Is Your Head In The Clouds? (Lk. 9:28-42)

Is Your Head in the Clouds?

(Luke 9:28-42)

We all love to escape from reality sometimes and we each have our unique method of doing so.  As a child I would play basketball, hour after hour by myself, pretending I was in the NBA.  Watching movies, playing video games are some of my current methods.  Some people so desire to escape reality because of the pain of their past that their methods are much more damaging, like drinking alcohol, doing drugs etc.

God can also be a method, a crutch, someone to help take the trouble away.  This seems like a good method but it can become extreme, leading to spiritual whoredom.  Basically we treat God like a prostitute, He is just being used to make us feel better, and that is it.  No commitment involved, no mutual relationship, we just come to Him when we need a fix.

We see this here in Luke 9:28-36, Jesus taking, Peter, John, and James along to the mountain to encounter God.  They see Jesus transfigured, they see Moses and Elijah, how glorious, a mind boggling experience.  Peter's response was a bunch of babble about building a memorial.

Many of us are Jesus junkies we are all about an encounter with God, not bad, but if that is it, something is not right.  It is like going into marriage thinking that it is all about sex.  Responsibilities now must be shared, life has to be lived, the honeymoon always comes to an end. 

In this passage God responded to Peter's babble by simply saying this is my Son, listen to Him.  Meaning obedience to His voice was what mattered most, not just a worship experience.  If we were as passionate about listening and obeying His voice as we are with worship experiences this world would be a far better place.  

So few Christians believe in the power of God and many of the ones who do keep the power to themselves and those that happen to walk through their doors.  It is something left for church services rather than a daily experience with God.  If we would just open our ears to God daily we would encounter God through power evangelism to the world.  It would no longer just be a worship experience but part of our life lived out everywhere to everyone.

We see in Luke 9:37-42, when they came out of the mountain and faced the world, they didn't take what they experienced on the mountain with them.  The disciples were ineffective in praying for a boy needing deliverance.  Jesus was angry telling the disciples you lack focus, (your heads are in the clouds), so Jesus again had to step in and do what they should have been capable of doing.  I get so frustrated myself as a parent when my kids still act irresponsible, not being able to handle things they should know how to do.

Worship experiences are not something we are to build a shrine around.  They are not what we are to seek out alone.  We are to encounter God for the purpose of being empowered to greater service.  If we seem so spiritual in our worship yet in our daily practical life God is not evident, we have become a spiritual whore, our heads are in the clouds, we are so heavenly minded we are no earthly good. 

Choose Your Path? (Luke 9:21-27)

CHOOSE YOUR PATH?

(Luke 9:21-27)

We live in a culture that glorifies those whom draw a crowd. Many of us live for the sake of others liking us. We love the feeling when people celebrate us. We get our worth from having lot's of friends on facebook and people wanting to hear us or be entertained by us. It is the American Idol syndrome. The hardest thing of becoming popular is maintaining it. The pressure that comes and the things that must be done to continue to be liked is unbearable for most. Stars don't shine for long before they fall.

We see here in Luke 9:22-27, Jesus was not concerned with maintaining the crowd, He spoke the bold truth of what it really meant to follow Him, because of that many left Him, to the point where He had few followers when He died. Most Preachers do whatever it takes today to keep the crowd, watering down the truth, presenting a gospel that Jesus did not preach. People like to hear messages that tickle the ears, where it is all about what is in it for them, few are those who like hearing what sacrifices they must make to truly follow Jesus.

We have all been made to believe something good was free to later find out we didn't read between the lines and a cost followed. The saying goes; "nothing comes free and good benefits come with a price." Well the bible says we receive salvation by grace, which is God riches at Christ expense, meaning we cannot earn it.  Yet we see here Christ telling the crowd, you must turn from your selfish ways and live a sacrificial life in order to follow Him, and that alone is the only way to be saved, if you try to save your life you will lose it.  Hard to swallow!  So this means we cannot enjoy healing, deliverance, prosperity, etc. without a hefty price.  Salvation is not free, it costs everything, our entire life.  All of our money, time, gifts, talents, relationships, etc., now become His.  So do you still want to follow Him? That is why it says "many are called but few are chosen."  

