Take Heart, My Son

Matthew 9:1-8
[1] And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. [2] And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” [3] And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” [4] But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? [5] For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? [6] But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” [7] And he rose and went home. [8] When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men

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I want to start by saying how thankful I am for the grace that God has bestowed to me. I'm not the greatest guy in the world, by any means. I make mistake after mistake, I hurt others, I shame myself and my family with some of the things I've said/done in the past, and worst of all I have moments of deliberate disobedience to my Lord. On top of these things, I am fearful of many things; by my own admitance, subconciously, I sometimes do not believe God can do things better/bigger/faster than I can. I'm not proud of it, and I do not say these things to gain attention or to gain sympathy or empathy, but to share this encouragement that Jesus shares throughout the gospels: "Take heart."

There are a lot of other things that could be said about this passage, but these words of Christ stuck out to me today. This post is not a long one (and was not intended to be), but it is a challenging/encouraging one to me, and prayerfully to others as well.

What is something that is burdening you right now? What is something that is scaring you? What is something you feel guilty for? Is there something that is holding you back from full surrender? Is your faith hurting?
 
"Take heart, my son."

Be A Leper

Matthew 8:1-2

    [1] When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. [2] And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."

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Jesus performed so many miracles, we can barely keep track of who, when, and where they all occurred. Even in John 20, after a recording of so many miracles and signs and wonders, John writes in verse 30 "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;"

So, the question comes, What is so special about this particular sign/miracle? Well, in a sense, absolutely nothing. Other than the fact that it is indeed a miracle, there is nothing extraordinary about this particular healing that Jesus did. My focus is not to be on Jesus' miracle, but rather the words uttered by the man that was stricken with leprosy. According to the National Institute of Health, "Leprosy is an infectious disease that has been known since biblical times. It is characterized by disfiguring skin sores, nerve damage, and progressive debilitation." It's painful, in sight and in feel, and the sores can smell absolutely awful. Cases of leprosy can result in loss of the use of your hands and feet cause by the nerve damage and muscle weakness. Doesn't sound very pleasant, does it? THIS is why I love what the leper says here in the 2nd verse of Matthew 8:
 
"Lord, if you will..."

Picture Christ walking down from a mountain: He's just finished preaching the most famous sermon in history and He's being followed by an enormous amount of people. He's probably tired, physically and spiritually; who knows, He may even be annoyed by how many people are following Him so closely (I'm not assuming anything here, don't worry. Just trying to paint a picture.) and probably giving Him way more attention than He wants at this time of His day. Jesus reaches the bottom of the mountain, and leper stops Him and kneels before Him.
 
[Just as a side note, and to put this in perspective; have you ever been really wiped out, maybe not necessarily from preaching or teaching, but you're just kinda physically and spiritually drained? And then someone comes to you with a legitimate need? It's pretty difficult to want to help them and have the patience to do so. Anyway, back to the story...]

As Jesus stands there, probably tired and worn out, there kneels a leper in front of Him with a genuine need: cleansing. And this is where I want to focus--directly on what the leper says. "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." Notice that there is no direct question. The leper doesn't say, "Lord, please heal me! I hate this crap!" The leper, in my opinion, sort of declares his faith to Jesus right there in that moment; he recognizes Christ as an authority ("Lord,..") and recognizes the power that Jesus possesses ("..if you will..").

How often do we just ask for stuff from God? "God, can I have this? God, can you help me achieve that? God, can you tell so-and-so this?" Is asking God for things wrong? Not at all! Especially when you ask for the right things and you ask in the proper manner. (Hint: Wisdom is a great one to ask for. Look at how God blessed Solomon with wisdom, and look at James 1:5-6. Also see how you're NOT supposed to ask for stuff in James 4:2-3). But, maybe instead of asking for junk all the time, acknowledge God's sovreignty and recognize His will for your life.
 
"...you can make me clean."

I'm sure addressing Him as Lord, the leper had Jesus' attention; the leper knew who Jesus was and recognized it. And the leper finishes his statement (not his question, his declaration): "...you can make me clean." There's the faith. Starting the statement off right by declaring Christ as Lord, recognizing Jesus' will and the exercise of that, the leper knows and states that Jesus can make Him well.

In my opinion, this can be in direct corolation with our prayer lives. See, we got the first part right, I hope, in that we recognize Christ as God and we open our prayers with that. Sometimes, hopefully more often than not, we have the next part right in recognizing God's sovreignty over our lives and that His will is greater than our own and is more purposeful and fulfilling than our own. But, I think sometimes we struggle way too much with this last part, the part that makes this leper stick out to me: Do we really believe God can take care of us? If so, do you pray as such?


Do you always simply ask God if He could, or do you recognize/believe that He can?

