Category Archives: Jesus is King

Christmas — God’s Invitation to Experience Him — Luke 24

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There is something about a newborn baby being held upon your chest— the sweet smell, the warm cuddles, the tiny cries. The experience of holding your own is like none other.

At Christmas we celebrate the arrival of Jesus the newly born King and the experience of Him as He walked upon the earth 2000 — miraculous touch upon those He healed, the sound of His voice speaking the truth on a hillside, His laughter, His compassionate tears. Yes, Jesus was God’s invitation for us to experience Him!

Even in Jesus’s death we were invited to experience God — a voice crying it is finished, darkness, the earth shook, the temple veil torn. Then Jesus defeats death by His resurrection and once again the disciples were invited to experience Him. 

“While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”“ 
Luke 24:36-39 NIV

Look at me, touch me, and see! Experience Me as the Risen King!

Jesus is still inviting us to experience God! This is the very essence of the story of Jesus we read in the Bible. It is what we celebrate at Christmas, Jesus our Emmanuel — God with us!

His invitation has been sent to us — Come, see, feel my touch, experience and know Me!

Two Masters – Reflections on Luke 16

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What is created does not get to define itself. The creator defines His creation. He knows its purpose and proper use. For example, my vacuum cleaner cannot declare that it wants to be a refrigerator and then that is what it becomes. Cooling food is outside of what its purpose is and its proper use.

God is our creator. Because of sin, we tend to think the opposite — we create ourselves:

1. God created us to depend on Him. Once again we tend to think we are fine on our own doing our own thing.

2. God created us to be ruled by Him. However, we believe the opposite. We think we do what we want, when and how we want to.

We look around and see there has to be a God. So we want Him in our lives: His goodness, His blessings, His peace, and His joy. BUT, we do not relinquish the control of our lives to Him so He can work all these things into us.

Living like this will not work. It only makes us miserable because we are not living how we are created to live, owned by Him — His treasured possession.

Jesus warns us of trying to live the double life — for God and for Ourselves. He says it cannot be done. (This is reflected in our relationship with money- it’s pursuit and how we spend it.)

”“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”“

Luke 16:13 NIV

There is only one way to peace, love, and joy, surrender to God!

The Influence- Reflections on Luke 13

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Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom of God and taught about wherever He went.

He compared it to a mustard seed. A tiny seed that when planted grows to tree that birds can perch in. He also compared it to yeast that works its way into the dough and takes effect on it. The Kingdom of God grows and it influences everything it comes in contact with.

This should be the reality of it in our lives. Jesus and His kingship should grow and influence every aspect of our lives. This growth and influence will overflow onto all those around us. As it does, we will experience what the people of Jesus time did when they encountered Him. They “were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.” (Verse 20)

We will be delighted too!

The Influence- Reflections on Luke 13

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Jesus preached the Good News of the Kingdom of God and taught about it wherever He went.

He compared it to a mustard seed. A tiny seed that when planted grows to tree that birds can perch in. He also compared it to yeast that works its way into the dough and takes effect on it. The Kingdom of God grows and it influences everything it comes in contact with.

This should be the reality of it in our lives. Jesus and His kingship should grow and influence every aspect of our lives. This growth and influence will overflow onto all those around us. As it does, we will experience what the people of Jesus time did when they encountered Him. They “were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.” (Verse 20)

We will be delighted too!

“The Way of the Cross”

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Today’s reading is Luke 9.

Crowds were following Jesus everywhere. They wanted to experience His healing touch and to hear His words.

When Jesus and His disciples were in private, Jesus asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” The disciples said, “John, Elijah, the prophets of long ago come back to life.” Jesus asked “But what about you?”

What we think about who Jesus is, is important. If He is “God’s Messiah,” the King of Kings, then He deserves the place of King within our hearts.
As Lord and King, Jesus tells us how we are to follow Him.

”Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

Luke‬ ‭9‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We must abandon our ways, take up Jesus’s way and follow Him! Jesus’s way is the cross. The cross requires total surrender of ourself (death of our independent ways) so Jesus can live in us.

The crowds, who followed Jesus, could only experience Him from a distance. It was the ones who were His disciples that got to experience His intimacy and friendship.

This is true of us today. We can know about Jesus from a distance, or we can know Him intimately. But we must come to Him on His terms— the cross. His disciples will take up their cross and follow Him.

Life or Death… Choose

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“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NIV

This morning I am made keenly aware of the truth within these words. I have contemplated how often I have seen situations where the fruit of these choices are being displayed in my life and the lives of others. There is a blessing of life when we choose God’s Life. God offers us His spiritual prosperity, blessings, and enjoyment of Himself when we choose Him as our life. These blessings are poured out not only upon ourselves but on our children and their children and so on. BUT we must choose to pursue Life in a relationship with Him!

We have another choice which is death and curses. It is living our lives separated from the author and creator of life, God. This life is lived as we focus on ourselves- our wants, our desires, our ways- instead of God’s. It is a life with no relationship with God, apart from Him. When we choose that life, apart from Him, we live far from peace, joy, and love. We are in turmoil. Our emotions reflect that— anxiety, anger, bitterness, worry, etc. Our relationships with our family, coworkers, children, and spouses reflect that turmoil. When we choose our way instead of life we choose turmoil, and that turmoil will consume us and pour out on everyone we are around.

