In three of the four gospels, the time when Jesus asks the disciples who they think He is. He asks them who the crowds say He is first. He asks, what have you heard of me? The crowds say that He is John the baptist, or possibly Elijah.
Then Jesus gets down to the big question. "Who do you say that I am?"
Peter chimes in giving an accurate response, "You are the Christ." Peter knows that Jesus is the promised Messiah, come to save His people.
This story can seem insignificant, and it can often be blown over, but I think it deserves a few moments of reflection. In reality, Jesus asked the most important question that we could ever answer.
Who do you say Jesus is?
What we think of Jesus is the one thing that will define who we are and how we live. The weight that we give to Jesus' words and actions will find itself duplicated in our lives.
What I mean by this is that our lives will reflect how seriously we take Jesus.
Jesus said to love one another as He loved us. He called us to be lights in a dark world. He calls us to die to self, to pick up our cross daily and follow Him. How seriously do you take those words?
We don't just need to give weight to Jesus' words, but to His character as well.
Jesus promises that He loves us, that He will provide and never fail us. He promises to be with us always.
He promises to give us the strength that we need. He promises to never give us more than we can handle.
Do we trust those promises about God? Our view of who God is and what He says will define the way that we live our lives.
Dig into His Word, see His character. Get to know Jesus, and who He really is. I promise it will change you.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Dead Branches
Picture this scene with me. There is a tree in the woods, it was knocked down years ago and now it is just a rotting log. The inside is hollowed out, there might even be some animals living in it. Now someone comes up and sees this tree, and they get rather upset that the tree doesn't have any fruit on it. They see a branch that has fallen off of the dead tree, and they frantically try to re-attach the branch, saying it was what was best for the tree. It was what the tree needed.
If we saw this happening, we would think that the person in this story was completely insane. You can't fix a dead tree by re-attaching its branches! Nor is it expected that a dead tree would be bearing fruit. We would lock this person up in a mental asylum!
But before we put them in a straight jacket, let's pause and consider something. How often do we do this with people? We see our unsaved friends living like the world, and we get upset that they aren't living like Christians. We should not expect people who don't know Jesus to want to reflect Him. Or we see our friends from church, and they are dealing with a sin.
I am speaking for myself here, but I believe that this is true for many of us. We are so quick to notice dead branches, or a lack of fruit, and immediately we assume that the problem can be solved by gluing fruit onto the branches, or trying to re-attach those branches. Lack of fruit and dead branches are a completely normal thing to see when a tree isn't attached to its roots. If the tree isn't in the ground, the problem isn't that there is no fruit! The problem is that it isn't planted!
We all need to be planted in Christ, every aspect of our life will flow directly from our relationship with Him. When we notice an area that isn't right, dead branches in our lives or in the life of someone around us, I think it's vital that we look past the branches to the roots. If the roots aren't attached, we have found our problem.
Lack of fruit is still cause for concern in a Christian, as are dead branches. But those problems rarely cause themselves, and if we aren't willing to look past what we see and get to the root issue, we won't help anyone.
Jesus talks about something similar in John 15:1-11
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
If we saw this happening, we would think that the person in this story was completely insane. You can't fix a dead tree by re-attaching its branches! Nor is it expected that a dead tree would be bearing fruit. We would lock this person up in a mental asylum!
But before we put them in a straight jacket, let's pause and consider something. How often do we do this with people? We see our unsaved friends living like the world, and we get upset that they aren't living like Christians. We should not expect people who don't know Jesus to want to reflect Him. Or we see our friends from church, and they are dealing with a sin.
I am speaking for myself here, but I believe that this is true for many of us. We are so quick to notice dead branches, or a lack of fruit, and immediately we assume that the problem can be solved by gluing fruit onto the branches, or trying to re-attach those branches. Lack of fruit and dead branches are a completely normal thing to see when a tree isn't attached to its roots. If the tree isn't in the ground, the problem isn't that there is no fruit! The problem is that it isn't planted!
