January 15, 2015
This statement from Jesus to His disciples is very disconcerting, until you understand it’s significance. Jesus is claiming the priority love that belongs to God alone. He is not saying you cannot love your family and be His follower too. No, far from it. He is saying that we must love Him above all others, even our very families. Since Jesus is God, He appropriately claims our first devotion. Yet, choosing to love Christ first, above all others, we are actually filled with the love of God which causes us to truly love not only our families, but our neighbors and even our enemies. The thing that grieved Christ about the church of Ephesus was not that they had fallen into sin, or that they had become heretics. No, He commended them for their faithfulness in these areas. What grieved Christ is that they had “forsaken” their “first love” for Him (Rev. 2:4). Following Christ is a commitment of the heart as well as the head. We are called to a love relationship with the One who redeemed us.
January 14, 2015
When Jesus sent His disciples out as witnesses, He gave them detailed instructions. He even prepared them for times when they would be persecuted or questioned concerning their faith. He instructed them not to “worry” about defending their faith because God’s Spirit would give them the words to say in the “hour” it was needed. This promise that the Spirit will give us the words to say assumes that we will go out as witnesses. If we do not go out, then the Spirit’s help is hardly needed. We will miss out on this wonderful supply of grace. But if we obey Jesus and go out as witnesses, then this provision of spiritual wisdom will be experienced. So, stop saying, “I’m afraid to share my faith because I don’t know how or because I’m afraid they’ll ask something I don’t know the answer to.” Instead, go out in obedience and let the Spirit speak in and through you.
January 13, 2015
Jesus told His disciples that multitudes of people were ready to be led into the Kingdom, but there weren’t enough workers to lead them. He instructed them to pray to the Lord that more workers would answer the call. I have prayed this prayer continuously for years. Since planting our church 23 years ago, we have always seen the need outweigh the help. God has trusted us with multitudes of people who need to hear the gospel and be discipled. Yet, the task is often overwhelming. Many cry for help, but few answer the call to be helpers. We still pray this prayer today, that God would send workers to help with the harvest in this generation. We always begin this prayer with, “Lord, send me.”
January 12, 2015
Jesus gave this response to the disciples of John the Baptist when they asked why Christ’s disciples didn’t fast. To understand His response we must first understand the metaphor He used. In that day containers for liquid were often made from animal skins. In the fermentation process of new wine, yeast converts the natural sugar in the grapes into alcohol and CO2. This causes expansion. New wineskins can handle this expansion because of their flexibility. On the other hand, old wine has finished its fermentation process and old wineskins have aged and lost their flexibility.
In context, Jesus uses this metaphor to compare old wine to the Old Covenant of the Law and new wine to the New Covenant of Grace that He was inaugurating. The hearers then, are compared to the wineskins. Some, will be unable to understand Christ’s redemption and will continue to pursue good works and ritualistic religion as a means to please God. They are like the old wineskins. Yet, others will recognize their own sinfulness and rely on Christ’s sacrifice and grace. They are like the new wineskins.
We have to be willing to let go of our own human effort at righteousness and freely receive Christ’s sacrifice for our sin in order to receive this “new wine,” this new covenant with God.
January 11, 2015
At first the disciples were afraid of the storm outside the boat, then they were afraid of the Man inside the boat. “Who can this be?” They wondered. He commanded and the sea and even the demons obeyed Him. He demonstrates authority over both the seen and the unseen creation. Who but God could do such things? Yet, having the Son of God in our life does not guarantee the absence of storms. Storms will come. The guarantee is that He will never leave nor forsake us. Perhaps the storms of life help us to understand who Jesus is. Not just in our heads, but in our hearts. We finally experience the reality that we have believed: Jesus is greater than any storm.
Take your eyes off the storm and turn them upon Jesus.
January 10, 2015
Notice the approach of the leper. First, he came to Jesus, second, he worshiped, third, he asked for the Lord’s will, then finally, he expressed his faith that the Lord was completely able to heal and make him clean. We can learn much from the order and attitude of the leper’s “prayer.”
