Author: Larry Bennett

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Jesus is Never Shocked

Do you realize that Jesus is never shocked at what people do or believe? The New Testament is full of examples of His lack of shock-ability. That’s because Jesus looks beyond what we do or believe in order to show us His love. His major quest is to build a relationship with man, not to judge him for his behavior.

Jesus knew Zaccheus was a thief and a crooked tax collector. He he told Zaccheus to come down from the tree because, “I’m staying at your house tonight.” (Luke 19:5). That one act changed Zaccheus forever; he now had a relationship with God.

When Jesus saw the Samaritan women at the well He wasn’t shocked at her sin. He looked beyond her five marriages and saw her emptiness. He knew she was living with a man and not married, but looked past her present sin and saw the deep longing of her heart. (John 4) He pressed beyond the cultural taboo of speaking to a Samaritan because He cared more about relationship than He did religious practice.

When Jesus dined with Simon the Pharisee and his friends it was evident that Simon’s friends had come to judge Jesus rather than to learn from Him. (Luke 7:36) As the meal was proceeding, an immoral woman crashed the party. Luke writes that she had lived a sinful life.(v37)

Apparently those at the table knew of her reputation for she felt judged and condemned. Yet her longing for peace and redemption drove her to risk further humiliation. For her to take this risk she may have thought that this was her last hope of obtaining God’s forgiveness and mercy.

As she stood at Jesus feet her shame and hope drove her to her knees. Then as an act of humility she began to wash Jesus feet with her tears of repentance. She then took out a bottle of oil mixed with perfume and began to anoint and kiss His feet as her act of worship.

The Pharisees looked on in disbelief that Jesus would allow this sinful woman to wash His feet with her tears. Simon lashed out in contempt, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is, that she is a sinner.” (V 39)

Simon thought Jesus should be shocked at this scandalous woman’s attempt to get his attention. But He wasn’t shocked; He knew her deepest need for forgiveness and restoration. He was moved by her faith and her courage to risk everything just to be touched by God. He could see beyond her sin and visualize a restored life and a relationship as a child of God.

You see, it’s about the heart. Jesus always looks at the heart. Jesus confronted the unloving hearts of His host and friends while this woman demonstrated a heart overflowing with love. Jesus said, “Simon, I have something to tell you” (v. 40).

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denari, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied,“I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,”

Then He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:41–47)

Jesus is never shocked because He is able to look beyond our messed up lives. He forgives us, restores us and then floods our heart with His great love. Let’s bask in His great love.

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The Joy of the Lord

“The Joy of the Lord is my Strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)

As a committed follower of Christ we enjoy a unique position. The moment we placed our faith in Jesus we became someone we have never been before. Our spiritual heritage changed from a helpless sinner doomed to separation from God, to a child of God with a home in heaven that anxiously awaits our arrival. But that’s not all.

Through Christ, we were given a relationship with the God of the universe that allows us to wade through and survive every challenge the world can throw at us. We were given a strength that is not of this world. This strength is not based on knowledge, wisdom, or even a spiritual formula. It’s not earned by religious ritual or good performance. It is a gift from God that is a by-product of our salvation… it is call “Joy”.

Nehemiah had the right idea. The strength to weather any storm or crisis is based on drawing on the “Joy of the Lord.” In this context, Joy is best described as “Inner peace”. God makes available to every believer an inner peace. But we can only draw on it when we choose to surrender our control to Him. The real question is do we believe that God is in control when things are not going well with us? Do we believe that He can and will work out all our circumstances for His glory and our good?

When we are allowed to encounter impossible situations, it leads us to a frustration with our own self effort to fix it. We then have no place to turn but to God. He wants our first reaction to any difficult situation to be to run to Him. Our heavenly Father wants us to need Him.

That’s what the “joy of the Lord” is about. It is not acting super spiritual on the outside and not letting anyone see you sweat. The “joy of the Lord” is a position and a belief system that says, “no matter what is going on around me, I am trusting God. His foreknowledge and wisdom teaches me that He is in control and it will all work out for my good if I will let go and trust Him.”

The Scripture tells us that we are made complete by the person of Christ within us. “In Him you have been made complete.” (Colossians 2:10) Therefore, all we are, and all we need is found in God within us. Our response to this incredible gift is to rest and trust Him.

Christian recording artist Larnelle Harris has a great song that speaks to subject of trusting God entitled “Strength of the Lord”. Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

It’s not in trying but in trusting
It’s not in running but in resting
Not in wondering but in praying
That we find the strength of the Lord

“But what joy for all who take refuge in him!” Psalm 2:12

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Waiting on God

I think one of the most difficult areas for Christians to grasp is learning to wait on God. In our world of “instant everything”, waiting on God doesn’t fit into our culture and lifestyle. When we are waiting on God to answer our prayer our attitude is often, “Oh God, give me patience, hurry up, right now.”

