Monday, August 12 -by Pamela

Sorry...forgot to autopost this after I finished it last night!! It's up now :)

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Corinthians 11, Psalm 139, Job 5-6

Today's scripture focus is Luke 10:25-29

²⁵ And a ^[a]lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ²⁶ And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? ^[b]How does it read to you?” ²⁷ And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” ²⁸ And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” ²⁹ But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Why is it that we are always looking for a loophole?

We want the easy way, the quick way, the way that causes the least amount of effort on our part. We know this is true as a society because if you are ever watching tv late at night there are so many infomercials that showcase the many ways to solve our never ending first world problems.

Today's passage shows a lawyer searching for the easy way. He had the directions, he knew the way, but he wanted to know if their was an easy way out. Don't we all?

MacArthur's thoughts on this short passage are explored in these 3 messages (Part 1) and (Part 2) and (Part 3)

He begins his thoughts on these verses by suggesting:

Of all the questions that could ever be asked, of all the questions that could ever be answered, none is more important than this one. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? That is THE most important question that can be asked and answered. And the reason is that every human soul is immortal. No soul, no inner person in any human being ever goes out of existence. Every human being ever born lives forever. Our bodies die, our souls go on eternally. We are created immortal. Annihilation is a lie. Soul sleep is a lie. Reincarnation is a lie. Evolution is a lie. Every person who has ever lived will be the person they are forever.

The only question is, where and under what condition will you spend your forever? That is obviously the most compelling question that can ever be asked. And compared to the brief time in which we live in this world, compelling beyond any other consideration. Every one of us is eternal. You will go on as you forever. James says that life in this world is a vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away. It's like steam from a boiling kettle, there it is and then it's gone. Life in this world is an infinitesimal amount of time compared with eternity. You will live forever. You will never go out of existence. And you will spend that forever in one of two places, heaven or hell, and those are the only two places. There is no other place. There is no purgatory. There is no waiting place. There is no limbo. There is heaven, and there is hell and that is all and you will be in one of those two places through all eternity. And you will be conscious that you are there with the full heightening of all your rational faculties running at their maximum. And there will be no dulling of your sensibilities and sensitivities and understanding and comprehension as if to somehow mitigate the joys of heaven or ameliorate the pains of hell.

The lawyer asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" and Jesus answered his question with a question. I think sometimes when we ask a question, we might already know the answer we just want to hear it to see if there is possibly a different answer.

This might be a stretch but it made me think about the process we've been going through in our renovation. We've been working on our basement for the last 20 months. Over that time, we have had to move and organize all of our basement possessions. I asked myself the question, "what must I do to have an uncluttered basement?" I looked on pinterest for organization ideas and I've searched up storage solutions. I asked the question but really...I already knew the answer and it was a tough one...I needed to get rid of my stuff. You can't organize clutter. I needed to get rid of the old university texts I will never use again, the clothes that didn't fit, accept the fact that it was time to donate the toys that are no longer being played with, and the desk we didn't need. It was tough to realize but the solution was clear. When the lawyer asked "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" he already knew what he had to do, just like I did.

MacArthur explains the problem with today's culture and the very belief in eternal life:

The question wouldn't have been asked if the man didn't believe in eternal life. He wouldn't need to know how to inherit it if he didn't already know it existed. He knew he would live forever and he knew that it was possible in living forever to live with God in His Kingdom. The whole incident is predicated on his understanding of immortality. Of course, evolution, materialism, humanism and atheism has cut man off from that universal conviction that has always existed in humanity until our modern times. I don't care where you go in the world throughout history to any culture no matter how primitive they might be, you find belief in immortality. But now living in this post-humanistic, post-materialistic, post-evolutionary world, people no longer need to believe in immortality. And so in our evangelism, we can't presume that people understand that they will live forever.

When I asked the question "what must I do to live in an uncluttered basement" I was acknowledging that I had the belief that such a state could, in fact, exist. For the lawyer to ask the question, he also believed that eternal life was possible. This is something that we face as we witness to non-believers who do not believe eternal life is a reality.

MacArthur says there is a need to explain this reality:

How do you get somebody motivated for eternal life? The only thing you can do is explain the joys of heaven and the horrors of hell. You explain to them that everybody is immortal, everybody lives forever in one of those two places. Take the time to lay that out. Don't give the gospel on the basis...do you have trouble in your life, do you have pain, do you feel bad about things? Let Jesus fix you up. That is superficial and may be not even saving. That isn't the issue because as soon as you start talking about heaven and hell, you have to inject into the discussion sin because somebody is going to say, "Well, I'm not going to hell, am I?" And then you're in to the issue aren't you? You're into the issue of sin, why you're going to sin and why God justly condemned you to hell because of your violation of His Law and what you did and what you said, what you thought and what you are. That is where you start effective evangelism. You get their attention off this world into the next.

And if you present the joys of heaven, the glories of heaven, the horrors of hell, the reality of sin, the desperate need for forgiveness, the provision of God in Christ to provide that forgiveness and to deliver the sinner from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son, you've now at least put them in a position to be motivated toward eternal life.

