Margin

Matt 14:13,14 "When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick."

Jesus was an amazing man. Not only was He God, but He was a man. And as a man he dealt with the same physical and emotional stuff that I deal with. He dealt with hunger. He dealt with being tired. He dealt with the burden of people's problems. He dealt with sadness. But as God, He knew how to handle this stuff. He knew what was necessary to recharge His batteries and what was necessary was that he get away. He needed to be by Himself for a time and let the stuff that was pressing in on Him wait.

He did that here. He heard that His cousin and good friend John the Baptist had been martyred. He was beheaded because he stood for the truth and Herodias (Philip's wife but Herod's plaything) didn't like hearing the truth from John the Baptist that it was wrong for Herod to have her. (Side note: I have heard people say that we should not expect the unsaved to act like the saved, that we cannot hold them to the same standard that we have so we should not tell them what the Bible expects. Apparently John the Baptist didn't think that way because he was not hindered him from speaking the truth to Herod and Herodias. He told them what they were doing was wrong and he paid with his life. How bold am I with those in leadership?) When Jesus heard that John the Baptist was dead, He got away from it all. He took some time and went to a deserted place to be by Himself.

I know that I have recently felt some pressure. Not so much from work, or home, but from ministry. I love doing ministry. I love helping people. I love being a part of building the kingdom in the placed that God has planted me. Yet sometimes I can get weary. Just this last Sunday I was responsible to meet with some people after church. The problem is, several others kept coming up to me and saying: "Do you have a minute?" I don't know how many times I heard that on Sunday morning when I finally told our church secretary: "No". It was not the kindest response and I had to apologize. My wife actually said that I had "a little melt down". This was not Jesus. This was not what He would have done. He would have made sure that He had balance. He would have made sure that He had some margin in His life. He got away to a deserted place and spent time by Himself. I usually do not do that and I need to learn from the God-Man that this is important.

But then look…the pressure kept coming. The multitudes found out where He was and pushed to see Him. How did He respond? With a "no"? No. He responded with compassion. He met their needs. He cared about them. Later in the chapter we see where Jesus actually sent the multitudes away and went on a mountain by Himself to pray. V23

How much margin time do I give myself? Jesus needed it…so do I. Maybe then I will respond without saying: "No".

Seeing and Hearing

Matt 13:16,17 "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. "

I wonder if the disciples understood what was going on…who they were involved with…what it was that they were hearing and seeing? I am not sure. At the time it was all happening I think that they were following Jesus because He was a guy that they had pinned their hopes on. He was a guy who was going to usher Israel into a literal kingdom. And here Jesus is, teaching people about the kingdom of God in stories. The disciples didn't get it. They didn't understand. So they did what they should have done and they asked. "Why do You speak to them in parables?" v10 Jesus response is kind of startling. Basically: "These people are to hear but not understand. They are to see but not perceive. Their ears are hard of hearing and their eyes are closed. And this is the way it should be " V14,15 Wait. That doesn't sound fair. Why are some able to hear and see and others are not? That is a question that has plagued scholar's minds for ages. The thing that we know is that God is sovereign. He is just. He is right. What He does and how He does it we will not always understand and we have to leave it with Him. (Read Romans 9.)

The thing that gets me is that these guys were given the privilege of hearing and understanding, and seeing and getting it. These guys were given the privilege…the blessing of seeing and hearing what many prophets and righteous men in the past desired to see and hear but the time was not right. Now the time was right, and Jesus took the time to explain these stories to them. Jesus opened up the mystery of the kingdom of God to them.

Now, fast forward 2000 plus years. These same mysteries are made known to us. These same mysteries are made known to me…and I wonder if I am just like the disciples…do I get it? Do I understand? Do I really grasp what it is that God is doing…how God is ushering in His kingdom? I think that I have a glimpse, but I think that it is only a glimpse. I have been blessed, along with those in my family and many I know to be able to have the Holy Spirit live in me and to have His word in the palm of my hand. He is my Teacher. He is my Counselor. He is my Convicter. He guides me into all the truth. Even now, as I write this stuff, He brings things to my brain that I would never think about otherwise. And I can hear with the disciples: "Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear." Do I see clearly? No. It is like what Paul said: "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face." I Cor 13:12 The thing is, we still see. We still perceive. And someday everything…everything will be revealed. Wow.

I sat and watched a little of Louie Giglio's DVD: "Indescribable" last night. I have seen it before, but to see it again and to try to grasp the immeasurable greatness of God is beyond me. Sure, we see a little of it now. We hear things that the prophets and righteous men longed to hear. But some day, we will hear it all…we will see it all…and it will blow us away.

For now, however, I am blessed. Keep on the pursuit of seeing and hearing more.

Family Resemblance

Matt 12:50 "For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother."

