Virtual Vitamins

Matthew 21:23 Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

Authority is an important issue in any organization and any society. What those questioning Jesus were trying to do was to get Him to blaspheme, as they saw it, by declaring that His authority was from Creator God. Jesus’ response teaches us that while we must always be honest, we don’t always have to say everything that is true! The times that Jesus praised people for their faith were when they recognized His authority and acted accordingly. (Matthew 8 and 15) This issue is of vital importance for a disciple, because as the story in Matthew 8 shows, authority flows from top to bottom. We have no authority except that which is granted to us from above. That’s why it is so significant that Jesus said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth,” when He was delivering the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:18-20) As disciples of Jesus Christ, that authority can and does operate through us, but only when we are in right, obedient relationship to Him.

This is something I have wrestled with over the years. At times I have been conceited and overreached the authority entrusted to me, but more often I have drawn back and failed to exercise it. Probably a major reason for that was that my spiritual hearing wasn’t very acute. If we are to exercise Jesus’ authority, we’ve got to get our orders from Him! As a pastor, not only do I have to exercise authority over my flock, to build them up (2 Corinthians 10:8), I need to teach them the authority they have over the forces of evil. (Luke 9:1) Few people if any deal with authority rightly when it is first given to them, so I need to exercise toward them the same patience that has been shown to me. However, as a body we need to learn to rise up and exercise Christ’s authority so that God’s name may be hallowed, His kingdom come, and His will be done. Of course the first place for that is in prayer, but we need to be available to God 24/7 for Him to act through us, for His pleasure and glory.

Father, this is vitally important, and I still have a lot to learn. Thank You so much for how You are growing this body in every area. Help us grow spiritually so that we will be ready to grow physically, bringing in the harvest that You desire, raising up a mighty army of disciples for the salvation not only of this city, but of this nation and beyond, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Matthew 19:29 “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”

Many people see the Christian life as one of sacrifice, because we are indeed to “put to death the deeds of the flesh.” (Romans 8:13) However, it is hardly one of deprivation. The point, as always, is one of priorities. God is not in the least stingy, but He demands our total allegiance. If we put things ahead of Him, even the people closest to us, we will lose out on uncounted blessings, and ultimately, lose even those things we have placed ahead of Christ. We are back to the passage from the 12th, where it spoke of taking up our cross to follow Jesus, and we also have strong echoes of Matthew 6:33, where we are assured of God’s complete supply if we get our priorities right. The problem with all of this is that we are centered on “I want it NOW!” It has long been recognized that a tolerance for delayed gratification is a sign of maturity, but recent studies have brought that out very clearly, and the difference in success rates of those who can look to the future and those who don’t is staggering. God knew that when He created us, so He left it up to our free will as to whether we would choose the path of true blessing or descend into depression and/or hedonism.

Once again I am brought to gratefulness for my upbringing. Delayed gratification wasn’t a lesson I learned easily, but my parents made it clear what their priorities were, and I learned a lot from “watching their backs,” as the Japanese expression puts it. I work with people all the time who are in real trouble because of this issue, and I need God’s wisdom and guidance in helping them. I am not to refuse the blessings God gives me along the way, but I must keep my own focus clearly on Christ’s kingdom and His righteousness. If I fail there, I will not only lose out myself, I will mislead many who look to me for spiritual direction, and perhaps make others think there is nothing to the Gospel after all.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for how You have blessed me so abundantly over the years. Help me not “kick back and relax,” but rather keep pressing into You, not forgetting to rest, relax, and rejoice in Christ but not taking any of that for granted either. May I be the son and disciple that You desire, so that I may lead many more to do the same, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Matthew 19:13-14 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Disciples don’t always know the Master’s heart. Just as the passage from two days ago had Jesus rebuking Peter for being the devil’s mouthpiece, here too Jesus directly contradicts and counteracts what his disciples have done. Down through the centuries people have been quick to act in God’s Name without really checking with God first. Occasionally this is deliberate, but more often, as here, it is simply acting on presumption. The problem is, we often don’t know what God wants to do in a given situation. Jesus’ parable of the weeds in the field of grain comes to mind. (Matthew 13:24-30) Many well-meaning, dedicated people would presume that weeds are to be pulled up as soon as they are spotted, but Jesus said to let it wait until harvest time, so that the genuine grain wouldn’t be uprooted. That is the problem with many heresy hunters today. At the same time, if false teachers go unchallenged, there is the danger of more people being led astray. Paul even had to call Peter down to correct an issue. (Galatians 2:14) In general, we need to be consistent in speaking the truth in love and praying for those who are in error, staying open to the possibility that we are the ones who are mistaken. The whole point is, humility before God is vital. As C. S. Lewis said, one thing that is certain is that when we get to heaven, we will discover that each of us was wrong somewhere.

