My everything

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

John 14:1 KJV

It’s good Friday today, and on this day as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ I often get asked the question: “how is it called good Friday, when today alot of bad things took place?”. I usually respond with some cliche answer or give them a theological response to hype up Jesus. It dawned on me a long time ago thay Jesus requires more than just a cliche. He requires more than a preachy, theological response. He requires more than just a response to unpack the story of Jesus.

HERE IT IS…

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

John 14:27 NLT

So here is my response when I am asked “why is good Friday so good, when bad things happened on this day?” Because what he did for me and gave me is more than anything than anyone or anything can give me. The song writer says, “If I lost everything and didn’t have anything
And you were the only thing I’d still have everything”-
Bri (Briana Babineaux) –
He is my everything and that’s why today was a good day…

Prepared to praise

It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began.

John 11:55 NLT

It’s funny how things come together, and how things prepare you for something and you don’t even realize it. It’s funny how we are prepared for things and trained to do things even before we ha e a thought, or see it becoming what God has it to be. Here in this chapter of John Jesus raises Lazarus, people believe, he is then plotted against. Jesus takes a break, and by this time it was almost time for the Passover and the people arrived early to go through the purification process.

HERE IT IS…

God orchestrated this so that before they were able to witness Christ being crucified, they themselves were purified. Before the lamb was led to slaughter, they prepared themselves before he did. Sometimes God will provide a way for you to be prepared for his glory, before he shows up. If you read a little further it says that once the entered the temple they looked for Jesus wondering if he would show up. It is our job to not only be prepared for his glory to show up, but to be expecting him to. We ought to be looking for him to come in and make a change in our life. We should be so prepared to receive him that all he has to do is walk in and let the spirit work. Get ready because your being prepared for something you haven’t seen, but expect God to show up…

Your fault, HIS consequence

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!

Isaiah 53:4 NLT

One thing that I lo e asking my kids when they get in trouble is, what happen. The reason why I love it because everytime they tell the story they some how neglect to mention what they did, or make there part in it seem less than the others involved. They seem to try and not get in trouble for what they did because in their mind, what they did was not as bad as the others. They tried to put the things they did on others and not take responsibility for what they did and not get in trouble.

HERE IT IS…

Your fault, his consequence…
Jesus was wounded for OUR transgressions, bruised for OUR inequities… Jesus took your sins and mine and carried them as his own. Even when people were thinking that his death was because of his own sins. When we think about it, we are the kids trying to tell the story of why we did what we did, and not get in trouble for it. The great thing about it is that Jesus steps in on our behalf in our life, issues and situations, and took our consequences. Your story is not like my story, and we may try to tell leaving some things out. Thank God for Jesus that we don’t have to take the consequences for what we did.

He has arrived

When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead.

John 12:9 NLT

During family get togethers we would all come together and have a great time. Greeting each other as they came in. There was always one person, whether it was your grandmother, cousin you haven’t seen in a long time, or a person in from out of town, that everyone flocked to. For us, when grandma came in, everyone came around her and hugged and loved on her. When my grandmother’s got sick, it was even the more. We all knew that because she was sick and how sick, we tried to ha e as much time as we could with her.

HERE IT IS…

When the people heard that Jesus had arrived EVERYONE flocked around him. They came to see, hear, feel, glean, and be apart of the experience of Jesus being there before the prophecy of him dying came to pass. What do you do when Jesus arrives in your situation? What do you do when the Lord co.es to your area, and fills the place your in? When Jesus shows up he doesn’t have to do anything to receive the praise. Just his presence is enough. When Jesus arrives are you flocking to him to worship or are we acting like he is a visitor?

What’s your focus?

But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

John 12:4‭-‬6 NLT

How many times have you looked back and noticed that you missed a blessing because you were focused on the wrong thing? Sometimes we can get so caught up with everyday life that we miss the blessing that is right in front of our face. We get caught up in bills, school, kids, spouses, work. We all have done it. It’s hard when we constantly make the the priority of our life the things that our father gave us, instead of the other way around.

HERE IT IS…

Judas focused on the money of this woman’s perfume. It was worth a years wages and could have helped in many things to come for the disciples. He missed the whole thing Jesus was preparing for. When your focus is on things of the world we lose sight of the one who created it. What are you focused on that prevents you from seeing Jesus’ blessing in your life? What has your attention more than Him? What’s blocking your view?

Won’t he do it???

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

John 4:10 NLT

One Christmas I wanted a bicycle. A mountain bike to be exact. I wanted to change gears, and do wheelies, and off road with it. I had plans for the bike that I wanted. Everytime we went to the store I would go to the bike section and look at them all and see which one I wanted. Christmas day comes around and we all open our gifts, and I’m looking and waiting for my mom or dad to tell me to go to the garage for something. It didn’t happen. I was happy with what I got, I was just expecting the bike to be there. So we get dressed go make our Christmas visits and save my grandmother’s house for last. We walk in and in her kitchen was a shiny orange and black 18 speed huffy bike. I asked my grandmother whose bile that was because she use to buy gifts for others and she was active at that time. She said it’s mine, I said can I have it.

