It's Monday! A great day for a fresh start and re-commitment in our journey to be with and become like Jesus. According to Jesus, without His chosen preachers and teachers, we cannot understand His word, we cannot come to know and grow in Christ. In Luke 10:16 Jesus said the following to His disciples, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” In other words, "The preaching of word of God is the Word of God." The faithful preacher and teacher explains Scripture and points to Jesus. You can measure your love and devotion to Jesus (the Word) by your discipline and devotion of listening to the preacher and teachers He has given to you. 1. Pray 2. Study (all or part of a chapter in the NT) 3. Share (did you pray, what did you learn, what happened in your walk with Jesus today) Keep Pressing On, Pastor Tim
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But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. -Luke 5:16 (NIV) Jesus had places. He withdrew to them. One of His places was the Mount of Olives where He would seek God's help and strength in prayer. Susanna Wesley (John and Charles' mom) sat at the table with an apron over her head. This was a sign to her many children she was in her place, alone with God. My places include any empty room before the kids get up and the church sanctuary (a perk of being a pastor who lives on the church property). God is invisible, He is not a pressing appointment on our calendars. We need to press Him into our schedule and go to a place where visible things won't distract us from our time alone with Him. What are your places? 1. Pray (Ask God to help you love him with all your heart, mind, strength and soul). 2. Study (Read a part or whole chapter in the gospel, listening to what God is teaching) 3. Share (Tell a friend or small group what God is teaching you, how your walk with Jesus is going. Tell us your places.) Dear Apprentices of Jesus,It does no good to have a Mount of Olives if you don't have a habit. I read this yesterday, "Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him." (Luke 22:39, NIV). The New American Standard tells us this was Jesus' "custom." Jesus made it His habit to go to the Mount of Olives to pray. And did you notice this?: "His disciples followed Him." Good, holy habits come at the cost of bad or even neutral habits. This week I'm fasting from the internet. No news sites, no surfing for things that interest me, no Facebook, no reading about the latest technology. None of these are bad, but for me they have become a hindrance to the good habit, praying as usual. The reality is that those who follow Jesus seek to do as He did. 1. Pray (Ask God for what you need to be a faithful servant of Jesus today) 2. Study (Read some or all of a chapter in a Gospel and listen to what the Spirit is teaching you.) 3. Share (Submit to the accountability of a friend or small group. Share if you prayed, what you learned and how it went serving Jesus today) The work of God does not start working until we get to work. This lesson is taught throughout the Bible; Moses returning to Egypt to rescue God's people, David picking up stones to battle Goliath, Paul traveling to proclaim the gospel. One of the most visual examples of this is from Joshua 3:13, And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap. I don't know about you, but I would rather see the waters standing in a heap before I step into a river at flood stage carrying a 50lb load on my shoulders. That's not the way God works in us. First He calls us to obey, then we are to act in obedience, and as we act, God does the work only He can do in us.
In his book, The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard notes, We become a life student of Jesus by deciding...We do not drift into discipleship…. The disciple or apprentice of Jesus, as recognized by the New testament, is one who has firmly decided to learn from him how to lead his or her life, whatever that may be, as Jesus himself would do it. Decide today to be a true disciple/apprentice of Jesus who listens in order to live out His commands and who seeks to be with Him in order to become like Him. PRAY- Ask God to help you love, obey and become like Jesus and to be available to serve His kingdom. STUDY - Read at least one chapter of a gospel (or portion of a gospel) listening to what the Spirit is saying. SHARE – (This accountability is the tricky part.) Share with a friend or in a small group of friends that you meet with or can email and tell them....
In his book, The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard notes, We become a life student of Jesus by deciding...We do not drift into discipleship…. The disciple or apprentice of Jesus, as recognized by the New testament, is one who has firmly decided to learn from him how to lead his or her life, whatever that may be, as Jesus himself would do it.
