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In God We Trust, February 22, 2021

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

We can find our nation’s motto in a lot of places – on our coins and bills, on government buildings, in several federal department and state seals. It has been around for almost two centuries, first embellishing the one-cent coin in 1837 and becoming part of all our coins in 1873. It became the United States’ official motto under President Eisenhower in 1956 and has been on our paper money since 1957.

At the passage of the Coinage Act in 1873, the country still reeled from the effects of the Civil War. We needed a reminder that God remained as the guiding light from whom all things would prosper and proceed after a war that killed more Americans than any other. We needed to remember our real treasure didn’t reside in money or wealth or property but God. So by putting “In God We Trust” on our coins and bills, every time we paid for an item, we are reminded God provides, not the government, or our jobs, or some other tangible or intangible force we might presume gives aid. God is the source of our strength and success.

Many have tried to remove the words from our currency from the first day it appeared. To date, all attempts have failed. I’m afraid it won’t be long until those opposed to God will soon succeed to the detriment of the nation, but as Christians, we need to continue to press to keep the motto alive across the land for as long as possible. Our heritage lies in the providence of God’s grace. Were all our founding fathers Christian? No. As many point out, some were deists; some were atheists. But many did claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The reason for the several groups’ departure from the European continent certainly involved escape from religious persecution. Others wanted to take advantage of the prospect of new lands for development, the potential for finding rare minerals, power, and a host of other reasons. However, the earliest settlers from Europe came seeking religious freedom, as seen by the early charters within their settlements.

What can we learn from them? Perhaps the most important lesson, trust in God. I’m reminded of those words as I read the lectionary for this week from Psalms 25:

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O LORD!

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his decrees. (Psalms 25:4-10 NIV)

Lord, teach me. We become so arrogant in our seeming knowledge, but we know so little. If we had real wisdom, we would face the mess we find ourselves in today with its racial strife, the enormous political divide, the clashes between socioeconomic or ethnic groups. We would not create such misunderstanding between people because of disparities in material or immaterial things that might cause those disparities. If we had real wisdom, we would work together in community to help each other, lift each other, encourage each other, strengthen each other, understand each other.

So, my prayer is to teach me, Lord. Help me know your paths. Somehow get through my thick head, and lead me in your truth, not what some party or newscast or social media writer might want me to hear, but rather, lead me in your truth. I know that only your truth can save me from myself and from the evil that surrounds me. That’s what the psalmist knows, and that’s what I am learning daily from God’s truth recorded in his word.

I like the way “The Voice” renders the next verses. “Gracious Eternal One, remember Your compassion; rekindle Your concern and love, which have always been part of Your actions toward those who are Yours. Do not hold against me the sins I committed when I was young; instead, deal with me according to Your mercy and love. Then Your goodness may be demonstrated in all the world, Eternal one.” (Ps 25:6-7 The Voice)

I am so glad God doesn’t give me what I deserve, but rather, in his compassion, his mercy, and love, which have always been part of his actions toward his children – humanity – he extends his grace instead. He forgives our sins. He forgets our transgressions. He wipes away the wrongs we commit against him because he is good and merciful and loving.

But God doesn’t leave us at that point. He doesn’t abandon us at the point of forgiveness. Instead, God instructs us to live right. He teaches us to live honorably. God leads us down paths that will benefit us and keep his reputation and name clean and clear. The humble find themselves lifted by God’s teaching. But what does humility mean? I think the best definition I’ve heard is not thinking less of yourself, but not think more of yourself, either. Remember that you are a child of the King, but only because the King died on the cross for you.

So, where does all of this put us? I think it’s time to pay attention to our motto. Whenever you pick up a coin or lay a bill on the counter to pay for something, remember where to put your trust. Faith in money doesn’t work. There will never be enough to do everything you want to do. We will probably never pay off those trillions of dollars we owe that keep growing every day. The government won’t fix things. For 245 years, the government has tried but has never succeeded in making life better for everyone. Someone always gets the short end of the stick. Social change doesn’t make a difference. The change will benefit one group but harm another; it always does.

