Jesus Heals an Official's Son (and my anxiety problem)

"When the man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death." John 4:47

The official in this story had to walk about a days journey to Cana from Capernaum to bring his problem to Jesus. Imagine the father wringing his hands and pacing back and forth for days while all attempts to bring his son out of the illness fall short. Now his son is at the point of death and he had no confidence that his son would last while he went to Jesus. He had to leave and possibly not be there for his son's final breath. Why did he leave? Because he knew that pacing back and forth and worrying wasn't really helping. No solution was actually being effected by the worrying father hovering over the doctor's (or medicine man's) shoulder as they checked on the boy. He left so he could bring Jesus into the situation. He left to call on the sympathetic High Priest to come and remedy the whole situation.

Oh, what a lesson there is for us here! I often quite literally pace in my room worrying about my future (my son). Will I graduate? Will I get a job?--and for the sake of this page loading faster I won't make the list any longer but trust me the list is long. So what do we do? We realize that we aren't helping the situation and go get Jesus! Friends do you feel the weight of anxiety and worry to the point where you can't even think straight and you say, "I need to get out of the house!"? Heed that inward call to get out of the house but make sure you go find Jesus while you're at it. Leave the whole ordeal which is out of your control anyways and go get your Lord. Go talk to Him and ask Him to fix it. Quite often the thing making us worry is the moment by moment realization that these things have never been and will never be in our control. So leave them. Leave them and go as far as you have to in order to get through to God. The father in this story was willing to take a one day walk while his son was dying. Are we willing to take and entire day and devote the matter to prayer? Physical location has never been the issue. Jesus healed the son from 30 miles away. Heart location is the issue. Bring your anxious heart out of the problem and pry its grip away for a moment and give it to Christ. I trust that you will find Jesus quite willing to deal with the issue and rebuke your unbelief much like he did the official. But upon returning home you will find it was exactly what your heart needed to hear. Friends, leave your house of worry and go find Christ in the secret place because only he can heal your son.

God is Light

For those of you who might be saying "I don't know if I'm ready for an hour commitment," just listen for the first ten minutes and I'm not sure you'll be able to stop. This truth is so mysterious and glorious!

Divine Appointments

 

At  Bible study last week we went over the beginning of the story of Jesus and the woman at the well and something that stuck out to me was what a genuine encounter it was. Christ was not in the act of "evangelizing" but was out in public trying to get dinner plans worked out when he met this woman. It was what people call a "divine appointment". In my own words a divine appointment is one of those encounters with other people that are special in the realm of spiritual opportunity. This of course can and does happen in outreach ministry but it is in no way limited only to evangelistic endeavors.
Maybe the person you gave a tract to was just wrestling with whether or not Jesus is God and here you give them just what they needed to read. Maybe the person you're sitting next to was feeling like they need to start reading their Bible and you spark up a conversation about the Bible. These are the dream appointments that I fantasize about while I am sitting next to someone and I feel like I should share something with them. In the past two days I have had chances to share and I feel like reflecting about them. No need to worry that I'm boasting here--as you read my examples you'll be put to ease.

Case #1

Jase gets done praying to God for genuine and divine opportunities to share the gospel with people. As he is getting ready to leave the park, a girl who he hasn't seen in over  a year pulls into the spot next to him. Jase rolls down his window to and starts talking with the girl a little bit about what she's studying in school (Social Work in case you were wondering) and what he's been up to. He hits that weird part of the conversation and says "Well, I'm going to go buy some shoes...". (Yep! That's right folks "I'm going to go buy some shoes"! It was the truth, I was going to look for some shoes, but come on!) As he drives away he suddenly remembers that he had just prayed to God for that very appointment and he ended it because the conversation reached a lull. I was encouraged that God answered my prayer that quickly and reproved at my lack of discipline to keep the right frame of mind that it takes to share Christ with someone for even 20 minutes. Lesson learned: You must keep your mind and heart ready to share at all times in order to fully take advantage of a divine appointment. They can slip by very quickly and end up as nothing more than cordial encounters if you let them.

Case #2

Jase sits outside on a beautiful day reading his Bible and a girl sits next to him. He continues reading while praying for a chance to share with her. After working up the courage he pulls a New Testament out and says "Can I give you something to read?". She answers "Is this yours?" To which he responds "Yea, but I carry them around to hand out." She is quick on her feet and says "Well... I already have one." Jase, for some unknown reason is totally not expecting this reaction and freezes up. Instead of trying to take the conversation deeper and ask her some questions he says "OK, have a good day!" Kicking himself as he walks away he is thankful for the encounter, but wishes he could have done more. Lesson learned: Don't plan your conversations and interactions too far in advance. I was expecting her to be closed off and just take the book, but there was an even greater opportunity there that I wasn't ready for so I panicked and left.

Take Away

There is nothing wrong with nice and friendly encounters and maybe sometimes there is no opportunity to share about the things of God. Smiling and saying hey is sometimes all we have the time and resources to do. I don't want to come off the wrong way and make it seem like I want to float from one hour long gospel conversation to the next (wouldn't that be nice though!?).

However, these appointments felt different and so I wanted to reflect on them. I am grateful for each of these encounters in the last couple days and encouraged that God would answer prayer so wonderfully. Further, I am comforted by the thought that I cannot save these people and only God can. So in a way my labors are in some manner always going to be ineffectual unless God moves peoples' hearts. That being said, I like talking about Jesus and I want to make my interactions as glorifying and truth filled as He will let them be. I fell short in these two ways this week but am excited for future divine appointments and what God can do.

Shouting For the Glory of God

But Joshua commanded the people, saying, "You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, 'Shout!' Then you shall shout!"
-Joshua 6:10

As I read this account I am reminded of my days in high school as a new believer. Eager to share truth and topple all lofty philosophies set up against God, I would defend the gospel for 200 comment long facebook discussions that went nowhere. Most of the people I was speaking at (intentional word choice) were people who knew me before my conversion and in some manner knew that I was different than before. Much like the city of Jericho, my closest friends were shut up tight. "Now Jericho was shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in." (Joshua 6:1) There was no way that I was going to convince them that Jesus was the Savior of the world, they had their guard up and were ready for an assault and I imagine they were thinking 'Jase got taken easily, but not us!' Zeal soon turned into anger at their unwillingness to budge, and I felt as though I was banging my head against Jericho's walls trying to make it come down. This was never God's plan to take down Jericho.

I have since apologized to most of those people for the argumentative spirit that inhabited my comments. Yet, still I find myself wondering what would have happened if I would have just kept my mouth shut and walked around them a few times. Living out a prayer filled and joy filled life as I walked around their strongholds with the Bible leading me just like the Israelite people were commanded by God.  As filled with mocking and scoffing as it would be to walk around their towers day after day while speaking no words, the goal has never been my own comfort. Maybe God would have given the command at the perfect time for me to open my mouth and the walls would have fallen and the Lord would have taken the city for his glory.

I wish that things would have happened differently and I wish I would have reached out to my family and friends in different ways, but there is no way to change these things now.  A continual walk in front and around the people we love is our God given strategy. But we are always waiting and looking for the power of God to come and give the command to shout!

Typewriters: A Comeback Story!

While I have never used a type writer I feel a romantic pull to buying one. Using the tool that famous writers and minds have created master pieces on could only channel success into my day to day writing for school and work in the future! Of course the above point is not realistic, but that "ding" and the click of the keys as they actually move the letters into place has got to instill some form of confirmation and accomplishment after each line! The following is a video that raises some questions about the future of this system.

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Take a Stand

"And he (Aaron) took a stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked" Numbers 16:48


 We ought to be willing to throw ourselves between the lost and their certain destruction. Aaron could only stop the plague by going out into the thick of the danger and chaos. We can learn from his willingness to risk his own life for the sake of his dying brethren. Bringing the sweet incense of the gospel between the sinner and death is what our hearts should long to do. Whether the motivation be co-workers, friends, or family members let us go out and place ourselves with the gospel right on the front lines.

"And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:15

From the Depths of the Internet

I've gone digging into the depths of the interwebs and have come back with some precious ore for you all. Enjoy.

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Page CXVI (fantastic band that plays different hymns) is giving out all of their albums for free this month! Check them out!
http://www.pagecxvi.com/jubilee

Ever wonder why a lot of your best ideas come from the shower?
http://lifehacker.com/5987858/the-science-behind-creative-ideas

Some sweet, free, Christian wallpapers
http://www.challies.com/resources/free-desktop-wallpaper-calendars-march-2013

Full movie on Charles Spurgeon.  Worth watching!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlvK0EUn6u0

Dennis Ritchie: The Shoulders Steve Jobs Stood On
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2011/10/thedennisritchieeffect/