I'm not sayin... I'm just sayin.

James 2:14-26
[14] What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? [17] So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
    [18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. [24] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. [25] And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? [26] For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.  

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This passage left me with a question: Is my faith being shown? If so, what does it look like? But, I'll get to that later on...

It's passages like this one that can drop your heart into your stomach, I think. It's all about questioning your faith; but maybe not in the way that we're used to. The passage starts out with the question, "What good is it?" (I was immediately intrigued...) See, we all have faith. We tell our family and friends we have faith. We tell strangers we have faith by wearing corny T-shirts or having the ICTHUS fish on the back of our cars. Now those things are well and good, but we go back to the previous question... "What good is it?"

It's all about action. James plays out a short scenario in vs. 15-16: someone is poor, they explain to us that they need clothing and they need food. So, we say something encouraging or uplifting like, "Just give the situation to God," or "God will provide," or we quote a verse from the Scriptures out of context. Encouraging words, advice, and verses from Scripture are great, but this person needs food! They need clothing! Words don't mean a terrible amount to someone who isn't sure where their next meal is coming from, especially when you have the means to help them.

Faith is a beautiful thing, but verse 19 explains that even the demons believe in God; and they're scared of Him! So you tell others, "I believe in God!" Well, that's great, but if demons believe in God too, where do you stand? Abraham knew where he stood. A man who was asked to give up his only son, a son that was a miracle of God. But, Abraham knew God had promised that Abraham would father many nations, and without children, that's not possible. So Abraham had faith, and he acted on it. As did Rahab. A prostitute who helped hide some messengers of God and helped them escape possible captivity and potential persecution. These were just two that James used as examples, but they are prime examples of individuals who were justified by their faith being put into action. Faith really is a beautiful thing... when you put it into action.

So, is your faith being shown? Other than hearing about your faith, do people SEE it and/or EXPERIENCE it? And if it is seen, is your faith genuine? Does it bless the heart of God?

Awesome.

It's the end of the day, and I haven't written a blog in a while, and in this moment I have just been overwhelmed by God's goodness. Today started off pretty good; a bunch of us headed to Panther Falls just to enjoy fellowship between brothers and sisters. A twisted turn of events, and my day kinda went downhill; nothing too serious or anything, just got a little bummed out by some stuff.

As a side-note/rhetorical question, do we ever catch ourselves basking in awesome "God-moments" only during the good times? It's crazy sometimes if we would just sit back, pray, and meditate on the lesson's that God teaches us, or the blessings in disguise that He can show us when we're going through junk. Had one of those moments today; quite an eye-opener.

Anyway, to continue the story and get to the point, a friend from back home is in town, so he and myself and two other friends went out to dinner tonight, and it was just good fun. Leave there and go to Wal-Mart and simply hang out and get a few things. The next thing I know, I'm in line for a ticket to a movie with a bunch of my friends. Recently, I just haven't been a big fan of spending money, even if it was only $3.50, and I just wasn't really looking forward to having to fork over the cash. Of course, I did; and I'm very glad I did because the movie was awesome. After the movie, and this is where the story starts getting good, a handful of us go and play volleyball. And as weird as it sounds, it was wholesome. You're thinking, "It's just volleyball."

To that I reply, "Yes, it was just volleyball; but it's not about what we did, but who we were with." We were just all together in community and fellowship with each other. Late on a Saturday night, 11 people, all brothers and sisters, just having a good time.

Now, I know, it sounds weird; why am I so excited about this? But after my day had turned bad this afternoon because of some really random and some disheartening things, God just showed up and said, "Child, look at just one of the many blessings I've given you at this moment in your life."

This entire day, I will describe as full of RAW moments. I had a Dwayne Carson moment and created an acrostic from the word 'raw'; Real, Authentic Worship. Corny, I know, but it works.

So, here's my challenge for all of us: Keep your eye/heart open to some RAW moments that come randomly into your life. Whether it's during a little trial or something--maybe God is trying to show you something, give a blessing in disguise; or during times when life is just awesome--maybe God is revealing just one, of many, small ways that He is blessing your life.

In Regards to Comparison...

This is a fairly difficult subject to talk about; well, for me it is, anyway.

Comparison is one of Satan's greatest tools, I think.  Is it because we have too much pride? Is it because this life that we live as Believer's is a competition? Is it because we are all too competitive?