Our only hope for the future comes from putting our trust in God. The psalmist knew it. The Secretary of Treasury Salmon P. Chase knew it in 1861. President Eisenhower knew it in 1956. As believers, we know it today. We need to show by our actions that we believe it, though. Read God’s word. Soak your mind in it. Let it become part of your life. Act on it as you let God’s Spirit work through your life to show his love in a world desperate for something more than what they get every day through their standard fare. Make a difference because of what you learn in and through Jesus, the Messiah, the true King of this world.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan

What does it take to make you happy? (Revelation 22:7), May 21, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
What does it take to make you happy? Think about that for a second.
Scripture
1. Revelation 22:7
2. The Anointed One: Look now, I am coming soon! The one who remains true to the prophetic words contained in this book will truly be blessed.
Devotional
1. What does it take to make you happy?
  1. Harvest Ministries says this about the word blessed:
  2. So what does it mean to be blessed? The word blessed Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount is from the Greek word makarios, which means to be happy or blissful, but it also means a self-contained happiness. The Greeks called the Island of Cyprus “the happy isle.” They believed that because of its geographical location, perfect climate, and fertile soil that anyone who lived on Cyprus had it made in the shade. And the term they associated with the island was makarios. They believed everything you needed to be happy was right there on Cyprus.
  3. If only…
    1. Lived on Cyprus
    2. Lived in the right neighborhood
    3. Had more money
    4. Had a different job
    5. Had a different spouse
2. World says something here can make us happy
  1. All these things around us can make us happy
  2. They don’t
  3. They take time away from us
  4. They add responsibility and worry
  5. They make us want more because we find they just don’t satisfy
3. Jesus tells us how we can be happy, though.
  1. Right here in Revelation 22:7. “The one who remains true to the prophetic words contained in this book will truly be blessed.”
  2. Just keep the words in the book
  3. What have they said?
  4. Follow Him
  5. Remain faithful to Him
4. The Greeks thought you could be happy and blissful if you could move to Cyprus.We can’t all move to Cyprus, but our happiness is independent of our circumstances. It is self-contained, meaning that regardless of what is happening to us externally, we can be truly happy internally. We can be genuinely blessed as followers of Jesus Christ.
5. So you want to be happy? You want to be blessed? Just follow Jesus.
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Take up your cross (Luke 9:23-25) October 20, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 31

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 9:23-25
Jesus: If any of you want to walk My path, you’re going to have to deny yourself. You’ll have to take up your cross every day and follow Me. If you try to avoid danger and risk, then you’ll lose everything. If you let go of your life and risk all for My sake, then your life will be rescued, healed, made whole and full. Listen, what good does it do you if you gain everything—if the whole world is in your pocket—but then your own life slips through your fingers and is lost to you?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

From the baby boomer generation on, we have continued down a slippery slope of self indulgence. Almost everything we do as a society and as individuals starts with this unconscious question, “What’s in it for me?” We want to know the payback on everything we do. There are even instructions on how to work a room so that you don’t waste time with people who cannot benefit your long term goals. Conversation tips that help you know if they can add to your bottom line and if not, how to move out of the conversation quickly without making them an enemy.

We want to know the best return on our money and how quickly our investments can double or triple so we have plenty for our comfortable retirement. We want to figure out how we can retire at fifty so we can really enjoy our later years without struggling with the maladies of old age while we travel to exotic places and enjoy that retirement nest egg we’ve built for ourselves.

We want everything and we want it now. Oh, and we want all of it at no cost, no sacrifice to us personally or to those closest to us. We want it all. Period. Each generation seems to get a little worse than the one before. No one seems to want to look out for anyone but number one. That’s the way of the world today. But that is counter to what Jesus tells us to do. He says to take up our cross and follow Him. What did He do? He gave up everything for us. Even His life.

The writers of the New Testament letters continue this same theme. Die to self. Crucify your old life. Take up your cross. Let Christ live in you. Be transformed. Let baptism be the demonstration of death to self and life in Christ. There is this radical change that happens when we really give ourselves to Christ. We give up the rights to our will and let Him decide our course. Where most of the English translations use the same word, life, for the Greek words bios and zoe, they are different concepts in the Greek language. Christ gives us new zoe when He comes to abide in us.

Zoe is the reason for living. It is the purpose and direction behind our biological processes. It is the drive that pushes us toward a given goal in these seventy or eighty years we breath air and consume food on this planet. Bios describes that physiological process that we call life. Breathing, blood circulating through our body, the various processes that make this body move and and respond to various external stimuli. But zoe is why it all takes place. It is the purpose for which we live.

