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A Savior That Gets Under Your Skin

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 15
Meditation: Matthew 15:12-14

Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

Shift Your Focus… On a fairly regular basis, Jesus got under people’s skin. In fact, he flat out annoyed them—and it didn’t bother him in the least.  He didn’t come to earth to win a popularity contest, he came to get in the way of people’s headlong plunge into hell.  That meant he had to tell them the truth—even if it ruffled their feathers.  By the way, he is still doing that today, and chances are, he’s fixing to ruffle your feathers, too (if he hasn’t already)!

So why is Jesus so annoying?  How come he doesn’t always play nice?  What is it that makes him so willing to irritate sinners and saints—especially saints—alike? I’ve already given the answer, but let me restate it once again:

Jesus is more committed to your holiness than he is concerned about your happiness!

You see, it is holiness that will get you into heaven and keep you out of hell. Now that’s not just my opinion, that’s a direct quote from the Word of God.  Hebrews 12:14 (NLT) very clearly says, “work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.”

That’s why Jesus is so willing to get up in your grill and tell it like it is.  He wants you to be holy, just as he is holy.  That’s why he says things that are uncomfortable, that will make you squirm, that are frankly, offensive…things like,

“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you.” (John 6:53, NLT)

“You will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.” (Luke 13:3, NLT)

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NLT)

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.” (Matthew 7:21, NLT)

“All who love me will do what I say…Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me.” (John 14:23-24, NLT)

And on and on the list of Jesus’ annoying sayings goes. Now of course, Jesus is not annoying for annoyance sake.  He says things that make us uncomfortable because he loves us, and wants us to partake of his holiness.  In fact, in the greatest act of love imaginable, he died on the cross so that you and I could enter through his sacrifice into the very holiness that will put us and keep us in right standing with a holy God.  That is called imputed holiness—which Jesus offers as a free gift, received only and completely by grace through faith.

What a deal—Jesus paid the full price for my holiness, and all I have to do is turn to him in full repentance of my sins, full acceptance of his death and resurrection, full surrender to his Lordship over my life, and I am declared holy.  Moreover, I am then declared legally holy because I now stand before God in the holiness of Jesus Christ.

Now there is one more thing: Hebrews 12:14 said we are to “work at living a holy life”.  Since Jesus has graciously done so very much to make us holy, we ought to gladly and thankfully make every effort (this is not about earning, mind you, you can’t earn what you’ve already been freely given) to live a life of complete and utter holiness before God.

Before you groan about this “holiness” thing—truthfully, it’s not such a bad or burdensome deal.  All you really need to do, in light of what has already been done for you, is to gratefully love God will all our heart, mind, and body.  Then once you’ve done that, just do as you like.

But just remember, to keep you loving God as he deserves, expect Jesus to annoy you along the way!

“How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing…it is irresistible.” ~C.S. Lewis

Prayer… Today Lord Jesus, I desire to rid my life of behaviors and thought patterns that prevent my further growth in your holiness. I repent of those things that are keeping me from it and I ask your help in resolutely moving forward.

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Your Path To Healing

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 14
Meditation: Matthew 14:13-14

“As soon as Jesus heard the news [of John’s death], he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matthew 14:13-14)

Shift Your Focus… Karl Menninger, founder of the famed psychiatric clinic in Topeka, Kansas that bears his name, was once asked, “What would you do if you thought you were going crazy?”  Without even having to think about it, he said, “I’d go out and find someone less fortunate to serve.”

There is just something therapeutic about serving somebody else—especially if they are worse off than you. When you are going through your own hardship, whatever that may be—sickness, loss, disappointment, depression—God’s therapy is to find those who cannot help themselves, who cannot pay back your kindness, and minister God’s love to them.

That is not to deny or avoid your own hurt. Not at all! To love, serve, and bless the less fortunate is to activate a spiritual law that we find in Acts 20:35, “And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Jesus said it another way in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

In other words, when you are the conduit of God’s love and grace, and when heaven’s generosity is being poured through you to those in need, on the way through you, that flood of love, grace and generosity will leave the Divine touch in your own life.

Jesus is practicing his own preaching here in Matthew 14. His cousin, John the Baptist, had just been beheaded by Herod. When Jesus heard the news, he was deeply affected, as any human being would be. He felt tremendous sorrow and grief over the loss of a loved one. And he did what most of us would do: He got away from the crowd to spend some time alone and pour out his grief.

But Jesus didn’t stay there long. He didn’t succumb to self-pity; he didn’t retreat into isolation; he didn’t get paralyzed by grief. He found other people who were hurting for different reasons than his own, and out of compassion for them, he began to minister to their needs.

