The word “Amazing” does not do Jesus justice. In fact, no word in the English language does justice to Jesus. The Bible says, “Jesus is greater than our hearts and He knows everything……1John 3:20. Jesus has chosen to accept what we deem unacceptable. The parts of us that cause us shame do not shame Jesus. Christian writer James Bryan Smith write, “Here is the Good News: Even if we feel condemned by our own hearts, God is greater than our hearts.” Amazing Grace! I believe this 100% Everyday I feel I am not enough, I feel like I’m not living up to Jesus’s standards. I feel lacking. I measure myself up against others. I am not good enough. Basically I pick on myself. I have never liked being “picked on” by others, but then I “pick on” myself. At times I feel deep shame and condemn myself. Then I remind myself that Jesus does not. So if Jesus accepts me then this should lead to self-acceptance. Easy to say, but hard to do. I need to be reminded every day that Jesus accepts me with the promise that I will never be unacceptable to him. Thus I need to do the same for myself.

PRAYER: Jesus, if my heart condemns me, please remind me that I am accepted by you.

We all need to believe in ourselves and our dreams. We cannot let others define us. We need to stop thinking we are not good enough. We need to stop obsessing about our faults. We need to get up every morning and praise God for the day He has given us. God does not make mistakes. He is perfect and wants us to believe that someday we will be in His Kingdom and be happy, fulfilled and at peace. Nothing in this world can compare to heaven with King Jesus. For now, believe in yourself. Believe that you have purpose and meaning in your life and live believing the Jesus loves you unconditionally with a Grace that defies all understanding. God Bless You.

Mark 9:23 – ” If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes”.

Most inspirational pre-game speeches by coaches to their players, if not all, are aimed at getting the players to believe in themselves. I think this is the same problem for all of us. We don’t truly believe in ourselves. We doubt our abilities to get it done. We are not 100% all in. Jesus says the same for those that have faith in him. Remember the “faith of a mustard seed speech”. We do doubt and Jesus knows this. He doesn’t condemn us for our doubting (ask Thomas). Rather he continues to love us unconditionally. Thank you Jesus. Because of Jesus (not me) I am a better person everyday. All of who I am I owe to Jesus.. I believe that Jesus is the Way and Truth, even when I fail in my actions. Jesus is my Lord and Savior. My identity is in Jesus. Amen

Matthew 17:20-21 – “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move: and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Christian writer Frederick Buechner asks the question, “Do you believe in God or do you believe God”? He further says, “believing in God is an intellectual position. It need have no more effect on your life than believing in Freud’s method of interpreting dreams”. Believing God is believing John 3:16…..believing God is believing John 14:6……its believing that the Holy Bible is the Truth from beginning to end and much, much more. In regard to my faith, I choose to believe God.

John 11:27 – Yes Lord I believe that You are the Christ, The Son of God who has come into the world.

In the Bible the verse from John 14:6 tells us that Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. So what does this verse mean to us in the big picture of life. To me Jesus is saying that His way of doing things is a far better way to live our life than the world’s way. Je is the creator thus who knows better than Him….Simple!! Jesus is the Truth. In our world today of so many lies about just about everything, Jesus steps forward and says His word is the Truth. Its the standard…..PERIOD. Jesus is also the Life. We all seek to have a better life. A good life. A life full of purpose and meaning. Jesus is saying to look to Him for answers. Listen to His words. There is no other way. I believe Him. I believe this verse is the standard for our lives. We need to listen.

John 14:6 – Jesus said, “I am the Way and Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

A favorite song of mine is “Thank you Lord by Chris Tomlin, Thomas Rhett, and Florida Georgia Line.” Its a upbeat simple song about things to be thankful for. The following lyrics express thankfulness in these words……

The small things….

Blessings on Blessings on Blessings…

for my mamma, for my friends…

for your love that never ends…

for my babies, for my girl…

for the hard times…

for lighting my way in the dark times…

for pulling me in, forgiving again…

for keeping me humble…

for picking me up when I stumble…

and although I change You stay the same…

AND I DON’T SAY THANK YOU ENOUGH…

John 14:6 – I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…..

Its hard to come to terms that we are great sinners. Its hard to admit it. We think we are OK. Think about it, are we really OK. We need to be honest about who we are vs God’s perfect love. I like to compare sin with shooting an arrow at a bullseye. Sin would be missing the bullseye or what is called “the mark”. Sometimes we come close, other times we miss by a lot. Sometimes we miss the entire target….With sin its really the same. Some times we come close(small sin) and other times we miss by a lot(big sin). What we need to understand is a miss is a miss. When we sin, we sin. Jesus died on the cross to forgive us for all our sins….big or small. His extends his unconditional love and grace to us every time we sin. Always, every time. Sounds crazy doesn’t it, but its the truth. Jesus is the Truth. Thank you Lord.

Romans 3:23-24 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”. This means that Jesus has paid the debt we owe because of our sin. Therefore when we confess our sins to God, He forgives us.

In the Bible the disciples asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the work God requires”? Jesus answered them by saying, “The work of God is this: To believe in the One he has sent (Jesus)”.

The above is an often asked question by people of the Christian Faith. Many People of Faith and Institutions of Faith value works above all things. So this answer by Jesus is confusing to many people. I believe Jesus wants us to do good works in our lives not as a way to achieve a relationship with God or a way to Heaven, but as a result of “believing in the One He has sent”. So today and everyday focus your faith on believing in Jesus and every word of the Bible and let the good works of God flow from you. AMEN….

John 6: 28-29 – Then they asked Him, “what must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “the work of God is this: to believe in the One he has sent”.

What should we bring to Jesus? How about everything? All that is on our minds and hearts. Singer and songwriter Chris Rice says it best in his song, “Come To Jesus”. He writes to bring our weaknesses and wounds. Bring our burdens and sins and our worries and failures. He reminds us that our way thru this world will sometimes be lonely and filled with pain. And “when the love spills over and music fills the night and when you can’t contain your joy inside”…Then come to Jesus. And when our time here on earth is over then “kiss the world goodbye and go in peace and laugh on glory’s side and fly to Jesus”. Amen and thank you Chris Rice for reminding me of the beauty and greatness of our Lord and Savior…..Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:13 – For everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved

Matthew 11:28 – Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Have you ever felt like there is something going on in this world that is bigger than yourself? Something real and hard to understand. Something to believe in. Something that most people and most institutions get wrong. Well, join the club.

I think most people believe there is a God, but have different ideas as to who He is. Different religions also have different ideas of who God is…but all believe there is a God. Throughout thousands of years books, music, art, etc. have expressed that there is a God in many different ways. My belief is that history and the Holy Bible point to Jesus Christ as God. I also believe that we have been deceived as to who He really is and how He can affect our lives. I believe that Jesus is totally relevant to our lives today. That through Him we can lead purposeful lives filled with meaning. I believe that Jesus loves all of us unconditionally with a grace that is truly amazing and difficult for us to understand and accept. So until next Monday live this week in the grace of Jesus that you and I have done nothing to deserve.

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the word (Jesus) and the word was with God and the word was God.