Who is Jesus? #161

Ten Things Jesus Knows About You

Your Potential

I know that in my life, and probably in the most lives, if someone believes I can do it, if they believe in me, I am either going to do it or give it my all trying to do it.

Many coaches try to encourage their teams by helping them to reach their potential. Unfortunately that potential may not be of the caliber to be a true champion because the team members may not have the talent or abilities though they may be playing up to their potential. 

Jesus took a few fisherman, a tax collector, a skin-flint, two sons of thunder, a doubter, and others and saw in them the potential for the beginning of His church community. What did He see in them that most of us would not have seen? What does He see in you and me?

I believe He sees in us....

     ...the potential for the advancement of the Kingdom.

     ...the potential for living life to the full.

     ...the potential for helping all the down and out people

         in the world.

     ...the potential for great spirituality.

     ...the potential for becoming more and more Christ-like.

The reason He knows that about us is because He has given us everything we need to reach that potential. Peter writes (II Peter. 1:3) that we have been given “everything we need for life and godliness.” Jesus came that we might have “life to the full.”  He has promised us everything that we might need (not want) in this life. We have assurance of eternity with Him. He has put a little of Himself in us (Genesis 1).  He has put His Spirit in us to prompt, lead, encourage, and correct us. He has given us all talents and abilities that we can use for His cause. It seems that everything is in place.

Are we reaching the potential that Jesus sees in us? I know how I feel if my children do not live up to their potential. I wonder how our Father feels when we do not live up to ours.

I can hear Him now shouting at the top of His lungs, “I believe in you, I believe in you!” He knows our potential. I wonder if we do.

Who is Jesus? #160

Ten Things Jesus Knows About You

Your Reputation

Jesus says to the church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1), “I know you deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

I wonder what kind of reputation I have with Jesus. I might be able to fake it in front of human beings – for a while – but I can’t put it past Jesus. Sometimes we hear it said, "His/Her reputation precedes Him/Her." That's not the way it is with Jesus. Our reputation is us - immediate, now, reality!! The same thing is true of our churches. We might have a reputation in our community that says we are a community-involved church. Maybe there is something going on at our church buildings every day and night of the week. Something that makes people take notice of us because of all of our activity. Again, I wonder if that is the kind of reputation Jesus wants of His body. Does He wants us to just look busy? Is that the reputation we have?

Satan came to God one day and, according to the book of Job, God asked Satan to take notice of Job and said (Job 1:8), “Have you considered my servant Job?  There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” I might assume that Job was a generous man and maybe helped the poor and others in need. Maybe he prayed five times a day. But the reputation that God saw was a blameless man who feared His God.

How about Barnabas? His name was changed from Joseph to Barnabas because he was such an encouragement. As the book of Acts unfolds we find Barnabas heavily involved in ministry. I wonder if that would have happened if he had not had a reputation of encouragement.

As I preacher I wonder if Jesus sees me as a people-pleaser rather than a God-pleaser. Maybe I am more concerned about what people think of me as a preacher than I am what God thinks. I wonder if He sees me as an ear-tickling preacher rather than one who stands boldly for and proclaims the truth no matter what.

I wonder if He sees all of us as ones who do a good job of playing church rather than having a reputation of  doing a good job of being the church. I wonder if by our reputation He sees us as generous or materialistic, committed or half-hearted, hot or cold, alive or dead.

I wonder if we get hung up on our reputation in the sight of man rather than our reputation in the sight of God. If we are a traditional/attractional church, we are in danger here. We need to be careful. If we have a good reputation before Jesus then we are probably O.K. in the eyes of man.

Either way, good or bad, He knows our/your/my reputation.