Motivation is key. We need motivation to encourage us towards our goals. Whether it be with weight loss, or the desire to live in a clutter free basement, or even as we move towards living for God and his gift of eternal life  All of these goals, when motivation is there, are possible. However, even with all the motivation in the world we fall short:

MacArthur explains:
There is a hell and your sin is going to send you there. And there is a heaven, but you can't qualify on your own because you are under a curse for violating the Law of God. You say, "Well maybe I never killed anybody or etc., etc., etc." Oh, but you didn't love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength all the time and your neighbor as yourself all the time, did you? That's it, you're cursed because, "Cursed is everyone who doesn't abide by all things written in the book of the Law, and all things written in the book of the Law are summed up in the great first and second commandment."

We can't do it on our own. We can try but we will fail. Even with my clutter busting motivation in our basement, I can't get rid of everything. I can't. My house will never look picture perfect in every area. The storage room will look like a disaster and somethings will just be too hard to let go of right now. My motivation for eternal life in Heaven is there too but I can't get rid of all the sin in my life. I can't. My life will never be picture perfect in every area. My heart will be in a constant state of disaster without God's grace and mercy and with His help, I can let go of the things He wants me to.

MacArthur concludes part 3 with this:

You know what's startling to me is that he jumped across the loving God part completely, he just leapfrogged that. Did his little inventory, well, got nothing to talk about loving God, since that's clear. I certainly do that. That was sort of easy for him to escape because that's something he couldn't see, but how you treat other people is visible. He just does not admit that he doesn't love God perfectly. 
What keeps people from being saved? I've said this so many times in so many passages, what keeps people from being saved when they understand the gospel is the issue of whether or not they will admit their wretchedness. Please, folks, it's not about whether people want a better marriage, a better life, a better this, a better that, happier things here, da-da-da. What it's about is eternal life and it is about accepting the indictment of Scripture that you are headed for eternal hell because you do not love God and love others perfectly, which demonstrates that you are a sinner and that violates the perfect Law of God. You can't keep it, you better cry for mercy. And if you're going to try to sustain your own sense of self-righteousness, you cut yourself off from salvation...that's the issue.

We want it easy. We want faster. We want something that won't disrupt our lives. When Jesus asked the lawyer what the law said and the lawyer responded,  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” he wasn't happy when Jesus told him that his answer was correct. He wanted it to be easier, faster, less disruptive to his life. He asked “And who is my neighbor?” because he wanted it to be easier. We want it to be easier. We know better but we still want it to be easier. 

Unfortunately, it's not easy but totally and completely worth it.

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Luke 10: 30-37

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 2 Corinthians 12, Psalm 140, Job 7-8

Friday, August 9th~Roxie

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is: 2 Corinthians 10; Psalm 138; Esther 9-10

Today's scripture focus is Luke 10:21-24


21 At 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. 22 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." 23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

The 70 appointed messengers had just returned full of awe and joy over the power they had wielded through the name of Jesus. And Jesus' joy bubbled up as He reminded His dear friends to rejoice not in the power, but the salvation; that their "names are written in heaven". Jesus is excited that the mysteries of God had been revealed, but not to those to whom the world expected such a revelation to come.

We humans expect great and extensive knowledge and understanding to come with many years of schooling and reading and intensive thought and discussion...what child has had time for that?? What mind that focuses on the simple things in life wants to complicate their thought life with confusion??? What amazes me, is that the kingdom of God is so very contrary to what mankind thinks of as logical.

To God, the pure trust and humility of a little child is desirable (Mt 18:3-4); enemies are to be loved and prayed for (Mt 5:44); a little money can be a big offering (Luke 21:1-4); give and you will be given more (Luke 6:38); blessed are those who are poor and hungry and those who mourn (Luke 6:20-21). Blessed, He says. He doesn't tell us to wish we were older, richer, better fed, "happy"...He says we are blessed. And these are the things that are revealed to little children.

They are excited to put even pennies into the offering plate; they dance around when given a few small fish crackers; they forgive so easily the injustices done to them (I am amazed at how often a child can still smile at me as I offered them a mere popsicle after putting in an IV, drawing blood or holding them down for stitches...sorry, more nurse anecdotes). Jesus loves that Truth is revealed to those with humble, trusting hearts and, after mourning over the cities and towns that rejected His message, Jesus sees that hope is found in those who live their lives a little obliviously to the world around them in which "keeping up with the Joneses" is a time and heart consuming past time.

There is hope, though we humans still fail, there are some who still seek His faith...long to do His will, following Him as best as we can in whatever circumstances life has brought us.

"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see."

The old Testament is filled with prophets and kings who longed to see salvation come; who prayed that the promises of God would be fulfilled in their lifetime...and here it was a group of people, mostly uneducated, of lowly social status whose eyes beheld the promise fulfilled.

And the Promise rejoiced! He did not want an extravagant welcome. He did not want lavish gifts. He wants offering of our lives; the gift of our love; the pleasure of our company...our names written in the Book of Life.

