December 2020

December 3, 2020

Midweek thoughts from Don

Strange Instructions

Jesus did not operate like most people did.  In the book of Mark (chapter 6) we read that Jesus

sent out the 12 Apostles.  The journey Jesus sent them on was more than busy work.  It would teach

them more than any internship.  Jesus was sending out the Twelve so they could imitate him.  Jesus

had been going from Village to Village teaching the message of God.  This is what the disciples would

be doing.  As Jesus taught and performed miracles, so would his closest students.

        As they made preparations and pulled out suitcases—Jesus said “Stop!”  Jesus told the 12 that

they were to take nothing with them, except walking staffs.  They were not to take any money.  They

could not bring extra clothes.  They were not even to bring extra food!  As Jesus’ disciples went two

by two to various towns, the only thing they were to take with them were the words and ideas of

Jesus.  Why did Jesus forbid them to pack bags for the trip?  The answer is obvious.  Jesus’ students

were to go forth and promote God’s agenda.

        They were not allowed to be concerned with their personal agendas.  There would be no time or

place to be concerned about the temporary, physical things of life.  If the disciples brought money

they would worry when they got low on funds.  No food!  No Clothes!  The Disciples had the simple

command to proclaim God’s message.

        As you live today, what is it that weighs you down?  What thoughts and concerns plague you? 

What worry do you feel distracted by?  Remember that day when you were fired up for God? 

Remember when you were passionate for the cause of Jesus?  What is it that drains your

enthusiasm?  What is it that has taken your focus off of God?  Perhaps you need to heed the words

of Jesus.  Perhaps you need to lose everything this world has to offer in order to realize how blessed

you are.

        With this in mind, maybe the words of Jesus are not so strange.  When we find the true, eternal

treasure of God, we are more willing to let go of the temporary things we find in this world.  Jesus

speaks of the extreme difficulty rich people have getting to Heaven.  Jesus was not saying that

money was evil.  It is the love of money that leads people astray.  When our hands are full of the

cheap trinkets that this World calls “treasure”, we cannot hold to that which is truly treasure.

        Where is your life headed?   What is your passion?  What is your goal in life?  You have two

choices.  You can listen to the enticing sales-pitch of this world (and die as a result) or you can follow

the instructions of Jesus, instructions that this world calls “strange.”  The choice is up to you.  Keep

looking up!

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December 10, 2020

Where Is The Power?

Mark 5 speaks about a man seeking Jesus in order to heal his dying daughter. The details

regarding this man are very interesting. The man who kneeled before Jesus and begged for his

daughter’s life was a rich man who ran the local synagogue. He belonged to the Jewish group who

made Jesus’s life so difficult. Many people find it quite ironic that such a man would humble himself

enough to go and ask Jesus for help. This man’s name was Jairus.

In the middle of the story about Jesus helping Jairus is a story of a woman seeking Jesus as

well. While Jairus publically and boldly sought Jesus’s help, this woman did so secretly. She had

some sort of bleeding disorder that went on for many years. She had exhausted all avenues for help

and all of her money as well. As a last resort she thought that touching Jesus might help her. She

had heard of the many miracles Jesus did; perhaps some people speculated that “touching” Jesus

would have powerful, supernatural, and healing results. Whatever reason this woman had, she dared

to push her way through the crowd. She crept up behind Jesus and touched him. Wonder of

wonders, she was healed the instant she touched Jesus.

Jesus stopped when he realized that someone had touched him. He called out, “Who touched

me?” When Jesus’s disciples heard this question, they were puzzled. A huge crowd closely followed

them and many people were inadvertently touching Jesus. When the healed woman knew she had

been found out, she revealed herself to Jesus. After the woman’s honest confession that she sought

Jesus out and touched him in hopes of being healed, Jesus congratulated her. Jesus said, “Your

faith has healed you.”

Today there are many false teachers and charlatans that teach we can get whatever we want if

we have faith in God. They promote a “name it and claim it” theology. In sad reflection, they make

God some “cosmic vending machine.” Many people have fallen victim to the notion that if they “pray

a prayer” God is obligated to give them whatever they want. It is easy to embrace this shallow, self-

serving philosophy. After all, who among us does not have one need or another? Who would not like

to have some “Heavenly Santa Claus” give us all the things we put on our wish list.

