Blog of Scott Dudley www.jesuscentral.com/10053
January 13, 2007 Love & Obey Me - JesusJesus
says, if we hear what he says but don't do it, Jesus says that's like building a house on sand: the winds and the
rain are going to knock it down. It's the same in our lives: if we don't put Jesus' words into action our lives
come crashing down around us, just like my computer. We end up with stress and worry, driven crazy with lust,
plagued with anger, broken relationships, a sense that life isn't about anything other than getting up, going to
work, going to bed, and doing it all over and over again. But Jesus says there's a way out of that trap, and it's
simple: so simple Nike even uses it as their slogan. Just Do It. That's how Jesus ends his Sermon on the
Mount: "You've heard me. Now go do it." And if we do, Jesus says we'll be like a house that's built on a rock.
We will be able to withstand anything that life throws at us if we will just do what he says to do. |
By: Scott Dudley - January 13, 2007 - Public Category: Love & Obey Me - Jesus (1) Comments
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January 13, 2007 Jesus Delivers PeaceLet me tell you a story about a woman named Ruby. Her daughter and her grand-daughter are long time
members of this church. Ruby trusted Jesus a lot, and because of that took some risks. She went to seminary
way back in the 30s when women didn't do that. You can imagine what people said to her, she got some
criticism. But she didn't worry, because she cared more about the eternal things, like God and his people and
his kingdom, than she cared about what some folks thought about her. That's temporary. Then she worked as
a missionary with Asian Americans here in Washington State. She got married, she raised a family, but then
her husband died. But she didn't worry, because she knew that God would provide for her basic needs.
Then,
later on, she started to travel. In her 70s and 80s she started smuggling Bibles into Communist countries, just
for the fun of it I guess. That's pretty cool, don't you think" A Bible smuggling Grandma" You just got to love
what Jesus does to people. I'm sure that wasn't easy to smuggle Bibles. I'm sure there were dangers, bad
things could have happened, but she didn't worry because she knew that no matter what, God would provide,
and that even if bad things happened God would use them for good. He always does.
Well, several years ago Ruby got pancreatic cancer. Even then she didn't worry. Again, she knew that God would provide and she cared passionately about God's kingdom. She knew that even in her cancer she would
get to be a part of God advancing his kingdom in her life and in the world. That's what he did. For starters, she
ended up having almost no pain, which is very rare in pancreatic cancer. It's usually very painful. She kept on
going into prisons and preaching as she had always done, even in her illness.
Also along the way she
befriended a doctor and his wife. The doctor's wife had been divorced and some of her friends had shunned
her because of that, but Ruby befriended them and showed them the grace of Jesus. As a result, this doctor
made special efforts when it came to Ruby's case. In fact, when the doctor knew that Ruby had cancer, he
went to her house on a Saturday morning, his day off, to tell her the news personally. Talk about God
providing: when was the last time your doctor made a house call" When he told her that she had cancer,
Ruby's response was to quote St. Augustine, `We don't know what the future holds, but we know who holds
the future.`
During her illness her family and church friends were all around her taking care of her, and that was
a huge witness to the non-Christian doctors and nurses who were treating her. In fact, the social workers and
the hospice care providers were so impressed with the Christian community around Ruby that they told her
they didn't need to come to her house any more, because the quality of her support group was so good. They
said they had never seen a community like that before. So even in her illness, even as other people were
taking care of her, Ruby was showing people who Jesus was.
During her last days, Ruby's daughters would take turns reading the Bible to her out loud. One of her
daughters wasn't a Christian, but she would read the Bible to Ruby anyway. It was while this non-Christian
daughter was reading the Bible that Ruby finally died. Now her family jokes that what made Ruby finally
comfortable to die was hearing her non-Christian daughter read Scripture, that she could trust God even with
her daughter's soul. It turns out that was a good trust because now that daughter is coming back to family and
faith.
Now, was everything easy in Ruby's life" Absolutely not. She faced a lot of hardships but as her daughter told
me, she always trusted that whatever it was she faced, she knew that God knew what he was doing, even
when it was tough. The things that were most important to her were eternal and could never be taken away
anyway so she didn't worry. She gave her needs to Jesus knowing that he would always meet her physical,
emotional, and spiritual needs, and he always did. She cared passionately about what God was doing in the
world and in her life, and knew that nothing could stop that, and that he would always bring good out of evil.
Because of that she didn't worry, and now she has the ultimate healing, which is to be with Jesus forever.
