Four life-giving lessons from the life of Jesus
4 Lessons that we learn from the life of Jesus
1.PACE
Here's where I'm probably least like Jesus!
We don't find him rushing around like a chicken with his head cut off for 3 and a half years
As a matter of fact, sometimes he was accused of showing up late (Martha/Mary/Lazarus)
But he was on guided by the pace of the Holy Spirit and not by the pace of the people around him.
Don't let the people around you give you your pace!
Don't let Instagram dictate your pace!
Hey parents! Don't let your children dictate the pace of life!
You were called to teach them a healthy pace!
When you place limitations on your time and attention it unlocks depth in the moments you are in
A FRANTIC PACE is a symptom of giving a yes
to things that should've been given a no
The reason Jesus was so effective is because he had availability to be in the moment instead of trying to be somewhere else
Guard your pace
Guard your time
Guard your priorities
- The reason Jesus guarded his pace was because he was focused on the mission -
2. Jesus was on Mission
Woman at the Well:
John 4:28–34 (NKJV)
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him. 31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
Jesus was fueled by the task given to him by the Father.
I've got to start seeing my life through the lens of mission rather than a collection of days and moments
When you live on mission
Every conversation has purpose
Every day has potential to be impactful
As I reconcile purpose with pace I realize:
My mission is where I am, not where I am going to be.
3. Jesus "peopled" well
As I look into the character of Jesus, I think I have found the driving factors of healthy relationships:
BUT LOVE IS A CHOICE - I'm talking about actions that are driven by love.
John 1:14 (NKJV)
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Scripture says that he was FULL of GRACE & TRUTH
Grace
- also translated in Luke 6 as credit
The idea here is that he gave room for people to be people
Giving grace to someone means that you don't have unreachable (or unstated) expectations over their life
It means that you:
GIVE people room to get some things wrong
GIVE people the benefit of the doubt
GIVE forgiveness even if they don't ask for it
Grace is a spirit of giving not a spirit of loaning
Loaning expects to be paid back. Giving needs no repayment
TRUTH
He was full of truth
Jesus was understanding and authentic!
The quality of his moments spent with people were reflections of the quality of his moments alone.
4. Jesus had communion with God
John 17:1–5 (NKJV)
1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Over and over, the rhythm of Jesus was to spend moments with people, then go away to spend moments with God.
Matthew 14:22–23 (NKJV)
22 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.
“The intensity of the moments spent under the shadow of the Almighty is the measure of your usefulness as a worker.”
-Oswald Chambers, Approved unto God
Do you want to people better?
Develop your prayer life
Parent better?
Develop your communion with God
Husband better? Wife better?
Develop your devotional life
All of the things that we have discussed today are moved by one needle:
Pace, Mission, Relationships:
My communion with God
