Transfiguration and he has had increasing conflict with the Pharisees. Amid all this activity Jesus receives parents who are bringing their little children to Jesus to touch them and pray for them. The text says:<br /><br /><strong>“And he took the children into His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them.” Mark 10:16 </strong><br /><br />I find the tenderness of Jesus wonderful! He stops His busy schedule, perhaps interrupts whatever leaders He was talking to, interrupts the disciples agenda for Him and takes time to hold these little boys and girls. He takes them in His arms, not merely patting them on their heads but hold them! And he takes the time to pray for them and bless them. He is making eye contact with them and enjoying them! It is incredible! In an instant you get a picture of how God is enjoying us! How tender He is with us!<br /><br />Now contrast this with the attitude of the disciples. They are trying to keep the parents and children away from Jesus. They are actually rebuking the people as they bring their kids to Jesus! It may have been that the disciples saw Jesus as the important leader who was engaging the leaders of Israel on many important and eternal issues. In their eyes Jesus may not have had time for kids. The state of the nation of Israel was at stake! Messianic prophesies were coming to pass! But Jesus is so different! He IS the rightful King of the earth who will one day rule supremely. But he has time for the smallest and youngest of our race. Even the little boy or girl has a place in His sight that will not be over looked. He will rule the nations but He will also take care of every lamb.<br /><br />Let’s contrast Jesus tenderness with His fierceness. The more you understand His anger and His intensity the more you will love Him. Often God’s clean anger means protection for the weak. Right after Jesus' Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem and before the Chief Priests orchestrate His death, Jesus enters the Temple. He launches into an attack on all the business people who have reduced the temple from a place to seek God to a money making opportunity where they are selling their products. He enters the temple and turns over the tables of those changing money from foreign currencies to the money used in the temple. He overturns the benches of those selling doves. He makes a whip out of cords and drives everyone out of the temple. He scatters the coins of the money changers on the ground! He attacks the whole group of business men and throws them out of the temple. To those who sell doves He says, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a market!” (John 2:16) In Mark 11:16 it says that Jesus “would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.” He stops all commerce and refocuses everyone’s attention on the fact that the temple is the single place in all Israel that is “God’s House.” And this house is for the people to come and pray and connect with God! This is not just for the Israelites but for anyone from any nation. “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations…” (Mk 11:17) And Jesus continues, “But you have made it a ‘den of robbers’ “ The accusation is complete. Jesus has assessed the entire situation and they have been found to be robbers merely making money and hindering the sole purpose of the temple. This purpose was to welcome people of any nation to come and seek God and get help for their lives. He is furious about it! And He does something about it!<br />After Jesus clears the temple He sits down and teaches the people. Matt 21:14 says, “The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.” That is what the temple is for and Jesus establishes that purpose. The children are running around shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” Isn’t it fascinating that the anger of Jesus results in health? The fierceness of Jesus results in the blind and the lame being healed! The weak are able to find the care and attention they need from God in His house! The greedy business man who perverts anything for money is intensely driven out! (The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. 1 Timothy 6:10) Isn't Jesus all together wonderful?<br /><br />God's fierceness and anger in the earth results in cleansing and justice. His anger is not like human anger that merely results in people being destroyed or killed. His anger results in wrongs being make right and people coming closer to God and being made whole.<br />Lastly let’s look at Jesus’ Character somewhere in between His tenderness and His fierceness.<br />Let’s consider the woman in John chapter 8. Apparently the Pharisees have caught this married woman in bed with another man. They have drug her before Jesus quoting the Old Testament saying that she should be hit with rocks until she dies! One must beg the question, “where is the man?” But the Pharisees have arranged for the guy to get off but not the woman. They have plotted her death. Jesus has another idea. Jesus is well acquainted with the scripture they are referring to. Jesus was aware that the vicious Pharisees were trying to trap Him to destroy Him. Jesus confronts the whole group and convicts them saying, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jesus is writing on the ground with his finger before and after he says this. Then one by one the group walks away starting with the older ones until even the younger ones leave. Jesus finally stands up and asks the woman where her accusers are. “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replies, “No one, sir.” And Jesus