Tag Archives: saved

Love That Turns Losers Into Heroes

If I can? No. You can, if you believe.

Picture this gut-wrenching, soul-shaking scene in vivid detail. A heartbroken father has endured years of pure hell—watching his precious boy convulse, foam at the mouth, and slam violently into raging fires and deep waters as a merciless demon tries to murder him again and again. Sleepless nights that felt like torture chambers. Hope shredded to pieces. He drags the boy to Jesus’ famous disciples… and they faceplant hard in front of everyone. And when Jesus saw how hard His disciples faceplanted, He wasn’t laughing. He got angry and called them spiritual perverts.

In this scene, with tears carving rivers down the father’s dust-covered face, voice cracking with total despair yet blazing with a father’s ferocious love, he collapses at Jesus’ feet and cries out: 

“Lord… if You can do anything… have compassion on us and help us!”

Many parents feel that same knife twist—the exact same crushing weight when the doctor’s report lands like a bomb, the bank account bottoms out again, the marriage is bleeding out on the rocks, or that addiction keeps dragging you (or your loved one) under. “God… if You can just do something…”

Jesus’ response shows compassion but is delivered with frustration and irritation toward unbelief.

Jesus doesn’t hand out soft religious hugs or weak “there, there” platitudes. His compassion is edgy and shocking to faithless ears. He leans in with His signature grin and irritated fire in His eyes, and drops the bombshell:

“‘If I can?’ What are you even talking about?! All things are possible to him who believes!”

The Greek wordplay explodes—“can,” “able,” “possible”—all detonating from the same raw “dunamis” root of resurrection power. Jesus, the original extreme faith teacher, flips the entire burden: Stop wondering if I have the ability, and start looking in the mirror and wondering if you have the ability. And as you look and meditate on this, allow me to tell you the secret that the faithless kept from you, but I will shout it from the rooftops. If you believe, you—that’s right, you—have the ability to deliver your son from demons and sickness.

Jesus, the ultimate no-BS Faith Coach, flips the entire script: Stop obsessing over whether I have the power… and start obsessing over the fact that you do. This was said by Jesus, the most God-centered person who ever lived, and yes, He was even more God-centered than you. Buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy, because you won’t find anyone more God-centered than Jesus. He said, “If you believe, you have the ability to deliver your son, crush the demon, and shatter chains.”

Think about how God-focused Jesus was. Instead of saying a typical man-centered doctrine like, “Look to My Father, who is all-powerful and with Him all things are possible. If it is His will, He will or will not heal the boy.” No, Jesus’ theology centered on God in this awesome way. “By looking at Me for the ability to deliver your child, you are centering on the wrong person. Look to yourself. If you believe, then—you, not God—that’s right, you—have all possibilities open to you. If you want the boy healed, you have that ability—if you believe.”

This is illustrated in Peter’s words in Acts 3. He did not say, “What God has, God gives.” Rather, Peter spoke in the God-centered way Jesus instructed us. “What I have, I give—in Jesus’ name, walk.” Think about that. “What I have, I give.” This is God-focused on steroids.

It is not because we have inherit power in ourselves, but because God is so perfect and seamless to fulfil His promises, when a person confesses them in faith. It is because we have been re-created in Jesus, as part of Him, conferred with His Name to use, and authority to sling around as a prince of Heaven.

Many would call Jesus cruel for not coddling the man’s pain first. Nope—this was perfect love refusing to leave him a helpless loser. And that was the hard truth. They were losers—the devil was stealing, killing, and destroying them. Jesus did not just love the father; He loved him and then showed extra love. He handed him the power upgrade that turns broken people into mighty warriors, and losers into heroes wielding resurrection power at the demand of faith.

Deeper love illustration: If I saw a stranger’s kid in danger, basic compassion would lead me to save the day, but then I would keep walking. But if that was my son? My family? My close friend. My ride-or-die love? I’m not stopping at rescue. I’d train them, equip them, and counsel them so that they would stop being losers and become heroes—stop being victims and become warriors. This shows us how much Jesus loved them. He did not coddle them, leaving them in a place where they could be hurt again. Jesus counseled the father so that when the next attack happens, the father knows he can rescue; by faith the father has the power to overcome and shut the mouths of lions.

Through the finished work of the cross—where He took every curse, sin, sickness, poverty, and demonic chain (Isaiah 53, Colossians 2:15, Galatians 3:13)—He didn’t just forgive you. He empowered you. You are a brand-new creation. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. The authority is now yours. His Name is engraved on your tongue.

Your doctor’s grim death sentence? Jesus leans in with fire blazing: “What do you mean ‘if I can heal?’ You have the ability if you believe!”

That mountain of debt crushing your family? “What do you mean ‘if I can provide?’ You have the ability if you believe!”

That marriage storm or the habit that keeps winning? He’s still asking with that same passionate grin, yet laced with irritation: “If you believe—then anything and everything is now possible for you! You have the ability to make all things possible, when you believe.”

When you hear the irritation in His voice, do not be disheartened. It is love that compels God to counsel you to be a winner. He likes you.

No more victim prayers from the foot of the cross, warrior. Lock eyes with the enthroned King. Feel His holy, empowering challenge hit your spirit like lightning. Rise up as the new creation you already are—seated with Christ, armed with the power of the God of gods. And when you place your faith in His promises, you become a hero “of whom the world was not worthy to have known.”

