Nobody But Jesus

I'm just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody.

Video: Casting Crowns - Nobody (Official Music Video) ft. Matthew West

Why You ever chose me

Has always been a mystery

All my life I've been told I belong

At the end of the line

With all the other not-quites

With all the never-get-it-rights

But it turns out they're the ones You were looking for

All this time

'Cause I'm just a nobody

Trying to tell everybody

All about Somebody

Who saved my soul

Ever since You rescued me

You gave my heart a song to sing

I'm living for the world to see

Nobody but Jesus

I'm living for the world to see

Nobody but Jesus

Moses had stage fright

When David brought a rock to a sword fight

You picked twelve outsiders nobody would have chosen

And You changed the world

Well the moral of the story is

Everybody's got a purpose

So when I hear that devil start talking to me saying

"Who do you think you are?"

I say

So let me go down, down, down in history

As another blood-bought faithful member of a family

And if they all forget my name, well that's fine with me

I'm living for the world to see

Nobody but Jesus

So let me go down, down, down in history (Goin' down in history)

As another blood-bought faithful member of a family

(That's all I ever wanna be)

And if they all forget my name, well that's fine with me

I'm living for the world to see

Nobody but Jesus

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

It Is Well

My soul can be at peace when everything in the world around me is falling apart.

 

Our scars are a sign of grace in our lives 

And Father how you brought us through 

When deep were the wounds and dark was the night 

The promise of your love You proved 

Now every battle still to come 

Let this be our song 

It is well, it is well With my soul, with my soul It is well, it is well With my soul 

Weeping may come, remain for a night 

But joy will paint the morning sky 

You’re there in the fast, you’re there in the feast 

Your faithfulness will always shine 

Now every battle still to come 

Let this be our song 

You lead us through battles 

You lead us to blessing 

And you make us fruitful 

In the land of our suffering 

God It is well, it is well with my soul

Real Peace

John 14:27  "I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. 

One of the greatest gifts that we need is peace. The world is looking all over and they think that they have the answers but their answers don't work for every situation in life. They can't give you real peace when everything is falling apart.

Jesus tells us "I am," He is the bread and the living water, he is the light for our path and the only way to the Father. He is everything that we need for this life and for our forever life. That's why we have peace in the midst of the storm.

Scripture on suffering: 

2 Corinthians 6:3–10, Matthew 5:11–12, Romans 8:31–39,

The story behind the original song: 

It Is Well With My Soul (wikipedia.org)

Giving Your Best Gift

Since God gave his best gift to us we should give the best gift that we have to offer.

Genesis 4:1-5  Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, "With the LORD's help, I have produced a man!"  2  Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground.

3  When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD.  4  Abel also brought a gift--the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift,  5  but He did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.

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The opportunity to live in paradise is gone and it won't come back for a very long time. Imagine having to explain that to your children. Adam and Eve had to tell their boys how good they had it and awesome it was to have daily visits from God.

Since they weren't living in paradise the boys had to work, they would grow weary and tired, Cain had to fight the weeds in order to protect his crops and Abel had to protect his livestock from the wild animals.

The boys learned what sin is and they learned that because of sin God required an offering as a part of their worship. This offering must be the best gift that they had but when it was time to worship God one of them brought a perfect gift and the other offered a gift that was less than the best.

They both knew the right thing to do but the condition of their heart and their attitude toward God was reflected in their gift giving.

Genesis 4:6-7  "Why are you so angry?" the LORD asked Cain. "Why do you look so dejected?  You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master." 

God let Cain know that he needed to change his attitude and he gave him the opportunity to do so but Cain ignored God advice. Imagine bringing a gift to God and he tells you that you didn't do it right, maybe it is the right gift but your heart is not right, maybe the gift is wrong but your heart is right, if you get a chance to fix what is wrong then just do it.

Cain didn't offer God a satisfactory gift and he didn't appreciate the undeserved gift that God gave to him. God could have killed Cain but instead of enjoying forgiveness, mercy and grace, Cain decided that he loved his sin more than God. Cain should have learned from his parents that the consequences of disobedience were severe and that God could have been a lot more harsh. (Genesis 4:13)

The Bible is full of examples of God giving and man rejecting, over and over again God gives his best and we don't appreciate it. Adam and Eve didn't appreciate it and now Cain has followed in their footsteps and the process just keeps on going through all of history.

Romans 12:1-2  And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 

Have you ever received a gift so great that you just had to give your best in return? If you are a child of God you have! God cared enough to send his very best so we should feel compelled to follow his example. I should be willing to follow God's example in giving up my rights and privileges in order to give like God. (Philippians 2:5-11)

Video: Giving God Our Best - Francis Chan
What kind of gift do I give? Too often it isn't my best gift.

