Springhill Church

Topic: Brad Mullins

  • Psalm 91 – Part 4

    Here are the notes from this message:

    Psalms 91:1-16 NKJV
    (1)  He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
    (2)  I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
    (3)  Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.
    (4)  He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
    (5)  You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
    (6)  Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
    (7)  A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.
    (8)  Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
    (9)  Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
    (10)  No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
    (11)  For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
    (12)  In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
    (13)  You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
    (14)  “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
    (15)  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
    (16)  With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

    The protection and blessing of God is not automatic even for those who are followers of Christ. It must be received and walked in and the only way that can happen is when you know God’s truth that comes from His Word.

    Psalms 91:4 NKJV
    (4)  He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

    It is God’s truth that protects us.

    There are many people who genuinely love God but are living far below what God intends for them because they simply are now aware or they do not believe it.

    We need to learn from God’s Word what we are to accept and what we are to reject or resist.

    God’s Word will contradict and overcome all of the negative circumstances and contradictions in your life.

    • God’s truth contradicts doubts and fearful thoughts.
    • God’s truth contradicts negative circumstances.
    • God’s truth contradicts sinful people who are in opposition to His plans in the earth.

    When God wants to change or do something, the first things He does is He speaks.

    All the actions of God begin with the words of God.

    Genesis 3:14-15 NKJV
    (14)  So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.
    (15)  And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

    God’s Words IN you are going to start His actions FOR you.

    How does God do this?

    Romans 4:16-17 NKJV
    (16)  Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
    (17)  (as it is written, “I HAVE MADE YOU A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS”) in the presence of Him whom he believed–God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

    For this to work in Abraham’s life, he had to cooperate with what God was doing in his life. The way that he did this was he began to speak out of his mouth words that were in line with God said and he believed what God said in his heart.

    If you are going to receive everything God has promised you, you are going to have to be willing to contradict your doubts, fears, and the negative circumstances that come against you in your life.

    Just because you have a really bad thought does not mean that you should put words to it and say it to others.

    The doubts have to ride the elevator down to your heart but to get there they have to pass by the floor of your mouth. As long as you don’t put words to those doubts they do not get into your heart.

    It is not your good words that change your circumstances. It is the power of God’s truth on your lips that changes things.

    Three things that Abraham did:

    1. He held on to hope. 

    Romans 4:18 AMP
    (18)  [For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So [numberless] shall your descendants be. [Gen. 15:5.]

    Hope is the ability to see something good happening to you.

    1. He did not dwell on the negative circumstances.

    Romans 4:19 NKJV
    (19)  And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

    1. He became stronger in faith by praising God for the answer before he had the answer.

    Romans 4:20 AMP
    (20)  No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God,

    The end result of doing these three things will produce something in you:

    Romans 4:21 NKJV
    (21)  and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

  • Psalm 91 – Part 2

    Notes from this message:

    Psalms 91:1-16 NKJV
    (1)  He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
    (2)  I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
    (3)  Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.
    (4)  He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
    (5)  You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
    (6)  Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
    (7)  A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.
    (8)  Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
    (9)  Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
    (10)  No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
    (11)  For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
    (12)  In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
    (13)  You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
    (14)  “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
    (15)  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
    (16)  With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

    A little background about Psalm 91:

    Moses authored this Psalm about 3500 years ago and at the time that the Israelites are at the edge of the promised land. Moses then sends in the 12 spies in Numbers 13.

    Numbers 13:1-3 NKJV
    (1)  And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
    (2)  “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”
    (3)  So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.

    Numbers 13:26-27 NKJV
    (26)  Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
    (27)  Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

    If you are going to follow God’s plan for your life, you must always say “yes” to the idea before you know exactly how the idea will be accomplished.

    • Once you begin the journey and take steps is when God shows you the “how”. You will never get the “how” in the beginning.

     Numbers 13:31 NKJV
    (31)  But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

    • The spies were not sent in to determine if they could take the land. They were sent in to gather intelligence to help determine their next steps.
    • These people completely disregarded what God had already done to deliver them.
    • They were looking at this situation as though all of it depended on them.

