Tag: Follow Me

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The Night When He Was Betrayed

Daily Reading

1Corinthians 9-11

Daily Thought

The church in Corinth was a mess and the Lord’s Supper put this on display. The people gathered on Sundays, each bringing their own food, and consuming commenced on arrival. No one waited for anyone else, no shared communion. Some got drunk, the wealthy overate, and the poor went hungry. Paul’s dismay was wrapped in a single word, “What!” (1Corinthians 11:22). It was time to clean up this mess and return the Corinthians to the night when Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples and instituted the Lord’s Supper, “the night when he was betrayed,” (1Corinthians 11:23) is how Paul describes it. 

Jesus instituted communion as a reoccurring reminder of our daily devotion. In eating the bread and drinking the cup, we remember the cross of Christ and commit and recommit to follow, and it began “on the night when he was betrayed,” because it is a choice we must make, shall I follow Jesus or go the way of Judas, and there is no in-between. 

Daily Prayer

Father God, the abundant life You promise begins with a choice to follow You, to love You with all my heart and soul and mind and strength. That’s what I choose to do, to  follow You, and everything else in my life follows after that. 

I promise, Jesus, to keep Your cross in front of me, to live my life as a sacrifice to You just as You gave Your life as a sacrifice for me. And the amazing thing is, I lose nothing of value and gain everything that’s worth anything. The good life is the godly life.

Amen

Daily Question

What is involved in the decision as to whether or not you follow Jesus? Why follow? Why not?

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Follow Me

Daily Reading

1Corinthians 1-4

Daily Thought

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” ~1Corinthians 1:10

The Apostle Paul grieves at division in the church at Corinth. They were choosing sides, , “for when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human?” (1Corinthians 2:4). It began at the beginning, when Adam and Eve, rather than follow God, preferred to make their own choices and ate the fruit, and now we follow them. Do a search of churches and you find lots of choices, Presbyterian or Methodist or Baptist or Lutheran or Catholic or Anglican or Episcopal or Pentecostal, the list goes on. That is our way, we major on the minors and champion the lesser. We choose style or songs or sermons, and brush aside the prayer of our Savior, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).

Paul insists that he and Apollos are but gardeners, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1Corinthians 3:6). Jesus said, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19, and a whole bunch of other verses), so Paul, “decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1Corinthians 2:2). He championed Jesus, and it is in that alone that we are Christian, we are united, we are one.

Daily Prayer

You, O God, are One. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The Lord our God. The Lord is one. 

You told us we must be one, that we must love one another, that we must be united, that our joy in You is connected to our unity in Your Spirit. God, bring us together. Your church is strongest when our shared love for Jesus matters more than our differences. Teach me humility and servanthood and love.

Amen

Daily Question

Why are there so many different denominations in the Christian Church? Is this a good thing or bad thing? 

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The Perfect

Daily Reading

Matthew 5-6

Daily Thought

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18). Jesus then elaborates on the what exactly are the iotas and the dots of the Law. Murder is a big one, but Jesus says anger and hate are the same thing. Adultery is bad, of course, but Jesus says if you lust you are guilty. Do not swear to tell the truth, just tell the truth, always. Turn the other cheek and go the second mile. Love your neighbor and love your enemy. In summary, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). 

Fat chance. No one can claim what Jesus claimed, that he fulfilled all the Law, that he is perfect. 

Jesus holds two expectations of you, the first, perfection, the holy expectation of heaven, extravagant righteousness, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:21). Jesus gave you a standard you cannot reach, not to frustrate you, but to inspire you. 

Perfection is our aspiration, but Jesus knows we will fall far short because he knows our fondness for the forbidden fruit. He knows we will sin. That is his second expectation, that we will fall short. We will fail at times. Or a lot. 

Jesus stands in the middle of two expectations, perfection and failure, and so he says, simply, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19), and that is our choice. Will it be Satan or Savior, sinner or saint? He demands a choice, for “no one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24), and if we choose to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” then “all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33), all the iotas and dots. We will be perfect, because “for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus took our place so we could take his.

Daily Prayer

My God, You sent Your Son the first time to bring salvation. His second coming will usher those who are saved into Your Eternal Kingdom.

