discipleship

Its How We Live.

/ Craig / 1 Comment

IMG_1113

 

5Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Galatians 3:5-9

 

 

Start by faith.

Live by faith.

Finish by faith.

 

Faith is the means by which we enter into God’s blessings.

Its the way Abraham entered in.

Its the way we enter in.

 

So we enter into friendship with God just as Abraham did, on the basis of what God has done, is doing, and says He will do.

 

Faith is active trust.

 

The object of our faith is personal and real, most dramatically revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He gives us HIs Spirit when we enter in “by faith” in the Gospel we have heard.

 

We can say with Paul, “…the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

 

Joy is ours in this grace by faith in the finished work of Jesus at the Cross. Peter notes that faith does not require “seeing as believing.” He writes,

 

8Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter 1:8-9

 

John describes this faith as a reliance on the love of God shown to us through Jesus Christ. So our faith has its reasons.

 

15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  1 John 4:15-16

 

The writer of Hebrews notes that “without faith, its impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6

 

By faith. This is the way God has called you to live.

 

Remember the poor.

/ Craig / 1 Comment

IMG_1632

 

9and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. Galatians 2:9-10

 

Remember the poor.

 

It seems the early church had an awareness of how easily the poor can be forgotten. So right there in the middle of their Gospel-planting-strategy-conversation regarding the assignments of the Apostles Peter and Paul, they insist:

 

Remember the poor.

 

The Gospel of Jesus requires us to engage with the poor. Not as an afterthought, but as one of the rhythms of life we are eager to pursue.

 

Remember the poor.

 

Its a leadership issue.

Its a Gospel issue.

Its a Church DNA issue.

Its a heart of Jesus issue.

 

9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.  2 Corinthians 8:9

 

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18 – 19

 

Remember the poor.

 

1My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” 4have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6But you have dishonored the poor man.  James 2:1-6

 

Remember the poor.

 

17As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.   James 6:17-19

 

Remember the poor. The early churches did this very thing. In every community in which the Gospel took root in the hearts of people, their view of people under the grace of God in Christ changed their actions toward them. The Gospel radicalizes the concept of the “image of God” in humanity and compels us to see that Jesus who came from the communion of God entered into poverty and died of all people. The piety rooted in the Jewish heritage of the Apostles was amplified among the nations through the Gospel.

 

The impact was dramatic. Many historians find the social impact of the Church unavoidable in their examination of the first three centuries after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

 

For example consider what Elaine Pagels writes about the success of Christianity in affecting change:

When I was working on the book, “Adam, Eve and the Serpent,” I was thinking a great deal about why this movement succeeded, and I thought it may have had a lot to do, as well, with the story they told about the creation. Because they told the story about how human beings were made in the image of God…. Now if you think about the gods of the ancient world and you think about what they looked like they looked like the emperor and his court. So those gods looked very different. But this religion is saying that every person, man, woman, child, slave, barbarian, no matter who, is made in the image of God and is therefore of enormous value in the eyes of God…. That’s an extraordinary message. And it would have been enormous news to many people who never saw their lives having value. I think that is a powerful appeal of this religion…. The Christian movement seemed to convey a sense of human worth in two ways. Both by the story of Jesus and his simplicity and his humility in terms of social status, in terms of achievement, in terms of recognition during his lifetime. And also in the story of creation; it conveys royal status on every person….

When we think about the appeal of this movement to many people it’s certainly clear that some were drawn by the way that this community would take care of people. For example, like other elements of the Jewish community, the followers of Jesus tended to feed the destitute, take care of people who were widowed so that they wouldn’t become prostitutes and orphans and so forth. That was a primary obligation of Jewish piety. And Jesus’ followers certainly understood that. We know that when people joined the Christian communities in Rome, for example, they would be buried. This is not something anyone could take for granted in the ancient world. And this society was one in which people took care of one another. So that is an enormous element of the appeal of this movement.

{To read other historians’ comments on the success of Christianity: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/why/appeal.html}

 

Remember the poor. Essential for discipleship. If we’ve forgotten the poor, are we really following Jesus?

 

 

Standing in All His Glory

/ Craig / 1 Comment

STA_1339

 

13As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. 14He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14

 

 

The glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is His communion with the Father and the Spirit. For Israel and for the Disciples of Jesus there where glimpses of this glory; it was the glory that Jesus often spoke of; He knew the Father and He were one. He knew the glory of being The Beloved. It was this glory Jesus was inviting His disciples into.

 

Its the glory we experience now through the Holy Spirit in our salvation as we are made holy and respond to the truth. Forgiven of sin we are now occupied by the Spirit of God for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Its the glory of knowing now, “I am loved by the Lord; I have been brought into the communion of God.” Its the glory we have a share in and wait for as an inheritance to be fully experienced one day as our faith becomes sight.

 

Don’t let anyone steal your glory. Keep responding to the truth of the Gospel. Keep responding to Jesus as Lord. Let this truth reside in you by the Spirit: I am loved by the Lord.

 

The Love That Messes With Us

/ Craig / Leave a comment

IMGP0626

41Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. John 12:41-43

Glory. Praise. Adulation. Affirmation. Acceptance. Applause. Being in.

We usually discover our love for the glory of people when we find ourselves on the outside or when we find our status threatened. This is a love that will mess us up. The insecurity will create a whirlwind of self-destruction. It kept the Pharisees who believed in Jesus from identifying with Him. It will keep us from saying to Jesus Christ, “I am affectionately yours.”

This love for the applause of people will mess us up. We crave their delight. In fact when they cheered we thought we were becoming somebody; but then we learned their praise is conditional. They could never bear the weight of our soul and our soul could never bear the weight of their demands.

Looking to Jesus, we hear his invitation to life and the glory of God. We can see how He lived in the Belovedness of the Heavenly Father’s glory, praise, affirmation, acceptance, and applause. When Jesus experienced the unbelief, rejection, condemnation, dishonour, and contempt of people He framed it in a larger problem and He abided in His relationship with the Father.

44And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.45And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.46I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.47If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.48The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.49For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.50And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” John 12:44-50

The world and even our friends will not see us through the lens of our affection for Jesus Christ when our obedience to Jesus runs counter to what they want. They cannot. Paul insisting on the Gospel of grace in Christ, would write of this challenge of understanding motives when he says, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

Did you see it? The love for the glory of people will enslave us. The love for the glory of God through the grace of Jesus Christ will usher us into His freedom.

 

You have come to Jesus.

/ Craig / Leave a comment

IMG_7067

22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.  Hebrews 12:22-24

The writer of Hebrews is contrasting the people of Israel with the people of Jesus. Israel came with Moses to God at Mt. Sinai. There they were terrified at the display of God’s holiness. They shut their eyes in fear of the glory of God. And they would not dare to come close. They sent Moses alone. (Exodus 19-20)

But you have come to Jesus. Jesus has brought us into the Kingdom of God. Together. He has enrolled us in heaven. We have come to the judge. We have come as those declared righteous and made complete by Jesus. We come to Jesus, whose blood speaks better and longer than Abel, the one who suffered the first murder. The blood of Jesus who suffered at the cross, completes God’s promise for us in the new covenant established by Jesus.

You have come to Jesus with eyes wide open, with a heart wide open, and a desire to go with Him into the Presence and glory of God.