Did He Really Mean That?

Series: Jesus, You Make Me Nervous

When I listen closely to Jesus I get very uncomfortable. He says, “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.” Last week I suggested to my teenage son to take a “big stick” to a few boys who were making fun of him. That advice wasn’t exactly turning the other cheek? Consider these principles he gives in Matthew 5 and 6. If someone sues you and takes your shirt, give him your coat, love your enemies, pray for those who hurt you, don’t store treasures on earth, and by the way, don’t worry. We hire attorneys to sue for our rights, we plot and rant against those we don’t like, we acquire more and more or try to figure out how to, and we fret. Jesus doesn’t stop there. In Luke 12:33 he tells his followers, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.” He didn’t qualify this command. I just can’t do that, it isn’t practical, and life is different now compared to then. I can’t sell my stuff and give it all away. That isn’t responsible, right? Jesus answers in Matthew 10:39 saying, “Those who try to hold on to their lives will give up true life.” In one of the saddest stories in the Bible (Mark 10), Jesus tells a rich young man to sell everything he has and give the money to the poor. Despite Jesus’ personal invitation to come follow him and the promise of treasure in heaven, the young man goes away sad. Is that me?

This isn’t about a guilt-trip for a works-based religion. Jesus condemns that as he deals with the scribes and Pharisees. Yet, how do I face the reality of what Jesus teaches? Everything he says runs against my norm, and as I measure my life I am confronted on front after front after front. My Christian life has been built around doing, around showing others what I can do, being good, responsible, practical, and doing all the right things. That all sounds too familiar, like one rich young man I’ve read about. Jesus offers no exceptions. He says, “Those who believe in me will have life even if they die” (John 11:25). “Those who do not believe have already been judged guilty, because they have not believed in God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18). Jesus says “believe” or “believed” over 50 times as recorded by John. In the gospels He says I will heal you, I will give you back what was lost, I will make you well, I will take care of you, and I will save you when you believe. Over and over he repeats this message of believing with the result of eternal life.

Do you find yourself wanting to qualify the statement to just believe? I do. I want to add “and do what I am supposed to do, pray, go to church, study my bible, take care of widows and orphans, feed the hungry, etc, etc, etc.” Jesus answers, “The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent” (John 6:29). He is very clear.

I have come to the conclusion that complete, unqualified belief in Jesus Christ is the greatest act of faith. Embedded there is the realization that when I truly believe in Jesus Christ and the One who sent him my life will change. My perspective on what is important, what matters, what is relevant, and what makes a difference is turned upside down. I will enter the narrow door, the kingdom will come to me, and the beginning of eternal life will rest in my soul. In Matthew 14 the disciples have just seen Jesus walking on the water. They are terrified, thinking it was a ghost. Peter calls out and says, “Lord, if it is really you, then command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” “And Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus.” It is an incredible step and a vivid story to show us what will happen when we truly believe. Not too long ago with an event in my life I gave full control to Jesus. I cried out to him in fear, much like the disciples in the boat and just said, “I believe--please help me.” In an amazing, kind, and merciful way he reached out his hand and said, “Come”.

Sootty Elston
Shallowater, Texas

Denying Self

Series: Jesus, You Make Me Nervous

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” That scares me. That makes me nervous. I like all of Jesus’ feel good statements. I love how He welcomes sinners. I love how the Gospels portray Him as ‘seeking and saving the lost.’

But, His demands can be scary. Are you telling me that following Jesus is going to cost me something? Are you saying there is a cost involved in following Jesus?

I like it so much better to be on the receiving end. Isn’t it nicer to think about grace and forgiveness and all that Jesus offers us than to think about THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP? And yet, Jesus’ demands upon us cannot be ignored.

What does it mean to ‘deny myself’? All of us have probably experienced self-denial in some form. Maybe it was dieting. Maybe it was exercise. If you have been on a team, you likely had to experience some self-denial. Jesus tells us that we have to say ‘no’ to ourselves in relationship to some things. Following Jesus means giving up some things. It may be people. It may be activities. When we decide to follow Jesus, we decide that some of the things we choose for our lives change.

