Years ago I became fascinated with the questions of Jesus. It occurred to me that if Jesus was asking a question it must be an important one. I realize that in the culture in which Jesus lived asking questions was a method of learning, but Jesus always knew the answers. His questions were to cause His listeners to think.

With that in mind, consider some of these 7 questions of Jesus.

“Do you believe that I am able to do this?”  (Matthew 9:28)

“Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”  (Matthew 8:26)

“What do you think about the Christ?”  (Matthew 22:42)

“Do you love me?”  (John 21:17)

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not do what I tell you?”  (Luke 6:46)

“What do you want me to do for you?”  (Luke 18:41)

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

To which of these do you most need to consider your answer? Are there other questions of Jesus you would add to this list?

Recently I read one of these statements of Jesus and I couldn’t go any further in my reading.  I realized in that moment, that although I had read it perhaps hundreds of times, I often take the statement for granted.  It made me think about the many other truths Jesus shared which are life-changing.  I decided to put a list together.  Perhaps some of these will be meaningful to you.  Read through the list…memorize a few of them (you probably already have many of them)…let them soak deep into your heart and mind…then allow God to penetrate your life with truth.

Here are 25 statements of Jesus that will change your life:

“Take heart, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37)

“Go and learn what this means ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’” (Matthew 9:13)

“Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2)

“Ask and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7)

“If the Son has set you free you are free indeed” (John 8:36)

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30)

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

“You are the light of the world”  (Matthew 6:14)

“Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5)

“The greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11)

“Take heart, it is I.  Do not be afraid.”  (Matthew 14:31)

“I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:7)

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  (Matthew 19:26)

“If you love me you will obey what I command” (John 14:15)

“Your give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37)

“A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit” (Matthew 7:18)

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:8)

“This people honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me.” (Mark 7:6)

“You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8)

“Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink…” (Matthew 6:25)

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do to them” (Matthew 7:12)

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  (John 6:29)

“It is finished.” (John 19:30)

I realize some of these can be misunderstood if out of context, but the fact remains these are things Jesus said and He is Truth, so every word has life-changing value.  I wonder, if we really understood the magnitude of these words of Jesus and believed them, would it change the way we lived our life?

Which of these do you most need to apply to your life today?

There are many others…what would you add to my list?

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

It is always a balancing act…the balance between extending grace so much that it ignores truth and holding too tightly to truth that there is no room for grace.

Have you ever struggled with that balance?

Jesus came full of both…grace and truth…the perfect balance…and that should be our goal as we strive to be like Him…full of both grace and truth…

Sometimes we extend grace to the point that we enable people to continue making bad decisions. Other times we give up too quickly on someone because they crossed the legal lines.

Where’s the balance?

This passage of wisdom from Ecclesiastes has often helped shape my thoughts on this subject:

In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
a righteous man perishing in his righteousness,
and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?

Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?

It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
The man who fears God will avoid all extremes . Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 NIV

I don’t have it figured out…but reflecting on this passage helps keep my heart in check from ignoring either grace or truth.

Which of these two could you be holding on to too tightly?

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck! Psalm 69:1

This is my favorite safety pull verse! Helpful always, but especially in emergency situations…

Do you ever feel as though you are drowning?

This verse is for you…

A friend of mine has completed his schooling and now needs to find a job. He has poured everything into his work, and he is ready to go to work.  Having felt fully led of God to take the steps he has taken, now he needs to feed his family and can’t find a job, and he wants to trust God to work out the details, but he’s afraid.

I have a friend with cancer. She has worried about her families future should something happen to her.  She’s stressed about the demands of being a wife and mom when she is so tired. She’s trying to be faithful.

One friend’s marriage is falling apart around her. She’s tried to hold it together, but every day it seems more hopeless.  She needs God to change her husband’s heart and mind.

Another friend lost a child this year to a tragic death.  She’s trying to hold on to her faith, but struggling to pull all the pieces of her life together some days.