And He loves us just as we are. Educated by books and classrooms or educated by life experience. Happy, struggling, mourning. Able to make any purchase we want with little thought of room in our bank account or living pay check to pay check. Jesus loves us all, saying, "Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure."

My life may not be perfect in the eyes of the world. My house may be tiny and in need of a little tlc. My car is "older" and shows rust through the paint. My hair may be graying more rapidly each day without even the achievements (or stresses) of what many people would say I need in order to have "made it"...to have a full life.

None of that matters. If I can stand before God with my heart singing, shouting, giggling, shining like that of a little child, praising Him for all the blessings that shower in abundance upon me every day, only then do I truly "have it made"...only then can I say, "yes, Lord, I see. I hear."

Monday's scripture focus: Luke 10:25-29

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Job 1,2

Thursday, August 8th ~ Miriam

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Corinthians 9; Psalm 137; Esther 7-8.

Today's scripture focus is Luke 10:17-20.

17 The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

My only thoughts on this passage today really only focus on the last verse.  I don't know about you, but I've had some pretty great blessings in my life.  I had a strong family unit growing up.  I have a strong marriage and three beautiful, healthy children.  I have known about God, if not known Him, my entire life.  I've had good friends, in particular Christian friends.  I have my hearing and my sight to enjoy the beauty of God's creation, as well as man-made art and music.  I have a strong, healthy body with which to serve God, my family, and those around me at my jobs and in my community.  As a Christian, I also have the Holy Spirit to guide me and give me strength in areas where I alone am weak.  However, all other joys pale in comparison to having your name recorded in heaven.  

Mark Driscoll's sermon:  Jesus Rejoices in the Holy Spirit


From John MacArthur's sermon:  The Joys of a True Disciple

They rejoiced in power over the kingdom of Satan, protection from the kingdom of Satan, third thing, and this will be quick, they rejoiced not only divine power over Satan's kingdom, divine protection from Satan's kingdom, but divine preservation in God's kingdom. I love this, verse 20. "Nevertheless," as good as all this is, guys, as happy as you are, "nevertheless, do not rejoice in this." And what He means by that phrase is don't limit your joy to that, don't limit your joy to that, that the spirits are subject to you. Oh, that's reason for joy, and I rejoice with you, and I was thrilled to see Satan going down over and over like flashes of lightning. But don't limit your joy to that, that the spirits are subject to you, that's just temporal. That's only going to happen here in this life. Go beyond that and rejoice, verse 20, "That your names are recorded...where?...in heaven." Not only that you're going to enjoy the power of God in this life, but that you're going to enjoy the blessing of God forever.

Could you imagine how encouraging it would be if Jesus came to you personally and said, "By the way, John, your name is recorded in heaven, just in case you had any doubt,"? The seventy never had a doubt again. Jesus said, "I know you're happy about the power over and the protection from Satan, but let me tell you a cause for greater joy, your names are written in heaven, egraphe, recorded on record permanently in heaven. Jesus is saying you're the real deal. You're the true disciple. You're the genuinely converted. You came and you gave your life to embrace Me, and I'm telling you, your names are written in heaven. You rejoice in that. That's the greatest joy. Even the triumphs that we have over Satan are just for this life. That's not the supreme joy. That's not the most wondrous reality. The most wondrous reality is that our names are recorded in heaven. Whatever self-denial, whatever cross bearing, whatever submission was required, whatever turning away from the world and what it offers, the ultimate prize is ours, to be enrolled in the Book of Life. In Jewish thinking there was a book of life, Exodus 32:32 and 33 talks about it, Psalm 69:28 talks about it, Isaiah 4:3, Daniel 12:1, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 13:8. There was a Book of Life and God has written the names of His own in the book. That's the way they did it in ancient times. In towns they had a book and all the citizens who were in good standing were in the book. God has a book and all the citizens of heaven have their name there. And He says your names are there because you're My true disciples. If you're going to rejoice supremely, rejoice in that.

Amen.  Happy Thursday!

Tomorrow's scripture focus:  Luke 10:21-24

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  2 Corinthians 10; Psalm 138; Esther 9-10

Wednesday, August 7th

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Corinthians 8; Psalm 136; Esther 5-6

Today's scripture focus is Luke 10:12-16

Luke 10:12-16

English Standard Version (ESV)

12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.
16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Accompanying Mark Driscoll sermon: The Harvest is Plentiful
Accompanying John MacArthur sermon: A Warning to the Indifferent
Accompanying Matt Chandler sermon: Visible Imperfections and the Glory of God 

When the gospel message is preached there are only two options - receive Jesus as Saviour, Christ, Lord; or reject Jesus as Saviour, Christ, Lord.  There is no middle ground.  Only two options.  Either receive or reject. Indifference may seem better than outright hostility - but it's really not.  Indifference is still rejection. As we saw yesterday, those who receive Jesus receive peace, while those who reject Him receive punishment.

But here we see that there are different levels of punishment.  The gospel is a message of Good News, yes!  But it is also a message of bad news, and the bad news is bad indeed.  In fact, there is no good news without the bad news.  The good news doesn't even make sense unless we realize what the bad news is.  We don't need a Saviour if we don't understand that we need saving.  God's love, grace, and mercy doesn't mean much without understand His holiness, righteousness, and wrath.

