Tag: serial

  • Fully Trained – 9

    Fully Trained – 9

    The gospel of Luke carefully records truth from eyewitness accounts of numerous historical citizens of the first century.

    Luke 6:

    Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

    17 And he came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch him, for power came out from him and healed them all…

    “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

    … 26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

    Love Your Enemies

    27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you…

    32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

    … 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

    39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man?

    The following is a fictional representation, conclusion to eight previous episodes of eyewitness by one of Jesus’ first disciples.

    You can’t follow your self. I had thought I could, even as I listened to Jesus and began to follow Him. I thought that I could lead my family. I thought that I could lead others at work. I thought I could lead my friends to be like me.

    Jesus taught us to follow only God. If you follow someone who has no idea where they are going – let alone for eternity – they are as blind as you.

    Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

    Jesus’ parable was actually for all of us who wanted to fix everyone else who didn’t follow God the way we think they should. He was talking about us and we didn’t even realize it at the time (before we became more like our teacher and our Lord).

    41 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

    I had a lot of fixing to do before I could ever look another man in the eye. Jesus showed me that. Oh, I didn’t see it that first time we heard our Lord teach this parable; but I learned it every time I looked into His eyes and saw His love for me.

    How could I ever be like Him? How could I look into the eyes of another with that all-embracing love?

    He told another parable:

    43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit.

    As an early disciple of Jesus I began to think of my faith as a small seedling in need of water and warmth and food. I could not see me bearing any fruit that could help another as Jesus so often encouraged us by His words. Yet in time we would blossom.

    Our faith began to flower in love instead of judgment, because of the love of Christ.

    I began to watch what I said to others, especially loved ones whose eyes I could read as Jesus once looked deeply into my own blind eyes.

    In Jesus’ love my eyes beheld light and life.

    But also I learned to hold my tongue of judgment on my enemies; for their actions shouted that Jesus was their true enemy more than me.

    45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

    I wanted to be like our Master Jesus, a kind and humble Rabbi to the poor and lowly. And as I said before, we saw the leaders of our people murder the Messiah Jesus on the Cross. What love was this, that Jesus died for me.

    Yet then He rose from death! Only the True Christ could defeat death. And Jesus taught us to continue… that He would always be with us.

    And I remembered that our Lord had said:

    46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

    47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.

    And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

    From the very first day we heard Jesus teach I wanted to build a foundation of my faith in God in Him.

    Our Lord did not disappoint. Jesus had called Simon His rock. After Jesus’ ascension into the clouds and the preaching of Simon in the very Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified, I understood what our Lord meant to have our foundation built on Him.

    Only now do I finally begin to understand what it means for a disciple to become like his teacher – for me to become just a little more like Christ Jesus.

    Being ‘fully trained’ is more than just understanding what we have been taught. To be fully trained means we have no choice other than to be like our Teacher.

    For if we are unwilling to follow our teacher, will we not follow another? And will a false prophet or false teacher or false friend or false learned teacher not blindly lead us into the pit?

    If Jesus is not our Lord, why would we follow Him? For it is most difficult. As He said, we have had to take up our own cross to follow Him.

    And if God is not leader of our life, are we nothing more than evil creatures who intentionally turn from our Creator?

    If in our own severe judgment of others we are not mercifully led by the righteous spirit of humility, will we not appear at our own judgment deserving the same wrath?

    Our Teacher had said to us, all those years ago:

    Luke 6:40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

    Jesus would later teach us:

    It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— John 6:45

    And so we were. We were taught by God! For this, I thank God, who sent to us Christ, our Lord.

     

  • Fully Trained – 8

    Fully Trained – 8

    A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

    Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

    – Luke 6:40-41

    The gospel of Luke carefully records truth from eyewitness accounts of numerous historical citizens of the first century.

    The following is a fictional representation, part one of the conclusion to seven previous episodes of eyewitness by one of Jesus’ first disciples.

    As I have said, when we came among the first disciples of Jesus and followed our Lord to Capernaum, into the hills of Galilee and eventually on His teaching journeys though Samaria and Judea, I knew with all of my heart that He IS the Messiah of God.

    Yet it took us many years of difficult witness to understand the many sayings of Jesus to the crowds. Although we understood His words, we had doubts of how we might apply our Lord’s teaching to our daily lives.