    You may face something that you have never experienced before but that does not mean that God has abandoned you. He is still with you!

    • God did not lead you to this point to dump you where you are.

    Numbers 14:1-4 NKJV
    (1)  So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.
    (2)  And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!
    (3)  Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
    (4)  So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”

    Anything of value that is worth having is only going to come by a struggle and require a fight.

    • The natural tendency is to want to avoid the fight and go back to the wilderness where it is easy. You must remember the “cause” so you will stay in the fight.

    Numbers 13:28-29 NKJV
    (28)  Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there.
    (29)  The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”

    • The Children of Israel did not overcome all seven of those people groups that were their enemies at one time.
    • We will not overcome our enemies one at a time, we will overtake them one by one. They are not connected to one another and they can be taken one by one.

    Everything you do for God is going to be done in steps and stages.

    When praying for direction, don’t look for the whole thing; look for the next step.

    Psalms 37:23 NKJV
    (23)  The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.

    Proverbs 16:9 NKJV
    (9)  A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.

    • Example: You are never going to get out of debt without steps and stages.
    • When you don’t know what the next step is, you stay there and be faithful there.

    Numbers 13:32-33 NKJV
    (32)  And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
    (33)  There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

    Numbers 13:22 NKJV
    (22)  And they went up through the South and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

    Your greatest obstacles will turn out to be your greatest opportunities.

    Numbers 13:31 NKJV
    (31)  But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”

    Everything in the world does not have to get better in order for God to protect you, provide for you, and bless you!

    This is the whole purpose of Psalm 91. Even in the midst of bad circumstances all around you, God will take care of you!

  • Psalm 91 – Part 1

    Here are the notes for this message:

    Psalms 91:1-16 NKJV
    (1)  He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
    (2)  I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
    (3)  Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence.
    (4)  He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
    (5)  You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
    (6)  Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
    (7)  A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.
    (8)  Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
    (9)  Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
    (10)  No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
    (11)  For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
    (12)  In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
    (13)  You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
    (14)  “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
    (15)  He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
    (16)  With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

    There are three verses that contain the word “because” in them and therefore the promises in this Psalm are conditional.

    1. Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place…

    Psalms 91:9 NKJV
    (9)  Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

    Very often we put our plans in place and then ask God to get involved with and bless our plans.

    With God, His blessing, favor, and provision flow from Him all the time.

    What we need to do is get over where God is and then receive the blessing, favor and provision that flows from Him. 

    1. Because he has set his love upon me, therefore I will deliver him…

    Psalms 91:14 NKJV
    (14)  “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;…

    Religious activity is not the same as loving devotion.

    It is going to be impossible for you to love God or anyone else without knowing and receiving the love that God has for you first.

    1 John 4:19 NKJV
    (19)  We love Him because He first loved us.

    John 17:23 NLT
    (23)  I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me.

    You cannot labor under the weight of guilt and condemnation for your past failures and short-comings.

    1. Because he has known my Name…

    Psalms 91:14 NKJV
    (14)  “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

    Psalms 61:3 NKJV
    (3)  For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy.

     Proverbs 18:10 NKJV
    (10)  The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

    Psalms 91:2 NKJV
    (2)  I will say of the LORD (Hebrew:YHWH – Jehovah – the self-existent One), “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God (Elohiym – one true God) in Him I will trust.”

    Your relationship with God may start out following someone else’s but eventually God has to become YOUR God.

    Genesis 1:1 NKJV
    (1)  In the beginning God (Elohiym) created the heavens and the earth.

    Psalms 91:1 NKJV
    (1)  He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High (Hebrew: El’yon – Supreme, Highest One) Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Hebrew: El Shaddai – God of Grace).

    Luke 1:35 NIV
    (35)  The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

    Genesis 17:1 NKJV
    (1)  When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.

    Psalms 91:4 NKJV
    (4)  He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

    This is a perfect picture of El Shaddai (The God of Grace) because most mother animals will protect their young even if it costs them their own life.

