World visonary

 

Last night I had the opportunity to share the gospel with eight young adults who are trying to make it into the professional basketball world at some stage. There were some who had made a decision for Jesus and so I wanted to challenge them as well.

I started with John 3:16.

For God so loved the world,[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

At the end of the day I think that a disciple of Jesus wants to share God’s vision expressed here to the world.

Such commitment can only come when a disciple realizes that they have no life of their own. I am totally dependent on Jesus. My eyes are on Him until He shows me mercy.

To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us. – Psalm 123:1-2  ESV

This is another way of saying that a disciple’s dependence on God and submission to God should be no less than what an obedient servant or employee would be to their employer. It is here that my foundation for a world vision begins, making one disciple at a time and they in turn making one disciple at a time until the whole world is reached with the gospel message.

 

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“Whatever He says to you, do it”

 

Whatever He Says

 

The people who wanted to trap Daniel knew they could count on him to be consistent in his walk with God. They knew he would rather be thrown to the lions than conform to sin. When will I learn to do the same because that is what it means to be a disciple. The same message comes to the servants in the first miracle where Mary leaves her final statement – “whatever He says to you, do it.” [I shared some of this in my guest blog, 66Books. Look under Daniel 7-9; John 2; Psalm 137 or my name evanlaar 1922.]

Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.” – Daniel 6:5  ESV

These other leaders who were jealous of Daniel searched for dirt but he was found to be clean. Daniel walked as a faithful disciple in an unfaithful land. What a challenge to me to walk faithful no matter what land I live in but especially if I am in a place where there are those who seek to discredit me, where people have to go after the God I serve. I ask myself this question – if someone set out to find a complaint about me, how hard would they have to look? What would they find?

The goal is clear – eliminate Daniel’s influence, pivot from assassinating his character to attacking his relationship to God and His law. The lion’s den becomes the consequence of a choice – I have a choice and there are consequences too.

When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”

Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared[l] to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”  And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.  Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. – Daniel 6:10-18  ESV

Not the same as what his three friends went through earlier, but the tension and tempation to simply compromise and conform to the changing culture was still there. If I were Daniel I might be thinking these thoughts:

  • Exile is almost over – another ten years and I am going home – why rock the boat – fit in, stay low, it’s almost over.
  • I am in line for some heavy promotions, even Presidency, why mess such a good thing up. It will make the next ten years go by quickly and I will have more money to set myself up back home.
  • Imagine what I could do as a leader – with so many years of credibility and faithfulness I can take a break when it really matters and when I can be of most use to my people.

A friend and I were having coffee this morning and this was our thought and we backed it up with five verses quite easily:

” My faith isn’t something I deposit, it is something deposited into me by God.”

What is Daniel teaching me? To be less concerned with my personal comfort or ambition than to keep my relationship with God strong. I like the fact that he did not lead a protest or rebellion, he does not even seek to get the law changed. He simply continues to pray – regular intentional prayer. He is a disciplined disciple. Questions I have to ask myself – how easy is it for me to abstain from regular spiritual disciplines, how do I define my current pattern of prayer, bible reading, gathering with the church, serving?

My heart skips a beat right here – with all the Christians who hardly practice any of these disciplines, when they become outlawed or we are called to obstain from them by the government, are they all going to stand up and be faithful to them when it is something we have never put into practice? Faithfulness doesn’t begin when things are difficult – it is revealed during times of trial. Daniel’s model revealed that when he prayed, he was thanking God. For what – for being ready to be thrown into the lion’s den? No, for the fact that God does not change and at the same time he is asking God to engage in the situation, for Him to display His power and faithfulness to His people.

So thankful for Daniel – he makes a difference in how I see what a follower of Jesus looks like.

 

 

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The Great Commandment

 

GREATEST COMMANDMENT (HAND MOTIONS) – Seeds Family Worship

 

 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:29-31  ESV

Every dimension of who I am is listed above and is under the governance of Jesus’ love. I have to make sure that when I bring myself to be in harmony with Jesus, what I am actually doing is learning to do the things that He said. That is the very process required to bring all of my parts under His governance. Think about it, in redeeming the mind and redeeming my thoughts and emotions are a major part of this process because they are key to how I feel and then how I act. When I think of how I can stay in a self-righteous mode, I believe God is asking me to go beyond that. That is what makes the second Great Commandment important – it asks all my parts to go beyond myself.

 

 

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Cheer up

 

Panam Percy Paul – Cheer up

 

Simple as it sounds, God has the power to spiritually revive me no matter how faithless or defeated I am. In moments of feeling great defeat, even the thoughts of giving life up, God’s promises come through and He shows how bright my future is with Him. I was reading Ezekiel 37-39 and what an encouraging word that was to such a wayward people. Ezekiel himself was feeling down and look how God strengthened him with a strong word.

When I examine my heart, I ask myself, do I really want to make disciples? Do I struggle with wanting my action to be noticed by others? Both of these questions reveal how teaching can be dangerous. Peter gives me some dos and don’ts of discipleship.

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight,[a] not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;[b] not for shameful gain, but eagerly. – 1 Peter 5:2  ESV

The first quality I need to have to make a disciple is my own life needs to be a reflection and an example of what it means to follow Jesus.

Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. – 1 Peter 5:3  ESV

I think if my life ceases to be an example, I forfeit my right to instruct. It is life, not information, that is being imparted and those I disciple will only produce the measure of life that I have.

So when it comes to being an example, Satan wants to destroy that example – me. I need to be alert and dare not be unaware.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. – 1 Peter 5:8  ESV

 

 

 

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Christian humilty

 

Humility

 

Jesus is a great example of what humility looks like as He chose to humble Himself and suffer – deny His self-will and the temptations and demands from sin – instead of giving in to sin.

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh,[a] arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. – 1 Peter 4:1  ESV

Part of being humble is coming to an understanding that we can use whatever spiritual gift that God has given us to serve others.

 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace. – 1 Peter 4:10  ESV

Humility is the only way to joy in suffering and persecution.

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. – 1 Peter 4:13  ESV

It is in my humbly accepting suffering that draws me nearer to Christ but only if I am looking to Jesus as I suffer. There faith unites my suffering with Christ’s. There and then, because I see the results, I can rejoice.

I think that one of the costs of discipleship is loss of energy.

Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter 4:11 ESV

When I think I cannot do any more, I must, like an athlete, learning the invaluable dynamic of serving in another’s strength by leaning on God, walking in faith, for there I find the energy I did not think I had.

Peter also tells to not be ashamed of being a Christian.

However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. -1 Peter 4:16

It means that the word Christian did have some negative connotations back in his day. Even so, they were still proud of being called one.

As a side note – did you know the word ‘Christian’ only appears three times in the entire Bible (Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, 1 Peter 4:16)?

The word ‘disciple’, (or disciples), appears over 250 times in the New Testament.

One of the most significant facts in the New Testament is that the name “disciple”  applied to Jesus’ followers throughout the Gospels and Acts and it absolutely disappears from the New Testament from Acts to Revelation! The apostle John used the expression “disciples” some 77 times in his gospel, but never once in the three short epistles that bear his name, nor in the book of Revelation.

 

 

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