But once you've heard the gospel message, you are on dangerous ground indeed.   The more of God's truth you know, there more you have been exposed to gospel message - the more harsh will be your eternal punishment.

Hebrews 10:26-29 26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.  28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

Luke 12:47-48 47 And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Driscoll:
he’s saying that for some towns and people, the judgment will be harsher. For example, Capernaum, he says, “There’s no excuse for you. Peter lived there. I lived there. We started a community group in his house. You were all invited to come. I was teaching and you didn’t listen. So your judgment will be more strict and harsh than those who have had less opportunity.”

Let me ask you this: if there are really only two categories of people, those who reject Jesus as God, Savior, and Christ, and those who receive him as God, Savior, and Christ, which are you? Do you reject or receive Jesus? Do you reject or receive Jesus? And for those of you who live in this day, where you can turn on the radio, hear a sermon. You can log on to the Internet, download Bible teaching. You can get a free copy of the Bible. Pick one up on your way out. We’re glad to give you one. You could go to a church and it costs nothing. Unlike a movie theater or a concert or a sporting event, you can go to church for free. You can go to community group for free. You can get good Christian books for cheap. In a day when there are innumerable opportunities to meet Jesus and learn and grow, if you reject him, how harsh will your hell be?

MacArthur summarizes the previous passage and this one:

Now when you go out to evangelize, it's important for you to remember to be compassionate, to be prayerful, to undergird your evangelism with prayer, to have a sense of urgency, to be vigilant and to exhibit trust...trust in the truth, trust in the work of God to bless that truth. It's important that you have the right message, that you talk about the Kingdom, talk about the peace that will come to those who will enter the Kingdom, the judgment that will come to those who do not. But here's something that usually gets left out of evangelism. After having the right attitude and the right message, we come to a third element in His training of the 70 and that is warning...warning.

How do you end a witnessing opportunity? When you give the gospel to somebody, you proclaim Christ to them, you try to come with a right attitude, you demonstrated compassion, you prayed and undergirded your witness, you have a sense of urgency in compelling them to come. You're expressing a certain amount of vigilance, understanding what's going on around you, being wise in the way you do what you do, trusting in God. You've done all of that. You've given the right message of the gospel and you get shut down. What do you do next? What is....usually the final parting thing is, "I will pray for you," right? I mean, certainly that's legitimate. But let me tell you what Jesus tells us to do, okay? What He tells us to do I just read you in verses 12 to 16. The parting word that Jesus wants these 70 to give is a warning...is a warning. It is not an affirmation, "I love you anyway," although you can say that. That's not the parting word. It is not an affirmation, "I'll pray for you," although certainly you should say that. The final word in evangelistic endeavor is a warning. It is a warning. The news is very bad for those who reject...very bad....

All the ungodly of all the ages will be at that tribunal for that final sentencing and they will be throne into the Lake of Fire. There they will be punished forever. But it will be in that day a lesser punishment for Sodom and Sidon and Tyre and their illustrations of those people who lived before Christ than it will be for anybody who's been exposed to Jesus Christ, whether by personal experience because they were there when He lived, or by the experience of hearing the record of Jesus Christ proclaimed through the Scripture. This is the principle of comparative judgment.

To be exposed to the gospel, to be exposed to Christ either personally, or by the record of Scripture is to raise your level of guilt, culpability and therefore punishment if you reject.

There will be comparative judgment.  Sodom, Tyre are going to get off easier than those in the NT on.  Now that's saying something.

Sodom was associated with extreme homosexuality and God destroyed the city in fire and brimstone.
Tyre is associated with the devil himself (Ezekiel 28:11-18)
Things went really bad for them.
But it's going to go even worse for those who, after being exposed to the gospel message, reject it.  You reject the message, you reject Christ.  You reject Christ, you reject God.  There is no other way to God but through Jesus.  You reject the gospel message at extreme and certain peril.

That seems like a really harsh way to end a gospel presentation - and yet, that's exactly what Jesus did.  Jesus never sugar coated the truth.  He never made it easy for people to follow Him.  He laid is all out on the line.  And truly, we do no one any favours if we don't warn them of the consequences of rejecting the gospel message.



Tomorrow's scripture focus: Luke 10:17-20

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: 2 Corinthians 9, Psalm 137, Esther 7-8

Tuesday, August 6 ~ tammi

Today's Bible In a Year reading: 2 Corinthians 7; Psalm 135; Esther 3-4
Today's scripture focus passage: Luke 10:5-11

Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’

We come today to another disciple missions trip.  These are not the 12 apostles being sent out now, but 70 other close followers of Jesus who have been commissioned and dispatched to prepare the way for Jesus' arrival in the towns around the area.

