ODB: discipleship 101
October 1, 2010 READ: Mark 3:13-19 [Jesus] appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach. —Mark 3:14 Because I am not a “fix it” kind of guy, I had to call a friend who is a great handyman to make some repairs in my home recently. [...]
ODB: like a tree
February 5, 2010
READ: Ephesians 4:11-16
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. —Psalm 1:3
In the quietness of my final years I plan to watch a tree grow—a birch tree I planted as a tiny sapling over 30 years ago. It stands now in mature splendor, just outside our picture window—beautiful in every season of the year.
So it is with our spiritual endeavors: We may have planted, watered, and fussed over our “saplings” (those we’ve mentored) for a time, but only God can make a “tree.”
Occasionally I hear from those I ministered to years ago, and discover to my delight that they have grown to maturity and have been greatly used of God—with no help from me. It’s a gentle reminder that I plant and water for a while, and help others “grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (Eph. 4:15). But only God “gives the increase” (1 Cor. 3:6-7).
German theologian Helmut Thielicke writes, “The man who doesn’t know how to let go, who is a stranger to quiet, confident joy in Him who carries out His purposes without us (or also through us or in spite of us), in Him who makes the trees grow . . . that man will become nothing but a miserable creature in his old age.”
So, at my age, I may yet tend a sapling or two, but mostly I will let go and watch them grow. — David H. Roper
Those who follow Christ can help others follow Him too.
Source: Our Daily Bread
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Loading ...ODB: what will I do?
February 3, 2010
READ: James 1:21-25
Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. —James 1:22
A man who has been my mentor and friend for many years often says that his goal in studying the Bible is always personal application. I appreciate his emphasis on putting learning into practice, because it’s too easy for those of us who study, discuss, teach, and write about the Bible to take a merely intellectual approach to the Word.
Oswald Chambers said: “There is a danger with the children of God of getting too familiar with sublime things. We talk so much about these wonderful realities, and forget that we have to exhibit them in our lives. It is perilously possible to mistake the exposition of the truth for the truth; to run away with the idea that because we are able to expound these things, we are living them too.”
James reminds us that the person “who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (1:25). The key issue is not what is preached or written, but what is done.
When I study God’s Word, my first question should not be, “What am I going to say about this?” but “What am I going to do about this?” — David C. McCasland
One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it. —Chambers
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...ODB: subtle wisdom
August 7, 2009
READ: Mark 8:34-38
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. —John 12:26
When I was in college, my co-worker Bud, a fork-truck driver, often enriched my life with his pithy wisdom. We were eating lunch one day, sitting on the back of his fork truck, when I announced that I was transferring to another school.
“Why?” he asked.
“All my friends are transferring,” I answered.
Bud chewed his sandwich for a moment and then replied quietly and with subtle irony, “I guess that’s one way to pick a school.”
His words struck me with rare force. Of course, I thought. But is this the only way to choose a school? Will I follow my friends for the rest of my days, or will I follow Jesus? Will I seek His face and His will and go where He wants me to go?
Twenty-five times in the New Testament, Jesus said to His disciples, “Follow Me.” In Mark 8:34, He said, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” No matter what others do or what direction their lives may take, we must do what He asks us to do.
The words of an old song come to mind: “My Lord knows the way through the wilderness; all I have to do is follow!” — David H. Roper
To find your way through life, follow Jesus.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...getting “in the way”
June 13, 2009
READ: John 14:1-6
Jesus said . . . , “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” —John 14:6
The ancient Romans were known for their roads, which crisscrossed their empire with wide, heavily traveled highways. It’s what Jesus’ audience would have pictured when He claimed, “I am the way” in John 14:6.
While this verse indicates that He is the way to heaven, there’s really more to His statement. Cutting through the underbrush of the dense jungle of our world, Jesus is our trail-guide who makes a new way for us to live. While many follow the way of the world by loving their friends and hating their enemies, Jesus carves out a new way: “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you” (Matt. 5:44). It’s easy to judge and criticize others, but Jesus the Way-maker says to take the plank out of our own eye first (7:3-4). And He cuts a path for us to live with generosity instead of greed (Luke 12:13-34).
When Jesus said “I am the way,” He was calling us to leave the old ways that lead to destruction and to follow Him in His new way for us to live. In fact, the word follow (Mark 8:34) literally means, “to be found in the way” with Him. You and I can make the choice to travel the familiar and ultimately destructive ways, or we can follow Him and be found in the way with the One who is the way! — Joe Stowell
We don’t need to see the way if we’re following the One who is the Way.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...making the cut
May 14, 2009
READ: Matthew 4:18-22
[Jesus] said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” —Matthew 4:19
Every year, high-school seniors apply to their favorite universities and then watch the mailbox for the letter announcing their acceptance.
It was different for teens in New Testament times. Jewish boys would often attend rabbinical schools until age 13. Then only the best and brightest would be chosen to “follow” the local rabbi. This small, select group of disciples would go where he went and eat what he ate—modeling their lives after the rabbi. Those who didn’t make the cut would pick up a trade like carpentry, sheep-herding, or fishing.
