Receiving Jesus

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

(John 1:12–13 NIV)

Receiving Him means, inviting and welcoming Him into your life. Believing in His name means trusting Him. To those that welcome Him and trust Him, He gives the right (power, authority) to become children of God. A person does not become a child of God through human effort or through bloodlines. It only happens as they trust Him and are born of God.

I want to continue to receive Jesus into my life. Constantly welcoming Him and inviting his leading in all things. Most of all, I want to trust Him - to believe in His name.

Lord, help me to operate by faith in you, to continue to trust you and believe in the power of Your name.

Amazed by Conversation

“Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

-Luke 2:47

Here is Jesus as a child talking with committed religious leaders. The two things that amazed the leaders were his understanding and his answers. The order is significant. Before Jesus could give answers, He needed to demonstrate understanding. Before they asked Him questions, the people He was with needed to feel like He understood what they were discussing.

This is a key to leadership. The first priority must be to gain an understanding of the people and the situation at hand. Then one must demonstrate that understanding to the point that people would want to ask questions. Finally, any answers need to come from the One whose answers always amaze.

Lord, help me gain an understanding. Help me to learn from every email, every phone call and every visit. Increase my capacity for understanding. Help me to hold off on giving my opinion until people are asking for answers....and when I answer, help my answer to come from You.

Overcoming Fear

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

(Matthew 1:20 NIV)

“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.”

(Matthew 1:24 NIV)

The scriptures say that Joseph did what the angel of the Lord commanded him. But what did the angel command him? He commanded Joseph not to be afraid. Joseph's obedience to that command resulted in Joseph taking Mary home as his wife. The obstacle to Joseph doing the right thing was his own fear. Once he acted in faith and obedience, he overcame that fear.

What are the actions in my life that the Lord wants me to take, but which I shun because of fear?As a leader, do I implement actions, policies and procedures that are predicated on fear or those that promote faith and obedience?

Lord, help me to overcome fear. Guard me from making decisions based on fear. Help me to be able to say to people, "do not fear". I know that the ultimate slayer of fear is your very presence. Help me to always be aware of You.

Not another boring genealogy!

“A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:”

“Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,”

“the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

Each of the Gospel authors wanted to trace Jesus back to "the beginning". For Matthew, that meant tracing His genealogy back to David. For Luke, it meant putting together an orderly account of the events of Jesus' life and also tracing His genealogy back to the first man, Adam. John points out that Jesus was with God at the very beginning of all things. Jesus is eternal, yet he is also very present in time.

Jesus is as human as can be. Every story of the Bible involves Jesus in some way. Every year that I read through the Bible, I'm amazed at the places I see Jesus. Jesus also exists outside of time; He is the Alpha and the Omega. As I launch this new blog I trust that we might be more and more aware of Jesus who exists both in time and outside of it.