Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” – Matthew 5:38-39

This may be one of the hardest and most unnatural teachings of Jesus. It goes against ever fiber of our being and the predominant teaching of our culture. But that should be irrelevant to Christians, because Jesus, our Lord, commands this of His people. Moreover, He demonstrated it through His own experience of betrayal, arrest, injustice, abuse, suffering, and death. He lived this way and expects us to live this way as well.

This is the way of Jesus. Conceptually we love it. Personally, we hate it when it involves ourselves. Often we read these verses and come up with extreme hypothetical cases to argue against the word of Christ. We need to stop! Rather than grimacing about this truth, ignoring it, or trying to explain it away, we must instead think through what it really looks like in our lives and prepare ourselves to obey.

We need to embrace this truth, understand this truth, and apply this truth in our lives. To respond to personal injustice with Spirit-filled passive resistance requires immense strength that only God can provide. We need to intentionally cultivate our relationship with God so that when the time of testing comes, Christ in us will triumph over fallen humanity in us.

What’s at stake here is eternally significant! This isn’t just about our own faithfulness and obedience to Christ. It’s also about the startling witness to Jesus Christ that occurs when we stare personal injustice and persecution in the eye without blinking and without fighting back. In those moments, Christ is held high and glorified before watching observers. For 2000 years, obedience to Christ in this way has brought some of the most hardened opponents to Christ to saving faith. Do you have the courage and strength to obey Jesus?

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:11-12

How many of us REALLY believe this…when it happens to us? Jesus is crystal clear about what we should expect as His followers and the blessing that comes with it. However, the truth is we’ve seldom experienced it in this part of the world in recent decades. As a result, our ability to recognize the blessing of persecution for ourselves seems limited.

Are you prepared to receive this blessing? Is your faithfulness and loyalty to Christ sufficient to help you embrace the blessing of being reviled – hated, lied about, mischaracterized, and blacklisted socially or professionally? Are you willing to embrace the blessing of serious legal consequences for following Christ? Are you prepared to suffer the loss of health, freedom, or life for Christ – and to do so in the meek, humble, peacemaking, righteous way Christ described in the verses before these?

Such persecution may or may not come. Nonetheless, every Christian should spend time thoughtfully and prayerfully reflecting on the truth of these verses. Take time to meditate on them and whether you can embrace this blessing, because we’re called to. The time to prepare yourself and discipline your heart to follow Christ wherever He leads no matter the cost isn’t in the middle of persecution, it’s beforehand. So take time today and ask yourself what price you’re willing to pay for this reward in heaven!

“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” – Matthew 4:19-20

Jesus extends the same invitation to everyone who calls him or herself a Christian: “Follow me”. While that doesn’t necessarily look like abruptly quitting your job, it’s always an invitation to 100% commitment to follow, obey, imitate, and become like Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you.

Yet for most of us, following Jesus is only a part of our lives. Our commitment is half-hearted, quarter-hearted, or less. How different would the world be if every follower of Jesus actually committed to truly follow Him? What would be different about churches and the advance of God’s Kingdom if we all actually loved God with ALL our heart, soul, mind, and strength?

Most Christians settle for lukewarm commitment to Jesus because of fear and comfort. We’re afraid of disrupting our life and losing what we know by diving headlong into the unknown. We’re far too comfortable with what we know and love. Truly following Jesus takes us out of all that and leads us into the greatest adventure of our lives. Truly knowing and following Jesus is vastly superior to the pitiful comforts we numb ourselves with, if only we’d just take the leap of faith to truly follow Christ whole-heartedly.

What about you? What about now? Will you follow Jesus this year? Completely? Fully? Wherever He leads?

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” – Revelation 22:20

There have been many aspects of 2020 that have reminded us of just how fragile the many things we treasure about our life and society can be. So many things we take for granted have been altered, questioned, or upended. This has been a helpful reminder that what we enjoy (or suffer) here is temporary, because Jesus is coming soon.

One day, Jesus will return in victory. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords will return to usher in the new heavens and the new earth. He will judge the living and the dead. He will right every injustice and heal every wound. For those who trust in Christ, this will be an overwhelmingly beautiful and glorious time. Our hearts should long for this day, which will be the beginning of things more wonderful than we can even imagine.

Nonetheless, our attachment to the sparkly things of this world can sometimes make us reluctant to embrace our future. Truly, that represents a failure of imagination on our part, one that hopefully we can put to rest after the challenges of this year.

As we near the beginning of a new year, let us all unite in prayer, crying out from the depths of our souls, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:4

It’s a beautiful thing to know the end of the story, and we do! As we stand at the end of a strange and trying year, it’s incredibly encouraging to remember that what we see and hear all around us isn’t all there is.

One day, our Savior will return. One day, evil will be destroyed. One day, there will be a new heaven and new earth. One day, God will dwell among His people forever and comfort us more deeply, profoundly, and completely than can ever be imagined.

In that day, the pains of this mortal life will fade in memory as we enjoy the glorious presence of God and our eternal, resurrected life. In Christ, there’s always hope. Hope for today. Hope for tomorrow. Hope forevermore.