I’ve heard people say that Jesus was just a good man, a good teacher, but they deny that he is God. This is a travesty because the importance of Jesus’ death on the cross is rooted in the fact that he is fully God, and was also fully human.

As C.S. Lewis said, “Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.” He cannot be just a good teacher, because he claimed to be the Son of God. If he made that claim and it was not true, then he was either completely insane or a liar. That type of person does not make a good teacher. He can’t be just a good teacher. That is not an option. And if he’s not a lunatic or a liar, then who is he?

Jesus is Lord. Lord of all. King of kings.

Jesus, as fully human, lived a completely sinless life on earth.

He then willingly chose to lay down his life to take the punishment that every single one of us deserve. He stood in our place and took every sin upon him as he suffered and died. Our sins held him there on that cross.

Satan thought he had won. But Jesus was still in control. No one took his life from him, he laid it down. He could have exercised his ultimate authority on all of creation and saved himself, but instead he chose to offer the gift of salvation to anyone who will believe.

3 days later, because he is God, he conquered death and rose from the grave. He is alive! We serve a risen Savior – the one, true God.

Today is Saturday. The day we remember Christ’s death and his time in the tomb. But thankfully, he is not in that tomb today. He is alive and seated at the right hand of our Heavenly Father waiting for the day he will return to this earth to gather his followers to live with him forever.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

This morning, Facebook, Instagram and Messenger were all down for a couple hours or so. As I was having my quiet time with the Lord, I pondered something. I imagine a lot of people were uncomfortably shaken by the lack of contact with their friends, family, or even strangers that they follow online. But I wondered, do we get that uncomfortable when we start the day without God? When we rush into the day before we’ve taken time to pray and read his Word?

We should be uncomfortable if we rush into the day without connecting first with our Lord and Savior, who created us and is in complete control of our day. We should feel uncomfortable if we haven’t called to him and asked him for peace in the midst of all we have going on around us. We should feel uncomfortable if we rush ahead without first seeking his wisdom and guideance.

The great news is that his line of communication is always open. He is available to us 24/7, 365 days a year. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ when he died on the cross for our sins, we have access to our Heavenly Father anytime. We don’t have to wait for a certain time or day. We don’t have to go through another person in order to communicate with God. We can just talk to him directly anytime, and he promises us that if we seek him with our whole heart, he will be found by us. When we call out to him, he always listens. He is never too busy, too tired, or unavailable for us.

So before you rush off into your day, take time to meet with God. He knows your every need and he will take care of you. He loves you so much that he chose to create you and he desires to have a relationship with you. Call out to him and talk to him as you would a loving father, because that’s just who He is.

Happy Leap Day! Have you taken a “leap of faith” lately? Maybe you are still standing back at a safe distance trying to decide if you will jump or not. Do you have that thing that you feel God is nudging you to do, but you are afraid to try? Maybe you are afraid it won’t work out, that you will fail, or that you will have wasted time. Maybe you are afraid of rejection, concerned about what others will think, or maybe you just feel inadequate for the task.

We read in Exodus how Moses went through this same challenge. God came to him and spoke to him directly (through a burning bush) telling him to go talk to Pharoh about letting God’s people go free. Moses actually heard God’s audible voice telling him what to do! You would think he would immediately obey after that, but he didn’t. Instead, he argued with God.

Moses started by saying, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘the Lord did not appear to you’?”. He was concerned that they might not believe that God had told him to do this task. Can you relate to that?

God then reminded Moses that he was in complete control as he turned Moses’ staff into a snake and back into a staff again. Then he covered Moses’ hand with leprosy and healed it again.  God told Moses that if they don’t believe the first sign, show them the second. If they still don’t believe the second sign, he had another one up his sleeve, so to speak. He told Moses to take some water from the Nile river and put it on the ground and it would turn into blood.

With those reminders that God can do anything, did Moses choose to obey?

No, he argued some more. He told God that he was not the guy for the job. Moses argued that he was not a good speaker, had never been eloquent and was slow in speech. Of course, God already knew his limitations. That was the point.

God reminded Moses that it was He who gave humans the ability to talk. He said, “Who gave humans their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”

Surely now Moses would choose to obey, after all, he’s talking directly with the Lord. There is no question who was giving him these orders.

