Good Enough or Complete?

Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48 [NASB])

I’ve been in a few cars with flat tires. They happen. The challenge is changing them with the spare. Think about this. If the last time you had a flat, you took your flat tire to the mechanic for repair and he/she filled it with air and gave it back to you. What would happen when you replaced your newest flat tire with that old flat tire filled with air? If the mechanic didn’t find the cause for the hole and repair it, your replacement tire would be no better than your current flat tire. For the mechanic, the refilled tire was good enough. For your purposes, you didn’t need good enough. You needed perfect, a job done completely. Jesus spoke about lives lived completely instead of in a “good enough” way. Consider what He taught in Matthew 5.

In Matthew 5, Jesus began preaching His Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes. He began this famous sermon by proclaiming certain people are blessed, people who may not have ever considered themselves blessed. Jesus said these groups of people are blessed: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the gentle, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, and the people who are insulted, persecuted, and have false things said about them because of their relationship to Him.

We look at this list of people, and we may see one of more of these attitudes to which we can identify and say, “Yes, that happened to me!” If we consider these attitudes closer, we realize, Jesus described His experience on earth with each one of them. This should make us consider again, has what we experienced been like what Jesus experienced? Are we really that much like Jesus?

Jesus, next, in verses thirteen through sixteen, told His disciples what they would be if they closely aligned themselves with Him. They will be salt of the earth. His disciples are to bring flavor back to life by telling people about Him. While Jesus has not returned to earth to claim it for Himself and cast Satan into the pit, Satan roams free in the world. Life is flavorless; no distinction exists between Satan and another way to live. It’s a bland existence. When Jesus came to earth the first time, He called, and continues to call, people to be His disciples. His disciples bring a new flavor, a freshness, to life. Jesus’ disciples are salt in the world. Blandness gets cast away by the new flavor, new Life. Jesus also told His disciples they would be the light of the world. Blandness comes from having just one influence, Satan.  When a new leader enters, new light illumines the darkness of what life was really like before the Light, Jesus, came into the world. Disciples are to be the light, which the Light of the world ignited so the city, the people of the world, can see the things Satan hid in the dark. When the disciples show their light, people will glorify the Father in heaven who sent the Light.

After Jesus taught about the Beatitudes and who would receive the reward of heaven and after He explained the role of His disciples, He made a stunning statement to the Jews. He said He did not come to abolish the Law or Prophets, but to fulfill them. The Jews expected the Messiah to come as their warrior King defeating their enemy, the Romans, and re-establishing the kingdom of David. The Pharisees would have sat straighter at this statement. Yet, Jesus continued by saying, “Whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:19 [NASB]) Maybe it went over the heads of the Pharisees, maybe it didn’t. The Pharisees often required more of the Jews than the Laws of God required. They changed the Laws to make it harder on the people and to show their own holiness as greater than others. What Jesus said next, He stated plainly. The Pharisees could not have missed His meaning in verse twenty. Jesus said, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” [NASB] Can you imagine the shock on the faces of the Pharisees who listened that day and on the faces of the Pharisees who heard about it? Can you imagine the rage that would have engulfed them for a man born in small Nazareth as a carpenter’s son, to teach the people they had to have righteousness greater than the Pharisees? The hidden meaning of Jesus’ statement was that the Pharisees were not righteous. They were not poor in spirit, gentle, merciful, and all the other descriptors Jesus used of those who would inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount describing those who would inherit the kingdom of heaven. He then taught what His disciples must be in the world. By speaking next on the Law and Prophets, righteousness, and the Pharisees, He contrasted the people of the opening attitudes and disciples with the Pharisees. The people might have wondered, if the Pharisees are not to be our standard or goal in life, then who is? What must I do to be perfect? Jesus answered this with verses twenty-one through forty-seven. He teaches the people listening to Him on the mount about going beyond the Law and Prophets. Jesus taught them about loving their neighbor as themselves, as He would in Matthew 22:39. Then He reminded these Jews, even the Gentiles did these things, and they did not believe in Yahweh. So, if the people are no better than the Gentiles and they are to be better than the Pharisees, who are they to be like then? Who is their standard?