The question we need to ask ourselves is: What have I chosen for my life? God’s Life in relationship with Him or the death of choosing to not follow Him 💯, separated from Him?

Life or Death… Choose

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“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NIV

This morning I am made keenly aware of the truth within these words. I have contemplated how often I have seen situations where the fruit of these choices are being displayed in my life and the lives of others. There is a blessing of life when we choose God’s Life. God offers us His spiritual prosperity, blessings, and enjoyment of Himself when we choose Him as our life. These blessings are poured out not only upon ourselves but on our children and their children and so on. BUT we must choose to pursue Life in a relationship with Him!

We have another choice which is death and curses. It is living our lives separated from the author and creator of life, God. This life is lived as we focus on ourselves- our wants, our desires, our ways- instead of God’s. It is a life with no relationship with God, apart from Him. When we choose that life, apart from Him, we live far from peace, joy, and love. We are in turmoil. Our emotions reflect that— anxiety, anger, bitterness, worry, etc. Our relationships with our family, coworkers, children, and spouses reflect that turmoil. When we choose our way instead of life we choose turmoil, and that turmoil will consume us and pour out on everyone we are around.

The question we need to ask ourselves is: What have I chosen for my life? God’s Life in relationship with Him or the death of choosing to not follow Him 💯, separated from Him?

Grandma’s Song- “Still Small Voice”

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(Originally written to my nieces)

Grandma used to sing a chorus to you all when you were little, “Still small voice I hear you whisper. Still small voice I won’t be the same. Still small voice He’s reaching out to you. Still small voice calling my name.” The words are so very true!
But what is the still small voice of the Holy Spirit calling you for? Why does He whisper, reaching out to you, calling your name?
He is calling because He desires to be one with us. He wants to fill us entirely, totally and completely with Himself. It is what we were meant for, relationship of oneness with God. He calls desiring that we respond.
In order for us to go God’s way and to obey that voice, we have to leave our way behind. We cannot have both. Our way of our self-life only leads to death, darkness, and destruction because our way is not God’s.
Ephesians 1 talks about God’s way the still small voice has called us to. It is a life of spiritual blessings, becoming like Him- holy and blameless. It is a life of redemption and forgiveness from our sin. All of this accomplishes the one over arching purpose, He wants us to be ONE with Him!
We do not understand this because all we have ever known is separation from God. That is why the still small voice is calling to us. He wants to show us this oneness. We must listen to the voice. We must respond to the call! We must obey!!

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The New Life is a Life Cleansed From Sin

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A few weeks ago I introduced the topic of the New Life. This is the life that Jesus suffered, died on a cross, and then rose from the grave so He could give it to us. It is a life of freedom from the chains of sin and darkness. It is a life no longer marred by the emptiness of our sinful choices to follow ourselves and our own way. It is a life full of God’s love.

We come to God well aware of our need for forgiveness. It is plain to see how short we have fallen of His holiness- His purity, His goodness. We know we have done wrong. We have the precious promise that when we ask for His forgiveness, He will forgive. BUT there is another part to that verse. He will “cleanse.” To cleanse is “to purify; to make clean; to remove filth” Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 ESV

God’s promise is not only for forgiveness, but to make us clean- free of sin! This enables us to be like Him, the very thing for which He created us.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

1 John 1:5-7 ESV

There are many who come to God wanting to accept the forgiveness He offers, but they neglect to walk as one who has been cleansed. They walk away from a time of asking forgiveness for their sins unchanged because they simply want to be free from the guilt they feel for the wrong that they have been done. But our God wants us to walk free from SIN that caused the guilt and darkens our life with its impurity. He longs to cleanse us! The question is “Do we desire to be cleansed from sin?” If we do, He gives us the power to walk free from the slavery of our sinfulness. May we not only accept His forgiveness, but walk as those who have been set free from our sin! May we live as those who are cleansed from our sins and full of His life and light!

The New Life is a Life of Forgiveness of Sin!

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Confession of sin and repentance of sin is like frequent weeding of a garden.

Sin is not a fun topic. In fact, I believe I’ve been harping on it a lot lately, but there is a reason for that. It is not to make us feel bad. It is to gain an understanding of how dangerous sin is. The simple fact is God hates sin. He hates it because He knows sin separates us from Him. He longs for us to be connected to Him. Sin makes us unhappy and miserable. Because the one thing we were created for was to be connected to God through relationship. Sin keeps us disconnected. We will never know our life’s purpose when we are bound and tied up in sin.

There is joy in coming to God with our sin and confessing it. There is joy in receiving forgiveness.

“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!” Psalms 32:1 NLT

There is joy in turning from sin and loving God with all our heart all, our mind, and all our strength, displaying that love with our obedience to all He has commanded. (Matthew 28:20)

In fact, recognizing our need to be free of sin, coming to God regularly and asking God to show us anything that is not of Him within our lives so we can be close to Him is imperative.

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalms 139:23-24 NIV

Confession of sin and repentance of sin is like frequent weeding of a garden. It keeps the sin, that destroys the goodness of God growing in us, from taking root and reaping havoc in our lives.

God’s desire for us is freedom from the slavery of sin!

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 NIV