It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

In the Life Journal reading schedule we have finished up the Old Testament for this year. (We'll start again into Genesis on January 1st!) With the exception of a couple of Psalms, we will read through a bulk of the New Testament in these last 40 Days. I love it when we turn this corner!

If you haven't been having devotions, now would be a great time to begin. Today, for instance, we're reading the whole 'Sermon on the Mount' (Matthew 5-7). Wonderful...

"... but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven."

Matthew 5:19

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mind and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock."

Matthew 7:24

Practice makes perfect... practice makes the disciple! Just hearing the words of Jesus is not enough and certainly teaching His commands without practicing them is not a good idea! We must practice before we preach.

Hear/Practice/Preach
Learn/Obey/Teach

Lord, I want to be best known, not as a good preacher, but as a faithful disciple. Lead me on as I follow You.

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Others First

Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

1 Corinthians 8:9-13

“Knowledge puffs up but love builds up,” Paul wrote in verse 1. He is concerned for people, as we all should be. There is understanding that Paul shares in this chapter that will give freedom to those who are following Jesus, but that knowledge always takes a backseat to people. If there are people who do not know or have not heard about such freedom in Christ and the exercise of that freedom causes them to stumble, Paul says he’d never do it.

We must be willing to be ‘enslaved’ for the benefit of others. We must be ‘free’ for them too. There is a level of discernment needed to know how best to help people, and it is different from situation to situation, but the principle of ‘Others First’ is strongly established here. We do not live for ourselves. We think of others and what will strengthen their faith in Jesus.

This, of course, is not my default. I am self-centered and self seeking most of the time. Self-interest is the starting place for me… but by the power of the Spirit of God working in my life I move away from that place and become other-centered. How can I serve? How can I encourage? What do people need? How can I help?

It seems simple, but living ‘Others First’ is a demonstration of God’s Presence in my life.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Philippians 2:3-5

Lord Jesus, I worship You today. You thought of me when You went to the cross. Your desire was to avoid it, but You did not preserve Your own life for my sake. Thank You! May I live as You lived and give my life away for the benefit of others today.

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Golden Command

The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Galatians 5:14

Some of the Gentile Christians were being convinced that they had to become Jews first in order to follow Jesus. This meant circumcision… this meant adhering to the Jewish Law found in the first 5 books of the Bible.

Paul writes to say “who duped you?” If they go that route, they’ve exchanged freedom in Christ for the burden of the Law. If they go that way, Christ will have no value for them. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (vs. 1).

Paul writes to them that the whole law is summed up in a single command. Do this one and you’ll be adhering to the whole Law! “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love is the golden command. It reflects the heart of God. I can reflect Jesus as I love others today.

Lord, grace me with Your Spirit today and love others through me! I know I am most like You when I am giving myself away and loving others with Your amazing kind of love. Grace me with Your love so I can grace others, is my prayer today.

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Brutal Hearts

"Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

"What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.

"Crucify him!" they shouted.

"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

It was the third hour when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!"

In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

Mark 15:9-20, 24-32

It was God’s sovereign plan that Jesus would die for the sins of people. What strikes me this morning is the cruelty and sin and the selfish motivations of the people who played a part in Jesus’ crucifixion.

Crucifixion itself is the most painful and humiliating form of capital punishment that humanity has ever invented. Add to that the brutality of the human heart toward Jesus – the Son of Glory – and you have an almost unbearable story. It’s as if God orchestrated a demonstration in the death of His Son the sinful heart condition for which Jesus died.

Dear God – save us. Save us from ourselves. Save us from the sinfulness and brutality of our own hearts. Thank you that salvation is found through this horrible and wonderful cross. I embrace the story with tears again today.


p.s. Mark 16 was also in our Bible reading today! The cross is not the end of the story… read these words!

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'"

Mark 16:6-7

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Denial

But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

Mark 14:31

Peter of course did deny Jesus three times. The rooster did crow. Peter, who was so confident in his loyalty, wept bitterly. The truth of his own denial of Christ was painful. Before that moment, however, there was evidence of his frailty. Jesus and his disciples went to Gethsemane to pray. Jesus was deeply distressed the cross was looming. "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." (Mark 14:34)

When Jesus returns from prayer He finds His disciples sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." This happened two more times. Immediately following the third time, Jesus was arrested and led off to be crucified.

For Peter and the others, their spirits were willing, but their flesh was weak. This is the same underlying principle in Peter’s denial. His spirit was willing! He followed Jesus all the way to the High Priest’s courtyard. None of the other disciples did that! It’s likely you could hear from the courtyard at least the tenor of the proceedings. When accusers would raise their voice, you could make out their tones. If not, Peter was close enough to get reports about what was going on inside with Jesus. His spirit was willing… but when asked about his knowing Jesus, his flesh was weak. He denied knowing Jesus. The sound of the rooster must have been a shrill in Peter’s ears. Painful. He had denied even knowing Christ.

In the many ways that I deny Christ, this same principle is often at work. My spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. The rooster crows and I’m faced with my frailty. What do I do in these moments? Weep? Absolutely. I should also grow from the experience.

Paul wrote about his own frailty in Romans 7. He also wrote about training his flesh to submit to his spirit. This is what the follower of Jesus must do!

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

The spirit is willing but the body is weak… so we train ourselves toward godliness. The spirit will dictate to the flesh, not vice versa! And because the Spirit of God has taken up residence in the disciple, this is absolutely possible! God’s power is on display through frail human beings. We’re not so great… but He is!

Father, You are great! I honor You today as the One who deserves my worship. Thank You for Your Presence in my life today. You have brought victory of sin and death to me. Thank You! You are awesome, powerful and Most High! My prayer is that You would be seen through my life today.

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