Thoughts From Luke - Day 85

                                      Luke 19:45 - 20:8

45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling.46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

47 Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words. One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”

3 He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

5 They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”

7 So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

8 Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

            I grew up with the understanding that in order to be saved you had to say "the prayer". It went something like this; 

"Dear God, I realize I am sinful and separated from You and there is nothing that I can do to fix that. I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sins. I receive His gift of forgiveness by faith and I will live for You from now on. Thank You for sending Your Holy Spirit into my heart to give me new life. Help me to live for You from now on. Amen."

       If you said that and truly meant it, you were saved. Even within the past several months, I have been on a mission trip to Panama and led 7 people in that prayer. Does that mean they were saved? I don't know. Did they mean it? I don't know. There is nothing mystical or magical about saying words like an incantation or spell. So why do I still do it? 1 Peter 3:21 says,

"and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ"

       This prayer is a pledge to the Lord. Romans 10:9 says;

"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

        This prayer is a declaration to the Lord.

         So what does this have to do with the passage? What I see in this passage is that Jesus wants people to declare what side they are on. The Pharisees wouldn't. They thought that they could straddle the fence. The truth was that inwardly they weren't straddling - they didn't believe John the Baptist had a heavenly calling and they didn't believe Jesus was God's son. Jesus challenged them to confess with their mouth what side they were on and they wouldn't and thus never received Christ. The same is true today. You can go to Church, Bible Studies, follow Jesus all you want but there comes a time when you have to declare what side you are on. There is a time when you have to make a pledge to surrender your heart to the Lord. Is that going forward and saying the prayer? Yes! But is it also being baptized and publically identifying with Christ? Yes! Maybe that is why there is so much confusion in the church about Baptism saving people, or baptismal regeneration. In the absence of saying the prayer, baptism is a great way to declare whose side you are on. Is it maybe even the day you realize that in a group discussion you are arguing for Christ rather than against Him? I have to say, yes. After all, there is no record of the disciples praying the prayer, nor Paul, nor for that matter anyone in the Bible. But I do believe there is that defining moment where you recognize once you weren't a believer and now you are.

      Thus, like Jesus asked the disciples to leave their nets and follow Him, or when in John 6 He asked the disciples "Are you going to leave, too"?, there is a time when we leave our old life and pursue Jesus wholeheartedly. Everyone that is married has a day that it happened. Everyone that's been born has a birthday. Everyone that's been born again has a moment in time when you pass from death to life. You may not remember the day but what you can't say is "I've always been a Christian" because you haven't always been. When did it happen for you, or hasn't it? For me it was when I was 5, I came back from a back yard Bible club and told my parents I wanted to be saved and prayed the prayer. Because of my experience I continue to offer "the prayer" to people but I also have to be careful about saying, just because that's the way it happened for me it has to always be that way.

Thoughts From Luke - Day 84

                                              Luke 19:41-44

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another,because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

         I gotta' admit, I'm skeptical about applying Biblical texts to America. How many times have I heard messages on or seen this passage quoted;

"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chron. 7:14

             I always take it with a grain of salt because the context there is to the nation of Israel, God's chosen people who were ideally, a theocracy with God as their king. This has nothing to do with America, right? And then we have the national repentance and sparing of Ninevah from the judgement of God. Maybe this relates a little better to America because it was a pagan nation but wasn't it being judged because of its sins against God's chosen people, Israel? So maybe that doesn't relate too much either, plus it was Old Testament before Jesus introduced the new covenant. So as Franklin Graham went around the U.S. on his Pray For America Tour, although I love him and his ministries and support him, I was a bit skeptical about the whole Biblical premise for it. But then I see this passage that is a New Testament passage where the Jews have already fulfilled God's purpose for them of bringing the Messiah to the Earth. This warning could even relate to America.

        Jesus views Jerusalem and He weeps because He knows what is coming. In 70AD Jerusalem will be razed. Josephus, a Jewish historian describes it like this;

...As the legions charged in, neither persuasion nor threat could check their impetuosity: passion alone was in command. Crowded together around the entrances many were trampled by their friends, many fell among the still hot and smoking ruins of the colonnades and died as miserably as the defeated. As they neared the Sanctuary they pretended not even to hear Caesar's commands and urged the men in front to throw in more firebrands. The partisans were no longer in a position to help; everywhere was slaughter and flight. Most of the victims were peaceful citizens, weak and unarmed, butchered wherever they were caught. Round the Altar the heaps of corpses grew higher and higher, while down the Sanctuary steps poured a river of blood and the bodies of those killed at the top slithered to the bottom...