So we must choose which path we are going to follow, the crowd going through the wide gate, or the few going the narrow way?  If we choose the latter it means we will be going against the crowd resulting in humiliation, isolation, hatred, and pain.  We must embrace this call, no longer ashamed of the Son of Man, but living boldly in the face of opposition that some may leave the crowd wi and also take up their cross and follow Him.

Who Do You Say I Am? (Luke 8:18-20)

Who Do You Say I Am?

(Luke 9:18-20)

We have all been falsely accused, prejudged, just wrongfully thought of by others, it can be one of the most frustrating things to experience. These things come from people who don't really know us, who make their observations from a distance. It is is fine if someone sees something not right with me and confronts me about it, but usually they don't, rather they spread slander, gossip, and backbite. 

Now some people spend their life trying to please everyone, doing all that they can to make people believe the best about them. Not me, I am about pleasing God, life is too short, and God's plan is too big, for me to waste time, spending my energy on changing people's perspective about me. I will do what I can as God leads me, but I understand that only those whom I have a relationship with can really understand me.

Those whom God draws into relationship with me will know my true intentions and will hold me accountable in love when they disagree. They will confront me, and not sit back, and speak about me to everyone but me.

People thought all kind of things about Jesus as they still do today. Few people deny His existence, but they rationalize Him just to be a Great Teacher. If anyone though truly hears His teachings, you either got to believe He is the Messiah or He is mental patient. 

Jesus main concern is with those who know Him personally, His disciples, that they have the right perspective of who He is. So here in Luke 9:18-20, in a very personal time of prayer, that only His disciples witnessed, He asked them "who do people say I am?" The people all had different incomplete views, but when He asked them who do you say I am, Peter replied, "You are the Messiah sent from God!"

It is sad when someone's view of us changes because of listening to popular demand. They deep down know that we are not what others perceive of us, yet they deny the truth, because they don't want to experience rejection. These are the ones that hurt us the most, our family or close friends who forsake us because of Christ. Usually though people will turn back to those who are genuine and real when life crisis comes and they need true support as we will see later with Peter. 

It is upon this confession of Peter that the church is built. Jesus was limited to the amount of influence He had just like all of us, for He was one body, with a small amount of time. He realized that the small amount of people who truly knew Him, would be the ones that carry further His plans, that His one body would later become many bodies. We must always think more about quality than quantity, knowing that with quality will come quantity. Jesus made twelve disciples who each made their own disciples until it multiplied continually up to today where 1/3 of the world claims to be Christians.

So we must ask ourselves do we know Jesus as our personal Savior or from a distant as just a mere image.  If Jesus is known personal then we must take His words literally and therefore our life will declare His reality to the world. 

Set Up (Luke 9:10-17)

Have you ever been led somewhere, through something, that seemed spontaneous, but you then realized it was a set up?  Until we have become perfectly formed into the image of Christ, the process of transformation is always taking place.  It seems the times I have experienced God the most, He quickly takes me through a test and trial, to cause me to trust Him even more.  He does not want me to become too comfortable for I can easily become complacent and stunt my spiritual growth.

We see in Luke 9:10-17 "the story of the five loaves and two fish," the disciples had returned from being sent out, preaching the Kingdom, healing the sick, and delivering the oppressed, they were excited, telling Jesus everything.  My natural and spiritual kids love to tell me of their accomplishments it is encouraging to them how proud I am of them.  But, just like the disciples here they can get so excited telling their stories that they forget about the one who is listening, I might have other plans, I might be tired, hungry etc, they get so caught up in the story, they are not aware how long they are speaking just expecting me to listen until they are done.  Sometimes I would like to do what Jesus did for He slipped away quietly and was gone.  But it says, the crowds found out where he was going and followed.  Instead of Jesus saying can I just get a break, He welcomed them, teaching them and healing those who were sick, for Jesus knew what He was doing, this was a set up, everything He did had a divine purpose.

All of a sudden now the disciples who had been so caught up in what God did through them that they were basically unaware of the needs of those around them, were now fully aware and started pleading to Jesus to send the crowds away for food and lodging, complaining there is nothing to eat here in this remote place, probably thinking why couldn't He have just stayed back near the village listening to their stories.

