How Much?

I have very little patience with salesmen. When I go into a place that sells a product, it is because I already have an interest in buying, or I wouldn’t be there in the first place. Before I leave the house, I decide what I am going after and where I am going to get it. All that is left is for me to see the item and decide if I am still interested. The only piece of information I need at that time is the price. Any other questions I have will be asked after I decide if I am willing to pay the price that is being quoted.

Luke 14
²⁷And you cannot be my disciple if you do not carry your own cross and follow me.²⁸"But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills? ²⁹Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh at you! ³⁰They would say, `There's the person who started that building and ran out of money before it was finished!'

At every turn, Jesus was met with great crowds of people. Some were interested only in the spectacle of the man who was attracting so much attention. Others were there to see if they could catch this self-professed Son of God in a situation that would merit getting rid of Him. Still others were truly seeking to get to know this one who taught love and peace, and offered a life that went on forever. Jesus knew that His words had to minister to the hearts of all those that heard Him speak, and saw His work.

In this passage, Jesus offers a word of caution to those who were following Him on His walk to Jerusalem. There is a lot more to being a disciple than just following Jesus around, listening to His teaching and witnessing His miracles. Before you sign on to discipleship, make sure you understand the requirements. The difference between a disciple and a believer is that disciples put their beliefs into action. Not only do they hear and believe the talk – they walk the walk.

Jesus tells the crowd that a person who claims to be a disciple and is not willing to live up to the principles that He teaches will become a detriment to the spreading of the Good News. Satan uses those people as negative examples of Christians. Like the person who starts a project and is unable to complete it because they failed to make sure they had the necessary resources, the “Sunday Christian" becomes an impediment to the furtherance of the Kingdom.

The Bible says, “Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” Salvation is a free gift – unconditional and undeserved. Discipleship has its cost. Jesus said that, if we are to be a disciple, we must not only accept the work that Jesus did for us on the cross, we must take up our own cross every day. We are on this world for a purpose. Jesus’ purpose was to provide the one and only path to salvation for a world lost in sin. It took the cross of Calvary for Him to complete that purpose. The Holy Spirit will guide us to our purpose, but we must be willing to embrace it wholeheartedly if we are to be disciples.

Being a true disciple is more than just walking the same road, it involves bearing the same load.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Attaboy

We humans are creatures that crave attention. Even if we are able to go about our three score and ten on this earth in total humility, we can’t help but be uplifted when someone pats us on the back and says, “Good job!” Hopefully we are able to turn the compliment into praise to the Father who gives us the strength to do everything we do, but we still get a warm fuzzy when our work is recognized. Sometimes that recognition comes in the form of a smile on the face of someone whose opinion we value, but however it is communicated, we all need an “attaboy” occasionally.

Luke 10 (NIV)

²¹At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

To properly understand this passage, we need to go back to the beginning of the chapter. Jesus has selected seventy-two additional disciples to participate in the spreading of the Gospel. These people had obviously been around Jesus and His apostles for some time, learning about the Good News themselves. Evidently there were more than seventy-two who were being discipled because Jesus had to pick the ones He wanted for this assignment. This is a perfect example of the “x factor” at work. Those who were closely following Jesus were growing in numbers not by addition but by multiplication. The original twelve were now more than seventy-two.

These newly appointed evangelists were given the charge to go into the towns where Jesus was going and share the Good News. Now Jesus did not send these disciples out without letting them know what to expect. Remember, the Pharisees and other religious leaders had already made up their minds that Jesus had to go. He wanted to make sure the ones who were sent out understood the perils they would be facing. Jesus was very blunt with His warning, “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” (Luke 10:3) This was not going to be a walk in the park, and He wanted them to know what to expect.