I love how Macarthur summarizes this passage:  it is essentially the message of Peace or Punishment.  He explains that "Peace be to this house" is not just your run-of-the-mill, standard greeting, but would have held much greater significance for the Jews, who were waiting for their Peace, their Messiah, to come.  This is why offering this greeting would be a sure way to determine who would be open to hearing their message and who wouldn't.  If it was met with enthusiasm, excitement, or even curiosity, they were to stay and bring their message of peace ~ the Messiah was indeed coming, in fact, He was only a few miles away and heading their direction.

If, however, the greeting was met with disdain, Jesus told them not to waste their time there.  No use throwing 'pearls before swine.'  But He instructed the missionaries to make very clear to the town or household the consequences of rejecting the message of peace.  The message then became one of punishment.

I've never really considered it before, but this is the message WE need to spread.  The Kingdom of God is already here and it continues to move inexorably through human history.  It is unstoppable, but whether its coming is a message of peace or a message of punishment is determined by each individual human heart.  We need a new sense of excitement about this!  This is a GREAT thing for God's people!!  But we also need a new sense of urgency, because this is NOT a great thing for those who don't know Him.

This really is some great instruction for how to share the Gospel message, to "preach the Kingdom."  We in our democracies don't fully comprehend or appreciate the concept of a monarchy ~ in particular, a PERFECT monarchy ~ but that is how we need to remember to teach.  Humans are slaves, whether they like it or not, whether they know it or not.  We are either slaves to sin and Satan, or we are bondslaves of God and righteousness.  This is a concept tough to swallow even for many Christians, which, I submit, is why so many of us are nominal Christians.  We just don't comprehend what it is to have NO RIGHTS, no decision-making power, to live ONLY to serve someone else. We bristle at that thought.  But then we're reminded we accepted Christ as our Savior and LORD, and we have to concede that we did, at one point, submit ourselves to Him as King.  What we need to determine then is, did we really submit ourselves or was it just something we said?

And this is the reality that needs to be presented to those whom we tell the Gospel message.  The Gospel IS good news; but we should never forget that it is the good news of the Kingdom of God, which continues to grow, continues to move throughout history and into the future for the peace of those who love God and for the punishment of those who don't.  We need to make sure we do our best to warn people of the consequences of rejecting the message of peace.  We can't just concede and quietly walk away, giving in to the popular belief that we have no right to give our opinions on others' beliefs.  They are entitled to believe whatever they want, yes, but they also need to know what happens to those who reject God's message of peace.  We haven't fully preached the Kingdom if we don't tell them that before we move on.

They need to know that whether the message of God's coming Kingdom is the good news of peace or the bad news of punishment is determined by how they receive it.








Tomorrow's Bible In a Year reading: 2 Corinthians 8; Psalm 136; Esther 5-6
Tomorrow's scripture focus passage: Luke 10:12-17

Monday, August 5 - Luke 10:1-4 - Tiffany

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is Esther 1-2; Psalm 134; 2 Corinthians 6

Today's scripture focus is Luke 10:1-4

 

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ² He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. ³ Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. ⁴ Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

 

 

"After this."  My dad is a pastor, and he used to say, "Whenever you see a "therefore" you need to read the scripture before it to find out what it is THERE FOR!"  I feel the same way about this "After this."  So let's sum up.

 

In chapter 9, Peter names Jesus as the messiah, Jesus is transfigured, predicts his death, heals a demon-possessed boy, is turned away from a Samaritan village, and has to say some rather harsh words about the cost of following Christ.

 

And after that, after the words of the cost of following Christ, after making it clear this wasn't the easy road, Jesus sends out 72 people.  SEVENTY-TWO!  I don't know about you, but in our church, if 72 people suddenly went out proclaiming the gospel, we would be ecstatic!

 

But Jesus told them as they went "You are not enough.  There is SO MUCH work to do, and so few workers. And it isn't safe." (rough translation there.)
And yet, these 72 He appointed, willing went to proclaim the message Jesus was preaching.

 

The most interesting thing to me about this is verse 4.
He had just told them following Him was hard, that there was a lot of work, and it was going to be dangerous. 

I don't know about you, but if I heard these things, and yet was still willing to go, I'd pack a bag.  I'd try to be prepared.

 

Jesus, however, wanted them to rely on Him, on God, to help them as they spread the gospel.  He didn't want them to rely on their own resources, but on God's resources and provision.

And he didn't want them to dilly-dally.  They were in a hurry, this was an urgent message.  Don't stop and talk to people about idle gossip on the road! Get to where you're going!  Preach my message!

If today Jesus sent you out, and you couldn't pack a bag, and you couldn't stop and tell your friends what you were up to, if you just had to GO - would you do it?

Tomorrow's scripture focus: Luke 10:5-11
Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Esther 3-4; Psalm 135; 2 Corinthians 7

Friday, August 2nd

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is 2 Corinthians 5; Psalm 133; Nehemiah 9-10

Today's scripture focus is Luke 9:57-62

Luke 9:57-62

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Cost of Following Jesus

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him,“Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said,“Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Accompanying John MacArthur sermon:  Barriers to True Discipleship
Accompanying Mark Driscoll sermon: Jesus Before All
Accompanying Matt Chandler sermon: Perplexed

Jesus does not sugar coat the gospel message.  He doesn't make it easy to accept salvation.  He doesn't try to create some emotional environment so someone will "make a decision" that they don't even understand.

