the joy in Christ

Jesus Calms the Storm

23 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.24 Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
26 Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.
27 The disciples were amazed. "Who is this man?" they asked. "Even the winds and waves obey him!"

matthew 8

last night i had an amazing conversation with thuy. we were just talking about how scared we were about the future. and we know we shouldn't be but it creeps up on us sometimes, you know? she was sharing about her dream life and everything she wanted since she was a little girl and i shared what i wanted. then i realized that that was the point. we were only sharing about what we wanted. God was nowhere to be found in the picture, yeah, i would maybe be in full time ministry and she would be with me but we weren't even focused on that, we were focused on our comfort! hypocrite, i know! i finally got to the point where i started bawling my eyes out because i didn't know if she would still want to be with me if we didn't end up where she had always dreamed. and i came to the conclusion that i didn't care where i would end up, as long as i had her and God, i was golden. something i have to remember to put in my vows when i marry this girl. =] but i totally forgot about the joy that, as Christ followers, we should have! no matter what happens, there is hope and something to rejoice over. Jesus has conquered the world! if everything goes down the drain in this life, honestly, it's ok. because we're still blessed beyond imagination!! i'm blessed beyond my wildest dreams. i don't deserve anything that God gives to me freely. and i will forever be grateful for everything that i've received. i was telling thuy that if kids in africa or other third world countries can have something to smile about because they have the Gospel, then our lives should be able to be filled with laughter and joy living in a dinky, little apartment. we have it so good! and i guess this little anecdote goes into this passage as well. =]

honestly, i have so many instances where i'm one of the disciples who have such little faith in God. that's why i worry about the future. that's why i don't know if i should trust God to take care of me. that's why i feel like God has to take care of me to MY standards instead of surrendering to His. and then i remember. because He's the one who calms the winds and the waves. He's the one who is in charge. He won't let me drown. He won't let me be blown away. how could i ever doubt Him?? He loves me. He loves us. and it may not seem like that to a lot of people. but to us, who have the mind of Christ, who have the Holy Spirit, who have been changed by His love, it's a beautiful thing. =]

me or Jesus?

The Cost of Following Jesus

18 When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake.
19 Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
20 But Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Mans has no place even to lay his head."
21 Another of his disciples said, "Lord, first let me return home and bury my father."
22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.s"

matthew 8

i'm pretty sure that i've talked about this already, but it's always good to review! here we can see Jesus is not a big crowd person, as in crowds of people coming just to see His miracles. He has absolutely no problem when they come to hear His teaching, though, as we see in the story where He feeds the five thousand. and so because He'd rather not have people come to Him who are only looking for a show, He tells His disciples to cross to the other side of the lake. one of the religious teachers comes up to Him and says, "teacher! i will follow you wherever you go!" and Jesus gives Him a totally unexpected answer! you would think that Jesus would totally just say, "yeah! come along! the more, the merrier!" nope. He lets the guy know straight up that even foxes and birds have homes and places to hide and rest, but He Himself has no home on earth. in other words, following Jesus is no walk in the park. it's going to be a long and hard journey. He isn't some self-help book that solves all your life's problems and you'll never have to worry about them again. He frees us from sin but we still have to do some legwork as well! not that we do legwork to earn our salvation or anything, but living for Jesus means bearing the hate and persecution of the world, where there is always a mission, there are always people to be saved, there is always more to do until the Son of Man returns in glory.

i think by this time, Jesus had more than 12 disciples, which is contrary to what we usually thought of how many disciples Jesus had. Jesus had the main 12 and of the 12 He had a select few who were His closest friends. so another disciple, one that was an addition to the 12, asks Jesus if He can go home to bury his father first before continuing to follow Jesus. and Jesus replies, 'let the dead bury their own dead." now this may seem harsh but we have to look at the context of this. in Jewish culture, to bury your father actually means to stay with your family until your father passes away and you inherit his business. so in essence, this "disciple" is saying, "Jesus, let me live my life first, and then i'll live my life for you." and Jesus won't have it! He knows that living for Him is so much better than living any other way, and yet this disciple would rather live for himself first before living for Jesus. Jesus tells him to let the spiritually dead inherit the business, to inherit something that will not last forever, that will eventually pass away into nothingness. but let the spiritually alive follow the Son of God because they will inherit something so much bigger and better.

in all, Jesus doesn't necessarily mean to leave everything to follow Him. maybe He does mean that for some of us. maybe that means dropping everything and going on mission. but what Jesus is really saying here is that He wants us to drop anything that we put in front of Him. anything that we think is more important than Him. is it comfort that gets in the way from following Jesus? is it living the good life? would we rather live for ourselves first before we surrender everything to Him? is it a relationship? is it your own future? this is what Jesus is getting at. are you willing to leave what you value the most for Jesus? or is the case that He's the person you value the most so naturally, you could leave everything else? pray over it. am i going to be the person that picks myself over Jesus? or the person that trusts Jesus to take care of me and my loved ones?

serving and healing

Jesus Heals Many People

14 When Jesus arrived at Peter's house, Peter's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever.15 But when Jesus touched her hand, the fever left her. Then she got up and prepared a meal for him.
16 That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick.17 This fulfilled the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah, who said,

"He took our sicknesses
and removed our diseases."

matthew 8

good morning at 6:30 in the morning! haha, here we go! totally touched last night by a friend sharing how God's been moving in His life even when he was pushing Him away. it was a beautiful time learning how much God continues to love us even when we turn away from Him! we ended up praying blessings and strength over his life and that God would continue to guide and lead Him and that our friend would simply follow.

alright, so this first part. for me, the past two posts have been a major focus on the faith of the people who come to Jesus and how they trust that only He can heal, satisfy, release them or their loved ones from sickness. and there is a big focus on who Jesus was and what He wanted from us. but here is an example of how we react after being healed. peter's mother-in-law doesn't just sit there and say, "thanks!" and chills out. Jesus' healing is so powerful and so quick that she gets right back up on her feet and starts serving Jesus! how do i react? how do all of us react when we realize that He's healed us of our brokenness?? do we just sit there and say, "thanks Jesus! that's so great!" and go back to our daily routines and our own lives? or are we so moved by what has happened that our lives are reoriented, our focuses are shifted, our purpose is now set on serving Jesus because of how He loves and takes away our sicknesses and brokenness? i want to be like peter's mother-in-law! so grateful that the only we she knows that she can repay Jesus is not only to thank Him, but to serve Him!! how many of us just say words to Jesus? promising to do things and never really following through? i want to be the person that is so grateful that his whole life is radically shifted because of what Jesus has done, because of the hope He's given me, because of how He's saved me from myself.

ok, part two! for me, this second part speaks about how Jesus heals. not only does He heal externally, the physical, but internally, what goes on in the heart that is affected by the demons and our own demons inside of us! this is an important point. that just because we're healed on the outside, it doesn't mean as much unless we're really healed from the inside out. do we think we'll really be better just because an external situation is changed? what really needs the mending? what really needs the healing? it's our hearts! it's all the scars and shame that has been built up for years and years that need to be taken care more than the outside physical scars. these internal hurts affect and change everything!!! it's not the physical ailments that affect the way we look at life and interact with people, it's where the heart is. someone can have a physical ailment and still be happy right? and someone can have the same sickness and be completely miserable! what's the difference between these two people? their hearts! two people can be living in a really bad situation and one is content and the other is cursing everything. if the stressor is removed, and both have better lives, there is the one who is still content while the other starts cursing everything again. why? because there's something so much deeper than the situation. it's more complicated than just getting rid of the sickness or situation. it's the inside that needs the most healing. i think that's a huge flag for us as christians, i know it is for me. so many times we help people with their physical needs, give a homeless person some money, help a friend out with a place to stay, but if we don't love on them by just being there for them and listening to them and helping them heal inside wounds by bringing Jesus into their lives, man, they're not really healed, are they?

relationship or religion

The Faith of a Roman Officer

5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officers came and pleaded with him,6 "Lord, my young servants lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain."
7 Jesus said, "I will come and heal him."
8 But the officer said, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, `Go,' and they go, or `Come,' and they come. And if I say to my slaves, `Do this,' they do it."
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, "I tell you the truth, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel!11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven.12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, "Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened." And the young servant was healed that same hour.

matthew 8

lately, i've been really lazy in my faith. being brutally honest, i'm still finding my way out of my dry season. i'm still following Jesus out of this desert. i had an amazing conversation last night with thuy. we were both talking about how we don't like the people that we become when we're not connected with God. we talked about how big of a change there is from the thien and thuy that spend intimate and precious moments with our abba and when we're just too busy doing other things like worrying about school or work or whatever else. i lose my patience a lot easier. i get crankier easier. i end up drifting away enough from God that i enter spiritual dryness in a new way. i slowly just step further and further away from Him. i need to come back to that place. i want to find that boy again, fascinated by His father, waking up early every morning to meet with Him. so that's what thuy and i have decided to do together. we're planning on waking up every morning at 6 to spend time with the King. this is a special time that no one can take away. no matter what happens, we want to, we need to spend time with the Father. because we've seen what happens when we don't! it affects every single one of our relationships with other people and with each other. i encourage you to do the same, too. don't let satan drive you and God apart. take action. fight back.

alright, the faith of the roman officer. in the previous blog, we talked about the faith of the leper and how he completely believed that Jesus was the only one who could heal him and how he put all his faith in Jesus. Jesus, in turn, rewarded his faith and not only just healed the leper, but made Himself ceremonially unclean by actually touching the leper to heal him when He didn't have to. Jesus committed the taboo, but He didn't care. what He said by this was that He doesn't live by the rules and regulations of religion or of this world, He heals and saves all. this story is no different. the roman officer had extraordinary faith in that he knew the power of Jesus. the roman officer even affirms Jesus' authority over everything by sharing the authority from his superior officers and how he has authority over others. the fact that the roman officer was a gentile is what sets this story apart and is a key thing to note. by gentile, we just mean that the roman officer was simply not a jew. but Jesus didn't care, He marveled at the officer's faith and healed His servant immediately. this alludes to what he says later on in the same passage. that people from all over will come to feast in the kingdom, meaning gentiles, non-jews, people who were not welcome before. and the "sons of God" or the israelites will not be able to! Jesus remarks that it's not the religious people who are saved, the jews, but the people who have true faith in Him, the gentiles. not to say that jews aren't going to be saved and only gentiles are saved, but He's making the point that it's not religion that saves, but a true and genuine faith, trust, and relationship with Him that does!!

don't let your faith turn into a religion. don't let it turn into a bunch of rules and regulations that you half-heartedly follow because everyone tells you to. don't let it become just a routine. work on that relationship with God. that's the most important thing. so that when the day comes, and you ask Jesus if He recognizes you after all the "deeds" that you've done, He won't say, "come a little bit closer, i don't recognize your face." don't be a stranger. don't follow the rest of the crowd that turns Him into some, far-away, distant God. know that He is here and He wants to have a relationship with you. don't forget that.

we were learning about this at rock harbor, if you want to know about God. if you want to know what He's really like. if you want to know if He's jealous, or vengeful, or kind, or compassionate, or forgiving, or is brave, or stands up for His people. look at the image of the invisible God. look at the exact representation of the Father in the Son. look at Jesus. Jesus is God. if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. and if this is what God's like, this really is good news. =]

i want to be like Him

Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy

1 Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside.2 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. "Lord," the man said, "if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean."
3 Jesus reached out and touched him. "I am willing," he said."Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared.4 Then Jesus said to him, "Don't tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy.s This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed."

matthew 8

we talk about this story a lot at rock harbor. i mean, a lot. not just because it's just a great story, but because it's one of the best pictures of who Jesus really was. yes, this is a story about a man who had faith in Jesus, and if we have faith in Jesus that we can be healed from the inside out, He is willing to enter in and work with us. but more than that, this is a story about who Jesus was. let's tackle this one point at a time.

the first part is about faith. the leper not only had faith in Jesus but knew that he couldn't anything about his leprosy, he didn't try to get cleaned up before asking Jesus to heal him. it should be the same way for us! we have to realize that there's really no way for us to make ourselves clean enough for God! we're still sinners through and through unless we've actually acknowledged that Jesus was punished for our mess ups, our misses, our sins! i like this thing that mike erie always says, it's like knowing the cleaning people are coming to your house and you end up cleaning up beforehand so you don't seem too messy! what?? what's the point in that?? the cleaning people are there to clean up your house and your mess! it's the same way with God, He's there to clean up your life and wipe away your mistakes and sins. you don't have to get "cleaned up" before coming to God! He wants you as you are!! Jesus came to the leper, the man who couldn't do anything about his sickness, to clean him. Jesus comes to us, the people who can't do anything about our sin on our own, to clean and forgive us. that's the beauty of it. there's no "extra" work that we have to do. there's no religious rites that we have to go through. everybody feels that if we want something from God, we have to do something to earn it. nope! not the case! that's the beauty of grace!!! His love is freely given to us. we don't need to do anything. we just need to come to Him, sins, shames, regrets, scars, tears, and all. and He'll run to us with open arms celebrating that His child has come home.

