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What is the good news today?
I love to hear God remind me that I have been changed from the inside out!! I am a new man. A new creation. I have been baptized for the changing of my mind about my missing the mark of God’s goal for my life and raised to a new life with our Master. I have also been baptized in the Spirit of power and changed completely.
The enemy reminds me of the opposite, accusing and condemning me at every turn. His message whispers in my ear. Twisting reality and seeking to steal, kill and destroy me.
I must choose to believe the reality of our Master. May it be so every day!!!
The good news of Jesus Christ—the Message!—begins here, following to the letter the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Watch closely: I’m sending my preacher ahead of you; He’ll make the road smooth for you. Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God’s arrival! Make the road smooth and straight!
John the Baptizer appeared in the wild, preaching a baptism of life-change that leads to forgiveness of sins. People thronged to him from Judea and Jerusalem and, as they confessed their sins, were baptized by him in the Jordan River into a changed life. John wore a camel-hair habit, tied at the waist with a leather belt. He ate locusts and wild field honey.
As he preached he said, “The real action comes next: The star in this drama, to whom I’m a mere stagehand, will change your life. I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. His baptism—a holy baptism by the Holy Spirit—will change you from the inside out.”Mark 1:1-8
What is the inside story?
We all want the “inside scoop”. We know we do. And so here is good news. We have it. We really do. Paul got it directly from God. The plan is that God wants everyone to experience the good life through Jesus. No one is to be excluded. 
We get the inside story directly from God as well. We share in the same good news. We aren’t left out of His new plan for us at all.
This is why I, Paul, am in jail for Christ, having taken up the cause of you outsiders, so-called. I take it that you’re familiar with the part I was given in God’s plan for including everybody. I got the inside story on this from God himself, as I just wrote you in brief. Ephesians 3:1-3
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Do you get the hint?
Do you like hints? They can be a little frustrating but they can also be fun. They can also be significant beyond what I think some days. So, in God’s old way of doing things (Old Testament / Old Covenant / the Law), He gave us hints in the old plan about the good things to come in His new way of doing things. He had a new plan. A new way of relating to us. And, He not only planned for it, He did it.
So we had the hints. If you know where you are going and it is a big difference from where things are today, sometimes you hint about what the future will be like. God did that for sure. It is easy to get locked in the past. God wants me to live in the new way. It is the good news plan.
And then we had Jesus being born to change things permanently. And He did. Plan executed.
The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan. Thank goodness things got simplified in the new plan. No more countless rules and regulations to remember. Just love God and love everyone else I come in contact with.
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What is Jesus’ favorite thing to talk about?
What is Jesus’ favorite thing to talk about? It is the way things work in God’s world (Kingdom).
This is core of the message of Good News. God’s world is real. God is in control. God wants us to be loyal and do what He wants. He has a plan to be implemented.
So, after His resurrection, he met with the disciples face to face. The had no doubt about the resurrection. They saw him and talked with him for 40 days.
He lives!!
In face-to-face meetings, Jesus talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:5 The Message)
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Am I working hard for Jesus?
Am I working hard for Jesus? Am I working as hard as the Apostle Paul? Or am I hardly working? Am I taking it easy, letting others carry the burden?
We all know what hard work is like. We all know what it is like to “hoof it” and be lazy. Many days it is just too easy. We pay the ministers to do their job. The contribution we make to the homeless shelter surely means they will help that man I see on street corner. The hospital will take care of that sick person. I don’t have to live out the message of Good News do I?
God expects us to work hard for His message. The power of the Holy Spirit makes it easy when we focus on what God wants and not our desire to take it easy.
These women worked for the Message of good news hand in hand with Clement and me, and with the other veterans—worked as hard as any of us. (Philippians 4:3 The Message)
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Is this the latest, most faddish message?
Is this the latest, most faddish message? No, God doesn’t deal in fads. His message of Good News to us is more like the ancient truths of all time.
His goal is to bring out the best in us. He figured out a way to do that a long time ago. His ways and word are true. Once He figured it out, that is all there is to it.
We need to look beyond the fads of the latest charismatic preachers. What did Jesus say? What is Jesus saying?
Jesus challenges us to listen to His message of good news. It is plain, it is simple, and it is true.
“It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene.” ~~Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 2:7 The Message)
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Has the problem of missing God’s goal for our life been solved for good?
Has the problem of missing God’s goal for our life been solved for good? Yes, it has. Our Messiah and Master, Jesus, has done it for us and the whole world.
God has a plan for us. He has a goal in mind. We miss it. That is so frustrating. We have good news though, Jesus has solved that problem for us. His sacrifice of death paid the penalty for us all. We all have a debt to pay to God for our rebellion. Jesus paid it for us.
“When he served as a sacrifice for our missing God’s goal (sins), he solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s. ” ~~Apostle John (1 John 2:1 The Message)
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Who am I? What am I living for?
Who am I?
What am I living for?
These are essential questions. Questions that we want answers for. And so we have good news. In Jesus, the Messiah, we find the answers to these questions. He makes it all clear to us. We are living for God. It is our mission to love Him like we love nothing else. Our focus is on what He wants today. He wants us to love everyone we meet or know. Friends, enemies, strangers. We are to love them all.
It’s in the Messiah that we find out who we are and what we are living for. (Ephesians 1:11 The Message)
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Does God short change me?
I gave her a $20 bill. I owed her $2.32. She gave me my change and I walked away. Later I discovered that she gave me $2.68 back. Oh man, I was short changed. It has happened enough over the years. Nothing like getting short changed. Grrrr!!!