With verse forty-eight, Jesus explained to the people who they were to be like. He said, “Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Jesus contrasted His statement from verse twenty when He said, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” with verse forty-eight. Jesus gave the people a new standard, their heavenly Father, the One who gave them life and gives new life through regeneration, being born again. Our heavenly Father is the standard not only because He’s our Creator, but because He is perfect, the definer of perfect. “Perfect” comes from the Greek word, teleios. Teleios means being complete as in maturity, a going through stages to reach the end goal, like a spiritual journey. For God, He has always been perfect. Our goal is to be made in His image, to be like Christ. That is our spiritual journey; it is having the mind and character of Christ, as Paul said in Philippians 2:5-8. When our spiritual journey is complete, which will only occur when we are in the kingdom of God, then we will be like Christ. We will be perfect, and our journey will be complete.

Just as Jesus gave the attitudes of the people who were like Him, gentle, meek, merciful, etc. in verses one through eleven, and so He was on earth and is in heaven, and just as His disciples are the salt of the earth and a light to the world telling of Him, we, as those whose righteousness surpasses the scribes and Pharisees in our world, will become perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus told the people what their lives will be like on earth as His followers and told them who should be their standard. Today, as people living on the earth as Jesus lived and taught on earth need to realize Jesus teaches us this same message. We will have difficulties and hardships. People will persecute us because of our relationship with Him. But we can rejoice and be glad, for our reward is in heaven and it is great. (Matt. 5:12) When God is our standard, we will suffer at times, but we can know our Father, the One who created us and is re-creating us in His image, calls us His children and gives us hope and joy knowing we have a reward in His kingdom with Him. Our standard is not the world’s standards, not the standards of the scribes and Pharisees. Our standard is God and we will become perfect as He is perfect.

If we choose to live a life according to the world’s standards, it can be good enough according to the world, but it will always fall flat. If we live a complete and perfect life with God as our standard, then our lives will be full of hope and joy. Though we may endure hardships, God will always be there and provide all we need to endure and get through it. He won’t be like the mechanic who just did a good enough job by refilling the tire. He will do a perfect job, fix the problem, and give us all the help we need. Do we want to live by the world’s standards where the answer is good enough and we continue needing air put in our tires because the problem is not remedied? Or, do we want to live by God’s standard, trust God who gives us everything we need for each situation, and live knowing, with God as our Savior, we are complete. We have every good and perfect gift that comes from God above? (James 1:17)

To whose standard do you live?

In whose image do you stand?

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 [NASB])

Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. (Philippians 3:13-16 [NASB])

Lord, I am not perfect; I am not yet complete in You. Lord, thank you for wanting me, providing a way for me, and calling me to Yourself. Thank you that You were willing to provide the sin sacrifice for my sins because of Your love and mercy for me. Lead me in Your paths and for Your glory. Help me walk in Your ways and to Your standard, not allowing the morals of the world to be “good enough”, but instead always seeking You. Use me to be salt and light in this world so people will know there is more to life than what they see and to the limited time of earth. Lord, show people Yourself through me so they want to give their lives to You in faith and by confession. Give them Your hope and love. Thank you for what You have done and what You are going to do. Thank you for being the definer perfect and complete. Amen.

Choosing to Face the Storms

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! (Matthew 26:41 [NLT])

Think about boating on Lake Erie or the Mediterranean Sea. The day begins with sun, calm seas, and a small breeze. You and a friend decide it’s  a beautiful day to take the sailboat out on the water. You raise the sails to get out of port. As you laze on deck with sails furled in the middle of the lake or sea, a wind arises that makes your boat rock furiously from starboard to port. Unfurling the sails will only cause you to catch too much wind and make your boat toss and turn at the storm’s mercy. A large ocean-going vessel comes to your starboard offering ropes to moor your boat to the ship’s sheltering side away from the wind. What should you do? Accept the offer or take your chances to ride out the storm?

