Posted: August 24th, 2010 | Author: James Early | Filed under: Christian Discipleship, Doing God's will, Jesus Christ | 3 Comments »
“And [Jesus] said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Luke 9:23
Well there it is, Jesus’ simple plan for being a Christian. It’s not some complicated theology of salvation. It’s not some theoretical discussion or intellectual journey.
It’s a straightforward demand that is not complicated but takes commitment. It is simple but profound. And it is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world… to leave all for Christ and actually follow him.
There were people in Jesus’ day who professed loyalty and vowed to follow him where ever he went (see Matt 8:19,20). But I don’t think Jesus was looking for the kind of loyalty to his personality that some folks then and now lavish on a celebrity.
He didn’t want people just to traipse around, doggedly following his every move. He wanted his disciples not to copy his behavior and words but to accept and follow his teachings, to live his ideas in their own lives.
He wanted disciples who would live according to God’s will instead of their own.
The first step: deny yourself.
What on earth does that mean—to deny yourself? To say we don’t exist? Of course not. Among other things, I think it means that we put our own will aside and seek God’s will. To please God instead of earthly personalities—including ourselves.
It is no small feat to get yourself out of the way so you can honestly and sincerely desire to do God’s will before your own. But you can’t stop there. It’s not enough to tell God you’re willing to do whatever He says. You have to follow through and actually DO it.
We usually tell God what we want instead of asking what He wants. Or as my friend Jim says, “We pray for God’s will and then tell Him what it is.”
It takes a humble heart to set aside even our most cherished hopes and dreams and trust ourselves totally to God’s care and live our lives accordingly.
But this IS something we can do. Jesus did not make any demands on us that we could not fulfill.
Step two: take up your cross daily.
I’ve always wondered at this saying. Jesus had not yet been on the cross. His disciples were unaware that he would be. What did they think this meant at the time? I bet they thought about this demand in a whole new light after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.
To take up your cross is to face the world’s opposition to the truth that Jesus preached. It looked like Jesus was destroyed by this opposition. But just the opposite is true. He was the ultimate victor.
Jesus gave his disciples the authority and dominion to cast out evil spirits and heal the sick. Christ gives you and me the same authority today.
We are to take up our cross. Jesus did not say: Let the cross take you up. In other words, we do not need to feel that by taking up our cross that we are being crucified—although sometimes it certainly feels like it.
Jesus is not telling us to be crucified. He is commanding us—and giving us authority—to take up the cross, to deal with and defeat the material world’s resistance to and hatred of spiritual Truth.
And in case you didn’t notice, he says “daily.” It is a daily process, a way of life. Not just a one-time or occasional effort. To be a Christian requires day by day, step by step consistency.
Step three: “follow me.”
Whoa!! That’s a tall order. Thousands and thousands of books have been written about what it means to follow Jesus. So I won’t try to say too much here.
What did Jesus mean when he said simply, “Follow me”?
Jesus expected his disciples then and now to follow him: to think the thoughts he thought, to act the way he acted, to love with the Father’s love as he did, to seek and do God’s will in everything.
Christ calls to each of us today, “Follow me.” There is no call more urgent.
How will you respond?
Posted: July 2nd, 2010 | Author: James Early | Filed under: Prayer, poetry | No Comments »
“… many were gathered together praying.” Acts 12:12
I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer lately. What it is and what it isn’t. What it should be.
If you’ve ever doubted the power of prayer, read the 12th Chapter of Acts. The apostle Peter is put in prison by King Herod and is scheduled to be executed the next day. That night an angel appears to Peter and the chains on his hands fall off. The angel tells him to pull himself together and follow.
The angel leads Peter out of the maze of prison corridors all the way to a great iron gate which leads to the outside. The gate swings open with no human aid. Not unlike the stone being rolled away from Jesus’ tomb. (Don’t forget, these were the days of “unleavened bread” or Passover. It was the same time of year that Jesus had been crucified. The parallel could not have been lost on Peter.)
Peter realizes he is free.
