Which Jesus

I guess it’s time for me to just own it. I have one of those personalities where on more than a few occasions, I get the remark “You remind me of someone I know”. I actually met one of the guys that a few people compared me to and you know what? He reminded me of me too! Do you have that kind of face? That kind of personality? Do you take it as a compliment or does it get under your skin a little that someone else is “kinda” like you.

Sometimes it’s a certain way we laugh, or walk or a glance from a certain angle that makes people either think of us, or see us and think of someone else. This is all well and good when it comes to us….but now Jesus, that’s a different matter. Of course our goal is for our actions and our expressions of love and peace to absolutely ooooze “Jesus” but often times, we only get it kinda right, and I'm not talking in an "oopsie", none of us are perfect kind a way. I mean the kind of way that shows up as a mischaracterization of who He really is.

So which Jesus do you serve? I would say that from every angle, Jesus has one single presentation “Glorified” but again, all too often, we present and serve a different Jesus.

We often serve a Jesus specialized, okay with everything we do.
We don’t trouble ourselves with holiness or seeking what is true.
We often serve a Jesus moralized, we follow rules to be good.
Discounting the power of The Holy Spirit, to help our attitude.
We serve a Jesus rationalized, I know His work isn’t done.
So until He comes and tells me to stop, I’ll have a little fun.
We serve a Jesus compartmentalized, I love Him in my heart.
I don’t need to spread the Gospel message, til the day that I depart.
We serve a contemporary Jesus, where old Bible stuff is passé’
He’s not concerned with our walk or our talk, tis the flavor of the day.
We serve a Jesus plagiarized, wise words but not at full strength.
We only pick pieces of His Word, then wonder why we missed what He meant.
We see a Jesus “Genie-ized”, like a cosmic Santa Clause.
Whatever I ask for “In His Name” He’ll do it without pause.
We serve a Jesus personalized, I’m cool with Him, He’s cool with me.
Without giving proper weight and respect to the way He’s transforming me.
We serve a Jesus humanized, like He’s not overly bothered by sin.
Not remembering He faced the Father’s wrath, to clean up the mess I jumped in.
We have to see Jesus just as He is, not how we want Him to be.
No matter which angle you see Jesus from, He’s HOLY HOLY HOLY.
A dangerous consequence in making God as anything less than He is.
We in turn, inevitably lessen ourselves, and we lessen His purposes.
So take it to heart to Whom you belong, and in Whom your life is hid.
And live for Him, giving Him the glory He’s due, for all He is and all that He did.


Here's The Word:

2 Corinthians 11:3 - 4 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

John 5:43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

Isaiah 45:5-6 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

It all comes way too easy. A little slant here, a little bend there to see the kinda Jesus that's easier to recognize according to our idea of Him. But any change is an outright exchange. We take Jesus at His purest, fullest presentation or we've basically replaced Him.

We need to see a Jesus Glorified, seated at The Father's right hand.
No modifications to His revelation. He's not subject to the approval of man.
We need to see Jesus sanctified, set apart from our wishful ideas.
He's unique. He's nothing like anything else. His word reveals Who He is.
We need to see Jesus deified, fully God and yet familiar with flesh.
Forgive us for "kinda" seeing you, Lord. Reveal Christ to our hearts afresh!


In Him,
Cros

Can't

If I were a fitness trainer, a financial guru or a life coach motivational speaker, I would probably come up with a witty catch phrase to make my message stick: One of the most common being, “Never say you can’t!”
I would use examples and statistics that prove how de-powered thinking will stand in the way of realizing your dreams. And somewhere in my pitch, I would have five people come up and give personal testimony about how they were launched into remarkable success once they erased “CAN’T” from their lexicon.

But on the contrary, I’m not a motivational speaker. I'm not here to get you to exercise (at least not physically). Growing your financial bottom line only means as much to me as I can help you realize Christ’s call for exuberant generosity. And it when it comes to realizing the benefits of life; for my witty catch phrase, I’d probably forego "You Can!" opting for - "You Can’t."

Here’s The Word:

Job 37:23 Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict

Ecclesiastes 1:8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

The real job of a motivational speaker is not to empower you. They can’t affect outcome or guarantee you any success in any form. No. They’re really just trying to encourage you. Encouraging you motivates you to try. It spurs you to leave your status quo; to help you feel energized in order to strive for something higher. So if you’re feeling that I’m doing something opposite of that,(even though I'm still not a motivational speaker) allow me to apologize.

