Why Jesus is like SNAPCHAT

Romans 8:2 (ESV)

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

A lot of people use Snapchat as a way to connect with their friends. You can send them a photo, video, add a caption, and send the snap off to a friend. Snapchat is a great app to use and a lot of fun.

Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus is a lot like Snapchat? No, Jesus isn’t an app or a way to communicate with your friends, but we can learn about Jesus from Snapchat.

Once a snap is sent, it can be viewed for a limited amount of time. Then the snap deletes. Its never seen again. This is a lot like what Jesus did for us on the cross. Our sin was a barrier to get to God. We couldn’t come to God on the basis of our works, because any sin, no matter how small keeps us from knowing God. What we needed was a solution to our sin. The solution was Jesus.

Jesus was able to delete sin, permanently. Once we ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins, they’re gone, deleted once and for all. Just like the snaps in snapchat. They can’t be viewed again once they’re deleted. And that’s what Jesus did for us. He deleted the sin out of our lives by dying on the cross. His death and resurrection caused the sin problem to be destroyed. When we accept Jesus in our lives, all our sins are deleted. They’re gone. We can go to God as if sin never existed in our lives.

So the next time you use snapchat, let it be a reminder to you of how Jesus was and is the solution to sin.

Dear Lord, we thank You for the forgiveness of our sins. We thank You that once you forgive of us our sin they are gone forever. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Serving

Luke 9:12 (ESV)

Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.”

The story of Jesus feeding a crowd of thousands of people weaves together themes from throughout his ministry. These include compassion, power over creation, the ability to sustain life, and involving others in responding to human needs. We also see God’s grace and providence intertwine as Jesus sends the disciples out “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”

It is important to realize that the people who heard the gospel and who were healed and fed were not saved and sanctified saints; they were not fully committed disciples who were ready to follow Jesus. Yet when Jesus saw their hurts and needs, he responded with love, knowing that many of them would abandon and even turn against him later. Even so, Jesus was moved with compassion, seeing their need. In the same way, he has compassion today when he sees the hurts and needs of anyone created in the image of God.

We have daily opportunities to come alongside the people around us. It could mean dropping by the hospital or the nursing home for a visit. Perhaps it involves cooking a meal for someone. Maybe it includes simply listening to another person’s story. When we seek to provide what Jesus ­offers, we reflect a beautiful picture of God’s compassion and care for others.

Dear Lord, help us to see the needs of others not as interruptions to our day, but rather as opportunities to reflect the love of Christ for people who need it. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Sharing love

Romans 12:11 (ESV)

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

In the book The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis takes readers on an imaginary tour of heaven and hell. At one point in heaven, “Sarah Smith” passes by, receiving great honor from many heavenly beings. She received no earthy accolades but was a simple woman who lived in a simple home and showed deep love to every person and every creature she met. Sarah Smith had great spiritual fervor.

There was a man that was asked a few months after his wife committed suicide how he made it, his answer was “It was because of the support system that he had that held him up.” These are some of the behaviors I believe the apostle Paul was talking about when he called us to keep our spiritual fervor:

People listened non judgmentally.

They prayed faithfully.

They understood that grief is not a sign of weakness or lack of faith, but the price of love.

They encouraged him to eat, exercise, and sleep well.

They remained aware of his vulnerability and the uniqueness of each person’s trials.

Loving someone whose life and experiences are very different from our own takes energy, time, and effort. Our spiritual fervor can wane when it costs more of our time or money or energy than we expect. But, in God’s strength, fervent love listens, encourages, and seeks to understand.

Dear Lord, sometimes we tire of loving others. Make our love be a reflection of Your unending love for us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Can we ever bargain with God?

Genesis 18:32 (ESV)

Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

Can we ever bargain with God? In this passage God tells Abraham about his plans for Sodom and Gomorrah. Maybe Abraham is concerned about his nephew Lot, who has moved with his family into Sodom (see Genesis 13:12; 19:1-2). Abraham's heart likely beats faster as he thinks about God's possible judgment. What if there are righteous people there?

Abraham asks God if he will spare the city if there are fifty righteous people there. Then he lowers the number to forty-five and then to forty, thirty, twenty, and ten. It sounds a lot like bargaining that was commonly done in the marketplace--and yet God answers patiently without changing his plans to check things out (see 18:21).

