A Different Kind of Trip part 2

The last time I sent this out I was thinking about the unexpected. Here in short is the rest of what I was thinking. Continuing with Luke 10:5-9...In verse 9 Jesus casually says to heal the sick who are in the town you travel to. Now I do not know about you, but when I read this I thought this was a real challenge. If I was one of those following Jesus I would have thought he might have meant to "try" and heal those who are sick. But Jesus says this as though it were a normal thing for them to do.

Then, I had a conversation with one of our staff in Mexico and he mentioned to me that he prayed for a professor and later she told him that God healed her. I was excited by the news but then God said to me "Why don't you see this as a normal part of following me?" Jesus is waiting to release his power and authority through us as a normal part of following him.

Some days are "diamonds" and some are "stones" John Denver sang. Some days we really seem close to Jesus and they are great days but some days we do not seem that close and wonder what is going on. Not every day will be filled with healings but some should.

Surely we can come to a place where when God does something through our life we get excited but also have an understanding that this is the normal Christian life.

A Different Kind of Trip part 1

Luke 10:5-8 Jesus is giving his followers some last minute thinking before he sent them off. "Look for a person of peace." Get close to them by staying in their house. "Eat and drink whatever they give you." He reminds them of this last one again in verse 8.

I thought about the "eating and drinking whatever they give you" part. Isn't it interesting how God speaks to us from the Word? This definitely involved food but God had something different to say to me.

I remember one time overseas being served horse and another time a dish of warm milk with rice in it. Not exactly meat lover's pizza. But it was set before me and I ate it.

I like to go to buffets because I get to choose what I eat. I also have ideas of what my day, week or life should look like. But God has been talking to me about accepting whatever he gives me or brings into my life or whatever he does not.

Instead of approaching my day with anticipation of what God may do that day, I can easily plan it myself or look back at it at the end of the day disappointed that God did not somehow cause it to be different. I regularly seem to have what I believe is a better idea of what should be going on in my life.

But God is saying "let me determine what you need, who you need to talk with or not talk with, what kind of ministry you need or don't need..." In short, I need to believe God has my best interest in mind and accept with joy what he provides for me that day. He really does have it all together!

When I have any disappointment in the trip, it means I am not looking at life like God does. The words "freedom", "joy", and "abundant life" are missing in my dictionary when I live this way.

The church Frannie and I attend has a saying "figuring out life and faith." I totally am working on this.

Question What 5 words come to your mind that describe how you are accepting what God is
bringing into your life...or not bringing into your life?

If God put the food on the table, would it look different from what you would put on it?
What's that about?

Where's the closest McDonalds?

Continuing with Luke 9
Verses 12-13

Ok, these people interrupted long enough. The disciples wanted some hang time with Jesus and just them. It was time for the people to leave and get some dinner and a motel. Besides, they were in the middle of nowhere. This makes total sense to them so, they tell Jesus what he should do-send the people away. Doesn't Jesus get it? There is no food and nothing in sight. Surely there are fast food places in Bethsaida. Can you imagine telling Jesus what he should do?

But, do I get it? There are times when what I see happening or not happening does not make any sense and so I tell God to get after it. Sometimes I think I am in the middle of nowhere. Why do I come to this conclusion? Why were they trying to change the situation or circumstances? Why do I? Maybe Jesus planned on them being exactly where they were. Maybe? I am sure he did. He knows us so well that he knows what it takes to improve our sight, cause us to be thankful, to love people like he does...

"You feed them" This is outrageous. What is wrong with Jesus...or...me? How outrageous for me to not believe or allow Jesus to do what he wants-to allow his agenda to be mine. When was the last time Jesus has said something to me that I can't begin to understand how he could really mean it?

Jesus is the only one who could have told them to do this. Satan knew Jesus could really turn rocks into bread. Jesus alone determines who should do this. Later, Jesus would tell Peter to feed his sheep. In that case he was speaking of helping people become real followers of Jesus. Now, the people were getting hungry so this was physical food that was needed. But it seemed so unreasonable.

What happened to these guys when waking up and talking with one another one says "what kind of rabbit is he going to pull out of a hat today?" "I don't know but I didn't get any sleep thinking about it last night." We need to live with anticipation of what God wants to do in and through us every day. It may turn out to be a very normal day, but some days God shows up in a diffenent way and guess what he has up his sleeve?

FOCUS 1. Our lives should welcome people. There should be something in our life that causes people to want to be with us.
2. Jesus engineers circumstances for his purposes and I should never try to change what he is using to accomplish his purposes.
3. Is there anything God is trying to tell you but from your perspective, it seems unreasonable?
4. Ask God to wake you up with an anticipation of what it means for him to be in your life and working through you that day.

It's getting late and I am tired

In Luke 9:10-11 Jesus decides to take his men somewhere, they are glad to get some time with him about the last trip they took. But as what usually happens, people get word that Jesus is going somewhere and they follow him. In their minds, it doesn't matter where he is going they just want to be with him. But I bet the disciples wanted Jesus by himself and this was not turning out like they wanted.

Jesus graciously welcomed the people and spoke to them about the kingdom of God (critical issues of life), and as they revealed needs, he met them. It is likely that Jesus was tired from being involved with people before this trip but he loved people so his life invited them to come along. He did not talk about the weather or who was going to be in the world series but talked about the issues that really mattered. He met their needs-in this case it was to heal people with various illnesses.

