PastorTodd78

A post from several years ago about enjoying life in Christ.

¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  John 10:10

Reading this verse just now brings two things to my mind.  The first is the phrase, “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die.”  The first half of this verse comes from the Old Testament.

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad.  Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.  Ecclesiastes 8:15 (NIV)

In this verse Solomon is saying that enjoying where you are in life is ok.  It is good to smile and have fun!

The second thing this verse from John brings to my mind is country music.  No really it does!  I am a big fan of country music and there are several songs that really unpack what Jesus is saying here.  Depending on your translation this verse either says that Jesus came to bring life to the full or abundantly.  When I think of both of these descriptions of life with Jesus I cannot help but consider that so many fellow believers are missing out on this.  The apostle Paul wrote at length about the power and freedom found in Jesus that the law fails to provide.  We need to wholeheartedly embrace this freedom.

The Hedonistic philosophy is widely recognized for adding the “for tomorrow you die” part to the aforementioned phrase.  I think Jesus would change this saying up a slight bit, I just imagine that He might say something like:

Eat, drink, and be merry, because I created it all!

This is in contrast to the self-indulgent lifestyle of the hedonist.  They believe that it is ok to pursue all pleasure because there is nothing higher or better.  Jesus on the other hand is saying that we have the privilege, even the command to enjoy a full and overflowing life.  A life as depicted in such songs as Sara Evans’ Born to Fly, Time Well Wasted by Brad Paisley or Kenny Chesney’s Never Wanted Nothing More.  Jesus is telling us to embrace the life He has given with joy and abandon.

Today I urge you to enjoy life.  Watch the sunset with a loved one.  Put on some music from your youth and dance.  Eat some cake and ice cream before dinner.  Leave Jesus’ footprints today by enjoying the life He has given.

A post from several years ago about being spiritually alive.

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  John 11:25-26

My dad recently told me of some conversations he had with his dad over the course of the last few years of Grandpa’s life.  My grandfather had had his right leg amputated just above the knee and also had a glass eye.  My dad said that Grandpa would ask if they should have saved the part of his leg that had been cut off, or his old eye, so as to bury them with him.  He asked questions about the resurrected body and the form of it.  He wondered how he could have a new leg and new eyes.

I somewhat imagine Martha had similar questions and concerns during this conversation with Jesus.  She was probably wondering just how her brother will rise again.  He is, after all, dead, much like my grandfather’s eye and leg had died and quit working.  Lazarus, Martha’s brother did rise from the dead, and my belief in what scripture teaches, tells me that Grandpa has a new leg and a new eye.  Some scholars believe that our resurrected bodies will take the appearance of us at the age of 33.  Now whether this is true or not, I do not know.  I do, however, know that Jesus, being our resurrection can bring things that have gone dead back to life.

For a few moments imagine that you have been sitting with one leg underneath you while you have been reading this.  A lot of times I sit like this while writing.  What happens when you try to get up to walk?  Most of the time the leg you have been sitting on has fallen asleep.  I know that it takes me a few minutes for my leg and foot to wake up and if I try to walk before that, I tend to stumble and have not so great balance.  It takes a couple of minutes for my leg to be restored back to normal.  In a way that part of my body has temporarily died and become useless.  When a body part falls asleep the blood flow has been greatly restricted to that area.  When the blood is allowed to once again run freely, it has to reach the entire area for proper function to be restored.  It is limited in its speed of healing.

This is not the case with Jesus.  He can restore and resurrect the dead and lifeless parts of us instantaneously.  Shortly after this conversation with Martha, He speaks a word and her brother rises from the dead.  Today let Him speak a word to you and raise the dead parts of your heart.

A post from several years ago about the power of our words.

²¹“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ ²²But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ²⁶Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.  Matthew 5:21-26

So I am going to say I hope that no one reading this is guilty of actually murdering someone.  That being said I think we are all to blame for killing someone with our words.  I think we all have said things in anger or jokingly that we did not mean.  I know I have done this.

