Week 23
The Lords Day, Week 23!
Thoughts on Galatians 4-6:
· Galatians 4 - Paul again shares the Gospel, the law was a guardian, it told us what was right and wrong, it revealed our sin to us when we failed to uphold it. Born into this world we are born a slave to our nature and the elementary principles of this world, here Paul is referring back to the law and it's outward practices, not necessarily spiritual forces, though it can mean that too, but in context his focus seems to be the law and the way it enslaves. But when the fullness of time had come... here it is, the Gospel, God sent forth His Son, born of woman... to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons The Gospel takes us from slaves to sons, and sons is intentional here, it doesn't just mean children. Given the historical context only sons could inherit their families titles, wealth, and position, only sons were heirs. But Pauls usage of sons is meant to apply to both men and women, and so Paul is making sure his earlier point that their is neither male nor female, but all one in Christ, Chapter 3 verse 28, is clear. After this he goes on to speak again of his time with them, and how much they loved him and he them, but then wants to show the error that is being presented to them. Two covenants show by two children, Ishmael was Abrahams first son, born to his slave Hagar, and was the result of Abraham's lack of trust in the promise of God. Abraham was waiting for Gods promise, he was growing older and thought, maybe I'll just help God out... But He is rebuked, God doesn't need his help, and in fact this help was a sign of a lack of faith. When we trust in the law, we show a lack of faith, we are acting like children of the flesh, not of the promise. The law is represented as Mount Sinai, where the law was passed to Moses. Then years later Abraham is even older and his wife, Sarah gives birth to another son, Isaac, this is the son of the promise, this is the son that God brought them when they were both well beyond child bearing age. This son, shows salvation is completely of God, not of the flesh. This is our salvation, completely of God, not anything of our flesh. We are not children of the slave, but children of the free woman.
· Galatians 5 - What does it look like then to be a freed child of the promise??? It means you also walk by faith, it means you walk by the Spirit and don't trust in the flesh. Paul says this walk is marked first by love for our neighbor, which is a serving of one another. This one another here, is the church, not the world, don't get confused, there is a love we are to have for all people, but brotherly love, familial love within the family of God is distinct, it is us laying down our lives for one another. Our love for the world is marked by first, an invitation to the family, the Gospel, because outside fo the Gospel we have nothing in common, we are led by the Spirit they are led by the flesh. What does the flesh produce? sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. It's not the Christians never sin, but Christians do not live in sin, we aren't given over to sin, and our lives should be marked by repentance of sin. So when we sin, we repent, and seek forgiveness, and we don't have patterns of sin in our lives as we once did. But the fruit of the Spirit, meaning that which is produced in those who are being led by the Spirit, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control... Crucify the flesh Christian, that means stop doing that which is produced in the flesh! I think some Christians think that it's supposed to be easy to stop sinning, that it's somehow just going to end on its own, but if there were the case, Paul wouldn't say to crucify it. It may be painful, this is where the fruit of the Spirit gets us through, but you must crucify it, you must put it to death and the Spirit will see you through.
· Galatians 6 - Bear one another burdens, the context of this is, sin. Who are you confessing to? who is carrying your burdens, and who's burdens are you carrying? Who is keeping you accountable? That's the idea here, restore one another, yes, pray for each other, correct each other, rebuke each other, all of this is part of bearing each others burdens. This life in the Spirit will not be easy, but in due season we will reap, IF we do not give up! What are you sowing? because you can only reap what you sow, if you are reaping to the flesh, then you will reap death, because that is all the flesh can produce. But if you reap to the Spirit, then you will reap eternal life, it's not the reaping that saves, that's been Paul's argument, but the reaping does show us we are saved. So if you are saved, then reap to the Spirit, surrender to a life lived in the Spirit, and crucify the flesh, kill it, destroy it, suffocate it, whatever you have to do, Jesus says, it's better to pluck out your eye, cut off your arm, and so on, so kill it! In the end, Paul closes by reminding us, in all of this there is no boasting in ourselves, but only boasting in the cross of Christ. It is all of Christ that we have been save, are being saved and will be saved. All glory be to Him...