My salvation is in knowing You as my Savior and Lord, and I desire to be at all times excited at Your coming. Help me live each day believing it could be The Day, the day that You return. May I live with the freedom and confidence that comes from knowing that this world will pass, so there is nothing in this world that should hold me. There is nothing more valuable than You. May I love You, therefore, with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love my neighbor as myself. May I live the life You saved me to live.

Amen

Daily Question

Why does Jesus tell you to “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), if he knows you cannot live up to that challenge?

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Simple Certainty

Daily Reading

Jeremiah 38-41

Daily Thought

Jeremiah’s prophetic warning is summarized in one proclamation: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will fulfill my words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day’” (Jeremiah 39:16). 

That day arrives and Judah at long last falls to Babylon. 

It is recorded in a perfunctory cadence, “In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city” (Jeremiah 39:1-2). 

There is no joy in judgment, but a simple certainty that God is true to his word. The same applies not only in judgment, but salvation as well: “But I will deliver you on that day” (Jeremiah 39:17), declares the Lord to Jeremiah, short and sweet.

And there is found the joy, a simple certainty that God is true to his word.

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up. ~1Thessalonians 5:9-11

Trust God–it’s that simple.

Daily Prayer

My God, thank You so much for salvation, saving me from the judgment I deserve. The future is certain, but whether certain of judgment or salvation is up to me and Who I follow. I choose You.

May my life lead others to follow You, as well. God, Your Word is true, and it is good.

Amen

Daily Question

Why did you choose to follow Jesus?

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Follow Me

Daily Reading

1Corinthians 1-4

Daily Thought

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” ~1Corinthians 1:10

The Apostle Paul grieves at division in the church at Corinth, “for when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not being merely human?” (1Corinthians 2:4). It began at the beginning, when Adam and Eve, rather than follow God, preferred to make their own choices and ate the fruit, and now we follow them. Do a search of churches and you find lots of choices, Presbyterian or Methodist or Baptist or Lutheran or Episcopal or Pentecostal, the list goes on. That is our way, we major on the minors and champion the lesser. We choose style or songs or sermons, and brush aside the prayer of our Savior, “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).

Paul insists that he and Apollos are but gardeners, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1Corinthians 3:6). Jesus said, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19, and a whole bunch of other verses), so Paul, “decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1Corinthians 2:2). He championed Jesus, and it is in that alone that we are Christian, we are united, we are one.

Daily Prayer

You, O God, are One. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The Lord our God. The Lord is one. 

You told us we must be one, that we must love one another, that we must be united, that our joy in You is connected to our unity in Your Spirit. God, bring us together. Your church is strongest when our shared love for Jesus matters more than our differences. Teach me humility and servanthood and love.

Amen

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The Journey

Daily Reading

Nehemiah 8-9

Daily Thought

When the Word of God is open, we read the story of God and us. We see the ebb of our disobedience and rebellion and the flow of God’s discipline, his grace, and his mercy. We begin to understand ourselves and our God. “And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel” (Nehemiah 8:1). Ezra read from the book all day, every day for days, and when he stopped reading, the people confessed their sins and worshipped their Creator, “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you” (Nehemiah 9:6). They worshipped their Savior, “You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them” (Nehemiah 9:17). They worshipped their God, “the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love” (Nehemiah 9:32).

Jesus said to his disciples, “Follow me,” because transformation is a journey. It happens over time and trouble. “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Philippians 1:6) is God’s promise of process, persistence, and perseverance with us. If it is not good yet, God is not done yet, because “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). When the Word of God is open, we see the big picture of our God, who is faithful and wonderful and mighty and merciful. God is the author of life and, therefore, “the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Daily Prayer

My God, I celebrate Your goodness, Your love, Your grace and mercy, Your majesty. I sing loudly with joy, because You are good and You are my God. The joy I find in You gives me strength to overcome, because nothing compares. Certainly not the cheap pleasures of this world. May I wake each day, delight in Your Word, and walk in the joy set before me.

Keep my memory fresh, God, of the ways You have worked in my life. May I draw on Your faithfulness when times are tough, when my strength wavers, when it is dark. I know You are with me, help me remember You always will be.

Amen