When I was in high school I was the athletic trainer for the football and boys basketball team.  It was fun.  I really enjoyed it; it was a way for me to be involved in sports since a birth defect prevented me from actually playing.  My freshman year I worked with the varsity boys basketball team.  I was almost the youngest student in my grade, so this was very intimidating for me at times.  I knew most of the juniors on the team since my sister was in that class, but the seniors just seemed so much older; I was only 14 at that time.  That year I watched as the seniors would make fun of everyone on the bus, even our assistant coaches.

Unfortunately that habit was passed down at least until my fellow classmates were seniors.  We never meant anything by what we said, but I know it hurt some of the younger players at times.  I do not think I understood the depth of this until a close friend from church told me they should put a plaque in the locker room declaring my class the king of the put downs.  This was a friend I admired because of his intelligence and discernment.  When he told me this I began to realize how what we were saying might be hurting those younger than us.  Not only were we perpetuating bad habits, we were also destroying their confidence.  We should have been building them up and encouraging them, but yet we were doing the opposite.

Hopefully you have never hurt someone this bad, but I am guessing most of you have.   For some strange and tragic reason our current culture glorifies this type of behavior.  Well, if we are going to follow Him and be set apart we have to change and do something different.  Today I implore you to speak words of truth and love and kindness to those in your path.  Leave His footprints today by leaving His words of life.

A post from several years ago about living for Christ.

²¹And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. ²²And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” ²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, ²⁹“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; ³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation ³¹that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, ³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” ³³And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed ³⁵(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”  Luke 2:21-35

The beginning few verses of this passage let us know that Mary and Joseph were being dutiful Jewish parents.  They were presenting Jesus at the temple to be dedicated to God.  This was not like the common baby dedication that you might see at your local church.  Jewish law required that the firstborn male offspring of both humans and animals be dedicated to God.  The animals were to be used in sacrifice, and the male children to dedicate their lives to God.  The Levites served in place of the firstborn males, but the males still had to be consecrated to God.

As I read this passage and consider the facts surrounding this event, I am left in awe.  According to the law that God had given Moses, the firstborn sons were to be set apart for Him. God then took the whole tribe of the Levites to be serve instead of the firstborn males.  Jesus though, did not let a Levite serve in His place.  He fulfilled the full requirement of the law, and lived His life for God.  He even went as far as being a sacrifice, which was required of the firstborn males of animals.

I meet so many people who live their faith through vicarious means.  They live off their parents’ faith, or just depend on their pastor or Bible study teacher.  They do not ever start to own their faith, or personalize it.  This is not what Jesus did.  He owned His own faith.

If we are going to leave His footprints, we must do the same.  We cannot rely on others to walk for us.  We must do it ourselves.  We must spend time with Him daily, and search His word, and share our hearts in prayer.  We need to personalize our faith, and make it real to us.  That is my encouragement today, that you will leave His footprints by owning your faith.

A post from several years ago about Jesus as our better friend.

¹³Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.  John 15:13-15

I have been blessed to have several close friends in life.  Two extremely close friends; Ben, whom I met in fourth grade and became extremely close to in high school, and Worm (or Jeremy), whom I went to college with and lived with for a time.  I just tried to call Worm to ask for his help in applying a certain verse that I was writing about for a devotional.  We are close.  We share life together.  We get together to watch Monday Night Football in the fall, or an entire season of 24 in one weekend.  I recently spent my birthday with him and his wife, he cooked brisket, and my girlfriend, me, him, and his wife played games and enjoyed some quality time together that night.  We have been there for each other throughout life’s ups and downs.  Just a couple of summers ago I was visiting him to play golf and go to a Texas Rangers game.  I picked him up after he finished a church-league softball game, and we went to get some burgers and Dr. Pepper.  Right as we left the softball field he excitedly told me he had just found out that day that he was going to be a dad.  We rejoiced together in that.  Then a few weeks later, when I never heard back from the girl I took to the Rangers game, he was there to help me move on and not dwell on her.  We both like baseball and argue about it often, since he likes the Red Sox and I am a Rangers fan.  We have had disagreements at times, but we always are able to move past them and continue as friends.

