Posted on Monday, September 23, 2019

Narrow and Intolerant

Jesus himself was indisputably clear that there was one, and only one way, to forgiveness of sin and life forever with the Father. Does that sound narrow? It most definitely is — but so is a runway, and landing exclusively on it is the only way to get the airplane you are on safely to its destination. When it is the only way, thank God for narrowness and intolerance!

The Journey: Luke 13:24

Someone asked Jesus, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.”

Christianity is often accused these days of being a narrow and intolerant religion. Guilty as charged! You can come up with no other verdict. After all, just look at the overwhelming verbal evidence offered by its founder, Jesus Christ. Here are just a few of his outrageous claims from the Gospel of John:

For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:40, NLT)

Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. (John 6:53-54, The Message)

I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. (John 10:7-9, NLT)

I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die. (John 11:25-26, CEV)

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:16, NLT)

We could fill page after page with Jesus’ claims about himself and the exclusive authority he possessed to grant eternal life to only those who solely follow him. For anyone who takes the time to actually read Jesus’ own words, the truth is abundantly evident: Jesus is unequivocally exclusive, narrow and intolerant about the way to eternal life.

Of course, he loves and died for the whole world: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

And, of course, he didn’t stand on a street corner condemning those who refused to believe in him: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

And, for sure, Jesus steadfast resists closing the door on anyone’s eternal salvation: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise [of returning in judgment], as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Yet the indisputable truth about Jesus is that he was very clear that there was one, and only one way, to forgiveness of sin and life forever with the Father.

Does that sound narrow? It most definitely is — but so is a runway, and landing exclusively on it is the only way to get the airplane you are on safely to its destination. When it is the only way, thank God for narrowness and intolerance!

Have you ever taken the time to pray the most important prayer—really, the one prayer that empowers all other prayers—to acknowledge that Jesus is both Lord and Savior, to confess your sins and ask him to forgive you, to invite him into your life as your one and only Master and Commander, then to commit to walk the straight and narrow path that he has set before you? If not, I hope you will do that right now!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I pray for my loved ones who have never surrendered their lives to you through believing in Jesus, the only sacrifice for their sins. Would you convict their hearts today, and open their eyes to the one and only way to eternal life!

Posted on Friday, September 20, 2019

When Bad Things Happen

Invariably, when tragedy strikes a family, or a community, or even a nation, like clockwork, people ask, “How could a loving God allow this? Of course, there is really no explanation that will satisfy that question. But there is an answer! Jesus himself said, in response to that question on the heels of a tragedy, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” The answer to the tragedies that occur in this broken world and the antidote to the tragedy of human sin that brings death to every human being is eternal life. That is how God has dealt with human tragedy.

The Journey: Luke 13:1-5

About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”

One of the sad realities of living in a world broken by sin is tragedy. We witness it all the time, and sometimes we are personally touched by it: an infant dies in her sleep, a teenager is killed when his car crashes; a mother loses her battle with cancer; a quarter of a million people are wiped out by an tsunami in a poverty-stricken region.

Out of these tragic events, like clockwork, we hear some shocked and grief-stricken person ask, “How could a good God allow such evil?” Of course, they are searching for some sort of answer that will make sense out of the insensible. They are trying to find some explanation other than the simple reality of living in a broken world where bad things happen to people—good people as well as bad people. And when no sensible answer is forthcoming, God gets accused.

This is the equivalent to what Jesus was asked. A group of innocent Galileans had been killed while they were worshiping. Eighteen people left home one morning like every other day, but on this day a tower collapsed, killing them all. How could a good God…? How do we make sense of this tragedy?

Did you notice Jesus’ answer? He didn’t really give them the answer they wanted. In a way, he brushed aside their question and went to the heart of the matter: sin. Sin kills. It brings death. And as long as there is life on Planet Earth, not only will there be inexplicable tragedies, but every person will die sooner or later. So far, the death rate for human beings is hovering around 100%.

So what is the explanation? There is really no explanation that will satisfy the “how could a good God?” question. But there is an answer—Jesus said, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” The answer to the tragedies that occur in this broken world and the antidote to the tragedy of human sin that brings death to every human being is eternal life. Augustine said,

We want to reach the kingdom of God , but we don’t want to travel the byway of death. And yet there stands Necessity saying: “This way, please.” Do not hesitate, man, to go this way, when this is the way that God came to you.

Always remember, repentance trumps sin, salvation neutralizes death, and the cross has defeated the grave. That’s how a good God has dealt with the tragedy of life in a world broken by sin.