In some ways, I feel a great sense of inadequacy writing about waiting on God. Much of my Christian walk has exhibited a life of impatience. There have been times when waiting just wasn’t an option because I needed an answer or solution now. I now realize that most of the situations were not that urgent, it was my impatience that was being exposed.

But as I have grown older, and I hope a bit wiser, I am realizing the advantages of learning to wait on God. I think you will agree that instant gratification is not always the best thing for us. Listed below are 3 things I have learned about the importance of learning to wait on God.

1. Learning to wait on God causes us to reevaluate our prayer. How many times during the process of praying through a matter, have you changed how you’ve prayed? Often, my prayer at the beginning of the process was much different than the prayer when God answered. During my journey of praying and waiting the Holy Spirit refined my request and was able to give me the heart of God in the matter. By waiting on the Lord he had refined my prayer to line up with what he wanted to do. Prayer is not about thinking up something to pray, but prayer is getting to the point where we agree with God about what he wants to do in the matter.

2. Learning to wait allows us to realize God’s timing. One of the basic tenets of our faith is that God’s timing is always the best time. God has the ability to do multiple things just from one answered prayer. By waiting on his timing others could be eternally affected by an answered prayer at the right moment.

A great example of this principle is the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. Lazarus’s sisters wanted Jesus to come immediately and pray for Lazarus so he wouldn’t die. It was an urgent need that meant death if he wasn’t healed.

But Jesus had a far reaching and even greater miracle in mind. By waiting Jesus did something even more sensational. He raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had been dead and in the tomb for several days. The whole town knew Lazarus had died and many had observed and witnessed his burial. Now the town was buzzing about Lazarus being raised from the dead. Jesus had received greater glory because at just the right time his sister‘s prayer were answered. (John 11)

3. Learning to wait strengthens our faith. When doubting Thomas saw the nail prints in Jesus’ hands and the wound in his side, he quickly declared, “I believe.” But then Jesus responded with an important principle. Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen me you have believed? Blessed are those did not see, yet believed.”(John 20:29)

Great faith is measured by believing God even though we see no physical evidence of answered prayer. It’s to believe that God will answer in his time and in his way. When we wait on God and he answers prayer our faith is strengthened and we can now believe him for greater things.

Waiting on God to answer a prayer or “come through for you” is sometimes very difficult. If we don’t have the right attitude toward “waiting” we create an atmosphere of doubt, fear and despair.

I am reminded of the story of Peter denying the Lord. After he had denied Jesus three times and the rooster crowed, Jesus looked over at Peter and looked into his eyes and into his heart. The scripture tells us that “Peter then wept bitterly.” That means that Peter was pierced to the heart with shame and conviction with one look into Jesus’ eyes. I don’t think it was a look of judgment, but it was a look of unconditional love. It was the love in Jesus’ eyes that brought brokenness and conviction to Peter.

I guess because of Peter’s story, I have this image in my mind that the moment I step into the portals of heaven the first thing I will see is the face of Jesus. I will look into his eyes and I will be overwhelmed with his love for me. A peace like I have never experienced will come over me and I will have the confidence that I am now finally home.

To me, learning to wait is taking the opportunity to spiritually look into his eyes, sense his overwhelming love, and then to have the assurance that he is working out all things for our good and his glory as we are learning to wait on Him.

“And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to [his] purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren; and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:28-31)

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It is not about performance

“Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5)

One of the benefits of God’s grace is its ability, through the Cross, to deliver us from a law mentality. The law teaches us that “in order to “be” we must perform.” The law demands performance in order to measure up. The whole purpose of the law was to reveal our unrighteousness and our inability to perform enough good works to obtain any degree of righteousness, other than our own self-righteousness.

The whole religious system has always been based on a performance based mentality. The religious hierarchy, the ceremonial formality, and sometimes even the educational system feed the perpetuation of a system that teaches or implies that we must perform in order to measure up to some sort of religious standard. Religious rules are always about control and bondage.

This is not a new thing. Jesus encountered a religious system that fought his message of grace and it eventually put him to death. The disciples lost their lives preaching this same message of salvation by God’s grace.

Even though the religious system is still alive and thriving today, I am grateful for a few solid Bible preaching churches that exists to teach the message of God’s grace and Jesus’ provision for man’s salvation.