And those are just a few examples of where this prayer of David’s comes in handy. You and I will experience times in our life when we need saving…some of us feel that way every day…especially in certain seasons of life. Sometimes we need God to boldly enter into the situation! We need God to take over and do a quick miracle! We need deliverance! And fast!

God is never too slow…but then again…He is never too fast either. He is always…ALWAYS…right on time!

Come quickly God, and save us, the water has risen to flood stage!

For what in your life do you need to pray this prayer?

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Luke 6:32a NIV

I wonder if Jesus got an answer to this question!

Be honest…it is easier to love some people than others. Some people quite frankly are just difficult to love. (No names necessary, but you know who I’m talking about.)

Jesus doesn’t always call us to easy tasks, does He? We don’t live under the same standards as the rest of the world, do we?

You and I, the children of God, are called to live a life of love. That requirement stretches far beyond the loveable. It reaches those that are down and out; those who smell funny; those outside of our social class; those of different colors; and yes, those who are not capable of returning our love.

Jesus even calls us to love our enemies! As tough as that is, it is at the very heart of our Christian faith. Afterall, you and I were once in a similiar predicament as those so hard to love. Think about it, we were seperated from God. The crud of our sin left us unattractive to God. There was nothing any us of any value to a Holy God. We were outcast; down and out; without hope…….enemies of God!

But, praise be to God, He loved us in spite of who we were! He reached down with the depth of His love and sent us a Savior! He restored us from our sin state and gave us access into His presence! He loved us with the cross!

Now we are to love others as we have been loved…

Who is God calling you to love today?

Elijah had been used of God to hold back rain from the people for over 3 years, because of their sins. Obviously, he was not well liked as a preacher. I can only imagine the stress he experienced during those years. Something struck me recently, however, that seemed to further complicate Elijah’s situation.

Consider 1 Kings 18:1 “After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”

According to a couple NT passages, this “After a long time” was actually 3 ½ years. The famine was 3 ½ years long. For 3 ½ years, the people apparently continued to sin, Elijah continued to hold on by faith, but God said nothing. God was apparently inactive, not speaking, even to His great servant Elijah.

Have you ever been there? Has the silence of God in your life ever been eerily strong?

Imagine you had been faithfully serving…God is using you…you are in constant communication with Him…and then suddenly…everything is quiet.

The separation must have seemed unbearable. Elijah is un-liked and unpopular; he’s an outcast from the people and the One he trusted most was seemingly absent. God would soon do a miracle through Elijah, but during this period, all Elijah could do was wait.

If you have been believer for very long at all, you have had periods where it seems God is nowhere to be found. We often call them periods of spiritual dryness. Sometimes I refer to it as being in a spiritual funk.

What should we do during the times of silence, before the miracles of God come through for us?

If you are like me, you can figure out how to celebrate a miracle. You don’t need much help doing that. The tough part of life is figuring out what to do during the years of silence; during the years when miracles are nowhere to be found.

What do we do during the spiritual dry periods of life when we don’t hear clearly the voice of God?

Here are 7 actions I encourage you to consider:

Don’t ignore the silence…
Some of the biggest moves God has made in my life have come after a period of spiritual dryness; when it seemed like God was doing nothing in my life. Stay very close to God and watch for His power to be displayed.

Confront known sin in your life
This wasn’t the problem of silence for Elijah, but the problem for the Israelites was that they were chasing after other gods and living lives in total disobedience to God. Sin may not be the reason you don’t sense closeness to God right now, but if you have known sin in your life it will affect your intimacy with God.

Go back to what you know
Get back to the basics of the faith that saved you. You’ll do it 100’s of times in your life, but you must remind yourselves of the basis of faith. God is in control. He really is…even when it doesn’t seem that He is anywhere to be found.

Make a decision…Choose sides
You can’t adequately serve God and the world. Something happens in life, often sin, or busyness, or boredom, or a tragedy…but if we are normal, we have periods where we grow away from our close relationship with God. God hasn’t moved, but if you’ve shifted in your obedience, get back securely on the right side.