Becoming a Christian is simple, but it is so not easy.

MacArthur:

The issue here is salvation, people. ... It's about coming into the Kingdom. And Jesus is simply saying to these people, "Look, if you're holding back anything, you can't come in. Salvation is for those who have come to complete self-denial." The Lord may not take away all your comfort. He may not take away all your possessions. He may not take away all your relationships. But you're not negotiating. You're simply saying the infinite value of the gospel of Jesus Christ is so great that if He asks, I'll give it all up. I'll give it all up.

So responding properly to Christ is not a matter of emotion. It's not a matter of an event. It's not a matter of a momentary acceptance or decision. It is not some superficial interest. It is not even a matter of saying I will follow. It is a matter of self-denial, total self-denial, a willingness to give up everything because the value of Christ is so infinite. The sinner has reached that level of desperation by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. He who doesn't take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of Me, Jesus said. He who has found his life shall lose it. He who has lost his life for My sake shall find it. It's about losing your life. It's about hating yourself. It's about holding on to nothing. It's a Beatitude attitude....

When Jesus invited someone to come into His Kingdom, when Jesus invited someone to receive His forgiveness and salvation, He asked that person for the rest of his life. He didn't want a moment. He didn't want the emotion of a moment. He wanted a carefully thought out understood commitment of a lifetime. Repentance from sin, confession of Jesus as Lord, obedience from the heart to the Word and the Spirit was for life. And there was always that emphasis in the ministry of Jesus. He disdained the short-term disciple. He made things so difficult for many would-be disciples that, for example, in the sixth chapter of John it says, "Many of His disciples walked no more with Him." The standard was just too high. What was required was too demanding.

A watered down gospel is no gospel at all.

We need to choose Jesus over comfort, Jesus over security, Jesus over family, Jesus over "what could have been", Jesus over our past, Jesus over everything.  He may not ask us to give up all of those things, but we have to be willing to do so.

Chandler also adds some great thoughts on his sermon.  Jesus does not ever preach a prosperity gospel, not ever.  And this passage in particular drives that point home.  (Sorry, this is a little long, but it's really good)

My problem with the prosperity gospel and what I hope is resonating with you this morning is that it’s everyone’s hope but it’s no one’s reality. Has coming to church made you impervious to difficulty, pain, sorrow and frustration? Has coming to church made any of you super wealthy? Let me tell you who it makes wealthy. The guys who spew on you that you should be wealthy if you would love God enough. And then they use their own lives as examples. “Look at my 72 bedroom mansion. Look at my private jet. Do you know how I got that? Faith.” No, you got that by lying to widows and stealing their money. So the reason why I hammer on that stuff is because it’s so untrue. And if you buy into it, you’re going to have the rug pulled out from underneath you. Because God fearing, Holy Spirit filled men and women of faith die at 40 and leave their 2nd graders behind, and their marriages get hard, and their kids go crazy for seasons, and they lose their jobs, and sometimes they just get by, and sometimes they wake up in the middle of the night and doubt whether or not they’re saved, and sometimes they just don’t want to come to church that morning....

At some point, you’ve got to look at what life is and stop creating this imaginary fairy-tale that’s not in the Scriptures, and you’ve got to engage truth. And truth is that you and I, beloved by God, are at times going to bleed and we’re going to get confused and we’re not going to understand what He wants from us and we’re going to have our faith tested and life’s going to play out in different ways than we want it to....
So how do we live in light of that? Because we know He’s good. Here are some things. It’s why we so desperately need each other. It’s why how we do church in the Bible Belt where you attend and listen to a sermon but aren’t connected to other Christians is so devastating.....The body has been given to us for this purpose, that we live in a fallen world. It’s broken, and no man has been gifted by God with the power to sustain wave after wave after wave after wave. It’s why Hebrews says do not neglect the gathering of the saints and encourage one another daily. It’s so you don’t get hard. We need each other.

