Jesus Is:
The Great I AM;
The Bread of Life;
The Way, the Truth, the Life;
The Resurrection and the Life;
The Lion of Judah;
The Word…. and I can go on!
You know what else Jesus is?
O F F E N S I V E!
Yup! He is and was offensive. He had to be in order to be effective. He had only three years with these disciples to transform them into apostles! He had to be fast! Quick! Swift! Bold! Strategic!
He had a timetable, not theirs.
Excerpt from “The People Factor” by Van Moody states:
Peter, with his fiery temperament probably mixed with horror and devastation at the thought of losing his Lord, reacted immediately. He called Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him, contradicting what Jesus had said by declaring, “Never, Lord! . . . This shall never happen to you!” (Matt. 16: 22). In response, Jesus spoke strong and shocking words to Peter, saying, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (v. 23). How would you like to be addressed the way Jesus spoke to Peter? And would you ever be so bold with a close friend? Jesus was! Even though His relationship with Peter was valuable and important to Him, He prized truth even more than friendship.
See if Jesus were to move by feelings, He would not have gotten anything done. He would not have spoken to His disciples the way that he did. It was offensive. He called Peter the Devil! Wow! That would crush us. But instead it built Peter to be the great apostle that won 3000 souls on his first sermon.
Jesus only had three years with them, He had to be offensive yet effective! Today we are filling ourselves with facts—
Good advice;
Tips;
Tools;
Articles;
Social Media;
More conversations…. making us more subjective to the mind of man rather than the mind of God.
If we were to exchange the time spent on conversations, tips, tools and advice with the Word of God then we too would be as effective as Jesus.
We keep depending on the wrong source. Please don’t misinterpret this.
Sources are great but they are not sovereign.
God’s Word is sovereign, final and the absolute truth over any situation and it should govern our every move.
We may make mistakes yes, but let’s get up quickly to rise above the adversity and diversity of opinions and move forward using the Word of God as our sovereign source of substance.
This will help us make the best decisions, have the best relationships and the best outcome for our lives.
Dear God –may our hearts move toward humility and healing in the most stressful states we could find ourselves in. Move us to Your Word as a guide. May we search it diligently DAY & NIGHT. So we can keep in alignment with Your Kingdom purpose over our lives. Amen.