       Jesus knows the future and weeps because He says basically, all this could have been prevented if they would have recognized that He was the Messiah and received the Kingdom of God at hand. This sounds an awful lot like Jonah's warning to Ninevah although Ninevah listened. It makes me wonder, if the Jews had received Jesus how could He have accomplished His mission of dying for our sins? Certainly He would not have set up His Kingdom on Earth then, thus avoiding the 70AD slaughter because He repeatedly tells people that is not what He is here for. Maybe, if they had embraced Him, the Romans would have found a reason to crucify Him, thus not thwarting His plans, and the Jews, following His teachings of pacifism would have submitted to the Romans thus avoiding the destruction. Maybe this is just a hypothetical situation that could not have happened if Jesus was to die, but Jesus still grieves over it. Maybe this is not referring to 70AD but right before Armageddon (see the last Left Behind book). That's a lot of "maybes". Let me throw one more in there. Maybe, if America would repent and turn to God, the inevitable judgement on our country for rejecting Him could be thwarted. No, we aren't the nation of Israel. No we aren't God's chosen people. But we are a people who have rejected Christ and He weeps for us knowing judgement is coming and could have been avoided. 

        Lord, I pray for my nation. Bring about repentance. Bring about revival. Spare my kids and grandkids from the judgement that is coming for rejecting You. Amen

Thoughts From Luke - Day 83

                                        Luke 19:28-40

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

          The triumphal entry, Palm Sunday, or as we commonly know it, the beginning of Spring Break or one week before Easter. Yet, here is an occurrence prophesied in Psalm 118 and quoted every Seder, and in Daniel 9 which gives the exact date it was going to happen, and Zechariah 9:9 which tells that the king will arrive on the colt of a donkey. This was such a significant event that Jesus says that if one part of this day failed to happen, the people not crying out Hosanna, inanimate rocks would turn into those rocks in the movie Frozen and start singing "Hosanna". So in light of all this, why is this day so significant when really it apparently leads to nothing and is just a prequel to the events we as Christians celebrate as our life-blood, Jesus' death for us to take away our sins, and His resurrection to give us life?

          I guess as I ponder this, and I have pondered this for a while as I have been struggling with this blog, what I come up with among many other truths, is that this is the no turning back moment in Jesus' life. He could have stayed outside of Jerusalem and continued to teach, heal people, and He would have remained an Old Testament prophet. The moment He rode into town He set in motion a series of events that would lead to His death. He would move not only from a prophet to a priest and a King. He would fulfill His role and God's plan for Him by fulfilling scripture and riding into town on a donkey.

         So as we, in Holy week, celebrate Good Friday as His death for us and Easter as His resurrection, maybe we should consider celebrating the day that He said, no turning back and commemorate the day when we said "no turning back". We sing a song like that, "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back". I often wonder, do we really mean that? After all, most of us were probably saved in the single digits and it was so that we would go to Heaven and not Hell. However as we read the gospels, this really isn't what Jesus considered to be salvation. Just one quote of His many from a few chapters back says, "In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples." What was your no turning back moment? Do you have one? You should. If you don't, why not today? Let me tell you about mine.

       I was a 16 year old who grew up in a Christian family and prayed the prayer when I was 5 to escape Hell and more accurately, not be left behind when my family raptured. As a 5 year old, the thought of raising yourself was pretty scary. I was at a summer Bible Camp where I heard a missionary talk about the very thing I was holding back from God - being a missionary. I was willing to do anything else but I'd heard stories of Jim Elliot and I didn't want to leave the comfort of America, eat bugs, and potentially have my head shrunk and put on a pole. The missionary spoke about Jonah running from the Lord and that the safest place to be is in the Lord's will. That night I gave my whole life, my future, the deed of my life to Christ. I gave Him the keys, I gave Him full access to my house and whatever analogy a kid growing up in Church has heard. That was my no turning back moment. But, as a friend of mine says, "The problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar." As some missionaries we support, the Crook family, head off eagerly back to Thailand after a 6 month medical leave in Tennessee, my wife and I are thinking, could we do that? I went on a two week medical mission to what felt like the hottest place on the Earth in Honduras and lived in a medical compound with lifelong missionaries. They would have to drive an hour on dirt roads to get groceries. The medical supplies were sparse and wrong and the surgery expected to be done was tremendously difficult. Could I go practice there the rest of my life? These are questions I need to keep asking myself to see if I have "crawled off the altar".

