Scriptures: Matthew 16:15, Matthew 15:16

The Jesus I Know

I hope and pray that your day is exceeding expectations, and if it’s not, I hope to bring you some encouragement! I am writing this to you from a little coffee shop. The smell of coffee and fresh baking inspires me! A few moments ago, a little boy walked up to me and asked, “Who are you?” His mother hurried him away (I guess he hasn’t learned that you aren’t supposed to talk to strangers yet😊) before I could answer. His random question took my thoughts to a moment when Jesus asked a question: 

“Who do you say I am?” (Mathew 16:15, NIV) 

When Jesus asked this question, the disciples were stopped short by its profound simplicity. Jesus stares at them and asks, “Who do people say I am?” You could cut the silence with a knife. The stammers start, “Ummm….some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others say Jeremiah or a prophet.” A small sigh of relief is heard but Jesus is not finished, he sets his crosshairs on Peter. “Peter, who do you say that I am?” Peter’s answer is found in Matthew 16:16 and it is worth reading! (see Mathew 16:15) 

That’s a very personal question, isn’t it? Who is Jesus to you? 

I suffer from allergies, and at certain times of the year, I am miserable with their effects. To combat this lousy ailment, I went through a regimen of immunotherapy shots at a local allergy clinic. For two years, twice a week, I would go in and get a needle in each arm. The protocol for allergy shots requires that you must remain in the waiting room for 30 minutes after the injections, to make sure that you don’t have a reaction or become ill. Thirty minutes is a LONG time when you are waiting. In my doctor’s office, there was a selection of magazines for people to read as they waited. I read EVERY magazine, from cover to cover in that office! I hit upon three major magazines in a sequence that exposed the historical Jesus. I compiled some of the statements from these magazines: 

Jesus was a beatnik poet whose ramblings were simply at the right place and at the right time.

Jesus was an emotionally troubled soul whose inner battles touched those who were struggling with the same issues.

Jesus was one of a long list of political activists, whose plans went awry and he met his end as so many did.

Jesus was a great teacher. 

After reading the statements in the magazines, I reacted quietly and privately with one simple statement: THAT’S NOT HIM!

You see, that’s not the Jesus I know. He wasn’t a beatnik poet, because His teachings have comprised the moral teaching of the world for two thousand years. He had no political ambitions, instead, He was consumed with the mission of reuniting lost people with a God who loved them. Was He a predominantly troubled soul? He was troubled all right. Not by His own issues but by the tension of watching hurting people looking for answers in all the wrong places. His name was Jesus, the Son of God. My Jesus is very different from these statements. The Jesus of the Bible is very different from that. The Jesus of life and the Jesus of Christ the King are far different from that.

This week, we are going to focus on the miracle of Jesus. He is MORE than enough and we are going to give Him our full and undivided attention. 

I really want to share with you the Jesus I know! 

Never forget, you are a miracle! 

Scripture: Luke 4:18-19

The Jesus Who Can Restore….Anything!

My prayer for us today is that we meet Jesus. Can we pray to that end? 

Jesus, we are so honored to be welcomed by You. We want to see YOU and know You. Amen.

Earlier this week, a friend approached me to ask for forgiveness. I was humbled by their approach, their honesty, and their candor. My friend had taken credit for some shared work, and they were circling back to make it right. Forgiveness is easy when the person is owning a wrong and doing everything in their power to make it right. 

In the same week, I was on the other end of forgiveness. I had reacted wrongly in a situation with a co-worker and needed to own the fact that I had allowed my frustration to overtake an otherwise productive moment. I sat down with my co-worker and asked them to forgive me for my tone, my lack of understanding and my side-tracking of a creative moment. 

Looking back at both moments, I can see Jesus taking center stage. Jesus was the inspiration for both moments of forgiveness, both giving and receiving. It was HIM in both situations! 

The truth is, forgiveness is a powerful moment that can only come from Jesus. We have all been forgiven much by Jesus and every time I see this amazing act of grace overtake a moment, I never cease to be amazed at how Jesus shows up! 

That’s the Jesus I know. The Jesus who knows me and all that I have done and yet chooses to forgive, over and over again. You see I have given Jesus every reason to hate me. I have done things I never should have done, I have thought things I never should have thought, I have told God that He has no right to tell me what to do…and yet for some strange unexplainable reason, He still loves me and forgives me. 

