JESUS IS THE WAZE:<\/span><\/p>\n G<\/strong>LORIOUS<\/span><\/p>\n P<\/strong>ERSONAL<\/span><\/p>\n S<\/strong>AVIOR<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Note: In June 2021 an abridged version of this message (“Feeling Lost?\u00a0 Jesus is the Waze!<\/span>“) was re-posted on the signboard. One of the most popular Apps for a phone is called Waze<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 Like the older standalone devices like the Megellan, Tom Tom, or Garmin, this app can show you where you are, put you on a map, and give you turn by turn directions to help you arrive at your destination.\u00a0 And, it also listens to reports from other drivers to guide you through traffic jams.\u00a0 Their motto is, “Outsmarting Traffic, Together.”<\/p>\n A road trip, in many ways, is similar to life’s journey.\u00a0 You have to know where you want to go.\u00a0 You have to have a plan.\u00a0 Curveballs and difficulties (just like potholes and traffic jams) will be thrown into your path.\u00a0 How do you plan your route?\u00a0 What’s your guiding map?\u00a0 How do you react when bad things happen???<\/p>\n God has provided His own Waze app for us.\u00a0 Throughout all of human history and into eternity, He has given us a GPS.\u00a0 On one occasion, one of His disciples complained that they can’t follow Jesus because they don’t know the way to where He was going.\u00a0 Jesus responded:<\/p>\n I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n (John 14:1-7<\/a>)<\/p>\n They didn’t have phones, or GPS satellites back then, but in effect, Jesus was calming to be that day’s version of the Waze: a G<\/strong>lorious P<\/strong>ersonal S<\/strong>avior…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Glory.\u00a0 That’s a real churchy word.\u00a0 But “if” we we’re created by an all-powerful “force” (God) that’s outside of ourselves, doesn’t it make sense that this “force” would be much greater than us?\u00a0 And so, when we think of this God, we’ve got to think outside of our own box of human limitations.\u00a0 God’s not limited by time or space.\u00a0 He can be anywhere at any time.\u00a0 He can be on Mars, causing the winds to whip across that barren surface, and at the same time He can be in the skies over our church creating a rainbow. When Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, he asked to see God’s glory, but God said Moses would die if he were to see God face to face.\u00a0 So God told Moses to hide in the side of a hill as He passed by, and then he could see God’s back; but never His face.\u00a0 It was too glorious,\u00a0 too great, so much above a mere human that Moses couldn’t survive if he encountered it (you can read about this in Exodus\u00a033:7-23<\/a>)<\/span>.<\/p>\n And many years later, there’s this scene (Mark\u00a09:1-8<\/a><\/span>) where Jesus’ face glows and He meets with Moses and the prophet Elijah!\u00a0\u00a0 And this same Jesus walked on water, calmed a storm, and even raised people from the dead.\u00a0 Glorious!<\/p>\n God is “Glorious.” He’s so much bigger than us that we cannot survive any comparison with Him. \u00a0 There’s such a huge gap between us and God that we can’t even be in His presence.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n God can be really, really BIG.\u00a0 But at the same time, He can be really, really, small: small enough to step into our lives and to understand what we’re going through.\u00a0 Many years ago, King David wrote:\u00a0<\/p>\n \n O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.<\/span><\/em><\/span> Psalm 139:1-4, NLT<\/p>\n Jesus sees us, even when He’s not physically with us.\u00a0 There’s an incident early in Jesus’ ministry where He sees one of his future disciples sitting under a fig tree (John\u00a01:43-49<\/a><\/span>).\u00a0 And later on, He sees his disciples out on the lake rowing against the waves caused by a vicious storm (Mark\u00a06:45-51<\/span>)<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If God is so powerful (“Glorious”) AND at the same time knows everything about us… that can be a scary thought!\u00a0 God made me; is He happy with me?\u00a0 Or like the potter making a pot out of clay (Jeremiah\u00a018:1-10<\/a><\/span>), does He want to squeeze me into a fresh blob of clay and start all over?<\/p>\n King David wrote the line “You know everything I do<\/span><\/em><\/strong>“, but he was also the guy who had an affair with a woman and then had her husband killed (see 2\u00a0Samuel\u00a011<\/a><\/span>).\u00a0 Talk about getting scared when a Glorious God gets personal! But-\u00a0 Jesus is the Waze.\u00a0 He is the bridge between anything that’s wrong with us and God’s glory.\u00a0 In some way that our human minds may never understand, Jesus’ death on the cross made up for all of our shortcomings.\u00a0 ALL of them.\u00a0 All of our wrong turns.\u00a0 All of the times we ran a red light.\u00a0 All of the times we cursed at another driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jesus- our Waze- bridges our imperfections with God’s perfections.\u00a0 He’s our Savior.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One thing about Waze (and other GPS devices)- before taking your trip, you have to program in where you want to go.\u00a0 It’s up to us to make that decision, and then you have to trust the GPS’s directions.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n Do you want to experience the joy and eternal security that God offers through a personal relationship with Jesus?\u00a0 Are you willing to listen to His directions, when He guides you through prayer, the Bible, and through other people?<\/div><\/div> <\/p>\n +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nGlorious<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nPersonal<\/span><\/h4>\n
\n You know when I sit down or stand up.\u00a0 You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n You know everything I do.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\nSavior<\/span><\/h4>\n
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