I heard a story about two sisters who became Christians. They lived in smaller town and they were definitely ‘party girls’. Their reputations were well known. Not long after becoming Christians, they received an invitation to a party with an RSVP. The sisters knew the kind of party they were being invited to. They returned the invitation’s RSVP with this response. ‘We cannot come because WE ARE DEAD.’ Their lives had changed. They had decided to follow Jesus, and that meant denying themselves pleasures that they had once indulged in.
Do the demands of Jesus make you nervous? As we think about following Jesus, we need to take seriously the ‘cost’ as well as the rewards.

Prayer: Father, thank you for the tremendous price you paid for me. It cost you your most costly asset. Please help us be willing to pay the price of discipleship—to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses and follow you.

Terry Brown

Abilene, Texas

Up and At’em!

Series: Jesus, You Make Me Nervous

I had the privilege (can you call it that?) of going shopping a few days ago. As the checker completed scanning my items she stretched, rubbed her eyes and remarked, "This day will never end." I said, "Tough day...huh?" She said, "No. I'm just so sleepy. I had a really short night!" Have you had one of those days lately that felt like it lasted for an eternity because you were sleepy? I can remember a few times when staying awake proved to be a minute-by-minute battle all day long. Short nights will do that to you!

A few times in the gospels Jesus says simply Be on the alert or stay awake. Two of the more memorable parables are about “staying awake”, the parable of the ten bridesmaids and the parable of the stewards (Matthew 25).

The night of his betrayal and arrest, Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane to prepare his heart for what lay ahead of him. While he was prayerfully fitting his hands around the cup of suffering, he returned to his three closest friends and asked them to “stay awake” and watch for him. He came back after the last period of prayer and found them sleeping. He asked them, “Could you not stay awake for one hour?” Talk about words that pinch your heart!

Each time I read those two parables or watch the three disciples rub their eyes as Jesus drops that anvil of a question into their laps, I’m again reminded that I'm not in a biblical history gallery. Not hardly. Jesus' words come to me as both exhortation and question: Stay awake…Are you awake?

This raises an important question: Is it possible to be asleep spiritually and not know it? I remember driving one night and “drifting off” only to suddenly wake up in the bar ditch with grass and weeds flying every direction. Not fun at all. There is this little threshold between awake and the early stage of sleep that you cross ever so quietly. No fanfare. No sirens. No flashing lights. You just drift off. For a moment you are completely unaware of what has happened to you. Then, your head falls forward and you come very much AWAKE! The same thing can happen to us spiritually. Fact of the matter is we are prone to taking spiritual siestas.

Every time I read about the church at Sardis in Revelation chapter three I feel a bump on my shoulder and a whisper in my ear: “You awake?” Jesus makes this alarming declaration, You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead (Revelation 3:1-2). Then he tells them, Wake up and do the things you did at the beginning. What things? They knew. We probably do, too.

So many things in this life can work on our hearts and minds much like a slow acting sedative. Days become weeks, become months, become years and….one day we can’t hear the alarm anymore. We are spiritually asleep. Perhaps that’s why Paul said, With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18). To the Thessalonians he said, …so then let us not sleep as other do, but let us be alert and sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6).

Have you felt weight on your eyelids lately? Not one of us is immune to it. But, time in the word, prayer and conversation with other “wide-eyed” disciples is what keeps us awake in the Spirit and able to resist the various ways life can anesthetize us spiritually.

Holy Father, help us to keep our spiritual senses sharp and alert to your calling. We don’t want to fall asleep spiritually. Give us the perspective that only your word can give so that we can know the difference between being awake and being asleep. And, thank you for putting people in our lives who nudge and awaken us to the way of blessing. Through Jesus…Amen

Randy Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas

Not You...Not Him...But Me!