Jesus knew about storms. He knew what caused humanity to stumble, when we face temptations and act upon them. These temptations when acted upon lead to sin. Each person alive has sinned. It’s part of the curse when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of which God told them not to eat. Jesus knew from where sin came. He addressed it immediately after his baptism by John in the Jordan River.

As Jesus came up out of the water, He saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy.” The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan for forty days. (Mark 1:10-13a [NLT])

Jesus understood humanity had great difficulty facing temptations. He faced temptations immediately after John baptized Him. Jesus faced temptations like any human does throughout His life. At any point in His three-year ministry, He could have said He wasn’t the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Christ, or the Messiah, then the Jewish religious leaders wouldn’t have challenged Him daily. Jesus could have said He was just a man whom God called to be a prophet. That’s what the people thought He must be.

Jesus faced the temptation to back down from the challenges presented by the people and the challenges presented by Satan. He willingly walked the path set before Him. Why? So, sin would be defeated and Jesus would have victory over death-eternal death, which is separation from God. Jesus faced and overcame temptation so that as sinless man, He could give power over temptation and sin to every person who believes in Him as their Savior and Lord. In the desert, Jesus was hungry. It would have been wonderful to enjoy a full stomach and so turn the stone into bread. But He didn’t do it. It would have been a relief if the angels of God’s kingdom carried Him from the heights while Satan tempted by Him. But He didn’t ask for their help.

Jesus faced the temptations to sin as a man and as the Son of God so He could give strength to people and enable them to overcome temptations without sinning. Our temptations do not differ from anyone else’s temptations. The foremost thought we have is to put our own selves first instead of seeking God and His will.  Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He said, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.” [NLT] When you face  temptations, God is there ready to help you overcome them. In overcoming temptations, you must battle them, not ignore them. These battles strengthen you if you rely on the strength of God to get through the temptation and not to sin. If you rely on your own strength, you do not grow, but become prideful, another sin. This is key to overcoming power. We must rely on God to overcome by going through the struggle against temptation. Only God is all-powerful and all-knowing. Only He knows how to get through and become stronger.

Jesus chose to go through temptations instead of avoiding them. Avoiding them would not have made Him the conqueror. Facing temptations and overcoming them makes conquerors of people who believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ choice to face temptation, stand up to it, and overcome it, gives His followers His power to do the same thing. Consider what Paul wrote in Romans 8:31b-39.

If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one-for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one-for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened to death? (As Scriptures say, “For Your sake, we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, Who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. [NLT]

Jesus, because of His and the Father’s great love for us, came to earth to live as a man, to face temptation just as a man, and to overcome temptation because He is God. He died and rose to life again to provide us, each believer in Him as Lord and Savior, the ability not to sin and not to face eternal death. Jesus did not turn away from temptation but chose to go through it to prove He is the Son of God. By this, He gives us power to overcome and grow through our times of temptation. No wonder Jesus challenged His inner circle of Peter, James, and John when He repeatedly found them asleep as He was praying for strength to face, battle, and overcome His biggest challenge, the challenge to save our souls and make a way for us to be righteous and be in a relationship with God. With these words, these three disciples heard Jesus’ challenge, and He recognized their weakness. “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (Matthew 26:41 [NLT]) These three men wanted to be faithful disciples of Jesus, but they were unable to face the temptation to sleep instead of keeping watch-praying.

We can overcome temptations and weaknesses and become stronger because of it. Jesus said that strength comes from God through prayer. Acknowledge your weakness. Ask God for His strength to walk with you through the temptation and to grow you as you walk with Him through it. Then pray with thanksgiving, praising God for the strength He gave you and the growth He caused because you walked with Him instead of falling asleep or walking in your own strength at the time of trial.

Consider the sail boat tossed furiously by the sudden storm. Consider yourself in that storm-tossed boat when a large steady ocean-going vessel offers you mooring ropes by which to secure your boat to the calmer side of that ship. Jesus is like that large ship. He provides His strength for you to hold on to while facing your temptations, your storms. With His strength and guidance, you can get through the storm and to your destination with less injury than if you faced the storm by yourself. You will be able to face another day and be wiser because of it. After having gone through that storm with Jesus, you will be able to help someone else face their temptations. Those temptations have made you more than a conqueror. You have become a stronger Christian in your prayer, thought, and physical life.

