A Very Uninnocuous Verse

Innocuous: 3. not interesting, stimulating, or significant; pallid; insipid: an innocuous novel.

Perhaps I’m the only strange person who, when reading the gospels, thinks “where’s the chapters and verses that tell of Jesus and the disciples doing really mundane daily activities? Where’s the accounts of Peter sweeping the floors or Matthew grocery shopping?” Certainly there were moments of humdrum and typical day to day activities that they left out for sake of pointing out the truly important matters.

But then in the 11th chapter of Mark’s gospel we find this rather gloriously unimaginative moment in the life of Jesus! Upon first read I released a victorious “AHAH!”

Sadly, after reading it over and in the greater context of the surrounding scriptures I found this wasn’t innocuous at all, instead it was incredibly uninnocuous.

So Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the Temple. After looking around carefully at everything, he left because it was late in the afternoon. Then he returned to Bethany with the twelve disciples. Mark 11:11 NLT

You may be wondering, “why in the world does this matter?” but I challenge you to consider what was happening when Jesus went into the temple that day. Jesus went into the temple and He found the money changers doing their thing, the animal cartel doing their business, and He found the corruption which broke His Father’s heart.

He found exactly what we remember from the scene in scripture where Jesus went into the temple turning over tables, chasing people out with a whip, but here – on this day – Jesus looks around and “he left”.

Certainly, the emotions were hot that day, we must believe that His righteous indignation was incensed but instead of seizing the opportunity and the moment, He waited.

We know, from John 2:15, that Jesus made a whip; He took the time and the energy to carefully handcraft a whip. (If you’re interested in what goes into making a rope whip, check out this Youtube instructional video)

 

We can imagine Him carefully listening to the Father while He prayed, receiving instructions. Then, in Mark 11:12-16 we read how Jesus went back the next day and drove them out with that VERY whip He had spent time working to create.

John’s gospel isn’t 100% clear on when the whip was made, it could be interpreted that “making a whip” or “made a whip” was something that happened in the past (it is imperfect third person); I like to think that after visiting the temple on the previous day, He went back to Bethany and started work on the whip, as this process isn’t a quick or simple task that can be completed in a rage.

Which brings me to the main point of this very uninnocuous verse; Jesus didn’t act rashly in Mark 11:11 when He encountered the money changers, nor was He acting in a rage in Mark 11:15. That isn’t to say that He wasn’t angry, nor does it suggest that He didn’t turn over tables or bring a whip! Rather, He was behaving as the righteous judge cleansing the temple and in acting in the fullness of His faculties, totally in control of His emotions and actions, fully engaged in the Father’s work, and hearing from God.

I believe that this may be the big “take-away”; we should avoid at all costs reacting (if Jesus didn’t react and He’s our Master – perhaps we should take that as an example for us to follow) but instead only respond to what God speaks to us about how we should respond.

Are there some areas of your life which you have allowed yourself to react to situations thus considering yourself more privileged than Jesus? How are you doing with making God’s instruction your priority?

Imagine the church filled with people who refuse to react and insist on only responding to God’s instruction, unmoved by situations and circumstances!

Calm Down and Believe In Me

When someone gives you news that you don’t want to hear such as their serious medical diagnosis, the passing of someone you love, news of a close friend or family member moving far away, or of a marriage ending, it’s difficult to process the initial thoughts and feelings.

An audible gasp, followed by murmuring and furrowed brows swept across the room where the disciples were finishing the Passover meal after Jesus told them that He will be going away soon.

I remember when Kim and I told my family and friends that our family was moving 1,500 miles away, to Maine in order to plant a church; their reactions were understandable. The proverbial shoe had long ago been “put on the other foot” when at least three of my siblings had left to live in different parts of the United States. I totally understood what I felt in those moments when I found out, (one of them only left me a note to tell me they were leaving); I had no difficulty empathizing as they expressed their  feelings.

The gravity of the situation around the Passover Meal in John 13 and 14 is intensified by Jesus’ command for the disciples to love each other in the same way (or capacity) which He has loved them.

It reminds me of how we would beg our kids “love each other, treat each other like you love each other, be good to each other” just before we would go on a date.

He tells them that if they love each other people will know that they are His disciples. Certainly, the disciples must have thought “yes, but… if you’re around, they will know that we’re your disciples… wait…what’s going on here?!”

These men had abandoned everything, they were part of a movement which stood in direct opposition to the established religion, left their families and their occupations, stood beside Jesus as He made some pretty incredible claims (most of which they didn’t understand at first); even if they wanted to, they would never be accepted back into society again.

