Let's continue our study on how Jesus regularly used questions. (He also really liked stories - are you seeing that?)

Here are some of the questions Jesus used when He could have just made statements.

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath day: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to destroy it?” Luke 6:9

 

They had no money to pay what they owed, but the banker told both of them they did not have to pay him. Which person will love the banker more?” Luke 7:42

A pair of my personal favorites that we talk more about in coach training:

One time when Jesus was praying alone, his followers were with him, and he asked them, “Who do the people say I am?” Luke 9:18

Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ from God.” Luke 9:20

Let's take a closer look at this last example for today. Jesus is talking to the man we know as the rich young...

Jesus loved to ask questions. He often replied to questions with questions or used questions to teach. 

Questions get people thinking.

Let's take a look at just one chapter of the Bible and see how Jesus used this tool. 

Luke 20 finds Jesus in the temple teaching.

In Luke 20:3 Jesus is answering a question about where His authority comes from and He says, "I will also ask you a question. Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?"

Jesus could have simply answered the question. He could have said, "My authority comes from God, who is my Father. He and I are one with the Holy Spirit." 

Why do you think He didn't just say it clearly like that?

He goes on to tell a story of a vineyard owner and his son.

(Side note: Jesus often told stories and then just walked away - I would have probably taken great pains to explain the story and make sure the listeners "got it". Do you think He just trusted the Holy Spirit to reveal...

Core Competency #8: Facilitates Client Growth

Coaching is all about choosing a targeted focus, exploring options, and setting SMART goals to move forward, but it's not always a straight line from here to there.

Good coaching goes under the surface and helps the client with more than simply what to do. A masterful coach assists their client by helping look "under the hood" so to speak. Helping someone understand why they are hesitant or worried or not good at counting the cost can be just as helpful as choosing action steps. Probably even more helpful.

If we can come alongside someone as they probe the depths of who they are, we can provide a safe place to nurture what is lacking, heal where there has been hurt, uncover unhealthy thought patterns and more. 

I've seen this in my own life. When I uncovered my tendency to skip the discerning part of the Working  Genius productivity model  I saw how I had invested so much time, and even money, into projects...

Coaching Core Competency #7: Evokes Awareness

Have you ever heard people talking about an "Aha" moment? They look different for different people and even different for the same person at different times.

Here are a few I can think of:

- "Oh, that's what I should do!"

- "I see now, I am believing a lie, that's what has been holding me back!"

- "Yeah, I need to wait on that."

-"What if I just started with one small step?"

-"Maybe I should get some help with that."

These are all actually "Aha" moments I have had personally. Here are a few more:

"I see a pattern here... I have thought that before."

"Oh! God wants to reveal Himself to me in a new way here!"

"I think I just need to try it and see if it works."

Aha moments are most often preceded by two things: a powerful question and space to talk it out.

The Coaching industry uses the words "powerful questions", at Bridges we often say "empowering questions" and lately I have been taking it a little further and saying "insightful...

How would you answer that question? Now what?

Now that we have been rescued from the outcome we deserve – separation from God on this earth and eventually hell – we have an opportunity to celebrate each day!

It’s one thing to know and another thing to live out.

Remember the two disciples who walked with Jesus after his resurrection on the road to Emmaus? They were just living their regular lives, asking the same questions we all ask, wondering whether Jesus was really there for them.  And it was actually Jesus walking with them!

Then it happened.

“As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared! They said to each other, ‘Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?’”

What if Jesus has actually been walking with us and we didn’t...

Have you ever waited for something and wondered what was going on? I’ve been in many situations where I thought something should be happening but I began to lose hope that it would ever turn out okay.

People wait for with great longing for:

o   A loved one to come to salvation

o   Financial breakthrough

o   A ministry or job opportunity

o   A spouse

o   Physical, emotional, or relational healing

Waiting can be one of the most difficult tasks we need to do. It saps your energy even though you may not need to actually be doing anything.

I’m not sure but I think waiting is hard because we have expectations that are not being met. We think “it” was supposed to happen sooner or come easier. “It” wasn’t supposed to look like what is really happening.

The disciples were facing all these things on Saturday. The Jesus who did all the miracles was dead. They knew best of all about his supernatural abilities and so they...

Sin, by definition, is “an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law” or in more simple terms “doing something wrong”. And we all have done it. Sinned. Done something wrong. If we say we haven’t, we are lying and there you go – we did something wrong!

So, if we all do it, why is it such a big deal?

The answer is very beautiful and very painful.

God’s plan for us and for the whole world was that we would live sinless lives – in perfect harmony and relationship with him and others. But you know the story - Adam and Eve messed up and ate the fruit. The one thing they were not supposed to do and they just went ahead and did it.

It cost them their close relationship with God. There was a separation between them that happened at that point.

Not only that. Because of sin, all sorts of evil entered the world. Sickness came. Hate came. Unkindness and evil of all flavors is here because of sin.

And it’s not...

Jesus spent a lot of time talking about the kingdom. The kingdom he was talking about was not one to rival the Roman government. It was bigger than that.

In John 18:36, “Jesus answered, ‘My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.’”

Jesus told stories about the kingdom and compared it to many things like seed planted by a farmer, yeast, a hidden pearl, a fishing net, a wedding feast, and more. 

The people of his time were looking for an external kingdom, but he was offering an internal perspective shift - an alternative way of approaching the times.

Maybe we need that too.

Maybe the devotional question for today should be, “Where IS the kingdom”?

Thursday of Passion week is the day we remember Jesus’ final meal with his disciples. This is the one where he washed their feet and where we get our tradition of...

If I oversaw Jesus’ timeline, I would have made a couple of significant timing decisions differently.

First, what was up with his ministry not going public till he was thirty? Was he not ready? Did the world not need him till then? What was the holdup?

And then once he started forwarding the kingdom full-time, Personally, I think he should have stayed around a little longer. If I were on the leadership team determining whether the disciples were ready to “take it from there” I would have voted, “No” quite adamantly.

Good thing I wasn’t in charge!

Galatians 4:4 shows us the Father was in charge of the timing. “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”

John 5:19-20a says, “So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him...

Yesterday we talked about how Jesus showing up as Messiah was different than what the people expected. So what was his mission? If he didn’t come to rule as an earthly king - why did he come?

I like how John 12:46 puts it.

“I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.”

What does it mean to be in the dark, or to remain in the dark?

Have you ever heard of someone say they felt like they were “kept in the dark” when everyone else knew something and somehow, they were not in the loop? 

I felt like that before a cruise we went on. The idea that all the restaurants were available at no extra cost seemed too good to be true. But then, when we went, we found it was literally true. The buffet was available all day, and they kept changing what was offered. There were also multiple types of restaurants that were also all free. The pizza by the pool… free. It was like a...