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What do I learn from the rude?
The way of the world is to want to hang out with the cool people. They can help us for sure. We all understand that.
Paul hung with them AND he also hung with the uncool. He found value and fulfillment from those who were rude to him. He learned a lot from those who were so smart. In GOD’s world that makes sense.
Everyone I meet—it matters little whether they’re mannered or rude, smart or simple—deepens my sense of interdependence and obligation. And that’s why I can’t wait to get to you in Rome, preaching this wonderful good news of God. Romans 1:13-15
What is God’s new plan for us?
Our Father had a new plan for us. It wasn’t based on the old plan where sacrificing could cover up for us missing the goal that God has for us. Nope. No more “things to do” to be in right standing. Now that is good news.
Jesus took care of all of that. Nothing left we can do to get right with God. Now Jesus has taken His seat of honor next to our Father. It is the seat of absolute perfection right alongside God. Not even angels have that kind of honor. Angels have a special place with God. Jesus is way above that. Jesus is the faithful Son. God celebrates what Jesus did for us.
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“But it wasn’t by any fancy footwork on our part” ~~Apostle Paul
Saint Paul with a Scroll and a Sword. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Paul depended on Jesus and the Holy Spirit to speak about the Good News. He depended on Jesus completely. While he could be eloquent, he learned that it wasn’t of any use. He must have the power of GOD. That is all that matters. Speaking with the power of the resurrected Jesus.
Can I not rely on myself and depend on Jesus?
“But it wasn’t by any fancy footwork on our part” ~~Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 1:12 The Message)
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“A good life is a fruit-bearing tree; a violent life destroys souls.” ~~King Solomon
An apricot and its cross section (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When we live the life God has intended for us, it is like a tree that gives us delicious fruit. There is nothing like fresh fruit. We all love it. I was at the market yesterday and just had to get some figs and apricots.
That is in contrast to a life of violence. I think this is not just physical. Anything opposite of doing what GOD wants us too is violence against GOD and it destroys our very souls.
Thank GOD for the Holy Spirit of GOD that gives us the power to live the resurrected life of Jesus. Now that is Good News.
“A good life is a fruit-bearing tree; a violent life destroys souls.” ~~King Solomon (Proverbs 11:30)
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“When we touch the foundation of the reality of the good news of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.” ~Oswald Chambers
I need to understand that God sent Jesus to redeem the whole world, not just me. What am I willing to endure to bring the good news of God to others? Criticism? Torture? Jail? Death? Ostracism?
Is it worth it? Yes, it is. It’s not about me.
It is an injustice to say that Jesus Christ labored in redemption to make me a saint. Jesus Christ labored in redemption to redeem the whole world and to place it perfectly whole and restored before the throne of God. The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption. If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden His energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.
Jesus speaks to the Father in our defense
Jesus speaks to the Father in our defense. Now that is some very powerful good news. We know that we miss God’s goal for our life. Jesus sacrificed his life so we can stand before God and be in good standing. Why, because Jesus is in right standing with His Father.
Because of this new plan, we can hit the mark and fullfill God’s goals for us. Thank you Jesus.
He lets us in on what He is thinking
We know what we are thinking. We do it every minute of our waking hours. A steady stream of thoughts. Most of the time no one else has a clue what we are thinking. We are mystery to others including those we are closest to.
That is the same with God. He knows what He is thinking BUT He lets us in on it. He doesn’t hide what He is thinking from us. We have Good News from Him all the time if we listen. He has a plan. He is revealing it to us every day.
“Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it.” ~~Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 2)
Men with Broken Hearts and good news
Men are supposed to be strong. And yet, our hearts get broken. There is good news though. Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted. And, He does.
The condition of a man’s broken hear has never better said than by Hank Williams in his classic, “Men with Broken Hearts”. I have been meditating lately on Isaiah 61 (see below) and Hank’s song came back to mind. Here are the lyrics.
You’ll meet many just like me upon life’s busy street
With shoulders stooped and heads bowed low and eyes that stare in defeat
Or souls that live within the past where sorrow plays all parts
Where a living death is all that’s left for men with broken hearts
You have no right to be the judge to criticize and condemn
Just think but for the grace of God it would be you instead of him
One careless step a thoughtless deed and then the misery starts
And to those who weep death comes cheap these men with broken hearts
Oh so humble you should be when they come passing by
For it’s written that the greatest men never get too big to cry
Some lose faith in love and life when sorrow shoots her darts
And with hope all gone they walk alone these men with broken hearts
You’ve never walked in that man’s shoes or saw things through his eyes
Or stood and watched with helpless hands while the heart inside you dies
Some were paupers some were kings and some were masters of the arts
But in their shame they’re all the same these men with broken hearts
Life sometimes can be so cruel that a heart will pray for death
God why must these living dead know pain with every breath
So help your brother along the road no matter where he starts
For the God that made you made them too these men with broken hearts
So our Father is so very good. Here is His good news:
The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, Announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace—a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies—and to comfort all who mourn, To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes, Messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit. Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness” planted by God to display his glory. They’ll rebuild the old ruins, raise a new city out of the wreckage. They’ll start over on the ruined cities, take the rubble left behind and make it new. You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks and foreigners to work your fields, But you’ll have the title “Priests of God,” honored as ministers of our God. You’ll feast on the bounty of nations, you’ll bask in their glory.Because you got a double dose of trouble and more than your share of contempt, Your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy go on forever. Isaiah 61:1-7 (MSG)
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