Jesus tells us be willing to suffer for the zoe He gives us. Don’t sacrifice your new zoe in Him for some temporal pleasure your bios might feel. Real life, zoe, is found in Him and that life goes on forever. Our physical frame dies, but our life goes on. And when we discipline our physical life, our bios to do what He tells us, to reach the goals He sets for us, we gain real life, zoe, the purpose He designed for us. But the reverse is also true. If we sacrifice the purpose for which God created us for the simple pleasures of this physical frame, we lose the real life, the real purpose and joy God intends for us. And His purpose and joy last for eternity, not just the few years we remain in these bodies of clay.

So what must we do to take up our cross and follow Him? I think if we focus on the second part, we will understand the first part. When we follow Him, we will find the cross we must bear. When we follow His commands, we will discover the world will not like what we do and we will suffer at the hands of those who do not wish the message of God spread to a world in desperate need of hearing it. It’s not hard now days to find crosses, but it is hard to find the path Jeus would have us follow. There are many false prophets that will tell you what you want to hear instead of the truth in God’s word.

Listen to Jesus. Read God’s word. Read for yourself the truth He gives us in the book that has survived every attempt to snuff it out. You’ll know the truth and the world will give you a cross if you follow it’s path.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Should we vote at all? (Mark 2:14) July 10, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Colossians 1-2

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 2:14
Jesus (calling out to him): Follow Me.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We heard these words in Matthew, and most of the time, I won’t repeat the same words we’ve talked about in another gospel, but every once in a while I will. This is one of those times because I think these words are so important to us, especially at this particular time in our history.

As I write these words, the past week has been filled with suicide bombings, mass shootings, parents killing their kids, both accidentally and intentionally, one of the largest drug busts recorded happened, the Britains voted themselves out of the European Union, but protests and riots might force Parliament to reverse the decision of the people. The world has gone absolutely crazy.

In the middle of all this turmoil, we stand in the middle of one of the ugliest, vilest, most juvinile presidential campaigns I’ve witnessed in my 62 years of life. The two candidates we are asked to follow both act like junior high schoolers with their smear campaigns and neither can came clean about themselves or their opponent. Both will cheat, lie, steal, twist the facts, degrade their opponent, do anything necessary to win the position of power as president. And both ask us to follow them into the future of our country.

I’m sorry, but neither have shown character worthy to be followed. No, this is not a political post, so don’t turn off the podcast yet. It’s to make a point. As Christians, we should be following the life of One person – Jesus. He is the One will the character to emulate. He is the One with the right agenda. He is the One with the platform that makes sense. He is the One that can lift our nation out of the terrible predicament in which we find ourselves. No one else can.

The question is will we follow Him? The answer is, some individuals will. Unfortunately, the nation will not. I was reminded, as I celebrated our 240th birthday as a nation, why those first shipload of passengers braved the treacherous journey across the ocean to settle this land 450 years ago and why we fought that war 200 years later to gain our independence from England. Those brave men and women wanted freedom to worship in the way they saw fit. They didn’t want to be bound by the King’s religious practices, so they fled persecution and came to this country. Two-hundred years later, our forefathers fought to maintain that freedom and start an experiment in democracy, a representative government in which the people determined their own fate by electing statesmen who would represent their opinions in the affairs of the nation.

Many no longer feel free given the burdensome regulations we face, the heavy taxation many carry, the stranglehold the government has on our people today in almost every area of life. Healthcare, education, transportation, housing, food, hiring and firing practices in business, monetary systems and banking, the government looks over our shoulder into almost everything. Not long ago, one mayor demanded to see every preacher’s sermon before delivery to see if it presented any negative connotations about homosexuals. If so, the sermon would be banned. Fortunately, the first amendment stopped the practice before it started, but for how long?

You see, we, the people, are electing individuals across our land who do not follow Jesus. Many say they do, because it’s still the right thing to say to draw votes and get elected in the United States. But I predict it won’t be long with the direction we’re headed that naming yourself as a Christian will no longer help a candidate, but will the death-nail in a candidate’s election coffin.

So how should we view elections? Who should we vote for in these important races? What should we do as Christians as the din of the rhetoric rises around us?

