“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:34-35

This is incredibly simple and unbelievably important. Love one another. This isn’t a suggestion. It’s a command from Jesus to everyone who claims to follow Him. We must love each other. We must love one another just like Jesus has loved us – at terrible personal cost, regardless of whether the other deserves it. That’s how Jesus loved you. That’s how you are to love other believers.

We MUST get this right, because Jesus said this is the way unbelievers in the world will know that we’re truly disciples of Jesus. This is to be our proof of membership in the body of Christ. It is our lived out testimony that everything about Jesus is true. THIS…. The way we love one another.

We’re not very good at this are we? We prefer to be right. We prefer to get our way. We prefer many things. But this is what our Master commanded, so our preferences don’t matter! Jesus didn’t say that our buildings would be the way unbelievers would know we were disciples. Jesus didn’t say our loud politics would be the way unbelievers would recognize us. He didn’t say our absolute, perfectly precise doctrinal accuracy would be the way unbelievers would know we were truly changed by Jesus. None of the things we like to fight with each other about made the list. Neither did any of the ways we like to condemn the world.

Just this: love one another. If you can do this, the world will know that you’re a disciples of Jesus. If we can do this, the world will know that Jesus is truly our Lord. #FollowJesus

“Peter answered him, ‘Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.’” – Matthew 26:33

Peter had the same sort of brash resolve that many of us can have when things are safe. He could talk a good game, just as we can sometimes talk a good game, whether in public or just to ourselves. He wanted to sound good and impress Jesus with his courageous words. Sometimes we can do the same. However, Jesus knew that Peter’s courage would crumble the moment the crisis came. There was no real courage behind Peter’s brave words.

This wasn’t surprising. After all, Peter had not yet witnessed the Resurrection of Jesus. As far as he knew, death was still the end. Peter didn’t yet understand the truth of Christ’s eternal Kingdom, so he focused on surviving in the here and now. And Peter had not yet received the Holy Spirit. So, of course, Peter’s courage crumbled when faced with the prospect of his own arrest and suffering.

Nonetheless, on the other side of the Cross, the Resurrection, and the Holy Spirit, Peter became genuinely courageous. He didn’t have to say brave things because he lived a courageous life. Everything changed for Peter because he understand what was real, what was eternal, and what was genuinely important.

If you’re a believer in Jesus, you have all the things Peter had. You know about the Resurrection and your forever future in Christ. You have the Holy Spirit. The question is whether you’ve taken these truths to heart so that you will live with the boldness the Spirit can give you. How is your courage? Is it mostly words or a way of life? Regularly meditate on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Contemplate what that means for your present and future life. Reflect on your eternal inheritance in Heaven. Nurture, rather than quench, the Holy Spirit Who lives in you. Let Him fill you with the courage and boldness to #FollowJesus wherever He leads.

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.” – Mark 13:22-23

The kind of deception that Jesus is warning about is much more subtle than most Christians realize. This isn’t about drawing believers away from church or Christianity. It is about corrupting those things. It isn’t about leading believers to reject God and embrace secular philosophies or systems which obviously aren’t of the Lord. Those things happen, but they aren’t what Jesus is warning about here.

These deceptions will involve people claiming to speak on behalf of Jesus, teach what Jesus taught, or even to be Jesus. These deceptions will sound like music to the ears of un-discerning Christians. They will sound like what you most want to hear. And yet, rather than leading believers closer to Jesus, they will lead them to a false Jesus. An earthly-minded Jesus. One concerned about wealth, power, comfort, or pleasure here. One that’s very friendly with the ways of the world. One which isn’t aligned to the Jesus revealed in the pages of Scripture.

Perhaps that version of Jesus affirms and celebrates sin. Perhaps that version of Jesus cheers on cruelty, corruption, greed, and condescension. Regardless, these deceptions are about building earthly kingdoms, particularly kingdoms that benefit those claiming to speak for Jesus. They promise solutions to the world’s problems or your problems through systems and policies rather than through the person and work of Jesus Christ. These deceptions will be attractive to believers because they sound almost like the truth of Scripture. They’ll be attractive to you.

The only prevention against deception is vigilance. Jesus said to be on guard. Be reading your Bible daily. Know what the real Jesus says, does, and cares about. Don’t be led astray! #FollowJesus

“‘Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?’ They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’” – Luke 20:24-25

In a highly politicized time, this is a good reminder of what is ultimate and what isn’t. The enemies of Jesus wanted to trap Him using a question of taxation. They thought they could reduce Jesus to a rebel or a collaborator and thereby end His earthly effectiveness. Instead, Jesus pointed them upward when their minds could only think about the politics, powers, and considerations of the world.

Those things marked with the image of the earthly ruler??? Jesus basically said, “who cares?” Give anything and everything stamped with the image of earthly power to the earthly powers and don’t think any more about them. But as for what’s stamped with the image God??? As for YOU, image bearer??? Give everything of yourself over to the Lord!!!

Whether you’re delighted or destroyed by recent election results, or anything in between, don’t let them define you or destroy you. You belong to God. You carry His image. Render to God what is God’s — that’s you! Don’t grip the things of the earth too tightly. They can go to the powers of the earth, if need be. Devote yourself to the Lord. Give Him everything of yourself. Respond to God’s grace and mercy by making yourself a living sacrifice every single day (Romans 12:1). Resist the temptation to crawl off the altar today. Give yourself fully to God and His Kingdom. In the process, you’ll discover that the earthly things won’t move you nearly so much. #FollowJesus

“And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” – Mark 12:33

There are many good, helpful, and important spiritual and religious practices. These bless believers and deepen their walk with the Lord. However, they are of little value if your heart is in the wrong place. God is far more concerned with your inward heart condition than your outward practice of Christianity. Do you, in fact, love the Lord with all of your being? ALL of it? Do you, in fact, love your neighbor as yourself? ALL of them?

We love to make the teachings of Jesus complicated in order to avoid difficult yet simple truths. Jesus said that heart obedience can be summarized by these two whole-hearted loves. Today, take a few moments to consider your love for the Lord and how it splits time with other loves in your life. Do you genuinely love the Lord more than you love anyone, anything, and everything else? Do you love Jesus with your whole mind? Do you love Jesus with your whole heart? Do the actions and commitments of your body reflect undivided love for Jesus?

Then consider whether you actually love all your neighbors as you love yourself? As you would like to be loved? Your neighbor who doesn’t look or sound like you? Who doesn’t share your background, politics, hobbies, or interests? Do you love them or do you tolerate them? Do you love them or do you avoid them? Do you love them or do you resent them? Do you love them or does your blood boils when you see them? Do you love them to the same extent and in the same manner as you love yourself??? That’s the standard Jesus gave!

The answers to these questions, Jesus says, are more important than all your visible, public displays of faith in the Lord. Consider that very carefully, especially in our confused, angry, selfish, divided world. #FollowJesus