I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.- Romans 8:18

Easter isn't about pastel bunnies, ducks, and eggs...

“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.” -Isaiah 53:3-4

Christians have suffered from Holiday Hijackers. Don't get me wrong, we do the egg hunts and the easter bunny things. I wouldn't want to mess with traditions and all. But we still emphasize Jesus as the reason we are celebrating. Like Christmas and Santa Claus, is to the birth of Christ so is the hopping rodent...uh...er...I mean the Easter bunny is to the Resurrection of Christ. The jolly fat man and the bunny seem to offer a distraction, or a way to "hide their faces"(see verse above). People to this day really don't want to talk about the man of sorrows, the real Jesus Christ.

Christ is still being despised and rejected by mankind to this day. When non-Christians do give lip service to him it usually not the Jesus of the Bible. It's a Christmas/Easter type Jesus lite that's easier to take in and look upon.

Let's look on the real Jesus this Easter. The Jesus who bore our pain and suffering and was stricken by God because of our sin. Because if you look at the real Jesus now and believe in that Jesus now, you will be able to look at him throughout eternity. Don't settle for anything less than the real Jesus.

I'm a horrible multi-tasker

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

If I had to rely on multiple ways to God I don't think I could get there. That's why one of my life sayings is "Love All, Worship One." I love the fact that there is one way, one truth, one place where salvation can be found.

I love this word picture of Christ talking to God for us. The one who sacrificed all for our sins, standing before his father on our behalf.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" John 1:12

"All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”Acts 10:43

“[The Armor of God] Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” - Ephesians 6:10-11

To many of us go through the day, the week, month after month, even a lifetime dependent on our own power. This verse reminded me of what Jesus said, ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30.

God has always called us to be strong in HIS power, not our own. He calls us to protect ourselves with that which he provides not what we provide. All of this so that we can stand and grow while this world continually tries to weigh us down. All of his power is made available to us to overcome any and all of the schemes that come against us.

If you're feeling weak and run down try relying on the Lord more...pray, read, live.

Pray to the Lord

Read the Word of the Lord

Live like the Lord.

Have blessed day...

By the stream...

““But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”” - Jeremiah 17:7-8

I am blessed. We had a great weekend. I was able to perform the wedding of my brother and new sister-in-law, attend a great Sunday service, and found out our middle child got into our dream school. But can we count ourselves "blessed" when things only go our way. Shouldn't we count ourselves blessed when things don't go our way. Believe me that I have a few things that aren't going my way or not turning out the way I would want them to. But I find it hard to complain.

I think when we trust and rely on the Lord we have that feeling of confidence. That feeling that everything will be o.k. is always with us. When our trust is in him we are like that tree that never has to worry about hard times. We will always bear fruit for the glory of God and always feel at peace about the future.

Lord help us all trust in you when things go our way and do not go our way. Let us see that to be truly blessed is to find that we trust in you fully.

“[Praise to the God of All Comfort] Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Which way you going?

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.” - Job 23:10-11

He really knows the way that I take. When God has allowed trials and trouble to come our way, he knows the way we will take. He does this to refine us, like gold is refined. Nothing is purified without heat or a act of destroying the current environment. So how do we follow God during the testing times like Job.

Here's the hard part. Job said he followed HIS steps and that he kept HIS way without turning aside. Most of the time the first sign of trouble we revert to the sins that comfort us or the character flaws start floating to the surface. We turn to our reasoning and our ways. This is a part of the refining though. God is seeking to get us out of our own way so we can follow his.

I've got connections

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” - Psalm 73:25-26

I'm loving today! Just had to say it.

Is it mind blowing to anyone else that the one "person" we have a connection to, an inside track with in heaven is none other than the King of all, Jesus Christ?

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. - Hebrews 4:15-16

He is truly for us! Our flesh is going to fail us - (as it did when I tried to do P90X last night) and eventually our heart is going to stop. But he will never stop. He is the strength of our heart. In the Hebrew language this means He is the "rock" of our very being. When all else fails you, he will always be there as a steady foundation.

Don't tell me...give me a minute..I think I can remember that second one...

