“Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in
you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real
drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the
one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came
down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this
bread will live forever." He said this while teaching in the synagogue in
Capernaum. On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard
teaching. Who can accept it?" John 6:53-60
I had an
interesting revelation recently… although, this particular revelation has been
unfolding over a period of time, and it has just recently “clicked” with me. Like
most Christians I have spent the majority of my Christian walk reading every
other book in the Bible except the gospels. We like to read the Old Testament
and the “letters” of Paul, Peter and John… but the gospels, not so much. They
are read maybe at Christmas or Easter… or at random times throughout the year
but, in my experience we typically don’t dwell in them on a regular basis,
right?
Well, about
8 years ago Tom and I were reading a book about “House Church” and the author
shared a great discipling tool they used for new Christians. They would have
them read the gospels over and over again and let the Holy Spirit teach the new
Christians who Jesus was while they read these 4 books. Tom and I thought that
was brilliant!!
“Then a teacher of the law came to
him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus
replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of
Man has no place to lay his head." Matthew 8:19-20
I think this
teaching tool idea marinated in Tom’s heart and mind for a while and then he
said one day, “You know, the creator of the universe came here and lived among
us, it might be important to hear what He had to say!” So he started reading
the gospels over and over again himself and found that to be quite revealing in
many ways! He wanted to focus on what Jesus said, who he said it to, and how it
applied to him personally. Tom had studied the Bible for decades and had read
the Gospels many times, but he said it was like reading them for the first
time. He was amazed at how many of the doctrines we had been taught were either
not taught by Jesus or were specifically spoken against by Him. He was also amazed
at just how much Jesus focused on “The Kingdom” and yet we don’t hear much
about that today.
“Another disciple said to him,
"Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him,
"Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." Matthew 8:21-22
It took me a
bit longer to get on that band wagon but June of last year I had come to a
place where I was not finding satisfaction in any books I was reading or
listening to (audio books and messages) and I remembered what Tom did and
decided to do the same thing and only read the gospels, over and over again,
until God said to stop (actually I am listening to the audio version as I work
and cook in the kitchen). That is what I have been doing for the last year now
and it has been blowing my mind! I am hearing things I have never heard before
and understanding things that had been confusing to me. Each time I listen I
get a new understanding and/or revelation… It has been life changing for me!
“If anyone comes to me and does
not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and
sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who
does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Luke
14:26-27
Now comes the
“revelation” part. A few weeks ago after I finished listening to the gospels
again I wondered
to myself why it is that so many of us don’t spend time in the gospels. And
then I heard the Spirit say “Because Jesus’ teachings are too hard”!! Then the
scripture "This is a hard
teaching. Who can accept it?" Came to mind. And that is when the light of
revelation and understanding came!! Oh my goodness, YES! Jesus does say some
REALLY hard things…! And then all these scriptures that I have posted in this
blog started to come to mind. Is this truly the reason we tend to “avoid”
spending more of our time in the gospels?
“Still another said, "I will
follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is
fit for service in the kingdom of God." Luke 9:61-62
What Jesus
says IS hard!! And I think we have a really hard time accepting that these
truly are things we need to do! We say, “He can’t REALLY mean we have to HATE
our father and mother, wife and children… How can He say that?” “Why can’t I go
say goodbye to my family or go bury my dead father before I follow you??” These
are “good” things right? And yet, He seems so harsh and unyielding to us. But
the more I think about this, Jesus is our example and He isn’t asking us to do
anything that He Himself didn’t do!! He did only what His Father in Heaven
asked him to do… without hesitation. He was not rich, he did not have a family,
or a home. He gave up all the “luxuries” of life to serve US and to die for US!
I guess He is expecting us to respond to Him the way He responded to God??
“Do not suppose that I have come
to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I
have come to turn " 'a man against his father, a daughter against her
mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man's enemies will be the
members of his own household.' Anyone who loves his father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is
not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:34-38
Haven’t we as
a “body” turned from the teachings of Jesus and gone back to the “law”?? (“From this time many of his
disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” John 6:66). The law is so much easier to understand… and
to control!! The Old Testament is full of law and things we can understand; I
do “good” things and I get blessed, I do “bad” things and I get cursed… Stop “sinning” and things will go good for
you! The teachings of Jesus aren’t as easy to understand or control. He is ALL
about “Relationship”, “absolute surrender”, “sacrifice” and dying to “self”…
those are HARD things to do… when we are trying to hang on to the world and
luxuries of life!! But we say to Him “I don’t want to give up what I like or
stop doing what I want to do… I don’t want to deny myself of these “good”
things…” and He says “Then you cannot be my disciple”. Ouch.
“Brother will betray brother to
death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and
have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who
stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:21-2
Why are the
things Jesus says so hard for us? Because with Jesus, this is not a negotiation
of terms(“So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I
am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:16)
. Jesus demands absolute, unconditional surrender and obedience. There
are no half measures, you can’t “sorta” follow Him, you have to leave
everything of your old life in order to be fully His.