Guys like Simon, Andrew, James, and John hadn’t made the cut. So instead of following the local rabbi, they were down by the docks, knee-deep in the family business. It’s interesting that Jesus sought out the men the local rabbi had rejected. Instead of targeting the best and brightest, Jesus offered His invitation, “Follow Me,” to ordinary run-of-the-mill fishermen. What an honor! They would become followers of the ultimate Rabbi.
Jesus extends the same honor to you and me—not because we are the best or brightest, but because He needs ordinary people like us to model His life and to lovingly rescue people on His behalf. So, follow Him and let Him make something of your life! — Joe Stowell
Even the ordinary and the outcast can make the cut to follow Jesus.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...a convenient christianity
November 29, 2008
READ: Matthew 16:24-28
Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. —Matthew 16:25
So many television programs, so little time to watch them. Apparently that’s what our culture thinks, because now technology allows us to see an hour-long program in just 6 minutes or less! The Minisode Network has pruned episodes of popular series into shorter, more convenient packages for interested viewers. “The shows you love—only shorter” is how it’s advertised. All to make our life more convenient.
Some have tried to make the Christian life more convenient. They choose to practice Christianity on Sunday only. They attend a religious service at whatever church makes them most comfortable. They give a small offering and are nice to fellow churchgoers—nothing that requires much effort on their part. That way they can have the rest of the week to themselves, to live as they please.
That would be a convenient Christianity. But we know that following Jesus is a lifestyle and not a Sunday-only convenience. Being a “disciple” calls for giving up our lives for Him (Matt. 16:25). It’s about living as Jesus calls us to live, daily giving up our plans and purposes for His. A relationship with Him causes us to be concerned with our thoughts, decisions, attitudes, and actions—all to make our life joy-filled for us and pleasing to God. — Anne Cetas
Faith in Christ is not just a single step but a life of walking with Him.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...cardboard kids
October 1, 2008
READ: Proverbs 1:8-19
My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. —Proverbs 1:10
When Mike Wood began to advertise his sign company, he didn’t know how useful his work would become. Some of his signs were life-size cardboard pictures of kids, which he put close to the street.
Besides advertising his business, the signs had another effect. Motorists thought the cutouts were real children and began to drop their speed. Now Mike sells the cardboard kids to parents who want to slow down speeding drivers in their area. Mike said, “We truly hope that some of our standups help to control speeding in neighborhoods around the country.”
Parents work at protecting their children from physical danger. But there are other dangers as well. Solomon, the writer of Proverbs 1, was concerned about the people who would pose spiritual danger to his son. He warned him about those who would entice him to do evil (vv.10-14) and told him, “Do not walk in the way with them, keep your foot from their path; for their feet run to evil” (vv.15-16).
We need to protect our children by teaching them God’s Word and training them to avoid evil influences. Busy streets are hazardous for our children, but the enticement of taking an evil path is far more dangerous. — Anne Cetas
Tomorrow’s world will be shaped by what we teach our children today.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...a learner
September 19, 2008
READ: Isaiah 50:4-6, Luke 2:46-52
They found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. —Luke 2:46
The poster in the church hallway pictured a young boy dressed in Middle Eastern clothing, with Bible in hand, walking up a hill to church. The caption read: “Jesus was a good Christian boy who went to Sunday school every Sunday.”
As a Jewish boy, Jesus didn’t go to Sunday school and church on Sunday, so the poster was inappropriate. But the picture is correct in portraying Jesus’ desire to be in His Father’s temple to listen to His teaching.
When Jesus was 12, He went with His parents to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover (Luke 2:41-42). On their way home, His parents realized He was not with them. When they returned, they “found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions” (v.46).
Jesus had the heart of a learner-disciple. Isaiah writes of Him as Jehovah’s Servant: “The Lord God . . . awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened My ear” (50:4-5). In His humanity, the Son was open to learn from His Father.
Jesus’ example challenges us to be listeners to God’s Word. We too can become learner-disciples if we’ll keep our hearts open to God’s teaching. — Anne Cetas
The highest goal of learning is to know God.
Source: Our Daily Bread
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...an audience of One
August 27, 2008
READ: Matthew 6:1-6
[Jesus] made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant. —Philippians 2:7
When I worked as a young journalist for Campus Life magazine, my assistant kept a plaque on her desk with this two-line poem: Only one life, ’twill soon be past / Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Reading that plaque brought me up short every time. Although I believed its truth, how could I put it into practice? How should my faith in the invisible world affect my day-to-day life in the visible world?
According to Jesus, it’s what God thinks of us that matters, not what others think. Jesus instructed us to pray in a closed room, where no one could see us, rather than in a public place where we might get credit for being spiritual (Matt. 6:6). In other words, live for God and not others.
Do we clamor for attention and achievement? Jesus invites us to let go of that competitive struggle, to trust that God’s opinion of us is the only one that ultimately counts.
How would our lives differ if we truly played to an audience of One? Certainly our sense of ego and rivalry would fade, because we would no longer need to worry about proving ourselves to others. We could concentrate instead on pleasing God by living in a way that would attract people to Jesus. — Philip Yancey
Christ is seen most clearly when we remain in the background.
Source: Our Daily Bread
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