This is going all the way back to when Jesus taught his guys how to pray: "Our Father in heaven…Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus is coming back to a central theme, His Father in heaven getting His will done on earth. And the cool thing about this is He is identifying heritage. He is identifying DNA. He is identifying those who belong in His family. How can you tell who is in the family of God? Those who do the will of God. Those who do what God wants, who fulfill His purposes. These are the ones who are in the family of God. On the flip side. Those who ignore God, those who avoid Him, those who are not fulfilling His purposes but their own purposes and who are living lives in opposition to His word are not in His family.

Kind of interesting. Yesterday you could tell what a person was like inside by what came out of their mouths. Today, you can tell a person's spiritual family heritage by what they do. I have to ask myself the question: How am I living? Is it all about me, or am I fulfilling God's purpose on this earth? The answer says a lot about who I really am.

The other thing about this verse that I find amazing is this: If I am doing God's will then I am Jesus' brother. Pretty cool. Jesus was the Son of God. If He is my brother, then I must also be a son of God. There is a verse in Hebrews that talks about this: "Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers." Heb. 2:11 I think that is pretty wild. The One who makes us holy (Jesus) and those who are being made holy (us) all belong to the same family. Since this is the case Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers, and sisters and mother. Jesus is not embarrassed by us because we are doing the will of God here on earth.

Do I bear a family resemblance? Do people see Jesus in me? When people look at me do they say: "Wow, you look an awful lot like Jesus"? I wish. If I am doing His will on earth, that should be people's reaction…not just at church…that is the easy place to look like you are a part of the family. No, I want people in our culture to see me and see something different. I want people to take note that I am part of the family of God. I must be about my Father's business.

So I ask myself: What is that? Is it anything different than I am doing now? Is there something else I should be doing? Stay open.

Words

Matt 12:34b, 35 "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things."

Words. They really are an amazing creation. When you think of all of the things that God created, He also created this ability to communicate through speech. Did God have to make words? Could He have done this another way? Could He have made us with the ability to just think each other's thoughts? Yes, He could. (That would be a scary thing.) But what are thoughts without words? If we did not have words, we would not be able to formulate thoughts.

The weird thing is this…our thoughts eventually do come out…and they come out through our mouths. Oh sure, we can suppress them. We can try to hold them in, but in the end, they end up spilling out. That is what Jesus is saying: Out of the abundance, out of the stuff that fills our minds our mouths speak. And this is how we can tell how people are thinking: Good words show a good mind. Evil words show an evil mind. It is that simple. It is really amazing. The word for treasure is "thesaurus"…a treasury of words. And out of the treasury of words that float around in our brains, our mouth speaks, either good or bad.

What are some good things that I would love to see flow out of my mouth? How about words of encouragement? If this is flowing then my brain is formulating good thoughts about others and I let them know it. How about words of support and comfort? If this is coming out then I am probably thinking about the needs of others. How about words of wisdom and knowledge? If this is exiting my mouth I am probably thinking about how we can come up with solutions to problems. How about the words of God? If this is coming out, then guess what is filling my mind? God's word. How cool is that?

On the flip side, what don't I want to see exit my mouth? How about words of criticism? Then I have a critical mind and critical thinking. How about words of discouragement? Then I am not thinking well of others. How about words of gossip? Then I am probably prideful in the way I think. How about taking God's name in vain? Then that shows that I do not fear God.

Oh God, please…"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." Ps. 19:14

(Take a look at this article. Even the world knows the difference:

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/ncaa-final-four-semifinals-a-tale-of-two-cultures-033011?gt1=39002

Go Butler!)

Come, Take, Learn

Matt 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Great stuff. If you are feeling tired, if you are feeling weary, if you are feeling beat down, if you are carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, take Jesus' advice. Come…take…learn.

Come to me. This is an invitation. This is interesting. This isn't an invitation to everyone, it is an invitation to those who know that they have a need. It is an invitation to people who are exhausted. To people who are carrying stuff. Frankly, this really is an invitation to most of society. If you were to ask most people today, and if they were really honest, you would find that they are tired. Maybe not physically tired, but mentally tired. They feel the weight of responsibility. The feel the weight of the economy. They feel the weight of sin in their lives. To these people Jesus says: "Come to Me…I will give you rest." The word for rest really means to stop and take it easy. To be able to stop whatever activity you that is making you tired, for the purpose of collecting your strength and refreshing yourself. Jesus will do that. So many people think that they have to work hard to get into the kingdom. So many people think that if they do all the right stuff, it will give them favor with God. To this Jesus says; "No..just come to me. Stop your work. Stop your efforts. Stop. I am your rest. I am your Sabbath. Relax…I have done all of the work.

