Why don't we treat Jesus like this?

How easy is it to put Jesus on the back burner? Are we putting things in our minds above Jesus and our relationship with him? That happens so easily if we think about, it's not like we can sit down and have a conversation face to face with Jesus right now. I can't text Jesus and ask him if he wants to get dinner with me. I can't hit him up on FaceTime later. All of those things I just named our tangible.

What are we doing with Jesus mentally? Where are we putting him? Is he just in the back of our minds? Are we thinking about the plans we have today before we think about Jesus? Is Jesus even crossing our minds?

I feel like a Debbie downer saying those things, but I am just trying to be realistic here. It's so hard to put Jesus in the right place in our minds. Life is busy and we are all consumed by so many things. Which isn't bad, but it's probably how it shouldn't be. I hate to say it but it's hard to prioritize Jesus sometimes because like I mentioned above, I cannot just ask him to hang out with me right now. It's just easier for us humans to prioritize what is right in front of us.

You're probably wondering why I am talking like this. I read the passage in Matthew chapter 21 this morning about the triumphal entry of Jesus. After reading it through a couple of times, it really got me wondering why we don't treat Jesus like this in our minds.

This story starts with Jesus asking the disciples to go into the village, and to find a donkey and a colt. Jesus knows the donkey and the colt are going to be easy for them to find. Jesus tells them to untie them and to bring them to him. He assures them that if anybody says anything to them that they just need to say, 'The Lord needs them.' 

There is a lot of significance in this. Jesus again, knows how things are going to happen and this story fulfills a prophecy. There is also significance in the fact that the disciples were obedient to what Jesus said. If Jesus told us to go to the closest village to untie a donkey and colt and bring them to him, I don't know If I would be totally obedient in that moment. Without their obedience this story never would've happened. 

Next, the disciples brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and Jesus sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. As Jesus was passing through, the crowds were following him and shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest." When he made it to Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" The crowds replied with, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." 

You have this beautiful scene here. Everyone is throwing their cloaks on the ground and branches from trees for Jesus as he is riding through. Jesus marching through a city riding a donkey might not be the most exciting thing ever but there is so much importance to this story. These people were laying down their nice cloaks on the dirty road for him. Just so that they could be walked on by the donkey. This really makes me think..the crowds were doing all of this stuff of Jesus. They were putting him and his needs above their own. 

Where are we putting Jesus again? Are we putting him in the back of our minds? Or are we laying down the things we have in order for him to be known and for him to be the center of all our attention. It's an important part to think about. 

Another thing I like about this story is that the whole city of Jerusalem was stirred up and wondered who this little parade was for. I fully believe with all of my heart when we have Jesus at the top priority in our life, people will ask what makes you different.

That's what I want to leave you with tonight. Where are you placing Jesus and is there a noticeable difference about you because of that?

Refreshment: It's the best time of year

Right now, in this moment in time is one of the very best times of the year. There are two days of classes left and then it is Thanksgiving break. This is the time of year where you start to experience Christmas spirit. Soon, you will start to see Christmas lights every where you go. You'll be able to see Christmas trees in peoples houses when you drive by. Christmas music will be playing everywhere you go. People's moods will start to get merrier. I promise you that. It's fun because most college students are excited to get home and not have classes for the holidays. Two of the very best holidays are coming up and how exciting is that. The excitement should be contagious.

Why am I talking up this time of year? To refresh you and put things into perspective. Although the excitement is upon you, there are a lot of things that are easy to worry about. There are class projects, tests, presentations, assignments, etc. For some reason, most of the professors out there love to give out assignments and tests right before break. We get slammed by school work and then we come back from Thanksgiving break and we got slammed again. After Thanksgiving break, we show up thinking we are only at school for a couple of days, and those two and a half weeks seem like months because of the workload and business.

Apart from the busy crap, this is the very best time of year. Don't let the circumstances you're going through take that away from you. If you start to get stressed, take a deep break and remember that this is the best time of year. Don't get down or discouraged. If you let those small things bother you, you're going to miss out on a lot of happiness.