Jesus was setting a pattern for us, don’t you think? Not to minimize the hurt and grief that we experience from loss, discouragement and disappointment, but to turn it into a productive force that initiates God’s healing therapy in our own lives by becoming the conduit of Divine love and grace to hurting people.

Perhaps you are licking your wounds today from the loss of something dear and near to your heart—maybe even the death of a loved one. If that is the case, try doing what Jesus did. See the needs of other hurting people around you and love them.

You probably won’t feel like doing it, but do it anyway. It won’t take away your own pain, but it will unleash God’s healing therapy for you. And at the end of the day, you will find that your journey through grief will be a lot healthier and a whole lot more productive.

“By compassion we make others’ misery our own, and so, by relieving them, we relieve ourselves also.”  ~Sir Thomas Browne

Prayer… Lord, place someone in plain view who is hurting today, and I will serve that one in your love.

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Worry

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 13
Meditation: Matthew 13:22

“The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.” (Matthew 13:22)

Shift Your Focus… When I was a kid, my father would plant a garden in our back yard—tomatoes, green beans, corn, squash, strawberries—you name it, if it had a chance to grow, he’d plant it.  He even planted cotton—in Oregon, for crying out loud! Then every Saturday morning in growing season, he’d drag my sorry carcass out of bed to weed that garden.

And I hated it; I wanted nothing to do with it. I wanted to be doing more productive things that all the other kids my age got to do on Saturdays: Sleeping in, or playing street football, or riding my stingray bike, or watching Saturday cartoons (in those days, “George of the Jungle” and its ilk were much more educational and mind-stretching than the stuff kids watch today).  But no, I had to pull those stinking weeds.

Perhaps my dad, like Jesus, who spoke continually in parables to illustrate the kingdom life, was trying to teach an object lesson. You see, just as weeds can stunt the growth of a physical garden, nothing is more damaging to your relationship with God and your spiritual fruitfulness than the “worry-weeds” in your life: The cares of this life and lure of wealth. These weeds are particularly dangerous because they look like fruit-producing plants at first, but in the end, they are noxious. They pop up early and often in the soil of your heart, and they alluringly demand your attention.  Jesus called them thorns, warning that if not dealt with, they will eventually choke out the fruit-producing seed of God’s Word.

What are your worry-weeds?  Making the mortgage payment on your home, paying for a couple of cars in your garage, affording a respectable university for your kids or making sure your retirement account is getting fatter? Do you stay awake at night worrying about the yo-yo stock market, plotting the next move to outpace the “Joneses”, or worrying about who will occupy the White House in two years?  What are your worry-weeds?

Be honest—you’ve got worries; so do I. I fight the same addiction to the cares of life and the lure of wealth that you do. Whether we like to admit it or not, the “thorns” that Jesus warned about are competing with the values of God’s Kingdom for the soil of our heart.  And guess what? You and I are the only ones who can weed out those worries. For sure, God will strengthen you and give you discernment to deal with them, but you are the one who will have to do a little self-weeding.

Listen—it is time to quit talking about this and start weeding.  You know intuitively that I am spot on about this.  The growth and fruitfulness of the Kingdom of God in your life, in your family, and in your church is riding on you being bold enough and wise enough and ruthless enough to start pulling and chucking the weeds right out of your life.

So let’s do some weeding!  I will pray for you, and I hope you will pray for me.

Happy gardening!

 “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.” ~C.S. Lewis

Prayer… Jesus there are a lot of worry weeds in my garden—stress over life in general, fear of what will happen in the world tomorrow, consuming desire for material things, and more self-focused things that only you know about. Today I bring those before you and ask you to give me the discernment to identify them, the courage to confess them, the strength to deal with them, and to put them in a distant second place behind putting your kingdom first!

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Idle Words

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 12
Meditation: Matthew 22:34,36

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks … I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.”

Shift Your Focus… Just think of your heart as the reservoir and your tongue as the dipstick.  If you want to figure out what is in the tank, or how much is there, just listen to what you say and you’ll get a pretty accurate picture of the true you.

The Bible uses the term “heart” to describe the inner person.  The word “mind” could easily be substituted for “heart”, but it is more than that.  The heart is not only your thinking part, it is your attitudes, desires, dreams, ambitions, personality—the invisible stuff that gives life to your skin and bones and makes you uniquely you. The heart is the inner capacity to know, love and respond to God.

The tongue, or what you say, simply reveals what already exists in your heart.  Your words are critically important, and as Jesus said, you will be held to account for them, even the off-the-cuff ones, yet it is not so much the words, but what is behind them that is truly important.

