discipleship

Left, Left; Left Right; Left

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22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.  Galatians 5:22-26
Paul writes to the Christians in Galatia so they can know how Jesus changes lives. Its not through a proliferation of rules. Rather change comes through the regeneration of a life in the power of the Gospel of Jesus. Grace poured into our life by the Spirit of God: “we live by the Spirit.”

Now our life is lived in response to Jesus.

Now, we can “keep in step with the Spirit.”

I like to walk. Quickly. My drive is fuelled by the need to exercise and the desire to get there. However, I am able to adjust when in the company of others in order to be with them. As we start out we may each want to insist on our own pace; but soon we are in step with each other. If I am fighting against the pace, it feels like death. So it is with the Spirit of God.

If I am mindful of the Presence of Jesus with me during the day then I adjust my pace, my attitudes, my actions in order to join Him and to keep up with what He is doing in the world around me. When I am in step with Him I can bear the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

You will know it when I’m not in step with the Spirit when you see conceit, provocation, and envy. How to get back in step? As soon as you become aware: pause for prayer, confessing the sin, and accessing the Gospel for the occasion. Highlight the Cross of Jesus in your thoughts, considering Him who endured sinful people. Then, relying on His grace, move forward in His love and power.

Left; Left; Left, Right; Left; Left…

Live like an exile: Live Sent!

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4“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon…  Jeremiah 29:4

The Israelites having been dragged from their homes in Jerusalem and force-marched to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar were longing for home. Their itching ears grasped hold of every voice that promised a quick return. But Jeremiah basically tells them to let it go. God has sent them.

God sent them to Babylon.

In Christian discipleship the theme of “exile” challenges us to live sent. We are longing for a home where all goes well. But now we are what Peter called “sojourners and exiles.” (1 Peter 2:11) We could just bide our time and tread water, taking what we can from the world. But Jesus will not have it that way. God always has His exiles formed with the word, “sent.”

I sent you.

If God sends us into a wilderness, a city, a difficulty, a workplace, a church, a nation, a campus or even our hometown, He sends us with a purpose. There we can get to know Him. There we can see Him form our heart and character for His purposes. There we be a part of His plan for people. There we can announce the extraordinary good news of God. Its at this point that we must have a proper view of the One who sends us.

Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

We’ve been sent as servants of the crucified King, the Lamb of God, the Shepherd of our souls.

Live like an exile; live sent.

Live like an exile: God’s got a plan for my future.

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10“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to the exiles in Babylon. They where itching to be done with the captivity King Nebuchadnezzar had forced on them. I imagine they got to the end of the letter and where shocked. Then they had to read it again. But the word that would have sent them back to the top would have been what he put at the end.

“When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Bad news. Good news.

You are going to be in Babylon for 70 years.  Then, I will bring you home.

God raises the issue of trust about the future.

Are you trusting the One who holds your future? He says, “ I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

We long for a home properly ruled by The King Jesus. We are not there yet. But even now, we live under His graceful rule. As the church we live like exiles as the people of His Kingdom. Our hope for the future resides not in the inventions, wisdom or economies of people but in the presence of our King with us now.

So we live like an exile. We engage in the world today because our hope is secured in Christ Jesus. We live like all the great people of faith described in Hebrews 11:
Hebrews 11:13-16

13These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Go with? Discover God’s answer to shame.

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9For in him (Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.  Colossians 2:9-15

I spent a summer in Iowa working with a church youth ministry. It was a challenging and rewarding experience. I learned lots, met some people who changed the trajectory of my life, and picked up some new english expressions.  The students would hear about a plan or even an errand I was running and they would ask,“Can I go with?”

“Go with?”

It felt familiar with the hopefulness of family; but always expressed a  question, an uncertainty. I have never been able to see and hear the word “with” the same way.

We need inquisitiveness and hope when we read the Scripture’s words “in” and “with.”  When the Apostle Paul uses “in” and “with” he expresses the mystery of the Gospel and the reality of our life with Jesus the Risen King. It is an answer to the question of our longing for God and the humility or shame that wonders, “Would God really want to be close to me?”

To be Christian is to be in Christ Jesus for He is in us. We are with Him now and for eternity participating in His life, death, and resurrection. To be in Christ Jesus is to be immersed into the communion of God without shame for He has fundamentally altered who we are at the heart of who we are. Once we were dead to God, but now we are alive. Once we were outsiders but now we have been included. Once we had a record of failure and sin that stood against us, but now we are pardoned and free.

Jesus wants you to be with Him. His desire for you required a cross. The cross takes the question “go with?” and makes it a reality for now there is no guilt, shame, fear or threat of accusation equal to the glory of being “in Him” by His invitation.

I don’t have a lute but I’ve got rhythm.

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1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High;

2to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,

3to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre.

4For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

Psalm 92:1-4

Even if you don’t have musical rhythm you can can enter into the daily rhythm of a life with Jesus.

Declare the faithfulness of the Lord in the evening.

Declare His steadfast love in the morning.

When you come in from the fullness of your day and begin your evening routines its a good time to consider how God had shown His faithfulness to you. Debrief the day with thanks.

Each morning when you prepare to go out into the fullness of your day do so in the love of our Lord Jesus. Take time to declare the Lord’s love to yourself and to those you share space with. Live loved by entering the day with praise.

Sit with Jesus long enough to be glad in His work on your behalf in the Cross and from the Throne.

He is our joy.