Peter isn’t sure if this is really happening or just a dream. But when he has walked a little way through the streets, he realizes God has sent an angel to deliver him from prison and Herod’s grasp.
As he walked “he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.”
The little fledgling church had been gathered together praying. We don’t know what their prayers were, but they certainly were effective. So effective that it was hard for the people to believe the results at first. When Rhoda, who answered Peter’s knock at the door, told everyone Peter was at the door, they didn’t believe it. She stood her ground and they decided it must be “his angel.” But Peter kept banging away at the door. They finally went to see what was going on and were absolutely astonished that he was actually standing in front of them.
There are several ideas here that really stand out to me.
United prayer
First: The church, or rather the community of believers, was gathered together in prayer. They were united in their efforts. They were praying together. They weren’t all in their separate little worlds praying. They were together.
There is strength in unity. There is spiritual power in the united prayers of a church body. Sure, we should pray when we are by ourselves, but there are times when we must unite as a church to pray about important issues.
As I mentioned, the Bible doesn’t tell us how the people were praying at Mary’s house. But just put yourself in their shoes–or sandals rather. Your church leader, Peter is in prison and scheduled to be executed. You have seen the wonders of the last few months and feel encouraged by the growth of the church. But James has just been executed and now it looks like Peter is next. How would you pray in such a situation? What would you pray for?
When I face challenging situations, it’s interesting to look back and see how my prayers evolved during the process. Often I start out dealing with my fear and asking for some specific solution. The turning point usually comes when I realize there is absolutely nothing I can do humanly to solve the problem. Then there is a peace that comes when I totally resign myself to God’s will. That’s when the answer usually comes shining through.
However the church was praying that night at Mary’s house, I think they must have realized there was nothing they could do humanly to save Peter. They turned wholeheartedly to God for help. This is how we must pray as well. When we are praying individually and when we are praying collectively at church.
Second: Don’t be surprised if God answers your prayer in a way that goes beyond your expectations. Don’t limit what God can do for you or for a situation you and your church are praying about.
The “church” was praying but could not at first believe that Peter was free. It was beyond their human expectations. Don’t decide ahead of time what the answer to your prayers may or may not be. Be receptive to God’s infinite possibilities.
Third: Even if we do have limited expectations, this cannot stop God from doing His will.
Fourth: If you are Peter and have been delivered from the dungeons of life, keep knocking until they come and let you in. It is important to bear witness to the church how God has saved you.
What can your church do?
What issues does your church need to pray about as a united body? This kind of prayer is not just for solving your own individual problems. There’s a time and a place for that of course. What good can your church do in the world by joining in prayer?
Don’t put any limitations on what your church can pray for or what the results may be.
Several years ago, I wrote the following poem about the importance of prayer in church and the result of such prayer.
xxxxxxxxPrayer in Church: Parousia
xxxxxxxDear God, Bless each one in this place.
xxxxxxxWe come to praise you face to face.
xxxxxxxWe walk together hand in hand
xxxxxxxAnd thereby reach the Promised Land.
xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxThe way of Life is narrow, straight;
xxxxxxxIt leads us upward to the Gate.
xxxxxxxWe enter in and praise Your name,
xxxxxxxWith humble hearts, Your truth proclaim.
xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxChrist clothed in glory now appears
xxxxxxxThe same today–throughout the years.
xxxxxxxWe reach to touch the “garment’s hem,”
xxxxxxxBut feel instead we’re touched by him.
xxxxxxx
xxxxxxxThrough Christ’s pure love our hearts are healed,
xxxxxxxThe Word made flesh, the Truth revealed.
xxxxxxxThis light of Life the world must find;
xxxxxxxOur goal: To live for all mankind.
xxxxx
God bless you all.
James
Posted: May 25th, 2010 | Author: James Early | Filed under: Elisha, Jesus Christ, Love your enemies | 2 Comments »
Recently I was flipping through the book of Psalms looking for inspiration and came across the verse, “Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.” (Ps 18:40) In Psalm 18, David is giving thanks to God for delivering him from his enemies, but he goes further and delights in the fact that he was able to destroy his enemies.