Then notice Christ’s response. First, he touched the leper. Don’t miss this. He could’ve just healed him from a distance like He did the centurion’s servant. Leprosy was a devastating disease. It made one unclean, so that they were excluded from Temple worship. Lepers were excommunicated from the community. They were required to yell, “Unclean!” as they approached to warn others away. The disease was progressive and caused sores and white scales to appear, damaging the skin, nerves and eventually muscle tissue. Extremities (nose, ears, fingers, toes, etc.) would die and rot away over time. No one would touch them for fear of catching the disease. Yet, Christ touched the leper, expressed His willingness to heal him, then with a word, said, “Be cleansed.” And he was.
Christ was willing not only to heal us from a distance, but to come to us, touching us, and taking our sin upon Himself and thus cleansing us from all unrighteousness. Christ is willing and able to save those who come to Him.
January 9, 2015
What foundation is your life built upon? Your beliefs, your passions and loves, your pursuits… what is your guiding principle? On what basis have you built your house, your marriage, your parenting, your life? Jesus never promised that those who followed Him and built their life on Him would avoid life’s storms. But He did promise that when the storms come that they would be secure. Have you built your life on the Rock?
January 8, 2015
When two of the three “men” who visited with Abram left towards Sodom, the third one turned aside to reveal their destination and purpose. When Abram heard that they intended to see whether the “outcry” of Sodom’s sin was as great as it sounded, Abram began to appeal to God’s justice for the sake of the righteous. As the story unfolds, we see that the two men visiting Sodom are in fact, angels. And we see that the One remaining to speak to Abram is revealed to be the Lord. In Abram’s prayer we hear him appeal to God’s sense of justice. We are learning about God’s character here and also Abram’s. In a crazy kind of prayer/negotiation, God agrees not to destroy Sodom if there are but 10 righteous there. I think Abram must’ve known the wickedness of Sodom, but he didn’t want his nephew, Lot, to fall under judgment. We learn from Abram’s prayer how we should passionately and reverently pray for the salvation for our family, neighbors and friends. We also learn how God heard Abram’s prayer and preserved Lot, even though there were no righteous found in Sodom and it fell under God’s judgment.
January 7, 2015
That which is called the “Lord’s Prayer” might rightly be called the Lord’s teaching prayer or model prayer, for He gives it to us to teach us how to pray. Even the order of the prayer should be considered as we learn to pray. Notice He teaches us to begin with God’s Name and holiness, then moves to request God’s will to take place above our own requests. We tend always to rush to our daily worries, bringing our laundry lists to God before recognizing Him in worship and asking for His will before ours. We see prayer as getting what we want from God, rather than God getting His will with us. Who should be changed by coming into God’s throne room? Do we inform God of needs we have of which He is unaware? No. He knows our deepest needs before we do. Jesus teaches us to pray in order to seek God’s face before seeking His hand. Having seen His face, we may even find our deepest needs already met there. Have you learned to pray to get with God, to see His face, to hear His voice, to be the one who is changed? Have you learned to pray “Thy” Kingdom come prayers, instead of “my” kingdom come ones?
January 6, 2015
After Abram (His name before God changed it to “Abraham” – “Father of nations”) had divided the sacrificial animals and arranged them according to God’s instruction, a great sense of “horror” came over him with the setting of the sun. God was approaching. One commentator has observed, “Holy fear prepares the soul for holy joy; God humbles first, then lifts up.” This meeting with God was preceded by Abram’s questioning of God’s promised seed. Abraham had questioned, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless?”
Have you ever spent the night in prayer questioning God and waiting for an answer? If you have, you may have experienced what Abram did, holy terror. God let the hem of His holiness touch Abram and it was enough to horrify. Then, God made a covenant (Literally “cut” a covenant, as the origin of the word covenant implied the shedding of blood to seal it.) with Abram by passing between the sacrificed animals, prophesying his offspring’s slavery in Egypt and God’s deliverance. When the sun arose the next morning, Abram’s questioning and terror had been replaced with faith and holy joy.