Archives For Jesus

Just Say No

Phil —  December 4, 2012 — Leave a comment

‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Clear the road for him! The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’ Luke 3:4-6 NLT

This passage is one of the commonly used Scripture passages during the season of Advent. Make way for the Lord! That is what this season is all about.

But he so easily gets crowded out. There are so many “should do’s” during the month of December. We hang the lights on the house, put up the tree, bake the Christmas Cookies, sign up for the servant event at church, clean the house for guests, attend the Christmas party, send out our Christmas cards, and much more. It always seems like one more thing.

It makes me wonder if Jesus is really happy about all this. Are we honoring him? After all this season is supposed to be all about him. Whose expectations are we trying to live up to? Why do we do all this stuff that we do?

One of the best things we can do during the Christmas season is to just say “no.” We worry about letting other people down. Or we worry that if we don’t participate we will somehow miss out. The reality the other people are probably too busy to take notice that you are not participating. And by saying “no,” you are giving yourself some space.

Preparing ourselves for Jesus is involves silencing ourselves. Jesus says, “Abide in me and you will bear much fruit.” (John 15:5)

There is the story about Mary and Martha. Martha is scrambling all around and trying to do everything that needs to be done for Jesus. At the same time the Bible says Mary is sitting at Jesus feet listening to what he has to say. Jesus says, “Martha, Martha you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needful and Mary has chosen what is better.” Martha had placed false expectations upon herself. She felt like she needed to do what she was doing, but it was not Jesus that was demanding it of her. (Luke 10:38-42)

Jesus said, “take my yoke for it is easy and light.” (Matthew 11:30) If you are feeling overwhelmed this Christmas season take a step back, consider why you are doing what you are doing, and then just say “no.” Then take some time and open up the Bible. Pray together with your family. Sing some Christmas carols. Enjoy the gifts and blessing God has already put in your life.

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Before You Run, Tie Your Shoes

admin —  August 30, 2012 — 1 Comment

There is so much talk about growing in faith. There is a desire to go deeper in the truths of God. We all yearn to discover that secret that has been hidden for ages that is the key to unlock our happiness, joy, peace, fulfillment, and success. We strive to discover that secret recipe that will enable us to accomplish all God would have us accomplish.

Want the big secret? Consider the following . . .

John Wooden of UCLA is considered the greatest college basketball coach of all time. His teams won 10 NCAA championship teams in 12 years during the 1960s and 1970s. Imagine being a new recruit of the Wizard of Westwood and showing up for your first practice. You can’t wait to learn the Wizard’s secret recipe and formula for success. What great knowledge would the Coach soon impart upon you that would transform you into an All-American? Jim Collins, in Good to Great, writes what that experience looked like:

The coach comes out and opens the first moments of practice in a quiet voice, “We will begin by learning how to tie our shoes.” You look over to a couple of famous seniors, All‐Americans who’ve already won national championships, thinking this must be some kind of freshman initiation. But no, the seniors calmly begin taking off their shoes and preparing for the shoe‐tying lesson. “First, put your socks, slowly with care, over your toes,” says the coach. The seniors diligently follow instructions. “Now, move your socks up here…and here…smooth out all the wrinkles…nice and tight…take your time,” the coach intones his lesson, like some sort of far‐out Zen master teaching you how to make tea as a path to higher enlightenment. “Then lace your shoes from the bottom, carefully, slowly, getting each pass nice and tight…snug! snug! snug! snug!” After the lesson, you ask one of the All‐American seniors what that was all about, and he says, “Get a blister in a big game, and you’re gonna suffer. Shoes come untied in a close game…well, that just never happens here.” One year later, you come to practice, having helped create yet another national championship, noting the surprised looks on the freshmen’s faces when the coach announces, “We will begin by learning how to tie our shoes.”

I have shared before that sometimes the last thing we need is another Bible Study. We think that we are going to discover the golden nugget we have been searching for in the next Bible study we participate in, the next book we read, or the next sermon we listen to. We are looking to run the “triangle offense” when we are not well versed yet in tying our shoes (see 1 Corinthians 3:2). But sometimes we just need to go back and relearn what we learned when we were just preschoolers in the faith. Growing deeper is not about learning new truths as much as it is about rehearsing old truths.

There is an old story that is told about a pastor who was teaching some young children. He asked the children “what is furry, climbs in trees, and likes to eat nuts?” After not getting an initial response he coaxed them further by sharing, “it has a big bushy tail and is usually brown or grey.”

Finally, one boy cautiously raised his hand. The pastor called upon him and the boy spoke up. “It sounds like a squirrel, but I know the answer is Jesus.”