“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” -Matthew 22:37-39

I know a friend that has written a book. Yes, I'm going to pump up something you should buy. If you look down the left side of my page you'll see a book by Kevin Harvey. Jonah, John, and the Second Greatest (but Most Avoided) Commandment, is an awesome read. We all get the first commandment, I think. At least we all try to do the first one, but the second one seems to be forgotten. At best, or worst, we define neighbor the wrong way. Kevin does a great job breaking down how the prophet Jonah missed this facet of God's love command as well.

Jesus goes on to say "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:40. Why do these hold up all the others? Well, because if you look at the commandments in Exodus 20 you'll see something very cool. The first four commandments are focused on our relationship with God. The next six are focused on our relationships with people.

So as you go through the day, make sure you're loving your neighbor - yeah that means everybody.

Love God. Love people (all of Him, all of them)

Shocker! God has a plan.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” - Jeremiah 29:11-13

I think it's cool that God tells Jeremiah that he has a plan for him. Not only a plan, but the word in Hebrew (Machashabah) can be rendered as "invention". God has a specific, particular, customized plan, invented just for you. He constructed your life before you began living it. Is that cool or what?

So what was the invention? Well it is to prosper you. The word here is "shalowm" and it means peace and completeness. Some make think the prosper is to bring riches. I on the other hand would value peace and the feeling of completeness above all the riches and prosperity this world has to offer. God wants that for you as well.

The last thing here I want to address is the word that gives us the phrase "hope and future". Tiqvah in Hebrew means a future hope. But it can also mean a chord. Have you ever felt light you needed someone to throw you a line, a chord? Something to get you out of the hole you found yourself in.

I think it's incredible that our loving God has specifically "invented" for us a life, here and now, of completeness and peace. He throws us a line. He provided hope and continues to do so every day. Take that chord and wrap it around you. The other end is firmly in the hands of the one that made you, loves you , and He will never let go.

Blessings...

What you got planned?

“Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.” -Proverbs 14:22

The word for "plan" in Hebrew is Charash. It means to engrave, cut in, or to plough. Other versions translate it as devise, do, implement. I like the visual of engraving. You have to plan something good once and a while. I would even say plan to do good every day. Write it in stone and make it happen.

Map out your day and plan to do something good. I promise you'll find love and faithfulness when you do.

Nothing

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 8:38-39

Let's do a word study today.

Convinced/Persuaded - induced to believe is good but I love the subtle nuance of this Greek word. Peitho can also mean to tranquillize. So Paul is saying that he is comforted by the following fact, God's love is unstoppable. He is not only persuaded to believe but he finds the fact that we can't be separated from the love of God a calming realization.

Death - No this is does not mean just dying. Thanatos is the word in Greek. It means the future misery of the soul being separated from the body to be punished in hell. Yikes! So not even the fear of punishment for our sins should cause us to be separate from God's love.

Life - Zoe is the greek which means...well...life. But not just any life, true life. We can all agree that just the act of living seems to pull us from our devotion to God. So we can rest in this fact: the life we are leading or being led by in no way can separate us from the love of God.

Angels nor Demons - Paul is relating that nothing unseen would hinder God's love. But why use the word angel? Well we know that Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:14 that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. Things in our spiritual journey may come to draw us away and may even succeed in having us fall, but even that will not separate us.

Powers - Dunamis, where we get the word for dynamite. This word is referring to anything exerted against us or the power held by armies or even governments. So nothing "that is formed" can keep us from God's love.

Present or Future - nothing throughout time. What's really cool is that God knows that nothing in the future with separate you because he's already been there. He's knows what's heading your way.

Height - this does refer to a spacial relationship but again the beauty of the Greek language is the underlying meanings not seen in the English translations. The word is Hupsoma and it can also mean "an elevated structure or barrier". So no constructed barrier or maybe obstacle placed in your way. Believe me, their are people that want to build walls between you and God.

Depth - Bathos - yes it's where we get the word for bath. I wouldn't want to take a bath like this though. Bathos is the deepest something can get. It's an unknown depth. A depth that you don't come back from nor escape. Ever felt like you've been drowning in something? Some of you know a depth like this. Well if you don't ... you will...make sure you look around at that point. You'll most likely find God's love at it's most intense and most real than you've ever experienced it.

