Emotional Health

5 Dramatic Differences Under Pressure

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John 19:8-11 – “When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, ‘Where are you from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, ‘You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?’ Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.’”

We all know what the pressure point feels like. In that moment, all of the complex variables of life have converged to one moment where it feels like there is a vice squeezing in all around us as we feel the pressure intensely.

In the dramatic scene where Jesus Christ is on trial before Pilate, accused of declaring Himself to be God, the two men are under incredible pressure. Pilate had problems at work and home. At work, he was pressed by local religious leadership who wanted Jesus executed. If that didn’t happen, they might bring a riot and drag his boss, the Caesar of Rome, into the conflict, which could likely cause Pilate to not only lose his job but also his head. Face to face with Jesus, Pilate knows that He is a good and not a guilty man, something Pilate states no less than seven times in the four gospels before killing Jesus. At home, Pilate had pressure from his wife who was warned by God in a prophetic dream that Jesus was a good man (Matthew 27:19). Pilate, who was likely a spiritual and superstitious man, feared his fate. Despite the opportunity to do right, Pilate ultimately violates James 4:17 and has Jesus sentenced to death, “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Face-to-face under the same pressures, we see five dramatic differences between Pilate and Jesus.

Pilate got political and sought a political compromise which brought failure. Jesus got prayerful and spent an entire night seeking the will of God which brought faith.
Pilate tried to win and sought the outcome he wanted. Jesus tried to worship and surrendered to the outcome the Father wanted.
Pilate rejected what was right and experienced internal bondage with fear and burden. Jesus accepted what was right and experienced internal freedom and a burden lifted so that He was freer than Pilate, who held him in custody.
Pilate thought short-term about this life and a kingdom that came to an end. Jesus thought long-term about eternal life and a Kingdom that never ends.
Pilate killed Jesus so that he could live and later committed suicide, killing himself. Jesus was killed and later rose from death to live forever.
Which of these five failures of Pilate do you relate to most? Why?

You Can Look Down or Come Down

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John 19:2-5 – “the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, ‘See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.’ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the man!’”

Ours is a world in which everyone is trying to go up. In business, everyone is trying to climb the corporate ladder to get a bigger office and bigger income through a better job. In politics, everyone is positioning themselves for greater prominence, power, and poll numbers. There is no bestselling book on how to have less, be less, and suffer more.

In Heaven, worshipped as a King by angels as He sat on a throne, Jesus had it all. He was literally at the top of every ladder. Then, Jesus did the unthinkable – He came down that ladder to the earth to be born to peasant parents and laid in an animal’s feeding trough as His first crib. For roughly 90 percent of His life, Jesus lived in obscurity, working in a small town as a carpenter with His dad. His ministry lasted a short three years and resulted in religious and political leaders forming an unholy alliance to murder Him. In mockery, Jesus was publicly beaten, then forced to wear a crown of thorns before being flogged so that His body was ravaged beyond recognition.

Why?           

Jesus is humble. Satan is proud, and Jesus is humble. Satan was the first being to try and go up and usurp God as the one sitting on the throne. When Satan was cast down to the earth, he brought pride with him. When Jesus came to earth, He brought humility with Him and established the Kingdom virtue which is the opposite of the way the world works. This explains why on the list of things God hates, pride comes first, Proverbs 6:16-19 says, “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him” and first on the list is “haughty eyes”. Haughty eyes are proud and look down on people who are beneath you. Jesus looked down upon the earth with humble eyes and came down to love and serve others by placing Himself beneath them.

What prideful area of your life needs the most urgent attention

How do I schedule dates with my spouse with busy schedules?

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This week’s question is from this month’s exclusive Marriage Content: “Pray together, play together, and lay together so you can stay together!” With busy schedules, how do you make sure to find time to connect with your spouse?

Watch Pastor Mark and Grace team up to explain the difference between Shoulder to Shoulder relationships, Back to Back relationships, and Face to Face relationships.

Peter is a Hot Mess Minus the Hot

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John 18:10-11 – “Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) So Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?’

After more than two decades preaching the Bible week after week, there is one character in the Bible that I find most people relate to: Peter. Peter is a hot mess minus the hot.

Peter started as a businessman, running what was likely a large fishing business. He was married with a wife who did ministry with him (1 Corinthians 9:5), and a mother-in-law whom God healed (Mark 1:30-32). He was on the inner circle of three disciples closest to Jesus along with James and John.