Sometimes I give him my time after everything else and I am too tired. Sometimes I give him my spare change instead of giving generously and sacrificially. Sometimes I want to impose my own rules about worship or I want to decide what my worship looks like. (Isaiah 58, Amos 5, Malachi 1)

How deliberate are you in showing how much God means to you by what you give back to him?

Humility In Ministry

The gospel doesn't need a bunch of hype.

 

John 7:6-11  Jesus replied, "Now is not the right time for Me to go, but you can go anytime.  7  The world can't hate you, but it does hate Me because I accuse it of doing evil.  8  You go on. I'm not going to this festival, because My time has not yet come."  9  After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee.  10  But after His brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view.  11  The Jewish leaders tried to find Him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen Him.

John 8:1-11  Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives,  2  but early the next morning He was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and He sat down and taught them.

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Yesterday in the temple Jesus invited the crowds to come to him if they had a spiritual thirst. The reactions to Jesus offer were very diverse. Some people were convinced that he could satisfy their spiritual longing but then there were others who wanted him arrested.

You may recall from John chapter seven that Jesus didn't enter the temple with a bunch of fanfare or attention, he just blended in with the crowd, that is until he started teaching. His teaching always made him stand out, even when he was a little boy, Jesus message always drew a crowd. (Luke 2:41-52)

John 7:14-15 Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. The people were surprised when they heard Him. "How does He know so much when He hasn't been trained?" they asked.

John chapter seven is all about the commotion that followed after Jesus gave his message. The place was in an uproar, mean things were being said, people were being disrespectful to Jesus and then in the midst of all of this chaos Jesus finishes the message and moves on to the invitation.

"Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me! Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'"

That just made things worse because now they are trying to arrest him! Some people think that he is correct in saying things that the Messiah would say but they are a minority. Other people are skeptical and others are completely opposed to Jesus.

After all of the commotion in the temple, somehow it settles down enough for people to go home for the day, everybody except for Jesus. Maybe there were other homeless people in the temple that day but he was the least deserving person to be without shelter. While everybody else went to their house to rest for the night Jesus went to the garden.

He slept out in the cold on the Mount of Olives many times, I have to wonder how little he slept. Did he look tired and older than he really was because of sleep deprivation? Remember when he said the foxes and birds have homes but the creator of the universe didn't have a place to lay his head? (Matthew 8:20)

In the morning Jesus went back to the temple, he quietly went in, sat down and he taught. It would be tempting to think that there is no way that he is going to go back and teach a crowd that is so opposed to his message. But he returns and the opposition comes along too. (John 8:1-59)

You might think that Jesus should make an announcement or pass out flyers to let people know that he was going to be at the temple at a certain time. He didn't put out any signs, he didn't announce that the greatest teacher in the world was about to begin.

Keep It Simple
1 Corinthians 2:1-3  When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn't use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God's secret plan.  2  For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the One who was crucified.  3  I came to you in weakness--timid and trembling.

The Apostle Paul knew that he needed to keep it simple, not that his audience was slow to learn, he knew that the gospel is supposed to be what draws people in. There's no place for sensationalism in a gospel presentation.

John the Baptist started his ministry in a remote location, there weren't any neon lights or banners directing the crowds to take a walk to the desert. John would always point people to Jesus and push the attention away from himself. The people that followed John had it all wrong, they should have come to John just long enough to be redirected to Jesus, their complaint that "everybody is going to Him instead of coming to us" was so absurd. (John 3:26)

Peter's message after Jesus ascension into heaven was so bold and simple. The crowds knew that he didn't go to rabi school, he was an ordinary man, and yet his message was extraordinary and it drew the crowds. (Acts 4:12-13)

John 12:32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Myself."

Jesus said that he would be the good news that would attract people. We need to remember:

✔  The more that people see of Jesus the less they will see of us.
✔  The key is availability and teaching.
✔  Just give the Word, it's all about the message not the method

Thank you Lord for choosing to use me to tell the good news of the gospel. I pray that I will not get in the way of the message.

Reactions To Jesus Offer

You have to decide what you will do with Jesus.

 

John 7:37-38  On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me!  38  Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'"

John 7:40-46  When the crowds heard Him say this, some of them declared, "Surely this man is the Prophet we've been expecting."  41  Others said, "He is the Messiah." Still others said, "But He can't be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee?  42  For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born."  43  So the crowd was divided about Him.  44  Some even wanted Him arrested, but no one laid a hand on Him.  45  When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, "Why didn't you bring Him in?"  46  "We have never heard anyone speak like this!" the guards responded.

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"Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me!" Jesus made an offer to the crowd that should have been great news but there was only a handful of people that saw it that way. Jesus invites us to come to him if you are thirsty for spiritual things, if you are thirsty for a full pardon for your sin and if you crave a relationship with your creator then come on down. Get yourself a taste of living water that can satisfy!