Alright, let me throw this one out at you. This one is not going to be popular. Some of you are not going to come back because of this...which is good because we need the seats. I feel like I’m going to catch and e-mail on that one. Let me throw this out to you. What if you and your life are not the center of history? What if you are not the sun around which all other planets rotate? What if you are a part of the greatest drama/adventure the universe will ever know, but you’re not the star of the play? What if your life goes beyond you and plays into something bigger than you? You can’t deny the fact that you’re temporary and that you’re ignorant. Me too. Let me show you. Six months from today at 3:00, what are you doing? Who are you hanging out with? What are you guys having for lunch? Some of you are like, “I don’t know what I’m having for lunch today.” But who does? Do you realize the billions of tiny details that had to be brought about to even get you in this room this morning? And you are aware of few of them. You think you’re here because your spouse pestered you into this place or your neighbor pestered you into this place or this is just what you do. You think you’re in here for those reasons. Did you know that we moved from San Francisco, California to Galveston, Texas, and within just a few months of us moving there, a guy begins to share the gospel with me? Did you know that the book of Isaiah says that God moves a man from here to here for the purposes of God? We moved because the military saw fit to move my father. But could it be that God was moving him because I had an appointment with salvation? I don’t know. I’m just throwing that out there. All I knew was that I was moving from the Bay Area, which is kind of attractive aesthetically, to Galveston, which is kind of not. I moved from friends and connections to none. You just can’t see what God’s doing. So maybe He’s accomplishing His will. And let me just put this out there. Could it be that your joy as well as your suffering is being used by God not only in you, but in those around you to accomplish the purposes of God?....
what if your suffering wasn’t just all about you? What if God’s accomplishing other things? What if death isn’t the worst thing ever? What if we believed that one day all that is dark will be pushed back and the new heaven and the new earth will be established and all of the deepest sorrows will make sense and it will come together like this beautiful stained glass window where here all we saw was jagged glass? And then it all makes sense? And then we see the picture? See, I think we have to have an eternal mindset. I think you have to have kingdom eyes. And if you don’t see that, you’re going to get sucked in. And when life is all about you, religiously you will sky rocket when things are well into self-righteousness, and when things are not well, you will plummet to self-pity. Which is why when everything is going well for you, you don’t understand why it can’t go well for everybody else. “Well, they just lack faith” or “You need to come to church with me. It’s working for me.” And it’s why when things go bad, people tend to wallow in self-pity. “Poor me. I just can’t figure it out. Maybe I’m not elect. God hates me.” And that’s what happens when it’s all about you. And I really believe that this is one of the things that retards our faith. “It’s my faith, my growth, my relationship, where I am, what I feel, where I struggle, where I do well...” And that’s that rugged individualism that’s just American Christianity. It’s not biblical Christianity. It’s why Paul goes, “I’ve been rich, I’ve been poor, I’ve been sick, I’ve been healthy. God’s good.” It’s why Job goes, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I’ll return. The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” By the way, that’s right after all seven of his children die, all his wealth is taken from him and all he’s left with is a nagging wife. And then I always want to push this on you. You have to always keep at the forefront of your mind that you’re not under wrath, but that you’re under mercy if you’re children of God. Which means everything that befalls your life is the mercy of God. And I know it’s easy to go, “I don’t know about that.” But what would be more merciful than you getting sick and having the life squeezed out of you and in it knowing Jesus Christ really deeply, or God giving you health to 103 and never letting you see Him or know Him? Which is the mercy of God if you’re looking at this thing in regards to eternity and not your little 30-70 years?...
you have not been abandoned. God is working. He has not lost control. I pray that He give you a community to mourn with and that He give you eyes to see beyond yourself. Let’s pray. “Father, I pray for these men and women, and I thank You for the truth of these Scriptures that we covered today. I pray that You would give us the faith to follow even when it’s frustrating and even when we don’t understand and even when we wish you would have played it differently. Father, I do pray that You would give us eyes to see just beyond us, that we would be able to see both our joy and our sorrow corporately, what You’re accomplishing in your church, what You’re accomplishing in the lives around us or maybe what You’re making us wait for while You set up other things. We do place our hope and trust that one day there will be no more of this and it will all make sense. Until then, help us. It’s for your beautiful name. Amen.”


Monday's scripture focus: Luke 10:1-4

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage: Nehemiah 11-12
Sunday's passage: Nehemiah 13
Monday's passage: Esther 1-2. Psalm 134, 2 Corinthians 6

Thursday, August 1st ~ Miriam

Today's passage from the Bible In a Year Reading Plan is  2 Corinthians 4; Psalm 132; Nehemiah 7-8.

Today's scripture focus is  Luke 9:51-56.

51 When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; 52 and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him.53 But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.

I had actually forgotten about this - the part where James and John ask Jesus if they should rain fire down on the Samaritans.  From Jesus Before All by Mark Driscoll:

Now Jesus, thus far, has been doing the preponderance of his ministry, up north, in Galilee, small towns, villages. He is working around the Sea of Galilee with peasants, fishermen, and farmers. He’s making his multi-month walk toward Jerusalem, toward the cross, toward his place of death, burial, resurrection, ascension. And then he passes through an area called Samaria.

Now let me explain to you Samaria. These people were kind of Jews. They had intermarried with pagans, and they established their own temple, their own Bible, their own religion, their own theology, their own pastors. And the Jews didn’t know what to do with these people, because they were just completely cuckoo. This would be like, let’s see, Mormon nudist Scientologists. You’d be like, “I don’t even know what to do with them,” right? “They say they’re sort of an offshoot of Christianity, but we don’t even know what to do with them.”

So what would happen is, as God’s people journeyed from Galilee to Jerusalem, they would just walk around Utah. They would just go completely around Utah, and they didn’t even know what to do with Samaria. And the hostility between the Jewish people and the Samaritans was intense. Just an absolute conflict. 