The panic and anxiety in the room was reaching a fervor as the loving Master offered these words to His friends,

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me.” John 14:1 ESV

First, Jesus addresses their feelings of panic and their anxiety by telling them to calm down and choose to not LET their hearts be troubled or stressed out. In our moments of anxiety we need to recognize that ultimately, we have a choice.

 

 

Then, Jesus points back to the Father and commands them as if saying, “No matter what, always believe in God – trust in God, don’t let anything sway your faith in God.” This isn’t a suggestion on how to get through this, it’s a command. Believe in God – this is absolute foundational truth for us to get to the next step. If you can believe in God then you can believe in Jesus, whom God sent.

Finally, He follows up by telling them to take that same unshakeable faith and apply it to Him. He’s not asking them to believe in some ethereal concept or ideology – He’s asking them to believe IN Him.

My precious wife and children have had some pretty big favors asked of them by me; many times I’ve required them to “believe in me” as we made some major life decisions over the years.

 

One of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received has been my wife telling me that she believes in me.  I know that she believes in my ability to make decisions, trusts that I have her’s and my family’s best interests in mind, and she believes that I know how to hear from God.

It’s important that we understand that Jesus isn’t asking us to simply acknowledge some new information or to assent  to some new philosophy; He is asking us to believe IN Him. Jewish people understood what it meant to believe in God (they had that under control) but believing in Jesus in the same way was a new thing.

I would argue that it’s a new thing for some Christians.

Jesus isn’t asking us to simply acknowledge some new information or to assent  to some new philosophy; He is asking us to believe IN Him.

Do you believe in Him? Do you trust Him to be capable of handling your life? Do you trust Him to cause “everything to work together for the good”?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are You Ready?

If I told you that I scheduled my first home invasion through Jim Bob’s Home Invasion…you would tell me that I’ve lost my mind! Literally no one schedules their own home invasion! The truth is that no one knows when it’s going to happen! Jesus addresses this in Luke 12:39-40

³⁹ “Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

The point is that we are to be ready because just like a home invasion, you don’t know when He is coming!

 

There’s no need to panic – as far as I can tell there are really three critical things every believer needs to be doing… (without oversimplification)

Ultimately we are given three directives; love God, love people and draw people to Jesus. Certainly there are other disciplines which grow our relationship with God like daily Bible reading, worship, and prayer but when you boil it all down if you love really God you’re going to do those things anyway. If you love people, you’re going to have to address the sinful attitudes and habits in your life to better love them, and if you love people you are going to be drawing them into a relationship with Jesus.

So, if you are doing the above three things… more than likely you’re ready! If you’re not, now’s the time! Since we don’t know when Jesus will return, there’s no time to waste – begin today by loving God, loving people, and drawing them into a loving relationship with God.

How do we love God? Think of how you express love to people – spend time with Him (prayer, reading, and worship), spend time with His people (go to church), learn to hear His voice, invest into His church (give tithes and offerings)

How do we love people? This is basic. Put other people before you, serve and don’t command or demand, spend time and build relationships, ask questions, meet needs as you’re able, don’t think yourself better than them, and most of all pray for them.

How do we draw people to Jesus? Pretty much doing the above makes you the most attractive thing in the world to thirsty souls. You attract more flies with honey than vinegar, so love God and love people. The bottom line is somewhere in your relationship, you will need to tell them about how Jesus has changed your life. You don’t have to have a doctoral degree to manage this – just tell them what happened in YOUR life. Tell them how it happened, what you prayed, and how you have lived since. Boom. Done.

There are probably a hundred different approaches like the “Roman’s Road”,  the “ABC’s”, etc. but if you are honestly listening to God He will give you what needs to be said.

Get out there – love God, love people, and draw them to Christ! Be ready for Him!

Pastor Kevin

Roll the Dice, Move Your Mice

We may throw the dice,
    but the Lord determines how they fall. Proverbs 16:33 NLT

Perhaps you’ve seen these phrases before;

      or maybe this one…     

I’m fully aware that there are a great number of people who not only subscribe to this philosophy but live their lives with these statements as “life-declarations”.

How frustrating it must be when you self-declare that you are in charge only to find that life doesn’t work that way.

In the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament portion of the Bible we find the verse at the beginning of this blog. “We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.” Clearly, some may find this verse absolutely infuriating; I’ve found that people are ultimately divided into two camps. 

In camp one we find people who read a verse like that and feel like a child upset with a parent not giving them the control or authority they feel they deserve.

This is part of the original lie Satan gave Adam and Eve in the garden – you need to be just like God – you need to know what He knows, and God is holding something back from us. If we haven’t learned what we needed from that lesson I will explain it briefly; No, we don’t need to know what God knows, nor do we need to be just like God, and NO, God isn’t holding anything good from us.