Everybody that has been introduced to Jesus must react, the claims that he made about himself cannot just sit there without a response, the crowds in the temple that day were split into four groups:

The Convinced

"This is the Messiah! The one that we have been waiting for since Moses told us about him." They thought that John the Baptist was the prophet but now they are sure that Jesus is the one that they have been anticipating. (Deuteronomy 18:18, John 1:21)

The Contrary

This group is bent on tearing down the people that are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. Without looking at the facts they make a crazy remark about where Jesus was born. "You convinced people, what's wrong with you? You think Messiah comes from Galilee?" They didn't use the fact checker to see that Jesus really did fulfill the prediction about the birthplace of the Messiah.

The Confused

This group is stuck in the middle, there are the believers and the unbelievers and then there are the ones that are not sure what to think. Why didn't the guards bring Jesus in? It sounds like they are not sure about who he is and if he really is the Messiah then they don't want to mess with him.

The unbelievers ridicule the believers and also the confused. The religious leaders let the soldiers know who makes the decisions about spiritual stuff. The common everyday people can't decide for themselves, they need us to tell them what God is doing, there are still a lot of cults and religious systems that operate that way.

The Contemplative

It's been almost three years since that night when he visited Jesus. He was doing his own research to decide for himself what the truth is about Jesus. He is a thinking man and he wants to learn the truth instead of letting somebody else in his group of friends decide for him.

How Will You Respond?
Matthew 27:22  Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

There isn't any other offer that is as important as this one with such drastic consequences.The offer is out there and you must decide for yourself what you are going to do with it. Will you get the facts straight for yourself, let your friends dictate what is right or just ignore the offer all together.

Thank you Lord for your offer, I am so thankful that I am a part of the convinced crowd, help me tell others the good news and open their heart to get the facts and accept your offer.

Don't Have Much To Give? Good!

God uses inadequate people with inadequate resources.

John 6:5-13 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for Him. Turning to Philip, He asked, "Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?" 6 He was testing Philip, for He already knew what He was going to do.

 7 Philip replied, "Even if we worked for months, we wouldn't have enough money to feed them!" 8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up. 

 9 "There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?" 10 "Tell everyone to sit down," Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 

 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward He did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told His disciples, "Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted." 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

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In the previous post we saw that the crowds that followed Jesus around were not really followers of Jesus. To them he was an amusement and a resource for free health care. They had a lot of nerve to say to Jesus "Show us a miraculous sign if You want us to believe in You. What can You do?" (John 6:30)

Jesus knows that they don't have enough money to feed all of these people but he also knows that there is a boy whose mom made him wait before he left the house so that she could finish packing his lunch. Again we are going to see that Jesus has a plan and he has an agenda.

Jesus has compassion for this crowd but he also has a higher agenda just like when he cleared the temple, when he healed the man by the pool on the Sabbath and when he "needed" to go through Samaria to meet a woman. Jesus always has an agenda. Jesus had compassion for them all but the greater end that Jesus is working toward has more to do with teaching the disciples a lesson than it does the feeding of a hungry crowd.

The disciples are looking for an easy way out, this crowd has been a pain for too long, perhaps they wanted to use this opportunity to get rid of them. Let's send them away so that they can buy their own food and we can have some peace and quiet. (Mark 6:36)

Jesus ruins that idea when he asked Philip about the local food supply. Philip should have said to Jesus, not too long ago I saw you turn water into the best wine, he should have thought that Jesus could give them food from out of nowhere just like the manna that God made fall from the sky for their forefathers. The disciples should have been ready to say to Jesus "You can feed these people you don't even need the little boys lunch to do it." (John 6:5-6, Deuteronomy 8:16-17)

These guys were low on faith but they were still obedient and made the crowd spread out and sit down. Maybe the fact that they were right there with Jesus and he gave them a direct order made them feel pressured to go ahead and do it. Usually a lack of faith makes me become disobedient.

Jehovah Jireh
Philippians 4:19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Jesus proves that he is totally sufficient, he is in control, and he has unlimited resources. Imagine watching the first and second person get their food and you are next, you probably think that the food from that little lunch box is all gone, but then the food comes from somewhere. I have to wonder at what point the new pieces of bread showed up. Could the people see the next piece of bread suddenly pop into Jesus hands or did they pop into the basket just before Jesus reached back in?

Jesus uses the inadequate people who yield their inadequate resources to Him. What an awesome lesson for the disciples and one that we need to come to realize as well. God's people are inadequate to meet the needs of the people that they minister to and it is better for us if we realize that before we get busy in ministry. Without God we can't save them and we can't meet their real needs.

Sometimes we get overwhelmed by the needs around us and we can get burned out in serving the Lord because we are trying to meet those needs in our own strength, if we rely on God and his resources we will be freed from worry and we will become more generous as we prove his faithfulness.

Help me to be faithful to do your will, forgive me Lord for being disobedient when I can't see the resources to do what you want me to do.