It was almost time for the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that it was time for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. He had always loved those who were his own in the world, and he loved them all the way to the end. john 13.1
ALL THE WAY TO THE END.
I am a sanguine. I love life and people and experiencing all that God has.
Direct from wikipedia: ”Sanguine personalities generally struggle with following tasks all the way through.”
Jesus followed through. He finished everything INCLUDING loving his disciples all the way to the end.
How simple and easy circumstances change. People come and go, grow up, move out, move on. How simply and easy it is to dismiss the weak one or forget the difficult one, or avoid the ones who are hard to love. How easy to simply love ones you are trying to minister to and forgetting the ones we live among. Further on in John 13 Jesus commands us as he commanded the disciples. “
I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you.All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other. john 13.34-35
And If I can add… all the way to the end.
As it was said about Jesus, I pray for it to be said of me.
Andy loved his Christian brothers and sisters all the way to end.
10 When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers. Gal 6.10
You began your life in Christ by the Spirit. Now are you trying to make it complete by your own power? That is foolish Were all your experiences wasted? I hope not!Does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you because you follow the law? NO, he does these things because you heard the Good News and believed it. Gal.3.3-6
if it’s no, it’s no.
How many times I have waffled between “it’s only belief” and “it’s only faith as long as you are striving and trying your best and working to do everything perfect.”
If God does NOT give us the Spirit or work miracles because we follow the law — then IT IS TRULY A RESOUNDING NO!
HE does these things because you HEARD AND BELIEVED.
IT’S ALL ABOUT BELIEF.
IT’S ONLY ABOUT BELIEF.
IT’S NOT ABOUT HOW MUCH WORK YOU DO.
IT’S NOT ABOUT HOW MUCH TRYING YOU DO.
IT’S ALL ABOUT BELIEF.
IT’S ONLY ABOUT BELIEF.
>still trying to truly “get this” in my heart
andy
positioning.
“In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, I, Nehemiah, was in the capital city of Susa.” - nehemiah 1.1
“I was the one who served wine to the king.” nehemiah 1.11
Serving wine was the hinge for God’s ultimate purpose for Nehemiah.
It has to be this way. God’s people. You. Me. It has to be this way. It has to be the narrow way. It has to be the extra mile, difficult, delayed gratification. It has to be. It has to be the thankless, extra time, “no one else does”, why doesn’t this seem to work out the way I thought.” GOD IS POSITIONING YOU.
God’s may already have you 1 step from your ultimate destiny.
look at this wiki article. “Once there he defied the opposition of Judah’s enemies on all sides - Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines - and rebuilt the walls within 52 days”
Cupbearer to key component to the story of God’s people. Cupbearer to being surrounded by angry enemies of Israel while he built back the distinction and dignity for his beloved people.
Everything we experience is more than what it is.
Andy
1. The man with the unclean spirit sees Jesus from afar and immediately comes up to Jesus…only to ask “What do you want with me? (Mark 5.7)
Jesus barely has time to get out of the boat before this man shows up right in front of him and proceeds to ask Jesus what He wants from him. So Crazy. I can’t imagine someone running up to me and asking me “What do you want with me?” Uh, nothing! I don’t even know you….
Truth#1 God’s Spirit beckons. You can be across the sea, chained, oucast, and among the dead. God will FIND you FREE you and REEDEM you!
2. The people who saw Jesus and the healed man were AFRAID. (Mark 5.15)
The guy was demon possessed. He couldn’t be chained. Yet, now they see him HEALED, they see the pigs drowned, they see Jesus and NOW are afraid. So backwards.
Truth #2 Jesus came for the man not the crowd. He ALWAYS comes for the one.
3. The Healed man asked Jesus to go with Him and Jesus said NO. v.18-19
How could he not want to go with Jesus. The whole crowd was completely terrified and probably would still be outcast from the city. What’s the deal?
Truth #3 Jesus will never leave a city without someONE with a Testimony.
just a couple thoughts from yesterday….
Andy
1. Leverage what you already know.
2. Ask Intelligent Questions.
3. Connect the dots for yourself (learning 101).
4. Connect the dots for others (learning 102).
5. Repeat.
I was thinking earlier this week and jotted some quick notes down. Thought I would share.
Andy
Soon after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Please release me so I can go home to my own country. Genesis 30.25
Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you.” Genesis 31 .3
How to give God your lifetime.
As I read this today, I just got stopped at how significant the verses surrounding these two actually are. From the time Jacob asks to leave, it is six years before he actually goes.
Yet, I see this as no small feat today. I have so many people in my life who have served God with passion only to walk away jaded and confused. This seems to happen in 3-4 years, and in awesome situations. Not 6 years with manipulative relatives constantly scheming behind your back and lying to your face.
What’s the reason? Perhaps it was because God never got their lifetime…
To give God your lifetime you must release your stranglehold of ownership on time. I do not own time. Time is not money. That’s a hard thought to grasp, in the carpe diem, the world is what you make of it, society that we live in.