After the traveling evangelists returned, they reported back to Jesus. Joyfully they said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (Luke 10:17) Jesus replied that He had seen Satan fall from Heaven like lightning. He saw the results of their labors, but He warned them not to get so wrapped up in the outward signs of His power manifested in them that they forget the source of that power. Notice what He said, “do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

If you do not believe that God is aware of what we do on this earth, read this passage. Luke tells us that, “Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit …” Think about that! Jesus was happy about what these disciples had done. How many times do we read in the Scripture that Jesus was “full of joy?” What was it that created this joy in our Savior? He was happy because of what these disciples had accomplished in His name. They had learned the joy of taking their rightful place of dominion over the forces of evil. They had experienced victory over the devil. That was the source of their joy and that of Jesus. Notice then what Jesus did. He gave the glory to His Father. What a beautiful example for us to follow.

There is an old Celtic proverb that says, “Never give a sword to a man who doesn’t know how to dance.” It simply means that one must be able to tap into that inner joy that comes from knowing that we are fighting for The King and those who are His children. If we don’t have that joy, we cannot wield the sword in His name. This is the truth for which Jesus praised His Father. Those who are “wise in their own eyes” cannot understand it, but a child who has experienced the love of Jesus knows exactly what it means.

Do you want to bring joy to Jesus? ”Go ye therefore” armed with the Sword of the Spirit and filled with the joy of the dance of fellowship with the Father. That is His joy!

 We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Before and After

The first definition of the word "time" in Webster's Dictionary is the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues, or a nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future. In other words, our concept of time is relative. We measure time as the interval between tangible events – typically the beginning and the end – or before and after.

Genesis 1 (NIV)
¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

These ten words are among the most debated in the world of science and religion. The major stumbling block boils down to the words, "In the beginning." Our minds have been filled with the concept of relativity – the fact that measurement of time and space must relate to something. Everything must happen after something else. Our finite minds tell us that, if God created the heavens and the earth at a specific point in time, something must have preceded this act. We take the these words and analyze them without taking into account the next word in the phrase – God.

God! Without understanding the infinite nature of the Creator, we cannot understand the finite nature of His creation. Time is a concept that God gave man to come to grips with the fact that there is a beginning and an end to everything in this universe. In one of Bill Cosby's comedy routines, he describes a very frustrating encounter with his son. At the end of his patience, Cosby tells the boy, "I brought you into this world and I can take you out." Just like life as we know it started at conception and ends when God calls us home - time started "in the beginning" and will end when we no longer need it to separate events in our lives.

I cannot explain the concept of infinity. Even though my life's work has been in various fields of science, my brain does not compute the meaning of infinite – and it doesn't bother me. Over the years, one thing has become clear to me – there are things that I will not and do not need to be able to explain. These things are God's. I have come to the conclusion that it is easier for me to wrap my brain around the concept of a Creator God having chosen to speak this universe into existence than it is to accept the concept of the accidental evolution of a glob of primordial ooze.

Try as we might, we will never separate ourselves from our "point in time" mentality. Creation is not a point in time – it is the beginning of time itself. God is infinite. He does not need time – we do. We must accept by faith this concept of creation. Why? Because it is the first step in accepting the fact of "recreation" – being born again. God did not create the heavens and the earth on a whim. He has a plan and mankind is a part of that plan. In fact, if you read the account of the creation in Genesis, you will find that it took only twenty-five verses – five days – to craft the universe and all the animals and plants. The rest of the account is dedicated to the real reason God made the earth. In verse twenty-six of Genesis 1, man comes on the scene. The rest of the Bible is God's testament to His love for all mankind.

Genesis means origins. In His infinite love, God created the heavens and the earth. In His infinite mercy, He created a way for us to have a relationship with Him. The ten words in this verse start a love story that every man, woman, and child will have to deal with. We can analyze it and try to squeeze the message into our little boxes of time and space – or we can exercise our measure of faith and follow Him instead of trying to explain Him.

The choice is ours.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Dependability

We all have people who are or have been in our lives that affect the way we live. I am one of those who were blessed with a dad that taught me more than life skills – he instilled in me life lessons. One of the things that I learned from him is that most, if not all, opinions of a person are based on actions, not words. Over the years, I have observed that he always does more than what he says he will do. When he accepts a task or a responsibility, my father always goes the extra mile. At the end of the day, he has always finished the job he agreed to do, but there are other things that he has quietly taken care of at the same time. That’s how he defines dependability.