Creature/Creation - ktisis - all things created. We serve the creator not the creation. Be in love with the creator not the creation. Praise the creator not the creation. The rocks and the trees know that God made them and acknowledges it everyday...it's troubling that we don't. This is the nail in the coffin for all things that could separate us from the love of God. He created everything, so He conquers everything. You are loved by the Creator.

So all of this....everything becomes nothing. Nothing can or should separate us from his love that found us through Jesus Christ. If any of these "things" are separating you from the love of God, God wants you to know you've bought into a lie. You're imagining things...God's love is a fire, a jealous fire that comes after His children. Destroying and consuming everything in its path. Let us all continue to fall deeper and deeper in love with God through our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sometimes it's not a who or a what...It's me.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” - Romans 8:35,37

The love of Christ cannot be stopped. It flows freely from the heart of God. The Greek word for separate is Chorizo. It not only means separate but to depart. A lot of times in my life it's not so much the who or what that separates me from the love of God. I simply depart, walk away, ignore that love.

I think, like most people we grow stronger in hardship. As Americans we don't so much get separated from God's love as we, more likely, depart from it. We get fat and happy and no longer feel that need for a savior.

My encouragement today is to remember your position as a Christian. You are a conqueror through the power and sacrifice of Jesus. You have access to the Father and need never to depart or allow this world to separate you from His love.

The old saying goes: At times that I felt that God was not with me, He was not the one that moved.

So this is love...

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” - 1 John 4:10

No night out, no flowers, no store bought cards for the Thomasson's last night. We did the family thing to celebrate Valentine's Day. For us, love is in the family and in relationships. Quality time together is a big part of my wife's love language. If God has a love language that is prevalent or at least expressed in the scriptures over and over, I think it's the same; meaningful time spent with His creation.

That's the expression of his love. This is what defines love. God sent his son to make a way for us to spend eternity with Him. We didn't have love for him...we didn't even exist then. But he knew us then and he wanted to spend time with us so He sent His son to wipe away the barrier that blocked us from Him. We have a lot of things that hinder us from spending time with those we love. We have to be deliberate with our efforts to make that time. Most of us sacrifice very little though in comparison to God. He gave the ultimate to spend eternity with us.

That is love...if ever you need a definition of love you have it now...

One of those days...

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” - John 13:34-35

Jesus gave us a new command. As I like to do with most verses, let's look at this with a consideration of what he was saying. Jesus said a new commandment....that's a wow moment. Let it sink in that Jesus, in a crowd of Jews, said "A new command I give you..." These people lived the "commands" of God given by Moses. Jesus was commanding them with the authority of God!

So Jesus was not taking this lightly and neither would anyone who heard the command.

As he love you, that's how we are to love one another. So on this day of love let's love everyone with the love of Christ. Let's all die to ourselves and give others unconditional love.

Let's seek to heal wounds and not create them. Forgive each other and don't hold grudges. Glorify God in your dealings with everyone today and always.

We say let everyday be Christmas...I say let everyday be Valentine's day.

His Son.

I don't think you have to have a child to understand God's giving of his only son, Jesus. I do think you need to have a grasp of unconditional love though. You have to understand a love that is a part of your own being. You have to be able to have loved someone so much that you can't imagine life without them.

God doesn't have to imagine it...he lost his child. First he lost(gave) him to the world, then to the suffering of the cross, and then to the grave. I'll admit it freely. I don't have that much love in my heart for someone that is not part of me. If you were to come to me and say, "Kevin, if you give one of your daughters up for separation, suffering, and death we can save all of humanity from the beginning of time until the end." There wouldn't be a thousandth of a second pass before "NO" would pass over my lips. Forget it. We wouldn't be here. But, praise God, I am not God!

What a love, to give your only child to save a people that would reject you time and time again. God's love is pure. That's how he did it. God's love is not filled with selfish want, hidden motives, or agendas. His love is pure and right. You can count on his love when all else fails.

That's the kind of love we all seek. Run to God's love and you will never want for love again. Wrap yourself in that pure, giving, eternal love...

Tomorrow... whoever believes...

He gave...