That’s the Jesus I know. Is that the Jesus you know? 

When our college ministry took a mission trip to Los Angeles, we spent an evening on Hollywood Boulevard. The later you stay out on Hollywood Boulevard the more interesting people you meet. Some of the team met a man named “Bandana Jimmy”. They spent some time talking to him, bought him some food and genuinely cared for him. Bandana Jimmy came with some thick walls, built by years of hurt and mistrust. Our students began to chip away at those walls with love and concern. One of them gave James permission to cry over the loss of his mom. I will never forget that picture of Emilee holding that man as he poured out years of pain. 

That’s Him. That’s the Jesus I know. The Jesus that comes and takes our pain and holds it close while we pour out the tears. The God who loves unconditionally and chips away at our feeble defenses. 

The world has tried desperately to change our understanding of Jesus. They have tried to strip away His godliness or attack His humanity because it is easier to dismiss Him than encounter Him. 

Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19 

The Jesus I know, wrote those miraculous words with you in mind! He has a year of favor waiting for you, right now. He is good news! He is a liberator and an emancipator! He is freedom and He is YOUR miracle. 

I am praying for you and never forget, you are a miracle! 

Scriptures: Hebrews 4:15, Revelation 21:4

Jesus: A God Who Knows How I Feel

I hope that you are encouraged and joyful today! 

There is something wonderful about having a God who knows how you feel. In the J.B. Phillips translation of the Bible, (Hebrews 4:15) says, 

“For we have no superhuman High Priest to whom our weaknesses are unintelligible – He himself has shared fully in all our experience of temptation, except that He never sinned.” 

Author Max Lucado, tells the story of a woman who came to a bookstore and slammed his book “God Came Near” onto the counter. She exclaimed, “My God didn’t have pimples.” She was frustrated by this specific passage in Max Lucado’s book: 

“Jesus may have had pimples. He may have been tone-deaf. Perhaps a girl down the street had a crush on Him. It could have been that His knees were bony. One thing’s for sure: He was, while completely divine, completely human.” 

Max writes, “I can relate to her discomfort. We quickly fix a crack in the stained glass. We rub away any smudges on the altar. There is something safe about a God that never had callouses. There is something awesome about a God who never felt pain. There is something majestic about a God that never scraped His elbow. But there is also something cold about a God who cannot relate to what you and I feel. If I had a moment with that lady I would ask her, “Jesus may not have had pimples, but don’t you hope that he could have?” 

The Bible says that Jesus was well acquainted with grief. He is described as a man of sorrow, and so Jesus felt pain. 

I love knowing that! Have you been stabbed in the back by a friend? If Jesus was here, he’d say, “Me too!” Have you ever been tempted or felt misunderstood? Jesus would say, “I’ve been there.” Have you ever felt alone? Jesus would say, “I’ve felt alone too.” 

Jesus knows my tears. He’s seen them. He knows the source, but He also gives me comfort and answers. Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain….” (NIV) That’s Him! That’s the Jesus I know! 

There is a story about a little boy who went into a pet store every day so he could look at the puppies. The store manager would watch the boy play with the puppies, and then dig into his pockets and count his change. The manager could always tell by the slump of the boys’ shoulders just how far the child was from his goal. 

The next time the boy went into the store, he spilled his money on the counter and ran for the cage where the puppies were. The little boy had chosen a skinny little puppy with a disfigured leg. The manager encouraged him to pick another dog: “He’s crippled, he can’t play. He’ll never run with you. He can’t even fetch.” The boy replied, “No thanks, this is exactly the dog I’ve been looking for.” The manager fell silent as he watched the boy leave. For the first time, he noticed the brace sticking out from under the boy’s pant leg. 

That’s Him! That’s the Jesus I know! He feels the pain and He chooses you. He’s been there. He hears your cry. He stands against hell itself for you. He hears YOUR questions. He wipes YOUR tears, and He makes a way for YOU to come home. 

A miraculous encounter is always waiting when you know the Jesus I know! 

You are a miracle! 

