Jesus First

We have all experienced great moments of the sublime, and we long for them to last longer, but you don’t need to manufacture a moment or maximize your moment if you are willing to trust the maker of the moment.Jesus had a mountaintop moment of glory followed by a dark valley of suffering, but another mountaintop of glory was still in the future!

It’s a terribly contagious idea that God wants to give you a king just like you, who will defeat your enemies, and make you great. It is, as we have been talking about for some time now, the rule of the schoolyard. Get the biggest bully on your side.Jesus calls that thinking a virus and has plans to build something better.

For centuries, people have been using religious traditions to get them something of personal benefit. Religion can empower selfishness. Jesus, however, calls that evil.If you have ever been tempted to use a religious rule to mask your own selfishness, this lesson is the challenge you need to hear. Oh, I think it will be encouraging too, but the challenge comes first.

If Peter can get out of a boat, you can love your enemy.Matthew 14 gives us three stories of impossible moments leading to the impossible conclusion that Jesus is literally an impossible man with impossible power telling us to do impossible things.

Is Jesus trying to confuse people? Is he telling cryptic stories and saying impossible things on purpose because he's hiding something from us?Yes, yes he is. But he doesn't want you to stay confused. He wants to give you the answers, but he wants you to stick with him through the confusion.