A lot of people who claim to be Christians, sometimes even church leaders, take this verse, and others like it, as justification for using whatever means possible to defeat their enemies. Sometimes they take it to the extreme and even pray for the death of their opponents simply because of differences on political, moral, or theological issues.
Whoa! Let’s stop right there.
If you are going to claim to follow Christ, maybe you should actually obey Jesus’ teachings about the best way to deal with enemies.
“Love Your Enemies…”
Jesus declared in the Sermon on the Mount, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you,” Matt 5:43,44
What a contrast between the way King David and the Son of David (the Messiah, Christ Jesus) dealt with their enemies.
Now you may be thinking: Hey the Old Testament was all about killing your enemies and the idea of loving your enemies was a new idea that Jesus preached.
Surprise, surprise! Jesus learned everything he knew from God and from the Scriptures (which in his case was what we call the Old Testament).
There are several accounts of expressing love to enemies in the older Scriptures. One that I love is II Kings 6:8-23. This is the story where the King of Syria is fighting with the King of Israel and Elisha the prophet tells the latter where the former is going to be with his army over and over. The King of Syria thinks one of his people is betraying his battle plans to the Israelites, but he finds out that Elisha is telling the King of Israel.
So, the Syrian king does the obvious thing to do from his perspective; he finds Elisha, surrounds his town with a great army and plans to capture him and who knows what else. But he is no match for the prophet. Elisha causes the soldiers to be temporarily smitten with blindness. Then he leads them to the king of Israel. The king is so flabbergasted he doesn’t know what to do and asks Elisha if he should kill this enemy army. Elisha says absolutely not but give them something to eat and drink and send them home to their king. And their sight is restored in the process.
The results of loving your enemies
What is the result of this loving gesture to the enemy? “The bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.” So the result of loving the enemy was peace. Guess what the results are when you hate your enemy? You got it. The opposite of peace. If the king of Israel had killed the Syrians, there would have been retaliation and revenge on the minds of any remaining Syrians.
Here are some more goodies from the Old Testament:
Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Proverbs 24:17
If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: Proverbs 25:21
But you know, loving your enemies goes against one of the most basic human emotions of getting back at someone who does something mean to you or being mean to someone who hates you.
It takes spiritual discipline and God’s grace to love your enemy. I speak from experience over many years of striving to be obedient to Jesus’ command, “love your enemies.”
If I did it, so can you
Once a co-worker seemed to be determined to undermine my character and ability to do my job. Admittedly, I made my share of mistakes at work, but his piercing criticisms were not offered constructively and were far from subtle. However, I never retaliated or tried to make him look bad. I kept loving him and praying for God to show us both more of His love. Over time, his harsh judgment of me ceased and we had a pleasant relationship. This was God’s doing!
But loving your enemies does not mean loving the bad things they do. Jesus said not to judge things by the outward appearance. (See John 7:24) He looked deeper for something to love. Underneath all the hate that his enemies hurled at him, he could still love the someone as a child of God.
Of course, this is hard to do when they are not acting like a child of God. But this is the Cross. Take it up. The more you love your enemies, the easier it gets and the sooner they will cease to be your enemies.
If Jesus can forgive those who crucified him while he was hanging from the Cross, then you and I can forgive, i.e. love our enemies, whatever they may do.
Is there someone in your life playing the role of enemy? You don’t have to condone their behavior. Just love them. Did it ever occur to you that the reason they are hateful is because they don’t feel any love in their lives—that they are actually crying out for love?
Give them what they need…love
Now take a moment to love that person and pray for something good to happen to them. Go ahead. Bless them with all the blessings you can pour out from your heart. God is helping you do this. You can’t do it all by yourself. If you can’t figure out how on earth to get started with such a prayer, try something like, “Dear God, bless my enemies and teach me to feel compassion for them.” The words are not as important as the sincerity in your heart.
And while you’re at it, pray for some of the enemies on the world stage to find love for one another.
I’d love to hear how you have loved and blessed your enemies.
Blessings to all,
James