continues, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” Now notice one very crucial fact. There is only 1 person in this group who had no sin… Jesus. She had committed the sin of cheating on her husband. Jesus could have cast the first stone and started the whole thing. What does that tell you about Jesus? He doesn’t want to destroy our lives, He longs to save us. Therefore so does God. “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9) Consider Jesus' overall actions. He basically acts to protect the woman caught in sin and challenges her to stop sinning and start following God. Isn’t that amazing? It is one thing to see Jesus’ protection of someone innocent, but it is beautiful to see His protection on someone guilty. But it is not only protection He also confronts her to leave the thing killing her. He sexual activity is cancer on her soul and it is killing her. He acts to see her protected here. He doesn’t want her to live and die with that infestation in her being, in her spirit. He knows what it will do to her now and in eternity. The beauty of Jesus here is wonderful! Can’t we commit to follow one like this? Can’t we commit to swear our loyalty to one like this?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-1158682783697292642006-09-19T09:17:00.000-07:002006-09-21T20:03:09.043-07:00Bad Religion vs Good ReligionIn our modern world that so desperately needs Good Religion we find our self struggling intensely, world wide, with Bad Religion. We want to present a clear picture of Jesus so that people can find protection against the storms of this life. However we are so inundated in Bad Religion that people hear our words about Good Religion and associate them with Bad Religion. A word that can mean the deepest experience of love, joy, strength and peace to us can mean, to someone else, an experience of fear, control, violation and guilt.<br />I will focus on Christianity but you will find these parallels in other religions and philosophies as well. Bad Religion, as I will speak of it, comes in two different extremes. On one side you have the <strong>Right Wing Controlling version of Christianity</strong>. This group of people, which can be found in any denomination, fundamentally tears people down rather than builds them up. Controlling Christianity deprives people of free will and does not invite them to think for themselves. It breeds fear that you have a very narrow way to live life and if you do anything outside of how THEY define what is right and wrong God will be angry with you. They use the Bible to support their points but very often the verses are taken out of context or the tone of the passage is altered. Often they support their agenda with only one distorted facet of Jesus’ Character and neglect to paint the complete healthy picture of Jesus. Jesus is portrayed as legalistic, angry, and impossible to please … more concerned about the law than the people He created. This version of Christianity leaves healthy authority behind and becomes extremely authoritarian. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day clearly represent this version of Judaism. They attacked Jesus relentlessly while claiming that they were of God. They intensely studied the Bible. (which at the time was only the Old Testament) But they studied the Bible to find out God “rules” and how to get what they wanted out of Him rather than studying the Old Testament to know God – His justice, goodness, trustworthiness, joy and mercy! Their emotional picture of God was someone strict and fearsome who held total power over them. Since they had this emotional picture of God it is no wonder they projected fear when they taught about God. Interestingly John 16:2 comes to mind when you consider the Controlling version of Christianity. Jesus warned His disciples that a time was coming when people who killed the disciples would think they were offering a service to God. “They will do such things because they have NOT known the Father or me.” The emotional picture the Pharisees had of God was probably closer to a picture of Satan. I also think of Radical Islam. They suicide bomb cities and kill innocent men, women and even little children thinking they are serving God. They actually serve Satan. Why? Because they have not known God!<br />On the other side you have the <strong>Left Wing Liberal version of Christianity</strong>. Liberal Christianity is permissive and not concerned with the law of moral behavior or truth unless it fits their personal agenda at the time. Scripture is completely reinterpreted for “the modern era” so that passages that do not fit their view point are quickly tossed out. They “re-interpret” scripture removing the obvious meaning and replacing it with something to suit their personal opinions. They refuse to preach the “whole Bible” but only the parts they choose to fit their whims. They are not subject to God’s healthy authority but set themselves up as an authority themselves! They stand as judges over the Bible being their own authorities! Liberal Christianity is more concerned with “accepting” everyone, being sensitive and “nice” rather than combining compassion with truth. It would be more honest if they created a new name for their philosophy… “The Neo-Christians” or “The Liberal Way” or “The New World Religion.” Their emotional picture of God is that of a benevolent old grandfather who smiles at everyone and only , “wants everyone to be happy and get along,”… all the while winking at sin and violations of truth and integrity. Why do they do this? They have not known either the Father or Jesus. The Sadducees of Jesus day remind me of this twisted version of Christianity. They destroy people’s ability to have faith in Christ because people assume they have heard the message of Jesus from the Bible but they have only heard the minister’s personal opinion. People engage in all types of sin: lust, sexual indulgence, horoscopes, magic arts, falsehood etc… thinking, “The bible isn’t valid. There is no reason not to do these things.” The verse that comes to mind here is what Jesus spoke to the Sadducees, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” (Matthew 22:29)<br /><strong>If we base our understanding of God on the Character and Personality of Jesus it will protect us from either of these perversions of Christianity.