Monthly Archives: August 2022

JESUS IS OUR MODEL

Christian Life, ,

JESUS IS OUR MODEL

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.” Matthew 5:17.

Jesus was continually attacked by the Pharisees for “breaking” the law. The problem was that they did not understand what God’s law was about. All God’s commandments were teaching them how to obey the greatest commandment (love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbour as yourselves. – Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18). They thought that keeping the law meant slavishly keeping all sorts of petty rules so that they didn’t offend God and get punished.

That’s what people do who worship false gods and idols. They have to do whatever they can not to offend their gods because, if they do, bad things might happen to them.

Jesus came to show us that God is not like that at all. God is our heavenly Father. He loves us as His sons and daughters. He is not angry with us every time we make a mistake or do something wrong. He sent Jesus to pay the debt for all our sin. He has accepted us back into His family as His children and now He is teaching us how to live as members of His family.

Jesus did not come to do away with God’s holy requirements. He came to show us to fulfil them by loving God and loving our neighbour as ourselves because, in that way, we will live the way God wants us to live.

To be a disciple of Jesus is to be generous and kind to everyone because that’s how Jesus treated people when He was here on earth. He did not interpret God’s laws as God’s way of policing us and catching us out when we fail to keep every little detail of the law. He interpreted God’s laws as the way He wants us to show kindness and mercy to people who don’t deserve it because He showed kindness to us through Jesus.

Whenever God spoke to His people through Moses, He said, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves.” He wanted them to understand that the way they lived was to say “thank you” to God for rescuing them from slavery and leading them, providing for them, protecting them and living among them in the tabernacle all the way from Egypt to the Promised Land.

When they went into the land and drove out the Canaanites, they were not to forget what God had done for them. They were to love Him and one another out of gratitude for His kindness to them.

Jesus came to show His people that God still wanted them to live like that. We must also live thankful lives, following Jesus and doing what He commands us because He rescued us from something far worse than slavery in Egypt. He set us free from slavery to sin, which destroys us, and will eventually send us to hell if we refuse to receive God’s gift of eternal life.

“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption through His blood , the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13, 14.

Jesus gave us two new commandments which replace the 613 commandments of the Old Covenant, to believe in Him and to love one another – 1 John 3:23.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Christian Life, ,

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

“You are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14.

But, wait a minute! I thought Jesus said that He is the light of the world. Yes, He did.

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12.

What is this light He’s talking about? Jesus isn’t talking about a literal light, like a flashlight or a street light. He’s talking about showing people the right way to live so that they “walk” in the right direction, i.e., towards God and eternal life. He’s talking about enlightenment – helping people to understand how God wants us to live by watching Him. When we live God’s way, we are at peace with God and with people, and also with ourselves.

If Jesus is the light of the world, how can we also be the light of the world? Jesus is the source of the light and we are the reflection of the light. The sun is the source of light for the earth, and the moon reflects that light, shining at night to give light to the earth. When we follow Jesus and do what He did, we reflect Him and shine His light where we are.

 “A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:15-16.

It is silly to hide a light when it has been switched on or a lamp when it is lit. Why would we want to do that? Again it sounds as though Jesus is contradicting Himself. He told His disciples not to parade their good works in front of people.

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in Heaven.” Matthew 6:1.

Jesus is not talking about being generous but about the reason for doing good works? Are you being kind to be people because you want to be known as a good person or because you want to please your heavenly Father? If it’s to please people, that’s all the reward you will get.

At the same time, it is impossible to be kind to people and not to be noticed. The word Jesus used for a city can also mean a battle. A battle took place when Jesus was “lifted up”, an alternative meaning for “a hill”. What was the battle that Jesus fought and won when He was lifted up on the cross? He won the battle to redeem us from slavery to sin so that we can be restored to God’s family as His sons and daughters. He has given us His nature – gracious, compassionate, and merciful – so that we can treat people like He does, with love, generosity and kindness.

That’s not the way the people in the world behave. Sin makes people greedy and selfish which leads them to do all kinds of terrible things to one another. Jesus died to save us from destroying ourselves through being selfish and greedy and to give us new hearts that are full of love for Him and for people.

When we live like that, we are the light that reflects His light and the people around us cannot help noticing that we are different. They also cannot help realising that we cannot change ourselves. Only God can change our hearts. When we show love and kindness to other people, God gets the glory because He did it through us.