Hebrews 13 (NLT) ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your spiritual strength comes from God's special favor, not from ceremonial rules about food, which don't help those who follow them.

This passage is one that we hear quoted often. It is a comfort to Christians to know that, whatever happens in the world around us, Jesus never changes. We know that even if we do not follow Him, as we should, Jesus never changes. Mountaintop or valley, sickness or health – Jesus never changes. That is a foundation block of the church. However, there is more to this passage than comfort. Looked at in the context of the preceding chapters, there is also a warning.

Two chapters back in Hebrews, we find the Hall of Fame of Faith. Listed in this chapter are examples of the exploits and trials of those who chose to follow God through faith. Some of the stories present extraordinary events that came about because someone was willing to trust in the fact that God was in control of the situation in spite of all the physical evidence to the contrary. Others are less spectacular, but just as much a picture of a walk of faith. There are two things that all of the heroes of faith have in common. Hebrews 11:39 states: “All of these people we have mentioned received God's approval because of their faith.” It goes on to say: “yet none of them received all that God had promised.” They had faith in God even though they never saw the completion of His promise.

Jesus never changes. Our approval in the eyes of God comes from our faith in the work of His Son, Jesus Christ. God declared the heroes of faith righteous because of their faith, not their works. We have the joy of salvation because of our faith in the Son. However, when we start to try to take care of things on our own and stray from the walk of faith, we must be ready to accept the consequences. In Hebrews 12:6, the writer quotes from Proverbs saying: “For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as his children.” Because we are justified by our faith, we must be corrected when we allow our faith to waver.

The way to the Father has not changed one iota since before time began. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth, and The Life – and He always has been. The Old Testament heroes based their faith on the promise of the coming Messiah. We base our faith on the completed work of that same Messiah and all who are justified by faith look forward to the return of the Messiah.

Jesus never changes.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Memories

When we were kids, we used to play a game called Gossip. Someone would whisper a story to the first person in line that would pass the story on to the next person, and so on down the line until the last person had heard it. When the last person recounted their version of the tale to the group, it rarely bore much resemblance to the one that had started in the beginning.

Hebrews 10 (NIV)
 ³²Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. ³³Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. ³⁴You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

 ³⁵So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. ³⁶You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

The writer of Hebrews is exhorting his readers to hang on to the memories of their first encounter with the saving power of Jesus. He wants them to keep the joy and the desire to share this Good News that comes with salvation. “Remember how you remained faithful.” When one first allows the Savior into their hearts, there is nothing more important than nurturing that relationship. There is a sense of urgency about their walk with the Lord. These are things that we should strive to keep in our minds as we go about our day-to-day lives.

However, like the players in a game of Gossip, we tend to remember parts of what we experience. The writer reminds his audience that there were bad times – times of suffering and ridicule. Even in those situations, the new believer tries to stay the course and trust in the power of Jesus to get them through. Not only do they endure these trials, they try to help others who might be going through the same problems. Regardless of the situation, these new believers remained faithful.

Notice that the passage starts out with: “Don't ever forget those early days when you first learned about Christ.” The inference here is that the readers have changed since they first met Jesus. They no longer have that fire that comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. As was the case with the church at Ephesus in Revelation, these people did not love God or others as they first had. They had lost their first love. The relationship was still there, but the fellowship was not.

Churches all over the world are suffering from the effects of Christians who have lost the joy of their salvation and Satan is celebrating a victory. Lukewarm believers are the best advertisement the Devil could ask for. Not only does he celebrate this situation, he cultivates it. When we allow ourselves to fall back into a state of mere existence as a Christian, the devil does everything in his power to keep us from realizing our situation. As long as he can point to us as examples of what Christ does to people, he is happy.

God’s message to the church is to return to the joy and the excitement that comes from knowing what your future holds. Share the Good News and minister to the body so that people will see that we are different. We have problems just like everyone else, but we don’t let them get us down because we know where our future lies. As the hymn says – “Let Others See Jesus in You.”

