Restoration: Path to Holiness

At different points in my life I have asked for healing for several different things. We go through seasons in life and the “asks” change with the wind of time. Being in the ministry and working with people, the “asks” that I have heard run the gamut. If you were to ask God for healing, what would that “ask” be?

In Isaiah 35:4-10 we hear God speaking through his prophet offering promises to his people. He promises to come with vengeance to save us. He promises to make the blind see and the deaf hear. He promises to make the lame walk and the mute to sing for joy. God promises to spring up water from the desert and to turn burning sand into pools of fresh flowing water. He offers a path to Holiness free from beasts and sorrow, yet it will be full of gladness and joy because of our redemption.

Pause to read that passage now!

Now close your eyes and think about your life, what are you going through? What desert are you in? Does your life feel empty or void? Maybe your spirit feels weak and unsure? Or, maybe you or someone you know is suffering with something. Drug addiction? Alcoholism? Abuse? Abandonment? Fear? A sense of failure? Unforgiveness? Disease? Loss? Insecurity? Doubt?

God wants to restore you. He wants desperately to heal you. He offers divine healing for you. Be careful not to assume that such healing always gives us what we think we need or want. But, rest assured when God brings healing to us, it is exactly what we need, and it is always in his perfect timing. That is sometimes hard to swallow. But, if we can manage to swallow our pride that is choking us then his healing won’t be so much like bitter medicine as it will be like honey on our lips.

Reflection Piece on Habakkuk 3:17-19

Habakkuk 3:17-19 ESV

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
    nor fruit be on the vines,

(When all of life seems dark and gloomy, when everything around feels empty and dead, when life seems meaningless and void…)

the produce of the olive fail
    and the fields yield no food,

(When the cupboards are empty, and the fridge is bare, when we don’t know where our next meal is coming from, when our children cry out with hunger…)

the flock be cut off from the fold
    and there be no herd in the stalls,

(When money is tight or non-existent, when our paycheck just doesn’t stretch, when bill collectors won’t stop, when the only way out appears to be digging deeper into debt, when we are facing financial ruin, when all hope seems lost…)

¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

(I will choose to bask in the glory and beauty and majesty of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I will choose to draw upon the well that never runs dry. I will choose to receive my sustenance from the life giver and the sustainer of all things. I will abide in the presence of God and allow His joy His love His hope His grace His mercy His provision His power, His Spirit to flow over me…)

¹⁹ God, the Lord, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the deer's;
    he makes me tread on my high places.

(And, when I choose to do this… He will prepare the way before me and give me a Spirit of freedom and put a prance in my step, He will guide me in all things and He will offer cushion to my steps. I won’t worry for I know who holds tomorrow. I won’t fear because I serve the conquer of all fear.)

A Mile In There Shoes

Preface: The following is not meant to be a doctrinal teaching but merely to be an interpretation of the thoughts that the characters in John chapters 18 and 19 may have had in the face of the events surrounding them. May it bring perspective to the text in your own thoughts. 

Chapter 18 - 

Jesus- I don’t really want to do this but I must be obedient to my Father. I love these people and I’m not ready to leave them. This really hurts! IF they only knew what is really happening… These people are clueless! Why don’t they understand? Enough, I’m done, my work is through!!!

Disciples- Why doesn’t he take charge and rise up and fight? What is this guy talking about? Have we just been wasting the last three years of our life? We have followed this far, we might as well see this through! What??? What is going on? Let’s fight! Judas, you traitor, how dare you!

Judas- This guy has gone crazy. All this pressure has gotten the best of him. He is never going to rise up an army big enough to get the job done. I need to align myself with the winning side so I don’t get hurt or lose out.

a band of soldiers- (likely Roman soldiers) Hail Caesar! Yes SIR! I’m a lean mean fighting machine! I can’t be beaten! I will conquer! Why are we out here with these ridiculous Jews on a fool’s errand?

some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees- I must obey the priest! I must find this man! These Christians must die!

Then Simon Peter- I love you Jesus and I will die for you! Let’s go to war! I want to fight! Let’s over through these wretched people and restore the Jewish people. I will never deny you! Oh, Crap! What am I going to do now? What are you doing Jesus, fight back? Got to stay alove… got to stay alive… This can’t be happening!!! What is going on? If anyone finds out who I am, I am dead. Got to stay alive! Oh! What have I done? Woes me!   

the high priest's servant (Malchus.)- Malchus this and Malchus this!!! He is such a &@%#%!!! I’ll show him… Let’s get this over with so I can get back and get some sleep. This is stupid. OUCH!!! WOW!!! AWE!!!

their captain- Obey me!!!

