40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 12

"Cast your net on the right side of the boat."
Jesus

Translations differ on the exact wording of the advice Jesus gave to the weary fishermen. Facing the dawn of a new day, they had to admit to Jesus what He knew to be true about them. Their all night efforts had left them with nothing but an empty boat.

On the Sea of Galilee, fishermen did not make a living, by going through the motions. They proved who they were, not by what they did, but by what the caught.

Jesus told the men to cast their nets on the right side of the boat or as some say, the right hand side of the boat. Whatever they heard Him say, they got His message and did what He said. They stopped what they were doing, and started doing what Jesus told them to do. Wise men still do.

NOTE TO SELF: When the horse is dead, dismount & turn the reins over to Jesus. He specializes in breathing new life into what you have ridden into the ground, by your own effort. Prayer loosens your grip on your will, and opens your hands to receive God's will.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 11

"So, Jesus said, 'Children, you do not have any fish, do you?'"
John 21:5

Standing on the beach, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Jesus could see the weary fishermen had rowed their boat and cast their nets throughout the dark of night and they had come up empty. Jesus wasn't asking them a question to seek an answer. He was seeking their admission of failure to supply their need.

Jesus addressed these hardy, leather skinned fishermen with great tenderness, calling them "Children." His disciples had wandered from His Presence and failed at their task. Wandering and working disciples always do. Jesus claimed them as His own, and called out to them. He still does.
Childish people want their voice to be heard. Child-like people desire to hear the voice of Jesus.

The Prayerless are childish. The Prayerful are childlike.

NOTE TO SELF: Are you listening to the voice of Jesus? Praying improves your hearing. Can you hear Him calling you back to His Presence? Stop making so much noise trying to impress Jesus with what you can do for Him on your own. He knows how empty you really are. The Risen Christ can still see into your boat.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 10

"After these things, Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, in this way." John 21:1

Luke's account seems to place The Ascension of The Risen Christ, immediately after He revealed Himself to His disciples in the Upper Room. As an eyewitness, John was able to round out the fascinating events that reveal the rest of the story.

Fresh from his encounter with The Risen Christ in the Upper Room, Peter left the city of Jerusalem,and led Thomas, Nathaniel, James and John, along with two other disciples back home to Cana of Galilee.

The Sea of Galilee remains one of the most beautiful and unspoiled regions of the world. These fishermen were way out of their comfort zone. Bone weary of savage city life, Peter longed for the comfort of home. The others followed him, and The Risen Christ met them there. Peter had gone back to his fishing business, but Jesus had some unfinished business with Peter.

NOTE TO SELF: You can run but you can't hide. When Jesus puts you in an uncomfortable place don't look for your comfort zone. Prayerless people race from His Presence. Prayerful people embrace Him.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 9

“Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.’”
John 20:28-29

A personal encounter with The Risen Christ transformed “Doubting Thomas” into “Believing Thomas.” A personal Spiritual Awakening begins with a fresh encounter with Jesus. He resurrects deadly unbelief into living, breathing belief. This only happens, EVERY TIME.

“My Lord and my God!”

The words of Thomas reflect a change in his perception of Jesus, not his belief system. Thomas had perceived Jesus was absent because he could no longer see Him. Nothing could have been further from The Truth. When Jesus stepped out of his past and into his present, Thomas was transformed.

Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus refers to Himself as “I AM.” He offers His Presence to Thomas and to all who believe. Jesus lives n the present tense, not the past or the future. He is not, “I WAS” or “I WILL.” He is “I AM.”

Thomas had a well-documented history with Jesus in the past tense, but he wandered down a road of unbelief. Believing Jesus was dead and gone left Thomas feeling that he was on his own. Hearing about His resurrection only intensified his sense of separation.. The good news others had received, Thomas had rejected, through willful unbelief. Encountering Jesus restored his fellowship with Jesus and healed his unbelief. Jesus asked,

“Because you have seen Me, have you believed?”

