He Was And Is Full Of Surprises

Jesus was continuously surprising His disciples. He was more approachable than they thought. His zeal was more. He cried over Jerusalem. He was not only willing to die. He went to the cross like a lamb. He was gracious and true graciousness is shocking. If you see it you are amazed by it. There is no polite applause. There is a heartfelt response or just plain silence. Grace is polarizing. Jesus was and Is polarizing.

"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.' And they remembered his words," - Luke 24:1-8 ESV

All of Heaven's shocking beauty will reaffirm Jesus' words. Heaven was witnessing and hearing what those disciples were witnessing also.

Some think they will get to Heaven and after asking about Christ they will find out He was only a fiction but little do those people know that if Jesus is not in their life before they go they aren't going to go to a happy, bright and shockingly beautiful place. Jesus is the surprising doorway into all that God graciously has to offer. He Is the victory over death.

This has been a hard week for me. People have seen me struggle. There was a time when that would have made me self-conscious but now I see it as an opportunity. As I sit here my prayer is that somehow I would be a testimony of something divine and surprising gracious. I'm not going to strive for it. I belong to God because of Jesus Christ and He has risen from the grave just as He said He would. I know He has put treasure in this earthen vessel. I pray people would see that treasure and that they would receive it for themselves also.

Dazzling beings are looking in today on our lives. Oh God... let them see Jesus. Let God be glorified here in the world because we have been available to the gracious One.

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Planting Surprises

When I was younger I used to purposely leave money in my coat and blue jean pockets so that I could find it later. Maybe it was $10 or if a was doing well I left a $20 dollar bill. It was because I found money in a pocket before and it really blessed me so I decided I could 'surprise myself.'

When we heard the Gospel we gained knowledge of a past event that had potential impact on our present and future experience. It was like a wrapped gift or an unopened letter.

The conversation at Church I have been speaking about most of this week was about sobriety but we didn't mention alcohol. It was more about what we think we will be like as old men because of how we are living now. We talked about our 'wallet table'... the place where we put the things we need in our pocket as we go out the door.

We live in a debit card age and I don't plant $20 bills anymore. It's still a great idea but I'm not in that mode anymore. I put ziplock baggies filled with Gospel tracts in my coats and I keep a stack (that keeps spilling over) on my wallet table so I remember to take them as I go out the door. They are little gifts I can hand out at a moments notice.

I refilled and arranged that table and my coat stash just this weekend. After a friend talked about how he found himself without tracts on a recent trip.

The Gospel is like a pleasant surprise God plants in a person's future... more really because it is life-saving... future saving... transforming. I want to be able to reach into my pocket and find it to give to someone at just the right moment.

If I live in this sober way now then that is the kind of old man I will be. I plan (if I am given the time) to be that old man who extends a shaking hand with a tract in it to strangely dressed young people. If I live that way now then I am more likely to live that way later.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." - John 3:16-18 KJV

What a glorious gift. Thank you God.

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