'Jesus is _______.' was a series that a pastor out of the Seattle area did about two years ago. It is an awesome series! From that series I have been working on a list of who God is I want to challenge you today to read this list out loud, for two weeks straight, first thing in the morning. Getting to know God in these ways can be very powerful in your life! It takes two minutes to read. If you have any to add or verses to add let me know!
This is the list that I drew from when I ended the message Bragging on God's Goodness a little while back.
Here's the list!
Jesus is God
Jesus is my good enough
Jesus is my more than enough
Jesus is my healer
Jesus is my friend
God is my peace
God is my love
God is my provider
God is my friend
God is my shepherd
God is my Helper
Jesus is my wisdom
God is my grace
God is my mercy
God is my Truth
God is my Life
God is my Way
God is my hope
Jesus is my Joy
Jesus is my rock
Jesus is my fortress
God is my strength
God is my protector
My shield psalms 3:3
My glory psalms 3:3
God is my victory
God is my every where friend
God is my banner of love and protection
God is my righteousness
God is my salvation
God is my savior
God is my deliverer
Jesus is my rescuer, 1 Thessalonians 1:10
Jesus is my Overcomer
God is my refuge
God is my stronghold
God is my redeemer
God is my restorer
God is my supplier
God is my portion psalm 73:26
God is my song
God is my light
God is my purity
God is my Passion
God is my Inheritance
God is my direction
God is my romance
God is my comfort
God is my warrior.
God is my satisfaction
God is my completeness
God is my one stop shop
Jesus is my resurrection power
Jesus is my creator
Jesus is better
Holy Spirit is my comforter.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
I'm worn....
Have you ever been ridiculously tired? Every Christmas the guys in my family go play football. We have so much fun trying to out run each other when most of us aren't really all that fast. But it lets us get some fun in throwing the long bomb and watching some unfortunate person dive and take 10 minutes getting up. Usually me... When I'm done with those games I am usually so tired and sore I don't even want to eat any more. I just want to sit on the couch and stare blankly at the screen as some poor college kids gets their brains knocked out.
But haven't you ever felt like that spiritually and mentally? So worn out the songs of the band 'Tenth Avenue North' ring so true?
My prayers are wearing thin
Yeah, I’m worn
Even before the day begins
Yeah, I’m worn
I’ve lost my will to fight
I’m worn
So, heaven come and flood my eyes
(from song 'Worn')
At the end of this musical bridge it is trying to build up to a positive big emotional plea but most of the time in our hearts, doesn't it feel like its a do or die statement of "God this is it, HELP!!!" It's not really a positive moment but a reminder that somehow we aren't living up to the stories we read about in the bible.
Sometimes the answer is so simple we ignore it because we don't understand it or misinterpret what it is saying. It's so easy to miss...
3 words can start a revolution if you let it. "Come to me" Jesus says. He doesn't say come to religion. He doesn't say come to discipline. He doesn't say come to church. He doesn't say come to your pastor. In Matthew 11:28 'Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.'
Come to me, the lover of your souls! Come to me, I have a future and a hope for you. Come to me, I have peace and rest for you. Come to me, and taste and see that I am good. Come to me you who are weary and I will take the heavy yoke. Come to me, I love and care about you more than you can ever imagine. Come to me! Come to me! Come to me! Don't turn to tv as an escape I'm here alive and well. Don't turn to substitute pleasures, I'm all you need. Don't ignore me, I'm here to help. I'm here as a savior, a shepherd, a friend, an ally, a warrior, and a king.
From this day forth let there be a constant reminder that when troubles come, and I'm worn, I can go to Jesus and he can help in every situation and time of need. And as we go to Jesus we can know in our hearts that:
Redemption wins
The struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I know a song can rise
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
(words edited from song 'Worn')
Being tired happens. Being worn out happens. But Jesus is always there.
This is what I do when I turn to Jesus: 99.9% of it usually means that I have put my trust in something other than God and I have to remind myself of all that He is and has done. As I remind myself, the trust begins to move back towards being in Jesus. It doesn't mean that the situation is better - 'hallelujah' phony optimism. It means that Jesus comes in, the only way that he can, and peace and rest begin to fill you and the stronghold of weariness is destroyed.