For forty days The Risen Christ would gather His disciples, and teach them about the Kingdom of God. His disciples were living in a world where, “Seeing is believing.” Jesus was granting the privilege of citizenship to those in His Kingdom who embraced “Believing is seeing.” See the difference?

One of the greatest gifts God ever gave to the 20th Century church was a man of faith, Southern Baptist revivalist, Manley Beasley. Faith was the over-riding theme of his preaching and the mission of his life. He said,

"Faith is reason at rest with God." Manley Beasley

Thomas would not be at rest until He had seen The Risen Christ. Jesus questioned the validity of his faith because it rested on what Thomas could see, not what he believed. Rest is found in releasing nagging unbelief into the nail-scarred hands of Jesus.

Prayer provides R.E.S.T. by Releasing Every Single Thing that feeds doubt and fuels fear. Prayer opens unbelieving eyes to see Jesus in the present tense. Blind faith is not sightless, but prayerless faith will never see Jesus. Believing prayer empowers true believers to see Jesus in the present tense.

The study of Church History and Spiritual Awakenings reveals the tendency of the Church to wander from intimate fellowship with The Risen Christ. When the Church focuses their eyes on the works of Jesus in the past tense, they no longer see Him in the present tense. When belief in a system far outweighs belief in The Savior, the Church is marked by unbelief and blinded to His Spirit’s Presence. Spiritual Awakening begins with a fresh encounter with Jesus in the present tense.

“Revival is the Church falling in love with Jesus all over again.” Vance Havner

Jesus honors belief, by blessing those whose lives express, “Believing is seeing.” “Blessed” describes the life of a person who has embraced the reality of, “Believing is seeing.” The life of faith in the Kingdom of God describes a person who has taken an adventurous walk with The Risen Christ.

“Blessed are they who did not see, yet believed.” – Jesus

NOTE TO SELF: You will discover, when you practice His Presence, He is present, and you are well off, fortunate, and supremely happy. Don’t claim to have citizenship in His Kingdom, and then choose to live as an abandoned pauper, or lost orphan traveling down a dead end road. When you feel lost and alone in the dark, R.E.S.T. and ask directions. You will see Jesus is always present, leading the way.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 8

“Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
John 20:27

Eight days after His resurrection, Jesus returned to the Upper Room. Once again He revealed Himself to His disciples. This time He confronted Thomas with his lingering unbelief. Doubts about the resurrection of Jesus Christ forever tagged him with the unflattering title of, “Doubting Thomas.”

“After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.’ “ v. 26-27

The Risen Christ didn’t comfort unbelief in His disciples. He confronted it. The kingdom of God is established by the power of the resurrection. This power transforms doubt into belief through a personal encounter with the Person of Jesus Christ. The citizens of this kingdom are unified by a simple pledge of allegiance. “I believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ.”

The English language fails to clarify the difference between “believing and unbelieving.” The original language used to express these words, in John’s Gospel, provides more insight.

“Believing” is directly related to the same word used for “faith.” Believing is faith in action. Believing is an expression of a living, breathing, vital faith. Belief is not a matter of trusting in a system of beliefs. It is revealed by trusting in and relying upon the Person of the Lord, Jesus Christ.

When “believing and unbelieving” were read or heard by John’s First Century audience, they understood the difference. Make sure you do too.

An unbelieving person was faithless and untrustworthy.

A believing person was faithful in the transaction of business, the execution of commands, and the discharge of official duties.

Based upon the evidence Jesus provided to him, Thomas was confronted with the choice between an unbelieving life and a believing life. True believers still are.

Believing leads to transformation. Erratic identification with The Body of Christ or an excellent education about the claims of Christ are not signs of belief. Believing reveals much more than mere mental assent to a person’s point of view or an intellectual awareness of a particular philosophy of life.

Public Service Announcement: The Sunday after Easter, the contemporary church will conduct church services again. Don’t set up extra chairs.

