Take Courage

As the book of Acts continues to unfold, Paul and the testimony he shares continues to place him repeatedly in harm's way. Time after time Paul is beaten, stoned, pursued, plotted against and in great peril. Amazingly he never waivers. He forges on without ever taking his eye off his mission. Paul accomplishes this by continually leaning into and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. He writes time and time again about praying without ceasing, giving joy in all circumstances. That intense focus and joy can only come from reliance on something greater than himself.

Tucked away in Acts 23:11, the Lord appears to Paul and says "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome." To the cynic, the words might have sounded more along these lines. Your persecution is going to go indefinitely... To Paul, it's validation the God is not yet through with him and from that, he draws strength and the will to go on. Paul never waivers.

The Lord may never appear to us the way he appeared to Paul. We have something Paul didn't, we have the full counsel of God found in the bible. God appears to us in ways he never appeared to Paul. We have God's entire plan at our disposal. Just as the Lord told Paul to take courage, he tells us the same through scriptures.

In the same way that God confirmed upon Paul he had more to accomplish, we too have that confirmation. God is never done with us, His plans for us go even beyond this life. Each opportunity God gives us, every time we yield to the leading and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives we are being prepared for future service to God. He created us, we are His to use, if we allow Him to use us.

God used Paul's trials, tribulations, and suffering to prepare Paul to bring God even greater glory. To this day God uses the same methods to prepare us for greater service to Him. As the Lord said to Paul, "Take courage!"

Steady Hands

Exodus has a passage I think about often lately. The Amalekites come and attack the Israelites. Moses sends Joshua and some men to go fight the enemy. He tells Joshua he will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in his hands. So Joshua goes to fight as he was ordered. Moses along with Aaron and Hur go to the top of the hill. When Moses holds his hands up the Israelites prevail, when his arms get tired and he lowers them, the tide of battle turns. Now Aaron and Hur realize Moses is getting tired. They go and get a stone for him to sit on. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up. One on one side, one on the other side-so that his hands remained steady until sunset. So Joshua defeated the Amalekite army with the sword.

Several observations can be made. First, even under the power and direction of God, we will be attacked. Second the leader isn't the one in the hand to hand combat, but they are the one to come up with the plan of action. Thirdly, the people fighting the battle and the leader all have to make contributions. Fourth, even leaders need help. Aaron and Hur supported Moses so that Israel could win the battle.

I think of this passage and wonder who's arms am I holding up? Who needs me to support them and help sustain them so they are able to accomplish the grand vision God has for them. Notice Joshua's success is made possible because Moses is supported. Without Aaron and Hur, the battle is lost. Who's Aaron am I?

I want my life to have an impact on others, I want to change peoples eternities. Aaron and Hur don't receive the glory from winning the fight on the battle field. They aren't heralded as the brilliant strategist and leader of Israel. Yet through supporting Moses, they change eternities, in the unsung annals of history, they are history makers. Sometimes we lead, sometimes we fight, other times we support. If today I am Moses, let me lead. If I am Joshua, let me fight. If I am Aaron, let me steady another's hands.

Two Reactions

Luke tells the story of Zaccheus,a small man, who climbs a tree to see Jesus. Jesus calls him down from the tree and says "tonight I will eat at your house."

Luke 19:7
All of the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner'."

Zaccheus is a hated man, he is a Jew by birth, but is now in league with the occupying Romans. He is a hated tax collector and a traitor, a collaborator with the enemy, not a real popular guy.

Our individual world's are filled with immoral, untouchable, and unworthy people. At least the way we see them. We decide in our minds what is good and pleasing to God. We also decide who is good and pleasing to God. We decide who God can and cannot use. We read in the following verses, after that encounter with Jesus, Zaccheus changes. He immediately gives half of all he has to the poor, he's willing to pay back anyone he cheated four times the amount. I'm not sure about how much money Zaccheus started with, I know he ends up with a lot less.

After an encounter with Jesus, Zaccheus walked away a changed man, he reacted to the truth.

Later in the same chapter we read of Jesus going into the temple where he witnesses the "rulers" of the temple, the ones who are supposed to get it, the churched people, cheating and stealing from those coming to worship God. The very people that should be setting the example are just like Zaccheus, they not only steal money they also steal hope.

In theory, these are the people closest to God, they of all people should know how to act. They do react to Jesus, quite differently from the previous example of Zaccheus. They plot to kill Jesus.