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Trailblazers

Sometimes I think that mankind in general has lost sight of what it took to bring us to where we are today. There have been pioneers in all cultures and all disciplines that have accepted the ridicule that comes from advancing new theories and suffered the deprivation that results from investing your entire existence in a dream. These trailblazers were willing to walk the unmarked path to make it easier for those who followed. Granted, we have a long way to go in some areas, but history tells us that we have made great strides, benefiting from the willingness of others to remain true to their convictions.

Hebrews 13 (NLT)
¹²So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs. ¹³Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.

Exhaustion is a state of physical or mental tiredness that results in collapse. When we say that we are exhausted, we mean that we have decided not to do any more until we stop and rest. Medically speaking, that is not exhaustion. True exhaustion is when your body has reached the point of shutdown. I remember watching the Olympic Games some years ago as a marathon runner entered the stadium after hours of running. The brain was no longer in control of the runner’s muscles. He was weaving from side to side on the track, unable to focus on the finish line. You could tell that there was nothing left in reserve. Contrary to the rules, officials guided this runner to the finish line where he collapsed. Every ounce of physical and emotional strength had been consumed – he had truly exhausted his supply of energy.

The writer of Hebrews recognized that the Christian life could have the same effect on a believer’s body. Every aspect of our being – body, mind, and spirit – can be used up in service to God. We can reach the point where we can think of nothing else but going home to be with our Savior. In fact, when we truly walk in the footsteps of Jesus - that will be the outcome. We will be consumed in the process of our mission and our ministry. However, this passage reminds us that God alone makes the call as to when that point is reached.

Scripture tells us that, when we think we are all spent, we are finally in the position of really making a difference. We are forced out of ourselves and into the position of total dependence on the Father. When we hold on even when there is no strength in our hands, we realize that our hands are being held in the hands of God. When we pull ourselves up on shaky legs, we feel the Father’s hands lifting us to our feet. When we take that step of faith on the path that God has laid out, we see Jesus showing us where we are headed.

The result of this type of obedience and faith is an example for those who follow us on our journey through this hostile land. Our willingness to stand in the face of adversity strengthens the resolve of others. Our hand, however tired, stretched out to help a brother provides energy to their walk. If we are following Jesus on our journey, they will be able to see Him also. We are marking the trail so that others can avoid the pitfalls we have encountered.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!

Outburst

All dramatic presentations have a unique characteristic that defines the type of drama being performed. The mystery will have a group of people that appear to be suspects, but in the dramatic closing, the real culprit is unmasked. The comedy will generally have one character that cannot seem to get anything right, but ends up being the hero of the play. The musical is undoubtedly the most recognizable of the dramatic forms. The characters seem to burst forth in song at the drop of a hat, and, most of the time, they bring the hat.

Hebrews 10 (NIV)
²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. ²⁵Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The writer of Hebrews gives us the “Manual of Interpersonal Relationships for Christians” in three short verses. It is a three-step process –

Think about each other

Spend time with each other

Encourage each other

The objective of this process is to keep the coals of love and service alive. It is interesting to note that we are encouraged to think about each other before we spend time with each other. In other words, we need to be intentional in the consideration of our ministry to each other.

The New Living Testament translates verse 24 like this:

²⁴Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.

Like the songs in the musicals, our acts of love and good deeds should just burst out of a heart that has been encouraged by a brother or sister in Christ. That encouragement comes from someone who has thought about us and fellowshipped with us in order to provide the boost we needed. It is a victorious circle that just keeps getting bigger as we follow the manual.

Try out the process. It seemed to work quite well for Jesus. Time after time, He considered those who were His inner circle of followers and built them up for the work they had in front of them. Think about a fellow Christian and allow God to guide you to the area of encouragement they need. If you do, He will provide the opportunity for you to “stir” and "spur." We may buck a little when the spur is used, but the end result is a closer walk with God. When that happens, step back and watch the outburst of love and good deeds that follows. It won’t be long before the circle comes back around to you.

We serve an awesome God!!!!!