Bud Lamb Talks

Jesus’ final words often probe with open questions designed to reveal hidden motives, deep desires, and hunger for hope. We may hunger from a distance or dare to come closer.

Slowly read and reflect on what follows.

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As Jesus and the disciples left the city of Jericho, a vast crowd surged along behind.

Two blind men were sitting beside the road, and when they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, Sir, King David’s Son, have mercy on us!

The crowd told them to be quiet, but they only yelled louder.

When Jesus came to the place where they were, he stopped in the road and called, What do you want me to do for you?

Sir, they said, we want to see!

Jesus was moved with pity for them and touched their eyes. And instantly they could see and followed him.

Matthew 20:29-34 TLB

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Imagine With your eyes closed...What would your life be like if you could not see? How would you get around or connect with that someone who is now your spouse? Would you be an optimistic blind person or prone to discouragement? How high on your bucket list would sight be?

Action Metaphorically vision can be an imagined plan for the future. How has your life waned with personal vision? What would you change if you could see better, further, or with new eyes? What choices would you have made differently?

Ask Jesus Give me eyes to see what I cannot see, Lord! I want a vision for my life - large or small - but a vision that is fulfilling. I want to see my family, friends, and what's next with new eyes!

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It has been said that we all have abandonment issues to one degree or another. Today, Jesus pushes that button, telling His disciples that He is going away only a few days after He washes their feet. 

Slowly read and reflect on what follows.

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"Dear, dear children, how brief are these moments before I must go away and leave you! Then, though you search for me, you cannot come to me—just as I told the Jewish leaders."

Simon Peter said, "Master, where are you going?"

And Jesus replied, "You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.

Let not your heart be troubled. You are trusting God, now trust in me. There are many homes up there where my Father lives, and I am going to prepare them for your coming.

When everything is ready, then I will come and get you, so that you can always be with me where I am. If this weren’t so, I would tell you plainly. And you know where I am going and how to get there."

“No, we don’t,” Thomas said. “We haven’t any idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus told him, "I am the Way—yes, and the Truth and the Life. No one can get to the Father except by means of me.

"If you love me, obey me; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter, and he will never leave you.

He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, for it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you do, for he lives with you now and someday shall be in you.

No, I will not abandon you or leave you as orphans in the storm—I will come to you.

In just a little while I will be gone from the world, but I will still be present with you. For I will live again—and you will too. When I come back to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Comforter instead of me—and by the Comforter I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you much, as well as remind you of everything I myself have told you.

I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives.

So don’t be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you—I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, for now, I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do, you will believe in me.

I don’t have much more time to talk to you, for the evil prince of this world approaches. He has no power over me, but I will freely do what the Father requires of me so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going."

John 13:33; 14:1-30 TLB

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It was near the end of Jesus’ time, as He set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem, His cross, His Passion, that Jesus impressed on His tiny band of followers perhaps the most important lesson they needed to learn…

Slowly read and reflect on what follows.

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It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.  I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

John 13:1-15 NIV

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Imagine  You are having a meal with Jesus and your best friends. Suddenly, Jesus gets up from the table and begins to pour warm water into a large basin -- something you’ve never seen Him do before.

Jesus is standing in front of you offering to wash your feet -- symbolic of the most soiled parts of you What goes through your mind as Jesus washes and dries your feet?

Hear Jesus, “You don’t understand now why I am doing it; someday you will.” 

Action Reflect on those things that you need to let go of – to make available for Jesus to wash away and forgive.  

Ask Jesus What is it in me that’s holding me back?  How do I let You in to wash these most private of wounds?

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God is observant of those who, with self-assured hubris, act like they can handle what life slings at them.

Rather, be on the alert, the enemy of love prowls like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Note:  the enemy is as a roaring lion -- in TRUTH the enemy is a powerful yet futile foe.

As you take a stand against the seductive lies of the enemy he is bound to cut and run.

