Tag Archive - Christianity

Where Does Jesus Live at Your House?

December 1, 2011 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

James Steen and his wife were explaining to their 3-year-old son, Harrison, how much Jesus loves him.
James asked him if he knew where Jesus lived, assuming his son might say, “In my heart,” or “In heaven.”
But Harrison thought about it and said, “He lives in the basement.”
The Steen’s were puzzled by the answer, but finally understood when they remembered that the basement was where they stored their nativity scene.*

If someone asked you where Jesus lived, what would be your answer? I’m sure we’d give the right “church” answer that He lives in our heart, but where does He really live? Do we keep Him in the basement. Do we store Him away and only bring Him out for special occasions? Do we only allow Him in certain parts of our homes? Do we have rooms that we don’t want Him to enter?
We need to remember that Jesus is more than an ornament with which we decorate our homes and our lives. To have Jesus live in our hearts means that He brings the very presence of God into our midst.

Where does Jesus live at your house? Your answer may say a lot more about you than it does Him.

“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”
(John 1:14, NLT)

*James Steen, “Kids of the Kingdom,” Today’s Christian (Nov/Dec 2005), p. 9

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Please Leave a Message?!

May 4, 2011 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

A little over two years ago, (March 2009), Dutch artist Johan van der Dong decided God needed a telephone number. So, he got him one. He bought a cell phone number and set up the voice mail to show that God was “available anywhere and anytime.” “In earlier times you would go to a church to say a prayer,” Dong said in an interview, “and now [this is an] opportunity to just make a phone call and say your prayer in a modern way.”

It seems a lot of people appreciate the opportunity Dong has afforded them with his “divine hotline.” Within one week, over 1,000 people left God a message.

There is a little irony with Dong’s idea.  He set all of this up to convey that God was available, yet when you call the number for God, this is what you hear on the other side of the line: “This is the voice of God. I am not able to speak to you at the moment, but please leave a message.” And to make matters worse, Dong only kept the line open for six months.

 

How do you connect with God?  Do you think that reaching Him is a lot like reaching a human in customer service?  Do you think He so busy that He’ll have to get back to you? (If at all.)

I think we first have to remember that He is always available.  We don’t have to leave a message.  We simply need to understand that He is far more willing to hear our prayers than we are to say them.  You don’t have to call or text Him.  You simply have to turn to Him with a humble heart, willing to hear what He has to say.

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV)

sources: Associated Press, “Dutch leave messages on God phone,” www.newsvote.bbc.co.uk (3-7-09), and Reuters, “Leave God a message at his Dutch answering service,” www.reuters.com (3-2-09)


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Saved by Another’s Blood

March 11, 2011 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

 

   On November 26, 2008, a gang of terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, India. After the carnage had left 200 people dead, a reporter interviewed a guest who had been at the hotel for dinner that night. The guest described how he and his friends were eating dinner when they heard gunshots. Someone grabbed him and pulled him under the table. The assassins came striding through the restaurant, shooting at will, until everyone (or so they thought) had been killed.

 

Miraculously, this man survived. When the interviewer asked the guest how he lived when everyone else at his table had been killed, he replied, “I suppose because I was covered in someone else’s blood, and they took me for dead.”*

As we go through Lent, we need to remind ourselves that this life of faith we live is a gift because someone else shed their blood. Because of our sin, all of us deserve to die. But because we are covered with the blood of Jesus our savior, we live. We live, not because of our goodness or even because we try to be good, but simply because His blood is on us.

How is that blood get on us? By faith. The Scripture is clear that if we believe He died for us, then His blood is on us.

“Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ” Romans 5:9 (NIV84)

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*Ravi Zacharias, Has Christianity Failed You? (Zondervan, 2010), p. 42;

 

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Picking Up the Pieces

February 26, 2011 in Church Life, Daily Faith with 0 Comments

 

A man came home from work one day and was greeted by his two daughters at the door. “What did you two do today,” he asked them?

How easy it is to point out blame, to ridicule and to condemn. How Christlike it is to pick up the pieces.“Oh,” exclaimed the oldest, “I washed the dishes.”"And what did you do?” the father asked the younger girl.She replied with a big smile, “I picked up the pieces!”What a beautiful picture of the church in action. We are most like Christ when we pick up the pieces. There are broken lives scattered all around us. They have been broken apart by tragedy or despair. Sin often shatters many a life. And some are simply torn apart by the hectic daily grind of everyday life.We can show God’s love as we help others pick up those pieces and put them together again. They see Christ in us as we forgive them and help them receive God’s forgiveness. They receive God’s healing grace as we encourage them and help them find hope in Christ. Also, the beauty of God’s kingdom is that we who help to heal often find healing ourselves.

“So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:11, The Message)

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Quick Fixes

February 23, 2011 in Daily Faith with 0 Comments

Bob Curran was hurrying to work one rainy morning when his defroster suddenly quit working. Unable to proceed with a foggy windshield, Bob stopped his old pickup truck. He was not surprised to discover that a fuse had blown. He looked in the glove compartment and in his tool box, but he could not find a fuse. However, underneath the seat, he found a .22 caliber bullet. He had no doubt dropped it during a recent camping trip. To his delight the shell fit the fuse holder perfectly.

Congratulating himself on his ingenious solution, he hurried on to work with a clear windshield. He did get to work eventually, but he did have to make a short detour that morning. He had to go to the emergency room of the city hospital. It seems that he had to have a .22 caliber slug removed from his knee. Bob’s brilliant solution had literally backfired on him.

When it comes to the problems of life how often do we try to find quick fixes. Our hearts feel empty, so we try to fill them with the things this world says will fill them. We fill our lives with more and more stuff, more activity, more busyness, more of what the world says we need or deserve. These might work for a while, but sooner or later they backfire on us. The longing of our hearts is for God and can only be filled by Him. As Augustine, a leader in the early church, once said, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.” Acceptance by the crowd, material possessions, even physical pleasure can temporarily dull the gnawing of our souls, but only God can satisfy.

I suppose that is why Jesus told us in John 14:6,

 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ” (John 14:6, NIV84)

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