My answer to those questions would have to be, "Yes and no." (I'll get to the 'yes' part farther down.)You see, when we compare ourselves to others, particularly when it comes to ministry, we become blinded to what our focus should be.
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Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
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I heard this example used by an evangelist by the name of Ed Newton; hopefully it fits with the point I'm trying to make:

When you're at the beach, you sort of set up camp in a particular spot, especially when you're with a bunch of people. You lay all our stuff down; shirt, flipflops, sun glasses, cooler, towel, maybe an umbrella. So you set up camp, and while you're out in the ocean swimming, boogie boarding, surfing, etc., if you're not paying attention, minutes and minutes can go by and you glance toward the shore looking for that place where you put all your stuff and you can't find it; you don't know where you are or how far you've drifted; the current just grabbed you and took you away, sometimes without you even noticing. And by the time you realized you had drifted away from where you should be, you're wondering, "How did I get here?"

Do you see where I'm going with this? That may be a ridiculous example for this, but there's a lot of truth in that. When we begin to compare ourselves to others, we lose focus; we get distracted by trying to keep up, or out-do the next person, instead of rejoicing in what they are doing and being thankful for how God is working. We'll forget about focusing on the true, noble, pure, lovely, and admirable things and we'll end up letting our hearts drift and drift until we're awakened to the fact that we've lost a hold on what was important.

As I am typing this, I am struggling with comparing myself to another Brother in Christ. (Here comes the 'yes' part to that earlier answer.) It's difficult not to compare ourselves to others when they are doing well and seem to be so much stronger than we are. Why? No, the Christian life is not a competition amongst other Believer's. It comes down to pride, and Satan wants to use that to discourage us and get our focus off. Not one of us can say that we haven't compared ourselves to others, especially within the Church. We want to be the stronger one, we want to be the one with the best ideas, we want to be the one that people talk about and say, "Oh, they're so wise." And when we start comparing our life to others, problems start occurring. Pride has essentially taken over because we want to be better, and sometimes feel that we should be better, than others.

Understand this; letting comparison take over your mind can cause division between you and a fellow brother or sister in Christ, and when that happens, our hearts start taking on damage.

Just something for us to think about. It is just something I struggle with and I just wanted to share that with anyone who decides to read this. I pray that no one struggles with this like I do. And I sincerely pray that we can all join together in community to glorify God in everything we do; focusing and meditating on the truth that Paul has written in Philippians 4:8.


Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

The sweet beginnings to bitter-sweet endings

I wish I would've started doing this whole blog thing months ago--when I started the internship at Nags Head Church, in particular. It has been an incredible summer; so much learning and so much growth. I've developed relationships with people here on the coast of North Carolina that I'll never forget.

It's kinda funny, never did I think I would be living and working in such an awesome place with such great people; people who are a great example of what the church is all about. For those that are reading this, please don't read this and think, "Well this guy is just full of himself, ain't he? He just keeps talking about himself and the things he's done." Please understand that I'm setting up the thought for this blog...

I've had countless conversations with men who are heroes of the faith to me; some of these include my father and my "uncle" Billy. Different situations we experience throughout the day just spark good, wholesome conversation about past, present, and future. Some of the greatest conversations I have ever had the privilege of being a part of were between my Dad, "uncle" Billy, and myself. This past week marked my family's vacation, and whenever we are altogether life is just good. But, anyway, multiple times the topic of my time as an intern coming to an end came up, or the topic of my summer being almost over, or the topic of being done with school in a couple of years; I really got to thinking about all the "endings" coming up in my life... and it scared me.

Let's think about this: how many "endings" are coming up in your life within the next week? month? year? few years? It's kinda scary right? Our routine is going to be gone. Everything you knew, or thought you knew anyway, is going to be completely changed. High school? done. College? done. Summer? done. Camp? done. A job? done.  Your teenage years? done. Whatever it may be, things keep ending for us! Sounds pretty negative, right? Kinda depressing? Maybe scary? But, why on earth are endings scary? Because with an ending, comes a beginning.

You see, where there is an ending, there is a beginning. Marriage? It's an ending to being single, and a beginning to a (hopefully) life-long partnership. Having children? Ending to being just a couple or being childless, and a beginning to dedication to raising children (hopefully in fear and admonition of God). High school? Ending of high school, and the beginning of college or a career. The list is ridiculously long.

So, i refer back to my mentioning of the conversations I've had with my father and others. Yes, the ending to my internship is here. Yes, the ending to my summer is here. But beyond that, there are beginnings that are waiting for me. New found knowledge i gained from some very wise people this summer that I will carry with me into my future ministry endeavors, beginning to a new school year in new classes and in new leadership positions on my dorm, and even some decisions and commitments in my spiritual life. Sure it makes me a little nervous, because these things bring new challenges, new responsibilities, and even potential frustrations, but it's all part of God making me into the man He wants me to become.

The purpose of this post is to get us to think; think about some things that we may need to do away with in our life. What kind of things do you need to put an end to? What are some beginnings you can start preparing for right now?