THINGS THAT AMAZED JESUS
How to pleasantly surprise the Lord
And put a smile on His face
Jesus was not often surprised.
He knew what to expect from man.
He knew what was in man:
John 2:23-25 NIV Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
Jesus does not trust man. Here's the reason:
Jeremiah 17:5-9 NIV
5 This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
When you are putting your trust in man:
1. Your heart turns away from God
2. You depend on the flesh
3. You will be deceived by the hearts
4. You won't be able to understand anything
5. You will be like a bush in the wastelands
6. You won't be able to see prosperity: you won't be able to discern the right opportunities
7. You will be alone, in want and in need
When you put your trust in God it is different:
1. You turn to God for everything
2. Your confidence is in Him!
3. You will be satisfied
4. You will be filled
5. You will not fear
6. You won’t be anxious
7. You know you are taken care of no matter what
8. You will be able to provide because you have much fruit
9. You are blessed!
Jesus knew what man was all about and the dangers of the heart.
Isaiah 2:22 NIV Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
This is why Jesus always gave Himself to God and sought out the Father in prayer continuously.
Psalm 40:4 NIV Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
Psalm 118:8 NIV It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.
Obviously we need to know what Jesus expects and is not surprised by: common man; sinful man – that’s what He expects which is why He came to save us – from these common (normal things).
Luke 6:6-11 NIV On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. 7 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. 8 But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Get up and stand in front of everyone." So he got up and stood there. 9 Then Jesus said to them, "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?" 10 He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored. 11 But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.
Jesus was prepared to encounter and triumph over the vile sin in the heart of man. He tested man and hopes to see us accepting the triumph over sin that comes from being in Him. This is why we cannot conform to worldly standards or "norms" (what's normal to the world).
What is “normal”?
We all want to be “normal” right? In our adolescent years our heart tortures us with an intense desire to blend in and be like others. Even for me, who “marched to the beat of a different drummer”, i.e., avoided the “herd”, the fashions, the trends; it was hard. I still wanted the nice car, the beautiful girlfriend, many friends and all the other things everyone had that I liked. Those who cannot fight and tame this intense desire to belong will generally be found at the opposite end of the spectrum: the geeks, the freaks, the outsiders… I was one of them. Unless parents have taught the principles of belonging to Jesus and God, they will want to belong to something in the world; to their own version of the world or someone else’s version. Unless a kid feels wanted and needed in his family, he will desire to feel wanted and needed by someone else. We all have a hole in our heart that needs to be filled! Actually, we all fit the hole in God’s heart which He desires to fill with us! Isn’t that amazing??!!
Think about it – Jesus looks at the world and His heart is filled with grief and pain; the same way your heart reacts when you see those horrible things in the news or in a movie – the things that are common to this world but which you desire not to be common with you, unless you’re already caught up in some empty sinful fantasy of your own or someone else’s. God so desires to rescue us and give us the REAL LIFE that is in Him:
John 10:7-11 ESV So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Mark 10:45 NIV For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Jesus is about giving; and giving LIFE at that. Real life for you! Now! Eternal life can begin now! Look at these promises:
John 5:21 NIV For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
Notice how Jesus gives LIFE. He literally gave us His life – to pay the ransom as the verse we read says. Just as the Father raised Him from the dead, the proof we have that Jesus is the real thing – Who He says He is – God Himself, so Jesus wants us to go beyond this life into the next! For this to happen we need the Spirit of God:
John 6:63 NIV The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
The Spirit gives us the kind of life that can inherit the wonders and blessings of the life to come. The flesh cannot inherit these. The flesh only can produce what is “normal” to this world, what is perishable. The life the Spirit gives is extraordinary! It is beyond the ordinary! This comes to us by the words Jesus Himself spoke found in the Bible. I will let you in on it in a few. Notice this:
1 Corinthians 15:50 NIV I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
In our current, ordinary bodies and state of mind we are not ready for what’s coming. We need to be redeemed – transformed. The Spirit can do that! Don’t forget though, that you must change your focus, your perspective. Remember; we want to amaze Jesus, not just confirm what He already knows about you!
John 6:27 NIV Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.
So we don’t want to be a part of the “rat race”. We don’t want to be what the world calls “normal”. We don’t want to go after the things the world holds up and admires. We don’t want to conform to the world since this world will end quickly. If it doesn’t end before you die, you will end! One way or another you don’t want your investments to be of the kind that will perish!
We want to work and strive with all our effort to go where Jesus wants us to go – to be with Him forever! Jesus will give us what we need to get there! You won’t be on your own and you don’t have to figure it out on your own! You can’t anyway! Look at us here… do you think people have figured anything out? If so why are we still suffering from the same maladies: war, famine, poverty, etc? Obviously we cannot do it. Jesus will lead us where we need to be.
We need to make every effort to be extraordinary in Him!
Luke 13:23-24 NIV Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.”
The narrow door is not ordinary!
2Peter 1:3-8 NIV His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
None of these things we need to add to our faith are ordinary, even faith in Jesus itself!
Faith in man and man-made things is what is common in this world. Real faith; the kind that submits and obeys God is not ordinary, it is extraordinary!
2Peter 3:13-15 NIV But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.
To be blameless and at peace with God is extraordinary!
Hebrews 4:10-11 NIV …for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
You want real rest? – that’s only going to happen by entering through the extraordinary door – Jesus Christ – into the extraordinary narrow path – the path to eternal life in Him!
We should desire to be spiritually “normal”, which is to be extraordinary; which is to be like Jesus. We will examine what Jesus considers extraordinary; that which would surprise Him if He found it in this sin-filled world.
Epilogue
Do you want to be normal or extraordinary? Do you want to amaze Jesus or do you prefer to stay conformed to the putrid worldly standards that end in death?
Remember, He came into the world because, despite of what He knew He would find He hopes against all hope to have us conform unto Him and choose LIFE. It’s your choice, really. If you are honest enough with yourself you already admit that you know where this path, which you are on, will end. You know it will end in hopelessness, despair and eventual death – separated from God and Christ forever! Oh yes, there may be some promises of worldly riches or pleasures; temporary satisfactions and all; but the hunger will remain – a hunger which cannot be satisfied because you will always hunger and thirst for more. This is why you will self-destruct without Christ – your heart will lead you astray.
You need Jesus! You need to be transformed! You need to stop trusting in man; stop trusting in yourself or in anything man has thought, accomplished or proposed. All these things have some temporary value but in the end they cannot promise anything! Only Jesus has LIFE! Only He can help!
i. Praying
ii. Studying the word
iii. Fellowshipping
iv. Worshipping God
v. Denying yourself
i. You need to stop being guided by your feelings
ii. You need to stop doubting and start believing
iii. You need to be redeemed
iv. You are right now separated from the life of God in Christ Jesus
Believe and accept the Gospel of Jesus:
The Gospel is:
The Gospel:
How to receive and take your stand in the Gospel:
You obey the Gospel when you