Brothers and sisters, today is the Lords Day. Let's take this day to take our minds off of the cares of this world, shut off our devices, don't check the news, don't check our social media feeds (I need to do better here) and instead focus it completely on Him. If you can go to worship, then go to worship, if you can't, then worship at home with your family, invite other believers over (we can all do this now), enjoy the fellowship of the saints, praise Him, rejoice in Him, and rest in Him. God bless.
Monday, Week 23!
Thoughts on Exodus 37 - 40:
· Summary - The tabernacle is completed, and as I read through this I couldn't help but notice the attention to detail. Every single curtain, hook, clip, pole, nothing was left to the imagination. God was involved in every single piece of the tabernacle, He gave the instructions, He gave every part purpose, He was sure to tell what kind of material, what the exact dimensions were to be, where the placing would be, everything, and then finally He gives the instructions on when it is to be assembled, and how... The world is one big tabernacle and within it is the glory of God, "the heavens declare the Glory of God..." and in the creation of the world God also was very purposeful with every detail, with natural systems in place that would feed off each other and bring balance making the world hospitable for us and other creatures. The more you study the natural world the more you being to realize what an intricate designer our God is... Something did go wrong in the fall, and because of it, the Glory of God was marred in creation, though the heavens do still declare the Glory, our sin prevents us from seeing it clearly. The tabernacle was one way God begins to make clear again who He is, the glory of God filling His creation, which was put together based on His precise instructions, with every piece having a specific purpose, and Gods glory being visibly present. But the tabernacle wasn't supposed to be the final place the glory of God would be made visible on earth. Jesus, we are told in Hebrews chapter 1, "is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" interesting passage right, the radiance of the glory of God, who after He made purification for sins, He sits down at the right hand of the Father... But what about the Glory of God? How is it seen now? Are we supposed to look to the heavens to where Jesus is seated??? No, we are supposed to be the ones who now make the glory of God visible to a dying world. The Church. We are now the living temple, or tabernacle and the implications of this cannot be missed. First, consider Gods attention to detail... Brothers and sisters, do you not realize the amount of attention the Lord put into forming you? Knitting you in your mothers womb? Every single physical attribute, your mental aptitude, your emotional being, all of it received even more attention than that of a the tabernacle. God made no mistake in knitting you together, this does not mean, that you are without sin, sin is the problem, it's why you can't see yourself the way God does. As an image bearer meant to proclaim the glory of God throughout His creation... Sin is the reason that you and I are more concerned with our own glory than His. Some of you read my comments just now and immediately felt pride, but that's not the point, that God knitted you together gives you no room to boast, He is the creator, He is the one you and I were made to boast in. This also means that in this fallen world, even our deficiencies were meant to glorify Him, to reveal more of who He is. Paul tells us that it is in our weaknesses that the power of God is made perfect, not in our strengths. What areas do you struggle with obedience? you glorify God by being obedient specifically in that area, because it's only His power that will see you through. Any physical limitations you might have, or emotional, or mental, are all meant for His glory, and will one day be taken away and replaced with perfection for all His children.
· Secondly, it means that it is through the church, through the people of God that the world sees the glory of God. Read Ephesians 3 and 4, Read John 17, Read 2 Corinthians 3, throughout these passages we see that the church beholds the glory of God, and the church is the new temple of the living God, and the church is the one being transformed into the image of God (Jesus), and that through the church the world will see God, brothers and sisters, we are all pieces of the new and living temple. Each one of us vital, each one of us necessary for the glory of God to be revealed, and without the church the world remains in darkness. The U.S. has in the last few months become a darker place, there is no denying that, and it is no coincidence that all this has happened while the church has lost its witness. Where there is no tabernacle erected, there is no visible presence of the glory of God. Yesterday, I was privileged to be in the presence again of the glory of God, I was reminded of what we were created for, to worship Him together. This will be our eternal state brothers and sisters, and if you don't desire that now, what makes you think you will desire it in eternity??? If you don't desire to be singing songs of praise in the presence of the most hight with His children now, it may very well be that you won't be doing it in eternity either and that is meant to scare you, it is meant to cause you to reflect on your own salvation and sanctification.6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” Rev. 19:1-9 Those hours that I spent in worship with Saints helped restore a sense of peace to my soul that had been missing and slowly causing me greater anxiety... We are weaker when we are apart, and if we truly love the world, then we will seek to come together again, out of love for one another and love for our neighbor. There were many out on the streets yesterday protesting... and as long as it was peaceful, I have no problems with that, but if that was you, I only ask you this, was it as important for you to be worshipping with His saints as it was to be out there on the streets with the world? I'm not saying this has to be an either/or but only one of those is what you will be doing for eternity, only one of those reveals the glory of God to a dying world, proclaiming our only hope in life.