Annas- I am Annas, here me now! My son is an idiot, I can handle this. Everybody knows that I really call the shots.  

Caiaphas- This isn’t fair! This Jesus dude is stealing my thunder! I am High Priest! The people should be looking to me. It’s almost Passover. This is my busiest time of year and it is finally my time to shine and now this. As if I didn’t have enough to worry about or deal with. Why won’t this Jesus just go away already? This guy is a joke and he needs to die. Let’s kill him and be done with this. Why must I abide by the laws? The laws just hinder me. How can I get this done with the least repercussions and fall out?

the Jews- Let’s party! Good food, God friends and family, Good God, let’s eat!!!

the people- Kill, Kill, Kill!!!

another disciple- (Likely John speaking of himself) This makes me scared, anger, and sad! I must be strong for Mary!

the servant girl- Here is another one! Get him!  

one of the officers- How dare you speak like that to the High Priest. I will kill you now!

One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off- Get him! He’s mine! I’ll kill you for attacking my family.

the governor (Pilate)- What now? This wretched post is driving me nuts. I can’t stand it here. Why do they persist to bother me? This is ridiculous. He is innocent. Why must I do this? If these people don’t calm down Caesar will have my head on a pike. 

Barabbas- Let me go! YES!!! I get to go free. You stupid fools!

Chapter 19 - 

the soldiers-  move! Get out of the way! We have a job to do… get the hammer. Who has the nails? These holes are hard to dig. I’m going to need a shower. There is so much blood. I’ve got dibs on the tunic. No I said that I wanted that. Let’s cast lots for it.

the chief priests- We need order! Order, order!  

Caesar- I must conquer! Who shall I kill next? These Jews are so bothersome.

two others- its so hot. Ouch. Ouch. Why? I don’t want to die. Help! OUCH!!!

his mother- I’m angry, I’m scared, I’m extremely sad… Stop it. Let him go.  

his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas- ??? boo hoo this is so sad. What horror?  

and Mary Magdalene- no! no! no! don’t do this. Let him go. Please stop this. Boo hoo.   

the disciple whom he loved-  ??? I don’t what to do. Why did this happen? What does this all mean. I am really sad. He was like a brother to me. This is madness. I don’t understand. Yes Jesus, I will love her as my own. I will take care of her.

Joseph of Arimathea- I believe but I am scared. I must do something.

Nicodemus- I can do this for him. It is the least that I can do. Annas and Caisphas are such brutes and tyrants. I can’t believe they did all of this. 

Slow Your Roll

It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle that we lose sight of what is real, the big picture, the life that is passing us by. We allow everything in our lives to distract us. And we lie to ourselves thinking that doing more will help us slowdown in other areas, but the reality is we never slow down. We just surrender ourselves to the grind.

There was a moment in Jesus life when he was setting down to a meal with some of his family and friends and as the women were prepping the meal and setting the table and scurrying around the house trying their best to be good hostesses to the people that have gathered there. On this occasion there were two women that were supposed to be doing this work. One was doing more than the other. She was working her tail off and the other was chillaxin’ at the feet of Jesus, reclined at the table with everyone else.

Now I remember being a kid with a kid brother who I thought always got his way and was babied by my mom and dad. I felt quite often, like I was having to do more work than him and he would just play Houdini or always goof off while I’m working to honor my dad’s wishes and/or instructions. It wasn’t fair, or it, at the very least, didn’t feel fair.

This is what is happening here in this story. In Luke 10:38-42 we see that Martha is so distracted with the work that she doesn’t even see that the most important and best thing that could ever have happened to her was in her presence, in her house. Mary wasn’t being rude or disrespectful by being with Jesus. She was just focused on what was important, what mattered most. Martha lost sight of that. She was wound so tight that she couldn’t see that stopping and focusing on Jesus was far more important and mattered more than what someone thinks about her ability to host a party. She failed to realize that even though stuff still needs done and we still have responsibilities, Jesus matters more and slowing down and shifting our focus toward him, often makes life more efficient and more productive. When we are focused on Jesus and serving him with our life, we accomplish far more than when we do not. This is true in every area of our life. Whether it is in our relationships, our work ethic, our business dealings, our finances, our (you fill in the blank), if done with Jesus in mind and his Spirit in control, guiding us in all things; it can’t have anything but the absolute best outcome. Slow your roll and follow his lead.

