Consulting the Father

Early on in His ministry, Jesus was teaching around the Galilee area.  He healed diseases and deformities, forgave sins, cast out demons, corrected the teachers of the law, and preached in the synagogues.  Throughout the towns in the region, Jesus’ actions led to a large number of people following him around.  Some traveled from across the nation see Him.  Their social backgrounds varied significantly, from the high-society Pharisees to the bottom-rung tax collectors.  Many were just curious to hear Him speak, others desired to be his disciples – a word which means to be a learner or a pupil.  These people wanted to absorb everything they could from Jesus.  The best news was that anyone could choose to be a learner…Jesus taught anyone who had “ears to hear”, anyone who was willing to listen.

However, for Jesus to be effective in His ministry both before and after His death, He needed to get specific with a chosen few.  Jesus would personally pour into and develop the ones who would eventually be entrusted to carry the gospel message to the rest of the world.  This was a monumental choice, a decision that would affect people throughout history. 

If we needed to make that large of a decision, how would we approach it?  Make a list of pros and cons for each person?  Disqualify some based on the length of time spent following Jesus?  Make a test for them to take?  Ask for resumes?  Hire a consultant?

Take a look at Jesus’ approach:

Luke 6:12-13 During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God.  When daylight came, He summoned His disciples, and He chose 12 of them – He also named them apostles.

Jesus spent all night consulting with the Father.  While we don’t know the specific content or wording Jesus used while talking with the Father, Jesus certainly spent more than just a minute or two asking God for “guidance” and then going on with His own decision-making steps.  The Father was an intimate part of the entire process.  In one of Jesus’ last earthly prayers, He said to the Father:

John 17:6 I have revealed Your name to the men You gave Me from the world.  They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.

During Jesus’ all-night prayer session, the Father revealed to Him which 12 from the mass of disciples were going to be Jesus’ apostles.  These 12 were still disciples – they were still learners – but now they would carry the distinction of being apostles, which means they were specifically identified as a delegate or messenger.  These were the ones Jesus would purposely develop so they would eventually act as His primary representatives.

I’ve pulled few all-nighters in my life – for conversation with others, writing papers, or working on projects…but I’ve never stayed up all night to consult with God.  Looking back into my own history, perhaps the direction I needed for some of the “big” decisions in life would have been clearer if I had consulted with God by more than a cursory prayer. 

Over and over in Jesus’ life, we see that His time with the Father kept him connected and on target with His given ministry.  Jesus did the Father’s Will because He spent significant time with the Father and trusted the Father’s decisions.  We would be wise to invest a similar emphasis in face-time with the Father before making decisions in our personal lives and our God-given ministries that will affect the generations to come.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Intentionally alone

Repetition is always an indication of importance.  Whether we’re practicing the fundamentals of a sport, committing information to memory, or giving instruction to others…if something is repeated, there is significance.  God works the same way when He communicates with us.  When we study the Scriptures, look for things that are repeated.  You’ll find out what God sees as most important.

When we look at Christ’s prayer habits – what he prayed, how he prayed, and what he taught others about prayer – a specific theme is constantly repeated.  This habit was noted multiple times by Matthew, Mark, and Luke; not that they were making a big deal out of it, but rather they spoke of Christ’s behavior as if it were perfectly normal, natural, and common for Him to pray this way.

Almost every time Jesus prays to the Father, he is alone.

Some examples:

Matthew 14:23 After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.  When evening came, He was there alone.

Mark 1:35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place.  And He was praying there.

Luke 5:16 Yet He often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.

Luke 6:12 During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spend all night in prayer to God.

There are two major observations from these verses – where Jesus prayed and when Jesus prayed.

Notice how Jesus’ preferred places of prayer were remote.  Jesus looked for quiet, isolated places so that He would not be interrupted or distracted by the needs of others.  In these places, Jesus could pour out His heart and not worry about who else was listening or needing Him next.  His choice of location helped keep His prayer time focused entirely on the Father.

Whether it was very early before anyone else was awake or very late after everyone went to sleep, Jesus also sought uninterrupted chunks of time with the Father.  Jesus was willing to sacrifice a commodity that most of us hold in high regard – because He was finding His rest in His time with the Father.

Our own application from these passages is obvious.  If our prayer life is going to be properly focused on God, then we need to follow Christ’s example and carve out time away from others to purposefully spend in prayer.  Whether your best time is early in the morning, or late at night, or during your normal driving time (with the radio off)…the point is that we need to be intentional about getting alone time with God.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Praying for an enemy (part 2)

Words are cheap.