So tell me, champion (yes, I’m calling you that on purpose because that’s how He sees you)… what “impossible” situation has you feeling like that desperate father right now?

Jesus loves you so much that He refuses to just heal and walk away. It hurts Him to watch His kids falling victim to demons, circumstances, and fear. That’s why He stops, looks you dead in the soul, and reveals the glorious secret: You have the ability—because He paid for it in full. He loves you too much to leave you weak. He wants you walking as the faith legend the world will talk about.

Life with God is filled with the love of God. It’s a powerful love. It is love that rescues you; and it is also love that empowers. It is love that turns losers into heroes.

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When even God, is not God-centered Enough

“Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”

 The men at the table said among themselves,
“Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”

And Jesus said to the woman, 
“Your faith has saved you; go in peace.””
Luke 7:48-50 NLT

The context is the forgiveness of sins. Jesus says if you have been forgiven much, you will love much. This is reason, Jesus points ,why the prostitute loved Him so much.

Forgiveness of sins is a big thing, because only God can do it. Only God is judge of the creation that, well, He created. He commands. He holds accountable. There will be a judgment. But He is also merciful and full of unmerited favor. Therefore, King David says, “Happy is the man whom God does not credit sin.” Happy is the man who is forgiven.

Thus there is reason for the crowd say, “how is Jesus able to forgive sins,” if they do not believe He is God’s son and sent from God.

However, the part that I wish to focus on is the last statement. Jesus says, “Your faith has saved you.”

The context is that Jesus is God. Let the sink in. Jesus only speaks and does whatthe Father tells Him. Thus, Jesus says, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. Let that sink in.

You cannot get more God-centered than God. Or do you think you are more God-centered than God? God says He does all things for His own glory (Ezekiel 36, Romans 11:33-36.)

Jesus has no issue saying statements about the absolute and direct sovereignty of God over all things (John 10:26, 6:44,65). But these are a super minority of the time. Most of the time Jesus speaks on our human level by saying, “your faith saved you,” “your faith healed you,” “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar.”

This immediate context is about the forgiveness of sins. This topic is a “central” and linchpin issue for most Churchs and Christians, as it should be. However, when Jesus ends the whole exchange he says, “God saved you.” No, that is not what He said. He said, “your faith saved you.”

If I were to say something as awful as this statement on facebook, twitter (etc.) to a person who just asked God to forgiven them, I would be trolled by elitists and heresy hunting Christians saying, “NO, God is the one who saves, not the person, for even their faith is a gift of God.”

But who is wrong? Jesus or these concerned scholastic cattle? They somehow expect us to put systematic theology into every sentence. Yet if you read them, they do not perform this standard. However, beyond their irrational and hypocritical demands, there is another issue.

They tell me that I am not “God-centered” enough. They use this to scare people. They bully people into thinking they are humble and concerned for the things of God. Yet, all I did was repeat what Jesus did in the same context about forgiveness of sin that Jesus did. So, who is more God-centered, God or men who say they are God-centered?

When even God, is not God-centered enough for you, then you are being played like a demon meat puppet. The bible is not God-centered enough for you, because you are so high on “your” God-centeredness you cannot see reality anymore. However, if you would focus on what “God” is centered on, you would see He is mostly centered on the human level. He is centered on “your” faith in the scripture.

Jesus would beeline to anyone with faith. The Father is the same. Jesus did not beeline to, “God is sovereign, therefore you are forgiven.” No, He would beeline to faith, and say, “your faith healed” or “your faith saved you.” By saying “saved,” as in “your faith has saved you,” he meant it as forgiveness of sins. That is, “your faith has caused you to be forgiven of your sins.” Therefore, I will also say this.

I tell you the truth, those who would correct me saying such a thing, would have also rebuked Jesus, if they were born during His time. If you rebuke the messenger, you rebuke the one who sent him. There is no escaping this condemnation, well, unless you have faith, so that by your faith you are saved.

It is always important to remember the foundation of God’s absolute and direct control over all things, however when we pray, seek and look to God for our daily bread, it is our faith that will save us. Faith in God’s words, is how we engage God. It is how we receive from Him. It is how we please God. Jesus did not stop and asked “who touched me,” because he was annoyed, but because He likes it when faith touches Him.

Do you feel you are one face in a crowd of millions? Who cares. If you have faith, God will beeline to you as if you are the only one there. You want God’s attention? Have faith in His promises.  Even a pagan can say, “God-centeredness,” however, only a child can freely ask for healing and receive it in faith.

For those who have faith, and are seeking God, I can say in confidence, “your faith has already saved and healed you.”

What encouragement it is to know, instead to being so high minded that our brains even leave heaven, that if we center on God, who is centered on our faith, our faith will heal us. All we need to do is focus on God’s wonderful and good promises. If we do, it is revealed that faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10). There is no fear that this will not happen. And when faith does arise, all things become possible for us. Mountains will obey us. Demons will scream in terror. Broken bodies will fix themselves at our word. And every sort of help will take wings and fly to us. Yes, even God Himself will beeline toward us, and focus on us, when there is a sea of 8 billions faces.

Do not fear, only believe.