  Lord, I daily surrender my life to you. Take me, use me for Your honor and glory. Amen

      

Thoughts From Luke - Day 82

                                           Luke 19:11-27

11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’

14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

15 “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

16 “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’

17 “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’

18 “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’

19 “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’

20 “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’

22 “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’

24 “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’

25 “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’

26 “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 27 But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’”


        Whether people on Earth want to recognize it or not, Jesus does sit on the throne and He is coming back someday soon to judge the living and the dead. He will judge the Christians and reward them on the basis of what they have done on Earth with what He has given us and maybe even, on the basis of that, determine our job in Heaven or the Millenial kingdom? It's possible. You never want to read too much into parables but some have intuited this from this passage. What has He given me? How about 4 kids and 5, so far, grandchildren. Have I poured Christ into them or been more concerned about them being a successful citizen of this Earth. How about my profession? Have I used the platform of being a doctor more than just to earn a living? How about the money? Doctors make good money. Am I using it to advance the kingdom? How about my Spiritual gifts? Am I serving in a body with these gifts or just cruising through life as a weekly church attender. (Side note - If you are attending a church more than 30 minutes away from home, chances are that all you are doing is attending). This judgement is not to condemn or punish but rather like an end of the year award ceremony at the middle school or High School. My kids would get to stand up, go forward in front of hundreds of on-lookers and get math awards, science awards, athletic awards, scholarships, principals awards and others and get applauded. (Mainly courtesy applause, I'm sure) Some call this the Bema Seat judgement.

        Then there is the Great White Throne judgement seat. Unbelievers get judged here. Skeptics have a hard time with this one. "My God wouldn't send anyone to Hell." "My God is a God of love." I see it as God has patiently waited 6000 years, while people mock Him, reject Him, and even kill His only Son and finally, with tears in His eyes He will say to them, "Have it Your Way. You never wanted me in life, I won't force myself on you in the afterlife." He will send them to a place where there is no God called Hell. This is terrifying because anything good in life is from God. In fact He showers so much common grace on us that we are horrified when evil rears its head and people then get mad at God and say "couldn't He have stopped that?!" Can you imagine an eternity like that where only evil is present? God has done everything ,outside of violating your free will to choose, to prevent this scenario from playing out in your eternity. I'm eternally grateful He has and I will not have to go through this judgement because I have surrendered my life to Him. I want Him as my king on Earth and I want Him as my King for all eternity. Have you done this? You need to and quickly because the King is coming back soon.

Thoughts From Luke - Day 81

                                                 Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
⁵ When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” ⁶ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”


           As I look at this passage, several things jump out at me. First, why Zaccheus? In a throng of spectators and listeners, Jesus called out Zaccheus by name and had a heart encounter with him, not anyone else. I was reading a testimony by a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds- Lorenzen. He was a youth in California hanging out with a few other teens on the beach up to no good when an old guy came up to them and told them about Jesus. Everyone mocked the old guy and made fun of him as they continued on their way. However, the guy's words about Jesus haunted Lorenzen that night as he lay in bed. They resonated truth and they were what he needed and he gave his life to Christ. Why him and not all the other people? You can talk about election etc., but the fact is that his heart at that point in his life was ripe for the harvest. The fallow ground was broken up ready to receive the seed. I have to believe that Jesus recognized a ready heart in Nicodemus so He called him out. We don't usually have that advantage so we share, like the old man, in hopes that some seed will fall on fertile soil. We are mocked, we are rejected, and like the man who shared with him, we probably never find out that some received Christ. One of my favorite accounts was when a patient saw me at Walmart and came up to me and said, "Eight years ago I was at your office and you had a Focus on the Family handout called Living With an Unsaved Spouse. I took it home because I wanted to know what to do about my husband and when I read it, I realized that I was the unsaved spouse! I asked Jesus into my heart and just wanted to tell you." Probably the only person that benefitted from the hundreds of dollars of pamphlets I bought from them but I was sowing seed or throwing out lures and caught a fish! (Which does resonate with my fishing experiences of casting all day long and usually catching one at most)

