Fully Committed - Luke 9-10

Luke 9:57-62 (ESV)

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

To comprehend more fully what Jesus meant about the above we have to recall what He already said earlier in this chapter:

Luke 9:23-25 (ESV)

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

In our society today we do know what it is like to be fully committed.  There is not a question that we know what that means.  High performing athletes demonstrate to us the concept of being fully committed to something.   High performing sales executives are fully committed.   They are all in when it comes to their work.   We know what it looks like for a parent to be fully committed to their children.  They literally sacrifice their how lives for another: There own flesh and blood.   However, it is amazing that with all these examples of being fully committed, we fall so short in our own walk with Jesus.   In the above passages He is calling upon us to be fully in, when it comes to loving Him and serving Him.   A parent will often get up early just to make sure their children are prepared for the world.   But how many of us are committed to be fully in and getting up early to prepare ourselves for the world by working on our relationship with God through Christ.   We can find a lot of reasons to not work on our relationship with God through the Savior and the Spirit.  But in the above lines Jesus tells us what He thinks of that type of thought process.  Jesus demands that we are all in.  If we are not all in then we are fully out.   That is what Jesus is teaching us in these passages.  

Grief From Innocence Or Disobedience - Lamentation

Lamentations 2:13-14 (ESV)

What can I say for you, to what compare you,

O daughter of Jerusalem?

What can I liken to you, that I may comfort you,

O virgin daughter of Zion?

For your ruin is vast as the sea;

who can heal you?

Your prophets have seen for you

false and deceptive visions;

they have not exposed your iniquity

to restore your fortunes,

but have seen for you oracles

that are false and misleading.

Lamentations is a lament about the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.   The nation of Israel continued to spurn the word of God and, as a result of this constant disobedience, God destroyed the city by the hands of the Babylonians.   Some of the people died during the Babylonia siege, some died trying to escape at the sword of the Babylonians, most were taken captive.   Some died because the people in the city, so hungry, ate their own new born babies.   This is a horrific scene and story.  Jeremiah, probably the author, lived through it all, as one of the main voices of God’s word.  However, he was not the only one who prophesied during that time.  There were other prophets besides him.  His message from God was, “This is going to happen, give up and go to Babylon and be safe and God will bring you back here one day.”    The other prophet’s message was, “Keep doing what you are doing.  We are God’s chosen people and the Babylonias are more wicked than us.  Jeremiah is a traitor because he wants you to give into a foreign god.”  The above lament gives us the rest of the story.   The false teachers lead them astray and brought on even more destruction.  Sometimes when grief comes our way and we fall into a long lament and grief cycle, but it is for no fault of our own (read the book of Job again).  But sometimes when we fall into calamity it is because we are listening to false doctrine and false world views.   These people fell into this destruction because they refused to listen to Jeremiah and instead, choose to listen to these no longer remembered, prophets.  Here is the prophecy of one of those prophets.  

Jeremiah 28:10-11 (ESV)

Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke-bars from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke them. And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the LORD: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” But Jeremiah the prophet went his way.

Hananiah soon dies after this display of disobedience toward God’s real prophet, Jeremiah.    We may have grief that comes upon us, causing us to fall into a lamentation, because of innocence.   However, we often fall into calamity and lamentation because of our own disobedience.   

Honor The Lord With Tangible Worship

Proverbs 3:9-10 (ESV)

Honor the LORD with your wealth

and with the firstfruits of all your produce;

then your barns will be filled with plenty,

and your vats will be bursting with wine.

God gives us wealth.  Riches are a gift of God.  As a result, Solomon tells us to use our wealth in a way that honors God.  We are to not just give of our wealth, we are to give of the "first" of our wealth.  There is no discussion of what we give to God.   He deserves our first, our best, our honor from the gifts He gives us.   If it were not for His gift we would have nothing.   When we hold onto "our" wealth and believe it is "ours" we lose out on the opportunity to "honor" Him.   When we dishonor God and hold onto our wealth for ourselves we lose out on the blessing we get to give back to God for His blessing to us.  Honor God will  your wealth.

 Having our barns overflowing and vats filled with New wine would be a great way to bring in the New Year. There is nothing like finishing the old year knowing the barn is almost empty and the vats are filled with old wine. But, the above proverb begins with the word, “Then.” This is a conditional proverb. Verse nine tells us that we must “honor the Lord” if we want to have the promises of verse ten. To honor something means to put it before something else. Honoring the Lord (and therefore enjoying the blessings above) means putting Him before other things in our life. What things? Perhaps the better question is what things should be put before Him? Nothing! Not family, not friends, not work, not church, not traditions. Honor Him and enjoy His blessings. Put Him first and He will fill your barns and vats.

