Virtual Vitamins

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse– the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

Discipleship isn’t all sweetness and light. Popular theology, particularly in the US, tries to say that God is so nice, He would never send anyone but the very worst to hell. The problem is, the blessings of being obedient to God are incalculable, but the problems associated with turning our backs on Him are equally absolute. We have a far too casual view of sin! God spoke through Moses on this occasion in terms of blessings and curses related to life on this earth, because the people had no concept of eternity with God, but in the NT understanding, the gulf between obedience and disobedience is even wider. The better we understand this, the more we understand that we are totally dependent on the grace of God, expressed through the cross of Jesus Christ. We cannot take that grace lightly, because it cost the Son of God His life. Taking it lightly cuts us off from that life, which He gave for us. A major problem today is that we fail to understand that the “other gods” the Bible talks about aren’t necessarily religious at all, they are simply things we allow to take the rightful place of God in our hearts. The possibilities are as widely varied as there are human personalities. Every one of us is called to place God first, in grateful obedience. That is the ultimate foundation of discipleship.

This is very much an issue in my own life, and as a pastor/teacher I am called to make it clear to others as well. The line between legalism and license can be difficult to walk at times, but as Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. As a disciple, I am to put on Christ consistently and be clothed in Him, being steadily transformed into His likeness. In making disciples, I am to strive to facilitate that process in others. I could no more do it in my own strength than I could transform a frog into a prince. That’s a popular fairy tale motif, and the idea of “self improvement” is just as popular. I am to be a total realist, which means being totally dependent on the power of God working in and through me.

Father, You know my ups and downs, my successes and my failures better than I do. Thank You for Your grace! Help me walk in that more and more fully and lead more and more believers to do the same, so that together we may be what You desire, a people after Your heart who will love and serve and fellowship with You, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Deuteronomy 11:2 Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the LORD your God: his majesty, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm.

In raising up disciples, we’ve got to remember that they haven’t experienced God in the same way we have. It’s entirely possible that they will go on to experience Him in even greater ways, but the point is that they don’t yet have the same framework for understanding that we have. This can be a good thing, because we probably have blind spots, based on our past experiences, that they may be able to avoid. The point of this verse, however, is that we cannot assume understanding in those we teach, whether they be our physical children or others. We have to tell them why we believe things as we do, relating things to our experience but founding them on the Word of God. Even there, or perhaps especially there, we are not to assume understanding. Far too many people parrot Scripture without letting it get into their hearts and open their eyes. Raising up disciples involves getting the Word into hearts – our own, and those we are training, and this requires the work of the Holy Spirit.

This has been a major weak point of my ministry. Having been raised in something of a “Scripture hot-house,” passages come easily to mind and understanding isn’t generally very difficult. However, few people have such a background, and assuming they understand has gotten me into trouble more times than I could count. I’ve got to break things down and simplify them, building understanding one block at a time, rather than trying to create a completed edifice overnight. I am indeed to teach Scripture, but I’ve got to relate it to things my hearers can in turn relate to. This is the major challenge of cross-cultural evangelism, but it is also a challenge in cross-generational evangelism. The degree to which young people today live in a different world from that in which I was raised, faith issues aside, is mind-boggling to think about. I’ve got to express eternal truth in culturally relevant ways. The illustration of sumo wrestlers that came to mind yesterday is a good one. I’ve got to be sensitive to people and sensitive to the Holy Spirit in order to do more of that!

Father, thank You for how You have changed me, particularly over the past several years. Thank You for where You have me and this church right now. May we move on into all that You desire and intend for us, becoming and raising up disciples who will be fully available and useful to You, for Your kingdom and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Deuteronomy 8:5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

This is a very important concept, repeated in Proverbs 3:12, which is quoted in Hebrews 12:6. However, the Japanese uses “punish” in those passages, while it uses “train” in this one. That’s because Japanese lacks a word that means exactly what we mean by “discipline,” (including elements of training and punishment) which is unfortunate indeed. In English, even the spelling makes it clear that there is at least a connection between discipline and discipleship, so to make the concept a little more understandable to Japanese, I often explain it as “discipleship training.” And that, of course, is the theme of our daily Bible readings. In Japanese, the word for “disciple” is the same as for “apprentice,” which might seem confusing to Westerners, but actually is helpful for understanding. Otherwise, Westerners might forget that a disciple is actually supposed to do something! For Japanese, the image of the harsh training that apprentice sumo wrestlers endure is helpful in grasping discipline. When you bring in “self control,” which is essentially the same as “self discipline,” then the picture gets clearer all around. However, in modern society, the image of “as a man disciplines his sons” blurs things again, because parental discipline is sadly lacking in all too many households today. Proverbs makes it clear, not only in Proverbs 3:11-12 but also in 13:24, that parental discipline is an expression of love, and God’s discipline of us is certainly no different. God knows that being Christ’s disciples is the very best that we can be, not simply in accomplishment but in peace, joy, satisfaction, and all of that. It is precisely because He loves us that He desires that we be dedicated, obedient disciples.