That we would have the faith of a child! That we would look to Jesus for the answer to recognize that Jesus is the answer. Revelation 2:4-5 invites us to go back to our first love of Jesus. It is to go back to the basics. It is to relearn to tie our shoes. We cannot rehearse the fundamental truth of Jesus enough. Need him! Know him! Love him! Serve him! Live for him!

Don’t look for a new truth. Rediscover the Ancient Truth!

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Your Lifesong

admin —  August 2, 2012 — Leave a comment

What is the song you sing? Is it a love song? A dance song? Gospel? Jazz? Classical? Or maybe you are just singing the blues?

You carry a song on your heart. There is a song that comes from deep within your soul. It breaths passion into your life and directs your every step.

In Isaiah 12:2 it says, “The Lord is my strength and my song.” It is my prayer that the song of my heart would be the song of the Lord. That he would be the one who soothes my soul with his sweet melodies. That the soundtrack of my life would not be found on iTunes, but that it would be “Jesus Tunes.” I pray that my dance would not be to a different beat, but that I would dance to his beat.

The song of your life is written from your daily conversations and experiences. It is shown through what you talk about. Basically it comes from what you are passionate about, what you pay attention to, and what you live for. This is all about having Jesus at the forefront of your mind, at the tip of your tongue, and the center of your activities. Do you find yourself often talking about Jesus? Is his name a name you mention frequently? Or is his name a name relegated to be used on Sunday morning for an hour and once that worship is over it is never to be mentioned again until the next week? Is your daily conversation salted with the name Jesus?

I know I am compulsive about many things. I am compulsive about the Cubs. I get notifications on my phone to let me know if the Chicago Cubs win or loose. I am compulsive about all things Apple. I read each day about the latest developments in the world of iThings. And I can’t miss out with what is happening in the world of Facebook and Twitter. But as compulsive as I am about these things, I pray that I would be even more compulsive about Jesus my Lord and Savior. He is my everything. He is my all in all. I am nothing without him.

My prayer is that my relationship with him is anything but routine and that I would be OCD about Jesus. That I could not get enough of him in my Bible. That I cannot get enough of him in worship. That I cannot get enough of him in prayer. That I cannot get enough of him by doing his work and serving others.

But too often I settle for the routine. I settle for my morning devotion, Sunday morning worship, mealtime and bedtime prayer, and a service project every so often. I leave satisfied from these things thinking I got my Jesus fix. It is easy for me to give my heart, soul, and everything to Jesus on Sunday morning only to leave him be until next week.

I pray that I would never be satisfied or get enough of him. That I would long after him as the deer pants for the water (see Psalm 42:1). As passionate as I am about so many other things in my life, my passion for Jesus would be unrivaled. That I would eat, sleep, dream, and breath Jesus. Not church! Not religion! Not worship music! Not theology! Not mission projects! J-E-S-U-S! That he would be exalted in my life.

This is my prayer for our church. That we would exude Jesus. Our conversation in the lobby on Sunday morning may be about the Bears, about the weather, about our kids, about the morning’s worship, but may we always be talking Jesus. Our board meetings may be about finances, about procedures and policies, about communication, but may we always be seeking Jesus.

So what is the tune you are singing? What is the beat that you are dancing to? Jesus wants you to hear his sweet, sweet harmony! He wants his song to be your song!

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5 Truths for Following Jesus

admin —  July 5, 2012 — Leave a comment

On Sunday we will look at the 2nd letter of the 7 letters to the 7 churches in Revelation. You can find this letter in Revelation 2:8–11. It is the letter to the church at Smyrna. I encourage you to join us at the corner of LaFox Rd and Route 38 at 8:30am or 10am. Bring your Bible with you so you can follow along. If you don’t have a Bible we have plenty to share. My pray is that this message will be relevant and practical in helping you to grow and mature in your walk with Christ.

These letters we are examining are comforting and convicting at the same time. They inspire great faith and courage. They celebrate our faithfulness and challenge our waywardness. The truths they convey spoke to the 7 historical churches addressed in the letters but still speak to us today. There is a timeless quality to their message.

The invitation of Jesus is to hear and to understand what he is saying to the churches. Then he invites us to follow him. As we contemplate what it means to follow him, there are a few themes repeated throughout these letters. I will share briefly with you now, but go into greater detail on Sunday.

1) Following Jesus does not make life less difficult. Following Jesus does not make all our problems go away. We sing the songs about how much Jesus loves us. It is important to recognize that truth, but it is also important to know that Jesus challenges us. Jesus is not about giving us a less difficult life, but a more full life.

