a BIG Jesus...

How do you picture Jesus?

Seriously. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and bring to mind your picture of Jesus Christ.

Even without being there with you, I could probably guess what your picture looks like.

1. Most of you are thinking about Jesus on the cross.
2. Some of you are thinking of a manger scene (if it were a little closer to Christmas, this would be the main picture).
3. Some of you see a white dude, with flowing brown and a sparkling smile (see the profile pic on this blog! HA!)
4. Some of you see a dude holding a lamb.
5. Some of you see that weird painting that every old church and grandma has on their wall.

Anything wrong with those thoughts? Not really. The main issue is that while these mental images bring up a pretty, simple, comfortable, humble, American-looking Jesus, it's not the picture that Scripture paints of Him as He is now. Check out how Revelation 19:11-16 describles him...

Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head he wore many crowns...The armies of heavend followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. he will rule them with an iron rod...On his robe at his thigh was written this title: KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.

That's a BIG Jesus, and that makes a BIG difference in how we respond to him. While it's good to remember the baby, the crucified, the risen, the simple Jesus from Galilee, don't ever forget that He is the unconquered, undefeated, undisputed KING OF ALL THE UNIVERSE. That changes how we respond to him, how we worship him, how we approach him. Have a BIG Jesus.