Take a moment to thank your Heavenly Father for the precious gift of salvation—and eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord. It is that one very special and undeserved gift that will trump every evil that will come against you in this life.

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, thank you for salvation, your gift of grace so rich and so free. And through your precious gift, I will live eternally with you.

Posted on Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Rich Fools

John Calvin said, “where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost his authority.” What holds the dominion of your heart? There is no more important question you will be asked today.

The Journey: Luke 12:20-21

But God said to him, “You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?” Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.[/cal6lout]

Even if you manage to keep your stuff safe to the end of your life, you will certainly take it no further than the grave. That is why you will never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul or a casket with a trunk for all your junk! Death is the great equalizer that turns millionaires into paupers and paupers into millionaires.

No—you can’t take it with you; but you can send it on ahead. That is what Jesus is reminding us of here in this story of a very wealthy man who spent it all right here with no thought of over there! (Luke 12:13-21, NLT) The point Jesus is making is that those who are not rich toward the things of God in this life will be exposed as fools when they stand before the Great Judge. “Rich fools” now—that is what they really are; simply “fools” on the day of reckoning.

We need to lean into that truth, because that day will come sooner than we think. The great preacher, G. Campbell Morgan said it so well:

“You are to remember with the passion burning in you that you are not a child of today. You are not of the earth, you are more than dust; you are the child of tomorrow, you are of the eternities, you are the offspring of Deity…You belong to the infinite. If you make your fortune on earth—poor, sorry, silly soul—you have made a fortune, and stored it in a place where you cannot hold it. Make your fortune, but store it where it will greet you in the dawning of the new morning.”

That is what Jesus was teaching: To break the spell of that which holds our vision and our loyalties here on earth, we need send our investments in advance to heaven. According to Jesus, whatever we generously invest in God’s kingdom on earth will always produce treasure in heaven:

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (Luke 12:21-24, NLT)

Don’t be a rich fool! Store up treasure in heaven by making investments in God’s work here on earth. That is what will break the spell of money, power and things in your life—and invest in that which will never lose its value—the eternal things of heaven. Francis Quarles said, “There is no such merchant as the charitable man; he gives trifles which he could not keep, to receive treasure which he cannot lose.”

That is the truly wise person!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, at any price, I want to have a rich relationship with you!

Posted on Monday, September 16, 2019

The Seduction of Stuff

Since Jesus told a parable about a man who thought his house was too small, let’s just take a look at our insatiable thirst for bigger homes: In 1950, the average U.S. home was 983 sq. ft., and while the average household has decreased since then from 3.5 to 2.5 people in 2015, our houses have increased to 2,675 sq. ft. Words like covetousness, greed or discontent aren’t used much these days, but maybe we should bring them back. And while we’re at it, let’s follow Jesus’ advice and give some of our stuff away to someone who could really use it—and don’t replace what we let go of. We’d be a whole lot happier!

The Journey: Luke 12:15

Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

We don’t use words like covetousness or greed a whole lot these days, but we should. We Americans are a pretty greedy lot—me included. Our whole economic system is predicated on the hopes that you and I will grow dissatisfied with what we’ve got and go buy something newer, better, and bigger.

For instance, since Jesus told the story in Luke 12:16-20 about a man who thought his property was too small, let’s just take a look at our insatiable thirst for bigger homes. Did you know that the average home size in the United States was 983 square feet in the 1950’s, and while the average number of household residents has shrunk since the 1960’s, home size has grown to 2,675 square feet today, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report from 2015.

It was a whole different picture when I was growing up. My mom, dad, three other siblings and a couple of family pets all lived comfortably in a home that was 1,200 square feet, if that. We shared bedrooms, bathrooms, clothes, didn’t have a garage to park our car in, and only one TV—with no remote control! We actually had to get up and walk across the room to change the channel, if you can imagine that.

And we didn’t think anything of it. We didn’t feel poor or cheated or even realize what we didn’t have. We were content! We spent a whole lot more time together as a family. We ate together. We all drove together in the same car, even when we were teenagers—a family of six crammed into an AMC Gremlin! We were as happy as a lark—we didn’t know what we didn’t know.

We were content—and emotionally healthy. We had discovered what G.K Chesterton said, “True contentment is a real, even active virtue—not only affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out of any situation all there is in it.”

As a society, we Americans would do well to read Luke 12. It is a tough one, but what Jesus had to say about the deceitfulness of wealth, the debilitating worry over stuff, and our ultimate accountability before God for the stewardship of what we possess is much needed medicine for the greed that ails our society these days.