What about you and I? Are we letting Jesus love people through us? Is our life inviting? People can tell if we want them to hang out with us. When you and I really love people, no one is ever interrupting. We must also not be so busy with life that we do not have time to allow them into our life. Then, what do we talk about? It is amazing how long a conversation can go without any substance. It is like a trip where the kids ask "are we there yet?" Sometimes the conversation goes on and on and we never get to the critical issues that matter. Too much is at stake to only observe the scenery on our trip with others. What sometimes happens then is that people begin to let us in on their life and reveal a need. It is easy to brush it off and tell them "that is interesting" or "I will pray with you about it."

FOCUS What can you do this week to let someone into your life?
Make it a point to listen and then ask a question that gets to issues that matter.
Meeting practical needs is as spiritual as it gets-Matthew 10:42.

Going through the closet

Occasionally we decide it is time to go through our closet and get rid of some of the clothes we have not worn for a while and give them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. This makes us feel generous because we are sharing some of our stuff with someone else. There are a lot of clothes left in our closet however after we have made such a generous donation. And, we usually get rid of those clothes we really do not like or believe we are going to wear much anymore.

Sort of reminds me of how we give out some of the good news about Jesus but keep back most of it. We feel good because we used the word "church" in our conversation with someone who does not follow Jesus but they are left wondering what the spank we mentioned that for.

In Luke 8:16-18 Jesus talks about this kind of generosity with an interesting application. We have information about how to live and what Monday-Sunday is all about. People we know need to learn how to see their way through this difficult financial time or whatever deal satan is throwing at them. The Message translation is great here-"We're not keeping secrets, we're telling them. We're not hiding things;we're bringing everything out into the open."

Could it be that we are not convinced about the gospel really relating to every part of life and that is why we keep back the really good stuff about how Jesus can change a life? What is it that keeps you from being generous with the truth?

When we are really generous, God opens up things for us we could never imagine. If we are stingy with the truth, we are going to sink deep into poverty-poverty of the soul where we can't put our finger on why we are feeling so down.

Focus Give away something from your closet you really like...and share something with someone who does not know Jesus that you have thought about but for whatever reason you have never brought up. Your relationship with them will go to another level.

Never the Same

Luke 6:27-31 Familiar, but a few often avoided sentences. I have never been so challenged by something like this in a while.

"I tell you who hear me" Am I listening? Do I really want to hear what Jesus says? "Of course" I might answer, but really do I want to hear? What if I hear something I have not heard before? What if it does not make sense? What if it does?

"To you who are ready for the truth" Message Trans.
Am I READY for the truth? How do I know I am ready?
Am I ready for the TRUTH? My answer might be "It depends" or "maybe" or "what do you mean?"

"I say this." Msg. Is truth only in code or will Jesus say this only when I am ready for the truth?

Sometimes getting ready is tough. I have to go through some hard things until I say to Jesus "I am ready." We can try everything, go to every conference and read every book coming up without any real answers that get to the core of our issues and then Jesus quietly says "are you ready now?' Solutions only come in a relationship with Jesus where he speaks and I do not treat what he says as an option.

Then he says something like "Love your enemies." Great! Now my life gets challenging. This is hard to understand and even harder to do.

Who makes the boundaries as to what or who is included here? This is going to take a radical adjustment to my life to do this or anything Jesus says. Why does he have to say such things that turn my world upside down? Why do I have to really even question what he says? Why can't I just trust that whatever he says is right and if I do it, I will enter into a dimension of the Christian life unattainable any other way?

This is not a hypothetical few sentences I am sharing with you. I really am dealing with this one.

New Threads, Wine and Grain

Luke 5:36-39 and 6:1-5 We all like new things...well, not everyone. Jesus made many statements in his brief stay on our planet but here are a few that were understood by the religious crowd and they did not only disagree with them but wanted to eliminate Jesus because of them.

You cannot sew a patch of clothing from new cloth onto an old cloth without problems. You cannot pour new wine into an old wine container without destroying the old container and losing the new wine. What does this mean?

There is new thinking and different ways of doing ministry these days. There is always new thinking and new ways of doing ministry that runs counter to traditional thinking or ministry strategies. You cannot combine new thinking or ways of doing ministry with the traditional thinking or ministry strategies. It does not work. Both are adversely affected. They do not have enough common ground to connect. New thinking requires new ministry models which are not necessarily to be copied. People who like or are familiar with the traditional ways of thinking and doing ministry will disagree with the new. They believe the old wine is better.

Who makes the rules? Some people are going to question what they do not understand or agree with. In some cases, these people made the rules. The religious people questioned Jesus' disciples and Jesus about rules about the Sabbath. Jesus however, is the one who makes the rules. When he speaks about something, it changes everything.
The traditions were being broken...but Jesus is in charge.

What about transitions? It does take time to alter a way of thinking or a way of looking at how ministry should be done. It requires patience on the part of the one with the new way of looking at ministry and teachability on the part of the one receiving the new wine.

Why are you doing that? We need to be ready and able to answer the questions that traditional thinking people ask us. New is not the issue but hearing from Jesus is. We are not slaves to traditional religious rules but rather we are slaves to Jesus.

What are some Sabbath rules in place today? Think about this one as you look at your life now. Following some of these rules may be keeping non-Christians you and I know from seeing the gospel lived out.