Over the years I have helped Worm with camps, ski trips and retreats for his youth ministry.  Whenever I have, he has always filled me in with what is going on and kept me well informed.  Several times he has called me at the last minute to help out as a sponsor.  Even in those instances I have not been in the dark about what is happening.  There are times when I know more information about plans or other things than maybe some of the other sponsors do.  This is due to my close friendship with Worm.  There is a mutual level or trust and admiration.

In the final verse in this passage Jesus says that He calls the disciples friends because He has made known to them everything.  Worm and I did not start out being so close that we shared everything with each other.  We have learned more and more about each other over time and built up to that level.

When we first come to Jesus, He completely knows us, but it will take time for us to learn more and more about Him.  The more time we spend with Him the more we learn and the more we grow.  Today I encourage you to spend time with your friend Jesus learning more of Him.

A post from several years ago about sharing Christ.

⁴⁰One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. ⁴¹He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴²He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). John 1:40-42

Denzel Washington is one of my favorite all time actors and I greatly enjoy watching his movies.  Several years ago he made a movie entitled Man On Fire, in which he is hired to protect a young girl in Mexico City from the ring of kidnappers terrorizing Americans in the area.  She is eventually kidnapped and he subsequently goes on a rampage to find her and bring all those responsible for the kidnapping to justice.  While he is doing this he goes into the apartment of an elderly couple to use their window to shoot a missile at a motorcade.  As he is setting up the shoulder canon the aged gentleman tells him that at the church they say you should forgive people.  Denzel looks straight at him, and says, “Forgiveness is God’s business; my job is to arrange the meeting.”

I remember the first time I saw this movie in the theater, I was immediately like, whoa that is it, that is what the Christian life is all about.  We are to spend our time and our energy arranging for all of our friends and family to meet with God.

This is what Andrew is up to in this passage.   In fact it is what Andrew is up to all throughout the Bible.  Andrew is mentioned nine times in the Gospels, and once in the book of Acts.  Out of these ten times being mentioned, three times are within the lists of disciples, and in six of the remaining seven times Andrew is seen bringing people to Jesus.  He continually arranged meetings for his brother, or a friend, or a random person on the street to meet Jesus.

It has long been a custom in diplomatic state relations for a new foreign minister or ambassador to wait to meet the leader of the country to which they are sent.  They are to wait on a formal introduction by an intermediary.  Perhaps it is an official from another country that is known to each.  This individual, known to each, is to decide the best timing for the two to sit down and talk and to come to know one another.

Today, you and I are that other state official for all of our family and friends to bring them to the table with Jesus.  We are to broker the meeting and make it happen.  We do not have to wait on the perfect time, because that time is now.  I admonish you to leave His footprints today by bringing others to Him.

A post from several years ago about turning all things over to Christ.

¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. ¹⁸For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:17-20

I have worked in sales for some time and a highly common characteristic of most all sales jobs is that the most productive and successful people promote.  It is not based on any system of seniority or anything other than your personal bottom line.  This fosters an extremely competitive atmosphere among coworkers.  Several years ago I was working in a mattress store, and to be honest I was not the best at sales in my store.  I had my moments, but my two coworkers were much more seasoned and experienced.  I was always struggling to meet my monthly budget and quota.   One day though our District Manager was in the store for a visit.  It was towards the end of the month and I was close to making my month, but was worried if it was going to happen or not.  A woman in her early thirties came in, and it was my turn in our rotation system.  I mostly led her through the store, but my D.M. decided to help along the way.  He had her laughing and joking around most of the time she was in the store.  She wound up making a rather large purchase which not only helped me make my month, but motivated me to stay driven and actually finish near the top in total sales and units for that particular month.