Series: Jesus, You Make Me Nervous


On account of a recent and minor moving violation, I had the opportunity to take a defensive driving course. I’m no authority on the matter, but if you ever find yourself in a similar situation and must take the course, I suggest doing it online. It seems to go by more quickly and you can complete the requirements while watching a movie, working on something else, or taking brief, intermittent naps between/during lessons. I say that you can divide your attention because the course is largely common sense and can become a little monotonous about fifteen minutes in. However, I don’t complain about taking the course because it is a nice alternative to paying the full ticket and having the citation linger on your driving record.

Defensive driving aside, perhaps the only truly frustrating part of being issued a ticket for me (and probably many of you), is your otherwise pleasant drive being interrupted to be told that you’re doing something wrong. And whether it’s while driving, at work, at home, in a class, or amongst friends, no one enjoys being blindsided by the realization of an infraction. We typically operate under the assumption that we are doing things right, that we are living under the norms, mores, codes, and laws of our community, culture, and relationships.

But what about our faith? Do we think and feel like we are living our faith properly? Do we have confidence that we are following an invisible deity appropriately? The question of how well we execute the statutes of Christianity and doctrines of the church isn’t what I mean to address, but rather, does God want us to have confidence in ourselves that we are doing it all, largely, right?

I look at the life of Christ and ask myself whom did Jesus make nervous? Those who abandoned their lives, families, careers, and habits are depicted in scripture as having little reservation or hesitation in following the Lamb. Those whose lives were full of shame and guilt, whose social statuses were questionable, and whose previous religious affiliations were negligible are always at peace and serene around Jesus; even the demon possessed. So, whom does Jesus make nervous?

While the human incarnation of God made many people nervous, as well he should, the group I’m going to focus on is the religiously confident, pious, and proud. The group that thought they had it all right. Those full of questions, wonderment, and doubt in themselves (the overtly sinful, poor, socially downcast, children, etc.) were put at ease in the presence of Jesus as if some ancient aching inside them was finally being relieved. Those who supposed themselves full, whole, and pristine were consumed by anger, violence, resentment, and offense. These people were nervous around Jesus because he saw them for who they were just as he saw the leper for who he was. The anxiety from those who were blindsided by their spiritual infractions is palpable; you can taste it in the air. We can’t stand our mistakes being pointed out. And whether written about in the sand or spoken of in the temple, some of the hearts of the people around Jesus were racing at the thought of their name and truth being exposed in front of all those they had judged.

And Jesus makes me nervous because I know I have had ears to hear and have not heard, I have had eyes to see and have been blind. Jesus makes me nervous when I stop wondering how well I live out the gospel, when I’ve got something to hide, and when I think that I don’t. Jesus makes me nervous when I stop remembering that I need him.

Father,
Thank you for the light of your Son that fills the darkness. And Father forgive us for contributing to the darkness. Remind us that you are a mystery and that following you is a matter of faith in you, not confidence in ourselves. May we be relieved in your presence and not nervous. May we cast off the masks that we wear in an attempt to deceive our neighbors, you, and ourselves. Thank you for your Son, the accountability he brings and the grace.
Amen

Chris Palmer
Stephenville, Texas

SAY WHAT?

Series: Jesus, You Make Me Nervous


I have grown up in a society that teaches me to not show my weaknesses nor admit to them, to pick myself up by my bootstraps and soldier on, to be strong, to play through pain, to keep people off-guard and above all else, to be wary of who I trust. Trust has been a difficult issue for me and for many I know.

People, friends even, talk about us behind our back, tell things about us that aren’t true, or worse, are true and we hoped no one would ever know. The people closest to us hurt us, our parents, our children, our spouses and then want us to trust them. Some even expect it, trust to follow the pain they caused. And what about our sin? We can’t go forward at church because people are going to want to know what we did and, if the sin is big enough, may not want to be around us much or will treat us like damaged goods. We can’t tell our spouse because they may realize we have a problem that affects the marriage. We can’t tell our friend because they won’t let us teach class or think of us as a leader in the church. We don’t trust people because we would be so vulnerable.

