Blinded by the Light

“Then Jesus told them, “I entered this world to render judgment-to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” John 9:39 NLT

In chapter 9 of the book of John, Jesus heals a man blind from birth. Most of us would acknowledge this as nothing short of a miracle! The Pharisees on the other hand could not acknowledge Jesus because of their own spiritual blindness. They reasoned that since it was the sabbath when Jesus performed this miracle it could not have been from God, because God doesn’t work on the sabbath and forbids anyone else from doing so under penalty of the law given by Moses. Their legalistic view of God and His commands made them miss a miracle!

I tend to read verses like this in disbelief. How could they see Jesus perform such miracles and still not believe!? They could point out no sin, no action, no word spoken, no ill intention in Christ that would warrant a rebuke, much less the death penalty. And yet, they still could not see Him. They were blinded by legalism, pride, and envy.

In the previous chapter, Jesus is presented with a woman caught in the act of adultery. The Pharisees ask Jesus what they should do, since the law of Moses demands she be stoned to death for her infidelity. Jesus reply is simple, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John 8:7). Knowing deep down they had all sinned, they slowly crept away.

As I study the scriptures, I tend to put myself in the position of the one Christ is defending. The woman caught in adultery, the blind beggar, or one of His many disciples mentioned during Jesus earthly ministry. The truth is however, I’m closer to the Pharisees. Too often I stand, rock in hand, ready to fling my judgment on whoever doesn’t measure up to God’s standard. Poised ready to attack all who I deem unworthy to bear the title Christian, simply because they are not following my own code of Christianity. We must be careful that the code we follow is from Christ, not ourselves.

We are all too quick to throw out spiritual rocks at our neighbors, “thou shalt nots” instead of “Christ died for all”. We are called to show the love of Christ, to bring those who are lost in darkness into the light. We are called to be like Christ, to love. We are not called to be legal experts but blind beggars clinging to Christ for our sight, at which when given we proclaim, “I was blind, and now I see!” (John 9:25).

First World Problems

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (Genesis 1:3 ESV)

I just started a bible reading plan that puts the bible in chronological order. One of the things that immediately stood out to me was how verbal God was in Genesis 1 when He was creating the world. He could have just snapped His fingers, clapped His hands, or did a little head nod and POOF! the world is here. But He chose to speak the world into existence. I counted fifteen times where the bible states, “God said,” while He was creating the universe. God spoke and created the world. God spoke and created the sea and land. God spoke and created the creatures of the sea and air. The only thing that God did not speak into existence is man. The bible says that, “the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Gen. 2:7) God almighty breathed life into us. We were created different from the rest of the universe. We were created with purpose, for a purpose. Everything else was created for us, but we were created for God. We were created to know and love God through Christ Jesus.

Our God is a verbal God.

Even after man had sinned against God, He called out to them. Genesis 3:9 says, “But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” God called out to Adam and Eve because they were hiding from Him. They hid because they were afraid. God still calls us today and many of us are hiding. We are hiding from God because we are afraid. Afraid that God will punish us. Afraid that God will reject us because of the things we have done. Afraid because we know that He will do some very radical changes in our lives. In reality, it’s impossible to hide from God. Just like He found Adam and Eve, He will find us. At that point when we are in the presence of God, we have a decision to make, will we submit to His will, confessing our sin and turning to Him for help. Or will we continue to run and try to hide. After many years of running and trying to hide myself, I can tell you that what God wants to do in your life is love you. God is love (1 John 4:8) and God wants to show you what love truly looks like.

Our God is a verbal God and He is calling you today. He calls to us through Jesus Christ and through His word. I once heard someone say that if you want to hear the voice of God, read the bible out loud. I challenge you to start your own bible reading plan. Get to know the God of the universe, God the creator, God the Father. I pray that God would call out to you as He did Adam and Eve and you would answer.

 

CrossFit, vegans, food allergies, and Jesus

I DO CROSSFIT!!! There, I said it. I don’t have to tell anyone again for at least 6 minutes…

There are countless memes and jokes about people who do CrossFit or follow some kind of weird diet plan (I also do keto…..) and how they can’t wait to tell you about it. Comedians joke about people with food allergies bursting with excitement to tell you about how they can’t eat peanuts or have ice cream (I’m also lactose…). Sadly, there are no jokes about Christians who can’t wait to tell you about Jesus.

I want the gravity of this to really set it.

Vegans are known for being more excited about what they can or can’t eat than we are about eternal life. People are more enthusiastic about the exercise program they follow than we are about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even atheists seem more adamant about their faith that there is no God than we are about there being one. Some of us are more eager to tell you about ice cream giving them a tummy ache than the life changing power of Christ. If we truly believe the bible, if we truly believe in Jesus and His resurrection, should this not be the center of everything we are? The center of every conversation, the reason we do anything, our everything.