Many who flooded the church on Easter Sunday are already living in the desert of unbelief. Their identification with a system of belief one day a year did not transform them into believers every day of the year. This story is sad, but true.

Believers never get over The Resurrection. Eight days after Jesus rose from the grave, Thomas was still trapped in his own personal tomb of unbelief. Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas to set him free from his doubt. Jesus still does.

NOTE TO SELF: When you find yourself trapped by doubt, pray your way out of the tomb. Look to Jesus. Prayer releases the power of His resurrection to fuel your belief in Jesus, not a system. Never let the system overshadow The Savior. Focusing on the system magnifies the flaws of men in your eyes. Don’t put your trust in men determined to leave their handprints on the system. Prayer keeps your eyes pointed towards the nail-prints on the hands of Jesus. Prayer places your doubts in the system in the hands of Jesus, and builds your faith in Him. Believe more. Doubt less.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 7

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.’ “
John 20:22-23

For forty days The Risen Christ rounded up His scattered followers and taught them about the kingdom of God. On this first evening, Jesus breathed upon them. Introducing His Presence, Jesus prepared them to receive His power for His mission.

Nothing reveals the power of the resurrection like forgiveness. The first breath from the lips of The Risen Christ was His challenge to His disciples to receive His Spirit. Without the Presence of His Spirit, they would never have His power to forgive.

There are many signs of the fullness of The Spirit, but the one convincing and undeniable proof of His Presence is the power to forgive. Jesus called His disciples to receive His Spirit with open hearts and open hands. To embrace His forgiving Spirit into their hearts, they would have to release a white-knuckled grip on their unforgiving spirit.

Forgiveness is the breath of Heaven. Jesus breathed into His disciples what He intended to release through them on earth, the power to forgive.

The kingdom of God is filled with the air of forgiveness. Those who breathe the same air as their Savior will let go of anything in their lives that chokes out their capacity to forgive. Getting a grip on forgiveness requires letting go of a grudge and embracing The Spirit.

NOTE TO SELF: The power of the resurrection is found in maintaining an intimate fellowship with the Presence of Jesus. The purpose of your life is found in carrying out His mission. Balance your life. Receive the Presence of Christ’s Spirit, and receive Christ’s power for His mission. The power of the resurrection is released in you when you die to self. When you live to forgive, you live for Him. When you live to get even, you live for yourself. When you are breathless to get even, take a breath, and forgive.

Nothing expands God’s kingdom on earth like a fresh breath of forgiveness. Prayer is the breath of Heaven. Prayer breathes out the surrender of your will, and breathes in His Father’s will. Prayer crucifies your unforgiving spirit, and resurrects the forgiveness of His Spirit. The power of the resurrection is a breath away. Let your next prayer release His breath of forgiveness in you, and pass it on to others.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 6

“Receive the Holy Spirit.”
John 20:22

On the evening of His Resurrection, The Risen Christ quietly stepped into the Upper Room, and pointed His disciples to His purpose for their lives. “ ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ “

Accomplishing The Risen Christ’s purpose for their lives would require receiving His Spirit in their lives. On the first day of His resurrection The Risen Christ informed His disciples of His purpose. Fifty days later, on the Day of Pentecost, He would fill them with the power of the resurrection to carry out His purpose.

There is no power of the resurrection to carry out the purpose of Christ’s mission without the Person of the Holy Spirit. Purpose driven people never stiff-arm the Holy Spirit. They embrace Him, not as power, but as The Person of Christ.

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ ” John 20:21-22

NOTE TO SELF: Falling in love with the work of the Lord is a poor substitute for being in love with the Lord of the work. Wrapping yourself up in the work of the Lord without embracing the Lord of the work reveals how little power you have to carry out His purpose for you life. Prayer fuels your passion for Jesus. His Spirit empowers you for His mission. Don’t be deceived. Receive The Spirit.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 5

“Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
John 20:21

In John’s eyewitness account, Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples huddled in the Upper Room. He complements Luke’s documentation of the same event, by providing additional insight into the mission of The Risen Christ.