So what are you worried about" How can you begin to decrease your worry quotient by investing in the things
that can never be taken away" How can you practice trusting that God provides through prayer, through giving
your worries to him, and then seeing him take care of your needs" How can you continue to involve yourself in
what God is doing in your life and in the world, so that over time ''it doesn't happen all at once'', so that over
time you will become worry free" The Bible says, `You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on
you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord is the rock eternal` ''Isaiah 26:3-4''. And it is on that rock
that we find rest for our worried souls. |
By: Scott Dudley - January 13, 2007 - Public Category: Peace
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January 13, 2007 Luke`s Biography of Jesus - The Coming of the Kingdom of GodMake the kingdom of God our first priority. Jesus says seek first the kingdom of God, and
everything else will be given to you. What is God's kingdom" What is it we are supposed to be seeking" It's a
lot of things, but for starters it includes things like people being freed from guilt through the forgiveness that
Jesus brings. People who are far from God and other people being reconciled through Jesus. People in
economic hardships being liberated. In our own lives God's kingdom means experiencing his love in real ways
and becoming more like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Now if those are the things we are striving
for, if those things are our first priority, we don't have to worry. It's not that we won't encounter hardships, we
will. But if our first priority is being part of what God is doing in our world and in our lives, we don't have to
worry about the hardships, because God is going to get his kingdom done in us and in the world no matter
what. Because one of the cool things about God is, he's God! He's omnipotent. And omnipotent is a really
good thing to have on your side. It's the ultimate "my dad's bigger than your dad" deal. Our dad and his
kingdom are bigger than all our worries put together. The whole Bible is one long book about what God wants
to do in the world and in our lives. It's a great book, I highly recommend it. But it is a little long and I know some
of you maybe haven't finished it yet. So let me tell you how it ends: We win. We win. |
By: Scott Dudley - January 13, 2007 - Public Category: The Coming of the Kingdom of God
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January 13, 2007 Teachings of Jesus: Do Not Worry. God Knows and Will Meet Your NeedsJesus says, look at the
birds, look at the grass: God takes care of them. Aren't you more important than a bird" God is going to
provide. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't have to work. Obviously we do. The birds have to gather all their
seeds, and make their nests, and do other bird chores, whatever those are, but they don't worry about it. When
was the last time you saw a worried bird, wringing its little wings in worry" You never see that. Because bird
brained though they are, they seem to know more than we do, that God is going to provide for our needs,
maybe not all our wants, but everything that we need. I have had dozens of you tell me stories about being in
tough financial times and wondering how you were going to make ends meet only to see, usually at the last
minute, an unexpected raise, or you find your expenses were less than you thought, or you discover you didn't
need as much as you thought you did. Jesus is saying we live in an economy of abundance. There's more than
enough to take care of everybody: God's going to provide. Sometimes he does that directly, and sometimes he
does that through other people. Many of you have heard the statistic that there is enough food in the world to
feed everybody, but the reason that some people don't have enough food to eat is that some people aren't
sharing what they've got, or there are wars, or bad governments, that make distribution hard. God gave us
everything we need to meet everybody's needs. Our job is to distribute it. Do you know that there is $15 billion
of loose change just floating around America" Talk about an economy of abundance: $15 billion sitting in
people's piggy banks or behind their washers and dryers along with all the missing socks. What would happen
if every Christian turned in all of their coins to go for job training for the urban poor" Jesus is saying we live in
an economy of abundance and God will provide, either directly, or through other people. |
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January 13, 2007 Jesus Life Helps - Security for the FearfulJesus says, look at the
birds, look at the grass: God takes care of them. Aren't you more important than a bird" God is going to
provide. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't have to work. Obviously we do. The birds have to gather all their
seeds, and make their nests, and do other bird chores, whatever those are, but they don't worry about it. When
was the last time you saw a worried bird, wringing its little wings in worry" You never see that. Because bird
brained though they are, they seem to know more than we do, that God is going to provide for our needs,
maybe not all our wants, but everything that we need. I have had dozens of you tell me stories about being in
tough financial times and wondering how you were going to make ends meet only to see, usually at the last
minute, an unexpected raise, or you find your expenses were less than you thought, or you discover you didn't
need as much as you thought you did. Jesus is saying we live in an economy of abundance. There's more than
enough to take care of everybody: God's going to provide. Sometimes he does that directly, and sometimes he
does that through other people. Many of you have heard the statistic that there is enough food in the world to
feed everybody, but the reason that some people don't have enough food to eat is that some people aren't
sharing what they've got, or there are wars, or bad governments, that make distribution hard. God gave us
everything we need to meet everybody's needs. Our job is to distribute it. Do you know that there is $15 billion
of loose change just floating around America" Talk about an economy of abundance: $15 billion sitting in
people's piggy banks or behind their washers and dryers along with all the missing socks. What would happen
if every Christian turned in all of their coins to go for job training for the urban poor" Jesus is saying we live in
an economy of abundance and God will provide, either directly, or through other people. |
By: Scott Dudley - January 13, 2007 - Public Category: Security for the Fearful
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