I had the great blessing of growing up in a household where parental discipline was seen as an expression of love, without neglecting other expressions of love. However, I see few people around me who have had such an advantage, and as a pastor and counselor I am called on to deal with the problems that have resulted. I am not to look down on people because of their lack of understanding of discipline, but neither am I to leave them in ignorance. I am to strive to teach them accountability (which is another term that is linguistically lacking in Japanese), not simply to me but to God. I am in loco parentis (in the place of a parent) for many people, so requiring them to be accountable to me helps teach them their accountability toward God. God wants us all to stand tall in Christ at the final judgment, which isn’t just about whether we’re guilty of sin but also about how much we have accomplished for the kingdom of God. True discipline/discipleship is about avoiding sin and being effective in God’s kingdom.

Father, I’ve tried to teach this multiple times before, but this seems clearer than I’ve been able to express it previously. Guide me in when and how I am to express it to the congregation, so that they will have hearing ears and receptive hearts. May Your Spirit continue to transform us into the likeness of Your Son, for our blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Individuals tend to talk about what our hearts and minds are full of. For many people, that can be a pretty embarrassing truth! Moses said this in relation to the Law that he was transmitting to the Israelites, but Paul put it a bit more broadly: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) If we want to be obedient to God (and that is a fundamental commitment of a disciple), then we need to focus on Him in our thinking. Moses was talking about continually repeating the words of the Law for memory purposes, because most of the people were illiterate. We don’t have that pressure, because not only can almost everyone read and write, if we so choose, we can carry the whole Bible around on our smart phones! However, that can conversely make us very lazy about what Moses said in verse 6: “Carve these words into your hearts.” It does us little good to have the Bible at our fingertips if it isn’t also in our hearts. Even memorization isn’t sufficient. Many of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day had major portions, if not all, of the Pentateuch memorized, but as long as it remained just words, it did them little good. We need to be meditating on the Word to apply it, thinking of it as what God is saying to us personally, which is what it is.

I’ll certainly never forget the two times God has spoken to me personally, and I need to treat the whole Bible with equal urgency. My thoughts and my words need to be filled with God’s Word, so that it may be fulfilled in my life. I strive toward that, and people expect it of me because I’m a pastor. I need to get it through to them that it is just as important, and just as beneficial, for them as well. God does not play favorites, as the Bible says in various places in the Old and New Testaments. Anyone who commits themselves to God, to serve Him and allow His Spirit to fill them and use them, will find He is equally present and loving, beyond anything words can express. I need to communicate that it’s not because I’m an American, or a pastor, or a missionary kid, but because God is God that I experience so much of Him, and He is equally available to all, if they will open their hearts to Him.

Father, this is the mission and cry of my life. As You know, I’m not the most faithful of disciples, but even so I have tasted Your goodness to a degree that makes me not only hungry for more, I want everyone to experience it. As we work through this Discipleship Training series, I ask You to reveal to the heart of each believer the riches that You have prepared, desire, and intend for them, that they may let go of everything else and cling fully to You, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Deuteronomy 5:29 Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!

Discipleship is ultimately a heart matter. God desires disciples not to have an army of workers, but to have a host of children. What we say and do is important, but what is most important is the heart attitude behind it all. We focus on externals but God looks on our hearts, as the Bible tells us repeatedly. (1 Samuel 16:7; Matthew 15:16-20) We are not to ignore words and actions, because they are indicators of heart condition, but simply changing behavior doesn’t necessarily change the heart. When we allow God to change our hearts, right behavior will follow. We tend to get hung up on formulaic words, accepting those who follow our formula and rejecting those who don’t, when we need to let God open our eyes to see people’s hearts and love them as He does.

This is an area of great importance to me as an individual believer and as a pastor. I’ve studied enough psychology – and lived enough of life – to know that changing behaviors can influence heart attitudes, but I must not get the cart before the horse. I know that it is possible to get into an orthodox rut, doing all the right things without my heart being in it at all. There’s no life in that! I need to keep watch over my own heart, that I not grow dull or cold, and I need to encourage the believers to do likewise. The best thing I can do for my flock is to pray for the cleansing, guiding, empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts and lives. When they – we – have that, all the right words and behaviors will follow.

Father, thank You for this program of discipleship training You have started us on. Help me both teach and participate in it as You desire, so that our hearts may be set free from the clouds of confusion the devil tries to throw up. Help us all understand what it is to love and fear You and seek first Your kingdom, and make the choice to do that consistently, so that our hearts may be right and You be pleased with us. Thank You. Praise God!

