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“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. John 1:46
By today’s standards it was nothing more than a wide spot in the road. It wouldn’t even have merited a “Speed Reduced Ahead” sign. No tourist attractions or antique malls here. Most likely, were you to drive through at night, you wouldn’t even have realized you just drove through a town! That was Nazareth.
It’s no wonder then that Nathanael asked if there were anything good that could come from that place. It was barely a blimp on a GPS! But don’t be too hard on Nathanael. We do the same thing today. We ask, and sometimes not so graciously,
- Can anything good come from him/her? He/she is divorced you know.
- He’s a [insert your least liked political party here] you know. And you know what ‘they’ are like!
- They go to that church down the street. They can’t be good Christians and go there. Everyone knows that.
- Why, he can’t even speak the language. What good can he be?
- Humph. Don’t tell me they are Christians. They are living together you know.
- They teach at that ‘liberal’ school. They can’t be good Christians and teach there? Can they?
- Once an addict, always an addict. You can’t trust them. Can you?
- You know they did [insert the sin you think is most horrific here]. They can’t be used in any spiritual leadership position now. Can they?
And the list goes on and on. You know it does. You’ve heard the lines yourself. Maybe you’ve even said them on occasion. But Jesus has an answer for each question and the answer is yes. Yes the person struggling with sin, tainted by divorce, victims of abuse or addictions, haunted by the past can be used mightily by God. Good can come from anything and anyone if Jesus has come into their lives. He can forgive the ugliest of sins, repair the most damaged heart, and cleanse the dirtiest conscience. All you have to do to answer the questions above is to look at the nail pierced hand and the scar in his side to know that.
Philip didn’t bother to argue with Nathanael. He simply said ‘come and see’. And so it is with each of us. Before we make judgments about if or how or when Jesus can use damaged people we need only come and see! There is nothing we can do in our lives to be disqualified from Jesus’ forgiveness.
PRAYER: Father God, I confess to you that far too often I judge others on external things and not the heart. I label people by race, religion or political persuasion. I question how you can use people who have done such horrific things to others. Then I look at me and realize that it’s only by your grace I am where I am. Forgive me for not accepting others as you do. Empower me to be more patient and accepting of those who are different than me. In Jesus name, Amen.
We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. John 9:31
Imagine how you would feel if the person you loved more than anything else in the world would only say the same lines every day to you. The responses were predictable, rehearsed and said largely in a monotone. Some days there would be NO conversation at all. Some times there would be new words but only if there were some crisis or your cherished one wanted something from you. Would you look forward to spending time talking with that person?
Suppose you caught your child with his hand in the cookie jar. As you reprimand him/her for taking a cookie you get an apology. But as you listen to the apology your child continues to eat the cookie…and take another one! Would you consider his words as sincere?
What if you were sitting talking at a coffee shop with a dear friend who you hadn’t seen in years. You are trying to listen to what your friend has to say but the subject line seems to change without warning. Thoughts are left unfinished and on occasion your friend simply stops talking as though they have run out of things to say. Once or twice you were sure they had even dozed off! To make things worse, you aren’t allowed to even say a word and when you tried you know you weren’t heard!
I’m guessing, in the first instance you would question the reality of the person’s love for you. In the second instance the apology of the cookie-munching thief would be meaningless. The coffee shop talk? Frustrating to say the least.
Now think of those same three scenes and change characters. Imagine that it’s God that is listening to the words of his loved one. It’s you that rehearses your canned conversation on a daily basis. And while you are apologizing for your mistakes (cookie-snatching) you make no effort to change your actions.
Then there is the scene in the coffee shop. Do you think that if God were sitting across the table listening to your chatter he’d come to a point where he’d realize he didn’t need to be there? That you could carry on this conversation without him…or anyone else for that matter?
Take time to listen to your prayers. If God were visible would your pray differently? Would your words have more meaning? Would your worship be more and your requests be less? Would you listen for his response more and complain about your life less?
Meaningful, effective prayer comes when we look at it as conversation and not a one-way discourse. Your heavenly Father is passionate about you. Let that sink in for a moment. He’s a passionate lover who smiles every time he sees you. His heart skips a beat when he hears your voice. His attention hangs on every word from your mouth.
But often our prayers are rote and trite phrases. We forget that even though he wants to hear us, sin can hinder any prayer that isn’t bathed in heart-felt, sincere confession. We don’t give him the time to speak to us.
Spend some time learning to converse with God, not deluge him with dead words. Spend time learning about him, reading his word, listening for his voice. Time spend with your lover is time spent on the eternal. He longs to hear from you.
PRAYER: Father God. I’m convicted as I realize that I’m so often guilty of offering meaningless chatter rather than conversation with you. Help me to pray with the realization that you are in the room beside me, sitting across the table from me, earnestly wanting to hear from me. Forgive me for the sin that keeps us apart. Empower me with your Spirit to grow in relationship with you through conversational prayer. In Jesus name, Amen.
I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. John 13:15 (NLT)
“And Jesus had compassion…”
Those words spring up throughout the ministry of Jesus while he was on earth. He had compassion on the woman caught red-handed in bed with a man she wasn’t married to.
He had compassion on the parent whose child had just died or was very sick.
He had compassion on the rich young ruler who, tried as he might, just couldn’t do what was necessary to receive the gift of eternal life. He just couldn’t let go.
He had compassion on the traitor who sold out to the enemy and, as a result, was a social outcast.
He had compassion on the person so steeped in religion that he couldn’t comprehend the simple steps it took to receive eternal life.
He had compassion on those who were his closest friends and yet were more concerned about their own status than they were their brother.