2) Following Jesus will lead us to greater challenges and higher aspirations. Following Jesus is not always comfortable nor is it convenient. In fact, I might go as far as to say that it is never comfortable or convenient. To follow Jesus means being led down roads which we would rather not go, making sacrifices we would rather not make, and leaving behind what we would rather not leave behind. For the Christians who originally received these letters, following Jesus often meant loosing their jobs, their families, and their lives. But they were willing to do so because they knew that following Jesus meant living for a cause that was greater, more lasting, and more fulfilling than they had been living for before.

3) Following Jesus requires courage produced by faith. The greatest challenge to following Jesus is that of fear. This is Satan’s #1 tactic to get us off track. Fear prevents us from walking into the destiny God has set for us. Think about anything that God led you to do that you did not do. What held you back? It was fear. There is a reason you decided not to go on that mission trip. There is a reason you did not put your tithe in the offering plate. There is a reason that you failed to call and pray with that person God put on your heart. There is a reason you failed to greet that person you did not recognize on Sunday morning. We’ve got our excuses, but behind it all is fear. There is a reason that “do not fear” is the one thing that is most often commanded in the Bible. God knows what holds us back.

4) You are either following Jesus or you are not. You are either all in or all out. There is no in-between. You are in the boat or out of the boat. It is yes or no. There is no maybe so. Jesus wants all of you, not some of you. It is impossible to half follow. Are you in or are you out?

5) You will not find the strength within. Faithfulness will not be produced by trying harder. Faithfulness is produced out of a deep and abiding relationship with the Savior. Get to know him. Love him. Hear him. Learn from him. Receive him.

So what does it mean to follow Jesus? I would love to hear from you. How are you challenged to follow Jesus? What has it meant for your life? How has it changed you? What has been your struggles? What have been your victories? How have you seen the power of God revealed?

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The Key to Satisfaction

admin —  June 20, 2012 — Leave a comment

I have a confession to make. I am not satisfied. I want something more. I want something better. I want something different. I cast a jealous eye towards others that have what I don’t have.

I delight myself in many things. Just to name a few – I delight myself in the food I eat, the things I buy, the TV I watch, the sports I play, the books I read, the work I do, the praise I receive from others, and the relationships I invest in.

Yet all of these things leave me wanting. There must be something more. These things may satisfy me for a short time, but eventually I find they are not enough. I go out for a night on the town and have a wonderful meal at the nicest restaurant I could find. That meal brings me great satisfaction. My belly is full. But when the morning comes, I am hungry again. No matter how great a meal the restaurant might have served or how much I might have paid for that meal, it could not bring me lasting satisfaction.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you he desires of your heart.”

Dissatisfaction is not necessarily a bad thing. Dissatisfaction points us to the Lord. Dissatisfaction will cause us to seek him. When we are disappointed at all the things we thought would satisfy us that didn’t, there will come a time when we have nowhere to turn but to Jesus. Hopefully, we do this sooner rather than later.

If you are finding yourself dissatisfied, consider the following.

1) Confess your misplaced delight. Where have you put your hopes and dreams? Are they placed in things that are temporary and fleeting? Ask for forgiveness for all the things you chased after that were not of God.

2) Practice a fast. The idea of a fast is to set aside something that you delight in such as food, that you might replace that delight with something more sustaining. Fasting from food may not necessarily be the most beneficial type of fast for you. Go back and consider where you have misplaced your delight.

3) Run after the Lord. Hebrews 12:1 says, “let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Fasting from earthly delights is not meant to burden us, but to free us, so that we might run uninhibited to Jesus and to experience his joy in a greater way. The more we delight ourselves in the things of this world, the less capacity we will have to delight ourselves in Jesus. The less we delight ourselves in Jesus, the more discontent we will find ourselves being.

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Del Laughridge

admin —  May 24, 2012 — Leave a comment

Dear Lord of Life Family,

I write my weekly email this week with a bit of a heavy heart. It is with a mix of joy and of sorrow that I share with you that Del Laughridge went to be with Jesus this morning. Del will be greatly missed by all.

There will be a visitation on Friday, June 1 and the funeral service will be on Saturday, June 2. The exact times have yet to be determined, but we will post them on our church website (www.lolchurch.net) and on our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/lolchurch). Marliss has also been posting to a Caring Bridge site for Del that can be found at www.caringbridge.org/visit/dellaughridge. She has posted on this site during Del’s struggle with cancer about how they found hope in Jesus on a daily basis.

Del served as an elder and was a pillar of our church. And we have been so blessed to have Marliss serve as our preschool director for so many years. Please join me in praying for their family and for our church family. We thank Jesus for his victory over the grave. We know that death is not the end. For those of us who trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior it is the the beginning of a whole new life.

I leave you with the verse which Marliss posted on the Caring Bridge site this morning:

You have made known to me the path of life, Lord; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11

God is indeed good! We thank him for the gift of life on this earth along with the gift of life eternal. To Him be the glory!

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