At the same time Jesus revealed the power of His resurrection, He also gave His disciples a new sense of direction. He offered them peace and purpose. He still does.
When the disciples saw Jesus standing in their midst, the power of His resurrection raised more fear than faith. Jesus not only met them at the point of their need, but He pointed them to His purpose.

“As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Receiving peace in their hearts was not His purpose for their lives. The Risen Christ had a much greater mission in store for them. The once fearful, now peaceful disciples had witnessed the power of His resurrection in the Upper Room. They would experience the power of His resurrection on another level, only when they left the room.

The contemporary church puts a great deal of emphasis upon gathering people together to find peace in their hearts. Offering peace without purpose may lead to a calm heart, but it robs a person of the great adventure of a burning heart. Don’t settle for anything less.

The first words out of the mouth of The Risen Christ carried the impact of a double-edged sword. Jesus calmed His disciples with peace, but He commissioned them with His purpose. Without embracing both His peace and His purpose the mission of the church always deteriorate into less than Jesus had in mind. Jesus called His followers to penetrate the culture like a mobile M.A.S.H. unit, not to self-medicate themselves with a false sense of serenity.

The contemporary church would be wise to put “Peace be with you,” on the welcome mats of the front porch, but have all the exits marked with, “You are now entering the mission field.” His Peace and His purpose are the vital signs of a healthy church and the balanced life of a true disciple.

“Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” Charles (C.T.) Studd, British missionary to China & The Congo 1860-1931

NOTE TO SELF: Peace is not found by escaping your crisis of faith. It is found by seeking the power of the resurrection in the midst of the battle. Answered prayer often begins with your first gasp of fear. Don’t be surprised when The Champion answers your prayer by calling you to join Him in His shout of victory, not by giving you a sigh of relief. Be calm, but be on mission. Praying in His Presence brings you His peace and points you to His purpose.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 4

“And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:49

For forty days, The Risen Christ gathered His disciples, and taught them about the Kingdom of God. Luke provides an account of The Savior’s evening message to His disciples. On His Resurrection Day, stepping into The Upper Room, Jesus outlined the underlying theme of His teaching.

“I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you.”

The Risen Christ prepared His disciples to receive the promise of His Father, prior to carrying out His mission. The promise is nothing less than the Person and the power of the Holy Spirit. He warned them. No promise, No power.

“But you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

The great danger of the contemporary church is their relentless zeal to engage a temporary culture without being clothed with eternal power. Like an ornamental fruit tree, too many churches produce abundant foliage without bearing real fruit.

The promise of power is not offered for the church to provide shade without substance. People living in darkness, do not need more shade.They need light.

Vacation Bible School children were taught to sing with child-like innocence and complete confidence.
“This little light of mine. I’m going to let it shine.
Hide it under a bushel? NO! I’m going to let it shine.
LET IT SHINE. LET IT SHINE. LET IT SHINE.”

Candles gleaming in the night have been replaced with eye-popping websites, clever branding, slick promotional campaigns, and well-orchestrated and scripted stage shows. They have proven to be a poor substitute for child-like faith, filled with the promise of supernatural power.

For 2,000 years the church has flirted with offering people what they want, by providing them with what little they have, while giving God the glory for it. Promising more than they can deliver, prayerless churches have offered hopeless people high hopes without delivering “power from on high.”

Samuel Chadwick, English Methodist Evangelist, was called “The John Wesley of the 20th Century.” His ministry was marked by the complete transformation of lives in some of the toughest mill towns in Great Britain. In his latter years, he was a professor and mentor to Leonard Ravenhill. Chadwick described seeing the power of the resurrection released upon the churches of his nation.

“Nothing would turn the nation back to God so surely and so quickly as a Church that prayed and prevailed. The world will never believe in a religion in which there is no supernatural power. A rationalized faith, a socialized Church, and a moralized gospel may gain applause, but they awaken no conviction and win no converts.” Samuel Chadwick

The Risen Christ warned His disciples of the danger of carrying out His mission without being clothed with His power. The Spirit of The Living Christ never promises more than His Father can deliver. Full of themselves, and not the Spirit, prayerless and powerless people always will.

