Jesus is amazing.

Jesus is amazing. I know this is not anything new or profound but as I read through the gospels His life and teachings truly do amaze me. He taught like no one before him and performed miracles that had never before been witnessed. As scripture teaches and creation attests, Jesus is the focal point of history. It would seem to follow that living life as a true disciple of Christ would be a worthy goal for anyone.

In Matthew we see in the birth account of Jesus all of the miraculous signs that accompanied it. God was all over his birth and then just after He audibly confirms Jesus as His son He sends Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Spiritually speaking Jesus ministry began with a bang, the lines were drawn.

In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." NIV What's interesting to me here is his bold faced assertion that he came to fulfill the Law. These were laws that had been laid down over thousands of years and were steeped in religious tradition. This 30 year old son of a carpenter was standing on this mountain and proclaiming that he was the law's fulfillment. As I look at this claim there are really only two choices available: 1. Jesus is a megalomaniac or 2. he is the fulfillment of prophecy. I don't see any middle ground. If these really are the words of Jesus then the choices that we are presented with are clear.

If the answer is number 1, well then he's at best an interesting study and someone that needs to be avoided. However if number 2 is the answer our response is imperative. If Jesus is the fulfillment of prophecy, and I believe this to be true, then I think it behooves us (good word eh) not only to listen to what he said but to believe it and to follow his teaching by living it. I do know that this is easier said than done but the beauty of Jesus and God's plan is that Jesus will live in us and give us the strength to do his works. What an awesome thought.

This is why I want to look at what Jesus taught and did. There is always more to learn and apply to our lives in order to help His kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

the power of Jesus birth

I have been a Christian all of my life. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know about Jesus and that He was the only way to eternal life. I admit that I have not always lived my life according to His teachings (this is an understatement) I nonetheless understood what they were about. On numerous occasions I have wondered how scripture applied to my every day life.

I know this is not unique to my experience and that all have faced this question at one time or another in their lives. However recently in reading through the gospels again I have come to a deeper appreciation if not understanding of Jesus and the importance of His life and message to us.

As I began reading through Matthew the miracles that surrounded His birth touched me in a way they never had before. I noticed the inordinate number of miraculous appearances of angels and messengers that lead up to Jesus birth and kept Him safe from harm. I began to reread these chapters again slowly, savoring each occurrence and the wonder that each event must have engendered to those it affected. I can wrap my head around angels appearing in dreams, but revealing themselves live and in Technicolor with a message from God blows my mind when I think about it. I mean think about it, the birth of Jesus was so important kings wanted to kill Him, wise men traveled thousands of miles to pay homage to him, angels appeared to announce it and then appeared again to save his life. The confluence of all these events boggles the mind and caused me to stop and look at my life again.

I realized that I had been taking Jesus for granted. In fact I needed to ask myself again, is Jesus and what he taught really that important in my daily life? Did my words and relationships reflect my desire to have Jesus be primary in my daily walk? I knew the answer and had to repent for becoming lazy and self-centered.

Then last Sunday a saw a video, again, that readjusted my perspective. It was a 40 minute video called “How Great is our God” by Louis Giglio. You can see it on You Tube where it is separated into 5 videos. It’s worth the time to watch. This video has totally readjusted my perspective. He graphically illustrates how incredibly big and powerful our God is and really how insignificant we are. Then he brings it down to our level to show that this incredibly awesome, powerful God cares for us so much that He had the cross in mind when He designed us. Jesus, His birth, life, death and resurrection was in God’s plan from the very foundation of the earth and the stars and universes that surround us. He is truly the focal point of history.

If that is true, and I believe with all my heart that it is, then I need to let Him mold me body, soul and spirit so that I reflect Jesus every day when I am alone and when I am with others. This is not optional it is what we were actually designed by our Father in Heaven to do. Jesus birth and the miraculous confluence of events that happened around it set the stage for what needs to be the foundation of our lives.

what took me so long

For more than a year now I have struggled with the idea of blogging and having my thoughts and ruminations out there in cyberspace for the whole world to read. It's not that I'm shy about expressing my opinion, just ask my family, but, like most other homo sapiens, I think I might crack if anyone is critical of my view. Or even worse what will happen to my self esteem if I bare my soul and no one cares or responds. However I finally said "get over yourself" and decided begin 2009 sharing my thoughts on the road of life.

Another consideration that plagued me for months was the question of what I would write about. Questions arose out of this. Would people be interested in the topics I chose? Would they care? Would what I write be relevant? etc. etc. What I decided was that I would write what I was interested in and not worry about the response.

That doesn't help a whole lot though because I have very eclectic wide range of interests. I love politics, sports, religion, history, geography, anthropology, theology etc. etc. But right now the issue that occupies my thoughts and interests me the most has to do with Jesus and how to be a practical authentic Christian in the 21st century. Therefore that is what I am going to write about. I believe that Jesus is still not only relevant today, what he taught and how he lived is a very practical model for all of us.

I'm not trying to blow any denominational horn or promote any particular church or set of beliefs. I just want to look at Jesus, at what he taught and see how it applies to us today. I welcome comments or additional insights and want this to be an attempt to help us to be more Christlike so our lives would daily have kingdom impact.