This is an issue for every teacher/leader in the Church, and certainly so for me. Just because I desire to do God’s will perfectly all the time doesn’t mean I succeed! I too am subject to societal influences and presumption based on past experience. I need to be ready for God to do new things! Being thoroughly familiar with the Bible is important, but along with that I need humble sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, so that my decisions will be what God has already decided. I do not have sufficient wisdom for all the complex situations I’m involved in. Actually, I don’t even begin to know everything about them. I need to be faithfully consistent in seeking God’s will at every turn, not in anxiety but with the assurance that He wants to lead me even more than I want to be led. I must not get proud when I have heard Him correctly, because that will surely deafen me to the next thing He wants to tell me. As the song says, “I can’t even walk without Him holding my hand!”

Father, thank You for this reminder. The schedule is very full this week, and for the next couple of weeks as well. Help me not be anxious about any of it, but wait quietly on You so that I may both hear Your instructions and receive Your strength to do each task. May I do Your will and not what my mind or other influences might tell me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Matthew 18:2-3 He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

This passage points out a fundamental problem in current understanding of the English word, “repent.” The Japanese uses that term, but the NIV uses “change.” I think that is because most English speakers have forgotten that repentance requires change, while the Japanese term is literally, “regret and start over.” If there is no change, there is no repentance! With that understanding, the question becomes, “What do we have to repent of to become as little children?” Anyone who has spent time with little children will agree that they aren’t perfect, so what is it about them that is requisite to entering the kingdom of Heaven? I would say that it is the lack of pride. They don’t pretend they know everything, but rather accept what trusted people tell them. I would say that this passage indicates it’s very serious indeed to betray the trust of a little child! When trust has been betrayed, then the child finds it much harder to believe and trust in a loving heavenly Father. Some people maintain a child-like trust much later than others, and they can be very easy to lead into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We had one girl who made it out of high school that way, and she became a Christian the first time she had the Gospel presented to her!

I’ve got to keep this in mind from multiple perspectives. In the first place, I need to maintain a child-like relationship to my heavenly Father myself, rather than becoming all “adult” as I recommend that relationship to others. In the second place, I need to remember that what people need to repent of first of all is their failure to trust God. It is very easy to get hung up on some of the results of that failure, because they can be pretty severe, but it does no good to try to get people to repent of specific sins when they haven’t repented of their lack of faith and trust. That’s where my focus needs to be with the couple coming today. I don’t need a laundry list of things they are repenting of, I need to help them understand that repenting of unbelief hits all of those as well. The Guinness organization says that the Japanese have the highest average intelligence of any nationality tested, so this is of vital importance in evangelism. We don’t have to become stupid to receive the Gospel, but we have to recognize that we are as little children before God, and stop trying to pretend otherwise.

