(The following is an excerpt from my e-book, From Dust to Destiny.  To download a copy of the book, click here.  Share with others that they too might have and read a copy.)

What do you think about most?  The majority of us have one or two things we most think about.  Once you get to know someone you can often tell what it is for them.  Usually it is different things at different times of people’s lives.  It might be the acquisition of a material possession, or the achievement of a goal, or the hopes of finding true love.

The Lord is my Shepherd

When I was an 11-year old boy it was fish tanks.  You read me correct, fish tanks.  I had a hobby, fish collection.  I started out with a ten-gallon aquarium in my room with a few guppies.  But soon I got so obsessed I mowed some lawns, earned some money, and bought another ten-gallon tank and loaded it with fish.  My parents bought me a fish encyclopedia.  I knew so much about fish.  When I was at school my mind would drift to my fish.  When I mowed lawns for money I would dream of all the new fish I’d buy.  Soon I bought a 29 gallon tank and collected big fish.

A few years later it was bikes.  I started cycling and I had a dream of owning a Schwinn Super Le Tour 12-speed.  It was expensive.  I had to mow a lot of lawns to come up with the money.  I thought about it constantly.  My mind would continually obsess about earning enough cash to acquire my dream.  Eventually I bought the bike.

In college it was a beautiful girl, Stefanie.  I met her at our University Christian Ministry and couldn’t get her off my mind.  I thought about her when I was in class, thought about her at lunch, thought about her morning, noon, and night.  I asked her out.  We hit it off.  We saw a future in each other.  I thought about her when I was with her and even more when we were apart.  I even taped a picture of her on my bedside wall in the dorm, so my last thought would be of her as I drifted to sleep.  She was the driving obsession of my mind.  And I made her my wife.

Let me ask you an important question.  What is the constant driving obsession in the mind of God?  What is it that God thinks about above all other things?  What is the obsession of the Divine?  The answer is found in the mission of Christ.  Jesus said,…

“The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10)        

Through Christ, God is pursuing a humanity that is lost from the hand of God due to sin so that He might rescue us from separation and death redeeming us back to Himself.  God is in hot pursuit of us.  He is the Hound of Heaven seeking to retrieve us from our lost condition and bring us home to him.

Jesus came for you, to save you from your sin, and to bring you home to a relationship with God the Father.  He considers you of inexpressible value, worthy of an all out pursuit.  In the Bible, Jesus speaks of this divine passion for your soul through a parable about a Shepherd and his sheep.

In his story the Shepherd represents the Lord and the sheep represents you and me.  He said, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?”  (Luke 15:4)  Of course he does.  It is in the Shepherd’s nature to value each in his flock.  Even if only one is lost, he goes after it, pursues it until he finds the lamb.  I can imagine that shepherd constantly counting his sheep, making sure none are lost, all are with him.

Years ago I was a Youth Minister in a church.  As a part of the job I was responsible for planning trips and outings.  Sometimes I would take them on retreats or to camp.  Other times we would do things for pure fun, like going to a theme park.  Always I would find myself counting them.  If I had brought 23 kids, everywhere we would go I was continually counting.  One-two-five-ten-19-22, “where is Ben, has anyone seen Ben.”  My obsession was to keep tabs on those kids.  If I brought 23 kids to the event, I was going to bring 23 kids back.  Any other scenario was unacceptable.  There were a few times when I lost a kid.  I would not stop searching until I found that child.

That is the way Jesus is with us.  He comes for us, to bring us spiritually home to God.  Rejoicing always follows when he brings us home.  Jesus said, “And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.  Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’” (Luke 15:5-6)

Christ tells us that all of heaven rejoices in the same way when our Shepherd God redeems us back to the flock of his family.  He says, there is “rejoicing in heaven” (Luke 15:7) over a sinner who repents and is brought home to the grace of God.  Nothing brings joy to the heart of God more than when you are redeemed to the relationship with him you were always meant to have.

Question:  How does the knowledge that God, in Christ, came for you change how you view your life in the day to day?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Years ago I was the pastor of a small town Texas congregation.  In that little community there was a restaurant called “Doc’s.”  They had a strange practice in that place.  They would serve dessert first.  The very first thing the waitress would do would be to place your dessert in front of you.  By the cash register was a small sign, “Eat Dessert First, Life Is So Uncertain.”