We are more than conquerors.

How?

Through Christ Jesus, who loves us.

Only with Jesus will we get through a temptation, conquer it, and become more than we were before the temptation. We are more than conquerors because of Jesus.

Lord, I have faced temptations. I have failed at times, too. I hate going through hard times. You, Lord, chose to face temptations because of Your love for me. I don’t understand why anyone would choose to do that, but You did it anyway. You loved me before You even knew me. Lord, I am undeserving of Your love. Make me more like You. Forgive me of my sins and wanting to live life my way. Help me not to shrug away battles and temptations because I am afraid, but to seek You by prayer and walk with You through them. Help me grow to be more like You, for You, Lord, are almighty. You are all-knowing. You chose to come to the world to die for my and other people’s sins because You love us. Thank you, Lord. Make me more like You. Mold me into Your image for Your purposes and glory. Amen.

Humble Expectation

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28 [NASB])

It’s Christmas morning. Children run through the house with excitement emanating from their eyes, hands, voices, and feet. They can’t sit still. They can’t stop talking. They wonder what present they will receive this year. The family sits in the Christmas room. As established by family custom, the youngest gives the presents to each person. She is so excited to see what everyone receives that she almost drops the boxes because of her jittering hands. With great anticipation and eyes alight, little sister opens her boxed present to find an envelope. Gleefully, she finds an envelope in the box. The envelope holds $10. Big sister, with great excitement, rips open her box. With expectation of what she might find, she notices an envelope, too. Her envelope crinkles and crackles as she rips it open and pulls out ten one-dollar bills. She looks up with joy and tears. Mom opens her boxed present careful not to tear the paper. Once she removes the tape on the box, she, too, finds an envelope. Yes, she has money! She counts it with surprise, gasps, and realizes she has $10. Dad, with wonder about these gifts, opens his box and finds the expected envelope. He hopes for greater things than what he has seen come from his family’s envelopes. Dad takes a deep breath of anticipation then carefully pulls the edges of the envelope flap from the back of the envelope and peeks inside. He exhales and looks down sadly. Dad, too, received $10.

So often, each of us compares our own self to another person. We try to do better than that person so we can have a greater reward-more money, bigger bonus, elevated title, bigger house, etc. These things Jesus did not teach or live out as an example for us. Jesus did not choose to live in a mansion as a king or leader. He did not choose to exist with only the washed and wealthy. Jesus did not choose His friends from among the elite in society. He did not die from old age and receive praise at His funeral service. Jesus was born to a carpenter’s family and lived in the northern kingdom of Israel. He chose not to have a house to call home. Jesus chose to be around fishermen and their odor, lepers and their decaying smell, prostitutes and their obvious sin, tax collectors and the hatred they received, the poor and their shortage, and the sick with their infirmity. He lived among the people who had no influence and called to every person hoping they would to listen to Him. Finally, though as a man who would want to die from old-age causes and receive praise for His good deeds, Jesus died a torturous death of hanging by nails on a wooden cross and suffocating.

God could have sent Jesus to live a gracious lifestyle of affluence, but He didn’t. He could have had mercy on His Son and not let Him be crushed by the hatred of His own people and their leaders, but He didn’t. God could have lifted Him above the earth physically, so Jesus didn’t have to die a crucifixion, but He didn’t. God’s plan was greater than we could think or imagine. It included love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace for all people. His reward for believers in Jesus Christ is the same for all sinners, not just the obvious ones, but also the hypocritical ones, the ones with “hidden” sins. His reward is the same for the person who had been a Christian for 60 years or for just the last breath on earth.  Jesus came for all people so that every person could have forgiveness of sin, receive salvation, and be given eternal life. Those are the rewards, the only ones with eternal value.