One day, sooner than you think, you will stand before God. None of the things you have collected during your earthly journey are going with you. The only thing that will go with you into the next life that will do you any good is what you have done for God. Jesus said of the rich man in the parable, “You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?”As the poet said,

Tis one life, will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Listen, if you can’t get what you like, why not try to like what you get? And while you are at it, give away some of your stuff this week to someone who really needs it—and don’t replace it!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, help me to be content with what I have!

Posted on Friday, September 13, 2019

Accessing God’s Willing Generosity

Here is the secret to living as Jesus lived: We must learn to persist with the Father in prayer, not to overcome any reluctance on his part, but to overcome our own reluctance to come to him in daily dependence and tap into his willingness to provide what we desire and what we need.

The Journey: Luke 11:11-13

You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him./callout]

Persistence plus generosity—that is the equation not only for answered prayer, but for the life of abundance, fruitfulness and power God desires each of his children to experience.

That is what Jesus is teaching here. The context is a request from his disciples to teach them how to pray. They had witnessed firsthand Jesus’ unusual connection with his Father and the amazing spiritual power that freely flowed it. And they wanted that for themselves.

So Jesus taught them his secret: Prayer. From that, we get what has been termed “The Lord’s Prayer”. But right after he teaches them this model prayer, he begins to talk about the need to persist in prayer.

He tells the story of a friend who goes at midnight to a neighbor’s home to ask for a loaf of bread in order to feed a guest who has just arrived. The lesson there was that the friend’s persistence overcame any reluctance the neighbor felt at that inconvenient hour to meet this need.

That is quickly followed up with Jesus’ admonition to therefore “keep on asking…keep on seeking…keep on knocking (verse 9, NLT) in prayer because you are not coming to a reluctant neighbor, or to an earthly father (verse 11) who, because of the limitations of his sinfulness, can only do so much. Rather, you are coming to a willing and generous Heavenly Father. And this Heavenly Father will not only provide what you desire (a fish or an egg in this story—symbolic of daily necessities), he will provide what you truly need—the Holy Spirit (the spiritual power to live as Jesus lived).

The secret to living as Jesus lived: We must learn to persist with the Father in prayer, not to overcome any reluctance on his part, but to overcome our own reluctance to come to him in daily dependence and tap into his willingness to provide what we desire and what we need.

Prayer, then, is not overcoming God’s reluctance; it is accessing God’s willing generosity. Our persistence plus God’s generosity equals the release of divine provision and spiritual power—the kind of life God has planned for every one of his children.

Here is a great way to remember that: Memorize Hebrews 4:16 and in your own words, pray it back to God every day this week:

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I come boldly to your throne of grace today. There are things in my life that I need you to take care of: health, favor, protection, provision and open doors. I don’t deserve it, but I will take everything you want to give me by your grace. And thank you in advance for it.

Posted on Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Why Do I Even Need To Ask?

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Why should we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” as Jesus taught, when we have plenty of food in our pantry? The reason Jesus said we are to keep coming back to the Father with this request each and every day is so that we will remember what we tend to forget: It is not daily food that we need; we continually need God. The issue is not just about having a full stomach, it is about having a full heart. The simple act of connecting with a Father who will take care of his children is something far greater than a satisfied appetite. And he will not only answer our prayer for provision in that moment, but he is the answer to all of our life!

The Journey: Luke 11:3

Give us each day the food we need.

If your house is like mine, your refrigerator is full—of both known food substances as well as new and developing life forms. Likewise, your pantry is probably stocked, maybe even stuff from Y2K that you were convinced was necessary to the survival of the human race. It is likely that you have never gone without a meal, except by choice. We live at a time where two-thirds of Americans are overweight, according to the Surgeon General, so why pray, as Jesus taught, for more daily food?

In his teaching on the Lord’s Prayer, Pastor John Ortberg reminds us that Jesus knew something that we forget: It is not daily food that we need; we need God each and every day. The issue is not just about having a full stomach, it is primarily about having a full heart. Jesus is teaching us about the contentedness that comes from connecting with a Father who will take care of his children—something far more satisfying than a full stomach! Praying for bread and food reminds us that God will not only provide the answer we need in that moment; he is the answer to all of our life!

In a very real sense, the greatest answer to our prayers is actually praying this prayer. How is that? It connects us to the God who cares for us. A few verses later, in Luke 11:11-13, Jesus frames it in this context: “You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”

Of course, if a child asks his parent for a necessity, any good parent will provide the child’s need. It is simply a natural part of a healthy parent-child relationship. If you are a parent, you get that because God has hardwired into your genetic code the desire to meet the needs of your children. Because you love them, you will do everything you can to meet their needs. When they are confident of that, they are on the way to emotional wellbeing, peace of mind, and contentedness in life.