Resist him, cemented in your faith…and yes, after you have suffered taking your stand against the pus pocket, your faithful love consumed Father God will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.  1 Peter 5: 5, 7-10 paraphrase

You see, love stands.  It takes a stand when we want to run.

Love stands up for virtue, truth, and promises -- like in “I pledge allegiance to the United States of America” or “I Bud, take you Lea Ann to be my wedded wife” or a pledge implied to a newly conceived human -- it is implied that we devote our lives to helping that new human learn Jesus’ way of life.

Love stands up for the sick, weak, alone, lost, confused, angry, aggressively militant, addicted, and the well-intended but often tragically confused politicians.

Love stands waiting for your spouse, friend, boss, pastor, to come around to see you, not just tolerating you.

Yes, love stands waiting while injustice seems to prevail.

It stands while all hell is breaking loose and trusting that God will make all things right as we surrender.

A stand seems so feeble in our times of aggression and automatic weapons.  Even so - it is our simple stand, turning the other cheek, that is the spirit in the truth that power is perfected in weakness.

We learn that love stands when everything inside screams DEFEND YOURSELF!!!  HIT BACK -- HARDER.  NO MERCY.  REFUSE TO FORGIVE.  MY WAY IS RIGHT!!!

Eleazar, the son of Dodo, a mighty warrior, stood his ground in the middle of a battlefield and the Lord gave him a great victory.

Jesus stood His ground in the wilderness as He was tempted by the enemy to compromise His purpose. 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%204%3A1-13&version=NIV

Though Peter denied Jesus three times, according to church tradition, he was crucified in Rome upside down during the later reign of Roman emperor Nero around the year 64 AD.  Peter felt he was unworthy to be crucified as his Lord was.

Don’t be surprised when you hear the whisper to be on the alert -- in your heart cry out Lord help me in full assurance that He will.

Where do you need to take a stand?  What is holding you back?  Why not invite God into the situation asking Him to help learn the way of Jesus where love stands?

Pray

I long to love like Jesus.  Open my eyes to where I need to take a stand and take it with confidence that You will infuse my heart's desire to love with determination, my actions with heavenly strength, and my willingness to take a stand.

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We continue to walk through the small book of 1 Peter learning from one of the most intimate of Jesus’ friends.  Peter observed how Jesus lived.  He listened over and over to Jesus’ teaching, and he watched up close as Jesus suffered many sufferings.

These sufferings tend to come upon us like a storm, as a bitter disappointment, a crushing defeat, or a betrayal at the hands of a close friend. 

Yet it is in the storm that God equips us for service.  When God wants to make a man He puts us into some storm.  The history of manhood is always rough and rugged.  No man is made until he has been out into the surge of the storm and found the sublime fulfillment of the prayer: “O God, take me, break me, make me.”

Every man who is pre-eminent for his ability was first pre-eminent for suffering.

The beauties of nature come after the storm.  The rugged beauty of the mountain is born in a storm, and the heroes of life are the storm-swept and the battle scarred.  

Excerpts from Streams in the Desert - January 16 (2022) by L.B. Cowman

Many years after Peter denied Jesus publicly three times, he writes to us from the deep well of suffering turned to wisdom.  Peter writes, Don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeal that comes upon you for the testing of your faith. 1 Peter 4:12  

We learn the Law of Love by suffering through broken dreams and promises, experiencing the loss of dignity when slapped on the cheek, or when our spouse refuses to forgive.

Suffering in these ways, we learn how to receive suffering as Jesus did – and to extend love through it as Jesus did.

This is the suffering Peter is speaking of here in chapter 4. A message he expects us to heed.

We suffer from a divine purpose that we most often cannot see.  Yet with the eyes of our heart, we can be assured the purpose is clear.

Peter, most likely, was influenced by Paul’s writing on this matter.