God bless you all, I will likely be doing more times of fellowship and the word in my backyard throughout the coming weeks, space is limited and I am trying to also be careful keeping in mind that this virus has not completely disappeared, but if you'd like information just private message me! God bless!
Tuesday, Week 23!
Thoughts on 1 Kings 5-9:
· There were two things that stuck out to me today in reading, but first I'm going to tell you this... I didn't want to read today, I woke up this morning in a rut, it was hard to open my bible, I was distracted by social media, by the mess in the world... It was hard to pray, all of it. But I read anyway, and here's what the Lord showed me. His steadfast love and faithfulness... What we see happening here with Solomon is progress towards the fulfillment of what was given in the garden, the fulfillment of what was given to Abraham, Moses, Joshua, and of course David. Through out all of the generations the people were unfaithful, they tested God, they doubted God, they sinned against God, and yet here they are, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, sitting in the land flowing with Milk and Honey, surrounded by peace on all sides, and the Glory of God in their midst. What Adam and Eve lost in the Garden, being in the very presence of God, is coming to an end. In chapter 8 verse 15 Solomon says, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who with His hand has fulfilled what He promised with His mouth to David my father saying..." Notice, Solomon doesn't take the credit for the building, He recognizes it is all God, it was only the faithfulness of God that could bring this about and He rightfully gives God all the credit, all the glory and takes none for Himself. Lord, thank you that you are faithful, thank you that you are true to your word, and that when we are faithless, when we are struggling, when we are doubting, that you remain faithful and we can look to you and trust in you, that you see us through, that you always do exactly as you say you will. Here's the bad news... God always does exactly as He says he will do, chapter 9 verse 6, But if you turn aside from following me, you or your children, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, the I will cut off Israel from the land that I have given them, and the house that I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight, and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all the peoples." We know, having finished Jeremiah that God is faithful to this promise too... Some would have us believe that it's only those promises that work out in our favor that God matter, but if that were true, then God would not be faithful. We would have no grounds on which to believe any of His promises if He only picked and choose which ones He would apply... All of Gods promises are true, and all have their fulfillment in Jesus, and so trust Him, cling to Him and you will know and understand the faithfulness of God more than even Solomon did, and He was the wisest man that ever lived...
· The glory of God, we see this again, filling the temple... But listen to Solomon's words in his dedication, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built..." He is right, the house he built cannot contain God, it will not contain the Glory of God for very long, because the Glory of God is meant to fill the entirety of Heaven and earth again, and that is to be happening again, through us, His church, His living temple! Christian, go forth into this dying world bringing a piece of the glory of God with you everywhere you go! Revealing who He is, what He has done, and how all people can be saved through repentance and faith in the Son...
May the Word wash over you today as it has me and may He bless you in all you do for His glory and His purpose! God Bless!
Wednesday, Week 23!