And in camp two we find people who understand that God isn’t trying to control us so that He can lord over us with nefarious and malicious intentions;  instead these people in camp two understand that a loving Father is guiding our steps through this life. As we learn to trust Him more and more we recognize His love and grace through the most difficult times in life.

So the challenge for you today is this – which camp do you find yourself? Are you ever vying for control and authority, ever frustrated that no matter what you can’t seem to find control or authority?

Are you settled with God guiding your steps? Isn’t it sweet of God to let us roll the dice?

 

Love More Than Your Friends

If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.                                                                                          Matthew 5:47 NLT

Love should be this incredible easy thing, something you just experience and give so freely, a feeling that flows uncontrollably from others and from us with absolutely zero effort.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

Unfortunately that is not the case, people can be decidedly unlovely, making it difficult to choose to love them when love hasn’t been shown. But that seems to be the problem doesn’t it? We tend to treat love like there’s a prerequisite of love shown in order to show love, or at least like it needs to be reciprocated in order for us to continue to show love.

Christians aren’t supposed to allow circumstances to dictate whether or not we show love to other people because while were still sinners we were shown the most intense love imaginable (actually beyond our imagination). It is an act most ungrateful to behave unlovely towards other people, regardless of their actions.

When we refrain or withhold love from people we have effectively stopped loving them. We make light of this when we excuse our actions based on other people, when there is no excuse for us.

“Even pagans do that” isn’t meant to be a slight against pagans as we know them today, rather an observation, made by Jesus, of people who had not been transformed by God’s love who had shown love to their friends.  The point isn’t about pagans, it’s a reference to how we (who’ve experienced the power of God) should behave differently than those who haven’t.

Jesus’ question is, of course, timely for us, “how are you different”? I invite you and I to ask ourselves that very important question today.

How are you different? 

In what ways are you showing love to unlovely? In what ways are you expressing the power of Christ in you?

Are You and Jesus On the Same Mission?

Tags

Bible, Christian, Church, devotion, Faith, God, Jesus, NLT, one minute devotional

When you wake up, what do your goals for the day look like?

Many of us have goals we work hard to complete so we can mark them off our list each day; career minded people have different goals than a stay at home mom, a student has different goals each day than a retiree.

Some people aren’t just interested in fishing their goals for the day; they’re on a mission!

The Blues Brothers coined the phrase “We’re on a mission from God!” which has widely been accepted as a phrase people use when they are filled with incredible determination to see something accomplished, regardless of what it may take.

Are you on a mission in your life? What is driving you? What is the singularly most important goal in your life?

I only ask because when Jesus came to earth he came, as did the Blues Brothers, on a mission from God. In fact, he expresses in chapter six of the Gospel of John that while he was on earth he had no intention fulfilling his own desires or wishes, only the will of the Father.

For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. John 6:38 NLT

Logic demands that we consider Jesus’ words, “a servant ism’t greater than his Master” (John 15:20) therefore if our Master determined in His heart to follow the will of His Father, shouldn’t we determine to follow in His steps and make His mission our mission?

Our mission and Jesus’ mission should look identical!

If Jesus was emphatic about us being a people who loved others….

I’m just suggesting that hate shouldn’t even have a seat in our mental dining table. If Jesus blatantly told us to make disciples of everyone  we meet, I’m thinking that we should be much more prepared to love people, build a relationship with them and lead them to Jesus.

What might a goal list look like that makes Jesus’ mission OUR mission? Oddly normal, just your motivation for your actions will have changed.

• Go to the work (get there early so I can build relationships)
• Grab dinner at a fast food (Go inside so I can have a chance to chat with someone)
• call Bob  (develop that friendship – maybe lead him to Jesus)
• Finish “Gotham” (so I can have something fun to break the ice with Larry who loves Gotham)

Our seemingly mundane and terribly normal activities are suddenly transformed into spectacular spiritual service when it is motivated out of love for Jesus and love for the people for whom He died; when His mission becomes our mission life explodes with purpose we’ve never experienced!

Are you on a mission from God?

 

Real Joy Comes From Jesus

This is the third week of Advent; we are turning our attention to JOY this week!

Often times we confuse happiness and joy; before assumptions start flying… I’m not against happiness – it’s pretty important too! That said, I’ve found there’s an incredible difference between the two.

Here’s some examples which will help to draw the distinction between the two:

• someone who is “unhappy” in their marriage can still find “joy” in their children or grandchildren.
• someone who is “unhappy” in their profession can find “joy” in a hobby
• someone who is “unhappy” with their physical or mental condition can find “joy” in a friendship.

Unfortunately, each of these “joys” are very temporary – children grow up (and out), interests in hobbies wane, and friendships tend to fade over time as well. The joy we cultivate and experience is horrifically temporary.

