keys

Hello Friends,

Spring is here folks! i love it....the color is amazing isn't it? WOW....so how is everyone doing? Good good i see some heads bobbing around out there, not sure if that is just shaking off the winter blues, or or the cobwebs from March Madness...i do enjoy this time of year as baseball starts to crank up from the little league teams all the way up to the loved Atlanta Braves, yep i'm a brave fan, struggled with them through the days at the "launching pad" of Atlanta Fulton County Stadium when in the 80's back in college the fellas would load up and do a roadtrip on Sunday to watch the Braves battle. Not sure what was more fun, the days out in the right centerfield seats with the shirts off getting third degree burns on our paste like chests or laughing at the various stories we could manufacture each trip to and from Atlanta. Can't recall to many of the stories that were told, but i'm sure we thought we held the keys to freedom in our journeys.
Speaking of keys! hahaha....hang with me here...Do you remember receiving the first set of keys to your car, or when mom and dad tossed you the keys to their car and you could go out with some of your buddies. Oh my gosh, how liberating, how freeing, and now that we have a few years under our belt and i have tossed keys to my oldest daughter, and now teaching our middle child how to drive. The responsibility of having keys is tremendous.

That's exactly what Jesus did. No not drive you numbskulls. He tossed keys (figuratively) over to Peter. We have discussed this scene before. It's Matthew, oooopsss ok some of you need to go get your Bible, that's cool....ill wait.........ok here we go. The scene is in chapter 16 where Jesus is asking the boys "who do the people say I am". And the guys are giving their answers and Jesus hones in on Peter. Don't you just love that, when the guy that typically blurts out is the one the teacher picks out to answer the question? Yea, deep down some of us are wanting him to answer incorrectly so we can giggle on the inside (so crazy that's for another time) But Peter answers correctly in verse 16 ...You are the Christ the Son of the Living God. If it were a gameshow, the confetti drops from the sky, the studio audience goes absolutely bonkers and Peter is swarmed under with high fives. But Peter and the gang GET SO MUCH MORE....you too!

v19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Unbelievable right? Not with Jesus folks, he takes the ordinary and makes us EXTRAordinary through our faith in HIM....what had Peter done at that moment to receive such a reward? Nothing other than to place faith in Christ, by stating, what he believed. Sure Peter ran a few hours later, but his place was secured when he stated YOU are the Christ, Son of the living God. You can have those same keys, a bunch of you already do, you are just not sure how to place the keys in the ignition and push the throttle. Think back for just a moment the feeling of freedom you experienced the very first time you drove by yourself...........you had to place the keys given to you in the ignition...YOU have the keys!

Jesus trusts you/us with the church (people, not buildings) and the building of His people, that's why He emptied out the tomb to set the captives free, to experience freedom from ourselves and to teach (disciple) others. Go ahead mash the throttle, live this life WIDE OPEN with us, it's a joy!