The mother of James and John asked Jesus for an honor for her sons (Matthew 20:20-23). She asked for them to sit on each side of Jesus when His kingdom came. Jesus explained this reward is not for Him to give. Did that mean He did not love James and John enough to give them this blessing? No, she was thinking in worldly terms. She was trying to advance her sons to CEO or COO or President, when, in God’s kingdom, no titles, bonuses, bigger houses, or higher statuses exist. God gives reward, eternal rewards.

Jesus told about a land owner who hired day workers for his vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). This land owner paid the ones who worked an eight-hour day the same as he paid the one who worked one hour. The vineyard owner is fair. He pays-rewards-the same for the same work. James and John were disciples of Jesus just as were Peter, Andrew, and countless other believers over the last almost 2000 years. God decides each person’s reward. As believers in Jesus Christ, we know the reward, just like the denarius the land owner agreed to give his day workers. The reward is forgiveness of sins, mercy, grace, love, and eternal life.

Jesus explained in Matthew 20:24-28 for what each person alive on earth should strive. He explained the Gentiles (non-believers) lord their position, title, power, and money over their constituents. It should not be this way among Jesus believers. Instead, Jesus’ followers should serve others. Instead of seeking a greater reward for being a leader among Christians or for being a Christian longer or doing more work for the Lord, these believers, all believers, should imitate Christ. He did not come to live in a mansion, rule over people, associate only with the wealthy and influencers, and wear fine clothes. He came to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, live as a common man, have no house to call home, live among the lowly, sick, unclean, and outcasts. Jesus explained in Matthew 20:26-28 what the standard is for the Christian. He said, “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Now consider this. Are we like the daughters and mother on Christmas morning? Does the anticipation meet or surpass our expectations? Do we realize our gain is better and greater than we could have imagined? They did not expect money. The girls and mother did not know what to expect, but what they received was more than what they had. They were not downcast or disappointed. Alternatively, are we like the girl’s father? Did we expect something great after a hard year of working to provide and then, upon seeing what each person received, expect something greater? That tells of a person’s estimation of him or herself in relation to others. We should not be comparing ourselves to others, but to the Author of creation and each of us.

Seek to serve and not be served.

Consider yourself less than others.

Then, when you receive a blessing, a reward, be excited!

Be elated! Be thankful!

Jesus stopped and called them (two blind men), and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him. (Matthew 20:32-34 [NASB])

Lord, forgive me. I expect things-praise, rewards, prestige-for doing things. I seek to be noticed and considered better than others. That is not why You created me. That is not the purpose You had for each of us. Forgive me for thinking better of myself than I am. Help me to seek to bring You glory, not myself. Lord, touch the eyes of my heart and make me see You and follow You. Help me to choose Your will, not mine. Help me to be humble and willing to empty myself as Jesus did for me. I am not worthy to be called Your child, but You call me that anyway. You are worthy to be called Master, Lord, and King and I often forget. Lead me in Your paths. Use me for Your will. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Heart Check

“My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.” John 7:16 [NASB]

Consider a medieval knight. If he heard his lord call his knights immediately to go to battle, would the knight have time to put on all his armor? Would he go to battle without knowing whom he would battle? Would he blindly hear and answer the call to charge? If he did any of these things, he would be ill-prepared for battle. The places of his body without the armor he left behind in his haste would be the places the enemy would attack most fiercely. The enemy who he thought he might fight wouldn’t be the one who attacked his lord that day and he would fall to their unconsidered strength. This knight is like us. Consider what Jesus told his brothers and other Jews in John 7.

Jesus’ brothers expected that Jesus would go to Jerusalem for the feast week. Why would they expect that? Because He was a Jew by birth, and because they expected He would want to be with the people to preach, teach, and heal. Jesus surprised them by saying He wouldn’t go. He said, “My time is not yet here.” (vs. 6)

We read later in John 7 Jesus went to the feast in Jerusalem. He went up secretly. Now Jesus’ intention for going to Jerusalem contrasted to what His brothers wanted in verses three and four. They said, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” Jesus’ brothers did not understand Jesus wasn’t trying to gain fame. His going to Jerusalem would be in secret because He realized the religious leaders were trying to kill Him, but He had not yet completed the task for which the Father sent Him, to preach to all the Jews about the grace and salvation God offers. Jesus didn’t go with His brothers because they wanted Him to go for the wrong reasons. He went secretly so people would listen to Him sincerely, not just gawk at the famed man who came preaching new things and healing people. Those gawking people would have come to see the famous man from Galilee, not to listen to His teaching.

Still, when the people found Jesus and listened to Him, not all accepted His teaching as truth. Some challenged Him, and these were not only the Jewish religious leaders. Verse fifteen says, “The Jews then were astonished, saying, ‘How has this man become learned, having never been educated?’” These people challenged Jesus’ teaching because a rabbi or any man of the Levitical order had not taught Him. His father, Joseph, taught Him just like any good Jewish father teaches his sons. The Jews, with their words, cast stones at Jesus, just like the Jewish religious leaders wanted to cause to happen, but with real stones.

What is interesting is what Jesus said to this statement by these Jews. In verses sixteen through eighteen, Jesus said,

My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. [NASB]

With this statement, Jesus put the Jews in their place. It was a positive, verbal slap. He said if anyone is doing God’s will, he would know what Jesus taught. That Jew would recognize what Jesus taught came from the Father. How is this a slap in the face? Since the people didn’t accept Jesus’ teaching, but challenged Him, they didn’t know God and were not doing His will. Since they didn’t know God, how could they dare to judge Jesus, the man they said was uneducated. They themselves were less learned than Jesus and had no faith in God. With that, as they say now, you could hear the mic drop.

This mic drop compels us to reflect on ourselves by considering two questions. First, do we scramble to be a Jesus follower because of His fame and the fame that we would get? Being a Jesus follower should not occur because we want fame and glory. Any glory should go to God. Jesus showed in Mark 2:12 what should happen when a person encounters the miracles and teaching of God. People should glorify God. If we scramble to be Jesus followers for the fame, we aren’t God followers, but glory stealers. Did you scramble to follow Jesus because of His fame, but not consider the cost it would require? You came answering the call ill-prepared and are not wearing the whole armor. You won’t be able to stand in battle as a follower of Jesus because what you teach and preach is not truth. Seek the Lord with your whole being, He said, and you will find Him, He will save you from your sins, self, and death, and give you eternal life.

Second, do we know God and His will or are we judging God’s servants with a lack of head and heart-knowledge? How can we judge a person for what they know when we don’t know what they declare to know? Saying this, though, we need to realize to the depths of our being, God wants us to know Him, His grace, His love, and His salvation, which He offers to every person. Instead of fearing the change Jesus brings, come to know Him through salvation by giving your heart to Him, and you will find no need to judge and no right to judge Jesus and His servants. You don’t have to be ill-prepared for the battles you will face in this world. Come to know the truths of God. Come to know the battles you will face. Be prepared by the Master and Lord who calls you to Him.

We can be the soldier who goes to fight for our Lord. When we know God in truth with our whole being and love Him that way, we are armored for the battles. We know deeply and personally Whom we follow.

Put on the whole armor. Know the Lord intimately.

By these you will stand strong and God will receive the glory.

Lord, God, I come to You admitting I have failed. Each day I try to walk in Your ways, but at some point, I sin. I know You are disappointed, but You won’t let me go. I am Yours. Lord, teach me Your ways. Make me desire to be in Your presence. Lead me in Your paths for Your name sake. Clothe me completely with Your armor and use me for whatever You will, all for Your glory. You are almighty and I am not. You are Savior and I am a sinner, but one whom You have redeemed. Thank you for Your faithful love, grace, and mercy. I love You, Lord. Amen.

Stagnant, Stingy, or Streaming

Jesus said to them, ‘My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its deeds are evil.’ (John 7:6-7 [NASB])

As you read this conversation between Jesus and His brothers, did questions arise in your mind? Was your heart pricked? Did what Jesus say to His brothers hit home for you? Let’s consider this passage and a few others. First, let’s consider a metaphor.