</strong> We need to build our mental picture of God based on Jesus’ Character from Scripture. We also need to build our emotional picture of God based on Jesus. We need excellent doctrine about God so that we can think clearly about Him and respond clearly to Him. This is mostly our mental picture of God. However, we also need to identify how we feel about God. This is our emotional picture of God. Often we are not consciously aware of our emotional picture of God. Looking at Jesus interaction with people and understanding His emotions is one of the best ways to heal our emotion picture of God. The Disciples represent those people who are avoiding both extremes of Christianity by focusing on Jesus and relating to God through him.<br /><br /><strong>Let’s consider the tender side of Jesus’ Character</strong>. In John 11 Jesus hears that Lazarus, His friend, is sick. Jesus knew this family. It was Lazarus’ sister Mary who had broken open the Alabaster jar of perfume over Jesus. When Jesus arrives in Bethany Lazarus has died. There are mourning people everywhere. Martha, Lazarus’ other sister, runs out to Jesus when she hears He has arrived. Martha comes back and tells Mary and she runs out to Jesus, falls at His feet and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” The text says that when He saw Mary weeping and the others with her weeping He was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” Isn’t it wonderful to know that our suffering and loss can move Jesus? That it affects Him? That He is touched by it? We do not suffer alone but God is always with us and knows how we feel. If you have seen Jesus you have seen God. Jesus then asks where they buried Lazarus. They take Jesus to the tomb and show Him. Jesus weeps! Isn’t He amazing? He is the rightful ruler of the entire human race and yet He is deeply impacted by Lazarus’ death and everyone’s love for him. He is the eternal King of Heaven and yet He weeps over one. Jesus then has the tomb opened and then He shouts, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead one rises!<br /><br /><strong>Let’s consider Jesus’ intensity and fierceness.</strong> On one occasion Jesus is teaching in one of the synagogues. There is a woman there who has been bent over and crippled by a demonic spirit for 18 years. She could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her He called her forward and put His hands on her saying, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” She immediately straightened up and praised God! The synagogue ruler, however, was indignant and told all the people that they should not come to be healed on the Sabbath because it was God’s day and there were 6 other days to do work! Jesus turns on him fiercely, “You Hypocrites!” And then He challenges the synagogue rulers about work they do on the Sabbath, “Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” Jesus attack the synagogue leader and puts him in his place! Jesus confronts his two faced hypocrisy. The ruler does work on the Sabbath but is trying to forbid Jesus from healing someone on the Sabbath? What madness! And Jesus exposes him in front of all the people. “When He said this, all His opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things He was doing.” (Luke 13:10 – 17) Isn’t it great that the fierce anger of Jesus results in the evil leader being publicly humiliated and the weak everyday person being healed? Isn’t it encouraging that Jesus anger protects the weak and oppressed people? If Jesus was passive she would still be crippled and would have died crippled. Jesus knows when to be tender and when to be intense. And so does God. If you have seen Jesus you have seen God. His anger puts wrong things right. Our society often says that anger is bad. But it isn’t. If it is clean pure anger like Jesus’ it will result in people being built up and not destroyed. It will result in evil being driven out. It will result in the weak being protected and healed. Man’s anger, often, does not produce this. Man’s anger usually hurts other people and destroys lives and nations. But we can learn to be like Jesus. He will help us.