Life is Uncertain

Does uncertainty scare you?  It frightens most of us, which can be discouraging considering that life is so uncertain.

We hate that life is uncertain.  We want to feel assured.  We want to have it figured out.  We want to know what to expect.  But life sends us so many surprises.  Some of them are wonderful, some frightful.

I have traveled through life thinking I knew what God was going to do with me for the next several years, only to find that God had an assignment that I never expected to receive.  Five years ago, if you asked me if I would ever want to be a professor at a school, I would have said “no way.”  I was a pastor and that is all I could see for myself.  But then I was invited to serve as an online pastor at Liberty Seminary.  I have since taught hundreds of students while still serving my church as pastor.  What a cool surprise that has increased my opportunities.

But not all surprises are pleasant.  In fact, they can bring you to your knees and call you to deeply question.  Yesterday, I traveled hundreds of miles with my son and a staff member to visit two families in another city.  One family was helping their 5 year old boy fight cancer.  Two and a half months ago, they realized how uncertain life can be when they received that frightening diagnosis.

We also visited a young 18 year old girl who suffered a tragic gunshot wound to the face.  She is a personal friend of our family and a former member of our church.  That family never planned for this.  The trauma they suffer is difficult to comprehend.  They could not have anticipated this.  This is just another example of the uncertainty of life.

So what is the lesson here?  I am leading up to it.  It is this, the only certain thing in this uncertain life is God.

Everything changes in life, nothing is 100% predictable.  But God never changes.  The Scriptures declare…

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

So what am I saying?  I am saying that YOU cannot be certain of any circumstance.  You cannot be certain about your job, your future finances, the opportunities you will or won’t have in the future, your health, the health of those you love, or even if you will live long or short.

There is only one thing that is certain and it is God.  God is the one who can be certain to us in the midst of uncertainty.

Actually, our relationship with God thrusts us into uncertainty.  Oswald Chambers said it well, “To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, we don’t not know what a day may bring forth.”  He goes on to point out that, “We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next.”  After all he loads our lives with so many surprises.

So what does it look like to grow in faith?  Growth comes when I accept that the God who does not change in essence and character will always guide me through this life of uncertainty.  Growth comes when I embrace the fact that God’s adventures cannot be predicted.  Growth comes when I place my trust in God and tell him that I will follow him into every uncertainty of my life.

Question:  Do you find comfort knowing that God is in the midst of your uncertainties?  Tell us why.  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

On this Good Friday I just wanted to say that my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is Amazing!

Amazing Jesus

Why do I say this?  Because he is amazing in all these wonderful ways…

1. Jesus has an amazing purpose.  Jesus birth was amazing, not like our birth.  He is the Son of God, born of a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit of God.  John wrote of his birth saying, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)  He was born with an amazing mission.  We are so impressed with American soldiers who engage in their mission to go into battle and preserve our Nation’s interests and freedoms.  We are so impressed when we hear of doctors and nurses who go to impoverished countries on medical mission to bring healing to the sick and wounded.  But how much more amazing must we find Jesus whose divine mission was to bring lost, sinful humanity back into eternal fellowship with the Holy and Righteous God.
2. Jesus has an amazing power.  He performed amazing miracles.  He fed the hungry, made the blind to see, cleansed the diseased, and set the demon possessed free.  He showed powerful compassion to the sin wreaked, the handicapped, and the outcast.  But most importantly he gave himself to an amazing atoning death.  For God was pleased to…”through him to reconcile to himself all things…by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20)  According to God’s Word, we who were sinful deserved to suffer and die for our sin against a Holy God.  But Jesus, who what sinless, did the amazing.  He died as a substitute for our sin.  He died to pay for the sins of humanity.  Spurgeon said, “My sins were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders, and crowned with thorn those bleeding brows;  my sins cried “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”  and laid the cross upon His gracious shoulders.”  And Jesus displayed his amazing power in the resurrection.  Jesus rose from the dead.  We can never take that lightly.  No one has this power but Christ.  Death could not hold him.  He died for our sins and we know this to be true because there is evidence that he rose again.  Because of this we know he has an amazing power to change our lives.  He rescues us from our past, revolutionizes us in our present, and reserves for us the most glorious and heavenly of futures.
3. Jesus has an amazing proposal.  He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 10:28)  He says, if we will receive him we can have his life.  We can know his salvation.  All we must do is turn from our sin and turn to God.  Then we must trust in Christ for our forgiveness and new life.  And lastly we must tread in obedience to Christ as we commit to walk with him.