Deuteronomy 4:9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Making disciples requires instruction, and not just in rules and regulations. God was seeking to form the Israelites into a people who would be faithful to Him, which is another way of saying disciples. Moses gave them the Law, and it’s interesting to note that even though he told them not to add to it (verse 2), they eventually more than doubled it with all sorts of nit-picking interpretations. However, faith isn’t based on regulations, and faith is most important in discipleship. The problem of short attention spans is receiving a lot of notice these days, but it has been a problem with mankind ever since creation. God gives us faith-building experiences and encounters with Him, and then we turn around and forget them! That’s what this verse is talking about. Actively remembering, recording, and sharing those things will implant them in our hearts, as well as transmit them to succeeding generations. God meets with all who seek Him honestly, but unless people hear how God has touched others, they will have little idea how to seek Him, much less expectation of finding Him. Anyone who is a true disciple of Christ will be active in sharing the story of how God saved them, and saves them daily in countless ways.

This is a major reason we have Testimony Time in our worship services. It is a happy problem that we are now having so many that the services are getting longer and longer! I need to help the believers understand how to share such testimonies in a variety of settings, and not just on Sunday mornings, without cutting off the enthusiasm for sharing in any way. The failure of parents to transmit faith to their children is a major problem throughout the Church. It is true that each person’s faith must be their own, but many parents, if not most, fail to be active in talking about their faith with their children. It is of course vitally important that children see faith demonstrated in their parents’ lives, but parents need to talk about it as well. I know from experience that talking about faith, sharing it, strengthens it. The closest parallel is love, which grows when expressed and shared. I need to help the believers overcome their inhibitions and talk about their faith with those they love and care about, so that the Holy Spirit may take their words to instill faith in their hearers.

Father, this is a vitally important point. I ask for wisdom and timing in communicating it to the believers. I pray that as they read these same Scriptures day by day that Your Spirit would speak to them as You speak to me, so that together we may grow and mature to be the disciple-making disciples You desire, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Exodus 36:1 “So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded.”

People are accepted as disciples because they have native ability and potential, and the same is true of disciples of Christ. The problem is, we confuse ability with being worthy, and since none of us is worthy to be a disciple of Christ, we think we lack the ability as well. Actually, the Lord gifts every human being with assorted abilities, but the majority of those remain merely potential until we commit ourselves to be trained as disciples. The thrust of this verse is entirely simple and straightforward: if God has given you the ability, do the work! In the Church, those who fail to do the work fall into two categories. The first is those who honestly don’t know they are able, which as I said, often comes from an awareness of unworthiness. The second is those who are simply lazy and self-centered. There’s a real irony to the second category, because nothing is more satisfying and fulfilling than exercising the gifts God has given us in serving Him, seeing His will done through our hands. The first group misses out on this too, but they don’t do so out of selfish motives. We have such trouble really believing that God always has our best interests in mind in everything He tells us to do! The better we know God and His love, the more eager we will be to do everything He tells us.

I’ve had my difficulties in this area just like everyone else, but at least I was raised by parents that I could be confident that everything they asked of me was for my good. That’s a good foundation for trusting God, which is a major reason parents need to keep close watch over their motives in how they deal with their children. As a pastor, I am spiritual father to many, so I need to be especially careful of my motives. Physical age bears only a passing connection to spiritual age, and I have trusting infants, “terrible twos,” growing youngsters, rebellious teenagers, and a few solid adults. That’s quite a challenge! I know I don’t have sufficient wisdom or even stamina for the task in myself, but I also know from experience that God supplies everything necessary for anything He calls us to do. He has started us on a program of discipleship training, and I need to seek Him earnestly for each step, so that each believer in this church may be matured into a trustworthy disciple, for the sake of the kingdom of God and for His glory.

Father, thank You for the start we could make yesterday. I don’t feel like my delivery of the message was as smooth as sometimes, but that’s a good reminder that I can’t do this in my own strength anyway. I do pray that each of us, me included, would receive Your Word day by day, understand and apply it, so that we may be built up individually and corporately to be fully available and useful to You in this city and this nation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

Eodus 24:12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commands I have written for their instruction.”

God does call us to come close to Him. Sometimes the direction seems up, as in Moses going up the mountain, but sometimes the direction seems down, when He calls us to greater humility and participation in the sufferings of Christ. However, even the seeming downward call actually leads us up, because drawing closer to God lifts us out of ourselves. The point is to be focused on God whatever the circumstances, because when we will do that, He will meet with us. The Bible is filled with encouragement and admonition to do so, from David (1 Chronicles 28:9) to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29:13) to Paul (Philippians 3:13-14). When we draw close to God, we need to remember that it is not just for ourselves, but for others as well. God called Moses in this instance to give him the tablets of the Law that he was to teach the Israelites, so that they could in turn teach succeeding generations. Sometimes the revelations He gives us are for our benefit alone, as when Paul experienced heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2-4), but even there he was transformed by the experience, which made him better able to minister to others. Obedience to God and drawing close to Him is never a selfish activity.

