“As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother."’
‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy.’ Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” (Mark 10:17-22 NIV)
The problem with asking the Lord a question is you may not get the answer you are expecting, which is exactly what happened to the rich young man. It is always risky to ask the Lord what we need to do or how we should be living our lives. For this young man, he came to the Lord with a desire to gain eternal life. And I think he was elated when Jesus recited some of the Ten Commandments. He declared with confidence, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.” But his confidence quickly evaporated when Jesus told him what else he needed to do. Giving away his wealth was more than he was willing to do. But you have to admire him; at least he asked the question.
I think many of us today are afraid to ask the Lord how we should be living. We would rather assume we are doing just fine than to hear the truth, which we will always hear from Jesus because He loves us. It is easier to continue in that relationship, to pursue a certain career track, or just to keep living the way we’ve always lived than to seek out the Lord’s direction. The truth is He might tell us that in following Him we have to end the relationship, adjust the vision for our career, or change how we live our daily lives. So we would just as soon not ask. The answers are too scary and costly, just as they were to the rich young man.
But ask we must if we want to obey and follow Jesus. How else are we going to know and go where He wants to lead us? His answers may surprise and even frighten us, but we must trust that He loves us and has our best interests in mind.
Today, it is likely there are things in your life that the Lord wants you to surrender to Him for your own benefit. It may not be wealth, but something else that is holding you back from fully following Jesus. Take the risk and ask this question: Lord, what must I do? You may not get the answer you want, but it will be the answer you need.
© Jim Musser 2015
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5 NIV)
As the rain kept falling over this past weekend, my heart kept sinking. After months of work and thousands of dollars spent, the evidence mounted that everything we had done to eliminate water in our crawlspace had failed to make a difference. The water kept rising. The only solution left was the one we were trying to avoid and could not afford—sealing our crawlspace, an $8,000-$10,000 project.
As one who has been in vocational ministry all his adult life, money has always been an issue. Unlike, perhaps, some mega church pastors who can earn six figure salaries and be awarded large retirement packages, campus ministers, small church pastors, and missionaries never get financially rich doing what they do. And, for most of us, there are times when we wonder how we are going to make it through a financially challenging time or how we are going to make it when the time comes to retire. For me, this weekend was one of those times.
I fretted. I worried. I snapped at my wife. I saw our meager savings evaporating before my eyes. I envisioned a future of owning two vehicles with a half a million miles between them and working until my last breath just to have enough income to survive. In a few short hours I had conjured up in my mind the worst possible scenario for my life.
Have you ever done that? When things get extremely stressful and seemingly hopeless, it is easy for our minds to go into the depths where there is no light and no sense of escape. Though I have never been suicidal, I am guessing that is what it feels like.
Fortunately, my distress was short-lived. The Lord had been trying to comfort me, first with a seemingly miraculous rainbow that appeared on our drive to church on Sunday morning. Out of nowhere this rainbow appeared, amidst the dark clouds and rain. “Remember my promises,” He seemed to be saying. And then yesterday while exercising, part of this passage came to my mind: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” I knew that was true—in my mind. The challenge was to embrace it in my heart. To live it out in the midst of this financial crisis—both real and imagined!
That is always the challenge—to take our faith from our head (where we acknowledge certain things to be true about God) to our heart (where the truths are the basis on which we live our lives). And so for the past 24 hours, I have been in the process of doing that. I have been crying out to the Lord in prayer; I have been remembering the times past when He has provided in similar situations; I have been looking for signs of His provision in my current situation, while embracing His promise never to forsake me. It is intentional. Faith rarely comes naturally.
Today, if you are in the midst of a crisis, consider it an opportunity to truly live out your faith. God promises to never leave or forsake you. If you believe that in your head, then press it into your heart by intentionally seeking Him, crying out to Him, and trusting Him to take care of whatever needs you have. Faith is truly lived out in the trenches of life where the waters rise and threaten to overwhelm us, and where we live with the certainty that we have a Savior who will rescue us.
