The Level Playing Field

Matthew 19:25-26 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

This conversation between Jesus and His disciples came because of the interaction of Jesus with the wealthy young man who appeared unable to give up his wealth to follow Jesus.

I think the disciples were like most of us – we feel like the possession of money must surely have some value in life. Surely it should be able to give one success and happiness, if nothing else.

This rich man had everything we would think you need to succeed. 

He was young.

He was religious.

He was wealthy.

How could that combination not be a successful one? 

What Jesus reminds us, however, is that salvation is totally a work of God. 

There is nothing that we can bring to the table, so to speak, as a bargaining chip towards salvation and eternal life in heaven. 

Even what we think ought to be, or could be, leverage for us, has no real value because God is the source of our salvation. 

It certainly levels the playing field of salvation for all of mankind because no one has an advantage over others when it comes to who can have salvation.

It all depends on our decision to let God have all we are and all we have.

It all depends on our decision to put aside our youth, or health, or wealth, or religiosity, as secondary to God's request for our heart, our devotion, our repentance.

 

What Makes Me Happy

 Luke 10:1 ... the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

Here are seventy-two people, nameless and anonymous to us, who were sent on a special mission for Jesus.  

Given the number of teams (36), they must have covered almost the entire county of Israel with their introductory message of the Messiah.  They could give first-hand knowledge and experience to people who were hearing all the rumors about this man who could do miracles and who had such radical ideas and teachings.  

Their job was a challenging one. Jesus told them upfront that it would be like walking into a pack of wolves.

And they were successful.  They not only told about Jesus and His power, they even had seen God give them some of that same power and authority over demons.

We do not know completely what impact they had because we never hear any more about them.  

They are, however, a great example to me of those who obey Christ’s commands and whose temporary ministry is blessed by God.  

My name doesn’t have to be remembered; what I do for God in obedience is what matters.

The fact that my name is written in heaven gives me delight.

"He said to them, ... do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." ~ Luke 10:20  

God can still use me in His appointed way to introduce Him to people. That makes me happy.

Is Jesus in Your Boat?

 

John 6:19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.

Matthew, Mark, and John all wrote about their experience of Jesus walking on the water. You remember that account of the disciples all in the boat during a bad storm and seeing Jesus walking toward them on the water.

Although they all told about the same experience, what stood out in that experience was different for each person.

For example, only Matthew talks about Peter joining Jesus on the water. That has always been the emphasis in the story when I have heard it taught or preached about.

Neither Mark nor John saw that as the most important part of the story. Neither one mentions Peter getting out of the boat, walking on the water toward Jesus, then looking at the waves and starting to sink!

What is the same in all the accounts is that they were all afraid.

They were all glad to have the presence of Jesus in their boat when He got there. His presence gave them comfort. It took away their fear.

All three men recount that Jesus calmed the storm as soon as He entered their boat.

And this is a key truth we can learn from Matthew's, Mark's, and John's accounts of their experience in that boat.

The most important thing in any experience we have is not what miraculous things happen or what we can do (even with God’s help). 

No, what is important is whether we have invited Jesus into our boat. 

That is when He will bring calm in us no matter what storm we are going through.

Is Jesus in your boat?

Rejection is Dangerous

 Mark 6:20 Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.

I think maybe Herod was like a lot of other people throughout history who have found the message of godliness and righteousness fascinating. 

They know there is something special about it, they want to learn more about it, but when it comes to acting on it, they pull back. 

Herold knew that somehow what John the Baptist was telling him was true and right, and ought to be heeded. 

Yet Herod, from all I have read about him, was too weak-willed to do anything to change his life or his actions.

 I suspect that Herod regretted his response to John the Baptist in one way or another until the day he died. His decision to have John beheaded led him into spiritual disarray. We see that in the next episode we read of him in the Bible, when he wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle, but nothing is said of his wanting to hear any message from Jesus as he had heard from John. 

Herod’s life continued as one disaster after another and he committed suicide in the end. There is nothing more disastrous than that.

All of which tells me once again that rejection of the Truth is a dangerous, spiritually disastrous road to follow. 

Will Sin Follow Me to Heaven?

 

Matthew 13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law breakers.

 I am thankful that I have had very little problem with unbelief or doubts in my years as a child of God.  

I know that some people struggle with doubts all their lives, but I have not.  

One thing, however, that has troubled me in recent years on a regular basis was the fear that the temptation to sin might follow us to heaven.   

After all, Satan was an angel in heaven when he sinned.  He and other angels were all cast out of heaven because of that sin.

So, if those angels had sin creep in while they were in heaven, in God's presence, then how much more easily might that happen to mankind? Even though I, as a believer in Jesus as my Savior, am assured of my place in heaven, I am still just a "sinner saved by grace" and I still can sin. I would hate to think that I must spend all of eternity with that potential.

That doubt has nagged at me in times of weakness, but this verse jumped out at me today.  

Jesus is telling His disciples that in the end of this earth, His angels will remove not only all unrepentant sinners but also all CAUSES of sin, so those causes of sin cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. 

And there goes my nagging doubt!!