Sometimes words fail to express the impact of the action. He gave...just kind of sits there. We don’t really see the behind the scenes here so let’s bring it together. What happened in the “giving”? God became man. Paul writes to the Philippians about this as:

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

“ Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Philippians 2: 5 - 8

God gave up his throne, his authority, his life! And gave us eternity... People say you can't out give God. What an understatement!

Meditate on the giving God.

tomorrow His son...

The world...

"For God so loved the world..."

The world...aren't we suppose to hate the world or least have nothing to do with it?

Jesus and Paul had some input on this. Jesus called them our "neighbor", Paul said we were to share the love of Christ with all people. When Jesus said His Father "so loved the world" John the Revelator chose to use the Greek word kosmos. This Greek word means everybody or all people in the universe. It includes the godly and ungodly alike. It means all of human kind.

Look at it this way. We are to love all things that God created. That's our focus, that's what Jesus calls us to so we can understand the heart of the Father. Don't love the perversion of his creation. Don't love the lies generated by the creation. Love the hearts, minds, and souls of what He created. That's our challenge: In spite of what is done to us, those we love, and others we can love someone. We can't excuse them for the evil that they do, but we still can have the love of God for them.

So today...love the Kosmos (the world), all that God created...the people around you.

Next ...He gave...

Did you just say born again...?

John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.

Let's cut to the chase. We are just like Nicodemus. Whether you are a seasoned Christian or a nonbeliever, we all miss God's meaning...on everything. Yes, the Holy Spirit is a guide to enlighten us and help us to understand. But even Paul knew that we see in part, then we will see in full. Like Nicodemus we need Jesus to guide us into the heart of God. God wants us to be a part of His kingdom. He has always wanted us to be with Him. Jesus tries to work through to Nicodemus and wade through his misconceptions of God. (Read John 3)

1. You have to be like a new born babe to get into God's kingdom - new in thinking, new in heart, new in mind, new everything...you can't rely on your past, corrupted thinking.

2. People who are living in Christ are living by the Spirit. They are experiencing true freedom and communion with God

3. You have to be taught by God/Jesus/Holy Spirit to have true knowledge and understanding. You can't simply know that Jesus is the answer, you have to believe and act it out. (vs 14, Numbers 21:4-9) Just like the Israelites we have a provision of salvation lifted up but we have to look to it for our salvation.

Jesus took this opportunity to take one of the teachers of Israel to task. He has quickly hit on a number of points that the "teachers" have not understood the heart of God. Notice this: Jesus goes from talking about the sacrifice he will make (lifted up) to the love of God. Nicodemus did not realized the prediction but he did understand that Jesus was calling himself the savior of the Jews. Israel (the whole world) would need to look to Jesus to be saved.

Once Nicodemus got this then he would be ready to understand God's love. If we don't understand the significance of Jesus' sacrifice we will never understand God's love.

Tomorrow...the world...

Mind Blowing Love

It's February 3rd - Here's a great love verse to get us ready for Valentine's day.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

I think there are a lot of people who don't believe in God/Jesus that could finish this verse for you. It's thanks to the guy who sat in the stands during pro baseball games with the John 3:16 sign during the 80's and 90's. It could also be that every Christian makes this part of their witnessing message to their non-believing friends. It's plastered everywhere Christians have tread. But don't miss the meaning due to the saturation we have experienced. The verse is packed with meaning and direction. I want to talk about this from now to February 14th. Let's break it apart and dive in....

"For God so loved..."

Our God loved, loves, will always love. Think on that for a few minutes....

Not God so judged, God so hated, God was so angry, God was so critical, God was so vengeful, but God so loved. That's who we serve, a God of love, the God of love.

God's love is the purest, most accepting, forgiving, long suffering, and complete love you will ever experience. He loves the best even when we don't or can't.

Remove all thought of comparing God to the love you have experienced from others in your life, or are experiencing now. I would say you need not even attempt to predict His love or what it could look like without reading about it.

Here's a thought...read a gospel. John would be the best in my estimation, though all of them express his love. John was very close to our Lord and, I think, got the whole, "God is love" thing a lot sooner than the other disciples.

After you have done that you will have a good starting point at defining the love of God...

Tomorrow... How Nicodemus learned of God's love...John 3 - Talking with God's Love.