© Jim Musser 2015
“A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.’” (Luke 22:24-27 NIV)
These are interesting times in which we live where social media, rather than face to face encounters is the means by which we air our disagreements. Having friends on Facebook, whom I believe to be followers of Jesus, of both “liberal” and “conservative” leanings, it is interesting to observe how often some of them post links to articles or videos to reinforce their opinions about how Christians should think about the issues of the day. Perhaps due to the tone of the article/video, the message being conveyed seems to be, “my views are superior to yours and are the right ones to hold. Of course, placed side by side, they are often totally opposite viewpoints. From followers of Jesus who claim their allegiance to Him.
If you remove the social media aspect, this is not much different than the spats the disciples had with one another. They all followed Jesus, but they often didn’t agree with each other. And, as Jesus pointedly revealed, at the heart of their disagreements was a desire for superiority. They each wanted to be seen as better than those other guys. “I am the greatest disciple!” “No, I am!”
When I read many Facebook posts, this is what I hear. “I am the better follower of Jesus!” “No, I am.” And I admit, it is tempting to join the fray because my heart is prone to wander into the same territory of thinking I am right and everyone who disagrees with me is, at the very least, deceived, and, at worst, an idiot. But then I am reminded of the words of my Lord, “But you are not to be like that.”
My calling and your calling as a follower of Jesus is not to pursue greatness in the eyes of others or your own, but is rather to serve others. It is not to seek to be viewed as the one with the most stellar arguments or opinions. As the writer of Ecclesiastes puts it, this is chasing after the wind.
When the disciples became focused on who was the greatest, Jesus redirected them. They were spending time and energy on things that held no importance in the Kingdom of God. For greatness, He taught, is not found in power and acclaim, but in serving the King and one another.
Today, if you are in the habit of airing your opinions on social media because you think they are superior to those of others who also follow the Lord, then remember the rebuke Jesus gave His disciples. Instead of striving for greatness among each other, strive rather to serve one another. This indeed is the example Jesus left us that we might follow in His steps.
© Jim Musser 2015
“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:20-21 NIV)
There is a latent trait in our human nature that leads us to do wrong even when we know there is a reasonable possibility we will be found out. So when we do, we live with the ever-present fear that our deeds will be discovered. When Eve and Adam disobeyed God’s command, they hid themselves from Him when they heard Him walking in the Garden of Eden. Instinctively, they tried to cover up what they had done.
One can only imagine then the fear the clients of the Ashley Madison adulterous website lived with before and after their names were exposed publicly, or some of the employees of Volkswagen when, this week, the company was exposed to having used deceptive software to mimic clean emissions in their diesel cars.
Fear and shame are the results of doing wrong. That is why people try to hide or run. This is why adulterers try to cover up their transgressions; why corrupt officials lie when first confronted with evidence of their misdeeds; and why sex traffickers stay in the shadows. It is also why our first instinct when caught in a sin is to lie or to make an excuse in order to cover for ourselves. We fear being exposed either because of shame, fear of punishment, or both.
Jesus said the truth will set us free (John 8:32) and you see this in how He dealt with the woman at the well (John 4:1-42), the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), and Zacchaeus (Luke 19) By bringing their sins into the light, he gave them the path to freedom. How? By showing them mercy and forgiving their sins.
Mercy and forgiveness take away the shame and fear, two of the reasons we want to remain in darkness. Once we experience this, we can come into the light and remain there. But the cost always is bringing what we would prefer to remain hidden into the open. As John says, if we are willing to confess our sins, he will forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). If we are not, whether because we refuse to stop the sin or because we can’t overcome our fear or shame, then we will remain in the darkness.
Today, what are you hiding out of fear and/or shame? Are you weary of the heaviness you feel from the your burden of guilt? Know that today you can be set free. Bring your sin into the light of God’s mercy and grace. Confess your sin to Him and to others (James 5:16) and experience the freedom coming into the light brings.
© Jim Musser 2015
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (I John 2:1-2 NIV)
Yesterday, I had to go to the post office to put money into a postage due account that had been overdrawn. As I handed the check to the clerk, I commented that I hoped this would get me back on the good side of the worker who had called me about the account. The clerk laughed and said, “It’s always best to be stay on her good side.” Obviously, he had had some experience with being on her bad side.