    This is exactly what God did for us! He was willing to die for us to have us as His children.

  • Better – Part 4

    Message Notes for Better – Part 4

    Three things about normal we need to know:

    • Normal is the enemy of better.
    • Normal is easy.
    • Normal isn’t working.

    Until we arrive at the conclusion that normal isn’t working, we are destined to keep repeating the same results over and over.

    You can’t have the better life you want to live if you keep living the normal life you have been living.

    There is something that I believe is a “normal” for a lot of people that we would never admit.

    Everywhere we turn we are surrounded by headlines, images, commercials, Facebook posts that are designed to get us to do one thing: compare ourselves to what we are seeing and see if we measure up.

    I read where someone said, “Facebook is the place you go when you want to see which of your prayers God answered for someone else.”

    I believe comparison is one of the most dangerous things we can do.

    We compare everything: our looks, our bodies, our money, our cars, our homes, our clothes… to this standard that someone sets as the appropriate for us.

    The comparison trap is nothing new…

    Like Dave Ramsey says, “We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.”

    When we are talking about our lives being Better and God wants our lives to be Better, we cannot fall into the comparison trap.

    My Better and your Better are different.

    Don’t make the mistake of beginning to compare your better with someone else’s better.

    Many of us know about the Apostle Peter and how great of a man of God he was, but we also know about his flaws: loud, aggressive, at times maybe obnoxious. Could it be that he was hiding a real insecurity that many of us possess? This insecurity went so far as to make Peter deny he even knew the Lord because everyone else was doing it.

     “Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt

     John 21:14-22 NLT
    (14)  This was the third time Jesus had appeared to His disciples since He had been raised from the dead.
    (15)  After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these? ” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “You know I love You.” “Then feed My lambs,” Jesus told him.
    (16)  Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “You know I love You.” “Then take care of My sheep,” Jesus said.
    (17)  A third time He asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, You know everything. You know that I love You.” Jesus said, “Then feed My sheep.
    (18)  “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.”
    (19)  Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow Me.”
    (20)  Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved–the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray You?”
    (21)  Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?”
    (22)  Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow Me.”

    When we are insecure in who God made us to be, we begin to compare.

    “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” – Steven Furtick

    Galatians 6:4-5 MSG
    (4)  Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others.
    (5)  Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

    2 Corinthians 10:12b MSG
    (12)  … But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.

    What is the answer to the comparison trap?

    Instead of comparing ourselves with others, God has called us to fix our eyes on one person only, Jesus.

    Hebrews 12:1-3 NLT
    (1)  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
    (2)  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
    (3)  Think of all the hostility He endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

    Romans 12:1-2 MSG
    (1)  So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life–your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life–and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
    (2)  Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

    Questions to think about:

    • Have you lost your joy because of comparison?
    • Do you want to get your joy and fire back?

    Take time every day to set your focus and attention on Jesus. When you are tempted to compare, set your focus back on Him. Instead of asking everyone and everything around you, “How am I doing?”, direct that question to Jesus.

  • Better – Part 3

    Three things about normal we need to know:

    • Normal is the enemy of better.

    Most of the time we are blind to OUR Normal. Normal is invisible.

    • Normal is easy.
    • Normal isn’t working.

    Until we arrive at the conclusion that normal isn’t working, we are destined to keep repeating the same results over and over.

    You can’t have the better life you want to live if you keep living the normal life you have been living.

    Jesus isn’t normal – He’s better.

    If I learn to live like Jesus, my life won’t be normal, but it will be better.

    Jesus wants us to live LIKE Him.

    But Jesus went a step further in what He asked of us. He did not just ask us to live LIKE Him. He said that there is something even better than that.

    Jesus wants us to live FOR Him.

    Luke 14:26 NLT
    (26)  “If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison–your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters–yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My disciple.

    If the love you have for your family does not look like hate compared to the love you have for Me, then leave.

    Each of us are already living for something.

    What you are living for determines whether you are happy or not, whether our lives are significant. We all have drawn that line that causes us to live for that thing. We determine our satisfaction and fulfillment in life based on what we live for.

