Salt-Giver

“So then any of you who does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33 [AMP])

In Luke 14:26-33, Luke wrote of Jesus speaking to the crowd who followed Him. Jesus spoke about what a person must do to be His disciple. The things Jesus said a disciple must do sound harsh-hate your mother, father, wife, husband, children, and yourself (vs. 26-27). When one looks at the original text, the intention is that you love Jesus more than these. Put your relationship and devotion to these people in your life lower than your devoted love to Jesus. Jesus said His followers must persevere, carry his or her own cross, and follow Him. He spoke to the heart of people in this part of His teaching.

These sound like difficult, negative things. How can Jesus speak about hating people when He loved humanity enough to die for it?

In verses twenty-eight through twenty-nine, Jesus said a follower who doesn’t count the cost of following Him is like a man who began to build a farm building but ran out of funds. He said people would mock and ridicule this man for not counting his cost well enough to see if he had the funds to pay for the building (Luke 14:29-30). Jesus spoke to the pride, the emotions, of a person in this part of His teaching.

This, too, sounds difficult. No one wants people to ridicule or laugh at them. So many people considered Jesus to be a cult leader and when He died, the people would point fingers at His followers and laugh at them for being gullible. How could Jesus stand up to this ridicule Himself as He faced religious leaders and others wherever He went?

In Luke 14:31-33, Jesus used the idea of one king confronting another in battle. He said His followers need to count the cost by preparing and understanding they and their personal resources are less than God’s. One king realized he had half the soldiers the other king did. When this realization came upon him, he sent an envoy to seek the terms of peace. A person’s resources end at death. God’s resources continue throughout eternity. If a person begins to follow Jesus but not with his or her whole being, then he or she wasn’t a true believer at all. That person’s resources will end; whereas, if the person was a true believer, he or she would have had access to the greater King’s resources and would have gained righteousness and eternal life. Jesus spoke to the mind and spirit of a person with this part of His teaching.

A follower of Jesus is not just one who physically follows today and tomorrow, but next week has another leader or another plan. A follower of Jesus is one who counts the cost, the cost of loving Jesus more than anyone or anything one has whether family, self (heart, soul, mind, and body), or possessions. Jesus compared the fickle follower to unsalty salt. Salt keeps its flavor when undiluted. Comparatively, followers of Jesus continue to follow Him when they do not seek to add other things to their lives and so dilute the teachings of Jesus and their devotion to Him. Jesus said to these people, “Salt is good, but if salt has become tasteless (bland and flat), with what will it be seasoned?” (vs. 34 [AMP]) If salt has lost its strength and become flat, how will its saltness be restored?

Being a follower of Jesus requires a commitment of heart, soul, mind, and strength. It’s not just a physical (bodily) following of Him by going to church on Christmas and Easter, or for those who are more “religious”, every Sunday morning. It’s a daily devoted following of Jesus by going to your quiet place, giving your heart to God each day, humbling yourself by recognizing your feebleness and sinfulness, supplicating for forgiveness, and recognizing who God is, His greatness. It is a moment-by-moment seeking God’s will and plan for each event that happens in your days and years. This is loving God with your whole being-heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).

Jesus taught in the Sermon on the mount, “First and most importantly seek, aim for, and strive after His [God’s] kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right], and all these things will be given to you also.” (Matthew 6:33 [AMP]) When we seek His kingdom and His righteousness, we seek God and His attitude and character. We are enabled to love Jesus more than our family members. We’ve counted the cost and know we are unable to finish the task, but the Master has all the resources we need to finish the building. We recognize our finiteness in time, power, and strength and recognize God’s omnipotence (power). With God’s strength, we can do anything. We can continue walking in the ways of Jesus. We continue to think of honorable and right things. We have pride in Jesus and not ourselves-who we are and what we can do. We recognize the greatness of the salvation Jesus gave us and don’t take it for granted. Jesus paid the ultimate price-His life.

With this understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, devotedly loving Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength more than ourselves, our family and friends, and our things, we can persevere resolutely, carry our cross determinedly, and follow Jesus persistently. With this mindset, we can join Joshua and say as he did in Joshua 24:15,

“If it is unacceptable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live, but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” [italics added for emphasis, AMP]

Lord, I find myself wanting to falter in following You. I come to a point to make a decision and I want to take the easy way. Often that means not following You. Please forgive me for my laziness and disobedience. Forgive me of making myself my own god. After each time I choose my own way, I realize my sinfulness and insufficiency then I remember Your righteousness and greatness. Lord, I do not deserve Your love and forgiveness and I am humbled each time You give these to me. You are so much greater than I could ever think or imagine myself to be. You are almighty and awesome, and I am feeble and disappointing. Thank you for Your forgiveness. Thank you for your devoted love. Thank you for continuing to call me to follow You and for your strength and resources to do that. I renew my commitment to follow You with the strength of Your power. I commit to take up my cross, forsaking all I have and all I love, to follow You. Amen.

