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What must it have been like for the disciples during the forty days that Jesus walked on earth between His Resurrection and His Ascension into the heavens?
Imagine the emotional rollercoaster these men and women rode during that approximate six week period. Just when things seem to be coming together, Jesus announces that He’s going to Jerusalem and that He’ll be put to death. That alone must have caused quite a stir. How could that happen? He was riding this huge wave of popularity and taking His followers with Him.
Still, true to His word, within one week His closest friends go from accompanying a future King down the streets of Jerusalem, to the cheers of the crowds along the street, to watching Him die a horrific death on the cross. Some stood and watched from a distance. Others boldly stood at the foot of the cross and watched him breathe his last.
Then, just three days later, as they mourned in hiding for fear of their lives, He reappears to them! They can touch Him, eat with him and ask him all those questions they had neglected to ask while he was on earth. I would imagine that every word that Jesus spoke was treasured more than ever before. Questions that had been in the back of their minds were asked. Clarifications sought. This time, they would listen to every word that came from His mouth. He would not be taken for granted.
Luke relates the story of Jesus’ last words in Acts 1:1-11. It was time for Him to leave. This time, He would be gone for a long time. The success or failure of His Church rested on those around Him. During His earthly ministry he taught them along the road side, demonstrated the love of His Father to the prostitutes and healed the hopelessly sick. Now, His attention turned to His faithful followers. To borrow from the sports world, it was GAME TIME! Once the ball is tipped off or kicked, or that first pitch is thrown, learning new skills is over. Now, the effective coach reminds his charges of the things learned in drills and practice.
In the same way, Jesus reminds them of all He had taught them about life’s struggles and about their relationship with the Father, built on His sacrifice and empowered by His Holy Spirit. Now, they gather on a hillside outside Jerusalem. It is here that Jesus gives His final words of blessing before being taken up. As the disciples watched Him grow smaller and smaller as He rose heavenward, two angels appear to them. Their words motivate me. To paraphrase, they ask those gathered, why are you standing here? What do you hope to see? Are you gazing and thinking of the past or contemplating the future? Go back to Jerusalem and wait.
There’s a sense of urgency in this passage that each of us needs to consider. It’s time we stop being bound by our past. It’s time we stop speculating about the future. The past is forgiven under the cross. The future is God’s hands. It is, now, time for each of us to get in the game. It’s time to do Kingdom work under the power of the Holy Spirit.
Excerpt from “Ready, Set, Grow!”
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17 NIV
It seems everyone in the world knows John 3:16. What a great promise. God loved the world. He sent us His Son. Through belief in him we have eternal life. Great stuff! I wonder how many people have noticed an even greater truth that lies in Jesus’ next statement.
Before you spend too much time thinking about 3:17, place yourself in the mind of the woman caught in adultery (John 9). You are drug through the streets of the city. You are guilty of adultery and soon everyone will know it. What’s worse, in a matter of minute’s rocks and stones will shower down on you. There will be no place to hide. No chance to defend yourself. You’d manage, you think, to deflect the first few. But it would be a losing battle.
You kneel before the feet of a great teacher. You are surrounded by your accusers. Hope is gone. You decide your best defense is no defense at all. You kneel and cover your head with your hands. Perhaps your hands will at least deflect some of the pain for a time. You brace yourself for the first stone and wait. But it doesn’t come. Imagine the agony and the knot in your stomach.
“Woman, where are your accusers?” A gentle voice breaks the silent anguish that grips your very soul. Cautiously, you look up and to your shock, you are alone with the teacher. Gathering your thoughts, you speak.
“There are none, sir.” You pause to let that sink in. “Th-there is no one here.”
“Then, neither do I condemn you. Go, and leave the life of sin you are living.”
I don’t think any of us can fully grasp the relief the woman felt that day. Death was literally moments away. The stones were in hand. The verdict was in. The law and sentence were clear. Yet, at the last possible moment, the pardon rang loud and clear. NO CONDEMNATION!
All of us find ourselves, at some point, where the woman found herself that day. We become grossly aware of our weaknesses and failings. We suffer the pain of the consequences that our poor choices bring to fruition.
Three times in the book of John alone, Jesus references His mission on earth in relation to condemnation. In John 3:17 Jesus tells us that he came to bring life. He didn’t come to condemn us. He didn’t come to burden us with the law. He came to release us, to free us, to deliver us from condemnation. He came to bring us life!
In John 9 He demonstrates that principle in the account of the woman caught in adultery. Later, in John 12:47-48, in some of Jesus’ last teachings on earth He repeats the fact that he did not come to judge those who rejected him. They would be condemned for that rejection, for sure, but it would be their own words that would condemn them and they would be judged by another [Father God] for their actions.
Condemnation will come to those who reject Jesus. Romans 3:23, and other passages speak clearly to the fact that we, as mankind fall far short of God’s standard. Romans 6:23 teaches that our sin nature will lead us to death without a Savior.
But Romans 6 & 7 teach us something else about condemnation In this section of Paul’s letter to the Roman church, he reveals his own inner struggle with sin. The things he desires to do, he fails to do. The things he attempts to avoid, he finds himself doing. What truth does this ‘wretched man’ find in his struggle?