However, in spite of the good churches there are many believers who still live in bondage to the law. Even though they will quickly tell you they are saved by grace, they live as though they are still under the law. It’s the tendency of the flesh to mix law with grace. Ever since Cain’s attempt to appease God by his offering of vegetables from his garden, man has sought to add to what God has already provided through a blood sacrifice.

Paul gives a great example of this in Galatians 3. Some of the new believers were stumbling in their new found freedom by mixing law with grace. We read about some well-meaning men from Jerusalem who were attempting to persuade new believers that they must add Jewish ceremonial law to God’s grace. Paul says, “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you…I want to find out from you, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”(Galatians 3:1-3 NAS)

Paul wanted to make it clear that salvation and God’s righteousness came by faith and God’s grace. They were made righteous by God’s gift not by any amount of works or law keeping. In other words, man is saved and kept by God’s grace and goodness, apart from any effort of works or law keeping.

Why is this important to know? The Christian life is not about working for God to gain His favor. It’s not about performance, but it’s about living your life in complete dependence on Him. Your Christian life began by putting your faith and trust in God’s provision for your salvation, and it is to be lived by placing your faith and trust in God’s provision to lead you every step of the way and in every season of your life.

The life of faith is about surrendering every aspect of your life to his control. As we abandon every area of our life to Him, the Holy Spirit will lead us in how to give our money, and how He wants us to serve Him. This same grace will also lead you through every major decision and crisis.

If you are trying to measure up to a set of religious rules or standards for God’s acceptance, then remember, you don’t have to “do things for God” to get his acceptance. Because you are in Christ, you are already accepted.

Then fully surrender every aspect of your life to His control and then listen for the Holy Spirit’s voice to lead you. It’s not about performance, but it’s about trusting and resting in His grace. Then, “HE -WILL- DO- IT –ALL- FOR -YOU.”

    “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him…for in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.” (Colossians 2 NAS)

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Everything has a purpose

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NAS)

I believe one of the biggest mistakes the typical believer makes is failing to accept that “everything has a purpose.” When we encounter difficult situations, more often than not, our reaction is “why is this happening to me?”

The life of a follower of Christ is filled with God’s “whisper moments”. The Holy Spirit whispers to us God’s deepest and most profound lessons when we are in our deepest despair. The problem is we miss or delay hearing God’s voice because we are asking the wrong question.Instead of asking “why is this happening”, we should be asking “what do you want to show or teach in this moment?”

I am convinced that a major part of life is about properly fielding life’s problems. Problems and seemingly impossible situations is God’s way of making us more effective servants. If it’s true that God has a purpose for every believer, then His purpose is most often realized through the crucible of trouble.

Life is not nearly as much about multiple successes as we think. It is more about how we respond to failure, conflict and impasses. God is more concerned about how we respond to problems than He is about how many success stories we can tell.

No matter which way we spin it, the Christian life is a paradox. It is filled with life contradictions. It’s almost always opposite to how the world thinks and acts. Paul speaks to this issue when he reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4 that life is filled with contradictions, affliction, confusion and despair.

Then, in this same passage, Paul reminds us that all this difficulty has a divine purpose. When we properly respond to life’s troubles then the result is a personal death process that yields a Christ-likeness that profoundly touches other people.

Through all my years as a counselor I often said that God kept me constantly at the point of brokenness so that I could effectively reveal Christ to the hurting and wounded. Any time we act outside the realm of brokenness we are in danger of performing in the flesh.

That is the reason that the Scriptural principle of “all things work together” (Romans 8: 28-29) should be in the forefront of every believer’s mind. God is able to take every situation, no matter how desperate and hopeless it seems, and turn it into something eternally useful. But in order for that to happen, we must see that God has a purpose for everything that occurs in our life. No brush stroke on the canvas of your life is wasted; it is all used to complete God’s portrait of your life journey.

No matter what stage of life you are in, God is still speaking into your life, are you listening for God’s whisper?

“So we have no reason to despair. Despite the fact that our outer humanity is falling apart and decaying, our inner humanity is breathing in new life every day. You see, the short-lived pains of this life are creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know here. So we do not set our sights on the things we can see with our eyes. All of that is fleeting: it will eventually fade away. Instead, we focus on the things we cannot see, which live on and on. “ (2 Corinthians 4:16-17 The Voice)

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Praying through and Surrender

“Our God can deliver us — but even if he chooses not to, he’s still God!” Daniel 3

The above verse is a quote by Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to the King Nebuchadnezzar. In the face of possible death these three men did not waver in their resolve to serve and obey God.