We have this treasure in an earthen vessel that the surpassing greatness may be of God and not ourselves; we are afflicted in many ways, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing, persecuted, but not destroyed; always carrying in our bodies the dying of Jesus, that the life love of Jesus would leak out of us.  2 Corinthians 4:7-9 paraphrase

And, so, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that comes upon you for it is the way we learn to extend and receive love.

Pray

Surely there must be another way God.  If that was so, Jesus would have taken it. This is very sobering Lord. Help me let go of my 5th-grade view of love, pick up my cross, and quit complaining or taking the low road to avoid or minimize pain.  O God, take me, break me, make me.

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Love Serve

Peter continues to break down how to love like Jesus in his little book 1 Peter chapter 3.  Once again Peter filters what he writes (surely inspired by the Holy Spirit) through his personal circuitous journey.

Remember, Peter was impulsive, get it done, no-nonsense guy.  I imagine his marriage was like many men you know who run their home with a “my way or the highway” fist - or abdicate spiritual leadership to their wives. Their faith is something they dabble with not something they are consumed with.

Well, Peter became consumed with his faith in Jesus, and it was a long painful process of suffering and transformation.  He had a lot of rough edges.

So, another love lesson from the anvil of a man we now refer to as Saint Peter.

Where Love Begins

Peter must have been listening closely when Jesus was asked, which is the great commandment in the Law? Matthew 22:36.

Jesus responded with you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.  And the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Peter learned this law of love as Jesus extended patience, forgiveness, and compassion.

Peter slowly learned to receive and be heart-changed by Jesus’ patience, forgiveness, and compassion.

Peter (I can only imagine) painfully after repeated failures and do-overs began to learn to extend patience, forgiveness, and compassion to himself.  Isn’t it true we seem be unwilling to extend love in this way insisting we crucify ourselves over again?

Peter began to extend love to his wife as he learned to live with his wives in an understanding way…1 Peter 3:7

Do you see the progression?

We learn to receive God’s love.

We learn to accept ourselves and our humanity.

We learn to extend this love first to our spouse.

Love others in an understanding way.  Why is this such a hard thing to do?

• If we cannot love our wives like Jesus we do not know love.
• We live with others in an understanding way because God lives with us in an understanding way.
• Living with someone in an understanding way means:

You accept them as they are.  Not tolerate - full acceptance - embrace their difference.  Remember your wedding vows”  For better or worse I take you to be my beloved.  And I In the name of God, I, _____, take you, _____, to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death. This is my solemn vow.

• Remember it’s a partnership - not a benevolent dictatorship.
• Submit to one another

We learn this law of love when we learn to receive love completely. 

We next learn to extend love AND receive love. 

You see don’t you that without God extending love to you you would not have the opportunity to learn to receive. 

You see by learning to extend it to ourselves we know the muscle movement required to extend it to others. 

And so, we learn to love as we love God in return for loving us as we are not as we should be.

We learn to love ourselves, by extending forgiveness quickly and being patient with our progress or lack of it.

We learn to love others only if we have learned to love God and ourselves.

We are the aroma of Christ.

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1 Peter 2

Set Aside

Do you realize how kind the Lord has been to you?  If so, then put away your impatience with your wife and kids, stop being lazy about your spiritual life, turn off the secret stuff.  Grow up into the fullness of your salvation. Come to Jesus again and begin afresh where you are!  1 Peter 2:2 paraphrase

Like you and me, Peter came to grips with being stalled in his faith.  On the outside, he still talked the talk, but without the fire -- his faith was shallow.

Peter writes to people who have stalled or drifted and have lost the fire.  He writes to inspire us to remember what is true about you and about God.

We can always come back

You see, Jesus’ law of love reaches where you are now.  You can begin again again.  No questions asked – well, other than the same three questions Jesus asked Peter in John 21:15-17 - Do you love Me?