Claims of Jesus According to John

There are many people who claim to be Christians who also say that Jesus never claimed to be divine in nature, that he was not the Son of God. These people have either never read the Gospel of John or they have chosen to ignore the plethora of claims that Jesus made about himself. Jesus absolutely claimed to be God both directly and indirectly. The following is a list of scriptures from the Gospel of John in which Jesus is recorded as having made statements claiming His divine nature.

Right off the bat in John chapter two, the Jews were demanding that Jesus show them miraculous signs and wonders and Jesus replied to them in verse 19, ‘Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Just a couple of verses after that John explains Jesus’ words. In verse 21 John says, “But he was speaking about the temple of his body.” John is letting us know in this passage that Jesus is indirectly claiming to have power over life and death which we know only God has. In every instance in both Old and New Testament texts in which someone was raised from the dead, it was the power of God working through the prophet or person, not any power of their own. Only God has this power and the Jews knew it. Jesus was making a bold claim about himself in this statement.

Jesus clarifies this statement for anyone who didn’t catch it the first time. In John 5:21 John records Jesus as saying, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” This could not be any more blatant. Jesus has again claimed to be God. He follows this up with another statement later in chapter 10:17-18 where Jesus is recorded as saying, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” This list goes on and on.

Then there is the woman at the well in chapter 4 where Jesus claims to have power over eternal life. John 4:13-14 ‘Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[a] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” And then in chapter 6:40 Jesus says, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” In each of these two moments Jesus has claimed to have the power over the eternal soul of all human beings. He holds the keys to Heaven and Hell and determines who goes where. We see this further proven by Jesus’ words to Martha in regards to Lazarus, (this can be found in chapter 11:25-26).

In the following scripture references Jesus claims to have: Been the only one to have come from Heaven to do His Father’s will, he has stood in the presence of His Father, that He would be returning to His Father, and that He shares in the glory of the Father. (3:13, 6:38, 8:36, 16:28, 17:5) Jesus repeatedly refers to Himself as the “Son of Man” which is in reference to what is said about Him in the book of Daniel. He also said in chapter 4:26, “Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” This was in reference to the previous comment concerning the coming Messiah. Jesus claims here to be the long awaited Messiah from God which the Jews would have known and believed to be God according to the writings of Isaiah that we read so often at Christmas time.

In both John 8:12 and 8:25 Jesus claims to have power over the forgiveness of sins, a position and level of authority that up to that point only God had claimed for himself. Herein Jesus is claiming to be the very God who possess such power.

In John 14:26 Jesus states that in His coming absence the Father would send the Holy Spirit to His disciples. Later in chapter 16:7 Jesus says, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” Jesus has thus claimed to be the Father who will do the sending of the Holy Spirit. And in John 5:23 and John 16:15 Jesus claims equality with God the Father. According to Jesus, he deserves the same honor as that of the Father. Why? Because he is God! TO know Jesus is to know the Father and visa-versa. They are one in the same.

All of the above are a small drop in the bucket of the indirect claims made by Jesus about himself in relationship to the Father and his claims to be God in the flesh. But, the really cool part is when you get to the direct statements that He made, primarily the “I AM” statements. Jesus uses the same exact language used by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Jesus is essentially calling himself YHWH the I AM!

And lastly, the Jews themselves believed Jesus to have claimed to be God in the flesh. They even accused Him of it and tried to stone Him for it. They claimed it as blasphemy. This can be seen in both John 5:17-18 and John 10:33.

The entire Gospel of John is a testament to the statements that Jesus made about himself and was written by the closest person to Jesus, someone who, in all probability, knew Him the best. This adds credibility to the accuracy of the statements as recorded. John clearly believed that Jesus, on multiple occasions, claimed to be and was in fact God in the flesh. 

Gospel of John - Under A Minute

These help me remember the general direction and content of the book. Hopefully they help you in your study and/or spawn some sermon or discussion ideas.

Gospel of John - 

John 1 - Two things are key in ministry for all believers, a) testimony and b) calling

John 2 - Jesus is passionate about the intent of the heart of man

John 3 - Salvation is found in Jesus the Christ the Son of the Living God

John 4 - Jesus sees our "As Is" tag and accepts us anyway

John 5 - In Jesus there is power

John 6 - Jesus words are food for the eternal soul and give respite to the needy 

John 7 - Jesus stirs hearts and emotions wherever He goes. You will either accept Him or reject Him, but you can't ignore Him.

John 8 - Jesus offers freedom from all oppression

John 9 - Jesus controls and has dominion over the natural and unnatural. He can make the imperfect, perfect.