Now that’s what a true disciple is – someone who reflects Jesus’ light by following Him and doing what He does!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH

Christian Life, ,

YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH

Jesus put His disciples in a privileged and responsible position – He called them “salt” and “light”.

“You are the salt of the earth…” Matthew 5:13

“You are the light of the world.,,” Matthew 5:14

Not, ”You will be…” but “You are…” That means that although you are a disciple-in-training, you are, right now, salt and light to the world.

We need to examine what the Bible means by salt and light.

Salt is necessary for life. It is a mineral that has been used since ancient times for different purposes: for seasoning, as a disinfectant and preservative, as part of ceremonial offerings and as a unit of exchange. Symbolically it was used in various covenants to signify permanence, loyalty, durability, usefulness, value, and faithfulness.

Salt was added to both grain and animal sacrifices to make them acceptable to God.

“Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.” Leviticus 2:13.

“When you have finished purifying it, you are to off a young bull and a ram from the flock both without defect. You are to offer them before the Lord, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the Lord.” Ezekiel 43:23, 24.

Salt was also to be an ingredient in the sacred incense.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take fragrant spices – gum, resin, onycha and galbanum – and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and fragrant.” Exodus 30:24, 25.

Salt was used widely as a symbol and sacred sign in ancient Palestine. Portions of the sacrifices were given to the priests and Levites as part of God’s provision for them. In this “covenant of salt”, God promised that He would always provide for them.

“Whatever is set aside from the holy offerings the Israelites present to the Lord I give to you and to your sons and daughters as your regular share. It is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord for both you and your offspring.” Numbers 18:19.

By a “covenant of salt” God assured the breakaway king of Israel, Jeroboam, that He had pledged, by a covenant of salt, that the dynasty of David would be permanent.

“Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and to his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?” 2 Chronicles 13:5.

Salt that had been contaminated with other substances e.g., soil or other minerals, was of no value. Its only use was to be thrown onto the dusty roads to bind the soil. Salt thrown onto soil that was cultivated made it sterile and useless for agriculture.

Why did Jesus call His disciples “salt”? They would have a positive influence on society by adding flavour and preserving it from contamination. They would also be examples of those who lived under God’s rule, people of integrity, loyalty, and faithfulness.

They would serve to warn people who live without God that they will become like salted land, barren, sterile and useless.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.’” Jeremiah 17:5, 6.

It was also a warning to the disciples not to be contaminated or mixed with anything that will make it worthless. A disciple can become useless by his mind and his faith in Jesus alone being mixed with false teachings or his life being mixed with sin.

To be salt, therefore is to be both privileged and responsible. Disciples of Jesus are privileged to make a difference in the sinful world by living pure lives, unmixed with false teaching or sin, so that they show the world what God is really like. The “covenant of salt” symbolises lives that are upright, faithful, and loyal to God and to one another in a world which is rotten with selfishness and greed.

They are also responsible to remain “salty”, otherwise they too will become sterile and useless like salted soil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_in_the_Bible

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THE RABBI’S YOKE IN A NUTSHELL

Christian Life, ,

THE RABBI’S YOKE IN A NUTSHELL

Jesus’ yoke was not conveniently recorded for us in one chapter in the gospels. We have to piece it together from His story because the gospels are the story of a living, breathing, dynamic, vibrant person who taught His yoke by telling as well as by showing and doing as He went from place to place among the people. However, fortunately for us, Matthew gathered some of Jesus’ teaching together into a section we call “The Sermon on the Mount.”

Some people think that the Sermon on the Mount is just a set of rules and, if they follow them, they will be acceptable to God. “I live by the Sermon on the Mount,” they say. What they don’t understand is that the Sermon of the Mount is actually a description of what people who follow Jesus should be like.

No one can just slavishly follow what Jesus taught because He was talking about the disposition and behaviour of people who have been supernaturally “born” into the kingdom of God. No one can enter God’s kingdom without first being made alive by the Holy Spirit. No one can follow and imitate Jesus without His Spirit in them. It takes a partnership between people who trust in Jesus, not in their own “good works” and the Holy Spirit, to understand and wear Jesus’ yoke.

Jesus began His teaching by telling His disciples how they could be really happy. True disciples are happy people and happy people are those who choose to do the right thing. In very simple terms, doing the right thing means being more concerned about looking after the needs of other people than satisfying our own needs and wants and that’s when we experience real happiness.

