If you haven't checked out John Eldredge's latest book "Beautiful Outlaw",, let me recommend that you do. It may be his best book yet, and I have to say that I am now looking at the Gospels in a different way, as well as seeing Jesus in a different light. Click here to download the first chapter and see what I'm talking about.
What John has done in his book is bring a completely different way to look at Jesus. He says that taking what we read in the Bible at face value, is like kind of watching television with the sound off. We recognize that something is going on, but the man on the screen waving his arms around doesn't make any sense to us, because the personality of the man is missing. Reading the Bible in an academic sort of way, not taking into account the personality of Jesus leaves us with a one dimensional character not full of much life. But Jesus is so full of life, and He does have a personality, one that if we will allow ourselves to see will bring a much richer relationship to our lives.
Seeing that the Christmas season is upon us, why not pick up a copy for all of your family and friends. After all what better gift could someone receive but a book that helps them find the true nature of Jesus in all of His glorious personality? Click here to find out more about this amazing book!
In Rocky IV, the champ goes up against Ivan Drago a Russian super soldier who killed Apollo Creed in the ring. As he is preparing to fight Rocky, he says, "I must break you." I was thinking about what I wanted to write about this morning, and this image appeared in my mind as I was mulling around some ideas. Check it out:
This got me to thinking about the enemy of Christians everywhere, the devil. Jesus defeated him with His death, burial and resurrection, yet for all of that he continues to try and conquer those of us who bear the image of Christ. The problem I've seen with most Christians is that they just let the devil win. It's like he says, "I must break you." and they respond by going, "Okay."
Jesus told us in Luke 10:19, "Look, I (Jesus) have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you." Does that sound like the enemy has the authority over us, or we have the authority over him? I mean if this doesn't settle for us once and for all who is in charge, then I don't really know if there is hope for you.
This is not to say that the devil doesn't have power, he does. But he is missing the true element here, and that is the authority to use that power. You see he can throw all types of fiery darts at us, but we don't have to allow them to hurt us. We have the authority to either accept them, or deny them. I can hear you now, but bad things happen, we can't deny that bad things happen, our five senses tell us what's going on.
True, our five senses will try to tell us what is what. But there is a higher level of understanding than what our bodies tell us, that is the understanding of our faith. Faith trumps all senses. Because faith comes from the Word of God, look at Romans 10:17, "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ and what He has done for us." When faith comes, it supersedes whatever your body is telling you.
This is where the battle comes in for us. We have to believe what God's Word says is true, even when our senses say it isn't. That is called the fight of faith, it's the fight to believe what God has said is true even when everything and everyone around you says differently. Jesus Himself had to deal with this, why do we think we are any different? Check this passage found in Matthew 16:21 - 23:
21)"From then on Jesus began to tell His disciples plainly that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and that He would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day He would be raised from the dead.
22)But Peter took Him aside and began to reprimand Him for saying such things. "Heaven forbid, Lord." he said. "This will never happen to you!"
23)Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get away from me, satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's."
Notice that it says that Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Satan!" Wait a minute, I thought Peter was His friend? Why then would Jesus be talking to satan? Because Peter had been just talking to Jesus about not fulfilling the call of God for His life. Peter was allowing his mental thoughts to be persuaded by the enemy of all mankind, and then talking to Jesus. And the devil is just not that clever folks, he still uses the mental realm to do his dirty work. Jesus wasn't calling Peter the devil, he was addressing the enemy where he was at, in the words of Peter.
What we say has power in our life, this is why we must, and I stress must watch what we think about. If we focus on what our five senses tell us and then bring that over into the realm of our Christian walk as the basis for what is really going on, then we will find ourselves in the same place that Peter was. Obviously we must allow our senses to give us information, but we don't have to accept that information as the truth, because God's Word is truth and it will overcome what our senses tell us, IF we will let it.
So don't let the enemy use your five senses to tell you what is what, when that happens, you turn it on him and tell him what God's Word says about that situation. It doesn't matter what area of struggle in life you may find yourself, God's Word has something to say about it all. Dig into the Bible and find it. I love how God has hidden things in the Bible for us, not from us. It's like digging for buried treasure, when you find it, man you are a blessed person for sure!