That is why you can’t simply discipline your tongue—though that is not a bad idea.  You have got to transform your heart.  If you don’t, your speech will ultimately betray what is on the inside.

A person with a harsh tongue has an angry heart; a negative tongue comes from a fearful heart; an overactive tongue springs from an insecure heart; a boasting tongue is from a prideful heart; a filthy tongue comes from an impure heart; a person who is critical all the time has a bitter heart.  On the other hand, a person who is always encouraging has a joyful heart.  One who speaks gently has a loving heart.  Someone who speaks truthfully has an honest heart.

So what’s the solution to managing your mouth?  I like what Lloyd Ogilvie says, “you’ve got to heart your tongue.”

That means, to begin with, you’ve got to get a new heart.  Mouth control begins with a heart transplant.  Ezekiel 18:31 says, “Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit!”

Painting the outside of the pump doesn’t make any difference if there is poison in the well.  I can change the outside, turn over a new leaf, but what I really need is a new life or a fresh start.  I need supernatural surgery from the Great Physician.

How do I get one? David prayed in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”  Maybe you ought to pray that prayer right now, because God is in the heart transplant business.  Ezekiel 36:26 says of God, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Then once God gives you a new heart, ask him for help every day.  You need supernatural power to control your tongue. You can’t do it alone.  Your life is a living proof of that.  That’s why we’ve got to daily ask God to help us.  In Psalm 141:3, the psalmist prays, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

That’s a great verse to memorize and pray every morning: “God, muzzle my mouth.  Don’t let me be critical or judgmental or harsh today.  Don’t let me say things that I’ll regret.”  If you ask God for help, he will.

Finally, master your mouth by disciplining your thinking.  James 1:19 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”  One quick and two slows.  In other words, engage your mind before you put your mouth in gear.

Control your thinking and you’ll control your speaking.  Control your speaking and you’ll control you whole life.  And the best way to control your thinking is by filling your mind with the Word of God.

What goes into your mind, gets into your heart, and what gets into your heart, comes out of your mouth.  So don’t just watch your mouth—for sure, do that—but “above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.”  ~Ambrose Bierce

Prayer… Father, as the psalmist prayed, so I ask of you, create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit in me.  May the reservoir of my life be pure and the words of my mouth reveal only the Spirit of God who fills my heart.

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Bless Your Uneasiness

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 11
Meditation: Matthew 11:3

“Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Shift Your Focus… Let’s be honest—we’ve all been deeply disappointed with God. Sometimes He doesn’t live up to our expectations. A prayer doesn’t get answered the way we want, when we want: a healing doesn’t occur, a job is lost, a relationship goes sour, a marriage isn’t saved, a loved one refuses salvation, a child dies…

That’s when faith really gets tested. It is easy to believe in the good times—when things are going great, prayers are getting answered, and God is obviously on our team. But just cut off the flow of blessing, squeeze our faith a little, push us out of the comfort zone—then take our spiritual temperature and see if we’re still aflame with faith.

John the Baptist was there. He had obeyed the call of God early in his life as the forerunner of the Messiah. He had arranged his whole world around announcing Jesus as Israel’s Messiah. He had lived an austere life, preached his heart out, courageously confronted the religious establishment, boldly challenged sinful hearts, and called Israel to national repentance, all to prepare the way for Jesus. He expected his faithfulness to God and obedience to the call would usher in the Kingdom of God when Jesus showed up and launched his messianic ministry.

But now he was in jail. He was in a pretty serious situation that in a few days would lead to his beheading. And Jesus was out there preaching to small crowds, doing a few miracles here and there, and not taking this Messiah thing very seriously. John was disappointed, to say the least.

Did you notice how Jesus handled John’s disappointment and doubt? Not with a brow beating, not with a rebuke, not with anger, Jesus simply reaffirmed John and spoke about his value in God’s eyes. Jesus understood where John was coming from.

Jesus also understood that God’s timing was way different than John’s. John wanted the Kingdom now, and when it didn’t happened, he questioned. So Jesus redirected John’s faith—he encouraged him to take his eyes off circumstances and put them back where they belonged: On the undeniable evidence of God’s activity; on the unshakeable hope in God’s Kingdom; on the unbreakable promise of God’s Word; on the irrefutable goodness of God’s character. And then to trust!

We’ve all had those kind of doubts, questions, disappointment and perhaps even anger with God when he doesn’t live up to billing. Maybe that’s where you are today. That’s okay—God is big enough to handle your upset—provided you do as John did: Own up to your upset.

