Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
TO PONDER:
We are a culture that doesn't like to deny ourselves anything. We have immediate access to endless entertainment, shopping on demand, food delivered at any time of the day, communication with others around the world around the clock. Putting it simply, we can get what we want whenever we want. And if you can't afford it...there's a whole lot of buy now, pay later services that are glad to indulge our insatiable desire to get what we want now. That makes it really hard for us to embrace this call of Jesus to every disciple to deny ourselves.
The life of a disciples is a call to leave things behind. When Jesus called James and John, they had to leave their father in the boat, leave their business behind, to follow Jesus. Along the way, Jesus showed them that they were not going to be part of a movement that would successfully overthrow the empires of the world, but their following of him, their daily cross-bearing would lead to one place. Death of self. Denying oneself is not simply denying certain luxuries for ourselves. It is denying ourselves completely. It's leaving behind all self-indulgence to daily take up our cross and follow Jesus. Only Luke adds this word 'daily'. It's a daily surrender of our agenda, our self-indulgence to live so that the mission of God wins. So that the world is transformed. Bonhoeffer says it best. 'When Christ calls a man (person), he bids him come and die.' For it is at the cross, that we discover the greatest love of all, for all. When we witness Jesus' self-denial there, our hearts and our lives are transformed.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, you call me to deny myself and daily take up my cross and follow you. Forgive me when I cling to my agenda, my distorted view of what fullness of life is all about. Transform me in the journey so that your Kingdom comes and your will is done. Amen.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
TO PONDER:
'If I could just fix _____ then everything would change in my life.' How would you fill in the blank? If I just fix my finances, my health, my family, my work situation, my anxiety...then everything would change in my life. What's holding you back? Restricting you? Paralysing you from fully living the life you've been given?
Recently I took in our camper to get some warranty work done after our big trip last year, The company were great to deal with. When I went to pick up the camper, however they told me that they had also fixed a deeper issue that they had discovered on closer inspection; a crack in the frame of one of the swing arms which could have had far more serious implications if not detected and fixed. It made me think about how we often see the issues that need to be fixed, we notice the things that fail, but are sometimes oblivious to the deeper issues that lie behind them, the things that are far more serious.
That's what I love about this incident in Mark 2, four friends have enough courage to overcome the obstacles, dig a hole in the roof and lower a paralytic man, their friend, down before Jesus to heal him. They see his problem as being paralysed. He can't walk. It's something that isolates him from community and prevents him from fully living. They care enough to realise that this man can't fix himself. But Jesus can. So they do whatever it takes to bring him to Jesus. But Jesus sees a deeper issue...that has eternal ramifications. A brokenness in his relationship with God. So Jesus 'fixes' that first for he know that this fix, a restored relationship with the Father, will change everyone else in this man's life. 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'
Maybe the thing you think needs fixing, the thing holding you back, paralysing you is bigger than what you think. Jesus can fix it. Jesus has fixed it. He came to fix the root cause of all problems...a broken relationship with the Father. When that is fixed, it transforms everything, freeing your from all the paralyses, so you have the freedom to live.
PRAYER:
Jesus, you alone have the authority and desire to fix all that paralyses me and stops me living the life you have given me. Daily free me to walk in the freedom of your ways. Give me the courage as a friend, to bring others to you, so you might also restore them. Amen.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
TO PONDER:
While at the Chinese New Year celebration the other night, I had to smile. I watched as two young boys came in with their parents and immediately walked (or crawled in the case of the younger brother) to where the toys were at the back of the Church. The older brother, about 3 years old, started playing on the toy piano, while his younger brother made a straight line for the hot car. He was about to grab it when his older brother reached over, grabbed it so his brother couldn't have it. The younger brother, tried to take it off his sibling but the older brother clung to it tightly, turning his body to shield the car, speaking loudly, "No, mine. It's mine." There was no way he was going to surrender it. Not even when dad tried to intervene to stop the brewing commotion!
It's human nature to cling to what we think is ours. We have been so conditioned to think of, assert and claim what is rightfully ours, that like these two brothers, we end up in a stand off, or even a shouting match as we refuse to budge, to yield, to surrender our rights, our privileges, our status, our possessions, our comfort, our space, for the sake of others.