Words are easy to say, but sometimes they are hard to follow through with.

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has this to say about how those in the Kingdom of God should act toward enemies:

Matthew 5:43-45 You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of our Father in heaven.  For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Last time, we wrestled with this passage and what Jesus is instructing us to do.  Someone who is actively plotting our downfall, someone who takes pleasure in seeing us fail, someone who harasses us without end – that is not the person I am generally interested in showing love to or want to pray for.

As we look at what Jesus taught here about prayer…it almost feels too big. 

All sorts of defensive thoughts and emotions come to mind when I imagine praying for those who persecute me.  However, the core of all those thoughts and emotions is my own self-centeredness.  Even when recognize this truth, I’m still unsure of how to pray for an enemy. 

Thankfully, we have an example.

Within about a 12 hour timeframe, Jesus was betrayed, falsely accused, slapped, spat on, beaten, repeatedly mocked, savagely whipped, crowned with thorns, and had three metal spikes viciously hammered into his wrists and feet.  After all that, and while he was suffocating to death on the cross, Jesus said

Luke 23:34 Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.

In the midst of excruciating pain, less than a few hours before death, after all he had been through – Jesus petitioned God for their forgiveness.  Jesus kept his enemies’ most important need in mind, despite the circumstances.

That’s something I love about Jesus.  He never asks of us anything that he couldn’t do or wouldn’t do himself.

Everything he went through in those 12 hours, we have also experienced, to some degree, at the hand of an enemy.  On the days when I feel betrayed by those closest to me, the days that someone’s words leave welts and wounds on my heart and in my mind, or when I am antagonized to the point that it feels like they have ripped open my flesh – Jesus has been there before.  There are times when we’re getting run over by someone who is purposely out to make our life miserable (or worse).  Let’s be honest, there are people like that in the world.  They go beyond just being self-centered, and they are actively looking for ways to take us down.

It’s in those frazzled, exhausted moments that we need to be praying for our enemies.  Just like Jesus did, we must remember that their greatest need – God’s forgiveness – is greater than our greatest pains.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Much ado about prayer

I remember when I was in grade school, I was told by my Sunday School teacher that I shouldn’t end my prayer the way I was saying it.  She gently told me that what I was saying wasn’t exactly theologically accurate…now while I don’t remember verbatim what my first grade mind came up with, I do remember thinking that I didn’t want to say what everyone else said at the end of a prayer.  I wanted to say something different, my own way of signing off or saying “see you later” to God.  She said that it would just be better for me to say “In Jesus’ name, Amen”.

Truthfully, she may have been correct that what I was saying was inaccurate…but to this day, I’ve often wondered what’s the “right way” for us to pray?  Later in my childhood, I was told by another adult that prayer was simply “talking to God”, but that statement still leaves me feeling unsettled. 

When my boys were young, they specifically asked me “Dad, what’s the right way to pray?  How do I do it?”  Not wanting to burden their young minds with the doubt and questions I had as a child, I reiterated what was told to me…Don’t worry about it, son.  You’re just talking to God, that’s all.  No formulas, no requirements.  Just tell God what’s on your mind…your worries, your hopes, anything that’s going on.  God can handle it.

However, as I’ve grown and matured…both in life and in my relationship with God…I still have the same lingering questions rattling around the back of my mind.  Is there a “right way” to pray?  Is it really “just talking to God”?  Am I doing this right?

It’s a good exercise to face the questions within us.  It’s also good to talk with other Christians about these things.  But when we have questions about our relationship with God, it’s even better to see what God has to say about it.

A survey of the Scriptures shows that prayer is everywhere.  Seems almost every person we encounter, from all walks of life, prays at some point.  From Job to Paul, David to Peter, Moses to Jabez, and Jonah to John it seems that everyone is either praying or talking about praying.  There are scores of example prayers to look at, and we could spend some time looking at the situations each of those prayers came from.  There would be plenty of benefit to looking through other believers’ examples in the Bible; however, I’m going to narrow the focus a little more in the hopes of answering my own lingering questions.

