Don't freak out

I have been reading though John the past couple of weeks and it has been a great book of the Bible to read through. As I near the end of John the plot keeps getting more and more intense. Jesus has been arrested and he is being questioned by the high priest. He knows that his hour has come and in the midst of everything, he knows what will happen and remains calm. In our daily lives it is easy to freak out about some things-or a lot of things if you have that type of worrisome personality. Think about the last thing that totally freaked you out...I bet that is it safe to say that it was probably something not extremely important. I tend to freak out about silly things here and there as well. What I mean by freaking out in this context is not being freaked out by a creepy dude in a costume out a haunted house. The context of this freaking out is a little hard to explain. The best way I can think about to describe it is when you are sitting in class and not paying attention and the professor calls on you and you experience a sense of shock and you probably get all sweaty...but maybe that is just me. On a serious note, I would describe this type of freaking out as something that you are worrying about, and you don't have to. In a way, it's not trusting or having faith in God.

The scripture I want to share with you in John might not be the most significant scripture out there, but there is something that is so appealing about it. The appealing nature of this is how calm Jesus is. Jesus has so many amazing character traits that we need to model in our daily lives and this is one that I often forget about.

John 18:19-23: Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. "I have spoken openly to the world." Jesus replied. "I always taught in the synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely I know what I said." When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded. "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?" 

I love those couple of verses so much. I just picture Jesus saying all these things calm, cool, and collected, even after he got slapped in the face. It is 100 percent possible that the Holy Spirit interpreted this scripture differently for you than it did for me.  You might not think this is cool, so what. I hope that you can understand how calm he was in the midst of his questioning.

In our daily lives when we get questioned about certain things how do you react? Do you get all defensive? Are you quick to listen and slow to speak? James 1:19 says: My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. God puts trails and unique situations in our lives every single day, how will you react next time you face one? I challenge you to react like you know that God has got you every single time. It's not easy...you will mess up...but it's okay because we all do. You'll just have to do it again.

- that video will make you feel like you can run through a wall

- you are loved-