Take. Take my yoke. This doesn't sound like fun. I mean, a yoke is for working. Jesus just said that I should rest. Now He is telling me to take an implement that makes me work? Yes. We have to remember the yoke that these people had on them at that time. The yoke of the law. The yoke of what the Pharisees said that they had to do. The yoke of living by all of the rules and regulations that were in place at that time. Jesus was giving them a contrast. He was saying: "Throw down the yoke of works. Throw down the yoke of the law. Throw down the yoke of legalism and pick up my yoke. It is easy. Will there be difficult times? Yes, but in comparison they will be light. Why? Because Jesus is yoked with us. He has already taken up this yoke. He has already carried our burdens. Now we can find inner rest. No more burdened inside because He is with us in all of this. He is our partner in all of this. He is our teacher in all of this…so "learn from Me." Watch Me. Follow Me. Take My advice. Observe My gentleness. Observe My humility and live like Me.

That really is the key. We are so busy trying to work. Trying to make it. Trying to prove ourselves. Trying to gain favor with God, and all we need is to learn from Christ and take on His gentleness and humility. When I do that, things ease up.

Come to Him. Take from Him. Learn from Him.

 

The Cost of Discipleship

Matt 10:38,39 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."

 

These were tough words that Jesus was speaking to His disciples. He was laying it down. He was being up front with them. He was telling them what it was going to cost to be His follower, and this was it: It was going to cost them their lives. The implication was not: "You have to die to yourself." The clear word was: "You are going to die. Get ready. If you are not willing to die, then you are not worthy to follow me."

 

John MacArthur makes a good point in his study Bible. He said that this is Jesus' first time that He ever brings up the word cross to His disciples. He had just given them a dissertation on how they will be hated and persecuted and now He is telling them that they have to pick up a cross. The picture in His disciple's minds would be Roman crucifixion. They had seen it. They saw criminals put to death by the Romans on the cross. They knew what a gruesome death it was, and Jesus was telling them that this was their destiny. (He didn't tell them at this point that it was His destiny first.) He told them that they had to get their focus right. He was telling them that they needed to get eternity cemented in their minds. If you want to live life here and get all you can here, then really you are going to lose your life. But if you are willing to give up your life here for the sake of Christ, you will gain life.

 

I am sure that these guys were so pumped about following Christ, they heard this but it did not register. How do I know? Because when Jesus was crucified, they all ran for their lives…except for John. They said: "I want my life. I don't want to be arrested. Get me out of here." But then something happened a few days later. Jesus came back to life. A picture of what He was talking about losing your life and gaining it was standing right in front of them, eating with them, talking with them. This solidified their commitment.

 

This was it. This was the cost of discipleship. Jesus was not beating around the bush and His guys knew what they were getting into. Jesus was killed because of His message and each one of His followers was martyred except for John who lost his life in exile. Why? Because they had a different perspective. They had an eternal perspective. Their physical lives were no longer important to them because they looked at them in the light of eternity…real life.

 

The cost of discipleship still applies today. Jesus is saying to all of us: "Be willing. Be ready. Let go of the stuff that you cling to on earth. Fix your eyes on Me. Have an eternal perspective and follow me even if it costs you your very life."

 

I know a lot of persecuted Christians throughout the world understand this, but I wonder if we in the U.S. get this? I wonder if I get it? We may see.

Moved with Compassion

Matt 9:36 "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd."

When I read this verse I think to myself: "Where is my heart? What do I really care about?" There is no question where Jesus' heart was at…with weary, scattered people. As He went about all the cities and villages teaching in the synagogues He saw the multitude. The word for multitude means a crowd, a group of ordinary, common people who gathered together without any order. When Jesus saw this, when He saw masses of people who were living without any direction He was moved with compassion. He saw weak, tired out people who were just thrown out there, leaderless, clueless, purposeless, dumb sheep and His heart, His inner man was moved. He wanted more for these people. He wanted them to really live. So what did He do? He told His disciples to do something about it. He told His disciples to pray for laborers to bring in a harvest. Really what Jesus saw was a group of people who were hungry. A mass of people who were just waiting. A multitude of people who were just ripe for the picking. He knew that everything was ready, but there had to be other people who would bring this harvest in, so He told His disciples to pray about this situation. (v37.38)

Frankly, that is where it starts. That is where the heart comes from. He was telling His guys to develop a heart for people and it starts with praying. Praying that God would develop people who would reach people. Why did Jesus tell His guys to pray like this? Because He knew that if they prayed for laborers, they would develop a heart to become laborers and they would be the ones who would reach the lost, clueless sheep.

My problem is that my heart is not like this. Why? Because I don't pray like this. Sure I care about people, and I want to see people brought into the kingdom, but am I really moved with compassion over my neighbors, my clients, others that I know? It is clear, this world is clueless. This world is filled with sheep who need a shepherd. This world is filled with weak, tired out people who are just thrown out to live life and they have no idea how to live it. Just look around. We are messed up as a culture. Why? We are dumb sheep. But there is a harvest. There are people out there who are just waiting to hear about hope…and I need to pray. I need to pray for laborers. When I do, I will be moved with compassion and become one.