We all need to be planted in Christ, every aspect of our life will flow directly from our relationship with Him. When we notice an area that isn't right, dead branches in our lives or in the life of someone around us, I think it's vital that we look past the branches to the roots. If the roots aren't attached, we have found our problem.
Lack of fruit is still cause for concern in a Christian, as are dead branches. But those problems rarely cause themselves, and if we aren't willing to look past what we see and get to the root issue, we won't help anyone.
Jesus talks about something similar in John 15:1-11
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."
Friday, February 15, 2013
Don't Sell Yourself Short
C.S. Lewis once said "The man who is most effective in this world is the man who is the most focused on the next."
How true a statement, yet I think we have missed that path in many ways. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that people aren't focused on Heaven, and if you are focused on Heaven, I commend you.
I am only trying to make the point, that for many of us, myself often included, we have allowed our focus to be pulled down to this world. When we think of being pulled down by the world, our brains automatically think of sin. We think of the things in the world that want to pull us away from God. What we rarely think of are the things that are good, but not intended to be our focus and ultimate goal.
I find myself often getting caught up in serving, and all of the things that our Christian culture has around us today. Serving isn't bad, Bible studies aren't bad, reading isn't bad. However when we replace our goal of being face to face with Jesus with those things, they can become idols just like anything else. When our goal is to have a good ministry, or to read the next Christian book, we sell ourselves short.
God has offered us Himself, and not just from a distance, but in an up close and personal way. We can approach the throne of grace boldly.
Why should we trade God for anything of this world, even the aspects of life that pertain to His Kingdom.
When our focus shifts from Christ, to the world around us, we burn out. We live in a dying and hopeless world. Christ is the only hope for the world around us. If our focus isn't on Him, this world will steal our hope.
You might be asking the question, "Don't we still need to be concerned with those things?"
Yes, we do need to be concerned with them. Our ministries, the areas that we serve God in, and the different things that we do (that aren't sin) are still good things to do.
The issue isn't as much of what we are doing, as where our focus is. When our focus is on this world, it breaks us down. When our focus is on Christ, He compels us to serve, and His power enables us to serve excellently.
1 Corinthians 13 says that now we see dimly, but then it will be face to face. We will be united with God, and worship the One who gave it all for us. That is our hope and goal. Don't settle for a goal that this world can satisfy.
How true a statement, yet I think we have missed that path in many ways. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that people aren't focused on Heaven, and if you are focused on Heaven, I commend you.
I am only trying to make the point, that for many of us, myself often included, we have allowed our focus to be pulled down to this world. When we think of being pulled down by the world, our brains automatically think of sin. We think of the things in the world that want to pull us away from God. What we rarely think of are the things that are good, but not intended to be our focus and ultimate goal.
I find myself often getting caught up in serving, and all of the things that our Christian culture has around us today. Serving isn't bad, Bible studies aren't bad, reading isn't bad. However when we replace our goal of being face to face with Jesus with those things, they can become idols just like anything else. When our goal is to have a good ministry, or to read the next Christian book, we sell ourselves short.
God has offered us Himself, and not just from a distance, but in an up close and personal way. We can approach the throne of grace boldly.
Why should we trade God for anything of this world, even the aspects of life that pertain to His Kingdom.
When our focus shifts from Christ, to the world around us, we burn out. We live in a dying and hopeless world. Christ is the only hope for the world around us. If our focus isn't on Him, this world will steal our hope.
You might be asking the question, "Don't we still need to be concerned with those things?"
Yes, we do need to be concerned with them. Our ministries, the areas that we serve God in, and the different things that we do (that aren't sin) are still good things to do.
The issue isn't as much of what we are doing, as where our focus is. When our focus is on this world, it breaks us down. When our focus is on Christ, He compels us to serve, and His power enables us to serve excellently.