Father, thank You for this Word this morning. Your timing is perfect. (Surprise!) Help me remember this truth not just today but all the time, to become powerfully effective in communicating the Gospel to all. Guide me in communicating this principle to the believers so that they too may be effective in communicating the Gospel. May we all be faithful children, trusting You to the point of obedience on every level, for our blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

This is a justly famous passage, and I like the added punch of “daily” that is in the parallel passage in Luke 9:23-24. However, few people ever really contemplate what this means, much less strive to practice it. This isn’t talking about wearing seat belts! It’s really a matter of values and priorities. Even David understood this. (Psalm 63:3) It’s not that our lives are trivial, it’s that God is so much better! As the NIV footnote points out, the same Greek word can be translated as “life” or “soul.” It’s amazing to look around and see how many people are clinging to “soulish” things, such as pleasure or authority or physical wealth. Sadly, even Christians, who should know better, often fall into this trap. After all, we can’t take any of that, even physical life, into eternity! When that is understood, then keeping Jesus above and ahead of all of it becomes much easier. Any discussion of this issue brings to mind the quote from Nate Saint, who indeed gave his physical life for the sake of Christ: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

As well as I know this, I still let things get in the way of total obedience to Christ. Comfort and convenience appear to be particular bugaboos for me. I have a distinct tendency to be lazy. I need to get appropriate rest, but at the same time remember that I’ll have eternity to catch up, if I get behind! Physical items have much less pull on me than in the past, but that’s not to say I’m immune. As a pastor, it is a major challenge to communicate this value system to the believers. (I think I feel a sermon coming on!) However, it is counterproductive to lecture people on an issue where my own faithfulness is in doubt. I am to keep pressing into Christ as my highest value and goal, so that I may gain all that He has for me and lead others to do the same, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. As is recorded in Luke, it is indeed a daily thing, and not to be done once and forgotten. Help me be consistent in choosing Christ above and before everything else, so that all of Your plans for me may be fulfilled, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Matthew 16:15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

In many ways this is the question of eternity, because how we answer it determines our eternal destiny. Peter answered it well, but many people do not, even members of Christian churches. Peter’s answer was good because it directly addressed lordship. In his context, he could hardly call Jesus “the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,” without committing to total loyalty and obedience. He didn’t yet know Jesus as Savior, because the cross and resurrection had not yet taken place. In English, “Savior” is somewhat separated from lordship, but in Japanese the very word means “saving Lord.” I think that’s a real advantage! The problem is, Jesus isn’t our Savior until He is our Lord. Modern society in general and American society in particular doesn’t like the concept of lordship. Democracy is all well and good (and I certainly prefer to live in a democratic society), but it can work against understanding of lordship. Many churches prefer to hide the issue of lordship, bringing it out only after a person has “joined the church,” if then, and treating it as something of a “higher level” of Christianity for “saints” rather than “common people.” The Bible knows nothing of such distinctions! If Jesus Christ isn’t your Lord, then He isn’t your Savior, either. Many evangelists will call people to “accept Jesus as your Savior,” rather than to acknowledge Him as Lord. Agreeing with the facts of His birth, death, burial, and resurrection is not enough in itself. As James points out (James 2:19), even demons do that, and they certainly aren’t saved! The issue is lordship, because we will spend eternity with our Lord, whether that is Jesus or the devil.

This is an understanding that I have come to somewhat slowly, because I grew up with “accept Jesus as your Savior” from many directions. I don’t think my parents taught it that way, to us or to anyone else, but plenty of well-meaning people around me at least used the terminology. As a result, I have used it myself. I know full well that we are not born mature, any more spiritually than we are physically, so I must be careful not to place false barriers in the way of people coming to Christ. At the same time, I must make it clear that coming to Christ means committing to His Lordship. This is why I feel our current emphasis on discipleship is so vital. A disciple must be committed to his Master and Lord. That’s why Jesus said to “go and made disciples,” rather than any other term, like “converts.” Salvation is entirely a work of God, but our commitment is required to receive it.