But once again, Moses let his fear take over as he told God to get someone else for the job. He said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

At this point in the story, we are told that the Lord’s anger burned against Moses. However, what I also see here is his amazing grace. The Lord said he would send Moses’ brother Aaron with him since he could speak well. God said, “I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.”

If you are not familiar with the story, Moses ends up going. You can read about it in Exodus starting in chapter 1. Moses’ birth is in chapter 2, and his encounter with the Lord and the burning bush is chapter 3.

God has incredible patience with us and extends us his grace even when we are slow to respond and obey. But oh, how we can be blessed and bless others when we choose to step out in faith and obey his calling. What is the Lord telling you to do? Whatever it is, our enemy the devil will try to keep you from doing it. The devil’s priority is to distract you, deceive you, delay you, discourage you and destroy you. Even if he knows he already lost your soul to Jesus, he wants to keep you from being effective for God’s kingdom here on earth. Don’t let him win! Take a leap of faith and trust that if God calls you to do something, he will prepare you and equip you to do it. He knows your limitations, and He wants to use you in spite of those limitations. God is all powerful and nothing is impossible with him, so he wants you to rely on his power, not your own.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

Our family often watches the old show, Perry Mason. One consistent theme in the show is that not only does Perry always prove that his client is innocent, but he also brings to light who the real criminal is.  Another thing we see often is that Perry will agree to represent a client even when they can’t afford to pay. He once accepted $0.38 from a lady because that was all she had in her purse.

It reminds me of what Jesus did and continues to do, for me.

I was thinking about that this morning as I read in Psalm 27, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?”

Jesus is our defense, and he goes before the Judge (God) on our behalf. Our enemy, the devil, goes before the Father and accuses us, pointing out every flaw and sin that we have committed. But Jesus steps in and defends us because the penalty for those sins has already been paid. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid that penalty for us once and for all, so that we can be innocent in God’s eyes if we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior.

Jesus did this for me, knowing that I could never repay him. He knew I had nothing of value to offer him, but he redeemed me anyway because he loves me that much. All I had to do, was accept his gift of salvation, give him my heart, and make him Lord of my life. I can never repay the debt I owe him for what he did. There is nothing I can do to earn his love or salvation. It’s a free gift.

Even though I can never repay him, what I can do is honor what he has done for me by loving Him, loving others, being a good steward, using my abilities to serve others, & telling others of what He has done in my life.

A conversation I had recently got me thinking about JOY.

Where do we find our joy? What makes us feel joyful?

If we seek joy in the things that we accomplish or achieve, or in how well the day goes according to plan – we will always fall short. Plans will change and projects will fail. When we are relying on those things to bring us joy, we are so easily shaken! But if we seek true joy, it can only be found in the One who is completely unshakable – Jesus! We can only have true joy when Christ is the center of our life and of each day.

Sometimes in order to find that joy we are seeking, we have to be still and rest. It can be so hard to find it in the hustle and bustle of our days as we strive to get things done.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)

Some versions translate that as “Cease striving, and know that I am God”.

Cease striving. Stop trying so hard. Let it go.

Trust in Him. Let Him be in control. He’s got you and he’s got this.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.”

(Psalm 23:2-3)

Notice that he makes us lie down in green pastures. Have you ever pushed yourself so hard that you ended up sick and had to spend some days in bed healing? If we don’t take the time to rest in Him, he will often make us stop and rest, one way or another. It’s so much better when we can choose to take a rest day (or a few) and spend extra time letting the Lord restore our soul as we communicate with him.

Another example I love is about Elijah.

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah said, “God, I’ve had enough! I want to die!” so God let him take a nap and then gave him some food. Then he took another nap, and God told him to eat some more or else his journey would be too hard for him.

After 2 rounds of napping and eating, he had the strength & energy to do what he needed to do.

Never underestimate the value in a nap & a snack! God’s provision comes in many forms, and he will supply all of our needs!

Make some time to sit with God and let him refresh you. Read his word, listen to praise music, enjoy some time in nature, and talk to him. He knows your needs and he just wants you to come to him.  His joy is a gift waiting for you to choose to accept it. Choose to find your joy in the fact that God created you, loves you, chose you, and wants a relationship with you. You are a child of the one true King, and you are loved deeply, no matter what you accomplish or achieve. Find your joy in knowing that God is in control. There is nothing you can do apart from him, so cease striving and let him lead.