And so Jesus doesn’t walk around Samaria, he walks through Samaria, and he sends messengers ahead of him, and here’s why. A lot of these towns, as I’ve said repeatedly, are very small, dozens, hundreds of people. And Jesus is rolling with quite a large entourage. It’s him, plus the twelve plus the seventy plus however many other Facebook friends have, you know, followed him on their app, and been able to find him and come along for the ride. So you’re looking at, I don’t know, eighty, a hundred plus people. And if you’re a village of forty or sixty people, you don’t have a Ramada Inn. You don’t have a Costco or a Sam’s Club. You’re not set up to receive this many visitors at one time.
So they roll into Samaria, “Jesus is coming and here’s what’s going on.” And the Samaritans said, “You know what? We really don’t want Jesus, because if he’s determined to go to Jerusalem, that mean he’s not going to validate our tribe.” See, the Samaritan people were a religious group, a political group, a racial group, a cultural group, a social group. They were a tribe. They were like people who, today, have all of their life and identity wrapped up in some tribe or grouping.

They said, “Well, we’re willing to have Jesus, providing he joins our tribe. He needs to validate our theology. He needs to go to our temple. He needs to support our leaders. He needs to reinforce our theology. He can’t go to Jerusalem. That would show the world that Jerusalem, and not Samaria, is where God wants to begin his redemptive work. That would show that their interpretation of the Bible is right and ours is wrong. Rather than repenting, we’ll reject Jesus.” Those are your only two options, repent or reject Jesus. And they don’t repent, they reject Jesus. And what they do is they put their tribe above Jesus. They’re willing to have Jesus, providing he will support them, and he won’t.
And the truth is this is how a lot of people work. They want Jesus in their tribe on their terms, and he comes and says, “No, I’m God. You don’t tell me to follow you, I tell you to follow me. I don’t join your team, you join mine.” And Jesus’ team is very diverse, different races and languages and nations and cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. And he invites all to follow him, but he does not follow anyone else. He’s God. And even religions will do this, and some of you are trying to do this. You say, “I like Jesus, and I’m totally fine with him, providing he does what I tell him, providing he supports what I already believe.”

But what if Jesus doesn’t support your political party, your cause? What if he doesn’t support your national interests or your racial preferences or your cultural biases or your sexual orientation? What if he says, “No, that’s not what I’m into. You need to lay that down and follow me and start over.” Would you be willing to receive him, or would you reject him? 

And when this message gets to the Samaritans, they’re like, “He’s going to Jerusalem, and he wants us to follow him? We have a totally different agenda and ideology. Jesus can either submit to us or leave.” They lose the blessing of enjoying friendship, fellowship with Jesus.

Some of you have done that. You say, “I’m fine with Jesus, as long as he doesn’t act like he’s God, Lord, in charge. As long as he reinforces what I believe and how I behave, then I will tolerate him. But if he calls me to repent, or he shows that I’m wrong, then I will reject him.” Please don’t do that. The Samaritans did. God came to earth, walked through Samaria, the place where nobody else wanted to go. He extended a hand of friendship, and they rejected it.

So two of his disciples decide, “Let’s call fire down from heaven,” right? These are those guys, right? These are the “turn or burn” sign guys, right? “You want to receive Jesus?” “No”. “Then you’re gonna burn in hell! Next.” I mean these not patient guys, right? James and John.

Now I’ll tell you what I like about this, these guys don’t lack confidence. They just think, “We can just call down fire from heaven,” which that’s sort of a big assumption. They don’t even tell Jesus, “Hey, we think you should call down fire from heaven.” They’re like, “We totally got this. Fire from heaven, we’re ready to roll if you’re cool with that. We think ‘Samaria’ is Greek for ‘kindling,’ and we’re ready to give it a run,” you know?
Jesus says, essentially, this: “It’s not time.” Right, there is a season, a time for condemnation, but this is a season and time for salvation. Jesus is saying, “Look, I’m going to Jerusalem. I’m gonna die on a cross. I’m gonna suffer. I’m gonna atone for sin. You guys can come back to Samaria, we’ll send some of my people to say that I’ve atoned for sin, and conquered sin and death through the resurrection, and let’s give the Samaritans another opportunity to receive grace, and mercy, and forgiveness, and salvation.”

See, as long as you’re alive, there’s a chance, and yeah, the Samaritans blew their opportunity. They didn’t have a right sense of urgency, but Jesus is not to be dissuaded. He’s gonna go and atone for sin, and he’s gonna be patient with them as he’s patient with you, as he’s patient with me, and as he’s patient with his own disciples, James and John. He’s really patient with us. It doesn’t mean we should be lazy or not have a sense of urgency.  (empasis mine)
I'm going to leave that there, because this is pretty long already, but I know that there isn't always a sense of urgency for me when it comes to spiritual things.  (Well, sometimes even everyday things.  Procrastination is sometimes too good a friend of mine.)  I have also been guilty of trying to cram God, Jesus, following God's will, and the plan of salvation into my ideas of who or what they are or should be instead of really submitting to Him as Lord of my life.  I'm sure I'm not alone in that.

Happy Thursday!

Tomorrow's scripture focus:  Luke 9:57-62.

Tomorrow's Bible In a Year Passage passage:  2 Corinthians 5; Psalm 133; Nehemiah 9-10.