Pastor John’s Blog

This past Sunday, Palm Sunday, marked the beginning of Jesus’ last week of life. Matthew 21:9 depicts the joy of the crowds as Jesus entered through the gates of Jerusalem—also known as his Triumphal Entry:  “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” (ESV) Everyone was caught up in the emotion of the moment as they all shouted praises to God for Jesus, the descendent of King David. However, verses 10-11 tell us, ¹⁰ “And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, ‘Who is this? ¹¹ And the crowds said, ‘This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee’” (ESV). The majority of the inhabitants did not know who Jesus was and so they asked those that were praising God to tell them who Jesus was. The worshippers immediately responded but their answer was incomplete. They said “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee” when in reality he was more than that. Jesus was and is God’s eternal Son who was coming through those gates not to free Israel from Roman oppression, as the crowd thought, but to be crucified that Friday for the sins of humanity, and to be raised from the dead three days later on Sunday morning, one week after Palm Sunday. The crowds however, seemed unaware of his true identity and true mission.

We, however, know who Jesus is; and we know the meaning of his death. Therefore, we should be shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David all week long.” This way when people ask us who we are praising we can tell them about Jesus, who is not just a prophet—He is God’s only begotten Son—the savior of the world!

Waiting for the perfect conditions to get started at anything seems like a wise idea. For example, you may wait for home prices to fall to the perfect level, or wait for the best factory incentives to purchase a new car; or you may wait for the perfect time to go back to school or the perfect opportunity to finally start a business. The problem with this line of thinking, however, is that perfect conditions don’t exist, and if you wait for them you will never get started at anything. Ecclesiastes 11:4 says it this way: “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest” (NLT). However, following Nike’s slogan to “just do it” is also not the answer. Instead, we should seek the Lord’s will and timing for our lives, as Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.⁶ Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (NLT).

Consider how unique you are. You share genes and traditions, memories and experiences with your family, and yet, in so many ways you are different. It is precisely because of these idiosyncrasies and talents peculiar to you that God has placed a specific call and purpose on your life. This is seen in the life of Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. The Bible refers to him as “Thomas, nicknamed the Twin” (John 11:16, NLT). Although we are not told if Thomas was a fraternal twin or an identical twin, if his twin was a brother or a sister, we can safely infer that Thomas shared genes, traditions, memories and life experiences with his twin. However, we never hear anything else about his twin in the pages of Scripture. In a time period when identity was stereotyped by clanship and local associations, twins were expected to live similar lives. Yet, it was Thomas that Jesus called to be an Apostle. You are unique and God has set a calling and a purpose before you based on your uniqueness. Perhaps today your prayer of thanksgiving should be that of the psalmist: “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!” (Psalms 139:14, NLT).

Many of us think that being comes from doing so we do in order to be. For example, we do things to be successful, admired, loved and appreciated. However, we fail to realize that doing flows from being. In other words, who we are determines what we do. Satan tried to use this against Jesus. After Jesus had spent 40 days and nights praying without eating a thing the Devil tempted him by saying, ““If you are the Son of God, change this stone into a loaf of bread” (Luke 4:3, NLT). These words were intended to make Jesus doubt the words that His Father had spoken to him at his baptism: “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy” (Luke 3:22, NLT). Jesus has always been and will always be God’s eternal Son. It was this relationship that brought His Father joy. Satan, however, wanted Jesus to test this by doing a miracle. If the rocks turned to bread (doing) then Jesus was the Son of God (being). Jesus did not fall for this for He knew His identity. All that Jesus did (miracles) flowed from who he was (God’s Son), and not the other way around. This applies to who you are as a son or daughter, sibling or friend, uncle or aunt, parent or grandparent or whatever other association fits you. You do not have to do in order to be someone important to all those that love you. Like Jesus with His Father, it is who you ARE that makes you successful, admired, loved and appreciated. Who you are is what makes you so special. Everything you do should flow from this.

Starting something that is going to take a lot of time and effort can be discouraging. It may be taking the first steps toward mending a marriage; returning to school with only one semester completed; starting down a new career path; finishing your very first day of sobriety; making the first efforts of paying down a large loan or coming back to God after being away for such a long time. Small beginnings are not fun for we want to see the end results now. God, however, tells us in Zachariah 4:10, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin” (NLT). Small beginnings are huge in God’s eyes for with consistency a small beginning can become a great success and a long road a path to a desired destination. God rejoices to see the work begin because starting is always the hardest part. With patience, however, you will witness how the small beginning becomes a great ending. Don’t give up what you have started. Commend it to God and he will make it happen.