He had compassion on the guard that beat him nearly to death and then pounded huge spikes into his already pain-filled flesh.
“He had compassion….”
Why did Jesus have compassion on so many people that rejected him, either openly, or unintentionally? What drove him so such lengths to give his very life for the very people who thought they took it from him?
Jesus had compassion because he knew the Father and knew that the Father was, in his very essence, compassion. That is what drove Jesus to reach out to the weak, the frail, the sick and the rebellious. And that’s what drives Jesus to reach out to you. Not a single deserved the touch of Jesus compassion. Not a single person can repay him for what he did. Neither can you.
Jesus says to us, “Follow my example”, and when he does so he is asking…commanding us rather, to show compassion in the same way that he did.
Our reaction to those around us is a reflection of our view of God. If we see a god of revenge we will seek justice rather than mercy. If we see a god of anger we will respond to those who have hurt us in anger. If we see an unforgiving god we will refuse to forgive those who have hurt us. But if we see a God of compassion, we will respond to those around us as Jesus did.
PRAYER: Father, once again I am humbled as I approach your throne today. I confess that it is easy to show compassion to those I don’t know, or those who are like me and who are kind to me. It’s hard to show compassion to the ‘bad people’ around me, yet that is what you would do. Fill me today with the power from your Spirit to show compassion to those who need it the most. Thank you for the example you gave us in Jesus. In his name I pray, Amen.
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. John 5:19
What is God like? Some see him as very old. After all, “In the beginning” was a long time ago! Others focus on the parts of the Bible that tell us about earth quakes and thunder, of anger and wrath, of being distant and demanding. There are those who see God as and angry tyrant or a disinterested bystander.
Some don’t see him at all, really. The whole thing about religion and faith and a ‘god’ you can’t see, or a god that seems distant until you mess up. Then he’s there. Boy is he there. Ready to send a lightning bolt of despair, hardship, sickness or relational destruction with your name on it.
There are those who see God as a jolly old elf in a red suit who knows if you are naughty or nice and when you are sleeping and…no wait. That’s Santa Claus…or is it. Don’t we think that God will send us nice gifts (spelled b-l-e-s-s-i-n-g-s) if we are good and punishment when we are bad?
Knowing what God is like is really quite easy. He’s not old because he’s an eternal being. Get rid of the picture in your mind of some old man. See God as a young, say, 20 something. Ready to take on the world. Excited about the possibilities. Seeing the world and future ahead of him and anxious to see what good can happen.
He’s passionate about love. Excited with life. Sees each day as a new, exciting challenge. God can’t wait to sit down with his friends in a coffee shop to talk about life, love and nothing important. Is more than willing and able to be a shoulder to cry on or to give a hug. God is the kind of person you go to in whatever mood you are in because he’s there for you.
There’s another way to see what God is like. See Jesus. See the passion when he healed the socially outcast leper. See the emotion as he visits the grave of a dear friend. See the compassion as he lifts the prostitute to her feet and tells her she isn’t condemned. See the love as he stands by the widow whose only son just died. See the sympathy as he walks with the worried dad just after he hears that his daughter has died.
That’s God. That’s Jesus. Always there to forgive, to love, to laugh. Passionate. That’s what God is like!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. This morning I’ve seen you in an entirely new way. Thank you for showing me who you are through Jesus. Thank you that you aren’t some stodgy, old, cantankerous coot. I praise you for the passion you have for me. Empower me with your spirit to show that passion in life and towards those around me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1
Imagine David on the hillside. Alone in the wilderness. Nothing but the sound of sheep snoring in the dark and an occasional twig snapping as some unknown visitor scouts the perimeter of his camp.
As the fire dies his attention is drawn straight above him. Around him is darkness, but above him is the splendor of heaven. Millions and millions of stars. Stars that looked like pin holes in black paper to him but were, in reality huge, energy emitting balls of gas billions of miles away!
I can’t help but believe that the time David spent in the wilderness alone was time spent learning about the majesty of God. His courage in fighting Goliath; his patience and grace in running from Saul; his wisdom in leading a nation and his acceptance of God’s discipline in the ‘Bathsheba Affair’ didn’t come from wrestling lions and bears or herding stupid sheep!
David’s character was built spending time in God’s creation communing with him in solitude and worship. It’s appalling to me to realize that one Sunday a year some churches ‘celebrate’ Darwin’s lie about origins. People who claim to believe in the God of the Bible applaud a system of belief (evolution) which discredits what the Bible says about God creating everything we see as well as the unseen world.
David would have been horrified at the thought! He’d say to us, “Look at the heavens! How can you possibly doubt a God who made all this!”
Life can be hard sometimes. Relationships fail us. Sleep evades us. Children/parents disappoint us. The darkness of our sin or the way we are treated by others surrounds us and fills us with fear and despair. When that happens, look up! If God can make the millions of stars in the sky he can handle whatever you are going through.
There is no sin too great that he can’t forgive. No illness to harsh that he can’t heal and/or comfort. No relationship he can’t mend. It was in the darkness that David formed a character that gave him the title of “A man after God’s own heart.” It is in the darkness that each of us must grow our character as well. We don’t develop character in the light of day and the comfort of a palace. We learn character in the darkness of a hillside wilderness.
PRAYER: Holy God. As with David, I ask that my eyes would be drawn to the heavens. Help me to see your power and majesty in the world you have created around me. Empower through your Holy Spirit to have the courage to believe in you as I endure the struggles that lay ahead of me. Just as the heavens declare your majesty, may my character declare your grace and power to love others and live for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 