Here, we see that Peter is quite a character. For starters, he apparently not only trusts in Jesus but travels with a sword. When more than 600 trained and armed soldiers surround Jesus and His 11 disciples, Peter, who is a fisherman and not a fighter, pulls his sword to take matters into his own hands. Peter is the kind of guy who thinks that sometimes God needs help, his help. Missing the mark, Peter lops off the ear of some guy named Malchus. The other gospels tell us that Jesus healed Malchus and put his ear back on just in time for him to hear Jesus rebuke Peter.

We love Peter because he is impetuous. He’s a big personality, and the polar opposite of Judas. Judas was covert, Peter was overt. You never know what Judas is doing. You never have to wonder what Peter was doing. Earlier in their journey together, Peter not only claimed Jesus as the Christ, but then started bossing Jesus around. Here, Peter is going to go to war for Jesus, and before long will deny Jesus to a young girl. Peter is emotional, impetuous, and the kind of guy whose life does not have a dimmer switch. He’s all in or all out.

The reason we love Peter is because we are like Peter. Like Peter, most of us get it right…the second time…or third time…

Following the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Peter got better but was still a work in progress. He preached the sermon at Pentecost that launched the Church. On the four lists of disciples’ names in the New Testament, he is always listed first as the senior leader. He wrote two books of the Bible, and was reportedly crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to die like Jesus. But, he was also a bit of a racist whom Paul had to rebuke to his face. He made progress, but was not perfect. So it is with real Christians.

How are you like Peter?

Jesus is About Joy

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John 17:13 – “But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

Jesus is about joy!

Nearing His death, Jesus paused to pray of Christians, “That they may have my joy”.

Simply put, the life of a Christian, like the life of Jesus, is not always marked by great comfort, wealth, health, ease, or simplicity. Nevertheless, it is filled with the presence of God and the purpose of God so that all we have, do, and endure can and will be used to glorify God and benefit others as it was with Jesus as he went to the cross. Consider this powerful passage from Philippians:

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death—

even death on a cross!  (2:1-8)

 

Those words were likely part of a hymn sung by the early church. So this meditation on the joy of Jesus was a worship song!

The Christian life is supposed to be one of joy. Not the kind of joy that most people seek, but the overflow of purposeful and passionate life lived in relationship with God by the power of the Holy Spirit in the example of Jesus to the glory of the Father. Any life lived by any other power following any other example for the glory of anyone or anything else cannot and will not result in joy. This explains why the most “successful” people are also often the most miserable.

Do not waste a single second of your life. Not even the bad parts, the dark parts. Do not put your life on autopilot when the going gets rough. Jesus is praying here in John 17 about a good life, not an easy life. There is a difference!

I will tell you who did not have hope, who lost hope—Judas. Jesus and Judas are the two examples of how to live one’s life. Jesus hung from a tree for the glory of God and the joy of the world, a precursor to his reigning in glory forever. Judas hung from a tree in his own noose, having gained some money and having lost his soul.

There is joy in knowing that your sins are forgiven, God’s love will never leave you, your eternal seat in heaven is guaranteed, and that this world is as close to hell as you will ever be and that one day soon you won’t be here anymore.

What is most joyful in your life right now that you can thank God for?

Did You Know that Jesus is Praying for YOU RIGHT NOW!?

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Who do you pray with? Who do you pray for? Who prays for you?

One of the surest ways to build a relationship is to pray with someone.

In the final days before His death on the cross, Jesus stops to pray for Himself (John 17:1-5) 2), Christians (John 17:6-19) 3), and non-Christians (17:20-26).

When praying for Christians in His day, and those of us who would join them in faith nearly 2000 years later, Jesus said this in John 17:9, “I am praying for them”.

If you are a Christian, Jesus was praying for you! How amazing is that! Headed to the cross to die for your sin and rise for your salvation, Jesus stopped to pray for you. You were on His mind and in His heart.

Amazingly, to this very day and at this very moment, Jesus is praying for you. Right now, Jesus is alive and speaking to God the Father and God the Spirit about you! The angels overhear their conversation and are dispatched for missions on the earth to help you and the rest of God’s people.

Hebrews 7:25 speaks of Jesus praying for you saying, “he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” The concept of an intercessor is someone who stands with you and for you so that you are not alone. Jesus does this for you continually.

Romans 8:34 says, “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Jesus knows your needs, sees your fears, understands your burdens and is your intercessory prayer warrior. Having been on the earth, He understands what you are going through. Now in the Kingdom, He prays for you by bringing your needs to the Father. God wants you to know that Jesus is praying for you so that you believe that He loves you, is for you, and working on your behalf constantly.

