What do you want me to do for you?

Have you ever wondered why Jesus would ask a blind man what he would want Jesus to do for him?  To me it would have been obvious the man would want his sight back.  In the coaching classes I have taken one of the key principles is not to assume what the other person is in need of, even those needs that would seem obvious.  Through good questions from the coach, the one being coached reveals what they believe their need is and the goal of the coach is to help them set their own goals in how to accomplish their task.

Jesus shows he is the Great Coach in his interactions with others.  The Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 and the blind beggar in Luke 18 are perfect examples.   

The woman at the well left that day with her unseen need fulfilled even though the obvious need of water was left behind for the greater , “the woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village…”

The blind beggar left that day with the obvious need met, yet Jesus still gave the man the opportunity to answer the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

As we go about our daily lives, let’s keep our eyes and ears open to those around us.  Let’s not be in such a schedule driven day we fail to respond to the silent cries of the hurting hearts in order to quickly fulfill the obvious need.  Take the time, and the risk, to ask, “If God were to do something for you today, what would you want him to do?”

What would YOU want Jesus to do for you today?

Faith Grows from Obedience

We have an elderly family member that even though I know they are grateful in their hearts for what is done for them, they haven’t always verbally expressed their thanks.  To the point where sometimes it seems they just bark orders all the while we are waiting for the “thank you” or “please”.  When I mentioned this observation to them, their response was one of surprise, “I always say thank you and please” and in their minds they may think this is so.

I was thinking about this while reading Luke 17:10 this morning.  The disciples were asking Jesus to show them how to increase their faith.  Jesus gave them the illustration of the mustard seed and then adds,

“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

Am I the only one or have you ever thought this was an odd illustration of how to increase ones faith?  What does a master not thanking his servant for doing what he should be doing have to do with increasing faith?

Simply this, why do we crave recognition for doing what God expects us to do as part of his family?  And is it God’s recognition or man’s we want?  Are we doing God a favor by simply carrying out what his desires are?

Self honor, appreciation or thanks are not to be the driving force behind obedience to God.  Love is.  Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me.  And because they love me, my Father will love them.  And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.  All who love me will do what I say.  My Father will love them and we will come and make our home with each of them.  I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart.” (John 14:15-27)

Truth is the foundation trust is built upon. Obedience-love is the result of trusting even though we don’t understand.  Faith grows from obedience, a resignation not in our own way.  These do not require 'thank you', 'please' or appreciation.  We are merely doing what is required of us with the greater reward being faith.

As with a circle these three are a constant flow into each other.

There is no shortcut to faith.  Want faith?  It starts and continues with obedience.

A Watchman In Prayer

Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
    Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3

This verse has always inspired and moved me to belief-action.  When I begin to feel as though my prayers are just words I am always reminded of David and his burning passion and intimacy with God.  This reminder was not just David’s but is as necessary for us today as is breathing for our physical bodies.

Do we really pray expecting God to answer or do we wait until the answer is known before we become expectant?

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, “I publicly proclaim bold promises.    I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner. I would not have told the people of Israel to seek me I could not be found.  I, the Lord, speak only what is true and declare only what is right.” (Is 45:19)

“Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you, nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.” (Is 59:1)

Micah declared, “As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.” Micah 7:7 

Today can we really trust God will hear us, even want to hear us?  Is his ear only bent toward some and not others?

Expectantly in Psalm 5:3 means to look out or about, spy, keep watch, observe, watch, watch closely.  This is similar to a watchman on the city walls looking intently and waiting expectantly.

What does a watchman do?

1.  Stays alert

 AT ALL TIMES……“Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)

IN PERSISTENCE….. And so I tell you keep on asking, and you will receive…Keep on seeking, and you will find…Keep on knocking and the door will be open.” (Lk 11:9-10); Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere. (Eph 6:18)

WITH A THANKFUL HEART… Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. (Col 4:2)

  

2.  Announces what he sees/hears

OPPOSITION…Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

VICTORY… You were dead because of your sins…Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.  He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.  In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.  He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. Col 2:1-15

 3.  Keeps guard of an entrance

TO THE HEART…Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 1 Corinthians 16:13

TO THE MIND…Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:7

TO THE MOUTH…Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips.
 Don’t let me drift toward evil or take part in acts of wickedness.
Don’t let me share in the delicacies (gossip??) of those who do wrong. Ps 141:3-4

4.  Sits high above so he can see over what he guards

THERE IS NO OTHER POWER OR AUTHORITY ABOVE OUR GOD… Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. Ephesians 1:21

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33

And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Hebrews 10:21-23

Go deeper

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4)

At the height of Peter’s need he meets Jesus.  He has no clue the answer will become the catalyst for a life transformation.  But before Jesus provides the solution he asks Peter to help him…to give of his resources (the boat).  We know the end result but Peter didn't.  We also get glimpses of what may have been some of the teaching Peter heard that day.  Whatever Peter heard Jesus say caused him to try again, to ‘go deeper.’   Peter was a professional fisherman; he didn't need anyone instructing him in his trade. 