Sometimes I think this is how we view God—there is a good and bad side to Him and that it’s always better to stay on His good side. So we do our best to stay on the better side. Yet what happens when we mess up, when we wind up on the bad side? I really think it is a false dilemma.
We do not need to fear getting on his bad side because He doesn’t have one. He is good, period. And when we mess up? Well, God is righteous and does punish sin. Fortunately, for you and I, however, Jesus already took our punishment. As a result, He stands ready to defend us before the Father. And the Father readily accepts His intercession on our behalf because He loves us. That is why He sent His Son to earth.
Perhaps you have relationships with people who have good and bad sides and you try hard to stay on their good side. That may be advisable. However, know that God is not like that. You don’t have to worry that if you mess up you will be on His bad side. Jesus took care of that for you a long time ago. Besides, God doesn’t even have a bad side to get on.
Today, enjoy the freedom you have to be in a relationship with your Heavenly Father without having to worry about what happens when you mess up.
© Jim Musser 2015
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3 NIV)
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5 NIV)
I meet wounded people almost every day; people wounded by friends, by family, or by circumstances. Some of these wounds are fresh, such as the person who hears his parents are getting a divorce, or the person whose brother just died. Other wounds have existed a long time and remain open, like the person who still deals with the effects from a traumatic event in his childhood or a person who remains bitter over a relationship that ended years ago.
Wounds that don’t heal end up getting infected, and if the infection goes untreated, it will eventually affect our whole body. But treatment of infections that are out of control is not usually painless. I once knew a man who battled diabetes and was hospitalized several times with gangrene in his feet. Each time the doctors would have to open incisions around the infected area and clean it out. Eventually, he had much of both feet amputated.
Many of us have wounds that may be fresh or have remained open for many years. We are in need of healing. And indeed we can be—by the wounds of Another. By His death, Jesus made it possible for us to enter into a relationship with our God who is the Healer of wounds. Yet our healing is not automatic. The Great Physician does not force Himself upon us; He will not begin His work until we are ready. And that is why many followers of Jesus are still among the walking wounded. They are just not ready to allow Him to begin His healing work because it often involves pain—pain of acknowledging hurt, weakness, and perhaps anger and bitterness and a cure that may involve forgiveness.
Like people who hate to admit they are sick or ignore symptoms out of fear of what might happen if they go to the doctor, often we fear the pain we might experience in the process of being healed by the Lord. So we avoid letting Him near that area of our lives, and we pay the price. The untreated wound festers and begins to affect our whole life, though we may pretend otherwise.
Today recognize the Lord, as a result of His wounds, is ready and willing to heal any wounds you may have, but you have to allow Him to do so. While the healing might be painful, it will not be nearly as painful as allowing the wound to affect your whole life.
© Jim Musser 2015
“But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.” (Psalm 68:3-6 NIV)
Abandonment seems to be a theme this year. I have heard stories of students who were abandoned by their fathers, their mothers, or both when they were children. And some others feel abandoned by unengaged parents or a parent who died too soon.
God created us to be raised by two parents who love us, but, in a fallen world, sometimes that is not the reality we experience. While growing up, I never heard my parents say to me, “I love you,” nor did I ever hear them say it to one another. I wasn’t abandoned in the literal sense, but the feelings were there. I longed to be valued and to be a part of a family unit whose members cared for one another---to hear it and to feel it.
It wasn’t until my late teens, when I decided to follow Jesus, that I began to experience a sense of family. And it didn’t come from my biological family, but rather my spiritual family—my brothers and sisters in the Lord. I felt loved and valued in a way in which I had never before experienced. God had placed this lonely young man into a family. And the love I received was just what I needed.
I see the same thing happening today in our ministry. Students whose home lives are dysfunctional, who have been or feel abandoned are finding love and acceptance from a new family with the Lord as its Head. They have a sense of belonging that has been missing.
This is how God is a father to the fatherless. He places the lonely, the abandoned, in His family. His sons and daughters then embrace their new siblings with the same love they themselves have experienced from their Father.
Today, know that regardless of the state of your biological family, in the Lord you always have a Father and a family. You never have to feel alone or unloved. The door is open and your Father and siblings are welcoming you to come in.
© Jim Musser 2015