Jesus is our rest.
Jesse
But haven't you ever felt like that spiritually and mentally? So worn out the songs of the band 'Tenth Avenue North' ring so true?
My prayers are wearing thin
Yeah, I’m worn
Even before the day begins
Yeah, I’m worn
I’ve lost my will to fight
I’m worn
So, heaven come and flood my eyes
(from song 'Worn')
At the end of this musical bridge it is trying to build up to a positive big emotional plea but most of the time in our hearts, doesn't it feel like its a do or die statement of "God this is it, HELP!!!" It's not really a positive moment but a reminder that somehow we aren't living up to the stories we read about in the bible.
Sometimes the answer is so simple we ignore it because we don't understand it or misinterpret what it is saying. It's so easy to miss...
3 words can start a revolution if you let it. "Come to me" Jesus says. He doesn't say come to religion. He doesn't say come to discipline. He doesn't say come to church. He doesn't say come to your pastor. In Matthew 11:28 'Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.'
Come to me, the lover of your souls! Come to me, I have a future and a hope for you. Come to me, I have peace and rest for you. Come to me, and taste and see that I am good. Come to me you who are weary and I will take the heavy yoke. Come to me, I love and care about you more than you can ever imagine. Come to me! Come to me! Come to me! Don't turn to tv as an escape I'm here alive and well. Don't turn to substitute pleasures, I'm all you need. Don't ignore me, I'm here to help. I'm here as a savior, a shepherd, a friend, an ally, a warrior, and a king.
From this day forth let there be a constant reminder that when troubles come, and I'm worn, I can go to Jesus and he can help in every situation and time of need. And as we go to Jesus we can know in our hearts that:
Redemption wins
The struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I know a song can rise
From the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
(words edited from song 'Worn')
Being tired happens. Being worn out happens. But Jesus is always there.
This is what I do when I turn to Jesus: 99.9% of it usually means that I have put my trust in something other than God and I have to remind myself of all that He is and has done. As I remind myself, the trust begins to move back towards being in Jesus. It doesn't mean that the situation is better - 'hallelujah' phony optimism. It means that Jesus comes in, the only way that he can, and peace and rest begin to fill you and the stronghold of weariness is destroyed.
Jesus is our rest.
Jesse
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
I love reading.
I love reading. I like reading the bible. I like reading fantasy/scifi novels. I like reading discipleship/apologetic books.I like reading leadership books. Reading is pretty amazing and here's why! Some one can study a subject, learn about it, live through it, then write it all down and I can read that writing and learn those same lessons without having to go through the heartache myself and avoid situations that the writer had to go through. It's incredible that we can learn about how to live and avoid problems that other people went through!
Even then, there's still more. Because this world is broken we are still going to go through stuff, but when we read we can learn how to deal with problems before they happen to us. It is amazing to me how much is out there to help us learn and grow and be the best we can be. Just to start us off we have the most incredible book of all time the bible. This is cool, did you know that all the best seller lists don't include the bible because the bible blows every book out of the water in terms of sales, and it has for decades. The bible has stories, history, personal development, and more in this incredible book. I believe this is the book that needs to be the start of personal growth. No other book can help you like this book can. One thing to remember when reading the bible is that the bible was not written to us, but it is for us. The bible was written to people thousands of years ago, with different cultures and beliefs. If we don't try to understand those cultures and beliefs then we completely miss what the bible is teaching at that time in history. But when we begin to learn and understand what was going on way back then, we begin to understand the principles behind what he was talking about.
We then have other types of books that are great to read because they are for us today. Many people have read and studied what the bible was trying to say back then and helped interpret this for us today. These are called bible commentaries. There are some that are good, some that are a little wacky, but the majority written by confessing Christians are pretty awesome. The reason I say confessing Christians is that there are those out there that don't believe in Jesus and they study the bible and put out their own commentaries that are extremely liberal in their thinking. On biblegateway.com they have some of the standard commentaries that have been out for quite some time now. Commentaries are usually very academic in their writing.