Scriptures: Psalms 147:11, Psalms 23:1-4

Jesus: A God Who Laughs With Me, Not At Me

Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, thank you for laughing with us and not at us. Thank you for being a good, good Father and for welcoming us as your sons and daughters. We want to know more about You today. Thank you for knowing me and for knowing. We love You. Amen.”

When my son Braden was little, we loved to wade in the tide pools at Birch Bay, which is along the Washington coast. One day we were walking along the beach together and he began to fall behind. As I continued walking, I heard the sickening splat of a small human body on the wet sand. I turned around to see him picking himself up. He had a huge grin on his face, and he said with a shrug, “I’m practicing my falling.” 

We started to giggle, and before long we were laughing loudly together. As I think about that moment, I recount the number of times when I felt that God was laughing at me, not with me. Moments when I thought He was refereeing my pain and laughing at me when I stumbled. I can tell you now, that is NOT the Jesus I know! 

As a Dad, I took no pleasure in witnessing Braden falling. Nothing inside of me said, “Good, maybe he’ll learn. Life’s full of holes. He better get used to it.” No, there was no excitement in the fall. But, I will tell you that there was great pleasure and pride when I saw his reaction! He got back up, dusted himself off, and chose to be a victor instead of a victim! 

I know that Jesus laughs WITH me. The Jesus I know loves to laugh. He was the one who winked at people while telling them the story of wise and foolish builders, while in that very background, you could see the ruins of one man’s attempt to build a house on the beach of the lake where Jesus was teaching. 

The Bible says, “His pleasure is not in the strength of a horse, nor his delight in the legs of man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” (Psalm 147:11 NIV) 

That’s Him! That’s the Jesus I know, and this is a true statement: 

He delights in you! You are His miracle and He is proud of you when you overcome an obstacle and laugh at it because you know that He is both with you and is for you.

Braden is getting older now. He faces deeper holes and more daunting challenges. But, the Jesus he knows has not changed at all. What joy I have, listening to him laugh, as he takes on every challenge….with Jesus! 

The Jesus that I know has something miraculous to say to you today. Knowing that He is your Good Shepherd, you can boldly believe His words: 

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

He refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me…”

(psalm 23:1-4, NIV) 

He is with you and that is a miracle. 

You are a miracle!

Scriptures: Hebrews 13:5, John 14:1-3

Jesus: A Man Who Knew When To Call Home

When I was in college, I spent a summer tree planting with the British Columbia Forest Service. My job was to plant trees, one at a time, all day. The goal was to place a small seedling in the ground so that years from now, the forest would be thick and beautiful. The forest was breathtaking, but the job…it was awful! There were trees, bugs and bears! There was isolation, rough conditions, lack of showers, and the repetitive 12-hour days that consisted of repeating the identical planting motion thousands of times. It wore me out! 

I can still remember sitting on a log in that forest with a fellow planter named Richard. We were sitting in silence (there was nothing to say) eating our sandwiches when a large bug landed on Richard’s bread and began to eat it! I could see the look in Richard’s eye. He thought it was his chance to get even for the hundreds of bug bites he had endured, and so Richard got revenge in a way that I will NOT describe! 

That summer was filled with lonely, hard, back-breaking work. To top it all off, we weren’t making any money because tree prices were down. I was so discouraged. We took a day off, and I remember calling home. My voice shook and I remember the reassuring sounds of my dad telling me it would be ok. He said to me that I was going to make it, and that someday soon I would be home. 

The Bible says Jesus would often draw away to a solitary place to pray. He was calling home. I love that! That’s the Jesus I know. The God who permits me to be homesick. 

As I get older, I can honestly say that I want to go home. I didn’t always feel this way, but I have seen enough of this world to know that as a believer in God, I am not home. Someday, we’ll be there and then everything will be all right. 

In the meantime, I hold on to the promise of God in Hebrews 13:5: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (NIV) 

Since God has assured us that He will never let us down, never walk off, or leave us, we can boldly say that “God is there, ready to help: I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?” 

Are you a little homesick for Heaven today? It’s ok. Jesus understands. As you wait for that glorious place of answered questions: no more tears, no more sickness, and no more pain…we can hold on to the Jesus we know. The One who said: 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3, NIV) 

What a miraculous day that will be! Don’t forget the truth today! 

You are a miracle! 