Regardless of Peter’s behavior, he was a son of God.  Same with you and me.  Like the prodigal in Luke 15,  we are forever His son.  He welcomes us back without condemnation.  The Apostle Paul piles on to confirms it:  “Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 NASB

We are God’s chosen

Peter reminds you and me that we have been chosen by God Himself - you are priests of the King, you are holy and pure, you are God’s very own. 1 Peter 2:9a TLB

Friend, sit with this.

We are God’s chosen…and, we are set aside, not ordinary, but set aside as God’s special kids so that we can show others how God called us out of the darkness and into His wonderful light.  1 Peter 2:9b TLB

We are visitors here

Spiritual amnesia, social media, and our culture fight to frame our view of what’s true.  We seem to think our street address or our job description defines our citizenship.

Not so.

Our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God – not this world.  We are merely passing through.

Our real home is out of this world.

So what does this all mean?

Your heart is hungry for the fire to return – your heart to beat with His heart; to live this one time on the planet with integrity.

• The heart of God sees where you are.  His love is calling you home.

• Tell God right out loud, “I’m coming back to You God!”  Then take a tiny step of faith by telling your spouse, a friend -- heck, email or call me!

• Follow this up by getting your Bible out and slowly reading Matthew 5-7 for the next few weeks.

• Get yourself and your family back to going to church regularly.

You are not alone.

Jesus personally carried the load of our sins in His own body when He died on the cross so that we can be finished with sin and have a good life from now on.  For His wounds have healed ours!  Like sheep, you wandered away from God, but now you have returned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls who keeps you safe from all attacks. 1 Peter 2:24-25 paraphrase

Pray

God, sometimes I feel like You’ve forgotten me.  Or when I act out it’s as though I’ve forgotten You. I don’t feel “set aside” as one of Your chosen. So, going forward, help me build my life, my relationships, dreams and goals on the truth of Jesus’ way of love.

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Jesus knows all about you and me.

He has had His eyes on each of us from our inception and His posture toward us is loving.  Not the love we learned as kids, reinforced on tv and in movies, the smarmy heads in the sand puppy love that sets up soon-to-be discarded marriage vows.

Jesus sought out Peter as He did you and me. Peter was an everyman, who came to the true place of faith as a fisherman. He was somewhere in his 30’s, desperate to “make it” at his trade, his marriage, and however he defined spirituality.

Like many, he really wasn’t making it – but if you asked him he’d insist he was, though the evidence was beginning to break into his denial.

It was in this condition that Jesus walked into Peter’s life. Jesus invited him to be one of His followers.  Peter, with all his virgin enthusiasm, said yes without hesitation.

It is Peter’s quick “yes” to Jesus and his slow transformation which we can all relate to.  

Nearing the end of his life, Peter writes two small books, 1st, and 2nd Peter.  In these writings, we find encouragement in this slow, painful process of becoming what we believe.

Peter begins with “To aliens living in disbursed outposts, followers of Jesus, - learn Jesus’ Law of Love.” 1 Peter 1:1 & 22 paraphrase

To you and me, Peter meets us where we are and how we are – spiritual aliens here on earth and followers of Jesus – and the first thing he has to say is to learn Jesus’ law of love.

Why would Peter lead off with that?

A slow but steady learner, Peter learned first-hand from Jesus that love is the universal, preeminent, and primary law of life that guides all human interaction, all creation, and governs the connection between the infinite God and finite humans.  The law of love is the root and supersedes all other ways things work.

Peter learned Jesus’ Law of Love living with Jesus for three years -- he was an apprentice.

He saw and listened to Jesus talk love, show love, and live love to the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Jesus’ Law of Love exploded into Peter’s heart after he denied Jesus the third time as Jesus turned and made eye contact with Peter.

The Bible says “Peter remembered what Jesus had said.”  Peter wept convulsing sobs like a man with dry heaves.  It was a black day for Peter because he had no opportunity to talk to Jesus until after Jesus’ crucifixion.