I’m not sure the answer is easy, but it is simple. We need to get on our knees and pray. Ask God for His guidance. Be good citizens and explore the character of the candidates long before going to the poll. Don’t listen to the media. Depending on whether you listen to CNN or Fox, you get a different slant that bends toward the candidate their executives want in office. News networks sell advertisements and entertainment. They are businesses, just like the grocery store down the street. If they can’t sell advertisements, they go out of business. If they can’t lure listeners with the best entertainment, juicy gossip, or twist of the news to what you want to hear, the way you want to hear it, you’ll turn to another station. So research candidates on your own. Search every source you can find to figure out what kind of character they have.

Pray a lot and vote for the person who follows Jesus. But most importantly, you follow Jesus. He tells us to. And when we follow Him, we can’t go wrong. This world is coming to an end. His book tells us it’s coming. Whoever sits in the office next, God allows it to happen. When he or she is God-fearing or God-serving or not, doesn’t matter. It’s still God who allows that person to serve for His purposes. Perhaps our next president will be part of the events that usher in the end of the world. It’s pretty exciting to think we’re voting for that person, isn’t it? So who do you think that might be?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Are you ready to follow Him? (Matthew 9:9) February 15, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Genesis 24-27

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:9
Later Jesus was walking along and He saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s office.
Jesus (to Matthew): Follow Me.
Matthew got up and followed Him.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Two simple words, but do we really pay attention to them? Follow Me. That’s all He asks of us, but they are hard words. We have failed to really understand what they mean today in our feel good religions and self-indulgent society. We want to follow Him as long as it benefits our pocket book. We want to follow Him as long as it pleases us. We want to follow Him as long as it doesn’t cost us to much or inconvenience us or mess with our plans.

But if you’ll notice, there are no qualifiers in Jesus’ command. He just says, “Follow Me.” Wherever He goes, He expects us to follow in His footsteps. He expects our shoes to step into the footprints of His. He says follow Him.

His path took Him into the street to meet the needs of the outcasts. His steps took Him to the hillsides to tell others about the love of God and His kingdom. His footprints are seen in the temple worshiping the living God and confounding the priests with His knowledge of the scriptures because He studied them often. His steps took Him to quiet places to pray both alone and with His disciples.

Jesus says, “Follow Me.” His footsteps placed Him in front of the highest authorities in the land and the most poverty stricken in the land. He met the richest and the poorest. He talked with the diseased ridden and the physicians who took care of them. He saw the tax collectors and those who paid those taxes. He didn’t care who you were, Jesus went where there were needs.

Do we follow Him today? I wonder if we are willing to make the sacrifice. I wonder if we are willing to give our all and really follow in His footsteps. I wonder if we will drop everything and do what He tells us to do if it really means going to the cross, giving up our luxuries, losing our position, enduring the ridicule. Will we really follow Him?

I think we like to read the stories of Jesus going through the countryside and calling Peter, James and John. Snatching Matthew from his tax collecting job and taking him along as a disciple. I think we like to read about the disciples and the excitement of walking with Jesus, but I don’t think we realize what those disciples went through. Too often, I don’t think we make the commitment they made. Remember, all but John died a martyr’s death and their death’s were not fast and painless. Peter was crucified. Some were sawn in two. Others were burned at the stake. Some were stoned. Death was slow and painful. But they endured it for Christ’s name. Are you ready to follow Him?

Really following Him also means living for Him, though. It means dying to self so He can live in you. It means stepping in His footsteps. It means walking the path He takes you, not the path you want to go. It means dying to your desires, dreams, aspirations and living Christ’s dreams for you. Will they be the same? Sometimes. Sometimes not. But when we die to ourselves, and truly live for Christ, those selfish desires and dreams won’t matter anymore. They become so much garbage as Paul describes them.

Are you ready to follow Him? It will cost you everything. But nothing is yours anyway. Paul describes your plight in Romans so well. Either you are part of Adam’s body and a slave to sin, or you are part of Christ’s body and a slave to righteousness. One leads to death and one leads to life. One body has Adam as its head leading us into sin whose wages are death, one body has Christ as its head leading us to His gift of grace and eternal life.

You can only belong to one body, though. And you choose which one. You can follow Christ, or you can stay in Adam’s race. You can choose to die to self, admit your broken state, and ask forgiveness from the One who can bring salvation, then follow Him. Or you can choose to remain trapped in sin, lead by the lies of Satan and this world, and continue in the state you are in. You choose. But Jesus calls, “Follow Me.”