Now the unbelief of the disciples are going to be clearly seen.  Now they became sarcastic with Jesus "are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd."  Sarcasm is used to make someone look dumb, when it is used against someone they usually try to defend themselves so they don't look so dumb.  Jesus though was using all this as a setup for the disciples to realize that their faith is still very limited.  They could believe God for so called spiritual needs like healing and deliverance, but not for providing the necessities for simply feeding the hungry.

So Jesus once again blew away their narrow minds and took five loaves and two fish and fed the five thousand in whom had more than enough to eat with leftovers remaining.  So much of the challenges we face in life is just God setting us up to increase our faith in His unlimited power in our lives.  The quicker we can believe the quicker we get through the challenge and not have to repeat it again, as we will see later on with the disciples.

Stories Told!

STORIES TOLD

(Luke 9:7-9)

Whether we like it or not, people are talking about us, some good and some bad. Our actions speak for themselves and in today's continual media expanding world, it spreads quicker and has more influence than ever before. If there is a story to be told it will. 

See one's knowledge can be questioned but someone's story that is validated by others is fact and cannot. So do we just have knowledge of God or have we experienced Him?  Is the world puzzled by our activities? Do we have living testimonies that declare to the world His overcoming power and grace?

We need to be in the world, building relationships with the lost, not keeping distant in judgement but loving them unconditionally, for with time if God is in us, it is impossible for Him not to be seen working through us.  

For with relationships stories are shared, lives are experienced, and spread from one relationship to the next.  If the world is going to overcome the lies of the deceiver our testimonies spreading from one person to the next need to be shared.  People make up stories all the time, if they are going to be believable, we must prove ourselves to the world, by being connected building trust over time where we are seen as genuine and real.

Jesus was not accepted by all and neither will we, He suffered, and He promises all those whom follow Him will do the same.  His story in us offends those who don't want to submit to His authority.  So, yes our testimony will effect many lives for good, but it will also cause much trouble, yet we can account it for righteousness sake, and know our reward eternally is great.

Sent to Sent (Luke 9:1-6)

SENT TO SEND (Luke 9:1-6)

I often feel overwhelmed in regards to what I want to see done and what I want to be part of. There are so many needs around me, and therefore so many opportunities to make a difference. I would love to do it all but I know I am not capable. 

God has given me a heart for so much but if I follow my heart in everything I will burn out. I am learning that not everything good that comes my way that I feel called to is necessarily from God. Sometimes it is not for me but someone near me that I am called to help equip, encourage, and send out. So part of my being sent is recognizing those God has given me to send. So that together we can do so much more than alone.

If I spend the majority of my time going everywhere, doing everything, I will never have the time to reproduce the Christ in me in others.  The amount of time Christ is formed in others is determined by the support they have around them.  That which is neglected does not grow.  

While yes, their are so many pressing needs around me, I must see ahead and understand how best to use my time so I can be able to extend further through those I am building relationships with today.  I can only go in one direction at a time, but by sending out others we go in many directions at a time as we see here with Jesus and His twelve disciples in Luke 9:1-6.  

Many refuse to be sent because of what they lack.  We must understand that we will never have enough, that is why we need faith.  God cannot use us to do what only He can do without faith, so if we are refusing to go, because we don't have, then we don't have the faith necessary to do anything anyway.  

When Jesus sent his disciples He gave them power and authority to walk in the supernatural, they did not need material things, God would supply their every need.  When we seek His kingdom first we will never be disappointed, all things will be added unto us as needed.  Our heavenly Father will never let one of His sons and daughters who are doing His will go without bread.  

When sent out by God we must be able to receive at the same time as we give.  We are agents of God, so when people give unto us they are giving unto the Lord, and we cannot deny them the blessing therefore that will follow. Those whom welcome God's sent ones will be blessed and those whom refuse will be cursed.  It is false humility to deny God's people from blessing Him thinking we don't deserve it or feel too honored.

So God has called us both to be sent and to send and in doing so we multiply ourselves throughout the earth.