<br /><br /><strong>Lastly let’s look at Jesus’ patience and grace</strong> with which He builds up the disciples even when they are sinning and failing. This is somewhere in between Jesus’ tenderness and His fierceness. In Mark 9:30 Jesus had told the disciples once again that He will instead of coming into greater and greater power in the nation of Israel politically, He will in fact be betrayed soon. And this betrayal will ultimately result in His death. However, after 3 days He will rise from the dead. The disciples don’t understand all this but they are afraid to ask Him. On their way through Galilee they eventually come to Capernaum. The disciples had been having a discussion on the road. Jesus asks them about it and they remained silent because they had been arguing about who was the greatest among them! Isn’t this crazy. Jesus has told them that He will be killed. They don’t fully understand that. Then they have an argument about which one of them is the greatest! And this isn’t the only time this has occurred. Jesus doesn’t freak out. He doesn’t have a melt down. He doesn’t chide them about being arrogant and self centered! Imagine some spiritual leader that you look up to. What if they caught you and 11 others were having a serious argument about who was the greatest? Would they be frustrated and annoyed at you for being immature? Would they berate you regarding sin? Would they look down on you? Jesus response is so interesting. Jesus goes and sits down. He then calls the 12 to him. Then he just talks to them about really being great. “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Jesus basically says that desiring to be great is a good thing, but it is very important how you go about it. Jesus (Matt 18:2) calls a little child and has him stand among them. Jesus then tells the disciples, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Jesus just helps them work through their issue. He is patient with the disciple and builds them up and focuses them in the right direction. Amazing! He doesn’t crush their godly desire to be great. He helps them to attain that!<br /><br /><strong>If you have seen Jesus you have seen God</strong>! Remember His tenderness: when you suffer loss Jesus feels it with you. When you feel alone in the world, Jesus’ compassion is there for you. The doors to His heart are open. Remember Jesus clean and pure anger when oppressive people hold power over you. If you are a victim of someone’s choices… PRAY…. because He is upset about that and will act to put that situation right! Remember Jesus working with the disciples when you become aware of your sins of pride, arrogance and self centeredness. Don’t agree with the enemy and condemn yourself. Agree with Jesus and realize that He cares for you and is teaching you a better way to become truly great! That is His desire for you! If you have seen Jesus you have seen the Father! (John 14:9)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-1156089842314878792006-08-20T09:00:00.000-07:002006-08-30T20:19:15.893-07:00The Character of God - Another IntroductionFaith based on anything else than God’s character and personality is like living on thin ice over shark infested waters. Sometimes true faith in God is reduced to ‘blind faith.’ That is ‘trusting God’ without really knowing who He is, what He is like or what He would do in a particular situation. You can ‘trust’ anyone with this kind of faith. It lacks a foundation in the person’s character.<br />Other people progress to having faith in God in terms of trusting His principles. These principles are godly ones derived from the Bible. This is good because these principles have been ordained by God himself. This is part of true faith. However there is a difference between trusting God’s principles and trusting God himself. It is one thing to trust the law of sowing and reaping as a principle. But it is another thing to trust the ONE who implemented that law. It is great to start with godly principles but let’s continue on to the deepest motivation to trust Him… His character.<br />I wanted to write an article on this subject because I consider absolutely crucial for Christian faith. It concerns the foundation of our faith. Knowing God’s Character is the absolute tap root for true faith. But how do we find out the Character of the almighty, invisible, eternal One who created the known physical universe and yet transcends it?<br />Jesus is the answer. In John chapter 14 Jesus tells the disciples that he is going away. They don’t exactly know what He means. They don’t yet know He will be crucified and killed. The disciples, understandably, are concerned and confused. Jesus says that they will know how to find Him because they know the Father. The disciples jump on that and ask Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus responds saying,<br /><div align="center"><br /><strong>“Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.” – John 14:9</strong> </div><div align="left"><br />Now that is a curious thing to say. There is a lot in that statement. Somehow that explains how the disciples will find Jesus after He has gone away.<br />This one statement (and other similar verses) bring the laser point definition to this paper. If you have seen Jesus you have seen God. If you know how Jesus relates to people, you know how God relates to people. If you know how Jesus relates to the world you know how God relates to the world. If you know how Jesus deals with global issues of justice, suffering and human relationships you know how God deals with these issues. If you know Jesus feels about these things you know how God feels about them.<br />Let me clarify one thing. We don’t know when God will do something or how God will do it. But we can trust that God is active on our behalf for our good because we know WHO He is. We can clearly see the differences between God’s character, our character or Satan’s character (although many have these confused). I think the authoritative source to derive this information about God’s character and personality is the testimony of the Bible about Jesus’ character and personality.