Matthew 5:3-12 is a summary of what kingdom people do to be happy. Jesus used an interesting way of teaching. He gave His disciples three simple prescriptions for true happiness:

1. People who are humble enough to forget about themselves, who are not puffed up with their own importance, (“blessed are the poor in spirit”), and those who submit themselves to God’s authority (“blessed are the meek”), by identifying with others who are suffering (“blessed are those who mourn”), will be happy people because they understand how God’s kingdom works (“theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, and “they shall inherit the earth”).

2. People who are kind to others because they want to do the right thing (“blessed are the merciful”), those who show mercy to people who don’t deserve mercy because God has been kind to them, will be truly happy people. God will make sure that their needs are always supplied (“for they shall be filled”), and they will know what God is really like (“for they shall see God”) because they do more to help other people than is expected of them (“blessed are the pure in heart”).

3. People who help others to make peace with God (“blessed are the peacemakers”) because they show that they are God’s children (“for they will be called children of God”), and who are hated and maligned for helping others in need (“for righteousness’ sake”), just because they are disciples of Jesus, (“blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you because of me”), are happy people and are in good company because the prophets were also persecuted for doing the right thing (“for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you”).

Now let’s put it all together. Disciples who are yoked with Jesus care more about helping others than about taking care of their own needs. They sit with those who mourn to comfort and support them. They are generous towards people in need, They do more than is expected of them and, when people criticise them for doing good and insult and persecute them for being followers of Jesus, they rejoice because they are part of the kingdom of God and they are in good company. Can you see now that being a follower of Jesus is much more than attending church, reading the Bible, and giving money to the church? It’s about having a changed heart and being like Jesus in the way you treat other people. It’s about being humble, generous and merciful because that’s the right thing to do even when people in the world hate you for it. Then you will be a truly happy person

FREEDOM AND REST!

Christian Life, ,

FREEDOM AND REST!

 “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

Jesus promised that, if we wear His yoke, we will have rest and if we hold to His teaching, we will be set free. Freedom and rest! Isn’t that what people want, especially in today’s world of rush and hurry, and of so much emotional pain and bondage.

It is tragic that many people who say they believe in Jesus are just as stressed and depressed as those who don’t. Believers get divorced, their families break up, their children are rebellious and disobedient, financial struggles happen to them, their businesses fail, they are out of work. Life is tough for them and often doesn’t make sense. Believers often wonder whether following Jesus is worth the trouble, and they ask the question: “Is it possible to be free and at rest in our hearts in spite of being busy with so many things; work, family, trying to survive in difficult times?”

The problem is that we try to live our Christian lives our way and, when it doesn’t work, we blame God. Why did He not do this, that, or the other thing for me? Why didn’t He answer my prayers? Why didn’t He do what I asked? We are disappointed with Him, and we lose faith or even give up.

Now let’s look at the problem from Jesus’ point of view.

We have already learned what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus. He said, “Follow me,” not “Come to me and I’ll give you everything you want and make life easy for you.” Why do we have to follow Jesus? Because He is taking us somewhere. He said, “I am the way to the Father.” Why is He taking us to the Father? Because that is our destination.

You see, Jesus came to show us the Father and to take us to the Father because He created us to be His sons and daughters. Sin alienated us from Him and broke up His family. Jesus came to reconcile us to the Father and to re-unite His family so that we can live together in fellowship with Him and with one another. Going to heaven when we die is only a part of the plan. He wants us to learn to live together as a family here and now.

So, following Him and wearing His yoke is the way we learn to be God’s family in this life first before we go to be with Him forever.

The next part of our journey is to find out what Jesus wants from us and for us so that we can do His will here on earth. When the people in the world see how human beings ought to live, and the rest and freedom that living God’s way brings to us, they will be attracted to Jesus and convinced that He really is the Son of God. He wants us to invite them back into His family where they belong and to share the rest and freedom that living His way makes possible.

This means that we must understand what Jesus wants us to do and be in the ordinary, everyday, practical things of life; things like the way we treat our enemies, the way we use our money, how and what we pray for, forgiving those who hurt us, and so on.

In the next few blogs, we will study Jesus’ teaching and how to apply it so that we understand what it means to follow Him and wear His yoke. When we do that, He promised that we shall enjoy His rest and experience real freedom; not freedom to do as we like, but freedom to do what is right because that is the way to have rest in our hearts.

SCRIPTURE TAKEN FROM THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.