John 10 - Jesus is our ultimate source of security and peace of mind.

John 11 - Jesus has power over the supernatural and is a spiritual Houdini. He holds the keys to Heaven and Hell.

John 12 - Jesus likes to both work behind the scenes and to make grand entrances. But His timing in both is always perfect. There is a season for all things...

John 13 - Jesus is humble but not afraid of confrontation when it is needed. When it is needed, it is always doled out in grace and love.

John 14 - Jesus does not leave a man behind nor alone. He always makes sure we are cared for.

John 15 - Some people like fruit and some don't. Produce fruit anyway!

John 16 - Life is hard and this world can be nasty at times. Jesus works and thrives in the midst of the really nasty. he makes the “really nasty,” really clean and He does it from the inside and often in what is unseen.

John 17 - Jesus intercedes for us, we are not alone, and He desires unity among us.

John 18 - In the midst of rejection, betrayal, denial, and extremely prejudice persecution... Jesus holds firm to the truth and to His purpose. he takes solace in His destination.

John 19 - Jesus is one tough hombre! The world says, "you hurt me, I hurt you more..." Jesus says, "You hurt me, I love you more." (Father forgive them!!!)

John 20 - Jesus has dominion and power over death, and Hell. Because of the Resurrection, the cross has significance. Without the Resurrection, the cross means nothing.

John 21 - Jesus has control issues with a bit of O.C.D. tendencies, and trouble turning things over. He also has a bit of a flair for the dramatic.

Temptation Is A Two-Way Street

Jesus said that to lust in our mind is the equivalent as having committed adultery in our heart (Matt. 5:28). This of course puts the onus on the part of the person doing the lusting. I completely agree that if a man or woman is tempted, what they do in reaction to that temptation is on them along with the consequences that follow as a result. They cannot blame anyone or anything but themselves. It is not the porn industries fault that a man watched their productions. It is not a half-naked woman’s fault that a man looked at her and suddenly had urges and filthy thoughts. It is certainly not a person’s fault that someone acted physically and attacked or assaulted them. That fault lies squarely on the person allowing their flesh to be controlled by its own impulses and not taking every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5).

The sin and the consequences of that sin is on the person sinning. However, there is another side to all of this. One, that quite frankly gets little if any attention. And, it’s a street that if walked down, could aide in preventing a great deal of these sins and the fall out of them.

Romans 14:13-23 speaks directly to this matter. It is the other side of the street so to speak. While it is not the fault of the half-naked woman that a man looking at her should act upon his impulses, there is an onus on her for having allowed herself to be the object of temptation. It is not the man’s fault for being tempted, it is only his fault for having acted upon the temptation. We cannot, we must not be the cause of temptation. We must consider carefully our actions, our words, our performance, our personality, our character and do everything possible to ensure that we are not a stumbling block for others that may succumb to temptation.

Temptation comes in many forms but never from God. Money can be tight and hard to come by and we need food for our family, so we may be tempted to steal it. We may have been super busy and forgotten to study for a test or work on an assignment/project that is do and we run out of time, so we may be tempted to cheat or cut corners. The cashier gives us to much change back and after we walk out of the store we realize it and may be tempted to just keep walking and keep it. Life seems unbearable and the pressure we have put ourselves under lead us to a state of depression and anxiety that cause us to be tempted to do something that we may not come back from. None of this comes from God. Temptation may come from Satan (1 Peter 5:8). It may and often does come from other people. And, it may come from our own weakness in the flesh and lack of spiritual maturity.

It is for these reasons the scriptures instruct us, with a certain level of insistence, to flee from temptations of every kind (2 Timothy 2:22-24; James 1:2-15; Romans 12:2; Col. 3:2; Matt.26:41). While others may be the trigger of our temptation the blame still lies with us, as temptation originates in us. So, in obedience to God we must discipline ourselves in order that we may be able to resist and ward off such things. This requires some level of self-reflection and awareness. However, we are not without comfort nor are we alone in this.

 1 Cor. 10:13; Matt. 4:1-11; Hebrews 4:15 all show us that we are not alone. Others have been tempted including Jesus, in every way that we have and stood firm through it or fell and were forgiven and set free from it. God allows it so that we may be strengthened. And, according to Ephesians 6 we have been given the tools to overcome such things as well. This should give us hope and security. But, it does something else, or should.

This truth should compel us to obedience. It is only when we are obedient in submission of our flesh to the supernatural leading of the Holy Spirit that we can ever hope to stay off temptation and not be the cause of temptation ourselves.