The Remedy to Despair

S - "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV

O - The circumstances being faced by this group of the followers of Jesus was real, intense and literally life-threatening.  The remedy to this pressure wasn't found in a change of circumstance to more favorable conditions.  While such a change creates relief, it is a temporary reprieve. Once the situations shifts back to critical there goes the relief.  The remedy is in relying on a person … a person who is working everything for good; a person who is not hindered from anything he intends to do.  Not even death can prevent him.  Jesus lived every day of his life on earth in intentional reliance on his Father.  He wants all to live each day the exact same way. “God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven!” Matthew 5:3

A -  The issue of whom one relies on is directly proportionate to the amount of pressure one experiences in life.  Self-reliance, the very thing the world (secular and religious) promotes as mature and required is the very thing which generates the pressures which rob our bodies of health, our minds of clear thought and our hearts of peace. An intentional shift is required. After three years of being with Jesus every day he would tell them, "Unless you change and become like this little child you will never belong to God's kingdom." I will choose to believe Jesus about earth and not just about heaven (John 3:11-12).  I will learn to live the peace, hope filled life of daily relying on him in and for everything.    

P - Lord,

I admit that you are completely reliable at all times and in all circumstances. I also admit that I've been trained and groomed for self-reliance … the source of crushing, intolerable pressures. I choose to be little, living in intentional reliance on you.

Unto the life that is really life,

Steve

The Making of Spirit Life

S - "Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.”Galatians 5:25-26 MSG

O - Religion sets its focus on theological accuracy while heaven is focused on relational integrity. The first places emphasis on how one speaks while the other on how one lives. Life in the Spirit is not gained or maintained on a comparative basis. It is never about how things look but always about how they are. Jesus says, 'follow me and I will make you…'

A - It's not that accuracy is unimportant it is just not most important. Spirit life is primarily relational not informational. It is not driven by theological conclusions or comparisons but rather led and sustained by a person. “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” John 5:39-40 NIV I'll keep following Jesus and let him do the making unto the life that is really life!

P - Dear and Almighty Father,

Thank you for sending Jesus to clarify your person and your purposes. He is resurrection life. I will follow and welcome his "making" unto all you've intended before the world was. I want to live out loud and grow up into his irrepressible life and love. I do love you back.

Steve

Heaven's Sign of Authority

S - "Not long before the Jewish festival of Passover, Jesus went to Jerusalem. There he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves in the temple. He also saw moneychangers sitting at their tables. So he took some rope and made a whip. Then he chased everyone out of the temple, together with their sheep and cattle. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins. Jesus said to the people who had been selling doves, “Get those doves out of here! Don't make my Father's house a marketplace.” The followers then remembered that the Scriptures say, “My love for your house burns in me like a fire.” The Jews asked Jesus, “What miracle will you work to show us why you have done this?” “Destroy this temple,” Jesus answered, “and in three days I will build it again!” The Jews replied, “It took 46 years to build this temple. What makes you think you can rebuild it in three days?” But Jesus was talking about his body as a temple. And when he was raised from death, his followers remembered what he had told them. Then they believed the Scriptures and the words of Jesus." John 2 TS

O - As recorded above, Jesus will be asked on several occasions to give a proof of his actions and words (cf. Matthew 12:38-41; Luke 11:39-40).  He is always asked this by religious people and most often by religious leaders. His answer is always the same.  He will say it in a couple of different ways but the conclusion, the sign, the miracle he identifies is always the same -- resurrection.  This alone distinguishes Jesus from all others.  Resurrection life is the only life he has.  It did not start after his crucifixion.  Jesus plainly tells the sisters of Lazarus (and us all) that he is the resurrection and life; and then underscored this reality by raising their brother from the dead (cf. John 11).  Why is Jesus above all other teachers, prophets, leaders and humans? Because he is the only one who got up from the dead to die no more.  Resurrection is not only the only sign he gives, it's the only life he gives to any and to all who will follow.     

A - Just like resurrection life wasn't something that "started" after Jesus was crucified, it's not a reality reserved for the next age of human existence. The fullness of resurrection life may be waiting but it's nearness, affects and beauty began with his days on earth and continue to this very day.  From our daily bread to conflicts with demons, resurrection life is ready to be revealed … to us, in us and even through us.  Heaven's authority is a person who is resurrection life.  It's not how religion works but it is how God's Kingdom works.  I accept the person and authority of Jesus.  Whenever my thoughts or conclusions differ from his -- I'll change them and bring my thinking, living, loving and speaking into alignment with him who is life.  Religion taught me that Jesus was amazing 2,000 years ago. Heaven is teaching me that he was amazing 2,000 years ago and is just as amazing today.  

P - You who are the resurrection and the life,

I accept you, your life, authority and leadership day by day.  You lead and I follow.  With your first followers, I will believe your words and the Scriptures … remembering that they testify of you so I will come to you for life.

Yes to you,

Steve