    Luke 6:27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

    For all those years even after Jesus’ resurrection it seemed like everyone was an enemy of the Messiah Jesus. They made it most difficult for us to love them even a little. All I could see was that the difficulty our former friends and neighbors had put us through had probably caused my wife to lose our baby. They nearly starved us to death, had it not been for the generosity of some of our new friends, followers of Christ – total strangers.

    30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

    Jesus’ sayings to us (back when we were His early disciples) were difficult for us. We could in no way be like our Teacher, as our Lord would command us.

    36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you.

    Jesus was our teacher, our rabbi. We followed Him at first by faith, before we had certainty that Jesus IS the Messiah of God – the Christ – the Promised One.

    Teachers or rabbis taught; disciples of these wise rabbis followed and sought to be like these highly trained teachers.

    A friend of ours, a brother in the Lord, later gave us a better insight of our position as new followers of Jesus, a look in the mirror of our own immaturity we could not have understood at the time. In fact, he later included it in a letter to the church:

    For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. – Hebrews 5:12

    Jesus was teaching us a basic principle in one of His shortest parables. (A parable was a common way for rabbis to tell a story to illustrate a point.) We thought it was funny at the time, but we came to learn the truth of it. For we were disciples who would have led many a teacher astray. We were nothing like Jesus.

    39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

    It was a great picture. Was Jesus speaking of other rabbis who were misleading us?

    He then challenged us, though we didn’t know it at the time. Jesus said we must become more than just disciples – more than just followers of some teaching.

    40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

    I’m still not fully trained, but after all these years I have finally become more like our teacher than like a blind follower.

    How about you? Who do you follow blindly? (See what I mean?)

    To be continued

     

  • Fully Trained – 7

    Fully Trained – 7

    My son died… my only son.

    He was still in the womb when we first heard Jesus teach in the hills of Galilee.

    The gospel of Luke carefully records truth from eyewitness accounts of numerous historical citizens of the first century.

    The following is a fictional representation continued from our previous episodes of eyewitness by one of Jesus’ first disciples.

    “Blessed are you who weep now,’ our Lord had taught. He said that we would laugh; even as Job, who had suffered much as a righteous man, had learned:

    “Behold, God will not reject a blameless man,
    nor take the hand of evildoers.

    He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
    and your lips with shouting.

    Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,
    and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

    Job 8:20-22

    We suffered along with the other saints who heard Jesus in those early days. Our children were hungry and our aged died young. We were in the place where Jesus fed thousands of us disciples who were just beginning to hunger and suffer. In later times we would mourn for those who could not find food or make a living.

    Yet we remember our Lord’s teaching as well as our His resurrection. We retain joy, though our young son and several friends have died. We laugh thinking of Jesus’ return – that will be our greatest joy; and our weeping will be replaced with laughter knowing that these wicked ones will be accountable to the One they nailed to the cross, Christ who shed His holy blood of our redemption.

    Luke 6:

    “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

    22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

    Yes, after these difficult years we weep. Yet as certainly as our Lord Jesus was raised from the grave and ascended into heaven, we will laugh.

    Yes, people all around us hate us because of Christ Jesus. Those who were once our close family – those who once called us their dear friends; because of Christ they not only exclude us, but revile us.  Those who are not Christians hardly know the meaning of another reviling you, by definition these anti-Christs criticize all of us who claim Jesus in an abusive or angrily insulting manner. Mention Jesus and they are no longer nice. Even though they claim to not believe in evil, per se, they call us evil not for what we do, but because we claim Christ Jesus.

    Yes, the sweetness of Jesus’ beatitudes brings lasting joy to our hearts; but the resonance of our Lord’s difficult sayings has taken root in our lives. It is not difficult for us to imagine the scene of our forefathers lowering the prophet Jeremiah into a well because they could not look into the face of the truth of Almighty God.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36108798We are poor. We are often hungry, even dying of thirst. We mourn and weep for our lost loved ones.

    24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

    25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

    “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

    26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

    We are poor, hungry and thirsty. Our families are dying. We mourn and weep. When we are not ignored people speak of us as if we are the lowest excess of human creation.

    But Jesus assures us that having become disciples who willingly take up our crosses to follow Him as our Lord, we will have our consolation, our treasure for all time. We will feast in the eternal House of the Lord. May God help those who have chosen not to follow Jesus our hope and Redeemer, for these are destined forever to thirst for refreshment they never found in the flesh of this measured mortality.

    To be continued…