“If you plan to keep step with Jesus the Pioneer, you better expect some changes.”

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within (Kindle Location 383). Kindle Edition.

I am reading the New Testament Gospels thirteen times in 2013. I want to really catch a glimpse of what Jesus thinks is important. One thing I’ve found is what Erwin says in this thought, Jesus brings about change.

He brought religious change by His continually healing people on the Sabbath. He brought vocational change to a group of swine owners when He cast some demons out of a man named, Legion and they were sent into the pigs and they went over a cliff. He also brought structural change to a house when some men tore open a roof to drop their sick friend down in front of Jesus so he could be healed. Over and over He brought change through His teachings and His miracles where ever He went.

Have you noticed that in all of the good He did for someone He was it seemed messing up someone else’s day to day world? I mean the Pharisees had everything set up to make the Sabbath a peaceful day and Jesus went and kept healing people. His miracles upset their way of thinking, their rules. Granted their focus was way off base. Somehow they didn’t even see the good that was happening to people.

And then those swine herders, I mean how dare Him to cast out all those demons from that man. Granted the pain he had lived in was gone but what about their pigs? Of course if they would have put their trust in this Man who could take care of demons He could have taken care of their livelihood. But they asked Him to leave instead.

Somehow we need to change our focus, our trust from our self-interest and on to His plan. He has something greater that He wants to do through us than we could ever imagine if we would just get our eyes off of our self-interests. Yes it will upset our world but isn’t that the reason why He came in the first place.

He didn’t come to bring safety and calmness to the world. He came to upset it and to bring change.

So how do you handle change?

Comments

“God does big things with small deeds.”

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life (p. 115). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I don’t know how you feel about what you are doing and how it can make a difference. You may feel that it is so small and not even worth the effort. Max says, “Begin. Just begin! What seems small to you might be huge to someone else. Just ask Bohn Fawkes. During World War II, he piloted a B-17. On one mission he sustained flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. Even though his gas tanks were hit, the plane did not explode, and Fawkes was able to land the plane. “On the morning following the raid, Fawkes asked his crew chief for the German shell. He wanted to keep a souvenir of his incredible good fortune. The crew chief explained that not just one but eleven shells had been found in the gas tanks, none of which had exploded. “Technicians opened the missiles and found them void of explosive cha...

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book, Winning the War on Worry (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle? Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

Just Continue That Thought...

Search This Blog