Month: May 2019

I Want My Lawyer!

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 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27 ESV

What does Jesus mean when He says He doesn’t give us a peace like the world’s peace? Try thinking of a scene from whatever is your favorite crime show. There inevitably comes a climactic moment when  the bad guy is arrested. Then just as the good guys begin to question him he shouts, “I’m not saying anything until I have my lawyer!”

Lawyers are also our greatest hope when we are in trouble. If you look back at the previous verse you will see that Jesus is telling us that He will send us the Holy Spirit; as our advocate (Lawyer).  That is because you, I and everyone else who ever was born has been put under arrest and faces the death penalty because of sin. The only hope we have in the sentencing portion of our trial is to have a good lawyer. Jesus is promising us the best in the universe; if we will put our faith in Him.

So we walk into the courtroom with the Holy Spirit by our side. When the evidence is presented proving our guilt He tells the judge that the prosecution has entered into a plea bargain with the defense. We have agreed by faith to repent, confess our sin and put our faith in Jesus. In exchange the penalty we faced now will fall on: Jesus Christ The Holy Son of God. The judge listens carefully then before the hushed heavenly courtroom He brings down His gavel and says “Not Guilty!” Then He steps down from the bench, opens his arms and embraces us crying; “Welcome home child!”

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Now if that isn’t peace I don’t know what is. That is because our everlasting peace is a person not a feeling. What a gift we have been given. What a peace we have. It is a peace that the world cannot give and that no one can  take away!

Tell the Neighbors

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” John 9:11 ESV

When Jesus changes your life or mine other people will want to know why. That may not be as dramatic as healing a man blind from birth but when God intervenes we are not the same. It feels intimidating talking to our neighbors about God and not everyone wants to hear your story for the right reasons. But if we are honest with others about our own problems and how God helps us to get through them, there will be some who will want to know more.

What also catches my attention every time I read this story is the crazy way Jesus goes about healing. He spits on the ground, makes mud and then smears it on this guy’s eyes. That I have definitely never seen at my church! While the details of how God fixes our issues may seem strange His results are undeniable. Maybe God chooses what seems different to catch people’s attention. We might be embarrassed but then nobody really thinks much about the mud on our eyes. They are mostly amazed at the Savior who gave us back our vision. God saw something in you and me when no one else would give us a second glance. God didn’t choose us because we were the best and the brightest. He chose us when we were blind so that we could say; “Now I see!”