         The second thing I notice is that Jesus knew Zaccheus was saved. Jesus could see a person's heart and knew that the gospel "took". We don't have that advantage. We don't know, for example when we come home from a mission trip and say 50 people prayed to receive Christ, how many of those were rocky soil, thorny soil, or good soil. We don't know how many of those, if any, will greet us in Heaven and say "I'm here because you shared Christ with me". We can't see inside people's hearts and see if they were truly born again. However there is a sign externally that we can see that would lead us to believe that salvation has truly come to this home and that sign is life change. Zaccheus no longer cheated anyone and returned the money that he had obtained dishonestly, with interest. What is the sign of life change in you? A friend of mine, Dana, from Sunday School, tells of his drunken, promiscuous life before Christ and you can't even picture it now. When he hears guys on the construction sight cursing with coarse jesting, he tells them his testimony how he used to talk like that and where that lifestyle led him - to nearly taking his life. My wife, as a new believer, when we first started dating, was playing Monopoly with me and when I refused to trade her a property, she cussed at me and threw the board at me. It's hard to even imagine her ever cussing now. We would read the Bible in the Library and she would be so embarrassed that her friends would see her that she would constantly get up and go to the bathroom or make phone calls. Now she disciples women in Starbucks.

        Could people say by looking at you, "Wow, you have changed!" "What has happened to you, you are like a different person?" Or when you look at old videos of yourself, do you not like what you see? I don't mean the weight, clothes, hairstyle - I'm talking about the way you behave, talk, countenance. Do you see a difference now? If so, then my guess is that the gospel "took". If not you have to wonder if you never really were born again.

Thoughts From Luke - Day 80

                                         Luke 18: 31-43


³¹ Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. ³² He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; ³³ they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
³⁴ The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
³⁵ As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. ³⁶ When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. ³⁷ They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
³⁸ He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
³⁹ Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
⁴⁰ Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.
⁴² Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” ⁴³ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.


                Last passage I was talking about following Jesus and this has been a theme over the last few passages. The disciples have left everything they had and followed Jesus. They don't know where they are going to sleep that night, what they are going to eat, when the next time they will get to bathe or wash their only clothing or underwear (what they are wearing), but in light of who Jesus appears to be - the Messiah - they have counted the cost and said that he is worth the uncertainty of the future. Then we see the blind man healed and he follows Jesus.  This leads me to several conclusions about following Jesus.

      #1. We follow Jesus because we like what we see and hear about Him. Maybe someone witnessed to you and you saw how Christ changed their life and you want and need that too in your life. Maybe you heard preaching or saw a movie about Jesus and the Word of God penetrated your heart and you said, "I need Jesus in my life." People need to hear about Jesus and we need to open our mouths and proclaim Him. People need to see Jesus and we need to be Jesus to them.

     #2. We follow Jesus all in. There is no plan B. There is no safety net. It's all or nothing. You can't DVR Jesus - do what you want and come back to Him later. We do this despite the fact that it will be unpopular. The disciples didn't realize it but Jerusalem, where they were heading, would not be kind to them. People told the blind man who was calling out Jesus' name to be quiet. Around here, in the Bible belt, kids in the public school don't get persecuted for their faith. In fact, the most popular kids in school can be outspoken Christians. Unfortunately they are headed to Jerusalem (college). Will they continue to proclaim and follow Christ when it is unpopular?

     #3. We follow Jesus even though we don't understand everything. The disciples didn't understand a lot of things He said but they believed in who He was so even in John 6 where He talks about eating His flesh and most people leave, the disciples say "To whom else would we go?" They are following a person even if they don't understand everything. We don't understand everything in the Bible but we continue to follow Jesus knowing that it makes sense to Him and maybe someday He will clarify it to us. Noted apologist and philosopher William Lane Craig discussed in Case For Faith that the one thing keeping him from following Jesus was the virgin birth. He finally decided to follow Christ anyway and once he did he realized that if God is truly God, putting a baby in someone's womb is really no big deal.

     #4. We follow Jesus because He changed our lives. Although a popular teaching is to check Jesus out and follow Him in baby steps and you will want to follow Him more and more, I still think most people have a time of repentance and conversion due to the working of the Holy Spirit on their heart, and in light of that touch and transformation are so grateful to God that they surrender their life and follow Him. This is the picture that the blind man portrays - a touch, a healing, a transformation, and following and worship out of gratefulness of heart. In other words the order is usually we get a changed heart and then we follow Christ rather than follow Christ and then you will get a changed heart.

        Are you a Christ follower or a Christ season ticket owner? In other words are you on the field or in the stands? I watched NASCAR for a brief season of my life. I saw many horrendous accidents and several notable deaths during that time. I was intrigued by Darrel Waltrip, who by the way is a Christ follower so I'm not saying this at all to disparage him. He was famous for the early NASCAR days where he and Richard Petty were the best. When I caught up to him in the 90's, he always finished near the end several laps behind. What happened? My guess is that he would rather drive safely and not get in an accident than risk it all and go for the win. He had too much to live for. I fear this is what we do in following Christ - we play it safe because we don't want to lose our life here on Earth. Lets follow Christ with reckless abandon knowing that He is worth it and there is a prize awaiting us at the end that far surpasses anything this world has to offer.