HERE IT IS…

Jesus tells this woman of Samaria to realize wh she is talking to and the ability He has, and if she ask for it HE would give her something better than what she asked for. We sometimes forget and act like we don’t serve a God that can do things past our thinking. She had to understand that Jesus was not worried about traditions and protocol, because he fulfilled everything when he was born. I didn’t ask for that bike, in fact that bike was better than the one I picked out. Just like I did, we seem to get upset with God when we don’t see the gift right away. If we just hold to His word, HE will do more than what we thought we wanted

Reset button.

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.

Colossians 3:1‭, ‬7‭-‬8 NLT

When I was a kid and the video games was just getting big and becoming more and more apart of the world, they installed a button to help with issues. When the game would freeze, or the game would not start right. Or even when it was caught in a loop and wouldn’t start properly. This button would make that start fresh. It was called the reset button. The reset button was the button that would clear all the issues and problems of the game. With Nintendo I know sometimes we would have to take that cartridge out and blow on it real hard to remove the dust from it and then start the game.

HERE IT IS…

Since the new games have come out, you don’t have to do all those things. You don’t have to hit a reset button. Nor do you have to blow on the game. Now that the games can be downloaded to the system, there is no reason to go and buy the actual game. Since we ha e become a new creature in Christ. We don’t have to, nor should we still try to do the things of old. Now that we ha e hit the rest button of life, by giving our life to Christ, we don’t need to keep doing the things of old. Now we can set our sights on him. Thinking of the things of heaven and not of earth. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it may feel like life is stuck, or that the life is caught in a loop. The fact of the matter is that now we can come to Christ, let him blow on us and dust us off, download his word and directions to us, so that we don’t have to keep doing the same things we used to do. Upgrade your life to christ.

Maturity is growing

For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

Hebrews 5:13‭-‬14 NLT

I remember stories of my mom telling my siblings and I, that as a baby my father would give us solid foods. She would fuss him out and get mad because pur bodies could not handle solid food. To this day when we talk about it, I can see how upset my mom got by the faces she makes. As babies we knew no better but it was new tasting food and we loved it. As we got older and our bodies were able to digest it it was easier for her because we could handle more than we could as babies.

HERE IT IS…

As spiritual babies, we are protected from things and made sure that we have the ability to be who God has called us to be. What happens when we fail to grow spiritually? What happens when we try to stay spiritual infants just so that we won’t have to deal with the pressure? Everyone has a different time to hit their growth spurt. When it comes don’t try to deny it, just so you can keep doing the same thing and not think that you won’t have to take responsibility. Your life is not your own, but your life is owed to God. Don’t stifle your growth by trying to stay immature, because eventually you will have to grow up.

Operate in your gifts

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12 NLT

As we get older we realize that our body cannot or will not do what it used to. Our bodies start to slow down and we start to lose certain mobility, start to lose some hearing or sight. It just doesn’t do what it used to do, and even of our minds think we can or body doesn’t perform the way it use to. Just because our bodies get older and may start to lose certain mobility, those body parts don’t start to try and do other body parts jobs. Our hands still do what they are supposed to do. Our feet and arms and legs and mouth all continue to do what it’s meant to do.

HERE IT IS…

Our service in Christ doesn’t have a age limit and it doesn’t have us to operate in something we are not capable in. Will God place you in places that stretch you and out of your comfort zone? Yes! That’s because God sees in you what you may have not discovered yet. Operating in our gifts and talents that God has given us, allows us to be in the part of the body of Christ he needs us to be. Big or small, it all matters and makes a difference. You are needed for such a time as this. Operate in your God given gift and talents.

I will…

I will sing of your love and justice, Lord . I will praise you with songs. I will be careful to live a blameless life— when will you come to help me? I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them.

Psalms 101:1‭-‬3 NLT

What will you do? By far a question that’s hard to answer. When someone pose the question, “what will you do?”! Something of when a situation arises and a problem comes we have to ask ourselves the same. We also have to state this when we are declaring a change in our life. We are given chance after chance to make a chnage, but how? What will you do different to make it happen, and make that change.

HERE IT IS…

I encourage us to use this 101st chapter of psalms to make that change in our life. The bible states that when we come to Christ we are new, old things will pass away. That’s when we have to constantly deny ourselves the open possibility to go back. David states in the chapter what he will do to please God. What will you do different? What will you do to make that step into a new way of thinking? A new way of living? A new way of life that pleases God. What will be your, I WILL… statement?