Here’s how I see it. When we’re totally unmotivated, we live in an area called “CAN’T”.
This is a negative, unfulfilling situation that we would change if we could just find the right push. Through life circumstances, we may find the encouragement to move from can’t to can and this happens when we find the push to try. Now can is definitely a better area than can’t and there’s much there that the world would classify as success; houses and cars, college degrees, financial security and mental positivity… but then what?

Here’s The Word:

Mark 10: 21-22 Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

This is the story of the rich young ruler that starts in verse 17. It goes on to basically say that as hard as it is for a rich person to enter Heaven (which is REALLY HARD), what men can't do, God Can.
Now back to the rich, young ruler. This guy was far from the negative, unfulfilling “can’t”. He was well acquainted with the success of “CAN” produced from trying. But what happens when he encounters Jesus? Jesus made it clear that all his success wasn’t sufficient to get him to where he wanted to be.

And that’s what I’m encouraging us toward. I’m not as much concerned with your personal success as I am with you being spiritually complete in Christ (Col 1:28). So up and out of the negative area of can’t, but still even further beyond the realized personal success of can through trying, there’s another area: It’s also called “CAN’T”. However, this can’t is vastly different from the former one. It’s fulfilling, peaceful and transformative. Life in the positive CAN’T comes when we realize that Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit to do the things we can’t. To live the lives that He wants for us over the lives we want for ourselves – shortsighted and ultimately unfulfilling and tragically still finding us separated from Him. This is the CAN’T that helps us forsake all of the ‘good’ earthly things like temporary happiness, prestige, and trade them all in for the gifts of God. Even swapping worldly wisdom for wisdom that comes from above. Earthly wisdom can’t produce what heavenly wisdom does effortlessly.

Have we beat this dead horse enough? Are we clear on the idea that I’m not trying to discourage you into a defeatists mentality, but to offer you something way better than the best the world has to offer? Not by clever wit or motivational sound bites, but by the simple truth of God’s word. Yes, unfulfilling can’t is bad, but fulfilling can is only so much better. Strive for living in the CAN’T where you cast your cares on Him for He cares for you.

We often quote Phil 4:13 which says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, but if we're emphasizing "I" rather than "Christ", then we're misquoting the verse. In ourselves, we CAN'T - ONLY (in and) THROUGH Christ, can we. Our efforts can’t produce what His already has.

In Him,
Cros

Now What?

Recognize this image? It’s from the 1994 movie Shawshank Redemption. If memory serves me correctly, this scene is just about the end of the movie where Tim Robbins character, Andy Dufrene escapes from prison after a long, well crafted plan that would secure his freedom and also expose the corrupt prison warden to the point of suicide...but more on that later.

After a little research, I’ve found that the source of this next campaign is credited to New York Giants quarterback, Phil Simms: It goes like this; “Phil, you’ve just won the Super bowl, what are you going to do now?” Simms replies, “I’m going to Disneyland!” (Wonderful marketing campaign, by the way.)

Search the world over, and I doubt that you’d find any people not easily given to the idea of celebrating. It’s not enough to simply win, we want to celebrate winning! There just seems to be a common expectation that conquest ushers in a time of exuberant rejoicing. This is where I think that one of our biggest desires is also the source one of our biggest misunderstandings.
Sorry to burst the bubble, but hear me out.

When we’re brought into salvation, there’s a flood of sad reflection on the lives we lived before knowing Christ. Lives full of selfish pleasure seeking, and we become hyper-sensitive and fully aware of not only how much we were blinded and fooled by the enemy, but also how much we were under the righteous wrath of All Mighty God.
So we then receive His grace.
We’re cleaned and delivered from the power of sin and the guilt that kept us constrained….and then we’re hit with the question…Now what?
We see our salvation as our victory and our mind inadvertently does this thing: Now What? Disneyland right?.
We want a life of wondrous rejoicing, and we believe that because of our position as a "new creation", God should cater the party. No problems, no worries, and no temptations to return to the filth we were delivered from.
...Then reality hits, and it’s not Disneyland.

But then, that was never the promise. And when you look at it truthfully, our salvation is not our victory in the first place – It’s Christ’s.

