Celebration to Condemnation: our sin

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" (John 12:12, 13 ESV)

They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."
(John 19:15 ESV)

We often think we can be good enough on our own, that we can pick and choose our own way, our own gods and our own righteousness. We argue that we are pretty good, at least better than some. And the real issue that will lead to death if we don't repent is that we think we are righteous and will be saved on our own.

To suggest that we are good enough is to make the cross unnecessary and to reject the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

If we reject Christ and his sacrifice believing we are good enough then we make ourselves Gods. Yet as we examine our own hearts we will find only sin and death. For the very ones who celebrated as Jesus entered Jerusalem singing Hosanna then either stood by quietly or cried out to crucify him days later. The apostles all either betrayed or deserted their teacher and the one they had come to know as Messiah. For there is not one human who is righteous and will live by our own good works. We are all sinners in need of saving.

I pray I would remember the reality of sins hold on me and the wrath of God bringing death I fully deserve without Christ. But in Christ there is no condemnation. I am righteous by Christ's works and not by my own. Keep me humble and dependent on the cross for my righteousness and salvation!
Lord I pray you would convict hearts and turn them to you this Easter season. I pray they would not come in once a year and believe that a few words and hours can lead to true repentance. I pray they would taste your goodness and the hope of life with you and they would realize how desperately empty and dry and insufficient their words are. I pray you would bid them come and die. I pray they would die to themselves daily and take up the cross you give them. I pray for real discipleship. I pray for them not to condemn but that they might have true life, for they think they have it and so blind themselves to the death they are due like me and like all people. I pray for their repentance and for new life by he Spirit. Like the parable of the four soils I pray you would not take them from the world but that you would protect them from the evil one and their own deceitful hearts. I pray that they would bear much fruit 30 to 60 times what was sown.

Lord humble me to not feel superior but to know that of my nature and will power I am and I was a Chreaster like them. You are the one who redeemed me and brought me home not because of anything I had done but because of your love. And you have the same love for all people desiring that they would repent and would come home to you by the way of the Cross through faith lived out in action.

Come Holy Spirit and do a new work this Easter week.
Amen

Joshua calling- God promises so be courageous

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:1-9 ESV)

Moses the great leader and teacher is dead and yet they have not entered the promised land. God promises to be with Joshua as he leads his people Israel to finally inherit the promised land. Yet it will mean war and risk which they can only survive by depending on God.

To inherit the promises God gave us we must risk our very life and depend completely on God. We must be courageous and step into the unknown and uncertain.

God in this season of stepping into full time staff for InterVarsity, a new relationship and particularly this week as I dive back into fundraising please give me courage and help me to act to inherit your promises.
Thank you for everything.
Amen

Philippians 2 Serve as Jesus did

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
(Philippians 2:1-4 ESV)

Do all of this not by our own strength but rather by the Spirit inside of us and by the example Jesus whose Spirit lives in us and by whole we have new life.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 2:5 ESV)

Because Jesus set this example:

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

(Philippians 2:6-8 ESV)

And so if we find anything of value in Christ and what he did for us then Paul begs of us to respond not in professed words that do not change our heart or actions. Instead Paul begs of us a changed heart and actions like Jesus that love and serve out of humility. For the example of humility by Jesus is beyond compare.

And yet the humility of Christ is the pride of God in heaven:

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)

For the greatest in the kingdom of God is the one who is servant to all.

God I beg for you to break my pride and demanding heart. Crush my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36) a heart of love like Jesus. Humble me. Teach me. Use me. And let me hope only in the joy of your presence.
As the Asian American Church gives us the gift of this aspect of God:
My friend and bible study Coleader shared with me from his Chinese church youth pastor:
We should always ask:
how may I serve?
Remembering that the work of God is fulfilling and joyful and that after our labor we may dwell in the house of The Lord forever serving at his side in his city at peace.
Amen

Psalm 27 Hope only in one thing: to be with God

One thing have I asked of the Lord,

that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;

be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, "Seek my face."

My heart says to you,

"Your face, Lord, do I seek."

For my father and my mother have forsaken me,

but the Lord will take me in.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living!

Wait for the Lord;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!
(Psalm 27:4, 7, 8, 10, 13, 14 ESV)

In my walk with The Lord I have come to believe I can only place my hope in one thing: to be with God. This is his promise to us. To put my hope eternally in anything else is death. For my hope is not in marriage or success or happiness. My hope is not in this life. My hope is not even in eternal joy and peace in heaven itself. Our hope as followers of Jesus Christ is that we may dwell in the house of The Lord forever and that we can experience a taste of that life with God here and now in the land of the living. But all things are cloudy and imperfect here. But in heaven all things will be made new and right. I will fully be in relationship with God my father and Jesus my savior!

Marriage is not lasting,
Family is not lasting,
Sexuality is not lasting,
Wealth is not lasting,
Success is not lasting,
Knowledge is not lasting,
Comfort and pleasure is not lasting,

But the Word of The Lord and his promises to us will never pass away.

As David trusted and waited on The Lord knowing the promises God had for him so now I want to hope and trust in God. Please God help me to hope in you and your presence and wait patiently.
Amen

Psalm 23 Hope in The Lord alone

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
(Psalm 23:1-6 ESV)

Often we hope in the provision of God instead of being content in The Lord alone.

This psalm reminds me to . . .
Be content walking this life with Jesus my Lord alone.
Grateful for others in my life but dependent on my Lord alone and content in him alone. I want to be fully satisfied in him not in my circumstances which are not in my control.

Also I want to remember that even in the worst of situations The Lord is with me and protects me. He does not keep me from dangerous situations always but he protects me for his purposes in this life and eternally. For my hope is not in long life or the good life but in heaven.

My hope and my prayer is to dwell in the house of The Lord my God forever which I am confident of because of the work of my Lord and Savior as confirmed to me in the Word of God and by the Holy Spirit of God.
Amen

The suffering of Christ becomes Victory!

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

"He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;

let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"

I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax;

it is melted within my breast;

my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

I can count all my bones—

they stare and gloat over me;

they divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots. (Psalm 22:1, 2, 8, 14-18 ESV)

All of this Christ willingly went to
Not complaining
Not retaliating

But instead praying for those who did this that our Father would forgive them for they know not what they do

All of this
While saving the sinner being crucified at Jesus side as he repents and turns to Jesus for salvation.

Yet even in this same psalm is the promise of the current and future victory of Christ!

All the ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

shall worship before you.

For kingship belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not keep himself alive.

Posterity shall serve him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;

they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,

that he has done it.
(Psalm 22:27-31 ESV)

Our God is amazing to humble himself to suffering and humiliation and death on a cross for us. Yet Christ will also reign victorious!
Hallelujah!
Amen

What do we trust in?

May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests. Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm. Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call!
(Psalm 20:4-9 NIV)

Some trust in this or that
But we trust in the name of The Lord our God.

That is what I say, but I think this is an important test of our faith. Do I trust in God or in relationships for value? Do I trust in God saying I am faithful or in the number of students in my ministry for success and worth? For we in the church and ministry are just as tempted by the success the world seeks after for identity. We may count people instead of money but neither are really in our control.

I remember the prophets of old who had incredibly hard and yet faithful lives and ministry. Yet not one turned to God from Jeremiah's ministry. He failed in the eyes of the world and yet I believe with all my heart that God looked at Jeremiah in his death and said well done good and faithful servant. He was faithful to God and what God had called him to, he could only work with the circumstances God have him.

God I pray that I would trust in you alone and be faithful to whatever circumstances and in whatever circumstances you give me. But I will fail by my strength so Lord fill me with your love and strength and wisdom,
Amen