Scripture: Ephesians 1:5

Jesus: A God Who Accepts Me

You are an adopted child of the Jesus I know! He has chosen you from before the foundation of the world to be His and His alone. One of His favorite words to describe you is, “Mine!”. 

My prayer is that my words will make your day a little brighter with the light of God’s love. 

The Bible uses the word “adoption” when referring to how God sees us. 

Ephesians 1:5 says, “In love, He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” (NIV) 

I have a very good friend who is adopted. His adoptive parents brought him home when he was a baby and he has always been so grateful for their love, but he struggled with thoughts of rejection from his birth parents. I was talking to him one night and he said: “I have dealt my whole life with the idea that my real parents rejected me. I was consumed by it. It owned me. I choose now to look at it a different way. There is something awesome about being picked by someone who has the choice to pick anybody else, but they want you.” 

When my friend shared this thought, I immediately thought: THAT is the Jesus I know!God wants us! Jesus adopts children and welcomes them into His family! What a joy! 

And it is joyful until we begin to think, “What about my past? What about all the times I rejected Him? What about the wasted years?” 

What about them? The Jesus I know has never stopped offering His invitation. He wants you today! He wants you to know that there is forgiveness for the past and hope for the future! 

In the first church that Laurel and I pastored, there was a man named Mike. Mike was a tough guy. His life had been hardened by brushes with the law and an on-again-off-again battle with alcohol. As a result of his struggles, he left a trail of broken relationships behind him. Mike found Jesus and began the long process of healing. 

One day another pastor came and told us that Mike had made a sculpture of etched glass for the church. I will never forget that sculpture. It was a picture born out of pain; It was Jesus with a man kneeling in front of Him. The kneeling man was clutching Jesus’ robe, with Jesus placing one hand on the top of the man’s head and the other stretching up to heaven. The inscription on the bottom of the picture said, “Jesus, friend of sinners.” 

I loved observing that picture on Sunday mornings. I would watch as people would look at it and then reflect on what it reflected. 

In the outstretched glass hand of Jesus was a nail mark, and people couldn’t help but touch it. 

One day I watched a man named Henry, who was suffering from cancer at the time, walk up and touch the nail print with his finger. He found comfort there. One day I went up and said to him, “It’s beautiful, isn’t it, Henry?”. He agreed, “Yes, it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful because that’s me”, pointing to the kneeling man, “and that, well, that’s Jesus!”. 

That’s the Jesus I know, and the Jesus I pray that you get to know as well: Jesus, the miraculous friend of sinners. 

You are His miracle! 

Scripture: Colossians 1:15-23

The Jesus I Know…

I hope that you have been encouraged as I shared about the Jesus I know! One day, I hope that I can sit down with you and hear about Jesus YOU know! That would be a dream come true for me! 

Let’s pray together. “Jesus, we want to experience the miracle of knowing you more! You are God, King, Savior, Lord, Friend, Counselor, Comforter and our Hope. As we come to You today, we pray for Your guidance and revelation. We love You. Amen.” 

A few days ago, I was up on the campus of a local university. While I was there, I overheard a conversation between a group of college students. They had all encountered a “street preacher” on their way to class and their experience with that preacher was quite negative. One of them said, “If that guy is this rude, angry and obnoxious, can you imagine what his God must be like?” 

I was heartbroken, and I had to say something to them. I pulled up a chair and said, “Hi. You don’t know me but my name is Grant. I heard about your experience with the guy who is yelling, saying that everyone is a worthless sinner. I want to say that I am deeply sorry for your experience. You see, that man does not represent the Jesus that I know. I was wondering if you would let me share a little about the Jesus who saved my life?” 

They all got quiet as I shared my story. I shared about ALL the miraculous things Jesus has done for me, not what I have done for Him. 

Did they all give their hearts to Jesus that day? No. But they heard about the Jesus that I know, and I pray that God will continue to work in their hearts. I have deep confidence that He will!

As I close this week with you, I want to say that it is an honor to spend time together. I pray that our love for Jesus will continue to grow because of who HE is, which is our God and our friend! 

Colossians 1: 15-23 says: 

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.” (NIV) 

Stand firm and never let go of the Jesus WE know! 

You are a miracle!