C.S. Lewis said that God’s aim is that “Every Christian is to become a little Christ”, and the Apostle John had this to say when he wrote about the health of our relationship with Christ:

1 John 2:6 the one who says he remains in [relationship with] Him should walk just as He walked

If these accurately describe God’s purpose toward those who have accepted Christ as Savior, then when it comes to prayer…I want to know how Jesus prayed.  Not only “how”, but also “when” and “why”.  If becoming like Christ is the goal, then he should be the first one we look to as our example.  Jesus’ own disciples also recognized this:

Luke 11:1 [Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

The disciples wanted to be like their teacher, so they naturally wanted to pray like him too.  We’re going to take a close look at what Jesus taught his disciples, as well as Jesus’ own prayer life – when did he pray and what did he pray?

As of this writing, I don’t know the answers to all of these questions…so we’re going to walk down this path and learn together.  Perhaps our best starting point is to have the same request the first disciples had

Lord, teach us to pray.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Great grace, great love

Titus 3:5-6 ...He [God the Father] saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior

All three members of the Trinity – God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit – participated in securing our salvation from sin’s ultimate penalty.  Without God acting on our behalf, we would have been eternally separated from God and unable to become whom God created us to be. 

While our rescue from eternal death was God’s primary motivation, it wasn’t the only outcome from what God did for us.  Paul continues and explains God’s motivation in providing such a great salvation:

Titus 3:7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

To be justified means to be declared legally righteous.  Not guilty of the sin I’ve committed.  Since Jesus paid the penalty for all of humanity’s sin, and I have accepted that he took the punishment I deserved, I cannot be condemned to eternal separation from God.  As Paul said in his letter to the believers in Rome:

Romans 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

But did you catch what Paul was saying to Titus?  There is more to a believer’s life, something that goes beyond the initial salvation moment and experience.

Titus 3:7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

I have often heard justification explained as God treating the believer “just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned”, however Paul is saying that there is more to it than that.  We become heirs, we now have hope in an eternal future of life with God.  Perhaps a better statement for justification would be that God now treats the believer “just-as-if-I-were-Jesus-himself”.

While I am now treated as if I were sinless, I am also received as a member of the family and brought into the relationship found within the Trinity.  That does not mean that I become God, but I am loved as much as God the Father loves God the Son…which is an eternal, unbreakable love.  We are given privileges unknown to any other created being…and it’s all because we are associated with Jesus.

Also notice how we are justified…it is by his grace.  Not by anything we did or will do.  We saw earlier that our rescue was not because of righteous things we had done, it’s all a gift. 

How great is God’s love toward us?!

Keep Pressing,
Ken

The Trinity in action

Did you know that there are some words common to Christian discussions, which are not found in the Scriptures?  Two examples include the words “Atheism” and “Bible”.  Try to find them in a concordance (a dictionary-type book that alphabetically lists all words used in the Scriptures), and you won’t find them.  However, the concept of both Atheistic beliefs and the collection of God-inspired books forming the Bible are clearly taught within God’s Word.

Atheistic beliefs:
Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

God inspires the Bible:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Another Christian term that critics like to point out as being “un-Biblical” because it is not found in the Bible is the word Trinity.  Many believers struggle to understand, let alone explain, the concept of a 3-person/1-being God.  God has always been “one” in direction, purpose, and essence. 

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

However, we do find throughout Scripture that each person – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – are identified as God (Galatians 1:1, Titus 2:13, Romans 8:14), and each person relates to the others in specific, unique roles and actions (John 15:26, Hebrews 9:14, 1 Peter 1:3).  There are many other Scripture references that could be used to further these points, but the ones cited are a good starting place.

While we may not fully understand all the particulars of how God is like this, we can certainly recognize the Trinity when we see it in action.  Paul brings up the concept of the Trinity as he instructs Titus to teach the Cretans.  Look for the actions of each member:

Titus 3:4-6 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.  He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior

When we read these verses, we find that Paul refers to both God the Father and Jesus Christ as Savior and also states that it is the actions performed by the Holy Spirit that saved us.  The fullness of the Godhead, all three persons of the Trinity, were involved with our rescue from the penalty of our sinful living. 

You can easily tell the importance of a project based upon the rank of the one who leads it.  A project led by a Manager has a different emphasis from a project personally led by the CEO.  Given that all three members of the Trinity participated in our salvation…the value that God placed on us and our rescue cannot be understated.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit acted in concert to redeem us, and not because of righteous things we had done, but because of [God’s] mercy.

When I stop, take a deep breath, and let that one truth sink in…it blows my mind.  Literally makes my head hurt.  I struggle to fathom it.  It’s almost too good to be true, right?