Thoughts from Luke - Day 79

                                          Luke 18:18-30


18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

         As I read this passage, I think of Nabeel Qureshi. I'm reading his 2nd book, No God But One, and had read his first book Seeking Allah and Finding Jesus. Here is a young man who was steeped in Islam and when he went to college became friends with a young man who was a Christian and actually debated for Christianity. They would get in heated debates but eventually his friend won out and he forsook Islam and followed Christ.  His family threatened to kill him and he was disowned. He lost all his friends he grew up with.  It got so bad that 11 years ago he even asked God to take his life.  At the time he chose to follow Christ,  he was graduating from medical school and instead of being a doctor with a lucrative career ahead of him, he became a full time debater and joined Ravi Zaccharias' ministry. I'm not saying that is a vow of poverty but there is not a whole lot of money to be made in Christian ministry in general. (Family Christian Stores closed down yesterday) Lately he has just revealed that he has advanced stomach cancer with a grim prognosis and will be in heaven soon unless God chooses to heal him. Here is an example of someone who gave up everything to follow Christ and what glorious future he has! How much has it cost me,  how much has it cost you to follow Christ?

       The fact is that although the rich young ruler and most people today consider themslves to be good people,  unfortunately we are bad people who occasionally do good. In fact the proof for this is that we are proud when we do something good.  Why would we be proud of that unless we did something contrary to our nature. If I walk today I won't brag about it because it is in my nature to walk. If I dunk a basketball,  however,  I will post it on YouTube because I can't jump. It would be something that I would be very proud of. And the World recognizes this too as they exalt self sacrificial people like Angelina Jolie who adopts children and George clooney and his efforts in Darfur. I too laud these efforts but what I am saying is that if we are basically good people,  these deeds should go unrecognized,  unpraised because they would be nothing but second nature. Jesus, in his dialogue with the rich young ruler had to convince him of two things,  number one that he wasn't good and number two that he wanted heaven more than Jesus.

          Jesus told him to give away his wealth to show him that wealth was his idol. Anything god asks you to give up for him that you can't is something in your life that trumps God. He is basically saying"You say that you have obeyed all the commandments but you have failed at #1." You see, we are not good people but sinful people separated from a holy God who can't be in the presence of sin. All the many good things that this young man had done throughout his life could not erase the fact that he , like us, was sinful to the core.

     The second thing Jesus pointed out was that he was coming wanting Heaven and Jesus offered him, Himself and the young man didn't want Him. In other words Jesus offered the rich young ruler an opportunity to be a disciple of His and the young nan turned Him down. All the other disciples had left everything to follow Jesus but this guy wanted Heaven and Earth but not Jesus. This is so much like people today. They pray the prayer to get into Heaven but don't want to follow Jesus. Oh they will follow Him for a little while until He starts demanding all or nothing. Then they will just do their own thing forsaking Jesus and hang on to their "get out of Hell free" card that they think they got when they prayed the prayer. Jesus was telling him that we must follow Jesus to get to Heaven. I hope you understand, too, that following Jesus means leaving everything behind that you once held dear and trusting Him with your future as you live a life obedient to Him as spelled out in the Bible and led by His Holy Spirit.

      As I write this, I am receiving texts from a patient who I've grown close to over the years after delivering her babies, doing multiple surgeries on her, multiple office visits and her life is a mess. She prayed the prayer many years ago and probably several times since yet she just doesn't get this. She never incorporated Christ into her home and her kids are a mess. Her husband left her for some young girl so contrary to Jesus' teaching she has moved in with a guy who now has beat her and kicked her out. Now she is staying in a high school friend's room listening to these 300 pounders having sex in the room above her at 5AM. Sorry, I know that's graphic but this is wanting Heaven without Jesus and I just can't get through to her that she isn't saved and needs to give her life to Christ because she says she has.

        Modern teaching says, "try out Jesus". "Just give Jesus a try and you will see how sweet He is". OK, I buy that but don't be misled, pretty soon He will ask you to give up everything just like the rich young ruler, just like Nabeel Qureshii , not to be mean but because He knows that what your soul needs is Him and nothing else.

       Lord help me to follow you 100%. Thank you for giving me a wife that desires to follow you also. Show me what my idols are and help me to surrender them to you. Help me to know how to help my patient and please, through your Holy Spirit, open her eyes to the wonders of knowing You and following you. Amen