What would you guess Jesus is talking to the Father about today regarding you?

John #34 – Pray For Yourself: John 17:1-5

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The best way to start this year is by talking to God about your plans and listening to hear what He has to say. Deepen your relationship with God by learning how to pray for yourself by studying the longest prayer that Jesus ever prayed.

Taking God’s Word to Heart

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Malachi 2:1-2: “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.”

There’s an old adage that says perhaps God gave us two ears and one mouth because we should listen twice as much as we speak. That insight holds a hold of truth.           

The God of the Bible is a relational God. Because God is relational, He also speaks to us and wants us to listen. The problem addressed in Malachi is one that is true in every day. Leaders who were supposed to listen to God and then echo His instruction to the people were not listening. We don’t know exactly why. Maybe their life was a mess and they didn’t want to change? Maybe the powerful people, big donors, and exhausting religious types in their ministry would declare war on them if they told them everything that God said to say? Maybe they were lazy and didn’t like to go to all the work of studying and teaching God’s Word?           

Whatever the reason, the result was ruining both the leaders and their followers. In our relationship with God, everything rises or falls with our willingness to listen. Here is a little equation to help simplify things:

Listening + Obeying = Honoring

Taking something in our ears is much easier than welcoming it into our heart. That means we are supposed to love the truth, obey the truth, and submit to the truth. When God speaks (and He always is starting with the Bible and our conscience both lead by the Holy Spirit), we have two options on how to respond. There’s a clue in this Scripture as God is called “the LORD of hosts”. That little phrase is pregnant with military meaning and refers to God ruling over holy angels and unholy demons. In heaven, God spoke to all the angels. Those who listened and took it to heart remained angels. Those who did not listen or take it to heart became demons.           

When God speaks, our response is either angelic or demonic.

Is there anything God has been speaking to you that you aren’t taking to heart?

How’s Your Spiritual Diet?

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Malachi 2:1-2: “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.”

When each of our five children were little, my wife Grace was amazing to watch. For her entire life, she had studied health and nutrition. Once the kids showed up, she knew exactly what to feed them and what not to feed them. As I asked her to inform my ignorance, she explained that the children’s digestive system meant that their little body could not process all foods. Many would make them sick or even cause them to develop lifelong allergies if they were introduced into their diet too early.           

I had no idea and had I been the one feeding the kids, it would not have gone well. The old adage “you are what you eat” is apparently quite true. And what is true of your body is also true of your soul. In Matthew 4:4, Jesus said that we should feed our soul the word of God and that God’s “word” was soul “bread”. Practically, when I teach the Bible at church, I am to feed the souls of our church family with the same care that Grace feeds the bodies of our family at home.

In Malachi, God, through the prophet, keeps rebuking the Old Testament pastors (called priests) publicly. These are the leaders who are also supposed to be the feeders. But they are not listening to God and feeding the people healthy doctrine. God is passionate about seeing His children well fed so they can be healthy rather than sick. This is a bit like the conversation Jesus had with Peter when He told him “feed my sheep”.          

Like the priests, there are many people who God expects to feed the souls of others – pastors, ministry leaders, moms, dads, teachers, coaches, spouses, counselors, authors, friends, etc. To feed someone is a great honor, and great responsibility. This is why James 3:1 says, “…we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”           

Who feeds your soul?

Whose soul do you feed?          

What are you eating? What are you feeding others?

In Titus 2:1, the Bible tells us to “teach what accords with sound doctrine”. That word for “sound” is sometimes translated “healthy”? Why? Because when rightly taught, the Word of God makes the soul of a person healthy so that they become increasingly healthy from the inside out.

Is there anything you are learning or consuming in the form of content (videos, books, blogs, social media, television, movies, podcasts, etc.) that is not healthy and is making your soul unhealthy?

Learning to Lament

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But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

– Romans 8:25-28 MEV.

I remember a stormy season of life when I realized I’m guilty of one of Western culture’s most unhelpful habits: celebrating victories publicly and mourning defeats privately. This results in very few of us knowing how to lament. We isolate ourselves when we hurt the most, whereas Bible guys, including fierce warriors like David, knew how to lament like men.

Here are some benefits of God-centered, tear-soaked, Spirit-filled, Bible-based, gut-level lamenting.

When you lament, you allow yourself to feel.Numbing yourself to the hurt means you stop feeling everything else in life. Lamenting helps you feel life’s full range of normal emotions.

When you lament, you process pain.Lamenting helps you work through your heartaches. You have to feel so you can heal.

