Posts

Disciples who Listen to and Follow Jesus

-
Jeremiah 1-2; John 10 “’The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.’” John 10:2-4 As we consider what it means to be a disciple of Christ, we can learn from Jesus’ analogy of a shepherd with his sheep. Our shepherd speaks to us through his Spirit indwelling us and through his Word. Our shepherd calls us by name. He knows us personally and often gives us a name which represents our calling or best contribution in his kingdom. Our shepherd leads us by example. He won’t ask us to do something he himself wasn’t willing to do. As sheep, we learn to follow our shepherd, not debate other sheep! As sheep, we learn our shepherd’s voice by spending time with him, listening, and obeying. As sheep, we follow our shepherd before we follow other sh...
Read more

Humbled so we can See

-
Zephaniah 1-3; John 9   “’But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the Lord.’” Zephaniah 3:12 “Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’ Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.’” John 9:39-41 Jesus healed a man who had been blind since birth; yet, it was the Pharisees who could not see the hand of God at work.   Why? Spiritual pride had blinded them to their need for God. Humility is the gateway quality of those who see God both for salvation and ongoing revelation in the kingdom of God. Anything that grows humility in our lives should be welcomed not resisted. We both humble ourselves before God, and we are humbled. The man born blind endured much humbling in his life; yet, that...
Read more

I Will be Joyful

-
Habakkuk 1-3; John 8 “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” Habakkuk 3:17-19 In the midst of war, pestilence, and plague where do we turn for hope and perspective? Habakkuk found joy in the Lord, not in his circumstances, vacations, possessions, and recent purchases; but, joy in the Lord our Savior. Why? Because the sovereign Lord was Habakkuk’s strength and he can be our strength as well.   Our strength does not come through our retirement investments, health plans, or group of friends; our strength comes through our relationship with the Lord. Joy, worship, and gratitude in the midst of very challenging circumstances are weapons of battle. We cho...
Read more

He Sent Me

-
2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 35; John 7   “Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” John 7:28, 29 Jesus’ truth-claims and authority-claims were unprecedented. He was either delusional, or he was God. Yet this same conviction about being “sent” has marked disciples of Christ who live on mission with him.   Sure, “you know me and you know where I am from”; but, do you know the One who sent me?   Without clarity and conviction about our call, ministry is just another religious job focused on pleasing people. However, knowing who is sending us each day changes our work as Christ’s ambassadors in the marketplace, in the classroom, in our community or across the globe. Apostles or missionaries (sent ones) are defined more by who sent them than by what they are doing. Either the whole churc...
Read more

Communion

-
2 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 34; John 6 “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you…Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.’” John 6:53, 56 This radical call to eat Jesus’ body and drink his blood makes more sense after the final supper with his disciples. Jesus repurposed the Passover cup and said, “This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). We understand the communion elements to be representations of Christ’s body and blood and a reminder of our covenant with him.   However, are we regularly taking communion? We will never be worthy of this sacrifice by Jesus for us. To take communion is to be reminded and renewed in our love and life in Jesus. Neglecting communion affects our heart’s communion with Jesus. Remaining, or abiding in Christ is the key to fruit-bearing in our spiritual life.   When wa...
Read more

What is our Father Doing?

-
Nahum 1-3; John 5 “Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does…How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” John 5:19, 20, 44 Jesus promised his disciples that both he and the Father would come and live inside of his disciples by the indwelling Spirit and be at ‘home’ with them (John 14:23). Why? So that we would live the life Jesus lived, in union with his Father.  We, too, can now through the Spirit learn to obey the Father by doing what our Father is doing. Few desire to live in this way of surrender and obedience to the will of the Father. Instead, we benchmark our discipleship against the behavior of other disciples and seek the praise of one another. We can win the favor of the Church and be out of st...
Read more

Humbled Himself Greatly

-
2 Kings 21; 2 Chronicles 33; John 4 “In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.” 2 Chronicles 33:12, 13 No one would wish distress, hardship, or pain on someone; yet, this painful discipline was God’s grace in Manasseh’s life. His capture by the Assyrians who put a hook in his nose was a particularly humiliating outcome of Manasseh’s rebellion against the Lord. After all his demonic worship, including human sacrifice, Manasseh “humbled himself greatly” before God. How has the Lord disciplined us in his love for us? How have we responded? This event of humiliating discipline was the turning point in Manasseh’s life. As we intercede in prayer for our prodigals and unsaved family and friends, are we aware of the lengths the Lord will go...
Read more