1 John 1:8-9 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Confess. That takes trust but that makes me nervous, even with Jesus. You see, I’ve sinned so much that I know he’s bound to get tired of forgiving me and I’ve sinned so much that I’ve started to believe that is who I am, a sinner beyond help. On the other hand, I know Jesus knows me and isn’t surprised so I can pray to him, tell him what I did and ask for forgiveness and I’ll be okay. Right? James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” Say what? Tell someone else? TRUST them with my darkest, stinkiest, nastiest secrets?

Jesus wants us to live in trust. Not a cautious, wary trust but a wide-open, bold trust. The trust Jesus has given me is the trust he wants me to give others. Over the last few years, I’ve often wondered what it would be like if Jesus extended trust to me like I have so often extended it to others, the old “fool me once, shame on you but fool me twice and I’ll write you off” type of trust giving. If Jesus uses my old methods, I’m lost...but he doesn’t. Jesus boldly extends trust to me.

There’s a parable that I call the parable of the incredibly loving father because Jesus tells a story of a son who took off to live a life of wild parties and good time and ends up coming home willing to be a slave but the father won’t hear of it. Instead, the father throws the best party the kid has ever seen because the father loves the son so deeply. The father doesn’t say, be my servant for awhile and if I find you trustworthy I’ll give you a little more. No, the father throws a huge party. How often have I done that for others. Even worse, how often have I thought that God won’t treat me that way. I’m worse than that guy was. My sins are more horrific. My failures are too oft-repeated. God can’t love me that way. Can he?

In the past I have been nervous about confessing my sins to God. In the past, I have been mortified about confessing my sins to other people. In the past, I couldn’t imagine that God would ever trust me again. Hallelujah, today I know differently and I hope you do to. There is power in confession and there is certainly healing. I have story after story of the strongest bonds with God and people I have ever known gained through confession. Today, I trust God completely because I understand he will continue to trust me and I am learning more and more to give trust to others as God has given it to me. I believe trust is given, never earned, because that is how our Creator, our Savior, our Lord trusts.

Jeff Jones
Decatur, Texas

Much Too Blessed to Be Stressed

Series: Jesus, You Make Me Nervous

Prince of Peace, You spoke her name twice, (gently I believe), calming her anxious and annoyed heart. What blurred her vision of Your love and peace and goodness? She opened her home to You and Your crew. She labored to make everything just right. Not wrong in her service, although her heart focus needed redirection from work back to You. She needed Your presence and Your words to quiet and nourish her soul, as do we. You lifted her up from the quagmire of anxiety and lovingly invited her to higher ground-Holy ground at Your feet.
How many times do we lose sight of You while setting out to serve in Your name? The stormy atmosphere of our heart exposed through unkind words. Thank You, for the same loving invitation to higher ground; when our vision of You is blurred and rash words are spoken.
“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The LORD is near.” Philippians 4:5

Too frequently, my family endures my “anxiety” moments. If I listen with my heart, I can hear You speaking my name, Your amazing love, gently, calming my anxious heart, Your words refocus my mind. Help me to be like Mary and have ears that hear Your voice and a heart that pants to be in Your presence. Jesus, You make me nervous because You call me to have a Mary heart, when I think with a Martha mind. Please continue to reshape my mind, my heart and my words with Your precious peace.

Our lips should express adoration and praise and thanksgiving to You. Help us, LORD, to cease our grumbling and complaining. LORD, help us stop comparing and competing with others. Let us encourage one another and serve with love and grace.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether word or deed, do it all in the name of the LORD Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Col. 3:15-17

Through the Scriptures, You instruct us about Your peace-how to have it, how to dwell in it. Desperately, we seek You, to cast off the anxieties of daily life.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:27
“I have told you these things, so that you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
“Those who love Thy law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble.” Psalm 119:165

You encouraged those You healed and forgave to “Go in peace.” Thank You, Jesus, for these nuggets of truth to calm our hearts amidst the concerns of life. May we linger in Your presence, and allow all else to fall in place under Your control and not our own. Teach us to reject the thoughts and words that zap the energy and peace You plant deep in our hearts.