If that is true of you, an imperfect parent with incomplete knowledge and limited resources, how much more true is it of your Heavenly Father who is pure in love, complete in wisdom and unlimited in power? He not only gives us what we need, he gives himself: “How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who asks!”

Do you see what Jesus is showing? Prayer not only produces a result, it produces something far better: a relationship. That is why Jesus taught us to come back every day to ask God. He wanted us to be ever mindful that our Heavenly Father is not only the answer to our momentary need, he, himself, is the source of our very life.

Yes, even more satisfying than a full stomach is a full heart!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. Give me today the food I need, and forgive the sins that I have committed – and I promise to forgive those who’ve sinned against me. Don’t let me yield to temptation, but keep me from the grip of the Evil One.

Posted on Monday, September 9, 2019

The One Good Thing

By welcoming Mary as his disciple, Jesus sent a clear signal that all the barriers preventing intimacy with God had been removed. Everyone in Jesus’ community of disciples now had equal freedom, equal dignity and equal access to God. Gender, ethnicity, background, or any other man-made qualifications aside, to “sit at Jesus’ feet” was to accept his invitation to a life of purpose and significance in his kingdom.

The Journey: Luke 10:41-42

But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus was the true champion of women’s rights—perhaps the first. The religious rules of that day prohibited a woman from being a disciple to a rabbi. But Jesus not only allowed Mary to “sit at his feet” (Luke 10:39, NLT), he praised her for it

Allowing her to “sit at his feet” was accepting Mary, a woman, as his disciple. Jesus was giving her the same right as men to be schooled in his theology, to do his work and minister in his name. He was breaking with the long-held customs of the time, something akin to the emancipation of slaves to full rights of citizenship in the deep South in the 1800’s.

Not only did Jesus accept Mary as his disciple, he went out of his way to praise her: “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42, NLT) Literally, the text says that Mary chose “the good”.

Jesus praised Mary’s openness. She was demonstrating total receptivity to Jesus. While her sister Martha had received Jesus into her house, Mary had received Jesus into her heart. Moreover, Jesus praised Mary’s daring devotion. She did what only men were allowed to do—sit at a rabbi’s feet to learn. Luke 10:39 says, “sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught.”

This wasn’t the only time Mary had done this. It was a pattern in her relationship with Jesus. In John 11:32 we see that Mary fell at his feet in prayer when her brother had died. In John 12:3 she fell at his feet in worship—an act, by the way, which cost her a keepsake worth a year’s salary as well as the criticism of the other disciples.

If you read those passages, you will notice that each time Mary fell at Jesus’ feet there was an associated fragrance: In Luke, the meal brought the fragrance of hospitality. When her brother died, it was the smell of death—and with her grief, the fragrance of unmitigated supplication to the One who claimed to be the resurrection and the life. When she fell at his feet and anointed them with outrageously expensive perfume, it was the fragrance of sacrificial worship. Each time she fell at his feet, Mary was demonstrating that she was a fully devoted follower of Jesus.

Along with Mary’s total receptivity and daring devotion, Jesus praised her for her outstanding courage. Her willingness to sit at his feet was a costly choice. In a Jewish writing called the Mishnah, a commentary on the Law of Moses that had been elevated to equal status with the Law, it was written, “Let thy house be a meeting house for the Sages and sit amid the dust of their feet, drink in their words with thirst, but talk not much with womankind.” What she did was something a woman just didn’t do. Making Jesus her priority was truly sacrificial. It cost Mary not only Martha’s anger and the disciples’ criticism, but it also drew the religious establishment’s ire.

Jesus, however, said that Mary made the better choice. She chose the good, and her story was recorded not only as an eternal acknowledgment of her devotion to the Lord, but as a perpetual challenge to followers like you and me. You see, at the end of the day, this story is about the daily choices we face to either carry on with our regular, and in most cases, justifiable routines, or to make following Christ our highest priority—to sit at his feet in total receptivity, daring devotion and courageous worship.

Your highest priority today will be to make the time to “sit at Jesus’ feet”. If you do, you will have chosen the good!

Do you struggle with a daily quiet time where you can enjoy uninterrupted and intimate fellowship with Jesus? Here is an idea: Put it on your calendar as a daily appointment—and then honor it like you would any other important event. As Corrie Ten Boom said, “Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it.” You might think this makes something that should be spontaneous a bit rigid, but in this day and age of overcrowded schedules, I think it might be the best thing you could ever do.

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I want always to choose the good, to sit at the feet of your Son and learn what it means to be your fully devoted child.