Tag: Following Jesus

Satisfied

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In the superlatively successful Broadway show, Hamilton, the Founding Father’s greatest weakness is that he is never satisfied with what he has. He is always reaching and stretching for something more. When pointed in the right direction, this resulted in incredible success and achievement. When pointed in the wrong direction, though, ruin for himself and others. We all have desires that we long to have satisfied. For some of these desires, though, there doesn’t seem to be anything in this world that can do the trick. As we continue in our series, All Signs Point to Jesus, this week we are looking at a sign that points us toward His ability to satisfy all of our desires. Let’s explore the Scriptures together.

Satisfied

When was the last time you felt really and truly satisfied? What was it that gave you that feeling? Maybe it was finishing a really big project and having your contributions graciously recognized by others. It could have been working with another person, teaching them to do something, and then seeing them succeed wildly. Perhaps it was just a really good meal. There are lots of things that might satisfy us in this life. The thing about getting satisfied in this life, though, is that whatever desire it is that was satisfied has a tendency to return. You ate that great meal, but then you were hungry again. In fact, you were probably hungry again by the time the next mealtime rolled around. You finished that one project, but then there was another one behind it. And if there wasn’t, you went looking for one. That one student succeeded, but then there was another student who needed help. And when those desires returned, sometimes the same things satisfied them again, but sometimes they didn’t. Sometimes you needed more. It’s almost like underneath these more common, daily desires we have there are deeper longings that cry out for satisfaction. Yet try as we might, getting these addressed often seems to be just beyond our reach. 

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Digging in Deeper: 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

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“For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There’s a great Proverb in the collection of wisdom bearing that name that goes like this: “Even a fool is considered wise when he is silent.” The point is that what comes out of our mouths (digitally or verbally) is going to be used by others to assess our intelligence and character. As followers of Jesus who have been called to share our faith, though, talking is sort of part of the gig. In bearing witness to the Gospel, we wind up saying a lot of things that make us sound pretty dumb to the culture around us. Let’s talk about why it’s so worth it to share anyway.

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Morning Musing: Romans 5:1

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“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When was the last time you were at odds with someone you loved? If you are married, when was the last time you and your spouse were not on good terms with each other? That’s a miserable feeling. Even if you’re not in the wrong, living with a relational divide is no fun at all. You long for things to be right again. The longer the divide persists, you start to find yourself looking to other places to get the emotional and relational needs that were satisfied by the relationship when it was working. You just want peace again. Here, as we begin the next major part of Paul’s exploration of the Gospel, he tells us how we can have peace with God. You don’t want to miss this.

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Morning Musing: Romans 4:22-25

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“Therefore, ‘it was credited to him for righteousness.’ Now ‘it was credited to him’ was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I enjoy listening to classical music. I also enjoy listening to new music. Those two musical preferences don’t often play very well together because there aren’t very many albums featuring new classical music coming out. Instead, there are new recordings of old music. That’s the thing about classical music, though: it’s classic. It has withstood the test of time and is good enough to keep being played and replayed over and over again. Every now and then, though, you come across something different like a variation on an old theme. Let me tell you about a fun recording I found the other day and another variation on a theme that’s rather more important.

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More Than Well

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Jesus wants us to see Him. He wants us to see beyond the things He can do for us, to who He really is. As a result, He reveals Himself in ways that enable and help us to do that. One of the ways He did this during His ministry was with a series of what the apostle John identifies as seven signs. As we continue in our teaching series, All Signs Point to Jesus, this week, we are looking at a third miraculous sign Jesus performed. This one picks up from our seeing Him for who He really is, to actually following Him into something more than just a miracle. He invites us to follow Him into real life. Let’s take a look at this together.

More Than Well

Have you ever fallen for a gimmick? Someone came along with a really great sales pitch for a brand new product that was going to completely revolutionize your life. All it was going to take from you was a “modest” investment of capital to help get this new venture off the ground. But when you did, you were going to be on the ground floor of an entirely new cultural movement. This wasn’t just about making your life better; it was about making the whole country better (healthier, more fit, financially stabler, and etc.). This wasn’t just an opportunity you didn’t want to miss. This was an opportunity you couldn’t afford to miss. 

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