Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17

Think about these words carefully…. If you are in Christ, meaning that He is your Lord and Savior Who lives in union with you, then you are a new creation. Entirely. When Jesus rescued you from your sins, He didn’t just perform some minor repairs or a modest renovation of your heart. He didn’t improve you or give you a makeover. He made you an entirely “new creation”. As in, the way creation was made to be – holy, walking with God, very good, flawless in His eyes.

In Christ, you have an entirely new nature. Your old nature that was enslaved to sin and eternally separated from the holiness of God has died. While sin certainly can tempt you, it cannot rule you (at least not without your permission). Though death will come to you, it cannot hold you. You will rise. While you will sin from time to time, your sin will not define you. You are NEW CREATION! You are a new person in Christ Jesus. You have died with Him and been raised with Him. You are already seated with Him in heaven and you will get to enjoy an eternity of learning more about God’s limitless grace and mercy.

Whatever you were before Jesus ruled your heart, that’s gone in the eyes of Jesus. Whatever mistakes you made, sins you committed, failures you experienced, those are gone. The old HAS passed away. The new HAS come. #FollowJesus

“And Moses said to them, ‘Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.’ But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.” – Exodus 16:19-20

With the benefit of hindsight (and greater knowledge of God), it’s easy to look back and mock the Israelites for being foolish. Over and over again, God gave clear instructions that they immediately disobeyed. Over and over again, they suffered the consequences for their stubborn refusal to just obey God. God said don’t store the manna overnight but they refused to listen and stored some, “just in case.” Of course, it rotted because you can’t store up God’s blessings for future use unless He says so. How foolish, we think to ourselves.

But are we different??? God has given us many clear instructions but most followers of Jesus choose to ignore at least some of them.

• Make disciples. Do you?
• Flee temptation. Will you?
• Love one another. Are you?
• Don’t gossip. Have you?
• Turn the other cheek. Do you?
• Strive for unity. Are you?
• Avoid sexual immorality. Have you?
• Value others above yourself? Do you?

You get the idea. Whenever you read about the foolishness of the ancients – whether Israelites in the desert or Pharisees in the Temple – ask yourself, “Am I different? Or am I the Israelite? Am I the Pharisee?” Rather than answer for yourself, let God’s Spirit answer for you. Then #FollowJesus

“And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.” – Luke 18:1

Jesus was very clear that His followers need to be persistent in prayer. Not every request we make will be answered the way we want on the schedule we’d prefer. That’s a good thing! If every prayer was instantly answered the way we wanted, God wouldn’t be sovereign, we would. His will wouldn’t be done, ours would. We wouldn’t learn to depend on God, we’d simply view Him as nothing more than another useful app under our control.

God uses long periods of prayerful waiting to check our priorities, refine our faith, and align our will to His. Is our request so important that we’re willing to pray about it day after day, month after month, year after year? Or is it just another passing whim like the latest online shopping deal we’ll forget about tomorrow? Is it so important that our attention will remain fixed on it and we’ll come to completely depend on God for its fulfillment? Will we learn to trust that God’s ways and thoughts really are infinitely above our own? Will we find peace in the waiting, trusting that God wants and knows what’s best for everyone across all of time.

Long-term, ongoing prayer changes us. Teaches us. Gradually aligns our will to God’s. As we spend increasing time at the foot of God’s throne of mercy and grace, we learn to care about what He cares about, prioritize what He prioritizes, and want what He wants. As we always pray and never lose heart, the things we pray for gradually become the things God is planning to do. Persistent prayer ultimately leads us to pray as Jesus taught us to pray – “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven”. So always pray, never lose heart, and #FollowJesus

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” – Exodus 14:21

God always has the power to create new paths, alternatives, and options. His creativity isn’t limited like ours. He isn’t constrained by our best ideas. So, whenever you’re confronted with a seemingly impossible situation and only bad alternatives, trust the Lord. Don’t give in to despair. Don’t become overwhelmed by the limited and terrible options you think are available. Pray. Listen for God’s leading. If, and when, it comes, go down the path He directs, wherever it appears to lead. Don’t hesitate. God may just create a path you didn’t know was possible.

During the Exodus, the Israelites fell into despair. They thought their only options were slavery or death. God made a third path. Forward. Through a divided sea and into freedom. Likewise, Mary and Martha fell into despair when their brother Lazarus was sick. They thought the only alternatives were for Jesus to come quickly or death. Jesus made a third path. Forward. Through death and back to life.

Certainly those are extraordinary examples. However, God can do the same in your “ordinary life” (not that there’s any such thing for those who are in Christ!) We can easily assume that because we’re smart, experienced, talented, defeated, broken, unimportant, or whatever that the only possible alternatives are the bad ones we’ve come up with. God can make another path. Forward. He does it quite often. However, if He’s going to do it, we must put a pause to our despair. Pray. Seek His leadership. Then follow Him wherever and however He tells you to move. Forward. #FollowJesus

“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:33

Wow! Seriously! What a stunning statement from our Lord and Savior. Any one of us who doesn’t renounce all that we have cannot be His disciple. Does that mean a Christian can’t own anything – a TV, a car, a home, a nice outfit – nothing? Probably not, based on the example of Scripture. However, we must be very careful to never let any of those things own US. That’s what Jesus is really getting at.

You see, a person can have one of two possible relationships with their possessions. Either they own their stuff or their stuff owns them. When our stuff owns us, it dominates our thoughts, controls our emotions, holds our finances hostage, and limits our freedom to do whatever God has called us to do. This is very common in our culture. When we own our stuff, then we can enjoy and appreciate it, thank God for it, and also let it go, give it away, or leave it behind if God tells us to.

That’s what it means to renounce all that we have. It’s recognizing that every possession we own and every dollar we have is a gift from God given to us to manage for His glory. It’s being clear in your mind that God owns it all and being willing to leave it behind if God tells us to go. To give it away if God says to do so. To let it go if we need to travel light for God’s Kingdom. It’s trusting that God’s will is better and more satisfying that the nicest things of the world.

Think carefully about what you talk about the most. Is it the Lord, other people, or things? What do you spend the most time thinking about? Is it the Lord, other people, or how to get or pay for things you have or want? How would you feel if God told you to leave your home, get rid of your car, or give away most of your money? If your words, thoughts, or emotions are very much centered on houses, cars, gadgets, toys, clothes, fortunes, etc, then begin to work on your renouncing skills. Thoughtfully and intentionally turn those things over to God because they may well be interfering with your ability to #FollowJesus