On reflection, however, this foolish twisting of Scripture fails in several ways. Logically, we all

understand that one cannot have everything one wishes for. Which parent among us would give our

children everything they wished for? We all know that it would not be wise, helpful, or proper to

indulge our children’s every fantasy or wish. A careful understanding of what Jesus was saying to

the woman reveals that Jesus was commending the healed woman for seeking him out. This woman

did not “take” healing power from Jesus without his knowledge. The Bible teaches that since Jesus

was God, he knew the thoughts and intentions of people’s hearts. Jesus obviously knew this woman

was pushing through the crowd to get to him. Jesus used this situation to teach a valuable

lesson. Seeking God’s help is the best thing one can ever do. Whether it is very public like Jairus or

privately like this woman, we all need to humble ourselves before Jesus and seek his mercy.

Perhaps the great tragedy of life is how many people do not want God’s help? God has very

clearly offered his help, forgiveness, and grace to everyone. The immensity of God’s love for all

people is seen in the person of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “While we were yet sinners, God sent

Jesus to die for us.” God has sought out all humanity; God has made the first move. What will we

do? The power to change each person’s life is not found in us, it is found in God. God is where the

power is found, let us reach out and accept his help. Keep looking up!

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December 17, 2020

Messengers Beware

Over the last several months we have spent time considering the words and deeds of Jesus as

recorded in the Gospels. We have seen people healed, raised from the dead, and challenged by

Jesus. In John 6 we read about Jesus having difficulties with the crowd from his home town. Word

had spread all over the countryside of Israel about Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth. As rumors,

stories, and tales worked their way back to Nazareth, the towns-people were puzzled. They had seen

Jesus grow up. They knew him as the “carpenter’s son,” not the long-awaited Messiah. When Jesus

returned to town, those who had known him for many years treated him with contempt. Why would

these people treat the “local hero” who had found success with such disrespect?

There are as many potential reasons why people were outraged with Jesus as there were

individual people. A quick reading of the Gospels shows that one issue stands out above all others,

and ironically, it is an issue that mankind struggles with today. What was the big deal? Jesus was

passionate about God’s glory. What I mean by that is that Jesus insisted that God be the main thing

of life. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He said: my food, my bread, my

strength is to do the will of the Father. When peddlers turned the Temple into a place of commerce

(rather than a place of prayer and worship), Jesus ran them off. It is ironic that Jesus spoke words of

mercy and kindness to people caught in terrible sin, yet was bombastic with those who attempted to

minimize God’s honor, glory, and majesty. Jesus was deadly serious about God being worshipped,

adored, and given honor. Jesus demanded that those who attempted to know God and find mercy

with God must make God the main thing in their lives.

Why is keeping the main thing the main thing so difficult? It is a two-fold problem. First, we

are inherently selfish. There is an old saying that goes: “To thine own self be true.” If we were

honest, we would admit that we are quite adept at seeking our own self interests. We are drawn to

any and all ideas or activities where we please ourselves. It is extremely difficult to put others first,

even when that other person is God. We do not easily bow the knee to God. We do not instinctively

say, O Lord, your will be done, not mine. When we do not place God first in our life, when we disobey

God, we sin. While we sometimes are surprised when our selfishness and waywardness is exposed,

God is not surprised. As a matter of fact, from the very beginning, even before God created the first

man and women, He knew they would sin and place themselves first. God created a plan to redeem

and save mankind that dates back to the very beginning. This plan involved Jesus paying the price

for our selfish sinfulness. It was Jesus’s involvement in the plan and proclamation of this plan that got

him in trouble with his hometown acquaintances.

Our second problem is that Satan knows we have problem #1. Satan knows we are

selfish. Satan whispers seductive lies to us every day. He whispers that we deserve to be

served. He reminds us that we want power. At Satan’s promptings, we do not fight the suggestion

that one little sin is okay (by the way, there is no such thing as “one little sin”). The lies of Satan fall

like drops of water on our resolve to honor God. Drip, drip, drip and we are serving ourselves instead

of serving God. Drip, drip, drip and our resolve to do whatever is right and noble is worn away.

As Jesus called people to a deeper walk with God, they chafed at the challenge. As Jesus

lived his life and demonstrated the perfect example of humility and service to God, people abandoned

him and turned away. Where do you stand? Is there some sin that you hide? Is there an area of

your life that you tell God, “Back off, this is mine”? How sad it must have been for people to have

seen Jesus and then reject him. How sad it is that people make the same mistake today. Keep the

main thing the main thing and keep looking up!

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December 23, 2020

What’s the Big Deal with People?