The Love Motivation

After Jesus was raised from the dead, He gathered His disciples at the beach for a fire and food.  Can you imagine the dread in Peter’s heart as Jesus asked him to take a walk with Him?

Jesus asked him three times, “Do you love me more than the approval of others?” Three times Peter responded, weeping “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

Jesus’ quick, complete forgiveness – motivated by love – cauterized the open wound of Peter’s heart.

So 35 years later we find Peter writing to you and me – aliens living in disbursed outposts, followers of Jesus -- learn Jesus’ Law of Love.

What does Jesus’ Law of Love look like?

With your heart…

Be patient, kind, and compassionate.

Forgive any and every offense without reservation or hesitation

Don’t judge or criticize.

Be slow to anger.

Honor your marriage vows.

Pay attention to Jesus’ words to Peter, you, and me: “everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man who builds his house on a rock.”  Matthew 7:24 NASB

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Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. Psalm 37:5 NLT 

2022 can be your God-inspired BEST YEAR EVER with ONE WORD going forward, ONE VERSE to inspire, and a SIMPLE PLAN with micro-steps. 

Why is a SIMPLE PLAN important? 

Without a plan, you will drift and chase rabbit trails through 2022.

Without a plan, you have no idea what is most important. 

Without a plan, you don’t know where the finish line is. 

With a plan, you have a map with a destination.

In this session, you can begin to craft your 2021 plan. 

BEGIN NOW 

Begin by reading over the My 2021 Life Plan to get familiar with the format. Read it but don’t compare. I’ve been doing this for a long time. Begin where you are and be ok with it. 

THE BIG IDEA 

Take 20 minutes right now and fill in the blanks. Don’t overthink or wordsmith. Hold yourself to this time frame and blast it out. If nothing comes to you in one key area, leave it blank. Then, tuck it in a safe place and get on with the rest of your day. 

THE NEXT BIG IDEA 

Tomorrow pull out your plan first thing in the morning and read it over -- making notes, edits and additions. You will find God uses this daily review to help you craft your plan as you go. 

God will use your SIMPLE PLAN to guide how you plan and schedule each day of the week. Understand that you cannot work on each key area all the time! Each week ask yourself “Which two or three areas are the most important for me this week?” and focus on them. 

In our next session, we will talk about KEEPING ON TRACK throughout the year. 

PRAY 

I’m new at this God! I’ve been drifting. I’m winning in some areas of my life but in areas like my marriage or work, I’m really missing the mark. Please help me craft a SIMPLE PLAN. Thank you. 

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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

Set this year up as your best year ever by making the decision to begin with one word.  

One word over the year can keep you focused.

One word over the year will keep you moving when you want to quit.

With one word over the year, God will meet you where you are, walk with you every day, and help you finish strong.

Choose a word that fires you up, speaks to your soul, and inspires you to get out of the little boat you are in and walk on water with Jesus.

Talk to God about your life, invite Him in to inspire you to love and good deeds.  You can do this if you take a step of faith.  Nothing happens without simple steps of faith repeated.

Finding a word is as simple as making a list, looking at it for a few days, adding a word, deleting a word if it’s not right, and asking God to inspire you with a word.

Here are a few words from last year from a few of my friends:

Listen

Courage

Guarantee

Purpose

Dedication

Focus

Seek

Trust

You will know you’ve selected the right word if it feels a bit risky. It may not juice anybody else up and that doesn’t matter -- if it does you, then you’re set. 

I wear my word stamped onto a key made by the good people at The Giving Keys, an inspiring “pay it forward” company. It is a constant reminder that God is changing my heart and walking with me. 

So take a small step of faith - listen to God and pick a word - it begins a new beginning and that’s how God began - by choosing a Word.

Next week we will dig into a simple plan. 

Pray 

2021 was a rough one for me. The idea that 2022 could be my best ever seems ridiculous. I’ve heard that with God all things are possible. So, I trust You will guide me as I begin my year with You. Thank You. 

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