Fear can get the best of us at times. It can cause us to limit what we normally do, and if left unchecked, fear can cause people to live shut inside their homes.  This happened to the eleven disciples after witnessing Jesus crucifixion (Judas had already taken his own life). The disciples feared that the Jewish leaders were going to have them killed next, so they hid in a house with the windows and doors shut tight. What they did not know is that Jesus had risen from the dead early that Sunday morning and was planning to visit them. John 20:19-21 captures this moment: “That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! ‘Peace be with you,’ he said.²⁰ As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!²¹ Again he said, ‘Peace be with you’” (NLT). I want you to notice that Jesus entered that fear-filled room and said “peace be with you” twice. Isn’t this just like Jesus? He comes to our place of fear and says “Peace be with you.” Never do these words sound more comforting or display more power than when fear has gripped our hearts. But Jesus did not leave them in that room. Instead he said to them, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you” (John 20:21, NLT). In other words, He told them to leave that place of fear and go outside where the danger was because he was with them and had a plan for them. Jesus wants us to do the same. He wants us to step outside of our fear and not let it affect how we live. Jesus speaks peace into our lives.

So today consider the fears that you have and bring them before the Lord in prayer. As you do repeat Jesus words out loud, “Peace be with you.” Then in faith step outside of your fear confident that Christ is with you and for you. Fear not!

When writing concerning all that God has done for his people Paul the Apostle uses the first person plural e.g. “for us” or the second person plural e.g. “for you all.” In this way he is able to grammatically capture what God has done for all of us. Although rare as it is to find in Paul’s writings, he sometimes uses the first person singular. I find it very powerful to see Paul move away from speaking in collective terms to speaking on a very personal level. Galatians 2:20 is one such instance of Paul’s use of the first person singular to describe what God has done: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Paul doesn’t say “who loved us,” although he does so in other parts of his writings. He says, “…who loved ME and gave himself for ME.” This shows that Paul had a deep understanding of God’s personal love for him. Even though he knew that God loves us all the same, he had grasped the fact that God loved him.

How about you? Has it sunk in yet that God loves you? Or do you resist his love? Yes, God loved the world and gave his Son for everyone, but God did it for you. You are the object of God’s love. Your Father loves you. So take a moment to ponder this thought and then let yourself be loved by God. Afterward give thanks to God for loving you in such a marvelous way.

If you are a parent then you know how powerful our love for our children can be. What wouldn’t we do for our children? Even if you are not a parent you know this to be true because most likely you have been the recipient of your parent’s love. Based on this understanding that we have of the love that a parent has for his or her child we would think to know something of God’s love for us. But when we stumble on Ephesians 1:4 we realize that we cannot possibly fathom God’s infinite love for us for it says, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (NLT). As parents we started loving our children when they were in the womb. But God loved us before he ever created the universe! In his foreknowledge he saw us and loved us for eons and patiently waited for us to appear on this planet. And he has patiently waited to pour his love on us now in Christ. You have been loved by God for a really long time.

So today, take a moment to reflect on the depth of God’s love for you. Then give him praise!  

If you have ever held a graduation program in your hand then you know how exciting it is to scroll down the long list of names to find the name of your sibling, son or daughter, relative or friend. The very fact that their name is on the list brings pride because we know that it takes work to be on a graduation program, whether it’s for a high school diploma or a college degree. Heaven too has a program that contains millions of names in it. But unlike a graduation program, heaven’s program does not contain the names of those that by right of their accomplishments have earned a right to have their names printed on the program. Instead, heaven’s program contains the names of those that have placed their trust in Christ alone, knowing that salvation cannot be earned but only received. As Ephesians 2:8 says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” You see, having your name written in heaven’s program means that you have entrance to heaven. (NLT) This is why Jesus tells us in Luke 10:20, “rejoice because your names are registered in heaven” (NLT). So today rejoice! Your name is on the program! Heaven awaits you!

Tough times hit believers and unbelievers alike. The difference is that when we believe in God He walks along side us during tough times. Isaiah 43:2-3 says, “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.³ For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (NLT). Notice that it does not say that we will not go through tough times. What it does say is that God will be with us during tough times and that we will not be destroyed as we go through them. That’s a promise!

No matter how difficult and challenging things may be for you at this time, know that God is with you and He will bring you through these challenging times unscathed.