Imagine Everyone Praising God - Psalms 66-68

Psalms 68:32-33 (ESV)

O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;

sing praises to the Lord, Selah

to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;

behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.

These two verses are much of what the Psalms are all about.  They are a collection of songs via Hebrew poems to magnify God’s greatness.   In these two lines above, the writer is instructing the kingdoms of the earthly, to sing to God.  This seems so simple.   The nations are commanded to sing praises to the Lord.   Imagine a world where that happened.  Imagine a world where the nations were Christ-like nations.  Imagine China, Russia, India and Japan and the entire Korean Peninsula, shouting out praise to God, the King.   Imagine the USA, in its entirety, recognizing in praise and adoration that God sends out His voice, His mighty voice.   Our Sunday morning worship services are reserved for such a thing.   But even churches who hold thousands are nothing compared to what the writer here is suggesting, commanding.  Imagine football stadiums full for Saturday and/or Sunday games break out in full concert praise for the Lord.   Imagine every concert goer on the planet that comes to hear a singing voice suddenly breakout in praise the King of Kings.   Imagine every government body gathering to meet to sing praise to God.   Imagine ever school classroom, across all countries, suddenly sing out praise to the Lord.   That is the command of this psalm.   That is the power of His mighty voice.    And, yet, in the end, the world will reject that powerful and mighty voice.  Note:

Revelation 9:20-21 (ESV)

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Breakout in praise for the mighty voice of the Lord!!

Our Priorities Are Reflected In What We Build - 1 Kings 5-9

1 Kings 7:1-2 (ESV)

Solomon Builds His Palace

Solomon was building his own house thirteen years,
and he finished his entire house.

He built the House of the Forest of Lebanon. Its length was a hundred cubits and its breadth fifty cubits and its height thirty cubits, and it was built on four rows of cedar pillars, with cedar beams on the pillars.

Solomon spent 7 years building the Temple and 13 years building his own palace.  Solomon’s was bigger.   You can see the comparison by the chart below. 

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/33/a7/00/33a700725d894834275f3e93b99a00e4.jpg

However, the comparison is not fair.  God prescribed the exact measurements of His Temple.   Every detail was based upon the configuration of what Moses told them all to build years ago in the Tabernacle.   When Solomon built his house he had no limitations.  However, it does seem odd that the he would outdo the Temple.   God does not condemn this and neither should we.   It might just be wise for us to understand that God’s Temple is still filled with God’s glory and our buildings are not.   God now fills our hearts with His glory.  But we do try to outdo one another with our homes and our status.   There is no indication that Solomon did this to promote himself.   As stated, God does not condemn this.  God will, later after this Temple is destroyed, condemn Solomon’s descendants about their living in paneled homes why His house still lays in ruin.

Haggai 1:4 (ESV)

“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

Our priorities are often reflected by what we build and how we accommodate ourselves.   When the early church was being built (not a building) people sold their properties to bring support to each other:

Acts 2:44-45 (ESV)

And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

What we hold in our hearts is our priorities.   

As The LORD Commanded Moses - Exodus 37-40

Exodus 39:1 (ESV)

From the blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made finely woven garments, for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Exodus 39:7 (ESV)

And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Exodus 39:21 (ESV)

And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Exodus 39:26 (ESV)

a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

And on and on it goes.  There are over 60 mentions in the Old Testament Torah that state, as the LORD had commanded Moses.  There are nine in chapter 39, alone.  When Moses was instructed by God to build the Tabernacle, he was the spokesman for God.  Therefore, as they built the structure and the goods for all that was Tabernacle, they obeyed Moses, because they were obeying God.   He was God’s voice.   Notice the details they followed.  They didn’t miss one thread, one color, one loop, one nuance of the instructions.  That is what it means to follow and obey Scripture.  

Joshua 1:8-9 (ESV)

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

God’s Grace Changes Everything - Galatians 1-3

Galatians 1:13-16 (ESV)

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;

God changes people.   The grace of God, poured into our lives by the Spirit of God, through the knowledge of the Son of God, changes us.  Paul was so bent on destroying the Church and the power of Jesus Christ that he didn’t see the truth of Christ.   But then, one day walking down a road (Acts 9), God revealed Himself to Him.  Here is what God said to Paul that day:

Acts 9:3-5 (ESV)

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

The phrase in this Galatians’ passage that states, But when He who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, is so powerful.   Paul thought his destiny was to persecute the Church and further the influence of Judaism.  Yet, even before Paul was born, God set him apart to teach and preach the Gospel of Grace.   He was called by grace to teach and preach God’s grace.   God’s grace changes everything.  By His grace, God changes the worst of people, the worst of circumstances the worst of outcomes into pictures of beauty.  Paul, at one time, was killing Christians.  But by God’s grace He became one, in order to preach grace to the Gentiles.  God’s grace changes everything.