The more I draw close to God, the more I want others to experience the same joy and blessings, and it is a frustration and sorrow that so few seem to accept the invitation. I am speaking today on how this is at the core of being a disciple, and I need God’s anointing to really get it across. I tell people we are created for fellowship with God, and it seems to sail right over their heads. That’s why anointed worship services are so important, because they give most people their first taste of the Presence of God. Thankfully, that taste is addictive! I need to nurture anointed worship, and I need to help the people believe that God who meets them in group worship will also meet with them in private, intimate times with Him. There is no better antidote to and protection from the filth of the world than intimacy with God.

Father, thank You for the time of fellowship I just had with You as I drove around to pray for the churches of Omura this morning. Help me not take such things for granted, but value intimacy with You as I should. Thank You again for the message You’ve given me for this morning. May I indeed be an open pipe for that to flow undistorted and unhindered to each one who hears. I ask for ears to hear for each one who will be listening physically, that they may hear more than my voice, but rather Your invitation to draw close in intimate discipleship. And Lord, give them faith and courage to say yes to Your invitation, for their blessing and Yours. Thank You. Hallelujah!

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

I was greatly blessed to hear Pastor Hiroshi Yunohara speak on this at the Easter Sunrise service six days ago. It is unusual to receive fresh insight on such a familiar passage. I very much agree that the “therefore” that starts verse 19 is one of the most important prepositions in the whole Bible. Our authority as believers and disciples, ambassadors, to use Paul’s expression (2 Corinthians 5:20), comes from this reality, that all authority has been given to Christ. That means that, to the degree that we are in Christ, the devil has no authority over us at all. That’s not empty triumphalism, because there’s a lot of junk in the world we still have to put up with, but it does mean that we have no reason to back down from anything, because Jesus Christ is Lord absolutely. As it says in Hebrews 2:8, we don’t currently see everything as subject to Jesus’ authority, but as long as we have our eyes firmly fixed on Him, we will experience the best He has for us. That might include suffering and death on this earth, but the rewards will be more than worth it.

Once again, I have to confess that I’m not yet sufficiently grounded in the area of authority. I hesitate to exercise the authority that has been vested in me, and yet I tend to get defensive when it seems to me that others are impinging on my authority. Actually, those are two sides of the same coin. The better I understand Jesus’ authority, the better I will understand what authority He has assigned to me, and the better I will exercise that authority in His will and for His glory. Power struggles will be a thing of the past. I’d like that! I need to be faithful in my own day-to-day obedience, because as the Roman Centurion recognized, all authority is delegated, and if I’m not submitted, then I have no authority. I need constantly to be aware of whom I serve, and walk in joyful obedience.

Father, I’ve been so slow to learn this very important lesson. I’ve known it intellectually for a long time, but walking it out is a different matter. Help me be a doer of Your Word indeed, not just filing it in my brain but storing it in my heart, allowing it to transform me into the likeness of Christ, doing His will in His love and authority on His schedule for His glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

John 21:22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”

This is a very important Scripture. We are so prone to compare our-selves with others and our circumstances with those of others and get worked up over whether things are “fair” or not, when all of that is beside the point. We have to come back to what Jesus told Peter: “You, follow Me.” As Jesus had made very clear in the parable of the talents earlier in His ministry, what we start with isn’t the question, it’s what we do with what we’ve been given. If we get worked up over comparisons, we won’t be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us, and that’s a major problem. There is also a problem in the other direction, when those who have been entrusted with more think they are somehow superior to those who have been entrusted with less. (Actually, “more” and “less” are matters of human perception, and often are at variance with reality.) Each one of us needs to have our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is Lord of all, rather than looking around in comparison all the time.

I’ve had my own struggles with this issue, and I’ve certainly seen how corrosive it can be, with people leaving the church over it. We have such difficulty grasping that every gift carries responsibility, and every responsibility carries reward. It really does come down to a faith issue: whether we really trust God to be fair and to do what is best for us. Paul dealt with this issue in Romans 9, and various OT prophets dealt with it as well. As a pastor, I deal with it all the time! I need to help people understand that God’s smart and we aren’t, and that He really, really, really loves us and wants the very best for us. I think that last part is the biggest problem! We have such a distorted view of love that we don’t understand that discipline is part of it, that God loves us too much to just leave us alone. He doesn’t force us to turn to Him, but He gives us as many opportunities to do so as possible, and often we think He’s picking on us! I need both to remember and to communicate that everything God does is a reflection of His character, which is both love and holiness.

Father, thank You for being who You are, and for the privilege of communicating that to others. Help me grasp You more and more, and lead others to do likewise, so that together we may walk in the peace and joy of trusting obedience, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!