“We worked hard all night and didn't catch a thing, but if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.”

Several observations:

 Jesus asked Peter for something before he provided for Peter.    “…Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it (the boat) out into the water.  So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.”  This observation is not to be taken as a “1-2-3 step for receiving”.  Peter was in the midst of washing his nets—he was working and took time away from his work.  I often wonder if we get so focused on ourselves and the expectations for our needs to be met before we are willing to give or help others. What would Jesus want from me before____________?

Peter’s transformation begins.  He was willing to give, to leave behind exactly what he needed.  What if God answered our most desperate need today?  Would we be willing to give back to God totally and without reserve the very means by which that desperation was met? Would we clench with closed hand the blessing God has given us?  Going deeper is costly.  Fear and worry are replaced with trust and faith; surrender takes the place of resistance. Going deeper requires leaving the usual for the unusual.

“And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.”

‘I’ is not part of ‘we’.  “..I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you…All who love me will do what I say.  My Father will love them and we will come and make our home with each of them….I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart.  I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 14:16,23,27; 16:33)

We fall prey to stinkin’ thinkin’ when we believe ‘I need to take care of myself… better myself…cleanse myself…before I can give out to others.’    In the presence of Holy, Peter was overwhelmed by his own sinfulness and he was awestruck with the answer to his need.  Jesus said, ‘Don’t be afraid!’  Peter was not going to become and do what Jesus was calling him to do by himself.  Nor did Jesus require Peter to fix himself before he could be used.  Jesus doesn't call us today to be or do for him by ourselves.  Peter abandoned ‘I’ to become part of ‘We’.  Are we truly willing to abandon the ‘I’ to be overtaken by the ‘We’?

There will no doubt be readers of this blog going through difficult situations. 

“Teacher, we have tried everything we know to do and it just isn't working.”   What if Jesus were asking us to, “go out where it is deeper.”    What would that ‘deeper’ look like?  Would we trust him enough with no excuses and no answers needed to go there?

What are we desperately praying for and when he answers would we be willing to leave everything and follow Jesus?

Do we sincerely want God’s wisdom?

Setting boundaries is a popular word phrase to express taking control in a particular area(s) of one’s life.  I agree there are some instances where this is critical for the physical and emotional well being of someone who is being victimized.  But just as boundaries can be a protective measure it can also become an excuse to keep people out or to wield control.

So what do boundaries have to do with wisdom?  I guess it would all depend on what kind of wisdom we are seeking.

We probably all know of situations where boundaries have been drawn because of offenses yet the offenses have not been talked through to any resolution.  Each is waiting for the other to make a move.  Each is a believer in Jesus Christ and wants to live according to God’s way.  Each one claiming they have sought God’s wisdom and feel justified in their decisions before the Lord. 

Yet the chasm grows wider with each passing moment.  Those close to the situation see the affects of the standoff but their concerns are met with charges of interference.

How can this be? Friendships, families and churches are torn apart all waiting for the other person(s) to make the first move.  What and how does praying for God’s wisdom look like in these circumstances?  How can both ends of the spectrum be deemed correct yet destruction loom?

To help answer these questions, let’s look at what James has to say about wisdom.

     If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking.  But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.

     If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying.  For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.  For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

      But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.  And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 1:5-6;3:13-18NLT)

Ø  If we sincerely want wisdom, ask God…don’t rely on another person for our wisdom.  In the process be ready to possibly receive a different direction not anticipated.  Are we willing to change or even abandon our course to follow God’s wisdom? Do we ‘sincerely’ want God’s wisdom?  

Ø  Wisdom is shown by the way we live our lives, our deeds and depth of humility in which we do those.  Wisdom will only grow in the soil of humility.  Bitterness, jealousy, selfish ambition, boasting and lying are not byproducts of God’s kind of wisdom and need to be weeded (not just surface-cut but deep roots pulled) from our hearts soil in order for wisdom to take root.  Humility is fertilized with purity, mercy, good deeds, sincerity, gentleness, peace and a willingness to yield to others.  This is the environment wisdom grows.  Do we ‘sincerely’ want God’s wisdom?

Ø  Wisdom and peacemaking go hand in hand. To be a peacemaker means actively pursuing peace regardless of whether it is reciprocated.  Our actions and reactions are the only ones we have control over.  This peace, in the Greek, is the same Paul talks about in Galatians 5 as part of the fruit of the Spirit.  Do we ‘sincerely’ want God’s wisdom?

Ø  Wisdom and willingness to yield to others, no matter who is right, go hand in hand.   Being willing to yield to another in some translation is “being reasonable.”  Perhaps this is in our yielding to the other person or in our expectations of that other person.  Do we ‘sincerely’ want God’s wisdom?

Each bullet point ends with a deliberate question:  Do we ‘sincerely’ want God’s wisdom.  If we do, we will no doubt be the one to change course, to abandon our right (real or perceived) for the good of wisdom to be shown, to re-evaluate certain boundaries and for healing to begin even if it is in our hearts alone.

