There are many reasons to regularly gather with other followers of Jesus, but each of them points to the ultimate reason for getting together.  Christian community serves as a reminder that we are not the center of it all. It’s an interruption of our thinking that it’s our duty to carry out our plans in our ways with our wisdom by our strength to accomplish our goals so we can be happy with ourselves and our lives.  Attending a “church service” reorients us and refreshes us so we get our minds and hearts back where they belong, on Jesus.  This is how He gets the honor He deserves and we get the happiness we desire.

I’m a recovering sight-walker.  Give me the plan.  Give me the map.  Tell me where we’re going, how we’re going to get there, what’s going to happen along the way, and what awaits us at our destination.  While the Bible does give us the “big picture” view of these things, the everyday details of our individual lives aren’t specifically given to us in advance.  It takes faith for us to follow Jesus into the unknown, uncertain and, often, unfamiliar spaces where He leads us.  But our faith rests firmly in this:  When Jesus calls us to leave our comfort zones, we can be sure He will always go with us and provide for us.

The alarm clock rings, and we’re already running behind.  Before we even known if we’re ready, willing and able to enter the day, it’s ready, set, go.  The remedy for busy, frantic lives is not to speed up, but to slow down. The thing that will most help us with what we face each day is to simply spend time with Jesus getting recharged so we can be prepared for what lies ahead, and refocused so we can prioritize the things that matter most.  At the beginning, middle, and end of the day, take moments to connect with Him. You’re not too busy to spend time with Jesus.  You’re too busy not to spend time with Jesus.

Every Christian should not only lovingly do good things, but should also spur on other Christians to lovingly do good things.  This includes encouraging both those who are passive and those who are active in serving God’s kingdom.  Some people need to be convinced to get going.  Some people need to be cheered to keep going.   It’s easy to get distracted and discouraged when it comes to pursuing eternal priorities, so we need to help each other not lose focus and not lose heart.  Instead of assuming others will continue in a life of good works in the Name of Jesus, we should be affirming them as they do.

Gospel change is not the result of simply trying harder to do better the next time we face temptation.  Fighting against our personal shortcomings and sins is never enough to consistently win the battle and prevail in the end.  We must, by God’s grace, fight for something better that is offered to us than what the temptation offers to us.  A better way.  A better delight.  A better outcome.  Our inside-out transformation is not just a fight against something; it’s a fight for something.  It’s a fight for the guilt-free, longer-lasting, fuller option. Let us resist temptation by embracing and enjoying all that God offers to us in Jesus.

Who you were.  What you do.  Where you’re from.  Where you’re going.  What you believe.  Who you are. Every Christian has a story to tell, and each one is important and worth telling when Jesus is rightly portrayed as the Hero of it.  Your narrative is unique, and you will unfold it in bits and pieces in everyday conversations with the people in your life.  As you do, be sure to point them to the Author of your story Who is the Source of every good thing you have in your life and all that you hope for in the one to come.  Tell your story.  Tell His story.  People need to know what you know … that they need to know Jesus.

If you know a tornado is headed for me, I don’t want you to disregard, downplay, deceive, or delay in telling me about the danger of my situation or my inaction.   I want the truth.  I need the truth.  I may not like the truth, but my life depends upon you telling me the truth.  As Christians we should be… Lovers of truth.  Guardians of truth. Speakers of truth.  Receivers of truth.  But we shouldn’t be manufacturers of our own truth. God has ordained that we communicate the truths of His word and His world to each other so that we can be set free from sinful self-destruction and find our way to safety in Him.  Truth matters.

What you’ll discover about life with Jesus is this… The better you know Him, the longer you follow Him, and the greater you enjoy Him, the deeper you will experience all the blessings and benefits of grace.  He will be honored in you and you will be happy in Him.  And that’s what grace is all about.  God and sinner reconciled so that… God receives the full and lasting worship He’s always deserved, and you receive the full and lasting happiness you’ve always desired.  It starts now, grows over time, and will extend into eternity where it will explode into unhindered, unbridled, uninterrupted pleasure forevermore.

Many people see the commands of Christ as “restrictive rules” that are keeping the good stuff out of our lives instead of seeing them as “gracious guardrails” that are keeping our lives out of the gutter.  He is our Good Shepherd Who protects us, provides for us, empowers us, refreshes us, delights us, guides us and delivers us safely to our eternal home in heaven.  How?  We hear His voice (the words of the Bible with all of its instructions, truths and promises made clear to us by the Holy Spirit) calling us into His care, and by faith we do as He says.  He leads.  We follow.  That’s it.   He takes care of us by taking care of all the rest.

The things of this world were not designed to bring you full and lasting satisfaction; that’s why they never do. They leave you longing for something more, something different, something better.  You’ll look for it your entire life in people, places, pursuits and possessions, but you’ll only find it in Jesus. He doesn’t offer to get us that new job, new spouse, new vacation, new baby, new home, new personal best, new recognition, new bill of health, or new thing that we think will make us happy.  He offers to give us Himself.  Our satisfaction depends not on us having the things of this world, but on us having Him.