<br />The way we clearly understand God’s character is by looking at specific events in Jesus’ life. Then we connect the two saying, “Did you see what Jesus did? That is exactly what God would do in this situation!” One of the many things Jesus did while here on earth was to show us what God was really like. What would he do in certain situations? How would He relate to different people? What are His eternal and perfect emotions like? What does He think?<br />As we look at various events of Jesus’ life we will see the full spectrum of His Character. The scriptures call Jesus both, “The Lamb of God” and “The Lion of Judah.” (Jn 1:35 and Rev 5:5) These statements will serve as end points on the spectrum of His Character while including everything in between. At times you see the tenderness of Jesus. At other times you see the fierceness of Jesus. At times you see the patience of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t fall into one extreme or the other but His Character contains the whole healthy spread from one end to the other.<br />Jesus came to die in order to bear our sins for us and free us. This was not His only mission. He also came to show us what His Father is like! To bring us into relationship with His Father. John 17:3 says basically ‘to know God IS eternal life’. There is no mystery about it. Jesus came to dispel confusion about His Father’s character and bring clarity. We call that revelation. “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” Let’s take a look at some of the aspects of Jesus character and personality realizing that this is exactly how God relates to us.<br /><br />The way Jesus relates to the woman caught in adultery tells you what God does – Remember how Jesus related to the woman in John 8 that the Pharisees had caught in the very act of having sex with a man that was not her husband? He protects her from those who are seeking to kill her. Not only does He protect her but He also confronts her sins which are destroying her. That is how God relates to us. Consider this the next time you are in sin. God is going to protect you from Satan but He is also going to deal with you regarding your sin. It is both, not just one or the other. Because it is both it is healthy. “If you have seen Me you have seen the Father.” God protects us from those who seek to destroy us and He confronts our sinful choices where we are harming ourselves.<br /><br />Jesus is patient with the disciples, even when they are competing for power… Therefore so is God! – Look at Mark 9 & 10 and Luke 22. The disciples are vying for power. They are arguing about who is the greatest. Does Jesus get upset with them and angry about this carnal display? Does He become impatient? No. He simply grabs a little child in His arms and teaches them that it is not bad to want to be the greatest but it is important how you go about it. In the next chapter (Mark 10) James and John make an attempt to get the seats directly to the right and left of Jesus in the Heavenly Throne room! Wow – that is bold! But don’t you love Jesus’ response? He isn’t offended. He just redirects them and teaches them that true leadership is about servant hood. There is a curious fact here. Have you even thought about how approachable Jesus must have been for them to have even considered asking this? Ask a typical church leader if you can get the highest seats of honor in Heaven and they will rebuke you for pride and arrogance. But Jesus didn’t. They thought He might give it to them if they just asked! That shows you something wonderful about how Jesus related to them on a daily basis. Well, if you have seen Jesus you have seen the Father! This is how God relates to us when we are competing for position, recognition or power. He is not angry when we are immature. He simply works with us to bring about His will and our maturity and blessings.<br /><br />The Fierceness of Jesus is revealed against the religious leaders. Therefore consider God’s fierceness! In Luke 13 Jesus is teaching in a Synagogue. A woman is there who has been crippled by a spirit for 18 years. She is bent over and cannot stand up. Jesus pronounces her deliverance, lays hands on her and she is instantly healed. When the synagogue ruler sees this he is indignant telling people to come and be healed on the other days of the week but not the Sabbath. In fierceness the Lord confronts him, “YOU HYPOCRITES!” Notice the exclamation mark. Can you see the intensity in Jesus’ face and body language? He then confronts them asking how they can untie their animals to water them on the Sabbath and not consider that ‘work’ but then turn around and tell the people not to seek healing on the Sabbath because that would be work! Jesus doesn’t stand for that! Jesus may be compassionate, he may be merciful but He is NEVER passive! Passivity is often a sin because we don’t care enough about someone else to take action. Jesus was never passive.<br /><br />The way Jesus related to Peter after his denial is how God relates to us! – It is wonderful to remember how Jesus dealt with Peter after he denied even knowing Jesus! In Matthew 26:74 it says that Peter even called down curses on himself to confirm that he didn’t know Jesus. That shocks most of us because we remember the verse that says, “If you deny Me, I will deny you before My Father in heaven.” We mis-apply that verse and get ourselves very confused about Jesus’ character and thereby God’s character. God is not talking about a one time denial. Otherwise Peter would have been out… permanently. Look at how Jesus interacts with Peter in John 21. Jesus meets them on the beach after He has risen from the dead. He confronts the issue of Peter’s denial and reinstates Peter as the leader of His new Church based on love. Jesus asks Peter 3 times if he loves Him (1 for each denial). Are we connecting with the fact that this is God’s way of dealing with us when we fall and sin? Are we realizing that these are the emotions of God? This is how He relates to us when we seriously fail? He comes to us, confronts the issues, cares for us and works to reinstate us in the proper time and place. God doesn’t abandon us! He fights for us! That’s who God is. And we know it because that is who Jesus is.