1 Corinthians 13 says that now we see dimly, but then it will be face to face. We will be united with God, and worship the One who gave it all for us. That is our hope and goal. Don't settle for a goal that this world can satisfy.
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Hostage Situation
If you go to the Old Testament, specifically the book of Judges, you watch God's people, the Israelites, repeatedly turn from God. In fact, the whole pattern of that book is this.
Israel is following God. Israel turns from God. God judges Israel. Israel is taken hostage by one of their surrounding countries. Israel repents. A judge shows up and leads them. Israel is following God, and the cycle starts again!
I don't know about you, but when I look at this, I tend to find myself laughing at Israel a little bit. God has done so much for them, but they keep turning away from Him. They turn away from God to worthless idols over and over and over and over again.
It's easy to think about how dumb they are for doing that. However, don't we do the same thing?
Every day, we fight a continual battle to keep God as the highest priority in our lives. We can replace Him with money. Making our paychecks the biggest priority in our life. We can replace Him with status, giving everything that we have to get that next promotion. We can replace God with virtually anything.
I think that this is because God has designed our hearts to worship. God has created us in such a way that our hearts are easily captivated.
God's intention in this is for us to be entirely consumed with Him, but we so quickly get lost amidst the cares of this world. The words of Jesus ring true, "seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you."
It's not bad to make money, or have nice things. It isn't bad to get promoted, but when those things take precedence over our relationship with God, they become idols, and they make us hostages. If God isn't the one thing captivating us, everything else will be out of sync.
The question remains, how do we keep God on the throne of our hearts? How do we keep ourselves captivated by Christ?
The answer to this is rather simple in understanding, but more difficult in application.
The way that we keep our hearts captivated by Jesus is by spending time with Him. We need to invest in our relationship with our Creator.
A car won't run properly if it doesn't have gasoline, oil, or coolant in it. It needs to be filled up properly if you want it to be used properly.
Our hearts work the same way. Not that we should put gasoline into them, but if they aren't being fueled, they won't operate in the way that they have been intended to.
Where we invest our time and energy most will show what our hearts are being captivated by.
If you continually invest in your walk with Christ, your heart will continually be captivated by Him.
Israel is following God. Israel turns from God. God judges Israel. Israel is taken hostage by one of their surrounding countries. Israel repents. A judge shows up and leads them. Israel is following God, and the cycle starts again!
I don't know about you, but when I look at this, I tend to find myself laughing at Israel a little bit. God has done so much for them, but they keep turning away from Him. They turn away from God to worthless idols over and over and over and over again.
It's easy to think about how dumb they are for doing that. However, don't we do the same thing?
Every day, we fight a continual battle to keep God as the highest priority in our lives. We can replace Him with money. Making our paychecks the biggest priority in our life. We can replace Him with status, giving everything that we have to get that next promotion. We can replace God with virtually anything.
I think that this is because God has designed our hearts to worship. God has created us in such a way that our hearts are easily captivated.
God's intention in this is for us to be entirely consumed with Him, but we so quickly get lost amidst the cares of this world. The words of Jesus ring true, "seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you."
It's not bad to make money, or have nice things. It isn't bad to get promoted, but when those things take precedence over our relationship with God, they become idols, and they make us hostages. If God isn't the one thing captivating us, everything else will be out of sync.
The question remains, how do we keep God on the throne of our hearts? How do we keep ourselves captivated by Christ?
The answer to this is rather simple in understanding, but more difficult in application.
The way that we keep our hearts captivated by Jesus is by spending time with Him. We need to invest in our relationship with our Creator.
A car won't run properly if it doesn't have gasoline, oil, or coolant in it. It needs to be filled up properly if you want it to be used properly.
Our hearts work the same way. Not that we should put gasoline into them, but if they aren't being fueled, they won't operate in the way that they have been intended to.
Where we invest our time and energy most will show what our hearts are being captivated by.
If you continually invest in your walk with Christ, your heart will continually be captivated by Him.
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