Trust More…Not less
Times of silence may be filled with fear, but these times will definitely require more faith. Times come in our spiritual life when our enthusiasm isn’t as real as when we began our walk with God. That’s not an indication to quit…it may be that God is using that time for something bigger than you could have imagined, but it will require a deeper level of trust.

Listen and Watch Closely
Some day God is going to make His plans known to you. Don’t miss them. He may come to your personally, through His Word, circumstances or another person. You’ll need to be in a position to know that God is moving. (Read THIS POST if you need help discerning God’s will.)

Get ready to receive
God will break the silence some day…and when He does….it WILL be good. If you mope around in your sorrows, you’ll be less prepared to receive the good things to come. Not because of your circumstances, but because of your faith, clothe yourself in joy as you wait for God to bless you after the period of silence.

Are you in one of those periods of silence today? How do you handle these periods of time?

Inactivity rarely produces anything…
Waiting on God doesn’t always mean doing nothing…

Jesus said, “My time has not yet come” (John 2:4)… He was in a time of waiting…yet He continued to act on what He could do…carrying out His Father’s work…

Do what you know to do today…
Take initiative towards change you know you should make…

In Joshua 3 they had to get in the water before it started to part…You may have to get in the water first, before you start to see results…

Create action…it is often then God begins to reveal the destination He is taking you towards…

What action do you need to take today?

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

I look good online. I appear to be all the things I’m not. Here’s the truth you need to know:

I can be greedy…
I can be prideful…
I can be arrogant…
I can be stubborn…
I can be lustful…
I can be unforgiving…
I can be judgmental…
I can be egotistical…
I can be selfish….
I can be uncaring…

There’s my list…Thankful, as always, for His grace…

I don’t want my prayers hindered in any way because I’m pretending to be someone I’m not. I feel better letting you know who I really am some days.

What do you need to confess today?

If we want to build a healthy community and strong relationships, we have to learn to think beyond ourselves…

Let’s face it…we live in a very selfish society…

Scripture is clear, however, that the role of a believer is to consider the interest of others, even before we consider our own. Paul writes, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3…emphasis mine)

Before we make decisions, a good practice is to ask ourselves “How will this decision impact others?”

If I buy this…
If I control this…
If I say this…
If I allow this…
If I park here…
If I wear this…
If I post this…
If I ignore this…
If I pull out now…
If I ________(What else would you add?)…

Part of loving God and loving others is considering others interests as we make decisions.

In what ways do you need to think beyond yourself?

Nate asked me an important question this weekend.  He asked, “When and how did you become disciplined in spiritual growth?”  That’s a great question.  I wish I could say I was most excellently disciplined, but I’m not…just disciplined.  I wonder though if some of you may be equal curious as to the answers to this question.

I first got serious about becoming a student of God’s Word and having daily time with Christ in my mid-twenties.  I wish it had happened earlier. I grew up in church, but it wasn’t until then that I really took my walk more serious than a Sunday routine.

As to how I disciplined myself, which may be the more important answer, that really has a two-part answer.

• I developed a passion for spiritual growth. The bottom line for most of us is that we are only going to do those things we want to do.  For me, thanks to the encouragement of a pastor at the time, I gained a sincere desire to know Christ more; serious enough that I was willing to discipline myself to do it.
• I found a system that worked for me. At first, I didn’t remember to tell Nate about this one, but it was an equally important part I believe in me becoming a self-learner.  Many people have a desire, but they never come up with the system that will accomplish the desire.  I found a system that fueled my passion, but also kept me disciplined enough to follow through each day.  I haven’t kept the same system I had then continually, but I know even today that without one I’m less likely to be disciplined in spiritual growth.  (I once wrote about that system HERE.)

There’s my answer to when and how I became disciplined in spiritual growth.  What’s your answer…or is this a question for which you still need to work on finding an answer?

I encourage you to start today!