There is a motto or slogan that most have heard: “WWJD” or “What Would Jesus Do?” It is a

good motto. We certainly could do worse than trying to have this saying shape our decision

making. Having said that, I’m cynical that many people really know how to accurately incorporate the

“WWJD” slogan into their lives. First of all, most people know very little about Jesus. For many non-

Christians, Jesus is simply part of a phrase where they express surprise or profanity. For many so-

called Christians, Jesus is the center of the “Santa season.” They invoke his name for good

luck. Secondly, not only is there a great deal of ignorance about Jesus, but there is very little urgency

to find out more about Him - Here I am speaking to Christians particularly. The fact that non-

Christians do not know much about Jesus should not surprise anyone. Why should they be

interested in Him? Consider it this way, do you know how many days it takes for the planet Saturn to

circle the Sun? Unless you are a NASA scientist attempting to send a probe to Saturn, why would

most people want or need to know? Do you know how many days it takes the Earth to orbit the

sun? Of course you do. We live on the Earth. Therefore we have a personal interest in such a

fact. While I can understand why a non-Christian might be ill informed about Jesus, it astounds me

that most Christians remain relatively ignorant about Jesus as well. There are some passionate

Jesus followers who have paid a price to know him, but surveys and experience tells us that the

average Christian is happily ignorant about the one they claim as their Savior.

You might be taking some offense with my last paragraph. Maybe you are a little miffed that

I’m assuming you are under-educated regarding Jesus. Go ahead, start reciting some facts about

Him. It might be good to name Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus or to identify Joseph and Mary

as the earthly parents of Jesus. Show your scholarly chops and whisper that James and Jude were

the earthly brothers of Jesus. You might be able to score high on a Bible Trivia quiz, but the question

still remains, do you know Jesus?

A good indicator about whether we truly “know” Jesus relates to our dealing with

people. Perhaps you are wondering how a person’s love or dedication to God translates to people. It

is simple: God tells us that we cannot love him (whom we have not seen) when we do not love people

(whom we have seen). Having a life-changing love for God will affect how we look at and relate to

others. So, how do we treat people? What value do we place on them? Do we see people as Jesus

saw them? Some might argue, “Aha, I can tell you that I love everyone.” Do you? Are you serving

people? Are you helping people in ways that God has commanded us? A casual reading of Jesus’

life in the Gospels reveals that He was not loved by everyone. Jesus had conflict with many. Jesus

called many to repent. While many know that Jesus came to “seek and to save the lost,” they often

do not understand what that means. Jesus did not come to save the “lost puppies” of the world in

order to let them run wild.

Over the next number of weeks we will examine the life of Jesus and look at the people Jesus

met. What trouble were these people in? What were their needs? What did Jesus say to

them? How did Jesus help them? What life did Jesus call them to? What did Jesus warn them to

avoid? I look forward to walking with Jesus with you. Keep looking up!

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December 31, 2020

Challenges or Opportunities?

Last week I began a series that will focus on those who walked with Jesus. We will be examining

lives that Jesus touched, and today we look at a life that Jesus touched at the very end of his life —

Simon of Cyrene. After Jesus had been condemned to die and was carrying his cross to the

appointed execution area, he stumbled. Because of the horrific punishment he had absorbed, Jesus

struggled to complete his death march, and Simon of Cyrene enters the picture in Mark 15 as an

innocent bystander.

History is silent regarding Simon other than that he helped carry the cross for Jesus. Did he

argue with the soldiers? Did he beg them to find someone else? Did he try to run away? The Bible

offers no clues regarding Simon, but I wonder if he mumbled and grumbled as the beam was placed

on his shoulders. I wonder if he stared at Jesus and inwardly asked, “Why is this man condemned to

die?” I wonder if he felt compassion for the man who was bloody, bruised, and bludgeoned.

Whatever his reaction, it is safe to say that Simon probably felt he was in the wrong place at the

wrong time. There’s no way he could have known how far he would have to carry the cross and the

events that would soon take place. Let me ask a question: How similar are our life events to Simon’s

situation? Ponder this: we too are surprised in life by situations that hijack and disrupt our best

intentions. We also bear and carry loads that we never anticipated. Life is full of twists and turns as

our story unfolds.

Jesus was crucified on that fateful Friday in order to bring hope and salvation to a world that was

crushed under unbearable burdens. As we navigate life we have more than burdens and obstacles in

our path. We have the curse of sin eating away at us like a terminal disease. Without Jesus and his

atoning sacrifice, we are all “dead-men walking.” The beauty of the Christmas story is that God (our

creator) came to take the fall for us. How ironic is it that Simon the Cyrene helped Jesus carry a

cross that would be the instrument God used to save him?

I’m fairly certain that Simon walked away from the cross at Calvary unaware of what he did that

day. But don’t we know that sentiment as well? We walk through seasons of life and often question

the burdens we have to carry. Let us remember that there is an eternal narrative that is being

written. While we face challenges, difficulties and hardship, God calls us to faithfulness and

obedience. God is in control and he gives us strength in everything we face. I am reminded of what

God says in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm

you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Keep looking up!