These verses brought this episode to mind just now.  Jesus told those on the hillside with him that their righteousness must not only be great, but must surpass that of the leaders in their religious society in order to gain entrance into heaven.  At this particular company my sales numbers not only had to be consistently higher than my monthly goals for me to make money, they had to be above the overall year goal for me to keep my job.

I was able to have a spectacular month one time because my D.M. decided to step in and help me in a very real and experiential way.  I might have closed this sale to this woman on my own, but it may have not been for as much, and it may have not motivated me for the rest of the month.  I obtained temporary excellence in my job by relying on the strengths of someone else.

We will never reach this level of righteousness on our own.  We can only get their by letting Jesus step into our lives and live it out for us.  We have to surrender to Him and let Him be our righteousness.  I want to urge you today to remember that you are not on your own.  You are not on an island.  He is with you and wants to lead.  Let Him.

A post from several years ago about spiritual confidence.

⁸I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. ⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. ¹⁰For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.  Psalm 16:8-10

Hopefully, many of you are starting to share my love for the double meanings found in the prophecies of the Old Testament.  Today brings us to another such passage, this time from the pen of King David.  The immediate fulfillment of this promise is in the life of David himself, but the completion is once again found in Jesus Christ.

Let’s consider this being filled in the life of Jesus for a few moments.  What does it mean that God will not let His Holy One (i.e. Jesus) ever see decay, and that He will not abandon Him to the grave?  Furthermore, how does it help us leave the footprints of Jesus today?  The Apostle Peter, in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, used these verses to introduce and give historical or prophetical credence to Jesus’ resurrection (c.f. Acts 2:14-41).  So similar to the devotional two days ago, these verses can bring comfort by the fact that God knows what He plans to do, and carries it out to fruition, but there is also more here.

God took care of and protected both King David and Jesus.  He has promised the same to us.  He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us (c.f. Joshua 1:5).  This gives me confidence and strength to do the right thing.  It fills me with courage to boldly follow in the footsteps of Christ and to leave His footprints with conviction.  I urge each of you to do the same today.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart today and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways, this day, acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight as you seek to leave His footprints (adapted from Proverbs 3:5-6).

A post from several years ago about life in Christ.

¹In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. ⁶And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  Luke 2:1-7

My housing situation of late has been precarious to say the least.  I am currently in a state of limbo and trying to figure out where to go, and where God is directing me.  Maybe this present situation of mine is what makes the end of verse 7 stand out to me.  Whatever the reason, my eyes are drawn to this phrase:

“there was no room for them in the inn,”

This phrase causes me to yet again reexamine my preset ideas about Jesus.

I remember sitting in my General Psychology class as a freshman in college, and learning about the concept of a schema.  A schema is nothing more than a generalized diagram or plan.  I remember my professor describing it to us in this way though.  When you or I drive up to a fast food restaurant drive thru, we expect certain things to take place.  We are prepared for them to ask for our order, maybe suggest a new or limited time item, and to encourage us to upsize our order.  When this basic order is violated, we are sometimes taken aback.  We are all victims of our ingrained schemas.  For instance, one time I went through a Taco Bell drive thru, and instead of suggesting a new type of fajita meat burrito or a cheesy gordita crunch, the person on the intercom asked me if I wanted a taco.  That is just not what you expect to happen.

The same thing goes through my mind as I read these 7 verses.  I do not expect Jesus to face this many difficulties in arriving here on earth.  I mean He is denied a room at the inn.  Not really what you imagine to happen, is it?  You would think that everything would work out for Him; that things would be better choreographed, and that there would be no problems or hardships in life.  Yet He arrives in the middle of slight crisis, and is born in a stable.

There is a very disturbing current trend in pop theology that teaches if you follow Jesus, then life will be great.  The major problem with this is that scripture, and more importantly what scripture says about the life of Christ, does not teach this principle.

My encouragement for you today is to not expect life to be perfect and trouble free as you seek to follow Jesus.  Leave His footprints anyway!