The Fruit of Repentance

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Rich Stevenson

fruitHow long should you repent?
Until it has run its course in you. The full course of repentance involves producing the fruit of repentance. (Matthew 3:8) Keep repenting of pride until you see humility. Keep repenting of selfishness until you see love and generosity. Keep repenting of immorality until you see purity. Don’t just repent for your sins, repent that you are a sinner. Remember, although Satan seeks to destroy you, Jesus is praying that your faith may not fail. If you will doggedly hold on to that kernel of faith, Jesus will win!

“The eye cannot see, nor can the tongue tell
Nor can the heart imagine
How many paths and methods I have
Solely for love
To lead them back to grace
So that my truth may be realized in them.”

 

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footprintsOne night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?
Those prints are large and round and neat.
But Lord, they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” he said in somber tones,
“For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.”

“You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know.
So I got tired, I got fed up.
And there I dropped you on your butt.”

Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand.

Anonymous Author

 

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Rich Stevenson | Leave a comment

First Gaze

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Rich Stevenson

Jesus eyesPeter and Andrew are walking at a pretty good clip.  Andrew has to give direction from behind Peter, because his brother must always lead the way.

“He’s the one in the white robe, the guy in the center of all those people.”  Andrew tells Peter while trying to maintain his brother’s pace and pointing toward Jesus.

Peter strides with his usual confidence, pushing through the crowd.  His hair is disheveled and his odor, well, let’s just say he’s spent more time fishing than washing!  As Peter comes close to Jesus, the Master senses his presence and swings around to see who has come.  It’s the first glance that Christ has of this man.  But it turns into so much more than a glance!  With wide eyes and the most engaging smile imaginable, the Bible says that Jesus “looked intently” at Simon (John 1:42 NLT).  The Greek word used in this passage (emplepō) describes more of a gaze than a glance.  Peter must have been stalled by this gaze; it won’t be the last time he is the recipient of it.   In fact, in Luke 22, this same word is used to describe the look that Jesus gives to Peter in the courtyard just after the rooster crowed.  This is a look that cuts right through and engages the truest part of you.

At this first encounter between Jesus and Peter, we don’t know how long their eyes locked on each other, but we do know what Christ said to him:

“You are Simon, the son of John –but you will be called Cephas (which means Peter).” (John 1:42)

Jesus gazes upon an ordinary man in an ordinary town from an ordinary family and an ordinary business, and speaks a prophetic promise that is very out-of-the-ordinary.  Cephas wasn’t even a real name.  As Jesus gazed through the Simon that everyone else could see, he saw something that the Kingdom needed:  a rock solid courage and loyalty that would stand up against the fiercest foe.  Jesus spoke to what was possible in this ordinary man.

“In very unlikely souls our Lord perceives qualities of unusual strength and beauty that He sets Himself to draw out, and His first act often is to reveal the fair hidden image and to impute it.  He saw Peter in Simon, Israel in Jacob, Paul in Saul—and told them so!”     (F. B. Meyer)

Is it possible that Jesus is gazing at you right now?

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The Power of the Present

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Rich Stevenson

nowJesus got to the tomb of His friend, Lazarus, after he had been dead four days. When Martha heard that Jesus had finally arrived, she rushed out to meet Him. She was focused on the past:

“If only You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

I wonder how many “If onlys” you have in your life? Some of us are paralyzed by things that have happened in the past:

If only I had a better childhood
If only I hadn’t been abused
If only I had been given a chance to go to college
If only by boss would recognize my true giftedness
If only my spouse would love me for who I am
If only I could rise above my shame

Jesus’ agenda with Martha was to get her to see the potential in the present. He responded to Martha’s “If only” with a strong promise:

“Your brother will rise again.”

Now watch what Martha did. . .she made a huge leap from the past to the future. She left “Ifonlyland” and jumped right into “hopesoland!”

“I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Some of us have put all of our hopes and dreams on someday.

Someday, justice will be served
Someday, I will get what I deserve
Someday, things will be made right

Jesus didn’t want Martha living in the past, and He didn’t want her putting everything on hold for a future promise. Jesus wanted Martha to engage the reality of His present power. Listen to His authoritative statement:

“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25)

In “Screwtape Letters,” C. S. Lewis wrote from the perspective of a head demon mentoring a younger demon. Listen to this devilish advice:

“The humans live in time, but our Enemy (God) destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself and to that point of time they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.
Our business is to get them away from the Eternal and from the Present. With this in view, we sometimes tempt a human to live in the Past. But this is of limited value. It is far better to make them live in the Future. It is unknown to them, so that in making them think about it, we make them think of unrealities. In a word, the Future is, of all things, the least like Eternity.”

Right now, at this very moment, Jesus is with you. He wants you to live, today, in the reality of His power and presence. Do you believe this?

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Bethany’s Prayer

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Rich Stevenson

bethany3Jesus,
We honor Your name!
You are Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. You are a strong tower. You are an ever present help in our time of need. You are Emmanuelle, You are with us right now.
Praise Your holy name Jesus!

Precious name, oh how sweet.
Hope of earth and joy of heaven.

Jesus, we need You now. We can cast our care on You because You care for us. We cry out to You because You hear us. We can’t go anywhere else because You alone are our source of peace. We are broken, but You can restore us.

Jesus, we believe You. We do not grieve as those who have no hope. You are the first born from the dead. Your cross has conquered our sin, Your resurrection has conquered our death and Your coming will conquer evil. Right now You command armies of angels. Your strength has no equal. And You are tender, You wipe away tears.

We honor You, we need You, we believe You…
But most of all, we love You!
Our pain will not silence our lips.
Our confusion will not dampen our passion.
We declare to You today: You are the pearl of great price.
You are the altogether lovely one.
You are the Rose of Sharon.
You are the Alpha and the Omega.
You are our Savior and our King.

We love You in life, we will love You in death.
We’ll praise You as long as You lend us breath.
We’ll say when the death dew lies cold on our brow: if ever we love You,
Lord Jesus it’s now.
Amen.
(Given at Bethany’s Memorial Service)

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