This moment of courage, faith and boldness was made possible by a life of surrender and obedience. They had already determined that God’s will was preeminent in their life.

Before their appearance before the King they had made the decision to surrender and abandon their lives to God. So when they stood before Nebuchadnezzar weakness was not an option. This was an opportunity to trust God to the max. The surrender they displayed was characteristic of the same strength that carried Jesus to the cross.

The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego reminds me of the importance of having the correct attitude toward prayer. Because of their response to the King, it is obvious that their concept of “praying through” was driven by surrender.

Many believers think that “praying through” means that “God comes through for you and answers your prayer.” Indeed, He may do that, but when we study the Scripture we know that the preeminent and overriding focus of every believer should be absolute surrender to God in everything, even our prayers.

The prayer of any mature believer includes “thy will be done.” This is not just a pious thing we are to add to prayer; it is a reflection of the heart. Absolute surrender includes even the surrender of our desires when we pray. God’s best for us always includes His perfect will, even in our prayers.

Prayer is our opportunity to bring our requests to God and then to demonstrate our willingness to submit ourselves and our desires to His will. So the next time you pray, remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and their submission to God’s will, even though it meant possible death in the fiery furnace.

“In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (Thessalonians 5:18)

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Be a Friend

Living out the Christian life is more about relationships than it is about spiritual performance. Yes, it is important to learn and apply the Scripture and to have a continual prayer life. But living out who you are in Christ to the world has to do with relationships. Quoting chapter and verse means very little if that knowledge is not reflected in your ability to relate to your culture.

I have had the privilege of walking with God most of my life. I have observed that the most effective ministry that I’ve had is not my public teaching or preaching ministry. It is my one-on-one relationship with others. In other words, my most effective ministry has been just being a friend and a good listener. If my vertical relationship with God is right, then my horizontal relationship with others allows Jesus to be reflected in my relationships. I don’t have to beat them over the head with a Bible, I just become a friend.

Over the years I have wondered why people seek me out just to talk. I have found that there are three areas that have helped me become a friend to others. These three areas might help you develop meaningful relationships and become a more effective leader.

1. Become a good listener – Don’t you hate it when you are attempting to ask someone a question and before you can complete your question they start answering your question. They assume they know where you are headed before they get all the facts.

One of the qualities of a good listener is being willing to hear the person out. Resist the temptation to jump in the conversation because you think you know where they are headed. In the end, you may be correct about where they were going with the question, but that is not the point.

This may come as a surprise to you, but listening is about listening. I can recall many instances where I said very little in the conversation, but by just listening they answered their own question and solved their own problem. Many would walk away saying, “You always have great counsel and advice for me.” I said very little, but mostly I just listened.

Point: Very few people have someone who will listen to them. Being a good friend is learning to be a good listener.

2. Learn to be Empathetic – Empathy is not the same as sympathy. Sympathy is agreeing with and siding with them in their problem. It is being swept into their sorrow and acknowledging that they have been cheated by life in some way or another.

Empathy is feeling their pain because you can connect with them because of what you have been through. But it is not necessarily agreeing and siding with them. Maybe they screwed up big time and they are experiencing the fallout of their bad decisions. You hurt with them but you have the courage, at the right time, to tell them the truth and help them see a pathway out. I like to call it, “having an iron fist with a velvet glove.”

Point: A true friend will be empathetic, but will care enough to tell them the truth.

3. Be a person of integrity – There are two things I have learned about integrity when it comes to being a true friend. It is a myth that people really don’t want to hear the truth. The reason most of us seek out someone we can talk to is we sense a need for someone to tell us the truth regardless of what we are feeling.

Secondly, in the end, truth is always the best way to go. Truth is pure, peaceful and liberating. Ever tried to hide the truth about a matter, and then later you were able to come clean? Wow what a great feeling to get that off your chest.

Being a person of integrity and being able to tell your friend the truth, even though they may get temporarily angry, is always the right thing to do. They will come around and thank you in the end.

Point: Integrity is a spiritual virtue and reflective of our new nature in Christ. Walking in integrity is a mark of your heavenly citizenship.

If you think about it, being a good friend is being like Jesus. Jesus is a good listener; He listens to our complaining, our whining and our crying out to Him. We come to Him because we know He loves us regardless of what we have done or regardless of how bad we have messed up. He is empathetic but He always tells us the truth.

I have heard for years that every person influences at least five people at any given moment. If that is true, wouldn’t you like for your five people to consider you a friend who is a good listener, who is empathetic and will always tell them the truth?