God decides who he will use. He uses immoral and untouchable people to change the world. Meanwhile the pious go through life unchanged and unrepentant.

Jesus came to be the guest of sinners, that means all of us. May we change as Zaccheus did.

Cost

There is a cost in following Jesus. There is a cost when Jesus goes from being an abstract concept or a symbol represented by a cross, to the ruler of our hearts. The price of putting Jesus on the walls or our homes or the bumpers of our cars is far different the the cost of submission to Jesus.

Submission cost everything. Our time, talents, money, other resources, make up the price we pay to submit to Christ. Everything we have is required of us to be a disciple. The security and comfort we may have, or think we may have in our wealth, also needs to surrendered. We avail all of these things to the work and the yielding of the Holy Spirit. We release our resources, and in doing so we are free from the chains we have placed on ourselves.

Submitting and surrendering everything allows us to witness miracles first hand. A warm blanket, a hot meal, clean water, a roof for some who don't have their own. Our resources become something far greater than we could every imagined.

Becoming a disciple has a cost. Everything, time, money, talent, are all paid to follow Christ. Our resources, in the hands of the architect of the universe, build His kingdom.

Sinner or not

In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man which served to infuriate the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day. Jn 9:25, the healed man is speaking, He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know, one thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.

Jesus is known throughout the world. He lived 2000 years ago and has world renown. Some call him savior, some teacher, some lunatic. What we call Jesus doesn't matter. What we think of him doesn't change who he is. Our human words can't label him, quantify him, or contain him.

The blind see. We can attempt to convince ourselves and the world that Jesus isn't who he claims to be, some devote their lives to it. The simple truth remains, the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead live. Jesus is God.

Jn 9:34 tells us that when presented not only with the facts, but also with the evidence, the Pharisees threw the former blind man out. Isolating ourselves from facts and evidence makes us blind. Who would choose blindness over sight? Sadly many do.

If you were once blind, but now can see, tell it, tell it to the world.

God's Economy

God ask us to trust Him, to step out in faith and rely on Him and not ourselves. That is really what should be at the core of all we do trust in Him alone. God is constantly at work in and around our lives, when we trust Him he reveals Himself to us in many different ways.

Re-thinking Christmas. It’s the series we are in right now and a topic of discussion in my home. The idea is to purchase a few less gifts and take the money saved, and donate it. We have placed our re-thinking envelope on the center of our tree, you can’t look at the tree without seeing it. It’s front and center on our tree and in our minds. We’ve been thinking about it, praying about it and talking about it for a few weeks. We’re trusting God on this one.

We have decided in addition to supporting the clean water, church plant, and the bread of life mission, that RiverGlen is backing, we are also going to give financially to a missionary this Christmas. Yesterday morning Kelly and I decided how much we would give. Three hours after making that decision I received very unexpectedly, and much to my surprise, an amount of money that will not only cover the amount we committed to, but will also leave a little left over.

Some will say it’s a coincidence. They can say that. I say, I serve a God that tells me to take him at his word. John 10:10 says I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. God provided more than we decided to give, he gave to us abundantly, we were blessed for our obedience.

I'm thinking I need to do some more re-thinking.

Connect

I hope you were in church this weekend to hear Ben speak on the importance of being connected in a small group or class with others. This truth resonates in our souls, we are created to exist in community with others. We instinctively crave connections with others. Without community we suffer physically, mentally, and spiritually. Over the weekend I read The Prodigal God, by Timothy Keller. In it he writes:

Christians commonly say they want a relationship with Jesus; they want to “get to know Jesus better.” You will never be able to do that by yourself. You must be deeply involved in the church, in Christian community, with strong relationships of love and accountability. Only if you are a part of a community of believers seeking to resemble, serve, and love Jesus will you ever get to know him and grow into his likeness.

I think this is an excellent summary of what we know to be true. As group leaders you are making it possible for others to get to know Jesus and to grow in his likeness.

I had two interesting conversations this weekend with “mature” Christians. Two men, both who love and serve the Lord, and neither one of them are currently plugged into a group. What surprised me is that I assumed they were both in groups, they have been in the past and know that’s where growth and real life transformation takes place. The lesson for me was simple. Be proactive, ask and invite, encourage everyone to be in a group, especially the ones we think already are.

Thanks for your time and effort to make this semester’s Group Life launch successful.