How is it that we who believe that an almighty God created the universe and us with it in His image, and sent His son, Jesus, to die for us because of our sin so that we could be washed clean and brought back to Him, forgiven, has been outdone by people who can’t have peanuts?

There is power in our testimony. The reason people who do CrossFit or follow certain diet plans have the reputation they do is they are giving a life changing testimony. They tell stories about how whatever they are doing is making their life better. We as Christians are called to do the same, give our testimony. We must tell people about the Good News that is Jesus. We can’t afford to hold back. It’s not just someone’s health that is at stake, it’s their very soul.

“And this is the testimony, that God gave us life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 John 5:11,12 ESV

The life we have is because of Jesus and the cross, his resurrection, mercy and grace. The love of God through Jesus Christ is life.

Lord, give us boldness to speak your Word to those you have placed in our lives. Give us a burning desire to speak your name Jesus. Ignite our hearts for you. Amen.

………..I do CrossFit.

 

Judge not…

“Judge not, that you be not judged.” Matthew 7:1 ESV

 

I have heard the saying, “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” a million times. Usually by non-Christians doing very non-Christian things. I’ve used it myself, before I was a Christian, whenever I would get called out for doing something I shouldn’t be doing. We use this verse to try and justify our actions or condemn those who don’t agree with our actions. If I’m honest, I really struggled with this verse for a while. We have one part of the bible saying to call out people in sin (1 Corinthians 5) and here we have Jesus saying not to judge people. So what do we do?

I think the root of this problem is our understanding of the word “judge.” We associate it with our opinion of someone when Jesus had a completely different idea in mind. We need to think of this type of “judging” as in a court room where a judge has the power to sentence you. Jesus is saying that we have no power or authority to cast judgment on a person in the sense of where they will spend eternity. In that case, yes, only God can judge you. BUT! That is not a pass to overlook sin.

If a brother or sister is caught in sin, we must deal with it. We must deal with it in love and gentleness. In the book of John, a woman is caught in the act of adultery and brought before Jesus for judgment.  She wasn’t rumored to be in adultery, she was CAUGHT in the VERY ACT of adultery. In this moment, the group of “religious” people surrounding her were ready to literally throw stones at her. But what does Jesus say? Jesus says in John 8:7, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jesus knew that we are all guilty and deserving of this punishment. After the crowd leaves, Jesus looks at the woman and says, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She says, “No one, Lord.” Then Jesus looks at her and says, “Neither do I; go and sin no more.” This is beautiful. This is grace. This is love. This is Jesus.

We are all guilty of sin. We are all the woman in this story, caught in the very act of (insert sin here). And just like this woman, Jesus looks at us and says, “I don’t condemn you.” But He also says, “Go, and from now on sin no more.” Jesus doesn’t give her a pass to sin, He gives her a command to repent. To turn from this lifestyle of adultery and live righteously. This same call applies to us as well.

The great thing about our God is that He doesn’t say to clean up our lives then follow Him, no, He says follow me and then we’ll clean this up together. We have a God who truly loves us. A God who is mighty and able. A God who still works everyday miracles in people’s lives. If you are caught in sin, I beg you, repent and turn to Jesus.

Tomb Raider

“And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” Mark 5:9 ESV

 

When Jesus stepped out of His boat in the country of the Gerasenes, He was immediately met by a man that had been living in tombs. A man that the bible says had, “an unclean spirit” (Mark 5:2). This man had been crying out and cutting himself with stones (Mark 5:5). When the demon-possessed man seen Jesus, he fell to his knees and proclaimed Him, “Son of the Most High God”. After a short introduction, Jesus cast the demons out of the man, making him sane again.

While most of us have probably never been demon-possessed, some of us have been outcast. Much like the man living in tombs, some of us have been rejected, ostracized, an maybe even cut ourselves. Some of us live in a “tomb” of loneliness. But we don’t have to stay there. Jesus approaches each one of us with love and kindness. He wants a relationship with us. Jesus didn’t heal this man then give him a list of dos and don’ts. Jesus simply asked the man his name, healed him, and told him to go and tell his friends about all the Lord had done for him. This is what Jesus wants for each of us as well, to step out of our “tomb”, build a relationship with Him, and tell others about His great love.

If you’re reading this and struggling, living in your own personal “tomb,” dealing with things all on your own, I beg you, give Jesus a chance to know you. Allow Him to cast out your demons and heal you. God loves you.

“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:15 ESV