Jesus offers His free give of grace. He provides salvation. He redeems us. He purchases our freedom from the body of sin in which we are born and gives us the opportunity for adoption into His body, free from the slavery of sin. In Adam, we are free from grace. In Christ we are free from sin. The two bodies are incompatible. From which do you want to be free, sin or grace, Adam or Christ? But to follow Christ means to really follow Him. It doesn’t mean playing church. It doesn’t mean saying the right words. It means obedience to His word. It means saying “yes” to His every command. Always.

Are you ready to follow Him? Just like Matthew, He gives you the invitation. It begins with the first step. Take it.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Just do it! (Matthew 8:22) February 11, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 11-12

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 8:22
Jesus: Follow Me! And let the dead bury their own dead.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

As I’m writing this podcast, I’m also teaching a class on the book of Romans. I can’t help but tie the two together as Paul describes the incompatibility of the man following the path of sin and death and the man who has died to sin and received the gift of eternal life. The two bodies represented by those redeemed and those who fail to accept the redemption Christ paid. The gift we have for the taking, but we must reach out and take it.

A man comes up to Jesus after He has done so much, healed so many, performed so many miracles. He says to Jesus, “Jesus, before I do the things You’ve asked me to do, I must first bury my father.” This doesn’t seem like a bad thing to do. The man’s father just died or at least death was knocking at the door. This disciple wanted to do the right thing and give his father a decent burial. He wanted to pay his last respects to the man who raised him, trained him, gave him his value system, his thought process, his inheritance. He wanted to do something good.

We would all look at the man and say, “What a noble gesture. Sure go bury your father, then come back and join us.” We would applaud and tell him he was an honorable son for not coming along and instead spending those last moments making sure his father’s body was properly washed, wrapped, covered with spices and entombed. We would think the man a great disciple doing all the right things.

What does Jesus say? “Follow Me! And let the dead bury their own dead.”

How could He be so dispassionate? How could He care so little about the man’s feelings? How could He just brush off a funeral the way He did and tell this disciple to follow Him without regard for the normal grieving rituals that accompanied the death of a loved one? What was Jesus saying to this poor disciple and to us? Was Jesus saying to leave all our emotions aside and become hard-hearted against such things?

The answer to all of those questions is no. Look at Jesus’ life and you’ll see He cared deeply about the feelings people had for others. He wept at Lazarus’ tomb. He raised the widow’s son. He performed miracles at funerals because death was never supposed to enter the world in the first place and at times He changed its outcome when He walked in the flesh with us.

Jesus knew how to grieve. He was “the man of sorrow, acquainted with grief,” Isaiah tells us. So what was the intent of His words that day?

I think Jesus saw through the man and his relationship to Him. God must take first place. Period. If He is not first place in your life, He will not take any place at all in your life. It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t understand the grief of the man, but the man’s father and family was more important than following Jesus. I think the disciple would have come to Jesus and tried his faith later with, “My mother is sick and I need to tend to her.” Sound legitimate. But then it would be, “My sister is having a baby and I need to be around to help her.” Soon he would say, “Master, the goats need milked and no one can do it like I can, I’ll do what you ask as soon as I’ve milked the goats.”

I’m not sure what Jesus asked the man to do that day, but I can guarantee you that the man could have accomplished the task before it was time to bury his father. He just wanted to put it off. Just like we do. “Jesus, I’ll do what you ask, but let me finish getting my career in order first.” “Jesus, I’ll talk to you as soon as I finish watching this football game.” “Jesus, I’ll do what you ask after the kids are asleep.”

How often do we put off what Jesus asks us to do until it’s more convenient for us? How many times do we miss opportunities to share what He is doing in our lives, that’s called witnessing, by the way, to someone around us? How many times do we fail to show His love to someone near us that we can help in some small way because we’re just too busy with our own lives to think about those around us?

What if Jesus lived His life that way? What if God lived in such a way that He only took notice of the important things. How would we fit into that? Would we even register in the mix? I’m one of 7 billion people on one of eight planets (maybe nine again) circling one of billions of stars in one of billions of galaxies in a universe too large to measure that is expanding every second. How important does that make me that God would care?