Your prayerful example as You walked among men, speaks to us eloquently. Publicly and privately, You sought Your Father’s will. You had much to do in a short time. Yet, You retreated to be alone with Your Father. Thank You, for modeling to us, a heart of prayer.

Time with You, pouring out our heart, absorbing Your Word for our counsel, revives and calms us. Replace the anxiety that overwhelms with Your perfect peace. Let the peace that transcends all understanding be a canopy over the hearts of Your children-that we may serve You joyfully.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

Holy Father-God of peace, We exalt You. Your love and patience are beyond measure. Increase our faith. Teach us to pray unceasingly. Fashion us to be thankful and humble. Your faithful promises are the peace that revives our hearts. Thank You, Father, for the “Marys” in our lives. May they continue to mentor us on this journey home as we travel guided by Your Spirit. Thank You, for Jesus and His example in life, in death, in resurrection.
In His Precious Name, Amen

Mischelle Oliver
Stephenville, Texas

Prayer: It's Right in Front of Us

Series: Jesus, You Make Me Nervous

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountain to pray, and spent the night praying to God (Luke 6:12).

How many nights have you spent praying to God? If you’ve spent even one, I salute you. I can count on one hand the nights I’ve spent in prayer by taking one finger and one thumb…to form a great big zero!

I’ve never spent an entire night praying, but the number of nights I’ve lain awake fretting are too numerous to count. Dark hours of anxious fear, heart heavy with sadness and worry…I’ll bet you have, too.

How was Jesus able to pray all night long? He had religious leaders dogging him. They hated him and wanted him dead. Multitudes of the curious and needy pressed him daily for signs and begged for favors. A large group of disciples followed him everywhere, hanging on his every word, but they rarely understood him. In their spiritual shortsightedness he was larger than life, and consequently smaller than the Heavenly King he really was.

At the end of “one of those days” in Jesus’ life he did what came naturally. He prayed. Luke 22:44 says of Jesus, “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” The Greek word for anguish tells us that Jesus knows what it’s like to be in dire straits, crushed between a rock and a hard place. He suffered every distress we can think of and some we can’t even imagine.

Like watching a bad movie, we lie awake at night playing and replaying our grievances, anxieties and worst fears.

Loving Heavenly Father, through Jesus who knows, forgive us for neglecting your precious gift of prayer, and thank you for the peaceful rest that’s ours because of your active presence in our lives. Amen.

Sandra Milholland
Abilene, Texas

How's Your Branch?

Series: Jesus, You Make Me Nervous

Many of the stories Jesus told are so comforting...the shepherd searching for a lost lamb, a father watching for a son to return. The stories about leaven and mustard seeds are interesting but the story in John 15 is unsettling. In this story, Jesus is the vine and I am a branch. That's well and good. Then He begins to expand the picture. the branch is held accountable. If there is no fruit, the branch is cut off and burned. The father is the one with the knife and the fire. This seems sort of harsh. But it gets worse. Jesus said, "Apart from Me, you can do nothing." (verse 5) Nothing? I know we can't be all that we could be without Jesus, but NOTHING? I would think I could do something--but NOTHING?

The picture of a dead branch on fire is upsetting. It makes me nervous. No power, no life without Jesus. Wow! But the story gets worse. Jesus said that we abide in Him when we keep His commandments. Immediately, I think of what I have done...like baptism. But He says I have to love others. Some of those folks are hard to love. So, apart from Jesus, I can do nothing. And apart from my brothers, I can't be in Jesus. This is hard. But then, He promises that His joy would be in me and my joy would be full. You know, come to think of it, I could use some joy.

Dear Father, I know You are God. You know everything and You are always right. I know You love me and want what is best for me. And yet, I resist You. I try to hide from You. And I always argue with You. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. As the vine dresser who has grafted me to Your son, please cut off everything I don't need. But please don't cut me off. I need You. You are life. Thank You for life and forgiveness. In the name of Your Son, the True Vine, I pray. Amen

Paul Shero
San Angelo, Texas