When you lament, you grieve your involvement and shed your victim mind-set. Lamenting allows you to evaluate what you have done, where you must change, and how you can act differently in the future.

When you lament, you don’t lash out in vengeance at others. Lamenting helps you work out with God the energy and frustration that naturally comes from pain.

When you lament, you empathize with others who are hurting. After you have lamented your pain with the Lord and experienced healing in your soul, you can invite people who have experienced similar pains to share those with you.

When you lament, you feel hope for the future. Failing to lament leaves you forever circling the drain of the past, never escaping the toxicity that surrounds. Lamenting allows you to look up from your tears to see what God might have on the horizon.

When you lament, you escape anger and depression. Some people stuck in a spiral of grief are prone to depression. Lamenting allows you to avoid depression—as well as depression masked by anger.

How did Jesus deal with His suffering? By Spirit-led lamenting. Isaiah 53:3 calls Him our “suffering servant” (NASB) a “man of sorrows,” and “acquainted with grief.” Emotional and tear-filled New Testament scenes let us see the Lord Jesus weep over Jerusalem, mourn the death of His dear friend Lazarus, and agonize on the cross. Jesus worked through His suffering by lamenting, and He helps us do the same.

Have You Attended the School of Suffering?

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Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Some of those who stood there heard it and said, “This Man is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with wine, and put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink. The rest said, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.” And Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, released His spirit.

– Matthew 27:45-50 MEV.

Allof the suffering that Jesus experienced culminated on the cross. There, He suffered completely and totally in every category simultaneously. We do not worship a God who stands back at a safe distance viewing the horror story of human history, but rather a faithful High Priest who empathizes with us. He’s been through what we go through, felt what we feel, and conquered what we face.

We spend our energy seeking to run from these things, but Jesus willingly ran to them.

Crucifixion was and is brutal. In recent times crucifixion continues by extremist terrorist groups such as ISIS.The goal of such horror is always the same—to strike terror in the hearts of others. To crucify one person publicly is to send a chilling fear into the hearts of anyone and everyone who might agree with them or follow them. The message is clear: do not believe what they believe or you will endure what they endure.

All of human history had been marching to the cross of Jesus. As Jesus hung there bleeding, weeping, and dying, the visible mob of humanity, as well as the invisible legions of angels and demons, were anxiously awaiting His response. Jesus suffered nobly, humbly, and lovingly. Then He died—and needed to wait for time to vindicate Him. The same is true for you. If history does not vindicate you, eternity will.

What I’m sharing in these devotionals on suffering are things I’ve learned as I walked through my own valley of the shadow of death. When suffering comes, it does feel as if we are in a wilderness. You feel overwhelmed, discouraged, fearful, and even hopeless. In your worst moments the Holy Spirit cries out to you, begging you to not harden your heart toward God or rebel against God’s will for your life. Our greatest need when suffering is the Spirit. He reminds us of Jesus’ suffering for us and comes to help us suffer well.

Are You Suffering? Learn From Jesus’ Suffering

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And He took the cup and gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves.For I tell you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then He took the bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” In like manner, He took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood which is shed for you.

– Luke 22:17-20 MEV.

By the time Jesus reaches His final week, He has already been run out of His hometown as a prophet without honor. Jesus ominously begins talking openly about His impending death. Jesus sits down with His Jewish disciples to eat the traditional Passover meal that God’s people have been eating ever since their deliverance from bondage and slavery in Egypt as recorded in Exodus.

Today we call this meal the “Last Supper,” and it has been memorialized in the painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Passover is about forgiveness and deliverance. Passover memorialized the night in Egypt when in faith God’s people painted the doorposts to their home with the blood of a lamb.

The lamb had to be unblemished, showing its purity, and slaughtered as a substitute in the place of the sinner. They painted the doorposts with the blood as an act of faith, showing that the household believed they were sinners deserving death but that through the death of a substitute without spot or blemish they received forgiveness and God’s wrath passed over them. Conversely those who were not covered by the blood of the lamb saw death come to their home.

This ritual foreshadowed the coming of Jesus in John 1:29 when John the Baptizer said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (NLT). Reflecting back, Paul would later write in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us” (NLT).

Sitting at the Passover, Jesus broke with fifteen centuries of tradition. The Scriptures to be read and words to be spoken had remained virtually unchanged from generation to generation. However, everything was about to change at the cross of Jesus.

As Jesus was eating, His suffering was beginning. He has endured every category of suffering and has compassion for you. What kinds of suffering have you endured?