God won’t give you a beat down if you’ll come to him with a humble and honest heart. He’ll simply reaffirm your inestimable value and remind you of his everlasting love—and invite you to trust.

And at the end of the day, you’ll never be disappointed when you trust God.

“We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

It is true: Whatever hope (Scripturally based, of course) you place in God will never be disappointed!

“Bless your uneasiness as a sign that there is still life in you.” ~Dag Hammarskjald

Prayer… Lord I believe you are the One.  Now when circumstances set themselves against, me, help my unbelief.

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Fall Afresh On Me

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 10
Meditation: Matthew 10:19-20

“But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”

Shift Your Focus… The Gospels speak often of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus spoke a great deal about the Holy Spirit as well. Furthermore,  the first century believers understood that a moment-by-moment relationship with the Holy Spirit was normal—and necessary. So critical is the active ministry of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament that without him, the new covenant doesn’t exist.

It is unfortunate that what was fully embraced in the first century has become so controversial in our day:  The infilling of the Holy Spirit.  We now quibble over if one is Spirit-filled at salvation or if the infilling comes when one is baptized in the Spirit as a separate and distinct event.  We argue over whether speaking in tongues is the initial physical evidence of being Spirit-baptized or if the Spiritual language is even valid in the twenty-first century.

Theological lines have been drawn, denominations have been formed, preachers take their stand on one side of the issue or the other, position papers have been issued, and all the while God longingly waits to give the Holy Spirit to all who ask (Luke 11:13).

Jesus often referred to the “promise of the Father,” which was—and still is—to send the Holy Spirit to be with us, in us, and to work through us in ways that are beyond human replication.  It doesn’t take too long reading in the New Testament to understand that God’s deep desire for his children is that they would live as Spirit-filled people.

For the believer, the Spirit-filled life is not an option, but a divine expectation.  It is an act of faith and obedience that will enable the believer to experience dimensions of the blessedness that the Acts 2 believers experienced.  Nothing but the Spirit-filled life will empower the believer for mission in the world.  Nothing but the Spirit-filled life will enable the believer to live the kind of holy and honoring life God calls for—and deserves.

The Father is still waiting to deliver His gift to those who ask.  “Ask and keep on asking…for how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask!”

We may quibble over the mechanism of Spirit infilling, but the bottom line is, by whatever means, be filled and keep on being filled with God the Holy Spirit.

The Father promised it.  Jesus declared it.  The Holy Spirit is ready for it.  Are you?

“How little chance the Holy Ghost has nowadays. The churches and missionary societies have so bound Him in red tape that they practically ask Him to sit in a corner while they do the work themselves.” ~C.T. Studd

Prayer… Lord Jesus, just as you breathed on your disciples and invited them to receive the Holy Spirit, I ask you to breathe on me and baptize me in the Spirit afresh today.

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It’s All Small Stuff To Jesus

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: Matthew 9
Meditation: Matthew 9:6-8

“For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”  And he arose and departed to his house.

Shift Your Focus… I’ve always loved that line:  “Which is easier?”  If I had been the one in this situation instead of Jesus, I would likely have said, “Which is harder?”  But Jesus was God, and he didn’t sweat the small stuff—and to him, it was all small stuff.

That’s why he could forgive the paralytic’s sins just as easily as he could heal his paralysis.  That’s why he could raise a little girl from death, cure a woman with a twelve-year issue of blood, open blind eyes, equip a mute man with speech, and drive demons from those in the devil’s bondage.  It was all small stuff to Jesus because he was God.

And what about your life?  What are you facing—a physical challenge, a financial situation, a problem at work, guilt over a past sin, a broken marriage?  What is your paralysis?  Whatever it is, no matter how big of a deal it seems to you, it’s all small stuff to Jesus, because he is God.

As you face the things in your life today that have paralyzed you with fear, anxiety, guilt, anger or inaction, take to heart the words of the prophet Jeremiah,

O Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth
by your great power.  Nothing is to difficult for you.
(Jeremiah 32:17)

So don’t sweat the small stuff—because it is all small stuff to Jesus.

“When you have no helpers, see your helpers in God. When you have many helpers, see God in all your helpers. When you have nothing but God, see all in God. When you have everything, see God in everything. Under all conditions, stay thy heart only on the Lord.”  ~Charles Spurgeon

Prayer… Lord, what seems impossible to me is no big deal to you.  You made the heavens and the earth by your great power, and what I am facing comes nowhere close to that.  So I place my life in your hands and trust you to perfect everything that concerns me.