Thoughts on Psalms 66-68:
· Psalm 66 & 67 - This is a psalm of pure praise, praise for who God is, praise for what God has done, in the earth and in the life of the psalmist. But here's what I want us to meditate on and consider today. The emphasis on all the earth giving praise... There is an invitation woven throughout this psalm for all the earth to come and meet the God of the universe. For the earth to come and see what God has done. The psalmist starts with the assumption, that all the earth worships God, that all the earth sings praises to Him. Do we believe that it is in the best interest of all the earth to worship God? Do we believe that all the earth, and all the children of man need to accept His deeds and see what He has done? The psalmist did. He believed the world belonged to God and that the world needed to meet God and see all He has done. How much more so us, who have been saved by the blood of the lamb who died for the sin of the world? This psalm should encourage us but it should also challenge us to question whether or not we believe that God is God of all the earth, and if we believe the world needs to meet Him? We see this theme continue in Psalm 67 Let all the peoples praise you, let the nations be good, let all the ends of the earth fear Him. It would do us good to pray this way, to model our prayer life in this way, where we are praying more for the needs of our world in coming to know God than for our own personal needs. If we have Jesus then we already have everything. But there are those in this world dying in their sin everyday, who will come face to face with the God of the universe, and they will do so having to give an account for their sin. That terrifies me, I don't want anyone to have to do that. I want to be praising God in heaven with as many people from this earth as is possible, that all the peoples would praise Him. Last thing, notice that God judges the people with equity, God does not provide equal provision, but equal judgement, here this means moral judgment, that He will not show partiality in the way He deals with His people but rather people will be judged on the content of their character, on the content of their deeds, and that alone. There are some that are born princes, and some that are born with nothing, in squalor, and to each of these the same judgement is applied. We are to have compassion and mercy on those who are oppressed, and on those who have less but it is by the content of their lives that God will judge them, not by how much they have or do not have. Contrary to popular opinion God does not have different standards of justice for those who are poor. That would not be equity in matters of justice. Does this sound harsh? It is only harsh if you believe that the material world is all there is. It only sounds harsh if you believe there's nothing else but what we have in this world. It only sounds harsh if you don't believe what the scriptures teach. Many people have become confused about this because they don't think biblically about it. The new gospel has become all about lifting up the oppressed, the poor and those who have a harder life to the point of making excuses for immoral behavior. But God doesn't allow for excuses. The Gospel is good news for all people, the rich and the poor, and yes, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, but that doesn't mean that the poor man gets a free pass. It means that the poor man is more receptive to the gospel because of what he lacks, and that the very fact he has less is actually a blessing in that it puts him in a position where he is more likely to repent and place his hope in Jesus for heaven and all that comes after this because he has nothing to hold him to this life. But when we tell people, you are such a victim because look at your life, and God really wants you to have the same as everyone else, God sees how you were oppressed and how you don't have as much and He sees that as the real injustice, we are lying to them and paving for them a path to hell. Because you have just promised them something God never promises, and you are blaspheming God because He is not as interested in their material circumstances as He is in their spiritual condition. You can fulfill all those promises and all the while you make it harder for them to enter the kingdom of heaven... Isn't that the greater injustice? God will judge all the people with equity, blindly, and we will all be without excuse, and the only hope for any of us is Jesus. ok... sorry, this was supposed to be a shorter point. lol
· Psalm 68 - Who are the enemies of God? All who walk in their guilty ways... That is each and every one of us apart from the grace of God found in Jesus Christ. Everyone outside of Jesus will be crushed... Everyone. So go and preach the gospel to someone today.
Last night I had a very important interview and I would very much appreciate your prayers in regard to this, that the Lords will would be done and that He would grant my wife and I peace for whatever that looks like. This weekend I will be having another service in my backyard, anyone interested can PM me for information, space is limited. God bless you all!
Thursday, Week 23!