    If that is what you are living for, then what you are living for isn’t worth living for.

    These kinds of statements are what caused the religious leaders of Jesus’ day to hate Him.

    John 4:7-19 NIV
    (7)  When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
    (8)  (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
    (9)  The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
    (10)  Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
    (11)  “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
    (12)  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
    (13)  Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,
    (14)  but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
    (15)  The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
    (16)  He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
    (17)  “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
    (18)  The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
    (19)  “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.

    John 4:25-26 NIV
    (25)  The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
    (26)  Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you–I am he.”

    Jesus is talking about when we begin to live life satisfied from the inside out instead of outside in.

    The woman came to the well alone because she was tired of being judged by the others because of her past and what she has always lived for and what she lived for was not doing anything for her.

    How can I know that if I make the decision to live FOR Jesus and give up what is important for me that I will receive everything that I need to be satisfied in this life?

    Anything Jesus asks you to do, He has already done for you.

    John 19:28 NIV
    (28)  Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

    You can be sure that when Jesus asks us to live for Him, it is because He has lived and died for you and been unfulfilled and unsatisfied so that you can be fulfilled and satisfied.

    Jesus took your thirst for whatever so that you can live a fulfilled life.

    How do I evaluate whether I am living FOR Jesus or not?

    • Time               (Does Jesus get the best of your time or the rest of your time?)
    • Money           (Where your money is, there your heart is.)
    • Thoughts     (The more you living for someone, the more you think about them)

    The more you live FOR Jesus, the living LIKE Jesus takes care of itself.

  • Better – Part 2

  • Better – Part 1

    Bible-app-icon-english-200x200-d90bcab39ec009c83ecbcf672c7f41db  Click HERE to go to the Youversion.com message notes.

    Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
    (11)  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

    We believe in and serve a God who is a loving Father and always wants better for His children.

    The greatest obstacle to better is normal.

    Three things about normal we need to know:

    • Normal is the enemy of better.

    What is normal?

    • Normal is being just good enough – doing the minimum to get by.
    • Normal might be buying something and creating debt when you don’t have the money to pay for it.
    • Normal might be burying yourself in your phone.
    • Normal is the silent treatment – creating tension – manipulating to get your way
    • Normal is always flying off the handle – losing your temper.
    • Normal is not being willing to take responsibility – passing blame.
    • Normal is easy.
    • Normal isn’t working.

     The crazy thing is that most of the time we don’t see our normal.

    You are not going to solve a problem you are not willing to admit that you have.

    Until we arrive at the conclusion that normal isn’t working, we are destined to keep repeating the same results over and over.

    In order for us to experience better, we are going to have to part ways with normal and leave it behind.

    Jesus isn’t normal – He’s better.

    Here are some things Jesus said that are not normal:

    • Jesus said to love and pray for your enemies – the people you can’t stand.
    • Jesus said the last shall be first.
    • Jesus said if you want to be great, you must become a servant to all.
    • Jesus said if you want to gain your life, you have to lose your life.
    • Jesus said He was going to die on the cross and that was so not normal, Peter pulled Him aside and said that he wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

    Mark 10:17-21 NIV
    (17)  As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
    (18)  “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone.
    (19)  You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
    (20)  “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
    (21)  Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

    Sometimes to us, better looks worser.

    Sometimes the way forward is to go backwards.

    Think about this – Jesus had to experience worser in order to get all humanity to better.

    God wants a relationship of total trust in Him.

    Mark 10:22 NIV
    (22)  At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

    What is so sad about this story is that the young man went back to his normal.

    Jesus can ask us to leave normal and reach for better because that is exactly what He did for us.

    2 Corinthians 8:9 NIV
    (9)  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich (better), yet for your sake he became poor (worser), so that you through his poverty might become rich (better).

    Jesus isn’t normal – He’s better.

    Two asks and a big dare:

    • What is your normal?
    • What can you do today?
    • Invite Jesus to step into your path to disrupt your normal to get you to better.