Gifts are like that.  Spend some time thinking about it, you’ll be glad you did.  When you’ve fully wrestled with it, when you’ve accepted his gift that none of us deserve, there’s only one thing left to say:

“Thank you.”

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Our greatest need

Life is messy.  Our selfishness and sin tangles up everything, doesn’t it?  I can make such a tangled mess out of my life that I am bound by knots that I cannot undo…however, our sin-soaked human condition is made even more difficult as each of our tangled messes become interwoven in everyone else’s tangled messes.  Every mess we face is caused by either our own selfishness or someone else’s selfishness. When we recognize our sin for what it is, we quickly realize that life is so messy that we could never un-messy it.

Titus 3:3-4 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.  We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But…

In our heart-of-hearts, when we are honest…that is who we were.  Disobedient fools that happily chased and submitted to all kinds of destructive behaviors.  We lived in constant suspicion and envy of others, hating anyone who appeared to have something we did not.  Every aspect of our existence was focused completely on ourselves.

The word “but” always signals a change in direction.  It is a key term to look for when we read the Scriptures.  “But” tells us that the subject matter is about to change, that something different is coming.

Titus 3:4-5 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

In direct contrast to the hateful, envious, disobedient mess that all people are in, God steps in to rescue us.  God intervened in the mess of our sinful lives.  When our lives were full of malice, envy, and hate – God stepped in with kindness, love, and mercy.

These qualities of God and his salvation are the polar opposite of the qualities we possessed.

And just in case we ever think that we maybe earned it, or we somehow convinced God to save us, or that we were “good enough” – Paul instructs us that God’s rescue was not because of righteous things we had done. 

but because of his mercy – in direct contrast to any outside influence of our works, (because there wasn’t any), God’s motivation for saving humanity comes from his own mercy.  Mercy is defined as the moral quality of feeling compassion and especially showing kindness toward someone in need.  What better way to describe the entire human race? 

We needed someone to feel compassion toward us, to act in kindness on our behalf, someone to deal with our need to have our sin nature resolved.  We couldn’t do it – individually or corporately – and there was nothing about us that could influence God to act on our behalf.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

While we were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures…living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

We couldn’t fix our mess.  So God did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Looking forward

As believers, how do we manage the battle that goes on inside us?  Paul made the perceptive observation in his letter to the Christians living in Rome:

Romans 7:19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.

It wasn’t just the Christians in Rome who struggled with this.  Paul also addressed how to deal with this inner turmoil in his letter to Titus:

Titus 2:12-13 [The grace of God] teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age

I think we all want to say “No” to the things we know aren’t good for us.  Living a life that is self-controlled, upright, and godly certainly seems like an attractive alternative…but we also have some doubts about that kind of life.  We wonder things like “Can I really live like that?” and “Is a godly life truly fulfilling?” and “What if it’s hard, or even boring?”

It’s at this point that many of us just try a little bit, lose the fight a few times, and then check out.  We entertain thoughts that sound a lot like “I gave it my best shot” or “I’m too much of a mess to have any significant change” or “Maybe I’m not cut out for this Christian life like other people seem to be”.

When we have discouraging times like these, we’ll find us glaring at ourselves in the moment.  We have a very limited perspective because we are narrowly focusing on a particular failure, or even characterizing our past as “bad” due to our present failures.  Instead of looking back, we need to look forward.  We need to broaden our view to include God’s future plan for us, both individually and for all of us who trust him as our Savior. 

But if I should look forward, then what I should look forward to?  What event am I waiting for, what am I hoping will someday happen that will actually be “good”?

Titus 2:12-13 [The grace of God] teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

When we fail, when we say “Yes” to the ungodliness and worldly passions within us, the last thing we need to do is wallow in our sin and self-pity.  Instead, look forward to Christ’s coming.  God’s grace – the gift of Christ himself – continues to work in you even after accepting him as Savior.  In the very next verse, Paul reminds Titus that it was Jesus

Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. 

Jesus has not abandoned us to figure out this Christian life all on our own.  His mission is twofold – redemption of sinners and purification of his people.  Today’s failures do not negate his purpose toward you.

So, what do we look forward to, what event are we waiting for?  Keeping our eyes on his coming keeps us focused on Jesus, remembering that we are a people that are his very own, and that he is actively training us to be eager to do what is good.

Keep Pressing,
Ken