now, the juicy part that i personally really like. =] do we know what taboo means? it's something we should never, ever, ever, ever do. ever. it's something, where if you do it, everybody is shocked and disappointed or even offended because of it. what are some of our social taboos? maybe drinking and driving? or peeing in public? or pushing an old lady to the ground? or stealing a kid's candy? we can come up with more examples but let's move on! now, when we see these things happening in public, we can already imagine and see the frowns and the looks of, "what is that person thinking?? or how rude!!" even disgust comes across people's faces. touching a leper was the same way. but not only would you get dirty looks from other people, your whole social status would just totally dropped because you've been made "unclean." but Jesus, He didn't care. He touched that leper's hand and healed Him. He broke the social conventions, He disregarded His own status, He reached out to be in the same vicinity, to be at the same level as the leper. and He continues to do the same for us. He continues to break social conventions. He reaches out to the prostitutes, the sex offenders, the swindlers, the liars, the cheaters, the gamblers, the hot-tempered. why? because He loves the heck out of them. He loves the heck out of us. He doesn't care what His reputation is going to be reaching out to someone who is struggling with an addiction to pornography. He doesn't care what His reputation is going to be reaching out to someone who is struggling with an addiction to drugs, alcohol, and sex. this always convicts me. because my love always has a line. there's always a line for all of us to how far we'll go to love someone. Jesus demolished that line. i mean, He trashed it. i want to trash mine, too. everyone. is. loved. everyone. is. wanted. i want to live with those lenses on.

p.s. from my reading, it seems that Jesus didn't want the leper to tell everyone about what happened because He wanted people to come to Him because of His teachings, not because of His miracles. He wasn't looking for people who were simply there for a show. =]

the houses

Building on a Solid Foundation

24 "Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock.26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash."
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,29 for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.

matthew 7

i can't believe i haven't talked about this yet! this is a pretty amazing teaching. the way i'm thinking about about it right now is a lot of people hear Jesus's teachings every sunday or wednesday night at bible study or sermons online, but not a lot of people follow the teaching. i'm guilty of it as well! i'll hear an amazing sermon or revelation about life, love, materialism, greed, justice, etc. and i'll remark on how great it was and yet never let it affect my life! how wrong is that? it's like going to the doctor and having him or her tell you that you have cancer and you need to take steps to eradicate it and you walk out saying, "wow, what a great doctor! who knew exactly what i need to do to save my life! oh well!" and never do anything about your sickness!! how ridiculous is that?? it's the same way with Christians a lot of the time! we'll hear Jesus talking about what we need to do to change our hearts or change the world and we marvel at how wise and edgy He was and never lift a finger to do anything about it! and here is Jesus going after us and letting us know that, straight up, it's not ok!

ok, so here's the breakdown of Jesus's parable in my eyes: everyone hears what Jesus wants us to do, at least Christians do. and we all try to live life. this is represented by the house, i'm thinking. those of us who try to live life by following Jesus and actually doing what He tells us to do are living on a solid foundation. those of us not only listening but doing are building on top of the cornerstone, Jesus Christ, everything is dependent on Him. all of our decisions are rooted in Him. whatever it may be, whether it's where to go to school, what career path to pursue, where to serve in ministry, who to ask to marry us, etc. all choices are rooted in Him. and when life comes with its struggles and hardships, we won't fall because all of our bets were always on Jesus. so if life comes rumbling down the road, we won't be shaken! there's nothing that can move this life, this house, because it's built upon our savior. because we've built a life on the foundations of who Jesus is, love, patience, kindness, humility, no one can tear us down! when we lose our house, God is good because we know houses are temporary, we know material possessions come and go! when we lose our careers, we remember that God provides, that honestly, He's the one the even gives us the strength to work! when people mock and make fun of us, God is still good because we knew when we started this journey that there were going to be a lot of haters, and because we've been built on humility and thinking of others higher than ourselves, rather than feeling bad and discouraged, we pray our hearts out over the people that hate us! when we even lose the people we love, God is good because we know that God is just and we will be worshipping with them when we all get to heaven. =] when we find out that we have a terminal illness, God is good because we know that He still provides, we are still so blessed, and even though He's taking back the life He gave to us, we still have received so much more than we could have ever even asked for, love, redemption, and healing. God is good. for those of us living life without listening to Jesus and actually building on Him, their foundation is very weak, when life comes, it comes hard. it trashes everything. here is where we have Christians who turn away from God because they think He's forsaken them! but they've never built their life on Jesus, they've never learned how good God is in every situation! but God is still loving.

i pray that those of us who have built on a strong foundation will open up our homes, our lives to those whose houses are wrecked. whose lives are wrecked. and those of us who don't have that firm foundation yet, find someone who does. start with Jesus. start right here, in that heart. all we need to do is really mean it when we say, "Jesus, i need you. i mean, i really, really need you. show me how to live, because i don't know how to do it on my own."