The answer is important enough to die on a cross for my sins, that if I choose, I can follow Him and have eternal life. What is more important than that? How can I not drop everything else when He gives me a task to do? He knows your heart. Follow Him. Just do it!

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

It’s time to get moving! (Matthew 4:19) January 6, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 1-2

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 4:19
Jesus: Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus doesn’t use a lot of words when a few clearly spoken will do. His command to Simon Peter and Andrew are just one example. “Come, follow Me.” He also tells them the task He will give them when they obey His command. I’ll not just make you fishermen, but I’ll let you catch a more important haul, men.

Jesus’ calling of these first two of His circle of twelve intimate disciples tells us something about how He calls not just them, but us. If we look at Jesus’ words we see how He calls each of us when we listen to His voice.

First, He says, “Come.” You can’t follow Jesus from afar. He wants you within arms reach. Trying to follow Him from a distance just doesn’t work. Remember the story of Elijah whining about his plight and God letting him hear His voice on the mountainside? Elijah didn’t hear God’s voice in the thunderstorm or in the earthquake, but in the still small voice he had to listen carefully to hear.

I learned a technique from my father many years ago that served me well with my children and in counseling and disciplining soldiers during my military career. When I really want someone to listen and hear what I’m saying, my voice gets softer, not louder. Our instincts are geared to put us into a fight or flight mode when we hear loud noises or aggressive actions from an enemy. So when we shout at someone or raise our voice in anger, the person on the receiving end no longer hears us. Their brain is getting into a fight or flight mode preparing to defend themselves. So I lower my voice and get you come close. I get you to almost strain to hear the words. I get you to listen instead of fighting against the words.

God does the same thing, but so much better. God cannot be defeated. He never fails and so has no need of defense. So when He speaks to us, He doesn’t need to scream at us to make us hear Him. That puts us in a fight or flight mode. Why would He want to do that? Instead, He whispers, “Come. Get close so I can talk to you. I have some things to tell you that I really want you to hear.”

See, you can’t be a disciple, a follower, a Christian from long distance. You just can’t hear what God has to say when you’re far away from Him. You need to snuggle up close so He can put His lips up to your ear and whisper His commands, His blessings, His thoughts to you. He wants you at His fingertips ready to talk to you all the time. He can’t do that if you’re not right there in His presence. So first, He says, “Come.”

The second thing Jesus told those crusty fishermen was, “Follow me.” When we come to Jesus, He won’t leave us alone. He won’t leave us where we are. God wants to change us. He doesn’t want to leave us in the state we live in now. He calls us to Him to transforms us, to make us over into the creation He wants us to be. And so He says, “Follow me.”

Jesus will take us into places that challenge us. Places that test us. Places that causes us to rethink how we approach others. Places that make us weep and laugh and stand in awe of Him and fall on our face in worship and lay prostrate before Him for our failures and thank Him for His strength in our successes. He will take us to places that transform us into His likeness and help us to understand love and mercy and grace. He will take us to the mountain tops and to the lowest valleys in our spiritual journey. And as we follow Him we will know sorrow and we will know indescribable joy.

Jesus tells us to follow Him because He knows exactly the path we must take individually to make us more like Him each day. He knows the transformation that must happen and just like a skilled surgeon, He knows each operation that He must perform on us and the order each must take place. And although some of them may be painful and the recovery from some of those operations might seem difficult and arduous, Jesus knows, as the Master Creator He is, exactly how to lead us along this path of life to make us the child of God each of us are meant to be.

Jesus also reminds us in His command to follow Him, that we never walk on that path alone. If we follow, it means we walk along with Him, not by ourselves. It means He is just ahead of us. I sometimes think about the point-man in a squad walking toward an objective on a battlefield when I think of Jesus’ command. Jesus is that point-man. I follow Him, but He is out front making sure the path is clear. Watching out for any booby-traps. Watching for enemy troops waiting in ambush. Jesus is right there with Me, but clearing the path ahead of me on my journey through life.

Finally, Jesus’ command tells us the task He gives Simon and Andrew as they follow. They will fish for men. I think, Jesus has a task for everyone. God gives each of us different gifts to build His church. Paul tells us some have the gift of teaching, some preaching, some hospitality, healing, speaking in different languages, and the list goes on. I think, Paul would say mathematics skills is a gift, or science, or IT skills, or prowess in a sport. All of these talents and skills can be used for God’s glory. The question is, how do we use the talents, skills, experiences, desires, gifts that God has given to us?