God responds according to his divine purpose and if I want to be a contributor then my life must be lived submitted and faithful. These are the two characteristics that stand out from Jacob’s tenure with Laban. He was deceived but submitted anyway. 20 years he was faithful right up until God told him to go. If at any time Jacob decided to be reactionary, he would have become un submitted and left before his time. If Jacob decided that “enough was enough” and “No one should have to deal with this.” “God understands,” he would have chosen to move on, making him unfaithful.
I can trust God with my time. Time frame. Monthly plan. Season. Destiny.
Andy
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145.3
Hockey season is nearly here! My Red Wings jersey has been spotted in the far reaches of my closet, the official Red Wings app is released and tickets go on sale tomorrow! It’s a good time of the year. My memories return like the fall air and I sense that this season will be much greater than the last.
Of all sports to ever boast of a single individual via a nickname, I can think of no higher nickname than “The Great One.” Wayne Gretsky is the greatest hockey player ever to live, and yet if you search through his stats, if you watch his replays, if you find official game worn memorabilia, you will find an end to his greatness.
With God, his greatness is unsearchable. It’s not even possible to catalog his exploits. There is no trading card printer who can print each statistic even if you had all the paper in the world. YouTube can’t contain his highlight reels, fan videos, and episodes. It won’t fit into the longest Sports Center or dedicated HD Channel.
My God is the ONLY true Great One!
Andy
I give You thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing Your praise; (Psalm 138:1 ESV)
keep singing.
There are so many gods in this world. lowercase ‘g’
Money. lack of money. stuff. self. sex. drugs. religion. job. people.
I love this psalm. BEFORE THE GODS I SING YOUR PRAISE. It’s where I want to be. It’s what I want to be found doing. I am tired of hearing people singing about the gods when they have a million reasons to sing God’s praise.
When we sing God’s praise, it’s not possible to sing our own.
What are you singing today?
Self confident. self pitying. self loathing. self glorifying.
or
There HE goes a HERO a Savior to the world!
The thing is we are always singing. We must learn to be decisive and choose to sing rightly.
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18:1 ESV)
It’s in isolation that we feel most justified. Why? Well, it seems to me that there is something in us that thrives in “adversity.” It’s a rebel force. It’s the love of the underdog. Only when you choose to isolate yourself it’s not adversity that did it to you, it’s a reproachable behavior that causes you to withdraw. It’s your own desire. It always starts out as a small thing, but if you don’t watch out, your life becomes islolated because you cannot live in the community you once did, and before you realize it you end up in another community. miserable.
If you have the desire of Christ you will live in community. That’s what he did. That’s what we must do. Sound judgment will lead you to loving relationships and community.
If you realize you’re isolated, repent and identify why. It may save your life.
so let’s get together.
Andy
This is an October 2003 post from a great friend that I was thinking about tonight; it still is profoundly impacting today. enjoy!
Saint Telemachus, a fourth-century monk who lived in a monastery, felt God calling him to Rome. He couldn’t figure out why God would want him in Rome, but he felt the pressure to go. Putting his possessions in a little satchel, he threw the bag over his shoulder and started out over the dusty, westward roads to Rome.
When he got to Rome, people were running about the city in great confusion. He had arrived on a day when the gladiators were going to fight both other gladiators and animals in the amphitheater. Everyone was heading to the amphitheater to watch the entertainment.
Telemachus thought this must be why God had called him to Rome. He walked into the amphitheater. He sat down among 80,000 people who cheered as the gladiators came out proclaiming, “Hail Caesar! We die to the glory of Caesar.”
The little monk thought to himself, Here we are, four centuries after Christ, in a civilized nation, and people are killing one another for the entertainment of the crowd. This isn’t Christian!
Telemachus got up out of his seat, ran down the steps, climbed over the wall, walked out to the center of the amphitheater, and stood between two large gladiators. Putting his hands up, he meekly cried out, “In the name of Christ, stop!” The crowd laughed and jeered. One of the gladiators slapped Telemachus in the stomach with his sword and sent him spinning off into the dust.
Telemachus got up and again stood between the two huge gladiators. He repeated, “In the name of Christ, stop.” This time the crowd chanted “Run him through!” One of the gladiators took his sword and stabbed Telemachus in the stomach. He fell into the dust and the sand turned red as blood ran out of him. One last time, Telemachus weakly cried out, “In the name of Christ, stop.” He died on the amphitheater floor.
The crowd grew silent, and within minutes they emptied out of the amphitheater. History records that, thanks to Saint Telemachus, this was the last gladiatorial contest in the history of the Roman Empire.
So, WHAT’S IT ALL MEAN?
Saint Telemachus changed the course of history. So can you. God loves to use one person to make a big difference in the world—and God wants to use you.
The best example we have is when God sent his Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. One man made the greatest difference in the history of the world. God still works through individuals to accomplish his will. Will you be the one HE uses next?