You don't want to get through the holiday season and realize that you were taking things for granted. In the grand scheme of things, it's that way to live life. Yeah this is the best time of year, but being as blessed as we are, every day is the best day of year. Live with that perspective and I promise you a feeling of refreshment.

This post was specially for those who get easily dragged down by school and the business of life. I encourage you to not let those things drag you down. When you do, you will miss out on a lot of the little things.

Enjoy this time of year my friends, it's the very best.

A Great Inheritance Awaits

I know it's just about Thanksgiving but I want you to think of the anticipation that builds up for Christmas. You most likely know that you're going to get Christmas presents right, and as Christmas day comes closer and closer you keep wondering...what am I going to get? What am I going to get? What am I going to get?

As the grinch would say, we are greedy little gift monsters.

That is besides the point. When we make the decision to give our lives to Christ do you ever wonder what we are going to get when we die? We hear that we are going to get a great inheritance but what does that mean?

In Matthew chapter 19, there is a unique story about a young rich man. This young rich man approached Jesus and asked him what he has to do to get eternal life. Jesus answered with this: "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." The young rich man reacts as we probably would. We don't know which ones Jesus is talking about so we ask and Jesus replied with: "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and your mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young rich man tells Jesus that he has kept all of these commandments and wonders what else he is lacking. Again, this is much like how we would react. Jesus said to him: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come, follow me." The young rich man went away sorrowful, because he had great possessions. If I had a lot of really cool possessions and were told that I had to give then all away, I would be pretty upset as well. Imagine that. You live a life where you do a fair job at following the commandments and you seem like things are going pretty good for you but you are told that in order for you to have eternal life you have to give everything away. The young rich man probably thought this didn't seem very fair. I don't have a ton of possessions but if I was told I had to give everything away it would be tough. 

This whole time the disciples are right with Jesus and he says to them: "Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enters the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Time out. Take a look at what Jesus just said. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle." Do you know how small in eye of a needle is. I didn't think anything could fit through the eye of a needle and hear we have Jesus saying it's easier for a camel to enter through it then a rich man entering heaven. That is crazy to me. Much like me being astonished by what Jesus said, so were the disciples. "Who can be  saved?" They said. Then Jesus looked at them and said: "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." That makes more sense now doesn't it. Clearly it is impossible for a camel to fit for the eye of a needle but with God all things are possible. It is possible for everyone to get saved. God wants as many troops as he can get.

Peter is wondering what he and the disciples will get for doing all of these things. Much like we wonder right? We make sacrifices and give your lives to Christ so it's fair to wonder what we will get right? We know we will be in heaven, but what are we getting? Jesus replies to Peter with: "Truly, I say you to, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first." It's time to make our faith our own. Our faith in Jesus shouldn't be our parents faith. It should be ours. It should be yours. It's time to leave the things that cause you to fall into sin. It's time to receive the great inheritance that God has promised us. That great inheritance is a a hundredfold and eternal life. A hundredfold is described as something that is 100 times as much. That's a lot! Most importantly what we get is eternal life. Sometimes I don't know if we are able to wrap our minds around that. This life on earth is only a grain of sand compared to what eternal life is like. What we are blessed to inherit is eternal life with our loving Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

I encourage everyone to pursue that inheritance. An inheritance like that we can't even wrap our minds around and that is how great it is. Next time you wonder, what do we get? Remember we are getting eternal life. The greatest gift we could ever get. 

Limp into heaven or Walk into hell

Who has ever been tempted to sin? Who has been tempted to sin today? If you answered no, then I question if you are even human. As humans we are tempted to sin every single day. We can't control whether or not we are tempted. It is necessary for temptations to come. If temptations didn't come it would be like we are already in heaven. There wouldn't be a chance for us to mess up. We would be perfect. If we aren't tempted on a daily basis we are missing out on a chance to grow and a chance to practice obedience, and self-control. 