But there is a REAL and lasting joy for anyone who believes and follows Jesus. On John’s gospel, the fifteenth chapter we find this beautiful gem,

 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:11 ESV

This verse tells us that Jesus’ joy has been placed in us! The exciting part of that is that Jesus’ joy isn’t temporary, it is eternal! Who is going to steal His joy? Who will rob Jesus of His joy? No one!

As we begin to focus on the joy He’s placed in us (not our temporal joy), we find that our joy is full or complete; no more working tirelessly to cultivate joy only to have it taken from us or wear off over time – Jesus in you gives you joy, REAL and complete joy.

Tap into that joy this week by worshipping, reading, and prayer, turning your attention away from circumstances and onto what He’s already placed in you. You don’t have to muster up this joy – it’s already there!

Joy to the world!

 

Tested and Tried, Non-Stop Miracles

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Bible, Christian, Church, devotion, God, Hebrews, Hebrews 3, Jesus, life, Miracles, NLT, one minute devotional, Supernatural

There your ancestors tested and tried my patience,

even though they saw my miracles for forty years. Hebrews 3:9 NLT

The Israelites were surrounded by the miraculous for 40 years; there was

• the manna from Heaven, daily, enough to feed all the Israelites
• the quail
• the water from the rock
• and the fact that there clothes NEVER wore out!

Can you imagine seeing the miraculous EVERY DAY in your life for 40 years! Sounds amazing right? The problem was that it became common-place for them. God providing for their needs became expected and eventually unappreciated.

They had tested God’s patience, they had tried Him, and found that He was faithful in that He would provide for them supernaturally, proving His faithfulness to them daily for 40 years! Over and over they experienced the faithfulness of God until it became mundane. God called it “hard-hearted” in verse 8.

Have you allowed for the miraculous in your life become common, mundane, and unappreciated? Perhaps it’s time to step away from your busy-ness, recognize what He’s been doing in your life, and tell Him that He is awesome! Be sure to tell others too, because your testimony could awake them from their hard-hearted attitude and bring them to a place of gratitude and praise!

What miracles are going on all around you right now? He’s a faithful God. He’s been tested, tried and proven!

 

“And I’m Loved by You, That’s Who I Am”

Tags

Bible, Church, Faith, God, Jesus, love

We were singing the song, “Good, Good Father” the other night at church; when we sang the lyrics, “and I’m loved by You, that’s who I am” my heart jumped. What a statement of identity! I AM KNOWN AS ONE WHO IS LOVED BY GOD!

I’m very quick to admit my identity as a husband, father, grandfather, and Pastor… but how often do I offer up, “Oh, also I’m someone who God loves”?

It reeks of arrogance but it is actually a very true statement! How would it change the way I perceive, well… everything if I started to think like that? If God’s love for me personally was an identifying point of my psyche, how would I begin to behave differently, think differently, respond differently?

When I married my wife, Kim, I began to think as a married man. After our first child was born the reality of my new identity as “Father” began to set in. I think you get the picture.

I’m not basing this line of thinking off of a song, there’s actual scriptural reference to this concept.

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!                                                                                                             1 John 3:1 NLT

What about you? Do you identify as a child of God? Does the fact that God identifies you as one of His children change you? In what ways might your status as “one who is loved by God” change the way you think or worship?

What’s Your Name?

Naomi was returning to her home after losing her husband and two sons in another country. As she entered her hometown, she was greeted by friends and relatives who exclaimed, “Is it really Naomi?”

But Naomi corrected them,

Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. Ruth 1:20 NLT

Naomi’s name means “pleasant” but Mara means “bitter”. Keep in mind that no one else identified her as Mara (bitter), God didn’t call her Mara (bitter) rather she chose to be identified by her bitterness. She wanted to make certain that everyone knew her as bitter! 

I’ve never experienced a loss as profound as Naomi, therefore I can’t speak to her grief, however I’ve experienced tragedy and loss. I’m no stranger to pain, as I imagine those who may read this blog are equally (perhaps more so) familiar with disaster, pain, and loss. I am in no way suggesting that she had no right to feel pain, anger, or bitterness, nor suggesting that recovery is instantaneous; my concern is how she continued long afterwards to choose to identify with her bitterness, even as much as to call herself Bitter.

We are given the opportunity to choose each day how we will identify ourselves, whether we will continue to focus on pain, hurt, or depression or each day begin by asserting that we are NOT defined by the circumstances, rather we are MORE than the pain, we are more than the hurt!

Don’t let tragedy define your life!

How will you identify today? Will you choose to be known asPleasant, Beautiful, Radiant, or will you choose to be known as Bitter, Pain, or Depression?

You choose.

What’s your name?