On top of all of that we even have more books that can help us grow. These are called on amazon.com or other book websites 'Christian Living.' These books are written for us today dealing with situations that we are dealing with right now in our culture and time. On amazon there are over 164,000 books in this section. This is an insane amount of books. A crazy amount of knowledge. There are quite a few for all different types of situations people have been through and studied. I want to encourage you today to become someone who reads. My goal is to read 10 pages a day from a personal growth book. I would not be where I am today if I had not been a reader from an early age. People who read consistently are on average significantly happier, and more successful. Read for fun and to grow! You will never regret reading to grow.
Here is a list of my top books to read:
1. The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews
2. Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge
3. Jesus is _____. by Juday Smith
4. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen
5. The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge
Books that I'm reading right now are:
20,000 Days and Counting by Robert D. Smith
Killing Lions by John Eldredge
Achievement by David Byrd and Mark Smith
If you want suggestions for books to read I have many.
Reading is an incredible way to learn and grow. Do what you need to do to take time to be all that you can be.
Jesse
Even then, there's still more. Because this world is broken we are still going to go through stuff, but when we read we can learn how to deal with problems before they happen to us. It is amazing to me how much is out there to help us learn and grow and be the best we can be. Just to start us off we have the most incredible book of all time the bible. This is cool, did you know that all the best seller lists don't include the bible because the bible blows every book out of the water in terms of sales, and it has for decades. The bible has stories, history, personal development, and more in this incredible book. I believe this is the book that needs to be the start of personal growth. No other book can help you like this book can. One thing to remember when reading the bible is that the bible was not written to us, but it is for us. The bible was written to people thousands of years ago, with different cultures and beliefs. If we don't try to understand those cultures and beliefs then we completely miss what the bible is teaching at that time in history. But when we begin to learn and understand what was going on way back then, we begin to understand the principles behind what he was talking about.
We then have other types of books that are great to read because they are for us today. Many people have read and studied what the bible was trying to say back then and helped interpret this for us today. These are called bible commentaries. There are some that are good, some that are a little wacky, but the majority written by confessing Christians are pretty awesome. The reason I say confessing Christians is that there are those out there that don't believe in Jesus and they study the bible and put out their own commentaries that are extremely liberal in their thinking. On biblegateway.com they have some of the standard commentaries that have been out for quite some time now. Commentaries are usually very academic in their writing.
On top of all of that we even have more books that can help us grow. These are called on amazon.com or other book websites 'Christian Living.' These books are written for us today dealing with situations that we are dealing with right now in our culture and time. On amazon there are over 164,000 books in this section. This is an insane amount of books. A crazy amount of knowledge. There are quite a few for all different types of situations people have been through and studied. I want to encourage you today to become someone who reads. My goal is to read 10 pages a day from a personal growth book. I would not be where I am today if I had not been a reader from an early age. People who read consistently are on average significantly happier, and more successful. Read for fun and to grow! You will never regret reading to grow.
Here is a list of my top books to read:
1. The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews
2. Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge
3. Jesus is _____. by Juday Smith
4. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen
5. The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge
Books that I'm reading right now are:
20,000 Days and Counting by Robert D. Smith
Killing Lions by John Eldredge
Achievement by David Byrd and Mark Smith
If you want suggestions for books to read I have many.
Reading is an incredible way to learn and grow. Do what you need to do to take time to be all that you can be.
Jesse
Friday, October 3, 2014
Favorite Scripture Verses
I just wanted to share with you some of my favorite scripture verses. There's no order on which is my favorite, they are all number one.
5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we[c] rejoice[d] in hope of the glory of God.
16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law."
Galatians 2:16 NLT
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Colossians 2:3
17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we[c] rejoice[d] in hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1-2 ESV
16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law."
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Colossians 2:3
17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
1 John 4:17 ESV
There are so many incredible verses, these few are some of my favorites.
Let me know what some of yours are on my facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/jesse.mcgaffee
Jesse
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