Jesus said, “Come, follow me, I have a job for you to do.” Have you followed close enough on the path to hear His task for you? He’s ready to talk, but He also keeps walking along. It’s time to get moving!

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Why do you follow Jesus? (John 6:22-40) December 19, 2015

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – John 6:22-40

Set – John 6

Go! – John 5-6

John 6:22-40
²² The following day some people gathered on the other side of the sea and saw that only one boat had been there; they were perplexed. They remembered seeing the disciples getting into the boat without Jesus.
²³ Other boats were arriving from Tiberias near the grassy area where the Lord offered thanks and passed out bread. ²⁴ When this crowd could not find Him or His disciples, they boarded their small boats and crossed the sea to Capernaum looking for Him. ²⁵ When they found Jesus across the sea, they questioned Him.
Crowd: Teacher, when did You arrive at Capernaum?
Jesus: ²⁶ I tell you the truth—you are tracking Me down because I fed you, not because you saw signs from God. ²⁷ Don’t spend your life chasing food that spoils and rots. Instead, seek the food that lasts into all the ages and comes from the Son of Man, the One on whom God the Father has placed His seal.
Crowd: ²⁸ What do we have to do to accomplish the Father’s works?
Jesus: ²⁹ If you want to do God’s work, then believe in the One He sent.
Crowd: ³⁰ Can You show us a miraculous sign? Something spectacular? If we see something like that, it will help us to believe. ³¹ Our fathers ate manna when they wandered in the desert. The Hebrew Scriptures say, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
Jesus: ³² I tell you the truth: Moses did not give you bread from heaven; it is My Father who offers you true bread from heaven. ³³ The bread of God comes down out of heaven and breathes life into the cosmos.
Crowd: ³⁴ Master, we want a boundless supply of this bread.
Jesus: ³⁵ I am the bread that gives life. If you come to My table and eat, you will never go hungry. Believe in Me, and you will never go thirsty. ³⁶ Here I am standing in front of you, and still you don’t believe. ³⁷ All that My Father gives to Me comes to Me. I will receive everyone; I will not send away anyone who comes to Me. ³⁸ And here’s the reason: I have come down from heaven not to pursue My own agenda but to do what He desires. I am here on behalf of the Father who sent Me. ³⁹ He sent Me to care for all He has given Me so that nothing and no one will perish. In the end, on the last day, He wants everything to be resurrected into new life. ⁴⁰ So if you want to know the will of the Father, know this: everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will live eternally; and on the last day, I am the One who will resurrect him.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Why do you follow Jesus? I knew that many that crossed the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum that day were following Me only to see more miracles. They didn’t care about My teaching, they only wanted to see Me turn a small lunch into enough to feed a crowd again. Or to cause a blind man to see. Or make a lame man walk. They followed Me to see some circus act and see what kind of spectacle I might perform in their presence so they could tell their children and their neighbors about it when they returned home.

But why do you follow Me? If you follow Me only so I protect you or heal you or provide for you, you’ve come to Me for the wrong reason. Remember what I told you. In this world you will have trouble. If you follow Me, you will find yourself surrounded by those who want to hurt you or even kill you. They tried to stone Me, push Me over a cliff, even kill Me. They could do none of those things until I allowed them to take Me to the cross, but they can and will do those things to you. Look at the trail of martyrs that have gone before you. Don’t think you will remain exempt from the persecution that has befallen the church.

So why do you follow Me? Do you want to hear My words? Do you want to learn from Me? Do you want to find out how to gain the abundant life I spoke about when I walk alongside you? Do you follow Me to discover how I want you to live? Do you follow Me to become like Me as My disciple? Why do you follow Me? Doing so will cost you everything. It will cost your plans, your wealth, your family, maybe even your life. The reward is worth it, but you must count the cost before you decide to follow Me. Understand it will cost you everything when you follow Me.

Stop and think about it. Most of the crowd that day just wanted to see more miracles. They didn’t understand My mission or meaning. Few who come beside Me will take up the mantle and truly follow. But abundant life awaits those who do. Will you be one of those who follow Me for the right reasons?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.