Romans 8:1 gives us the answer. ‘There is therefore, NO CONDEMNATION to those who are in Christ Jesus.’ There are many out there that will be willing to point out our faults, question our motives, and mock our sincere intentions.
There will be times we fail miserably, and deliberately and we condemn ourselves. It is in those darkest moments, when we realize our guilt and huddle in a fetal position before the Lord, waiting for the rocks to fall, His gentle, soft voice beckons us: ‘Neither do I condemn thee. Go, and sin no more.’
(excerpt from ‘Living GRACE-fully with Sin’)
Any of us involved in ministry and/or public speaking are well aware that no matter how well prepared we are for ‘ministry’, God can have other plans. Sometimes those plans remind us that it really isn’t about us, or our material. It’s about people and relationships.
I had the privilege of ministering at LIFE 24/7 again on Saturday night. Shortly into the service I became aware that the real ministry that night was not going to be the material prepared by Mike Fisk. The real ministry was going to be done by the Holy Spirit of God working through a bunch of ex-cons trying to make a new start in life.
LIFE 24/7, formerly Discipleship House, is a recovery home for men who are overcoming a variety of addictions and either just coming out of prison or landed at LIFE 24/7 instead of going to prison. Either way, these are guys who know the rough side of life and are all about second chances.
I recently listened to the testimonies of a few of these guys and was amazed at the stories of broken relationships, violence and dysfunctional families these guys had come from. These are guys that are living proof that Jesus Christ changes lives and that second chances are a normal part of his working in men.
Tonight’s service was led by Dillon. Dillon has a passion for Jesus and a desire to learn everything he can about the Bible, the Christian faith and how to help others change their lives. He has a passion for God and compassion for people. This was his first time leading the service. He was the fledgling Pastor Randy chose to be pushed out of his comfort zone and into the limelight. He handled it well and I now refer to him as ‘Pastor Dillon’. While he isn’t real comfortable in the position, he has something every minister needs to have in order to be effective. Dillon has passion, and passion beats technique every time.
After our time of Praise and Worship, and before I was to speak on how each of us can live ‘Grace-fully in God’s Silence’, Dillon asked Adah to come forward. He’d told me this was going to happen earlier, so I was expecting it. Adah was going to leave her position of ‘house mom’ at LIFE 24/7. What Dillon didn’t tell me (and he couldn’t know) was how emotional the ‘good byes’ would be.
One by one, each of the eleven guys thanked Adah for being the inspiration all of them needed to believe in themselves. For one man, Adah was the ‘mom I never had’. Another shared that his grandmother had died recently, and Adah was his ‘adopted’ grandma. Still another said thank you to Adah for ‘saving his nephew’s life’. I watched these guys say thank you one by one and there wasn’t a one of them that had a dry eye.
It was a stirring reminder that the real change in lives comes from the people in the background, doing the mundane things in life. We speakers/teachers/ pastors get the ‘upfront’ attention, but life change comes after the curtain falls.
So there I was all ready to speak about how God can seem silent and far away. But before I could get up to share that message, we’d all heard our Heavenly Father loud and clear, and through the life of his faithful servant, Adah, we’d seen His face.
Thanks to the guys of LIFE 24/7 and Adah for your ministry to me on Saturday night. I can’t wait to join with you once again!
It’s a bit of a cliche’ I know, but life is a journey. The advantage to most journey’s we take is that we have a destination and a map to guide us. Life isn’t like that. You get up in the morning with a plan and when you come to bed later that night you look back and realize you have no idea how you got where you did.
I think often of the ‘great men of faith’ like Abraham, Moses and David. Great men that accomplished mighty things. Yet a close look at thier lives show a series of potholes, wrong turns and detours before they finally reached thier destination. One of my favorite authors, Philip Yancey, taught me (through his books) to read between the lines of the Bible to catch the true story. Feel the emotion of failure, the thrill of victory, the agonizing struggle of confusion that our ‘Biblical Heroes’ felt.
That’s what Grace is about. It’s about the journey. It’s about falling down, picking yourself off, brushing off the cinders and moving on. It’s about arriving at the destination better than you were when you left, but bruised, battered and thankful just to be alive.
The struggle comes when we fall and just lay on the path, or drag ourselves into the bushes to lick our wounds. Fatique, failure and fear set in. Why did I try? I fell again today. I fell three times yesterday and those wounds haven’t healed yet. I’m done. I can’t get up. And if I do get up, I’ll just lose…again.
‘Built with Grace’ is my story. It’s not a flashy story of how I succeeded at everything I ever tried. It’s a story about learning to live daily with the realization that I may fail, but that failure says nothing about who I am. Another favorite author, John Eldredge, helped me see that God didn’t fall in love with me because I was awesome. He fell in love with me because HE is awesome.
And so, I pick myself up. Excited about the possibilities, fearful of failure and expecting resistance. But I’m moving. I probably won’t finish first, or even place. But I’ll finish. That is what life is about. Finishing well and knowing that I’m not junk. I’m BUILT WITH GRACE.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 