NOTE TO SELF: Stop wrapping yourself and Christ’s church in the fake fig leaves of your personal power. Don’t be in such a hurry to tell more than you know, and to share more than you have. Be clothed with power from on high. Never confuse your phony foliage with The Fruit of The Spirit. Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” He was talking to you. You will find the substance of His power by praying in His Presence.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!

40 Days with the Risen Christ: Day 3

‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?’ “
Luke 24:38

When Jesus asked this question, He framed it within the context of His Presence. His point is well-taken.

A troubled and doubtful heart is evidence of the need for the calm assurance that is available when Jesus is present. When trouble and doubts arise in your heart, they are no match for The Risen Christ.

Luke's account of The Resurrection Day ends with Jesus appearing in The Upper Room, revealing Himself to His confused and frightened disciples. As they heard the amazing report of two of their trusted and breathless friends, fresh from a seven mile uphill climb from the village of Emmaus, "Jesus stood in their midst." v. 36

Jesus didn't arrive in the room with great fanfare. This time there was no rising crescendo of an angel army announcing His entrance. He softly stepped into the room and into the lives of His followers with all the calmness and quietness of the desert dew settling over a parched landscape. Still...

"They were startled and frightened." v. 37

This fresh encounter with The Risen Christ did not boost their self-confidence. It struck fear in their hearts. They would not be the last followers of Jesus to respond to answered prayer with unbelief.

Many times over the last 2,000 years the church has called for prayer, but then responded to answered prayer with awestruck amazement, by blurting out, "I can't believe it!" Thank God He answers prayer whether people believe it or not.

Jesus appeared to His disciples in the flesh. He had bone structure, a beating heart, nail-scarred hands and feet. He invited His disciples to be in touch with Him. He still invites people to be in touch with The Body of Christ.

"See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." v. 39

As His disciples warmed up to The Presence of Jesus, their fear and trembling were replaced by joy and amazement, but their belief in Him still wavered. Their energetic expressions of emotion and enthusiasm did not reveal a development of genuine belief. Sometimes they do.Sometimes they don't. Don't trust in emotion. Trust Jesus.

"They still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement." v. 40

Jesus took them to another level of belief by requesting they share their meal with Him. Unfortunately many people in the contemporary church have distorted this question and corrupted it into the mission of the church.

"Have you anything here to eat?" v. 41b

The Risen Christ ate a bit of fish with the disciples to prove He was alive in the flesh, not just a fleeting spirit or a figment of their imagination. Jesus immediately fed them from the Word of God. He still does.
Any church seeking to be a true representation of The Body of Christ will always feed their people with The Scriptures. The Risen Christ reminded His disciples...

"...all the things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." v. 44

When the church leadership fails to be open-minded to understanding the Scriptures, they lean on their own understanding. This fails to truly open their minds, but it definitely lets their brains fall out.

"Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures..." v. 45

Anyone seeking to be a part of a church that represents the Body of Christ will be more concerned over what they are being fed from the pulpit on Sunday morning than what is on the menu at the Fellowship Supper. Never trade eternal soul food for temporary heartburn.

Jesus called His disciples to proclaim in His name a message of "repentance for forgiveness of sins" to all the nations. Anything less is not the gospel.

Proclaiming forgiveness without repentance is not an act of generosity to people seeking God's grace. It is an act of treason to the Kingdom of God. The Risen Christ was clear...

"...that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning with Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." v. 47

NOTE TO SELF: Don't be so open-minded that your brains fall out. You are called to be a witness. Show people how to let go of their sin. Proclaim to them how to find His forgiveness by turning around and getting in touch with Jesus. The sense of His Presence is only a prayer away.

TALK LESS! PRAY MORE!