The Challenge:  This Easter Weekend, revel in the fact that there is a Savior who has come to you with an amazing purpose, power, and proposal.  If you have not taken him up on his proposal, why not do that this very day.  You will be eternally glad you did.

Question:  In what ways do you see Jesus’ purpose, power, and proposal changing our world?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.

R.G. Lee, in his book Christ Above All, mentions sixteen characteristics claimed by the Savior.  These characteristics help us begin to see the Majesty of the Son of God.

Jesus Christ

So what are these characteristics of this matchless Christ?

1. Pre-existence.  The origin of Jesus does not find its beginning two-thousand years ago.  Jesus always has been.  The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)  And John 1:3 declares, “Through him (Jesus) all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

2. Supernatural Birth.  John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.”  Jesus was and is an uncreated being, the “only begotten Son.”  He was begotten of God and born of a woman.  Lee says of this birth, “Jesus’ birth into our world by virgin womb was a translation at the same time it was an incarnation.  It was a transfer of His person from a previous condition of existence to an earthly one.  It was His being clothed upon with humanity’s nature.” (Lee, 124)

3. Sinlessness.  It would be foolish self-deception for any human being to claim to be without sin.  Yet Jesus, God’s perfect Son, never hit a jarring note, never struck an in-congruent cord.  The Bible says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” (Heb.4:15)  In Jesus we see all moral, ethical, and spiritual excellencies unmarred and untainted by even the weakest shadow of darkness.

4. Omnipotence.  That means he possessed all power and all authority over all things.  The resurrected Lord claimed, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Mt.28:18)  But Jesus did not merely claim such authority, he demonstrated it.

5. Supernatural Mission and Message.  His mission was “to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10)  He came to bring a message of salvation, but more than that, he came to be the message.  Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

6. Supernatural Wisdom.  He had the wisdom which could penetrate the true nature of the human heart.  “But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.  He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” (Jn.2:24-25)  Lee writes, “Jesus knew the end from the beginning.  Jesus knew men’s thoughts afar off.  To Jesus the black midnight was as the brightest noonday.” (Lee, 131)

7. Power to Forgive Sins.  No counselor, psychologist, priest, or preacher can, on his or her own power, forgive the sins that have brought you shame before God.  Only God can forgive the sins that offend his holy nature and Jesus, God’s Son, is God and has such power.

8. Power to Impart Eternal Life.  Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (Jn. 11:25-26)

9. Equality with God.  Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” (Jn. 10:30)  He was equal in essence and in nature.  To see Jesus was to see God in the flesh.  To know Jesus was to know the Father God and to understand the nature of the Spirit of God.

10. Dominion Over Mankind.  Jesus is Lord.  He is the authority and he possesses the right to be singularly worshiped by man.  He has the authority to demand allegiance from us.  He said, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Lk14:33)  Over and over again Jesus comes to people and says, “Follow me!”  He is the head, he is the First and the Last and this King of Kings calls each of us to allegiance, to submit to his loving and life giving authority.

11. Exclusive and Peculiar Knowledge of God.  Jesus said, “All things have been committed to me by my Father.  No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27)

12. Right to Receive Worship.  Jesus accepted the worship of people.  Jesus does not accept flattery, he demands of us worship.  We read in Matthew 2:11-“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.”  The Bible says, “And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him.” (Matthew 8:2, KJV)

13. Omnipresence.  Jesus said that he would be “with you always.” (Matthew 28:20) Christ, being God is present everywhere.  There is nowhere where he is not.

14. Judge of Men.  Paul declared, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.  He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)

15. Lifted on a Cross that He might Lift Us.  Jesus said, “When I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” (John 12:32)  When Jesus was lifted on that cross, our sins were paid for that we might not sink into condemnation for our sin, but rather we might be lifted up in forgiveness and redemption.

16. Make a Personal Return to Earth.  Jesus is coming again.  The Bible declares, “we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:13)

Question:  Can you think of other characteristics of Christ that inspire our worship?  You can leave a comment by clicking here.