It Is FINISHED!

Congratulations to everyone who made it to the NTin30 finish line. It’s a very big deal to read through the entire New Testament in 30 days. I’m proud of you.

For those of you who weren’t able to keep up with the pace, or still have a few days to go, don’t beat yourself up. Keep reading. It’s not about finishing a project. It’s about the continual process of knowing Jesus and loving His Word.

For those of you who finished, don’t check Bible reading off your to-do list and lose your momentum. There is a transitional reading plan in your Study Guide that will help you get on a much slower paced, much more moderate track to consuming God’s Word daily. You can access it here.

Scroll to the end of the Study Guide.

Read now for depth instead of for distance. Read. Let God bump you with a text or story or passage. Stop. Reflect. Journal and then share it with others. Pray to obey. Love the Word. Live the Word. Daily!

The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.
-1 Peter 1:24-25

From The Heights

Remember the height from which you have fallen!

Repent and do the things you did at first.
-Revelation 2:5a

This verse helps me think about repentance in a brand new light.
Many people associate the word repent with groveling and feeling really, really, really bad about what you’ve done.

No doubt, the heart of repentance is humility. We can’t truly repent if we aren’t grieved by our sin in the light of God’s grace.

But when John commands the church at Ephesus to repent, he doesn’t call them into a place of shame and guilt. Instead, he tells them to remember the height from which they have fallen. And to get back to that place through genuine, Biblical repentance.

That’s the essence of repentance.
To repent means to get back to the top. Back to God’s perspective. His ways. His truth. To repent is to reclaim the lost potentials. To come back to where we belong.

There’s a time to kneel and bow down in repentance.
But there’s also a time to rise up, move forward, and get back to your rightful place in God.

What Do You Shout About?

I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
-John the Baptist, John 1:23

Most people have a voice. John the Baptist takes it a step further:
I am the voice.

Wow! The expression of his passion was so singularly focused that his message and identity were one and the same. You could read it this way:
“My whole life shouts: prepare the way for the Lord!”

Your life shouts something, too-whether you mean to communicate it or not.
What are you the voice for?
What comes through loud and clear in the way you live?

What does your whole life shout?

Even Now....

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
-John 11:21-22

Most of us give up on God too easily.

Martha was very frustrated with Jesus. Her situation was hopeless. Her brother, Lazarus, had been dead four days. It doesn’t get much worse than that.

But there was something about Martha that didn’t allow her confusion and despair to overwhelm her faith.

Even now…she insisted, I believe in your power to resurrect the dead.

It’s one thing to trust in God when your situation is on life support. It’s another thing to trust God when your dream is dead and in the ground.

Maybe a relationship in your life just fell apart.
Maybe you lost a lot of money in the recession last year.
Maybe you’ve made some terrible mistakes that have cost you a lot of time and opportunity.

But it’s not over as long as Jesus is on the scene.

Even now He can restore your relationships.
Even now He can supply all your needs.
Even now He can forgive you and make you whole.

Trust Him, believe Him, hope in Him…
Even now!

Miracles + Faithfulness.

John 10:41-42
They said, “Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true.” And in that place many believed in Jesus.

I want to drop a word of encouragement for those of us who don’t feel very successful, noticed, important or appreciated.

Just because you’re not performing miraculous signs doesn’t mean you’re not making a significant impact.

John the Baptist died by decapitation in prison, wondering whether anything he had ever dreamed, declared or done made any difference in the end.

Apparently, John’s ministry made more of a difference than he would ever know on earth. By the time you get to John 10:41, the Bible says “many people” are coming to Jesus and placing their faith in Him- all because of John the Baptist’s faithful ministry.

Maybe God will allow you to do miraculous signs in the name of Jesus. Maybe your ministry is filled with a great sense of miraculous awe. Or maybe He’ll simply call you to a faithful ministry that will prepare the way for someone else to make a significant impact through miraculous signs.

I have a feeling that when we get to heaven, we’ll discover that much of the heavy lifting for the advance of the Gospel was done by those who never performed a miraculous sign, but through years of faithful ministry, had a miraculous impact.

Just stay faithful. Keep your station. God is at work!