Father, thank You for bringing this out so clearly at a point when we have people preparing for baptism. Help me get it across clearly to them, so that they may not be “half born,” but fully re-born into Your family. Guide us as we continue our study of discipleship, that all the believers may not only be firm in their own commitment, but equipped to lead others into that same commitment, for their salva­tion and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Matthew 15:32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

Several things stand out to me from this verse. The first is that Jesus was concerned about people’s physical well being, not just healing, and He wanted His disciples to know it. The second is actually the flip side of that, because this didn’t come up until three days had passed. He wasn’t interested in pampering people! As I read it, the problem was that the people had used up whatever supplies they had brought with them, not that they hadn’t had any in the first place. Their focus on Jesus and what He was doing was enough to make them forget physical comforts, and they were praising God, and Jesus honored that. When churches today focus on physical comfort, the probability is high that they aren’t very focused on God and what He is doing. Uncomfortable church buildings do make it more difficult to pay attention to what is being taught, but luxury should never be a priority. In the situation presented here, there was reason to believe people might collapse from hunger, so feeding them was hardly a matter of luxury.

I haven’t been particularly involved in meeting physical needs, except on an individual basis at times, but I am not to overlook that when God gives me that opportunity. I personally think our facilities are comfortable enough without being luxurious, but I do need to be on my guard that physical considerations don’t get in the way of worship or teaching the Word. My goal should be that the end result of everything we do here would be people praising God and drawing close to Him.

Father, several people in this church have come under attack over the past week or more. I take that as an indication that we are making the devil anxious, so I praise You! I ask for wisdom in guiding the people to focus on You rather than on the attacks, so that You alone may be glorified. I do ask for physical and emotional healing for each one, and I ask that You turn each situation around for blessing and the advancement of Your kingdom. I pray that the needs would be met and that hearts would be more and more open to You, trusting You regardless of immediate circumstances, so that all of Your purposes may be fulfilled for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Matthew 15:14 “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

Sometimes it’s difficult to know when this applies, because we can feel such compassion for those who are being misled. It also can be difficult to know when someone is simply blind or when they are deliberately misleading others. On top of that, running around proclaiming others as spiritually blind puts us in grave danger of spiritual pride. I think Jesus’ point here is that we are to focus on our own walk with God first, so that anyone who looks to us for guidance won’t be misled. That fits with Jesus’ famous instructions to get the logs our of your own eyes before you go trying to take the sawdust out of others’ eyes. (Matthew 7:3-5) The problem isn’t that we can’t know God’s truth, it’s that none of us knows it completely. When we start setting ourselves up as “the authority” on anything, we are not only setting ourselves up for a fall, we are probably doing harm to anyone who is genuinely looking to us as “the authority.” We are to share the truth that has been revealed to us and stand firm in it, but not run around pointing fingers.

This is an issue that is very real to me from a number of standpoints. For quite a few people, I’m the foremost spiritual authority they have. That’s scary! It drives me to the Word and to my knees. I am not to draw back from speaking God’s truth by any means, but I must do it in all gentleness and humility. When strong words are called for, I must be especially sure they are spoken in love. I do see a lot of deviant theology around me, but if my focus is on rooting out the deviance, then I will lose sight of God, and of course, that is the “Theo” of theology. I am to encourage people to know God through His Word and His Spirit, but be especially careful that I keep growing in that area myself.

Father, You know my conflict in this area at this point. I pray that I would relate to each person around me as You desire, with assurance but without pride, with gentleness but without compromise, so that I may not be blind myself as I lead others. I pray particularly for those who are preparing for baptism right now. I desire full spiritual re-birth for them, but I know that You desire it even more. May I have Your wisdom and may I follow You closely even as I lead them. I pray for the man I’ll be visiting today, who is hungry for what he sees here but so far has been unable to repent and believe. Father, I ask You to dispel the fog that blinds people to Your truth, so that they may receive it and be set free indeed, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Matthew 14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Several things stand out in this very dramatic story of walking on water. The first is the very obvious one that Jesus demonstrated who He was to His disciples pretty conclusively. That made it all the more shocking to them that He submitted to what was done to Him at His arrest, trial, and crucifixion, because they knew He could easily have avoided it. The second is that Peter recognized Jesus’ authority, to the point of believing that if Jesus commanded it, even he could walk on water. The third is that even that kind of faith is vulnerable to doubt when we look at our circumstances instead of at Jesus. The fourth is that Jesus desires for us faith that will not be shaken by circumstances. That last is what this verse is about. I hardly think Jesus was stern when He said this, but rather desirous of further growth in faith for Peter and the rest. The NIV does a disservice by changing Jesus’ question to past tense, because faith is always present tense. Yesterday’s faith won’t keep us today, and we haven’t tasted tomorrow’s faith yet. True faith is alive and growing, and as such needs to be fed and exercised daily. We feed our faith through the Word of God (Romans 10:17), and we exercise our faith by acting on it. I’m sure Peter’s faith grew quite a bit that night, even though Jesus chided him for not hanging onto it. The problem for most of us isn’t that we don’t have faith, it’s that we don’t act on the faith we have. Only when we act on it does faith go from our minds to our hearts, to have its full work in us.