The Bread Conspiracy

There is nothing better than the aroma of homemade bread baking in the oven.  It fills the house such a welcoming scent and reminiscent of days gone by with a much slower pace.

As a stay-at-home mom I would make all our bread.  When our children started school and I went to work my wonderful husband missed his much loved bread so he bought me a bread machine and the marriage of work and homemade bread was born!

I was thinking of the casting of bread in the faceoff between Satan and Jesus on this earth. 

The first enticement Satan threw to Jesus in the wilderness was bread when he heckled Jesus to prove he was the Son of God by turning stones into bread. 

If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.  But Jesus told him, “No!  The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”[i]

Jesus didn’t fall prey to Satan’s conspiracy…he didn’t have to prove what Satan already knew, he WAS the Son of God.

The second bread conspiracy was at the Passover Celebration the night of Jesus betrayal.

“For Jesus knew who would betray him.  “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.”  And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.  When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him.  Then Jesus told him, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.”[ii]

As in any conspiracy there is the means by which it is achieved.  Judas was the means by which the religious elite could finally get rid of Jesus.  Being prompted by Satan prior to the supper he would  now take complete control over Judas to ensure the conspiracy was fulfilled.  The bread was the means by which Satan would enter Judas and finally get rid of Jesus…or so he thought.   

Is it possible Jesus was not only speaking to Judas that night but also to Satan when he said, “Hurry and do what you’re going to do.”?  Perhaps he was saying, “Go ahead give it one last shot, do what you are going to do.  But my answer remains the same.  I will do what I was sent to accomplish.  I will do what the Father has willed from the moment you turned on him and started your war us.  And I will do it one-on-one with you just as you deceived one-on-one with the first Adam.

Once again Jesus was declaring “I am the bread from heaven.  The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”[iii]   Your bread, Satan, is counterfeit…stale…store bought.

The outcome of this final bread temptation was not what Satan anticipated.  The true Bread of Life cancelled the record of charges against us by nailing them on the cross.  In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities (aka, Satan) and he shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.[iv] 

Once again Satan’s conspiracy was foiled by the Victor and lover of our souls.

For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Jesus Christ.  He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.[v]

When Satan tries to offer you and me counterfeit bread, it will always be stale, don’t eat it! 

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[i] Matthew 4:3-4

[ii] John 13:11, 26-27

[iii] John 6:32-40

[iv] Colossians 2:14-15

[v] 1 Timothy 2:5-6

Teacher or Lord?

Influence is a powerful tool.  It can either be used to spurn one in a positive or negative direction and help form lifelong belief systems during impressionable stages in life.  We have all been influenced by someone while growing up which helped define the course we took as adults.  Perhaps it was a favorite teacher, a doctor or nurse, police officer or attorney, a pastor or missionary.

On the negative side influence can lead someone into a life of regret, bondage and hopelessness.

We have the opportunity every day to be an influence for good or bad in someone’s life.

I was thinking about this while reading Colossians 1:23; 2:6-8 and1Timothy 1:4 this morning.

But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.

The Bible isn't just a historical keepsake but when paired with our belief in Jesus Christ it becomes the standard and source of how we live in the world around us.

I love teaching about the Teacher, but therein lays a hidden danger if a teacher is all I believe in.  To believe in Jesus as a teacher might bring change could even bring a positive influence in my life.  But until I believe Jesus was more than a cute baby in a manger or a teacher with a powerful life altering message transformation will not occur.

I believe this was the thought behind Paul’s admonition in the above with this key verse: 

“Just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.”

You see it is easier teaching about the Teacher rather than submitting to him as Lord.

As follower of Jesus the teacher, however great a teacher I may think he is, I still have the choice to decide if I want to do or accomplish the tasks or follow the teachings he presents.  But to accept Jesus as Lord that means I surrender my whole being to him.  The Greek meaning of Lord literally means He becomes the possessor, owner, the one who has control of me.  This also means I give him respect and reverence such as when servants would greet their master in times past. 

Lordship is such a foreign concept to us today especially living in the United States.  No matter what you may think of government today, we have never been subjected to Kings, tyrannical reign or forced submission.  We have grown up with freedoms and choices others only dream about.  Freedom brings struggle in truly understanding and learning about submission to another especially to One we cannot see physically.  The disciples physically walked and lived with Jesus yet struggled with understanding him as Lord.

I recently read that Judas never addressed Jesus as Lord but only teacher.  It always amazed me that Judas witnessed the same miracles and teachings from Jesus the other disciples did but yet his outcome was so very different.

Jesus said, “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am.” (Jo 13:13)

The influence Jesus has in our lives as teacher is important.  But the influence he has in our lives as Lord is crucial to living life in peace even in the midst of trouble and heartache; crucial to understanding trust in the midst of questions; crucial to understanding who you and I are and crucial to living our lives before and with others.

Who is Jesus to you today?  A great teacher or Teacher and Lord?