Look at the picture again. Do you imagine that it’s you rejoicing in the rain? Do you see yourself as having struggled to get to God and fought your way tooth and nail to avoid the snares of the enemy? Well, you didn’t. But be comforted, neither did any of the rest of us.
It’s Christ who came down and subjected Himself to harsh treatment by men. Men pleased to protect their lives of wanton sin. Men of whom the Bible says - "there is none that doeth good, no, not one" Romans 3:12. Securing us, He alone was also subjected to the very wrath of God. He is the victor and it is He who made a mockery of the power of sin and death (just like Andy did to the corrupt Warden).

Here’s The Word:

Colossians 2:13-15 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

It’s Christ who will rejoice in winning and even He Himself is still waiting until all things are perfected to do so.

So now what? Here’s what Christ’s Now what? Looks like –
     • He’s preparing a place for us now.
     • He’s an active advocate before The Father on our behalf, now.
     • He’s waiting at the right hand of The Father until all things are placed under His feet, now.

Well, then what about us? What should our ‘Now what’ look like? – I’m glad you asked. These (and a whole bunch more) are pulled right from the Scriptures. Spend time with God through His Word. Let the Holy Spirit illuminate the path of righteousness.
     • Live in hope, Now.
     • Endure hardness like a good soldier, now.
     • Pray without ceasing, now.
     • Rejoice always with joy unspeakable, starting now.
     • In everything give thanks for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus, now. (1 Thess 5:16 - 18)
     • Build up your faith, now.
     • Guard your heart with all diligence, now.
     • Grow in grace, now.
     • Abide in him, now.
     • Show gratitude for the mercy God has shown you, now.
     • Live by faith, now.
     • Learn to be content in the myriad of ups and downs, keeping His peace, now.

There's an old hymn that goes - "When we all get to heaven, What a day of rejoicing that will be."
"When we all see Jesus, We'll sing and shout the victory!"

Something in us longs to celebrate and enjoy the fruits of 'winning'. But until that day, we live lives with ups and downs. Struggles and disappointments. However, the days aren't all bad and absolutely none are bad enough to snatch us from the hand of Him who has redeemed us. He's with us each day, patiently pursuing the perfection of our faith so that in the end, we'll all rejoice together.
...SO now what?

In Him,
Cros

Himagery

Every once in a while, I still like to sit and go through old photo albums.
Each page of pictures brings a rush of memories and emotions that ‘make a heart merry and doeth good like a medicine’ Proverbs 17:22
Then I had a thought – These images and emotions speak to our temporal existence but God is timeless, and even though He’s working out the perfecting of the saints in our time, His photo album has pictures of things yet to come that affect Him in the same way that our past pictures affect us. Jesus shared a glimpse of this idea with certain Jews in His day.

Here’s The Word-

John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Abraham, who is from the past, is now in the future....rejoicing. This confounded the Jews and provoked them to try to stone Christ right then and there. However, this and other biblical instances of the shear grandeur of heavenly things to come presented in Scripture and the feelings accompanied with them are a whole different kind of awesome! Rather than imagery, I call it HIMAGERY.

Hope Imagery - - Here’s The Word:

Psalm 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Heaven imagery - - Here’s The Word:

Revelation 14:6-7 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Revelation 21:1-5 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

His Imagery - - Here’s The Word:

Revelation 1:13 - 16 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Revelation 4:2-5 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Life presents us with so many experiences and not a single one of them can be considered as “simply an image”. No, these memories come stock with an enveloping recall of emotions and other sensory accompaniment. The idea of hope is that spark of the unspeakable joy to come that motivates us in the idea that we can only perceive it in small, yet heart-stopping glimpses. But one day, we’ll see with new eyes; witnessing things and rejoicing like Father Abraham did in John 8.

I like the expressions that come out when we feel happily overwhelmed – “I thought I was gonna die”, “It felt like my heart was about to explode”, “I couldn’t imagine it”, “I couldn’t stop crying!”
Then, I think of how small these BIG expressions will be compared to the Eternal presence of being with God and having Him right there with His people. I love seeing artist’s concepts of Heaven and Him Who sits on the throne and every time I see them, I think – Not even close. Not as something condescending, just that our most impressive attempts can’t fully capture the emotions of Himagery.


In Him,
Cros