This reminds me of
what Oswald Chambers repeatedly says. In essence it is: “If we are to be a
disciple of Jesus then we need to be ABOSLUTELY and completely and entirely devoted
to, and dependent upon HIM, and nothing else”!!
May 7th
excerpt: “This verse teaches
us [Luke 14:26] that the only men and women our Lord will use in His building
enterprises are those who love Him personally, passionately, and with great
devotion, those who have a love for Him that goes far beyond any of the closest
relationships on earth. The conditions are strict, but they are glorious.”
June 19th
excerpt: “…Discipleship is
based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following after a
particular belief or doctrine. "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate .
. . , he cannot be My disciple" (Luk_14:26). In this verse, there is no
argument and no pressure from Jesus to follow Him; He is simply saying, in
effect, "If you want to be My disciple, you must be devoted solely to
Me…"
July 12th
excerpt: “To fulfill God's
perfect design for me requires my total surrender --- complete abandonment of
myself to Him. Whenever I only want things for myself, the relationship is
distorted.”
There are SO
many more devotions from Oswald highlighting absolute devotion to Jesus… But,
most of us think we can have our life and serve Him too. Tom heard a teaching
one time with a good analogy of trying to walk in the Spirit and the world at
the same time: it is like laying on the edge of a pool with one arm and one leg
in the water and one arm and leg on the land and trying to walk and swim at the
same time. You will fail at both. What a
great visual that is, and yet isn’t that what we try to do each and every day?
“Then Jesus said to his disciples,
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his
cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for me will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25
Tom and I
have made some very tough choices over the last few years. In choosing to
follow Jesus, and be obedient, we have lost a great deal. We have lost our
reputation, our credit, our integrity, our standing in the church and with our
family. It has been a very hard road, mostly because we had a hard time letting
go of the world and our desires, but, I would not go back and change a thing!
In our sacrifices and obedience we have seen the Lord in ways we never dreamed
were possible!! We have seen and experienced miracle after miracle in His
provision for us but more than anything else our relationship with the Lord has
increased exponentially. Each time we choose Him over other things, namely “our
desires” or preferences (you know… the “easy” less painful road), He reveals
Himself to us in new and wonderful ways. My faith and trust in Him has grown
huge because HE has grown huge in my life! I have learned that He functions
much better when I take Him out of my little box!
“Whoever acknowledges me before
men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever
disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33
A very consistent
message from Jesus is that you can’t serve God and the world at the same time…Am I now trying to win the
approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still
trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Galatians 1:10 While I was listening to the gospels today I picked up on a nice
contrast for this blog. In most of the scriptures I have posted, people are
saying “I will follow you but first let me….” And in essence Jesus’ response is
“…you are not worthy of me”
Or “you are not fit for service in the
Kingdom of God” (Matthew 10:34-38, Luke 9:61-62). Today I picked
up on when Jesus called the disciples and this was their response: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew… Come, follow me, Jesus said… At once they left their nets and
followed him.” Mat 4:18-20. Did you catch that?? AT
ONCE they LEFT THEIR NETS and followed him! They didn’t say, “Ok, but
wait until I…” or “Dude, can’t you see
we are fishing here? When we are done we will follow you!” NO! They dropped everything
and followed Him “at once”!. (Peter was also married at the time). Let’s look
at another one: “Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James
son of Zebedee and his brother John... Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”
Matthew 4:21-22 Again, IMMEDIATELY they left their boat AND
their father!! Ok, let’s do one more: “As Jesus went on from there, he
saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow
me," he told him, and Matthew
got up and followed him.” Matthew 9:9. It is important to note here that
Matthew is a tax collector and more than likely had money in his booth… Matthew
got up and walked away from his MONEY to follow Jesus!! Hey… you know what, I
just had a little epiphany… Looking back at each example, they left their jobs,
family and money! Aren’t those the very things we use as an excuse why we
“can’t” follow Jesus??
“Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go,
sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven. Then come, follow me." Matthew 19:21
While the
sacrifices I have made have been painful, the blessings of HIM have made these
sacrifices MORE than worth it!! YES, His teachings and words ARE hard but they
are LIFE! My heart for the Body of Christ is that they too would take the
chance and follow Jesus… with absolute surrender and dependence on HIM. Not choosing
to turn back (to the law) but truly going all out to follow Jesus! Are we
willing to give up “everything we have” to follow Him? My prayer is that there
would be more of us that would drop everything immediately, and at once, to
follow Him when He calls us! Lord, give us eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts
to follow YOU! Lord, help us to be more like Peter when he said “Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life.” John 6:68
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not
first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete
it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who
sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able
to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will
he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to
oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he
will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for
terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything
he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:28-33
By Linda and Tom
By Linda and Tom
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