Your Will Not Mine

I want what I want now before you get yours! I want. You want. We all want. Why don’t I just want what God wants?

Before Jesus’ death he went up to the the Mount of Olives to pray. Luke records Jesus’ simple prayers in chapter 22:42.

“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Jesus the Son of God could have asked for anything. For that matter could have demanded anything. However, he did not. Paul writes, “You must have the same attitude as Christ Jesus had.” And continues with,

Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11

If you could have everything you wanted, if nothing was refused you, would you be willing to say No? Could you say to yourself, “God, Your will be done?”

God Bless

The Sighted Blind

You know the “Living Dead?” How about the “Sighted Blind”?

Might not be that original or creative. I was trying to come up with the opposite of blind. I want make a word that means people who see but don’t.

Jesus came across people like this all the time. Pharisees were the worst. They typify people who still exist today. Those who cannot see their own sin, aknoledge their need for salvation, or refuse to let go of their strong opinions. People who do not need Jesus.

When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”

“You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”

“Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”

Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”

“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see. John 9:35-41

I would like to purge myself of this type of attitude and lack of faith. To hold onto something so tightly that you cannot let go is deadly. I hope I can run out of the burning house instead of refusing to leave what I am comfortable with.

Guilty because I claim to see. That should hurt. It does me. Make me pause and ask myself important questions about what I believe I see. You should to.  WARNING, never stop searching, looking, and seeing. You’ve got to keep moving. Watch out for pride and self righteousness.

God bless. Be Sighted.

Lord, I Want to See!

It has been a while since I posted something from Luke. Well tonight is the night for some more classic Luke.

Ever felt blind? Lost not knowing which way to go? Now, add to your blindness, blocked. Prevented from finding the correct path. I am sure you have.

One man did not let his blindness or others keep him from Jesus.

As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. When he heard the noise of a crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus the Nazarene was going by. So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“Be quiet!” the people in front yelled at him.

But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

When Jesus heard him, he stopped and ordered that the man be brought to him. As the man came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord,” he said, “I want to see!”

And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too. Luke 18:35-43

This man had nothing. He could not even see. A begger BUT, he knew who Jesus was. The Son of David. In my opinion, calling Jesus the Son of David meant that he knew more about Jesus than most and he believed that Jesus was the Messiah (okay the last might be a little stretch).

When he was told who was there he yelled for help. The very nice folks around him tried to get Jesus’ attention too. NOT! These people who could see tried to hush him up. Why do you do that? Why do you ignore your fellow man’s needs for our own convenience? People who could see just fine, could not see they could help.

I think they were the real blind people! And a poor blind beggar was healed by faith.

LORD, I want to see! See you, know you, live with you. LORD, I want to see! See the ways I can help others, love people, and be patient. LORD, have mercy on me!

God bless.

When I See the Blood

God gave very detailed instructions to Moses before he lead the Isrealites out of Egypt. In Exodus 12:13 he tells Moses why.

But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:13

This blood was to be a powerful image to the people of Israel and Egypt. A sign of who’s side you were on and the price of salvation.

There is a scene in the old movie Moses with Charleston Hesston, where the actor playing Aaron puts blood on the door post of the wicked task master. The taskmaster was loyal to the Egyptians and would not put blood on the door himself. In the movie, not the Bible, Aaron does this because the taskmaster has forced the woman Aaron loved to marry him. The next morning the Egyptians are forcing everyone with blood on their doors to leave and the Taskmaster has to go too because he had the blood on his doors. Everyone knew from this sign who’s side you were on.

Today, we are under the new covenant. We no longer are bound to eat the Passover meal. Instead we participate in the New Passover meal we call the communion or the Lords Supper.

Why? What sets us apart? Do we know who’s side we are on?

Jesus came and became our Passover Lamb. So today, we who have put on Christ in baptism[1] are cleansed by the blood[2] of the lamb and sprinkled by the blood[3]. For you see, we still have the image of the blood on our doorposts. It is on us.

Even to this day, when we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sin[4]. God sees the blood and continues to pass over us.

Listen to these words from the Author of Hebrews:

We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.

Now may the God of peace—
who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus,
the great Shepherd of the sheep,
and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—
may he equip you with all you need
for doing his will.
May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen. Hebrews 13:10-21

When God see’s Jesus’ blood on us he will not see our sin. We should take great comfort that we are now participants in this new eternal covenant through Jesus’ blood.

God Bless.

This was my short sermon preached Sunday night.

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[1] Galatians 3:27 – And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.

[2] 1 Peter 1:2 – God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

[3] Hebrews 10:21-23 – And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

[4] 1 John 1:7 -But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.