How different a way, Jesus models for us. Instead of clutching and hanging onto his privileges as God, Jesus was willing to set aside what he could rightly claim as his, to surrender, let go, relinquish and empty himself to become a human being, to think of others, to live for others, to serve others, to raise up others.
What are you willing to surrender today, to serve those around you. Will you give up time? Will you leave the comfort of the circle of friends at work to reach out to a colleague who is struggling to fit in, will you look up from your own little world to see the needs of others around you and make life a little easier for them? Jesus did that for you...so you can in turn, do that for others. That's what it means to have the same mindset as Jesus.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, give me the humility and willingness to release, let go and surrender my life to you, so other's may experience and receive your life today. Amen.
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
TO PONDER:
'Never ask anyone to do something that you are not prepared to do yourself.' It's a word of wisdom that my dad shared with my as a teenager that I have never forgotten! I often accompanied him as he would go to an elderly couple's place to fix up something they couldn't do themselves. I painted alongside of him on weekends as we prepared the second hand transportable classrooms that would become the first classrooms of our new Lutheran School. I pulled down a tennis court fence on a 40 degree day along with my dad and two others, because the school couldn't afford to pay for a new one around its court. But it wasn't just my dad. I had other role models who showed me the same thing. A willingness to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty to help others, to serve others, to improve the life of others. Through these role models, I witnessed a joy in their giving, a humbleness in their serving, a love that was motivated by the surety of their identity in Jesus. I learnt that serving is not always convenient, that it can sometimes take up a day that you have planned to do something else. I learnt that it can be costly and can also be taken advantage of by others. But I also learnt what it meant to do as I have done for you. I am so thankful for those who shaped and formed me in my walk with Jesus, who taught me to serve, and my prayer is that my willingness to do likewise is shaping the next generation.
What about you? How is your serving an example and inspiration for others? Who can you ask to join you so that together you experience the blessing of serving others with the love of Jesus that you have received? Go with joy, to serve the Lord today.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, you have never asked us to do what you were not prepared to do yourself. Grow in me your heart that I may serve as your have served me. Amen.
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
TO PONDER:
He was clearly frustrated. He had put his money into the vending machine, pressed the button for his chosen snack...and nothing happened. He pressed the buttons again. Still nothing...except this time his money was gone. He got mad. He repeatedly thumped the buttons. He hit the glass. He hit the side. If the station manager hadn't intervened, I'm not sure what his next move would have been. He had put in his coins, he expected to get what he had paid for and instead he got nothing.
Sometimes, I think we have the same approach to prayer as this man did to the vending machine. We offer our coins to God, make the selection and tell him what we want and we expect to push open the door, reach in and retrieve what we asked for. When God doesn't deliver but just takes the coins of our beliefs and trust and we end up with nothing, we feel betrayed by God, even angry at God for withholding what we really want. Perhaps we resolve never to waste the coins of our trust on the vending machine of prayer again.
Have you ever treated prayer like that?
Prayer is not a process. It's not a transaction. It's a relationship. That's what Jesus tells his disciples when they ask him, 'Lord, teach us to pray.' As disciples, we are always learning to pray. 'When you pray", Jesus says, start at the beginning...'Father.' In prayer, always go back to the relationship that exists. A Father who is present now...in the midst of struggle. In the midst of need. In the midst of confusion. In the midst of uncertainty. In the midst of life. A Father who has always been there, will always be there. A Father who will lead and guide us through the moments of life, changing us, transforming us, strengthening us and reminding us of who he is in every moment, high and low, through every season, good and bad.
Prayer reveals what we believe about God...I wonder as you reflect today, what your prayers reveal?
PRAYER:
Lord, I need help so teach me to pray again today and discover who you are to me. Amen.
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
TO PONDER:
'Rewards, achievements, accolades, trophies. That's the mark of greatness that the world applauds. Finish first. Win the race. Climb the ladder. Reach the pinnacle. Achieve success. From an early age, it is how we are conditioned. It's a mindset that is encouraged. It's a way of life that is hard to break.
But it is not the way of the Kingdom.