David, God's Man to Rule: 2 Samuel 8

2 Samuel 8

King David was called a man after God's heart by God. He was a regular man. He sinned against God as we all do. He sought the Lord as many of us do. He repented. He followed. He gave God the glory and praise. He waited on God. Most of the time.

In 1 Samuel 8 we read of David expanding his borders. His kingdom grew much in this chapter. Why was the favor of the Lord on him so evidently in this chapter? Here are a few possibilities:
1. He sought and followed God.
2. He dedicated the winnings to the Lord.
3. He did not totally annihilate his enemies, but left a remnant so they could see and hear about Yahweh God and choose to follow Him.
4. He had vision. He sought what God wanted to give him.
5. He was just and righteous.
6. He gave praise and glory to God.

Do you want to be considered one of the saints of the Lord like the roll call of saints in Hebrews 11? We need to each look to our hearts and lives and see if we are doing the things David did in this chapter (minus the annihilation of enemies because we have the victory now that the Messiah has come).

Are you seeking and following God? Are you looking for His vision for your life? Are you dedicating the things in your life to God for His purposes? Are you praising and giving God all the glory? Are you just and right with God and man?

We must each come to God asking these questions and seeking to be made right before Him. Then we can know we are growing and seeking to have a heart for God, too.

God Uses the Lowliest

John 6, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

There are times in our lives where, after having walked with the Lord for a while, we still must strive to exhibit His nature within us. We thought we had gone beyond that, but we find that there is still a struggle within us that we must bury if we are to be true followers of Christ. Many of the followers of Jesus came to this point, like in John 6 for example. Some turned away after walking with Him for a while and Jesus asked Peter if he, too, would turn away. Peter’s reply showed that he had already given more to Christ than he had kept for himself of his old life. He answered, “To whom shall we go” (John 6:68)? Each of us will come to this point several times in our walk with Jesus. We think we have died to ourselves so that we can live totally in Christ but then find we are tempted to do something the old way because it seems there is nothing wrong with that way. What is wrong with that way, it turns out, is that it is not God’s way. Paul reminds the people he is teaching that God does not use the wisdom, might, power, or learning of humankind to lead all of God’s created people. God uses the foolish things, the unlearned, and the weak to show His own way, to show He is powerful enough and wise enough to “best” the leaders of the day when they argue their stance. Even the foolish and weak in the world can be used by God to be greater than the wise and strong, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. When we come up to the point where the method used in the natural world would work as well as God’s method has in the past, that is where we must stop, check our own desire to leap headlong into the task, and ask God how He wants us to walk, work, and love. Nothing can be about ourselves, but God can use our weakness to show His strength, to confound the wise, learned, strong, and noble of the world. We have a choice, the best way, God’s way, or a good way, the common way.

To the Glory of God

Matthew 6 and 8 

As I read and studied these chapters, I noted Christ was making a point through all of the encounters and actions of the people, as He usually did. Jesus’ point was that everything they and we do should be done as to the Lord. Often times we are so caught up in doing we forget for whom we are doing it. We are so caught up in living life we forget who gave us this life to live. These need to be melded to a point where we realize from where we came and by whom we receive provision so we give back in actions and tangible gifts to others because God gave to us. We give glory to God in this way.

Consider Matthew 6. Each of the stories he shared talks about a part of life. The first part is giving to the poor. Jesus told them not to give to the poor so they can be seen, but give to the poor as if they were giving to God and to give in secret because God knows who is giving it to Him. What is important is their attitude, not their actions. Jesus said if they are doing their actions just to get approval from people, then they have their reward on earth to the detriment of their reward in heaven, a relationship with God. 

Jesus went further and said not to pray in a way to receive praise from people. They were praying on busy street corners loudly and elaborately. Jesus said they should be praying to continue in their relationship with God. If they were praying to be with God, they should go to a room or place by themselves and be with Him. 

Matthew continued by saying when they fast they should do so in a way that did not draw attention to them. Religious fasting was between God and them. Fasting is not a matter among men, so they did not have to be seen by men. 

Additionally, Matthew spoke of storing up produce, products, and money for a rainy day or the future, to ensure we do not have to worry about from where we will get our clothes, food, drink, and shelter. Matthew said this was unnecessary since our Creator, God, is the same God who created the birds. The birds do not worry about food, shelter, or clothing. Since God takes care of them, we can trust He will take care of us. Jesus said not to worry about our life. Anxiety does not make the worrisome part go away, trusting in God does. God, who loves us, will take care to give what we need. 

What we are to be doing is work for God, not to be seen by men, and to be in a relationship with Him, not in the public eye. It does not matter how much we show how “religious” we are, what matters is how close we are to the heart of God. If the latter is true, the above four things will occur because God’s heart through His Holy Spirit’s indwelling will show through us and our lives.

Matthew continued this similar idea in chapter 8 except he contrasted the faith of different people. In the first encounter, a leper spoke to Jesus saying if Jesus will, He can heal him (the leper). Jesus said He was willing and touched and healed him. This man had the faith to be healed. His statement as he confronted Jesus showed it as well as his willingness to go to the priests to be declared ritually clean. He did not need, for his benefit, to go to the priests to recognize he was healed, but for society and culture. They needed to hear by the priests and leaders of his healing. 

The second encounter was with a centurion, a Roman soldier. This centurion had been informed about Jesus and His healing powers and trusted the reports enough to ask Jesus to heal His servant. When Jesus listened to the story, He said He would go the centurion’s home. The centurion’s faith was strong and he felt humbled to be in Jesus’ presence. The centurion said Jesus did not need to go to his home, but just say the word and his servant would be healed. Jesus stated he had not encountered so great a faith and told the centurion to go on his way; what he had asked for had been done, as he trusted. 

After this, Jesus and his disciples went to Peter’s home where Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. When they finished dinner, many sick and demon possessed people were brought to Him. He healed many and drove out many demons. Jesus cares about our temporal physical needs and our spiritual needs.  

The last section begins with this next story. Jesus, being crushed by the multitude of people, asked the disciples to get into a boat with Him and row to the other side. Before they were able to get in the boats, though, a scribe came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go” (8:19). Jesus  was aware the scribes were renowned for their knowledge of Scripture and their teaching. These men were often a part of the Sanhedrin, the supreme religious body of the nation of Israel. They were leaders used to leading and, most likely, wealthier than other Jews. Jesus confronted this man’s speedy avowal of discipleship by declaring even He, the Son of Man, did not have a place to lay His head or call His home (vs. 20). As we understand, God takes care of clothing, feeding, and sheltering His own. We do not read of this scribe joining Jesus and the other disciples. It is easy to be caught up in the emotions of the moment and say we are going to follow Jesus, but then not followthrough on our commitment. Jesus was confronting this man at his own level, what he considers necessary for life. 

After this, another disciple came and told Jesus to let him go bury his father first. Jesus told him to “let the dead, the non-believers, bury the dead. You must follow Me.” (Matthew 8:22, NASB). We do not see the man following Jesus after this. To make a lifelong commitment to follow Jesus requires letting others take care of tasks at home and letting the ministry to which God has called you and your relationship with Him be preeminent in your life. Jesus recognized this man was unable to do this that is why He confronted him on this point. 

While Jesus and the disciples were at sea, a great storm blew up and began to swamp the boat. The disciples grew very afraid. When they awoke Jesus they told Him they were perishing at sea. Jesus chastised their little faith, then calmed the storm and the sea. The disciples, just that day, had seen a great faith in the Roman centurion and had seen Jesus heal the sick and banish demons from people. When the disciples confronted Jesus in fear, Jesus remarked and reminded them again about the faith of the centurion. He now saw small faith in His Jewish disciples, who should have known Him better. Here they showed just how much they believed Jesus by saying, “What manner of man is this?” (Matthew 8:27, NASB). The centurion came with enough faith to trust without seeing; whereas, the disciples had to see, yet again, to believe. Jesus has shown this day that He is master over natural elements, spiritual realms, and physical beings. He is almighty God. In the end, Jesus and the disciples reached the other side of the sea and stood on land.

Two people possessed with demons confronted them and proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God without instigation. Even the demons acknowledged who Jesus was then, yet the disciples had trouble believing in the midst of a storm and with Jesus beside them. Jesus healed these people and cast the demons into the swine nearby which ran into the sea. 

What does this tell us? I tells us, as priority number one, we must have a growing, continual relationship with God. Once we are acquainted with the triune God without doubt and anxiety, we understand God will always take care of our needs. What we imagine we need and what God knows we need may be two different things. He knows He is going to call us to move to another country to minister there. We do not know exactly how He is going to use us. It could be we have allowed the secular influence to create unnecessary desires in us for the latest technology, food, alcohol, or smoking. None of these is necessary for life. As we read in the previous two chapters of Matthew, God fills our physical, psychical, and spiritual needs. He provides for us and defends us. We can choose to be like the scribe and be unwilling to live without specific things or we can be as the centurion who was familiar with Jesus based on stories. The centurion came to Him willing to believe even without seeing Him do the healing. 

From Chapter 6 and chapter 8 we read that giving to the poor, healing the sick or demon-possessed, and praying are not bad, but the attitude in which they are done is what determines if they are worthy as gifts of sacrifice and praise to God. Did we do each of these to honor God or ourselves? Obviously, the second is the wrong reason. In all we do, we should work so God receives the praise and glory. The only way in which we can make each of the things we do bring praise and glory to God is by offering our actions and attitudes to God as we act upon the love He has put in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The question we ultimately must ask is: To whom did the praise go for this action? I hope you are staying in a continual relationship with God so that your actions, thoughts, and attitudes come from your interactions and love relationship with God.