Matthew 9:35 -38 it says, "Jesus went through all the towns, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
I have been thinking about this passage of Scripture for a while now, and the harvest fields are indeed still plentiful, but Jesus wasn’t talking about us tramping all around in the harvest field, and beating it down. It seems to me that what passes for gathering in the harvest most of the time is Christians preaching "AT" the lost.
I heard it said that we need to earn the right to share the Gospel with people. You've probably heard it said people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. When they beat the lost up with Scripture they are no better than those Pharisees we read about in the Bible.
We've got to invest time first, earning the right to speak into people's lives, and then do what Jesus did; teaching them, sharing the good news with them and healing their bodies. After all that's what Jesus told us to do wasn't it? (John 14:11-13) And don't shoot the messenger, Jesus said it, I'm just repeating it.
We have got to remember that when people act like the world, it is because they don't know any better; this is why we have to teach them. Here’s an example. A Christian is talking to a worldly person and the worldly person cusses quite a bit. So he holds up a finger and says, "Excuse me, I'm a Christian and don't like the way you are cussing in front of me, would you please stop?" The person will more than likely stop, but from that day forward they will stay away from that Christian, keeping the Gospel from being shared.
We have to be as wise as serpents, and yet as harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16) if we are going to reach our generation. And don’t get offended when people act like the world, just love them into the Kingdom.
Have you ever felt lonely? I don't mean have you ever been alone, I mean have you ever felt lonely? Loneliness is something that can happen to you in a crowded room, and it is a horrible feeling. I know that as a Christian I am not supposed to be moved by what I feel, yet that doesn't mean that I totally disregard my feelings either. Christians are not supposed to be like Mr. Spock on Star Trek, devoid of human emotions.
Loneliness is something that seems to be haunting my steps on a daily basis here lately. At home, at church and at work, irregardless of how many people are around me. If I get quiet for too long I feel a sense of loneliness that tries to overwhelm me. And the really funny thing is that I know Jesus promised to never leave me or forsake me, (Hebrews 13:5) and that the Holy Spirit is right there with me at all times (John 14:16). And yes, there is some comfort in that, but at times I seem to just crave a little human contact that doesn't involve me instigating it.
Oh, I'm sure that this has something to do with the fact that one of my best friends is out of the country right now, and I've started this new job where I am away from family and friends for close to twelve hours each day. Not to mention that the place that I find myself in at almost 50 years old is in a starting over mode. I guess it's just not where I expected to find myself at this point in my life.
I read a book called "Point Man" by Steve Farrar a few years ago, it is a book about how a man needs to lead his family. He takes the term "point man" from the military, talking about the man who is out in front leading and looking for the enemy. This is one of the most dangerous places to be when you are out on patrol, because you are the first one seen by the enemy. If you are out in front, then you are going to be the one to take the hit first, and that too can be a lonely job.
Leadership in and of itself almost by definition means to be alone. Leaders lead, that is the crux of it. People follow leadership that is true, but if you find yourself in a leadership role, you will almost invariably find yourself alone at some point. And when you do, that is when you have to rely on the Holy Spirit to lead you. Because truly, in what I have found in my life at least, I don't really know what I'm doing most days. I have to stay close to Jesus in order to make sure that I am not leading my family into a trap of the enemy.
I have been feeling lonely, that is a true statement. What I'm not letting happen however is me being so overwhelmed by this loneliness that I am unable to lead my family. It's not a fun place to be, but it is one that I understand and I will assume because my family needs me to lead, not because I'm the best at it, just because it is the position that God has placed me in as the husband and father of the Felts family.
So if you have ever felt lonely, or are feeling that way right now, look to Jesus. After all it is a fact that He will never leave you or forsake you so that you can boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, in what will I be afraid?"
If you haven't checked out John Eldredge's latest book "Beautiful Outlaw",, let me recommend that you do. It may be his best book yet, and I have to say that I am now looking at the Gospels in a different way, as well as seeing Jesus in a different light. Click here to download the first chapter and see what I'm talking about.
