“The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:31

Every day is a good day for a little self-examination! How are you doing at loving your neighbor the way you love yourself? Before you answer, remember that Jesus made clear in Scripture that your neighbor includes people like you and people different from you. Your neighbors are those like you in appearance, ethnicity, race, education, and economic status and people quite different from you. Your neighbors are the people who live close to you and the people you happen to randomly encounter lying in the road. Your neighbors are people in need and people who seemingly don’t need anything.

So…do you love your neighbor? The way you love yourself??? If you show yourself grace and understanding when you have a bad day, do you show that love to everyone you encounter? If you’d spare no expense to take care of your needs, do you show that love to everyone you encounter? If you’re inclined to indulge yourself even when you know better, do you show that love to everyone you encounter? If you’re patient with yourself and your shortcomings, recognizing that you’re a work in progress, do you show that love to everyone else in your life?

This Great Commandment should challenge you every single day. Every…single…day. This is the love Jesus has toward you. He calls you to imitate Him. He commands you to love others in this way. So examine yourself and if you fall short, ask for God’s grace and then show it to your neighbors. #FollowJesus

“He brought me out into a broad place;
he rescued me, because he delighted in me.”
– Psalm 18:19

David speaks of his physical rescue from overwhelming enemies. However, his song of praise is true for you as well, if Jesus is your Lord and Savior. God has rescued you and He did so because He delights in you!

In Christ, God has rescued you from the penalty for you sin. Jesus paid that penalty on the cross so you won’t have to. God rescued you from the power of the devil which is sin. God rescued you from the most severe consequence of your sin, which is eternal separation from His holy presence. Why would God rescue you through the sacrifice of His own Son? Because He delights in you! God made you carefully and wonderfully. He made you to be in fellowship with Him. He made you to experience His love and bring Him glory. Because your sin and the sin of your ancestor Adam broke your fellowship with Him, God rescued you through Jesus Christ.

Jesus died on the cross, He was buried, and He rose from the dead so that when you trust in Him, repenting of your sin, you are rescued and restored to the relationship with the Lord you were made to have. Because He delights in you! God rescued you so He could enjoy your friendship and fellowship and you could enjoy His forever. God rescued you for His glory and your salvation. He brought you out of spiritual death and raised you to new spiritual life in Christ. Because He delights in you!

Whatever you may think about yourself today, realized that God delights in you as His beloved creation. If Jesus is your Lord, then God delights in you as His beloved child. If Jesus isn’t your Lord, then believe in Him and make Him your Lord to experience God’s delight in you! Feel God’s love and delight in you and delight yourself in Him as your perfect, loving Father in Heaven! #FollowJesus

“With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.”
– Psalm 54:6

Biblically, the name of God expresses His character and reputation. In the Bible, God proclaims that His name, the LORD is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, and full of justice. His name IS good! His nature is holiness and righteousness. His character is perfection. His reputation is beyond comprehension as He has demonstrated power, wisdom, kindness, and grace in miraculous ways across thousands of years. He is Creator. He is Father. He is Provider. He is Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End.

Give thanks to His name! Give thanks to God for Who He is. Mediate on His character and give thanks for it. Give thanks for what His attributes mean for His universe and for you. Give thanks for His mercy, grace, patience, love, faithfulness, and justice in your own life. Let His name and nature move you to make sacrifices pleasing to Him. Sacrifices of deep worship. Sacrifices of true praise. Sacrifices of submission to His will and plan for your life. Sacrifices of obedience to His commandments. Sacrifices of time, talent, and treasure for the advancement of His Kingdom.

Choose of your own free will to sacrifice to God. Not a sacrifice of animals, but a sacrifice of yourself. Make your life a living sacrifice of devotion, love, and service to God. Live a life holy and acceptable to God by the power of Christ within you. #FollowJesus

“And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” – Mark 10:48

Bartimaeus was blind but he could still see many things more clearly than those around him. Though he was blind, he could see that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of David. He understand that Jesus He was God’s anointed, the Messiah, the Christ. He knew Jesus was the long-promised Messiah Who would rule forever. Though he was blind, Bartimaeus could see that Jesus had the power to heal his blindness. He knew it and had no doubt. Though he was blind, Bartimaeus knew that his faith required him to keep pressing on when the crowd tried to silence him. He would not be discouraged or stopped by anyone. Though he was blind, he knew that he had to persist in his faith and continue calling out to Jesus. For this, he was healed. Jesus said, “Go, your faith has made you well.”

It’s only by faith in Jesus that we’re all made well. Our deepest need is forgiveness for our sins and new spiritual life in relationship with God. That’s only possible through faith in Jesus as Lord. Only Jesus an raise us to life and union with Him and He offers that freely to anyone who will believe with the faith of Bartimaeus.

So, do you see as clearly as Bartimaeus? Do you see the need to cry out to Jesus for mercy and salvation? Do you see Him for who He is? Is He just Jesus to you or is He Christ, Lord, and Son of God? Do you have the absolute faith of a blind man? Do you have faith that will overcome anyone who tries to discourage you from seeking the presence of Jesus?

Jesus really is all that Bartimaeus saw Him to be and much more. Cry out to Jesus in every moment of need. Scripture promises that everyone who calls on Him will be saved. Don’t allow yourself to be silenced by anyone who would discourage your praise, worship, pursuit, and obedience toward Jesus. See Him as He is and seek His mercy for every sore and broken part of yourself. #FollowJesus

“The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” – Mark 3:6

It’s interesting how hatred for Jesus could unite two groups that couldn’t be more opposed to one another! The Pharisees and Herodians normally couldn’t stand each other. The Pharisees were the most religious group in ancient Israel. They were the most zealous for obeying the Law of Moses. Meanwhile, the Herodians were political creatures who loved and embraced the immorality of the Greco-Roman culture. The Pharisees despised Israel’s Roman overlords while the Herodians embraced them. For this reason, the Pharisees wouldn’t normally have anything to do with the Herodians. And yet, they found common ground in their hatred of Jesus.

They hated Jesus because He was a threat to each of them. He revealed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and rejected immoral corruption of the Herodians. As Messiah, Jesus was a threat to the political power of the Herodians. As the fulfillment of the Law, Jesus threatened the religious power and moral authority of the Pharisees and their rule-based, superficial holiness. So they united in an unholy alliance to kill Jesus.

This should be a warning to us. If the most religious and least religious people could team up to get rid of Jesus 2000 years ago, the same can happen again. Each group thought they were good and wise to want Jesus out of the way. That can happen again. We must be cautious of any alliance between those who claim to be religious, even Christian, and those with or grasping for secular power. Perhaps that cooperation is a good thing. Or perhaps, they’re coming together in a spirit opposed to the true teaching, character, and heart of Jesus. As a follower of Jesus, be careful of not only the agenda but the character of those with whom you sympathize politically. Are they truly walking in a manner consistent with Jesus? #FollowJesus