Monthly Archives: June 2015

A few weeks ago, Katie, Tank, and I went to the opening night of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Now, I don’t enjoy opening nights because of the crowds, but the Tank spends much of his play time with the Avengers action figures, so I let them both talk me into it. We had a blast watching these superheroes (especially my favorite, the Hulk) fighting against evil with their supernatural strength and winning the day. When the movie ended, the Tank said, “Papi, I will always remember we went to see the Avengers on opening night!” That certainly made braving the crowds worth it!

Watching the movie got me thinking about another kind of supernatural strength, one that is not merely a made-up story for our entertainment, but real and available to us all, regardless of our station in life.

. . . Being strengthened with all power according to [God’s] glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience . (Colossians 1:11)

I’m pretty sure that all of us, when we are watching movies like The Avengers, secretly wonder what it would be like to have a superhero’s supernatural strength. It’s easy to forget that the Bible makes it clear that we do have real, supernatural power that gives us strength, not as make-believe superheroes, but as children of the Most High God.

When we place our trust in the atoning death of Jesus Christ, we are immediately indwelt by His Holy Spirit. The same power that raised Jesus from death to life now resides in us! He promised that we would be “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 23:49), and that power is available to us 24/7, 365 days each week.

Christians have been given the power to live a supernatural life. We receive supernatural power to hope even in the face of a seemingly hopeless situation . . . to love even someone who is utterly unlovable . . . and to find peace even in the midst of the most violent storm. This is real, superhuman strength that has been given to us to lift us above the challenges of daily living and to put the Gospel on display.

Moses was given this strength when God sent him back into Egypt to confront Pharaoh. Daniel was given this strength in the lion’s den. Esther was given this strength to petition the king without an invitation. John the Baptist was given this strength to be a voice crying out in the wilderness. Paul was given this strength to fight the good fight of faith and finish his race. Every hero in the Scriptures was endowed by God with supernatural strength to do everything God was calling him or her to do. Several of these heroes are enshrined in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews.

One last thought: there really is only one great Hero, and all of Scripture testifies to His greatness. If we see the giants of the Christian faith as superheroes, we will have a tendency to want to look like them and try to be like them. Now, that’s not a bad thing, but it is not what God wants us to do! That’s because very hero of Scripture points to the one true Superhero: His name is Jesus Christ. And we are to fix our eyes on Him.

I genuinely enjoyed Age of Ultron, but there’s an even better story, a much more powerful and captivating one that should lift our hearts every day, stirring us on to love and good works. Sally Lloyd Jones’ marvelous children’s Bible, The Jesus Storybook Bible, summarizes it beautifully:

[The Bible is] an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure.  It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne–everything–to rescue the one he loves. 

This young Hero, this brave Prince, this is the One we are to look to, follow, and reflect on as we receive His strength and live out our lives in His power for His glory, moment by moment.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!     

There are some passages of sacred Scripture that, on the surface, may seem confusing . . . even crazy! Today I want to explore one such passage, which I call a “paralyzing proclamation” from our Prince of Peace.

When Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:1-5)

Can you imagine what the paralytic and his four friends must have been thinking? After all the effort they had put forth just to get an audience with Jesus, all He said was, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

If I was the paralytic, my brain might well have locked up at that moment. “What? Are you kidding me? Really? Perhaps you don’t understand, Lord. I didn’t come here to have my sins forgiven; I came here to have my legs healed so I can walk again! What in the world is going on here?”

Here’s what was going on: Jesus was telling His audience—the people of Capernaum and you and I today—that there is something far more important in this life than physical healing. To be sure, anyone who had lost the use of his legs would desperately want to regain it. Worse still, at that time the Jews believed paralysis was a sign of God’s judgment for some kind of abiding sin. It was a horrible condition. But as Jesus looked down at the hopeful paralytic, lying on his mat, He made it crystal clear that there is a deeper healing that we all desperately need.

First, in saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven” Jesus was unambiguously stating who He is. Only God can forgive sins, and Jesus was telling His audience that He is the one and only Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He was also making it clear that the forgiveness of sins is far more important than the healing of our physical infirmities.

But the story does not end there! When some teachers of the law were grumbling in their hearts that Jesus would presume to offer forgiveness of sins, Jesus perceived their thoughts and said to them . . .

“Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . .” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” (Mark 2:9-12)

Jesus has both the authority to forgive all our sins and to heal all our infirmities. How sad it would have been for the paralytic to have only had his legs healed, if had walked away still travelling on the road to eternal destruction. But Jesus, in His unrelenting mercy and grace, gave the paralytic both the physical healing that he wanted . . . and what he needed most!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!    

What is your picture of the God you worship? Do you see Him like Santa Claus, with a bag of gifts to hand out to you when you make your way on to his “good” list? Perhaps you see God as a terrible ogre in the sky, just waiting to crush you the next time you step out of line? Or perhaps you see Him as a disinterested deity who created the heavens and the earth and is now sitting idly back in heaven, watching the universe spin off in its own random direction.

Well, I have a word of encouragement for you today!

The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. (Psalm 37:23 NLT)

The God who reveals Himself to us through the Scriptures delights in every detail of the lives of His adopted children . . . and if you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, that includes you! The Bible asserts that our God is working all things together for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28) —even those painful things which seem awful at the time.

There is so much encouragement packed into Psalm 37:23, but I will simply make two points here.

GOD IS RELATIONAL

Our Triune God is relational all by Himself: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit living in perfect relationship from all eternity. And since you and I are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), we have been designed for relationship, both vertically (with Him) and horizontally (with each other). God created everything—including us—not out of need, but out of love. We have been created for an intimate, personal, loving relationship with the Creator of the universe and we are to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).

Think about it this way: God does not need us; He simply wants us. Wow! Could we possibly find any greater source of comfort and strength in this life that in that truth?!

GOD IS ALWAYS RELATING

How often do we go through our daily routines without giving even a passing thought to God? But the same cannot be said about Him. To be delighting in every detail of our lives means that God is continually relating to us as we go through life. The Bible tells us that God is with us, for us, and in us. He is walking with us in all the details of life, every step of the way. And we have been given a great promise, regardless of how many times we choose to walk away from Him:

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of [your enemies], for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  (Deuteronomy 31:6)

So regardless of where this finds you today—whether you are riding the crest of a wave of victory or barely keeping your nose above the waves of challenge—know that Jesus delights in the details of your life and He has promised never to leave you or forsake you.

How is it with you? Do you offer all the details of your life up to Him? May that be our daily prayer: that we will delight in trusting our Savior for every detail of our lives.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!