<br /><br />Jesus is full of mercy not revenge. Therefore so is God! – in the final moments of Jesus life after incredible injustice, torture and the mocking of His enemies Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, they don’t even know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) It is very clear that Jesus was never revengeful. This means that God isn’t either. We have so much corrupted input from movies and TV that we think God’s anger is about revenge… but it isn’t. Neither Jesus nor God is bent on revenge like all of our modern day movie heroes. God isn’t like Rambo who ruthlessly kills people because he was dealt with unjustly. God isn’t like the Terminator who says, “I’ll be back” and slaughters everyone. Jesus will take ‘vengeance’ on Satan and those who adopt his values, but it isn’t blood thirsty revenge. Jesus was intensely angry with the Pharisees but He never sought to destroy them – only to confront them and present them with an opportunity to change (repent) and preserve themselves from damnation. He wasn’t trying to tear them down. He was giving them yet another opportunity to repent and build them up!<br /><br />See how much more naturally you can trust your life and soul to God when you base it on His character and personality as seen in the life of Jesus? I have memorized list of events from Jesus life so that during times of struggle and warfare I can immediately fight by reminding myself of the character of God… even if I am asleep at night. When I have to resist fear, condemnation, depression or despair I can instantly remember how Jesus related to various people and how God is relating to me right now! Without a doubt this empowers me to overcome!<br />Having ‘blind faith’ is a disaster waiting to happen. Basing our faith on godly principles is good, but basing it on His character is the best! We need both, but we need trust based on His character as our foundation. Faith based on God’s character is able to withstand suffering and persecutions. We are going to need to be prepared for this in the future. Presently we are dealing with the radical advances of Islam, terrorism and an emerging unified world government that may not always be friendly towards followers of Jesus. We are going to have to trust God based on His character. We need to prepare now!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-1155784916137677492006-08-16T20:20:00.000-07:002006-08-24T21:06:17.853-07:00Fascination with JesusWho is Jesus? What is He like? What is His Peronality like? That is such a fascinating question. I am not going to offer a lot of insights but I am going to present several real life experiences in Jesus' life and let you ponder them. I think that delight, wonder and awe will move you to fascination regarding this most intriguing person. Luke 24 vs 13 - 48 records some very interesting events. Jesus has been killed and subsequently reappeared as a living person to a few people. Two of his disciples are walking along the road to Emmaus discussing the horrible events in Jerusalem. Jesus walks up next to them. Strangely they do not recognize him. Something about his appearance is different. Jesus asks them what they are talking about. The disciples are so depressed about the supposed finality of Jesus death that the text says, "They stood still, with their faces downcast." They didn't even know what to say to this person who just approached them. They ask this stranger if he has only just arrive in Jerusalem for a visit? Doesn't he know what has been going on? Pardon me for saying it, but Jesus plays dumb with them to draw the out, "What things?" (Isn't that interesting? When does Jesus do this with us?) They tell him what has just transpired. Jesus chastises them for being slow to believe all that the scripture has said about Him. As they are approaching their destination Jesus pretends that He is going further down the road! (Again, isn't that interesting?) They compel Him to stay with them. The scripture puts it this way: "They urged Him strongly, 'Stay with us....' " Then they eat. Jesus breaks the bread, gives thanks, immediately they recognize who He is. Immediately He disappears. The whole event is fascinating. Why does Jesus approach them without revealing who He is? Why does He play dumb? Why does He pretend that He is going further down the road? Why does he disappear right after breaking the bread? It is intriguing. They burn with excitement and run all the way back to Jerusalem. Before they can tell everyone what has happened the other disciples burst out, "Jesus is actually alive and Peter has seen Him!" Then the 2 disciples tell their story about the road to Emmaus and how Jesus walked with them unknown. The text says, "While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them...." Why does He disappear and then show up again a little later once the 2 disciples have joined the others? Why not walk back with them? Oh, one more question... Why does Jesus veil His appearance to the two disciples along to the road to Emmaus, but not to the whole group when He appears in their midst? Did it do something to the two on the Emmaus road to have their "hearts burning" (vs 32) while Jesus talked to them disguised? Was Jesus drawing them to Himself in some way? A similar thing occurs in Mark 6:45 – 52. Jesus has just feeding 5,000 people by divine multiplication of food. He tells the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side of the lake to Bethsaida. Jesus then goes up the mountain to pray. Sometime later during the evening Jesus sees the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. During the “fourth watch of the night” which is the very early morning Jesus walks out on the water towards them. The text says, “He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him they were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them…”<br /><br />Isn’t this amazing? Not only is Jesus walking on the water, but He is acting like he is going to pass right by them as they are straining at the oars trying advance against the wind!<br /><br />Why does He do this?<br /><br />Walking on the water itself is enough to begin convincing them that he is not just another moral teacher. He is something way more than that! Mortal man begins to come into contact with Immortal God who has absolute authority over nature. Shocking! But it is an interesting way to teach.<br /><br />But why act like he is going to pass them by? If they had not ‘cried out’ with terror, would he have passed them by? Would he have waited for them on the shore? Was He planning on getting in the boat all along? What effect did all this have on these disciples?<br /><br />I don’t know the answers to these questions. It is Jesus - you just have to get used to Him doing things His way! However, wresting with His personally does teach you about WHO He is, personally.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32865483.post-1156088477542425962006-08-20T08:40:00.000-07:002006-08-24T21:05:37.856-07:00What Peter Shows Us about JesusLet’s consider Matt 17: 1-8 and the Mount of Transfiguration. Jesus gathers Peter, James and John and takes them up a high mountain to have a life changing experience. They don’t even have a clue what is about to transpire! At one point Jesus is ‘transfigured’ before them and he sheds his earthly disguise. His radiance, glory and power are revealed. Verse 2: “There Jesus was transfigured before them, his face shone like the sun.” Just as this was occurring Moses and Elijah appear before them having a conversation with Jesus about this departure from the earth (Lk 8:31). This supernatural even is unfolding with Peter, James and John watching the tail end of it. They had been sleeping and became ‘wide awake’ as Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter speaks up, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Now, the funny thing is that no one is speaking to Peter! Heaven is revealing itself to Peter and he takes it onto himself to come up with a bright idea! Before he can get too far scripture says, “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!’ When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘Don’t be afraid.’ When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.” This is a fascinating part of terrestrial history! The eternal realm breaks in on the temporal realm on earth and one of the morals decides he wants some input! It is mind boggling. But consider Jesus. He isn’t annoyed, he isn’t distracted, he isn’t tense. Jesus tells them to get up and not to be afraid. They are terrified! But Jesus is steady. He is patient with them and instructs them as he constantly works with them for their growth, maturity and wisdom. Jesus doesn’t snap at them for ‘doing something stupid.’ He answers their questions on the way down the mountain regarding Elijah. That is Jesus. He always builds us up whether in encouragement or in discipline or in constancy in relationship.<br /><br />Mark 10: 28 is another interesting passage where Peter asks some very honest questions and Jesus is not offended but fully answers in every detail. Jesus has just finished saying that it is very difficult for rich people to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Peter gets a little confused and distressed because the current thinking is that those who are rich and relieved of the daily struggles are surely the ones ‘blessed by God!.’ Jesus repeats Himself saying how very difficult it is for the wealthy. The disciples are so amazed that they begin saying to one another, “’Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Peter then break out in a moment of real honesty. Often I think modern people are too self aware and self conscious to be so revealing. However, Peter bursts out, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” (Matt 19:27) Now try asking that to a holiness preacher? Or try asking that to a significant and serious leader in the body of Christ. “What is in it for me?” You may find yourself severely rebuked for selfishness and self-centered thoughts. You might be told to “Repent, God can’t tolerate your thinking!” But Jesus does no such thing. He speaks right to Peter’s heart. He assures Peter that every sacrifice that he makes in this life will be rewarded both here and in the next life! But there will also come real persecutions. Jesus gives them the full answer. Jesus is capable of severely chastising people like He did the Pharisee’s on multiple occasions. But for those who are sincere and really trying to grow in God, he answers the questions of the heart and mind without reproach. Jesus is not threatened by the sincere searching of the human heart. It is wonderful!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0