Posts

Hear, Accept, and Obey

-
Job 20; Mark 3-4   “’Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop – thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.’…’Consider carefully what you hear.’ he continued. ‘With the measure you use it will be measured to you – and even more.’” Mark 4:20, 24 Hearing God’s Word is not enough to bear good fruit and an abundance of fruit. We must hear, accept, and obey God’s Word. This requires faith that God’s Word is both truth, and worth the investment of our time and effort. In the oral culture of Christ’s day and the fourteen hundred years of church history afterward when virtually all Christ-followers could not read, listening to the written Word and the inner words of Christ were the only ways to receive it. Active listening includes repeating what we have heard and then acting on it. Are we “using” what we have heard, or are we just passive listeners? Jesus called us to multiply through a multitude of spiritual fruit. We multiply through hearing
Read more

Solitude

-
  Job 19; Mark 1-2   “At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan…Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:12, 13, 35 In a communal culture Jesus knew the value of solitude. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to pray. Satan tried to interfere with the same intentional prayer time and place, and later, even using Christ’s disciples to disturb and distract him.   Have we discovered the renewing experience of solitude and time alone with our Father in Heaven? In our spacious homes, we can easily find a quiet corner, rather than leave a one-room home for the desert.   Are we intentional about finding solitude and listening to our Father? We, too, need to hear the Spirit affirm the Father’s love for us, and know we are his sons and daughters. “Father God, you are my life. I choose to begin my
Read more

Bold Witness

-
Job 18; Psalms 114; Acts 27-28   “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 28:30, 31 Paul’s behavior didn’t resemble a person facing a trial with potentially life-threatening consequences. His confidence and boldness came from the Holy Spirit and the ongoing encouragement of the Lord. What shapes our behavior today? Are we inwardly directed or externally influenced? Paul boldly preached the kingdom of God in the capital of the most anti-Christian and all-powerful kingdom of his day. He preached about the Lord Jesus Christ in the face of an emperor-cult that demanded everyone confess Caesar alone as Lord. Only God gives this kind of boldness.   In our pluralistic and relativistic society, where religious freedoms still exist, how bold are we? Are we preaching the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, or are we off on a t
Read more

Stand on Your Feet

-
  Job 17; Acts 24-26   “’Then I asked, “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” the Lord replied. “Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.”’” Acts 26:15, 16 Saul’s attacks against Christians were all felt by Jesus whose Body Saul was persecuting. In the face of this persecutor, Jesus revealed his mercy and grace. Rather than communicating to Saul who was lying on the ground in fear and abasement, Jesus commanded Saul to stand up. Rather than punishing Saul for his mistreatment of Christians, Jesus gave Saul a redemptive assignment in his kingdom-mission. Is that how we are experiencing the Lord Jesus? In our rebellion and sin are we still prostrate in shame, or have we, too, stood up? Having done all to stand, are we standing firm in our faith? Jesus commands us to our feet, to stand in his grace, mercy, forgiveness, and authority. He has assignments
Read more

Ethnocentrism

-
  Job 16; Acts 21-23 “’Then the Lord said to me, “Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”’ The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, ‘Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!’” Acts 22:21, 22 For the thousands of Jews in Jerusalem who believed in Jesus (Acts 21:20), Paul’s testimony of being sent by Jesus to the Gentiles was more than they could bear. The Jews believed the Messiah was returning for them, not for the nations. They were unable to see the vast time period we now understand as the “Church age” that takes place between Christ’s first and second coming. These believing Jews were also threatened by a gospel that no longer required the law and the temple. Before casting judgment on these first century Jewish believers, we must consider our own ethnocentric church structures with temple-like rituals and practices resembling unwritten laws. Self-serving religion is what Jesus came to replace with his gospel of the kingdom
Read more

The Call to Fight

-
Job 15; Acts 19-20 “’Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.’” Acts 20:28-31 Paul’s final words to the church elders he had mentored in Ephesus focused on the spiritual warfare and doctrinal challenges they would face. Are we still vigilant to the schemes of the enemy and focused on preparing leaders who know how to resist him? Paul’s love for Christ’s church moved him regularly to tears as he warned, instructed, and mentored the church. Do we see our calling as elders, pastors, and mission leaders with the same ‘all in’ commitment to the health and maturi
Read more

Flowers

-
  Job 13-14; Acts 17-18   “’Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure…Man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.’” Job 14:1, 2, 5 Wisdom is found in knowing life’s limits and living in the light of eternity. God has determined the number of our days, and we belong to him. Like a flower, our days on earth are brief in the scope of eternity. Living for our own glory, which quickly fades, is the best our celebrity culture can hope for. Those who know the living God and live for his glory find a purpose in life that is eternal and a hope that endures. Are we sharing the reason for the hope that is within us? So many are crushed by the weight of their sin and the emptiness of living for themselves. The gospel points us in a better direction! “Lord Jesus, thank you for forgiveness, freedom, hope, and peace. You are my life, for y
Read more