Thoughts on Proverbs 2&3:
· Summary - There is one way of knowing, one way of wisdom, and that is through the fear of the Lord, trusting in the Lord, seeking the Lord, listening to the Lord, being obedient to the Lord, following the Lord, honoring the Lord with all our wealth and our lives, only through these do we understand concepts such as righteousness, justice, equity and so forth... These are rooted in Him, and apart from Him we will get it wrong. The one who lives apart from these will often wander on the path of the wicked if not live there. Today a different theory of knowledge and wisdom has taken over in academia, and has penetrated the church. It's called standpoint theory, or standpoint epistemology. Epistemology simply means the study of knowledge, how we know what we know. This standpoint theory suggests that the way we know what we know is based on our experiences, both collective and individual. Meaning, that if you are part of a group, for example; white people, then all of your knowledge is seen through that lens and because of that you are limited in what you know and see... Knowledge is then given different categories, and values, and depending on the amount of oppression a specific group has had, your level of knowledge increases, because your experience has allowed you to see thing clearer than those who have not had those experiences. Therefore; the minority, who's people may have been severely oppressed is viewed to have a greater knowledge or more accurate knowledge of reality because of their experience, and all those who haven't had those experiences must now do everything in their power to attempt to understand the others point of view, to empathize, and recognize that their own point of view is jaded, it's been nothing but full of privilege because of the groups they belong too. This is what we see going on today, this human philosophical grounding of knowledge based on experience and valued only based on historic or even current oppression... But what's the problem here? The problem is that it is completely unbiblical and anti-Christ. I use that language purposefully, hoping to get you to see the seriousness of the error. Knowledge and wisdom are rooted in God alone, "trust in the Lord with all your heart, and DO NOT lean on your own understanding..." "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding..." Brothers and sisters our experiences or the experiences of any groups that one may want to identify us with, do not give us any sort of advantage when it comes to gaining knowledge, wisdom and understanding. In fact it is quite the opposite, our experiences, because of sin, only cloud knowledge, only make wisdom and understanding often more difficult thus, the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12, that we need to renew our mind, and not be conformed to the pattern of this world. I don't need to understand your experiences to love you, to have compassion on you, to mourn with you, or rejoice with you, in fact no matter how much you try to get me to understand it, until I experience it for myself I simply CANNOT. But if I know God, if I am trusting in God, if I am seeking God, seeking His wisdom and having my mind renewed by His word, then I can see reality as it truly is. I see how sin has destroyed our society, and has impacted each and every image bearer of God, and I can appreciate your experiences, even sympathize with them because I know the one who came to redeem you from them. Because I share in His sufferings and belong to the one who sees all and knows all... Brothers and sisters this is an evil ideology, that is attempting to replace God with different sets of oppressed people groups, and what makes it even more dangerous is that within those people groups are people who identify with their sin, and we are told until you can identify with my sin you'll never understand me, until you can see the world through my sinful eyes you which sees what God calls good as evil and God calls evil as good, you can never be accepted, you can never be for me and you will only be an oppressor. Why do you think we have Christians now fighting for LGBT rights, and looking to force other Christians to support homosexual unions and so on? Because they have bought into this dangerous and unbiblical ideology. The only lenses you need to put on are biblical lenses, the only standpoint that matters is Gods standpoint. Mine doesn't matter, yours doesn't matter, the slave, the master, the poor, the rich, none of their standpoints matter, and until all submit to God, many will find themselves in hell together, and then their standpoints will truly be united only it will be looking at God from the standpoint of His wrath. Truth -N- Life, my ministry is dedicated to helping Christians lift the veil from their eyes and see things more clearly, as God sees... I recognize we will never see perfectly on this side of Christs return, but we are not to stop seeking to see clearly. Walk in the way of good and keep the to the paths of righteousness... for blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding...
Thank you all for your prayers Tuesday, I hope I will have some news one way or the other soon. Today is the first cloudy day in a while, so take the time to seek wisdom, to seek understanding, but remember who the source of the wisdom and understanding is... Jesus. God bless!
Friday, Week 23!