Why is Abraham so bold to talk this way to God? Because he trusts God. Abraham asks, "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Abraham's questions are based on his trust that God will do right.

Do we ever try to bargain with God? If so, is it based on trust in the Lord, or on our own perception of what's right? Note that Abraham not only makes his requests from the foundation of trust; he also makes these requests for others. Are there any situations today that are like Sodom's? Let's remember that sinners can still repent and become righteous through Jesus. Are we ready to ask for their salvation?

Dear Lord, may our world turn to You. Help us to see others with compassion and to ask for their salvation. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Joy, Peace, Hope

Romans 15:13 (ESV)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

May God fill you with joy, peace, and overflowing hope.

Joy, which is much deeper than our common idea of happiness, is rooted in God and allows us to rejoice in his goodness even in the darkest of situations.

Peace is more than the absence of conflict. God’s peace involves resting in the Lord and Savior who will make things right in spite of all the brokenness in our world.

Hope is the believer’s confident expectation that all of God’s promises and plans will be fulfilled, and it includes working with God now in all that he is doing in our lives and in this world. Overflowing hope not only fills us but abundantly flows from us and inspires others, by the power of God’s Spirit working in us.

All three find their source in the one true God. He is the one at work restoring and redeeming. God guarantees our future. Hope is rooted in the faithfulness of the Father, the saving work of Jesus, and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.

God is at work, and we are called to trust and follow his lead. We place our confidence in God, waiting and relying on him. This calls us to draw near to God, believe his Word, and follow his Spirit. The key to entering the New Year with joy, peace, and overflowing hope is to enter it with the God of hope.

Dear Lord, fill us with hope and help us to walk with You each day. By your Spirit, fill us with overflowing hope in the coming year. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Gratitude

1 Chronicles 16:34 (ESV)

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    for his steadfast love endures forever!

Gratitude is good for us. Even science has proven it. The physician and researcher Hans Seyle, who extensively studied the negative effects of stress on humans, concluded that the best antidote to stress is gratitude. Of course, there’s much more to it than what science can name, because gratitude is rooted in God. Out of the groundswell of God’s goodness gratitude grows.

In ancient Israel, King David’s whole being responded to God’s goodness. In this song of praise we see that David’s gratitude springs from God’s creational activity. Our first evidences of God’s goodness are in creation. David calls for the heavens to rejoice and the earth to be glad. He invites the sea to resound, the fields to be jubilant, and the trees of the forest to sing for joy. Why? Because the world is firmly established. In the beginning God acted with goodness in establishing this world, and God continues to sustain it by his costly grace. It’s been said that if the essence of God is goodness and grace, the essence of God’s people is gratitude.

When we take time to recall God’s goodness and grace, our hearts tune in to the grateful melody all creation sings. So let’s join the sea and fields and trees today and sing for joy!

Dear Lord, we lift our hearts to You in gratitude for this beautiful world You have made. Thank You for all You have done for us. We give thanks in the name of Jesus, through whom we have received grace upon grace. In the Name of Jesus,  Amen.

Happy New Year 2020

Romans 7:18 (ESV)

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

It’s the start of a new year and gyms all across America will see a spike in new memberships.  Why?  New Year’s resolutions.  Nearly every top ten list includes the following resolutions: getting in shape, losing weight, or quitting smoking.  Unfortunately, most of these resolutions don’t last.  Just wait until mid-February and you’ll have a much easier time finding a parking space at the gym.

We can to do the same thing as we follow Jesus.  We can make big promises about the great things we plan to do for Him.  We can try to impress Him with our performance.  In the process we can forget two important facts:

God’s love for us is dependent on His grace and not our performance.  Scripture makes this very clear in Romans 5:8- God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  God’s love for us was settled by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

This life is not about what we can do for God, but what He can do in and through us.  God does not need us (see Acts 17:25), but He still desires to use imperfect instruments like us to accomplish His God-sized purposes.

As we enter the new year, the question we do not need to be asking is what can I do for God?  The better question is this: What does God desire to accomplish in and through me this year?

Dear Lord, we thank You for the new year. We pray that this year we would seek your desire for our life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.