 All Obedience Requires A Decision followed by Action
Day #3 of our reading through the New Testament begins with a turning point and one of the most important statements in Luke, "Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." (pg. 25, Luke 9:51). Other Bibles translate the phrase this way: "He was determined to go to Jerusalem" (NASB) and "He set his face to go to Jerusalem." (ESV). Why the dramatic language? Because Jerusalem was the place where Jesus would suffer and die AND it was the place God's mission required Him to go. Jesus couldn't simply dream of going to Jerusalem, He couldn't talk about visiting Jerusalem some day, He could not hope to go there in the future. If He was going to obey the will of God, if He was going to do what His heavenly Father sent Him to do, Jesus needed to actually make the decision and then act on it. All obedience requires a decision followed by action. To put off the decision is really a decision to disobey. Have you decided to follow Jesus? If so, then what actions have you taken since deciding? Are you listening to the will of Jesus found in the New Testament and acting in obedience no matter where it may lead? Are you getting help to do this from a small group studying God's word in your church? If you are not intentionally and actively obeying the will of Christ, whose will are you obeying? For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. - John 6:38 (NIV)
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 What Are You Doing to Grow Spiritually?
You have probably heard this definition of adulthood: An adult is someone who has stopped growing vertically and started growing horizontally. Those of us who have reached the age of "physical maturity" may have a hard time remembering the days when we dreamed of getting older, when we longed to grow up. The Christ follower needs to recall that longing and apply it to being a disciple of Jesus. When Jesus' invited us to follow Him, he never said or implied it was a short journey that would reach a destination where we could stop the pursuit. The opposite is true. The invitation to follow Jesus is an invitation to a life of seeking, striving after, and growing up to become like Him. Each follower of Jesus, you and me, have a personal responsibility when it comes to our spiritual growth. In other words, it's on us to take action in order to grow spiritually. There are actually three entities responsible for the believer's spiritual growth:
What are you doing to grow spiritually? Are you striving to hear, understand and live out what your Lord is saying? Have you joined a Community Bible Experience Group to read through the New Testament? If not, how come? What is the reason for your resistance? (Here's a challenge - speak that reason out loud to God and listen in your heart to His reply). Then Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and FOLLOW ME. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. - Mark 8:34-35 (NIV) Serving Jesus, Pastor Tim It's not to late to join one of our groups this week: · Sundays 9am in the Sanctuary · Sundays 9am in Fellowship Hall · Sundays 9am in the Barn (middle & high school) · Sundays 6:00pm in Fellowship Hall · Tuesdays 11am at the Parsonage · Wednesdays 9am in the Fellowship Hall |
I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.
- William Carey AuthorMy name is Tim Kirkes. I am honored to be the a child of my heavenly Father, the husband of Lisa, the father of two boys and the pastor of San Dimas Wesleyan church. Archives
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