Today, when that temptation is offered, that relationship blows up, that meeting goes wrong, that diagnosis is grim, that pleasure is available, that problem shows up, that plan falls through, and that thing happens … you will believe something to be true.  Instead of believing sin’s promises that you have been abandoned by God, or you should accept a substitute for God, believe the promises of God.  Place your full weight on God’s Word, for it is the only solid ground in a world full of cleverly-disguised sinking sand.  If He says it, you can believe it.  And if you can believe it, you can experience its life-giving assurances.

There is an infinite difference between…  Who we were and who we are.  What we were and what we are. We were sinners who were infinitely separated from God with no hope of avoiding the coming judgment and wrath for our sin.  But God demonstrated His infinite love for us by sending Jesus to shower infinite grace upon us through His perfect life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection.  By faith, we are now infinitely forgiven through Him, infinitely connected to Him, infinitely secure in Him, and infinitely blessed by Him!  So… Let us use our lips and our lives to give Him what He deserves:  infinite praise.

One thing most of us struggle with is disobedience by delay.  That is, we wait to do what God has called and equipped us to do. We wait until a more convenient time, thinking we have plenty of time, but more often than not, we will run out of time.    For most of us, God doesn’t mean for us to wait until some future day to serve Him by going out in a million-dollar blaze of glory, but rather He wants us to give ourselves to Him in daily nickels and dimes of service.  By grace, lay up treasures in heaven with how you use your time today. It’s not what you leave behind that matters most.  It’s what you forward ahead.

God will bring you through 100% of your dark days until He brings you home.  He will not forget you a single moment.  He will not forsake you a single time.  He will not fail you a single day. Will it always be easy? No. Will it always be comfortable? No.  Will it always be the way you want it? No. But it will always be under the careful, calculated and compassionate rule of a Father Who loves you and has a purpose for you.   Don’t give up!  Keep going! You are alive and breathing today because God made it so; God made it so because you were made to be a light in this dark world.  And you are not done shining yet.

For those who are trusting in Jesus, God is always doing much more in us, for us, around us, and through us than we are aware of.  All we see is the show, but He is working behind the scenes.  All we see is the ship, but He is working beneath the surface.  He is precise.  He is punctual.  He is providential.  We don’t have to make sense out of everything that is going on or that we are going through, but we do need to trust that God is tirelessly at work in ways that would make sense if we knew all that He knows.  And when we can’t see it with our eyes, let us believe it in our hearts.  That’s what faith is for.

This is the model, means, and motivation for every expression of our love toward the people God has put into our lives…  Jesus loves us.  Jesus loves us.  Jesus loves us.   For who better to love imperfect people than those who were at their own worst when Jesus loved them anyway?  He loved us then.  He loves us now.  He will keep loving us forever. Listen:  It’s not about trying harder to love better; it’s about rejoicing in the love that God has shown us in Jesus and then responding by loving Him back and sharing His love with other people.  There is grace for us when we get this wrong and grace to help us get it right.

Jesus did it all.  Jesus paid it all.  Jesus conquered it all. We couldn’t live up to God’s standards, so Jesus lived perfectly for us.  We couldn’t break free from sin, so He set us free.  We couldn’t atone for our transgressions, so Jesus died in our place.  We couldn’t defeat death, so He conquered the grave so we too will rise. We couldn’t earn an eternal retirement, so He paid for our inheritance.  We have become rich in salvation, forgiveness, joy, peace, glory, kindness, favor, righteousness, love and hope because of what He accomplished on our behalf.   Every good thing that is ours displays the good news of Jesus.

Do you believe that Jesus is alive?  Then don’t live as if He’s still dead.  Don’t live as if you are left to your own wisdom, strength and resources to navigate through life.  Don’t live as if this world and its stuff is all there is, and you can’t be happy unless you have more of it.   Don’t live as if your life has no real meaning and purpose, and how you spend your time doesn’t really matter.   Don’t live as if you are a victim of temptation and sin, powerless to stand up to it and resist it and defeat it.  Don’t live as if life is out of control, and you have just cause to worry and fear and dread.  If you believe He’s alive, live like He’s alive!

He Is Risen! We can rejoice and worship for the empty tomb changes everything.  Because the Lamb of God was slain, rose again and the tomb is now empty, we can be forgiven and free forever. If you are trusting Him, you are a new person with a new eternity in your future, and new potential, new purpose, new power, new pleasure in Him for everyday life even now. All because He lives! This is our hope:  Jesus has overcome the world, is with us as we live in the world, provides all that we need in this world, and promises to come back to deliver us from this world. Rejoice! Our lives are full because the tomb is empty.

Wait it out.  Wait and see.  Wait upon the Lord.  Things will break our hearts and leave us in stunned silence. But our God is sovereign, and though the sinfulness of people, the brokenness of this world and the maliciousness of Satan all rise up to seemingly stop God’s work, He makes them bow down and serve His purposes.  Struggles, suffering, sin and Satan will be defeated! Every foe we will ever face will be overturned, overthrown and overcome because Jesus is putting and will put every enemy under His foot in final and forever victory.  Until then, we wait.  But we wait in real hope of better things.