We cannot add a single hour to our life by worrying (Matt 6:27), and neither can we be more productive when we are stressed and exhausted. So, take time to rest and let his peace wash over you.

Happy New Year! God’s mercies are new this morning, like each morning, as we start this new year. He is doing a new thing in each of our lives. I know our family has a lot of changes coming up this year – Rob is retiring from the Army this year, going back into the IT work field, and we will be moving back to North Carolina to settle down there. Those are just a few of the many changes going on. We are looking forward to many of these changes, while also dealing with many unknowns. But we know God’s hand is in every detail and he will lead us and reveal to us what we need to know when we need it.

As I think about the new year, and how it is a fresh start in many ways, I think about how God offers each of us a fresh start when we choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Jesus paid the penalty for my sins when he died on the cross and rose again, conquering death. This allows me to have a relationship with God where God no longer sees my sin because he looks at me through the blood of Jesus. Jesus stood in my place and received the punishment I deserve. God forgives my sins because of Jesus. Then he chooses to forget them and he sees me as a new creation – a brand new person. I am a completely different person than I was without Jesus, and I’m so thankful that he chose me, loves me, rescued me, redeemed me, and made me new.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between…was HIM. (One of my favorite quotes from The Chosen)

I look forward to this next year and seeing what God has in store for me as he grows me closer to him. He already knows what this year holds and nothing is a surprise to him. I will cling to him because he is good and faithful and I know he will guide us as we seek to follow his path. What will that look like? I don’t know yet. All I can do each day is choose to spend time seeking him and asking what he wants me to do that day. Then I will let him guide me one day at a time as I follow him.

What will you do with your time each day? Make the choice to spend time with Jesus. Read his word, and communicate with him through prayer. Seek him first, and he will direct your path.

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” (J.R.R. Tolkien)

In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter tells us to “Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the devil is prowling like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.”

But what does it mean to be alert? How do we do that practically? I was thinking about this as I was driving home last night and a light bulb went on in my brain.

When we are driving, staying alert is critical. To have the best chance at being safe on the road, I have to do a few things. I have to first secure my license to drive by passing a test.  I also need to know the laws of the road and choose to obey those laws.

But that’s not enough.

I also have to be defensive. I have to watch out for those that are close to me that might cause me harm or put me in danger.

If everyone that was driving not only knew the laws, but obeyed the laws, there would be a lot less danger on the road. If everyone that was driving was selfless and considerate, we would rarely have danger on the road. Sadly, this is not the case. So I have to be alert and ready to respond when someone near me breaks a law, or acts in a selfish, inconsiderate way.

And then, even if I’m driving according to the laws and being kind, and the cars all around be are doing the same, there can still be outside influences that affect us. A tire could blowout, or a deer could run into the road. So we have to be always watching, ready to respond to whatever comes our way. The more experienced we are as drivers, the better and more naturally we can handle these surprise situations.

We gain that experience by driving regularly over time and in different conditions. We learn to trust how our car handles, how quick to turn the wheel or how long it takes to stop when we hit the brake.

The same is true in our walk with Christ. We first have to secure our salvation by believing in Jesus and knowing that he died in our place to pay for our sins.  Then, we must not only know God’s commandments, but also choose to obey them. That’s a start.

Then, we have to choose to surround ourselves with people that are also walking with Christ and choosing to follow his commands. Our closest friends, our inner circle, needs to be people that are trying daily to live the way God wants them to live, and who will encourage us to do the same. If we surround ourselves with people who are living dangerously, that can also lead to negative consequences in our own lives.

And once we have secured our salvation, learned God’s laws, made the decision to obey them the best we can, surrounded ourselves with iron-sharpening people, then we still have to be alert. Because the devil is prowling seeking to destroy us, so we’ll have challenges in life that spring up when we least expect them. But the more experienced we are at walking with Christ, the more equipped we are to handle those situations when they come. The more natural it becomes to respond correctly.

We gain that experience by walking with Jesus over time. By being in communication with him daily, reading his word to learn more about him. And as much as we don’t like it, we gain that experience by going through trials and seeing him work, as our faith and our trust grow deeper each time. We learn through each situation to trust what we know – that He is always with us and will provide exactly what we need at just the time we need it in order to fulfill his plan.