Someday that will be the case and we won't ever be tempted again. Right now, we fight the battle everyday. It's inevitable. We are going to give into it as well. We sin, we are human. It's in our nature to be sinful.

I want you to think of some of the things that cause you to give into temptation. Satan makes things seem like they're going to fulfill you. Satan attacks you at your weakest points. Now, think about those sinful things that you do commit. How do you feel after you give in and have sinned? How do you feel when you loose the battle? For me, it's the worst. You feel broken inside, and like you failed. It's a process that you go through over and over again. We sin, we are forgiven, we sin, we are forgiven, over and over again. 

Have you ever been able to cut off that one thing that causes you to sin/give into temptation? Think about the question....

"Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptations comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire." (Matthew 18:7-9)

This passage is fantastic. "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!"

Woe: great sorrow or distress

There will be great sorrow and distress that will come to the people of this world so that we will sin. There will be great sorrow and distress to the one whom temptation comes. Temptation isn't fun. It's not cool. Temptation is sorrowful and distressful. It's something we don't want to face. Temptation honestly sucks, because it's you at your worst, with an opportunity for you to make things worse. Woe to everyone, because we will all be tempted. 

Now it gets a little juicy. 

"If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away." 

"If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away."

If this was the case. I would not have any body parts left. I've sinned in all of these ways. Yet, I still have my body parts. The way I think about it is this. Whatever it is that is causing you to sin, cut those things off. Cut those things out of your life. If we take away the things that make us vulnerable to give into temptation, it'll be way easier to not be tempted by those things. You're going to have to cut some things off. You're going to have to cut some things off that you think make you who you are. It's the price we have to pay. It's what you have to do to stand strong and to stand firm and to be obedient. 

"It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown in the enteral fire." 

I titled this post based on that verse right there. Do you want to limp into haven or walk straight into hell. It's a choice we have to make. The road is narrow and difficult and few enter the gates. We aren't going to get through this perfectly. We will have bumps and bruises. We will have to rid our selves of the things that cause us to sin. Or you can make yourself vulnerable. You give into temptation. You don't ask for forgiveness. You keep on doing the wrong over and over again. You shut out God from your life and think you can walk the path of this life alone. What you will end up doing is walking straight into the eternal fire. 

Are you willing to limp into heaven? It's better that way. It's worth it! I hope and pray you can understand that it will all be worth it. It's eternal life we are talking about here! Eternal life in heaven praising and worshiping God. I can't wait. 

I encourage you to have non shame in limping. There is no reason to feel shame because you might be a little different. It's cool to have a limp. Remember that. 

A Mustard Seed & your Mountain

I want you to think about this question: Do you have any faith?

In your current situations and circumstances, how much faith do you have in God to help you overcome them? Do you have full and complete faith that you will overcome or do you hesitate and have just a little faith? Do you have a very small amount of faith or no faith at all? 

I learned this morning that even having just a little bit of faith is enough. You probably noticed that I titled this post "A Mustard Seed & your Mountain." Why? How could a little itty bitty mustard seed and a mountain relate? 

My hope with this post is that you can understand how faith the size of a mustard seed makes everything possible. 

In Matthew chapter 17, Jesus heals a boy with a demon. In a very busy setting, a man brought his boy to Jesus and said: "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he has seizures and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." The first thing I want you to notice here is that the father of the boy has faith. It took faith for him to approach Jesus in the busy crowd. Heck, we can learn from this father too! He didn't care what others thought, what fueled him was his faith in Jesus to heal his son. How often do we hesitate to do things because we might be worried about what others think? Even if we feel deep down that this is what needs to be done, we still easily hesitate so often. 

After the father of the boy approached Jesus, he answered: "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." It seems like Jesus is thinking here, all you have to do is have a little faith and you can't do that. It seems like he is thinking that we should be able to be on our own now. Unfortunately we cannot, because of the little faith we have. Jesus rebuked the demon and the boy was healed instantly. After this had happened the disciples approached Jesus in private and asked why they could not cast the demon out. 