Thoughts on Lamentations:
· Summary - Lamentations is believed to have been written also by Jeremiah, after the destruction and fall of Jerusalem. We have here the lament of the prophet as he is looking upon all the destruction that has come upon the nation and the people. Throughout the book he paints pictures for us of what the people who were left behind are going through. It truly is horrific and painful to even imagine. Two things are obvious in this, first, that the people deserved the judgment, they brought it on themselves, verse 18 chapter 1, "the Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against His word; but hear, all you peoples, and see my suffering; by young women and my young men have gone into captivity" He is not making excuses for Israel, the understanding is that they are reaping what it is they alone have sown. The second thing is that God alone is responsible for their suffering. Chapter 2, the Lord in His anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud! For 8 verses he is unpacking what the Lord has brought upon them... and His judgment upon them is great, "for your ruin is vast as the sea; who can heal you?" It's in chapter 3 though that we have the peak of this Lament. "The Lord is my portion says my soul, therefore I will hope in him. the Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Chapters 4 and 5 take us back into the despair, we see the people dying of hunger, people eating their children in order to survive. Israel and Judah have been overrun with gentiles, and those who remain are forced to serve them, forced to now become servants in their own land. But in all of this one thing still remains, "but you oh Lord, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations..." even in the plea for restoration, chapter 5 verse 21, there is acceptance of their circumstances, verse 26 "unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us..." This is true repentance, that which acknowledges that one is completely unworthy of forgiveness. That it would be right for the Lord to punish forever, that any mercy shown is only due to the steadfast love of the Lord. As you read through Lamentations you must recognize that you and I are deserving of the same kind of abandonment, you and I are no different than the people of Israel and in fact we have greater revelation to which we constantly turn our backs too. We have become very complacent in our comforts, and have forgotten that we are deserving the wrath of God. So much so, that even a little bit of discomfort has us behaving like spoiled children. We have not truly suffered, none of us are so desperate that we are considering boiling our children so that we don't starve to death, none of us have our tongues sticking to the roof of our mouths because we are literally dying of thirst, none of us are being forced into slavery in order to provide for our family, and yet we all of us, if we were to receive this judgement from God, would be receiving it justly on His part. There is nothing we could say to excuse ourselves, nothing we could show that would prove us innocent of the charges. No, we would be receiving our due penalty for trampling underfoot the grace of God. Today, when you step outside your home, when you walk out into the open air without the feeling of hunger in your stomach, or when you simply open your eyes and take a breath, recognize that all of it is simply the mercy of God, and today as you consider the cross, and what Jesus did that you and I would be set free from sin, do so recognizing the great grace of God. That this gift He has given us, came at such a great price, and you and I cannot afford to take it for granted. We must live in light of His sacrifice, because if not for His sacrifice the eternity that would have been waiting for us, was far worse than what even Israel experienced, and yet it would have been just as just.
God bless you all today, and I hope you have a great Friday as you revel in the glory and grace of our God!
Saturday, Week 23!
Thoughts on Luke 9 & 10:
· Discipleship - I want to focus on 4 aspects we see in these chapters of discipleship, there are more, but honestly I'm already afraid about how long this might end up... lol So, First, we see that disciples are sent, we see this in the opening of. both chapters, first, Jesus sends out the 12, then He sends out the 72. Discipleship is not about merely sitting at someone's feet and learning, it's not about just reading your bible and having a wonderful prayer life. These things are definitely essential, and they are a part of discipleship, but disciples are to go out into the world and proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God. When Jesus walked the earth, He gave his first disciples special miraculous gifts to affirm the message, but now we have the greatest miracle ever performed, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and secondly we have the resurrection of the believer ourselves. We are a living example of the power of God, and we get to point to Jesus who is also alive and seated at the right hand of the Father ruling over the universe. This isn't to say that God doesn't from time to time, as He so desires, still do miracles through His disciples, but it is to say that these miracles don't play as integral a role anymore in our proclamation because we have Jesus and His Spirit lives in us. We have been sent, that means we must actually go, into homes, into the public square, invite others into our homes, share our lives with others, show them who Jesus is, who we are in Him, that the Gospel would turn hearts of stone to flesh, and through repentance and faith, the family of God would continue to grow.
· Second, Disciples bear crosses, daily. We see this in chapter 9:23-27, consider the context. Jesus has yet to be put on the cross, so the disciples didn't have the image of Him yet on a cross when He shares this image. All they knew of the cross was the humiliation and pain that it represented, and yet that was the imagery He chose to give them. The very thought of this to His audience would have been reprehensible. Pick up my cross??? What? Jesus don't you know that crosses are for criminals, don't you know that crosses are only for the worst of the worst, that they bring great humiliation as one lays on them naked dying slowly and painfully as the air is forced out of their lungs... Jesus, why would I ever have to consider picking up such a thing daily??? His answer, because daily you will have to give your life for my sake, daily you will have to die to all your selfish desires, daily you will have to bear humiliation as you proclaim salvation in no other name, daily you will have to live in a world that sees what you believe as foolish, and yet knowing that daily apart from the good news you proclaim all these people are going to hell. Daily you will have to risk it all, and be willing to risk it all if it means glorifying God and pointing people to Him, to Jesus. There is no room for pride in the cross, there is not room for fear, to pick it up daily means death has lost its sting, and pride has been swallowed up, Jesus is everything, I am nothing... Disciples must pick up their crosses... daily.
