Joyous Thirst

Jesus said:  "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Being a leader is a difficult thing to do.  Can you think back at some of the leaders you have had in your life?  What made them so different?  For me, the leaders that I look back to all have one thing in common:  They do for me what I can't, and because of that, they instill a confidence that my holes are filled with their skill and effort.  Great leaders don't tell you how to do something, they show you it can be done.   Jesus in this story is talking with James and John. To put it into context, James and John are asking Jesus if ...

"Remember how He told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  "The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again."-Luke 24:5-7 Today marks the most important day in all of existence.  Today and what happened on this day in regards to the resurrection of Jesus is the most pivotal occurrence from the author of salvation.  Had Jesus not risen from the dead, and on top of that done it on the third day, he would have just been a "good guy."  I hope you understand that it is this pivotal moment that connects all of the dots for our salvation.   I took a week off of writing as I spent some vacation time with my family.  Over the past two weeks I've been really thinking about two things:  What gets in our way from experiencing the fullness of a relationship with Christ, and what is the strength of the confidence I have in Jesus.  First, what is it that gets in the way of us ...

C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity that "Each of us is progressing to one state or the other."  It's a very simple statement, but one that has tremendous depth.  Each and every day you have a choice between good or evil, yourself first or God first, moving towards righteousness or moving away.  Do you rate how good you are based on your decisions to follow the word of God or do you base how good you are based on you being a compliment to the social environment you find yourself in?  This is a very difficult subject for many people, especially "good" people.  I have met many people in my life that do not believe in Jesus, yet they embody and showcase more similarities to Jesus than most of my Christian friends.  So what is the difference?  Why is it that they will unfortunately suffer the unimaginable pain and torture of hell when they have been so good and kind to everyone?  It comes down to this:  Our salvation is not based on performance...

Do Not Worry:  Then Jesus said to His disciples:  "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.  Consider the ravens:  They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them.  And how much more valuable you are than birds!" Luke 12:22-24 Context! Context! Context!  Jesus just said this after sharing with His disciples a story about a rich man that stored up all his extra harvest.  Essentially, Jesus tells that the man in the story is saving up but he is not saved up in terms of his relationship with God. The rich man was worried about his life and his safety, but was not focused on God.  The rich man was concerned about his life, but not His. What is it right now that is keeping you focused on your life here and not your eternal life?  I truly believe that as I read the Gospels the more a...