Being me, and being a human, I sit here thinking, how could these disciples cast out a demon. I would've been in their shoes as well. Casting out a demon? Seems like a job only for Jesus not for me. I am sure there are more of you who could agree with that as well. But you shouldn't. That is something someone with little faith would say. So I sit here, writing this, feeling convicted of having no faith. Which is tough. I know I have faith. Then when I think about it, Jesus tells the disciples that all they needed was a little faith. So what does a little faith to them look like? Is their little faith no faith to me? Is there little faith different then the amount of faith I have? I am not sure, it gets me thinking though. 

Here is Jesus's response to the disciples: "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." Jesus is telling them that because of their little faith, they couldn't cast the demon out of the boy. Then he tells them that if they have faith like a grain of a mustard seed they can move mountains, and that nothing will be impossible. Do you know how small a mustard seed is? I believe it's one of the smallest seeds in the world and if we have little faith we can have mountains. I find that so encouraging! All we need to have is a little bit of faith. I want to know what mountains are in the way for your right now? I want you to have faith so that you can overcome these things. All you need is a little bit. The amount of power in a little bit of faith is unimaginable. 

Did you catch the end of what Jesus said? "... and nothing will be impossible for you." We hear all the time that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. It's like everybody's favorite bible verse! Heres the catch, I really didn't know that if we have faith, that nothing will be impossible. Seriously think about that...nothing is impossible when you have faith in Jesus Christ. 

What is wrong with our generation?

Before I get started, I am not trying to rip our generation at all. I am actually not trying to rip our generation for anything. My hope with this post is to spread some awareness of a couple of issues that we have. 

I don't think I could ever write a whole post and have it be all about what is wrong with our generation. I would never do that. One of the problems with our generation is that we are evil and adulterous. We can be so evil. People try to make themselves look good no matter what the cost is all of the time. People can be very mean.  Sometimes people are mean because it makes others laugh and therefore those people establish a clout because they build status over others. 

There is also a problem of selfishness in this generation. Think about when you're sitting in a driveway waiting to be let out onto a busy street, nobody ever lets you out. Eventually someone does, and that's a perfect example of how a majority of people are in a hurry to get where they need to go. This world has a tendency to make us feel like our agendas matter over anyone else's. When there is someone who puts your needs before their own, you feel an overwhelming sense of love right? I think we feel that because it is right and because it is so rare. It's something we don't experience as much anymore. 

I also think of how rare it is to do a random act of kindness for someone. When was the last time you opened your passenger door for a wife, girlfriend, friend? When was the last time you let someone ahead of you in a line for food? When was the last time you let someone pull out in front of you at a busy intersection? When was the last time you told someone that you cared for them? When was the last time you had some kind words for a friend? When was the last time you made a conversation with a stranger? 

An issue that we also have is that we let our current circumstances flood our minds rather than what is more serious. Sitting in the coffee shop this morning I turned to look at the news and the news station was covering the wildfires out in California right now. I watched the news for probably 10 minutes and was in shock about what I was seeing. Hundreds of thousands of people in California are being affected by these fires and are being faced with making decisions right this very moment that could change the rest of their lives. There are people out there who have lost everything they own. What is going on in your life right now? What are you putting an emphasis on that you shouldn't be? Did you have to wake up today and worry about losing everything you own to a wildfire? Honestly, probably not.

 I believe that we make things worse than what they actually are sometimes. I've heard that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react. The 10% is different for everyone. Your 10% battle with something might be you dealing with a class that you are struggling with. In certain parts of California, their 10% looks much different than yours. Sometimes we let our 10% turn our minds away from others who have it worse. Think about the 10% of the what the Christians go through in countries where they aren't even allowed to be in.