· Third, Disciples pay a greater cost... I could have lumped this up with the other one, but the emphasis in verses 57-62 is very different... Three people who wanted to follow Jesus, but all of them held on to worldly attachments, for one it is comfort, the second it was family and the last one it was his past life. These aren't ridiculous requests, or concerns, but Jesus shows us that they can all become idols, we must be willing to let it all go. The other night my wife and I were having a conversation, and she told me she had trouble understanding my thought process when it comes to making some decisions. Here's how I explained it to her, there are things that I desire that I believe are even godly and good things, so I will pray for them, I will seek God for them, and I will consider them as I go about thinking about our future. But at the same time I must be willing to let it all completely go if God tells me to, I love being close to my kids, but if God says go to Africa, I have to be willing to let the dead bury the dead, I think it's great to have a nice house and my family be comfortable, but if God sends me to the jungle in Brazil I have to be ready and willing to go... Whatever my life looks like today, I have to be ready and willing to have it look completely different one year from now, which in our families case, happens every 2 years or so... lol But I have to be o.k. with it and trust Jesus for it. So though I make plans, I do so with a very loose grip, because God can, at any time change my direction, change my circumstances, and my job, my role, my calling, is to follow Him... It's not to question Him, it's not to doubt Him, it's not to seek first my kingdom, no it's to go and follow Him...
· Lastly, number four, disciples love Jesus and the love their neighbor... chapter 10:25-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan. This should be the most obvious in one sense, but at the same time we need to pay attention to the illustration. Notice the Samaritan is the one who is the good neighbor, he is the one who is the example to us. The samaritan loved his neighbor through action, by doing... These were tangible and necessary actions that were done on behalf of the man who was robbed and beaten. He loved him and sought nothing in return, he didn't stick around, he pays for the mans recovery and goes away. Love is action, it's not emotion and sometimes we love even those who would be our enemy, that's the point in this parable. Samaritans and Jews hated each other, Jews considered the samaritans unclean, and yet the Samaritan is the one who shows himself to be the loving neighbor. We must be willing to love the world and seek nothing in return, we must be willing to serve meals, assist in paying bills, offer places to sleep, watch our neighbors kids, you name it, we must be willing and we must act. The Gospel is the goal, of course, but even if they never repent, even if they never trust in Jesus, even if they turn down every single invitation to church or bible study, we do not get to stop loving them. In the midst of the Chaos in this world and in our country some have taken love to mean, affirm the feelings of our brothers and sisters... That's not love, I'm sorry that cowardliness, that's apathy, it's easy to affirm someone's feelings, it requires absolutely nothing of you or I. But to be willing to hear those we disagree with, speak the truth to them, and still serve them even though we still disagree, that's love. To continue to ask I know I don't see things the way you do, but is there a way I can still serve you, how can I help pick you up off the ground, how can I help cover your wounds, while never backing away from truth, that is love. We should be grateful for the tremendous opportunity the Lord has given us to love those we disagree with today given the cultural climate. How are you loving today? Are you opening your home to people? Are you perhaps giving to organizations that are serving those in the middle of all the chaos, are you maybe going to people and praying, talking, and asking how you can help? Remember, love is not an emotion, it is action, and if we love the Lord it shows in how we put him first in our lives, and it shows in how we love our neighbor through serving selflessly...
Tomorrow afternoon I will be having a 4pm service in my backyard again! Anyone interested can send me a private message and I'll give you the information. Space is limited, so it is first come first served. If you are able, I'd love to have you, we will be starting a new series in the book of Zechariah, and will probably be in it for the next month or so. God bless you all, and I hope you have a wonderful day.