Have you ever been in or heard of a boat that sprung a leak? What emotion do you think the people on the boat felt? Fear? Panic? Confusion? Doubt? Security? Faith in the boat’s ability to get you to shore? If we allow waters to flow into us that are not Living Water, we will sink. If we allow things of this world, deceiving teachers and preachers, and other religions to invade our mind and take residence there, we will sink.

After Jesus told His brothers He would not go to the feast in Jerusalem because it wasn’t His time yet, He stayed in Galilee a while longer then made His way to Jerusalem in secret. When Jesus went to Jerusalem during the feast, He entered to the temple to teach. The Jews were astonished at His teaching because the Rabbis never educated Him. Jesus challenged the religious leaders on why they wanted to kill Him. The crowd thought He had a demon. Jesus challenged both these groups of people. Others in the crowd questioned among themselves why the religious leaders had not killed Jesus yet. After that, Jesus began to teach He was from God and sent by God. The religious leaders became more fervent to seize Him while some of the crowd believed in Him. This latter caused the Pharisees to send officers to capture Jesus. Jesus challenged them again when He said, “You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” His proclamation perplexed them even more.

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus told the people if anyone was thirsty to come to Him and drink. He then proclaimed, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ (John 7:38) This Living Water, John explained, was the Spirit of God who would live in everyone who believed in Jesus. The questions from above about the boat with a hole fit with this idea. Do we have Living Water flowing through us, keeping us buoyant, giving us direction, teaching and guiding us, and encouraging us? Or, do we have water flowing into us, overwhelming us, and causing us to sink? If the answer to the first question is yes, then we won’t sink, but what the Spirit, the Living Water, does in us proceeds from us to others. This Living Water is not from a stagnant, non-flowing pond or lake. It comes from a continually flowing source of water, from the throne of God, and it brings nourishment to us and to others we meet. Jesus meant this when He said “rivers of living water” will flow. Will flow is a continuous verb. It starts at a point in time when a person believes in Jesus and continues forever from God.

What are we doing with the water that arises in our lives? Are we grabbing a pail to bail it out of our boats? Or, are we allowing the Living Water, not the world’s idea of water, complete reign in our lives so when people see, listen to, or receive help from us, they recognize God and see, hear, and receive from Him? If we don’t believe in Jesus, all we have is stagnant water by which we can quench our thirst, but not grow or have eternal life. If we believe in Jesus, we will have Living Water and eternal life with Christ. Our water, the Living Water within us, will stream. That stream won’t be stingy, but vibrant and flowing.

Consider John 7:6-7 again. Jesus told His brothers who did not believe in Him as the Messiah their time was always opportune. The people of Jerusalem would not harm them because they did not hate them; they did not testify about Jesus being the Messiah. The world could not hate because they did not testify about Christ with their words, thoughts, or actions.

It is our time to go to our Jerusalem and proclaim Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Do you believe in Him? Do you have Living Water living in you? Or, do you just have ordinary water? If the latter, the world will not hate you because you are of the world and, like them, you do not have eternal life. If you answer yes to the first two questions, what is keeping you from allowing the Living Water to continue to flow through you?

Are you stagnant, stingy, or streaming?

Be a living witness of Jesus Christ as your Savior

by allowing the Living Water to flow inside and from you.

Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.   (Colossians 2:6-7 [NASB])

Lord, so many times I have failed to be a living witness to You as I go through my days. I allow my to do list to keep me from seeing You work or obeying You. I’ve allowed my plans and agendas to master me instead of allowing You to be my Master. When this happens, I become easily frustrated in the day and my emotions become my master. Lord, help me continually to be aware of You each day. Grow me from the root You planted in me so I continue to walk in You. Establish my faith in You so nothing formed against me will make me fall and fail You. Lord, build me on the foundation Christ became for me so I stand strong for You. Use me as Your instrument to share the Living Water to other people so they will come to know You and grow in their faith in You. I have failed You, Lord, but make me grow so I fail you less with each new day coming. Thank you for Your love, grace, and mercy. Without these from You, I would fall. Thank you for being Creator, Savior, and Master of all things. In Jesus name, Amen.