“Friends love through all kind of weather…” Proverbs 17:17 (The Message)

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Trusting in the sufficiency of Christ

“In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge…For in Him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily and you are complete in Him who is head of all principality and power…Christ who is our life.” (Colossians 2&3 – Paul speaking of Christ)

I believe the greatest truth that I have learned in my walk with God is the Biblical concept of the sufficiency of Christ. To learn of and walk in Christ’s sufficiency means that I acknowledge two key truths.

1. Christ’s is all I need to have and maintain a successful fellowship with my Heavenly Father. Christ is my sin bearer, my redeemer, my advocate, and my only connection to the throne of God. No amount of religious ritual, Christian service, religious/spiritual experience or denominational connection can improve or enhance my relationship with the Father. Only by being “In Christ” can I have assurance that God accepts me.

2. I am fully sufficient/equipped in Christ. Christ’s life in me gives me a sense of acceptance – so I don’t need the world’s acceptance. Christ gives me belongingness – therefore I don’t need to conform to the culture’s pressure of political correctness to fit in. I have a sense of safeness – because my security is in Christ’s ability to keep me safe, no matter what storm surrounds my life.

Because Christ is head of all principalities and powers, His life in me is greater than any tragedy, sickness, economic storm or major setback. There is no situation that we find ourselves in that God cannot deliver us from or through.

Living in and depending upon Christ’s sufficiency allows us to “rest”, because we know Jesus knows our situation and He is fully involved in every aspect our life.

So let go, trust in the sufficiency of Christ, and rest in Him as enough, regardless of your feelings. If you will trust the sufficiency of Christ for this moment, He will see you through.

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Overcoming Fear

“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power, love and good judgment. 2 Timothy 1:7”

Fear is a powerful emotion. It can cause us to make drastic decisions or cause us to shrink into indecision. It can cause us to lose sleep, lose reason, lose our appetite and lose our hope. Like any powerful emotion, fear can control us to the point of becoming something we do not want to become.

Are you gripped by fear of what will happen in the near future? Are you at a major crossroad in your life that causes you to doubt yourself and your ability to make good decisions? As fear begins to slowly encompass you, remember that this fear is not from God, it’s from the enemy. The enemy desires for you to abandon your hope and cease trusting God.

The reality of trusting God only comes into play when you are faced with overwhelming circumstances and fear. Then you have to choose and take control. Will you acknowledge that this fear is from the enemy and cast it aside and trust God? Or will you let the enemy get into your head and render you useless?

Paul told Timothy (paraphrased) “The fear that you are feeling right now is not from God, it is from the devil. Instead of believing the lies that fear produces, believe God. He has given you a spirit of power, love and a sound mind”. That means that Christ has given you the power to overcome the fear, the love of God to assure you that He is in control, and a sound mind to make good decisions, even in the midst of doubt.

The key to overcoming doubt and fear is to have more confidence in the Lord’s ability to lead you than you have in the devil’s ability to deceive you. Trust the inner peace and cast aside the doubt and fear.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20) 

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The Power of the Cross

Mention the cross to the average believer and all they can say is, “that’s where Jesus died for me.”They are right. But there is much more to the cross than the sacrifice at Golgotha. I find that many, if not most believers, seldom think of the cross except at Easter. I realize Jesus said that we are to remember the death, burial and resurrection by practicing the Lord’s Supper. But usually we only reflect on the fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. While that is a major attribute of the cross, it is just the beginning of what we should know regarding the cross.

Paul reminds us, “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1Cor. 1:18) Notice the phrase, “but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The power of God becomes operative in our life when the principle of the cross is applied.

What is the principle of the cross? It is the application of the death process that prunes us, so that we might be the recipient of the power of God. The cross is an instrument of death. It is the means by which God purges us of all those things that are inconsistent with “who we are in Christ.” It is the act of sanctification whereby all those things that hinder us from manifesting God’s power are put to death.

Paul describes this process in 2 Corinthians where he says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, (which is Jesus) that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted…but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing. Persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus (death process)…For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus sake, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”

The principle of the cross working in us (the death process) is the most important aspect of our spiritual maturity. When things fall apart we should pay attention, because it could be the cross process at work. It could be God attempting to get our attention because He wants to purge us of all those things that hinder the power of God working through us. The cross deals with things like arrogance, pride, self-centeredness, anger, selfishness, self-reliance and self-pity, and a myriad of other sins.

It’s not worth the fight, you can’t win anyway. Give up and allow God to do His work in you. Will you allow the “Principle of the Cross” to put to death all those things that keep you in control? God wants His power to rest upon you.

“You see, the short-lived pains of this life are creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know here.” (2 Cor. 4:17- The Voice)