This is something the Lord has spoken to me several times, and which I have tried to get through to the believers, but we all tend to be pretty dense! As Paul said, faith is indeed the great-shield with which we can quench every flaming arrow of the enemy. (Ephesians 6:16), but we’ve got to learn how to use it. James went to some length to point out that true faith is active, and John said much the same thing in his first letter. I have grown in faith over the years, but I am often reminded that I have plenty of room for more growth. I am to encourage faith in the believers, just as Jesus did, not putting them down for where they are now but helping them see where they can grow. Over the past several decades Word/Faith has become a distinct “brand” of Christianity, and as such there have been some real excesses. However, I’m not to throw out the good with the bad, but allow the Holy Spirit to show me what I should hang onto. (1 Thessalonians 5:21) I am not to seek faith for faith’s sake, but rather seek more and more of Christ, so that He may be manifested in me.

Father, thank You for the full day yesterday of encouraging people in faith. Part of that was in instructing people so that they would have content to their faith, and part of it was pointing out to someone how You had been and were working in their circumstances, so that the faith they had would be strengthened. I pray for each of them, and for all those under my care, that we would indeed receive the faith You have for us and exercise it fully, to grow and be and do as You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Matthew 13:36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

It is the privilege of disciples to ask for explanations. God pours His truth into us as we are able to receive it, but what He says gets clearer and clearer as we get closer to Him. Jesus said many times, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Ears to hear God come from a commitment to obey. The fundamental attitude must be, God’s right and I’m not, unless I’m agreeing with Him. When we have that attitude, God delights to open His heart to us, even to the point of showing us things that are beyond our ability to express. The difficulty is in maintaining that attitude, because our human nature is so quick to run off on its own. We tend to fail to ask what we need to know, and demand answers for things we don’t need to know. Spiritual maturity comes with asking God what to ask! Our motive should be serving God more effectively, obeying Him more completely, having more intimate fellowship with Him. When that is the case, He indeed opens His heart to us.

This is something I have been slow to grasp and even slower to put into practice. I have a strong tendency to depend on my intellect and not even bother to ask God, ignoring the fact that my intellect can’t grasp God’s truth without His help. I’ll never forget the time I was asking God to speak to me, being so nonstop about it that He finally said, very clearly, “Then shut up.” I wasn’t focused on listening to Him, I was focused on my asking. As dramatic as that experience was, often I still don’t get quiet enough before Him to really hear what He is saying. As Elijah found, He often speaks in a still, small voice and we have to be quiet to listen. We have to believe and trust that He wants to speak to us and guide us far more than we really want to listen and be guided. God doesn’t mind when we ask for confirmation that we have heard Him correctly, and given our noisy minds and hearts, that’s often a good idea. However, we have to start with a disciple’s attitude that the Master is always right, and not try to put our words in His mouth.

Father sometimes when You have spoken through me I’ve won­dered if it wasn’t my own imagination. Thank You for Your faithfulness to confirm Your Word. Help me be faithful to speak as You direct, not in presumption or pride but in all humility and love. I ask for hearing ears for me and for my listeners, that we may all hear You accurately and with great joy, to do Your will for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!