I will say this though. Heartache is heartache. A breaks up breaks your heart, losing everything breaks your heart, having family issues breaks your heart, having friendship issues breaks your heart. Having health issues breaks your heart. All of those things can cause a lot of heartache. Imagine a world where we understood that. We all know that everyone has struggles of their own but do we live like that? 

So why am I writing about all of these little issues that we have. I came across a passage today in Matthew 16 that I want to share with you. In this passage, the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus and they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. Jesus then answered them with this: "When it is evening, you say, "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but now sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." (Matthew 16:1-4)

Have you ever heard anyone say: "Red at night, sailors delight. Red in the morning, sailors warning." That is something I have heard my dad say for years. It's actually something that I say all of the time. It's a very true saying too! Really pay attention to it. When the spring and summer roll around again. I am telling ya, when it is red at night, the next day is going to be beautiful. When it is red in the morning, you bet your bottom dollar that there is going to be a storm brewing in.

The fact that Jesus says this is so cool. Jesus is saying that we know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but we cannot interpret the signs of the times? He's like..you gotta be joking right? We can interpret so many other things in this world. Think of the amazing doctors who perform surgeries, the President who runs the country, all of the law enforcement who help enforce laws, the teachers who teach young kids and adults information, lawyers, judges, whatever it may be! As humans created uniquely and special by God, we have so many gifts that we have been blessed with. Yet...we still ask for signs. Do we really have faith? 

I hope you didn't think this post was any sort of bash on anybody, my hope was to spread awareness. 

Defiled People

A defiled person is someone who is spoiled. Not the spoiled where they get whatever they want, but like the type of spoiled... like milk. If you are familiar with spoiled milk, it's disgusting. Did you know that we, as humans can be defiled? I bet that is what one thing you don't want...to be defiled.

So what defiles a person? What defiles a person is what comes out of the mouth. Jesus said this to the disciples: "Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiled a person." (Matthew 15:10-11) It's not about what goes into the mouth, and it will never be about what goes into the mouth. It will always be what comes out of the mouth. What comes out of the mouth is usually what is on our hearts.

There was some controversy with what Jesus had said. The Pharisees were offended when they heard what Jesus had said. Then Jesus answered with: "Every plant that my heavenly Father has no planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit." (Matthew 15:13-14) I love that. Every plant that the Heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let me tell you, once we make the decision to make Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we will never be rooted up. This scripture is proof to false things that give us false fulfillment in this life. The things we try to do to quickly pleasure us are on things that can be taken right away from us and rooted up. Christ, and the fulfillment and the Holy Spirit that is in us, never leaves and will never be rooted up. Find some encouragement in that! Jesus is also reminding the disciples to just leave the Pharisees alone. He tells them that they are blind, and when the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit. Again, Jesus is the one and only way.

Peter was still a little bit confused and wanted this all explained in a parable so Jesus explained it in parable. And he said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach an is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeded from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone." (Matthew 15:16-20)

I really love how Jesus had the patience to explain this in a parable when the disciples didn't understand what was going on. Jesus is saying that out of the heart, a lot of bad things can come out of, and that is what defiles a person. It's not about what comes in. We can pour all the good things we ever want or need into our mouths and if nothing every good comes out then what is the point? It's like eating when you're already full or eating a huge meal right before thanksgiving dinner. If nothing ever good comes out, you're a defiled person. Like spoiled milk. 

My encouragement with this post is to so encourage you to watch what comes out of your mouth. What comes out is what ultimately matters. It's not always easy. As humans we like to please people, and make people laugh and sometimes in order to do those things, we have to say things out of character. When we say things that are out of character it might be pleasing but it's not everlasting. I challenge you to be the same with all people. Be the same person talking to you friends as you are when you talk to a professor. Be the same person when you talk to your pastor and a coach. It's hard, and might seem impossible, but nothing ever worth it is easy. Start practicing that today and you will become a much more genuine person and things in your life will change for the better. It might not seem like it temporarily but eternally it will matter. I promise.