Decide today to be a true disciple/apprentice of Jesus who listens in order to live out His commands and who seeks to be with Him in order to become like Him. PRAY- Ask God to help you love, obey and become like Jesus and to be available to serve His kingdom. STUDY - Read at least one chapter of a gospel (or portion of a gospel) listening to what the Spirit is saying. SHARE – (This accountability is the tricky part.) Share with a friend or in a small group of friends that you meet with or can email and tell them....
I wonder if Jesus looked forward to the weekend for the same reasons we do. Surely it was more than just a break from His workload at the carpentry shop. I imagine He looked forward to synagogue/church. I imagine He longed to praise God with the other worshipers. I imagine His ears were eager to listen to the word of God that would be read. I imagine he needed to kneel at the altar and let his heart out to God. I want to want like Jesus. I want my heart to be like Jesus' in looking forward to church, longing to praise God, being eager to listen to His word and needing to lay out my heart before my Creator and Provider. I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD. - Psalm 122:1 (NIV) 1. Pray (Ask God...) 2. Study (Listen to His word...) 3. Share (Share with a friend or those in your group, how you prayed, what you learned and your experience trusting in Christ today). How do we fit God into our lives? How do we make Him a part of our daily activities? How do we make Jesus a part of our home life? How do we welcome Him in, walk with Him, learn from Him and include Him in what's happening? It may sound odd and it may not be theologically precise to ask how to fit God into our lives. But the question helps us see that we can get so busy that we ignore and shun Him instead of including Him.
1) Pray (Ask, even shout out to God for the help you need) 2) Study (Listen to what Jesus is saying to you in a Gospel) 3) Share (Share with a friend or group if you prayed, what you learned and how you included God in your life today) It's our decision. Jesus leaves it in our hands. He doesn't push us, drag us or guilt us. He doesn't text us, barrage us with emails, or pop up to chat with us while we're on Facebook. He simply invites us to make the decision every day, "Come follow me." When we do, when we consciously ask for His help, listen to what He is saying and look for opportunities to serve Him throughout our day, He makes us into something. "I will make you fishers of men," He told his disciples. As soon as we take the step to follow Him, He begins the work of remaking us. Sound exciting? Then go for it.
1. Pray (ask God to make you His servant today) 2. Study (listen to Jesus by carefully reading a chapter in a gospel) 3. Share (Share with a group or friend how you prayed, what Jesus taught you and your experience following Him today) It's Monday!!! A new week to begin, recommit and/or keep pressing on in our pursuit of being with and becoming like Jesus. As a church custodian I always had the sense God was with me while cleaning. This kept me from sweeping dirt under the rug because that's not something you do when your "Boss" is looking over your shoulder. That kind of relationship with God, though helpful, isn't the full relationship Jesus' suffering, death and resurrection made possible. The fuller relationship we are seeking is to have hearts and minds like Christ, to be fully in love with Him and to have, in ourselves, His same wants. 1. Pray (Ask God to make you his servant today) 2. Study (Read a chapter in a gospel listening to what the Spirit is saying) 3. Share (tell a friend or your group what you learned and your experience being with Jesus today) You know if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ or not. You know which path your are on (broad or narrow - Matt 7:13-14). There is no wondering or hoping one is a disciple, it is clearly known. No one wonders if they are learning how to play an instrument or how to speak a foreign language. If you are a student of art, music, photography, sports, or technology, you don't doubt that you love, follow and grow in these devotions. You may question your level of discipleship, but not the fact you are learning. So ask yourself, "Am I a disciple of Jesus Christ? Do I listen to Him, learn from Him and live as He directs me to live?" If you say, "I don't know," then your answer is "No" and you need to recommit your life to Him. If your answer is, "Yes" then read your Bible, go to church and join a small group for this is what faithful disciples do, we learn His teachings so we can live them out. >>> You either are a disciple of Jesus or you are not. You are either on the narrow road or the broad road. You are either with Jesus or without him |
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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