When Jesus hears the disciples arguing about who is the greatest, he reveals to them a kingdom mindset that has a different agenda, a polar opposite outcome and a transformed objective. Your mission today, is to excel in serving. Your agenda today is to live for others. Your objective today is to lift others up and encourage them in a way where they can shine in the world. That's what greatness looks like. That's what discipleship looks like. That's a living that will make a difference one life at a time and bring glory to God's name. So are you up to excelling in coming last! Go...in his name...to welcome the least and make room for them to thrive!
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, grow in me your heart that in all I do today, I may serve others graciously, as a witness to your life in me. Amen.
Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Saviour,
and my hope is in you all day long.
TO PONDER:
One of the things we would do when I worked at the hire firm, was show people how to use the equipment they hired before they left the shop. Chainsaw, brushcutter, concrete saw, generator, lawnmower. Whatever it was, we would start it up, and then give them instructions on how to use it. It wasn't uncommon for people to say, "Don't worry about showing me, I know how to use it.' I remember one day, a guy came in for a chainsaw to cut up firewood and he took a second chain with him. I showed him what to do, despite his protestations that he had been using chainsaws his whole life. A few hours later, he came in complaining that the second chain we had given him was blunt. He was angry. He was verbally abusive and so I looked at the machine he held in his hand. The second chain had been put on the wrong way! Of course it wouldn't cut.
I wonder...how often are we like that when it comes to God. God longs to teach us his ways, for they are not natural to us. God wants to show us his ways, but we think, 'I've been a Christian my whole life, I know how to do this thing!' We might not use the words, but our actions show that. Maybe we thought we learnt everything we needed to know in Confirmation. We don't keep growing in the Word. We don't seek the counsel of the Word. We are not prepared to learn new things or be challenged in how we do something that we do.
Do you have a teachable spirit? The Psalmist David, recognises that he needs help in walking God's way. With a teachable spirit, filled with humility, he asks God to show him, teach him, guide him. He's eager to learn from God. He wants to be shown by God. He desires to be guided by God. What about you? What would happen if you began every day, praying these verses when you arose? Try it.
PRAYER:
Give me a teachable spirit to learn your ways. Show me your ways, O Lord, that I might walk in your truth, to the glory of your name. Amen.
As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
TO PONDER
I want to take this devotion in a slightly different direction than you are maybe used to.
While I acknowledge it is a sad thing to recall and one that has happened more frequently than we would usually expect in recent years, I am always awed by the destructive power of floods. I remember just a year or two ago watching the news as what looked like entire houses were swept down the Brisbane river in the South East Queensland floods.
You know what wasn't swept away though, the foundations. In most cases these houses were built on foundations that were well established, that didn't move, but it was the way the house was build or attached to the foundations that failed under pressure.
I wonder if for many Christians in 'Western' societies and cultures today it's not the foundation that's the problem - we are happy for the Word of God to be what we build our lives on - as long as we get to build the life we want. the problem with that is that if the house you build is not aligned and integrated well with the foundations, it won't matter how good the foundations are, the building will still collapse or wash away under flood conditions.
Don't just let Jesus and his words be the foundation. Let Jesus do the complete build, then you know you'll have a safe place to find comfort and shelter in the storm.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus you are the master builder and carpenter. give me the courage to allow you to build my life as you see fit so that it may bring glory and honour to you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
TO PONDER
I am sure you have read or heard these words many times before, but have you stopped to consider what they actually mean? In Greek ‘word’ is logos. This can mean the words written on a page, but in Greek understanding it can also mean the meaning or embodiment of what the words mean. God had made a covenant with his people, way back with Abraham, and now his covenant is made personal and real in the person of Jesus. He is the answer! How does God do this? He places himself into his creation, as a part of the creation, a human being. How incredible is that! This God who none could look upon, because of his glory, came and lived amongst us, in order to redeem us and show us his ways. We know what grace and truth and love are, because they are shown to us in the person of Jesus.
PRAYER: Jesus, thank you that you left your throne in heaven, becoming a person just like me. Thank you that you lived, died and rose again to show me how great the love of my Heavenly Father truly is. Thank you that I can approach my Father with confidence, because I am his child, Amen.
Today's devotion written by Elise von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle