Our core value focus this month is prayer and I wanted to talk about it before the month is over. However, first I want to remind us that when we’re talking about a core value, we’re talking about something that we want to be engrained in the fabric of our church’s culture. Every church has a culture, and we want to be known as a praying church. We are known as individuals who pray and as a church that prays together and for each other.
My personal thoughts on prayer this year have been very relaxed. What do I mean by that? I mean that prayer, at its most basic sense, is simply the communication of the soul in relationship with God. It’s the actual and constant flow of communication between us and Him. As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we are to “pray without ceasing.” This means that all throughout our day, we’re living with an awareness of Him and communicating with Him. It’s like we’re doing life with Him by our side and in our hearts, sharing life with Him. It reminds me of the evening walks my wife and I frequently go on. Walking together creates a natural space to talk about the things of life and of that day. We have some of our best conversations while simply walking together, side by side. Recently I had someone ask me what I think about using things prayer beads or prayer acronyms to give more structure or routine to our prayers. The degree of my response would depend upon the exact nature of those elements (Matt. 6:5, 7), but I tend to avoid such things and most definitely some of those things. God is a person, and I think He wants to hear communication from the heart like we do. We don’t want people to treat us like impersonal beings who must respond in a pre-programmed, cause-and-effect way. I think God, too, wants our soul to open and unfold before Him much like any intimate relationship would. The relationship grows deeper and deeper over time as we talk about our hopes, dreams, fears, struggles, and the things of life—and then walk through those together much like a married couple does. That being said, I think those structured elements can turn a relationship with God into something religious and un-relational. I think it can make God out to be a genie who must turn left every time we expect Him to turn left and to turn right every time we expect Him to turn right. In reality, God often turn left when I expect Him to turn right. He is no tamable genie. In my experience, my best praying doesn’t happen with a list or acronym or even in a specific posture. It comes from the heart when I let out what is really going on inside of me. When I don’t pretend to be something I’m not. When I refuse to be fake, and instead, admit my sins and struggles and give it all over to Him. As a new believer, I remember looking down on someone who was praying with their eyes open, their hands unfolded, and in a relaxed, unconcerned posture—that is until I read the Scripture where Jesus gave thanks at the feeding of the 5,000 and with His eyes open, looking up towards heaven (Luke 9:16). Quite often when I pray, I’m sitting in my recliner or on the porch with a cup of coffee, at a picnic table in the park, in an empty pew in the back of the church (not on Sunday), or on a walk or a hike—and my eyes aren’t usually shut. If I’m praying while I'm still, I may have a pen handy because I’m unpacking the things weighing down my soul and giving them to God. I’m processing life with God and dreaming about the future. A journal and pencil help me be authentic and transparent in prayer. I had one Bible school instructor who liked to walk around in circles around an empty, second-story classroom while praying. How do I know? The library was on the first story of that old, creaky building. At the end of the day, prayer should be authentic and genuine communication with a relational God. Let’s embrace and embody authentic prayer together. Let's make it part of the culture of our church's fabric.
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Not long ago I receive a phone call at the church from North Carolina. On the other end of the line was a voice with a strong southern accent. After a brief introduction, she explained that her son and his fiancée were coming through our area, and he was needing a place to stay. While his fiancée stayed with a friend at the college, I told her I would talk to my wife about him staying at our house. I must admit, I was hesitant at first. It’s not every day, after all, I let a complete stranger stay at my house! But after talking with her some more I began to realize that we knew many of the same people in ministry and I began to sense that she (and her family) really knows Jesus. There was an unexplainable and supernatural connection in Christ there. At the end of the day, her son did stay at our house. I met him at the gas station late at night, showed him our guest room, and enjoyed some great conversation over breakfast the next morning. The Lord even used this young man to impact me in a way he’ll never know. I left the breakfast table that day reinspired in ministry. My guess is that you, too, have experienced this supernatural connection that Christ can bring between strangers. Maybe you were on an airplane and discovered that the person next to you was a believer. You shared about your faith and church and how good the Lord has been to you both. Maybe you went on a mission trip overseas and worked with some of the indigenous believers there and realized you had a joyful connection with them that you didn’t even possess with some of your closest relatives back home. Even though they do not look like you, speak the same language as you, eat the same food as you—and let’s be honest, they even do some things you find culturally inappropriate—they’re like family to you because you have a connection in Christ. They are your “blood-relative” through the blood ofChrist! You have a bond with them that you don’t even share with some of your closest relatives. I think this supernatural bond in Christ is just a small taste of what heaven and eternity will be like. Heaven will be filled with people from every tribe, tongue, and nation (Rev. 7:9). Revelation 22:24 says that the nations and kings of the New Earth will bring their glory (possibly a reference to their wealth & cultural contributions) into the New Jerusalem. Even though the nations are so different, and the community will be incredibly complex, it will still be one giant family because we all have the same Lord (Eph. 4:1-6). Revelation 22:1-5 says the nations will live in harmony, dwelling together with God. It will be as if we’ve always known each other, and we will celebrate our differences. Only Jesus can do that! In this world, difference tend to divide us rather than unite us. But differences are not a mistake. Differences are by design. Like the human body, differences cause us to care for each other, rely on each other, and praise each other’s contributions (1 Cor. 12). Some Christians want to argue over every little thing: the color of the carpet, the order of service, whether or not its okay to use a “Dirt-Devil” vacuum to clean the church, whether to call the fellowship dinner a “pot-luck” or “pot-blessing” (I think we’ll stick with fellowship dinner), what the pastor should wear, what translation to use, et cetera. These are signs of a church experiencing missional drift. They have forgotten what matters most. There will never be a church where every member believes or agrees on exactly the same thing on all Christian issues. It simply won’t happen. The church is too complex. That sort of unity is unrealistic. Perfect biblical clarity will always be slightly out of reach on some issues. That is why we must stick to the absolutes, show charity in personal convictions, and give grace in any gray areas. Most importantly, we must keep Christ at the center of all we do. While the Corinthians were quarreling over who was the best preacher—Paul, Apollos, Peter, or Jesus (1 Cor. 1:12-13)—he said, Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?... For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." Christ was at the center of everything Paul did. In all we do, he said, we are to do it in His name (Col. 3:17). People need Jesus to find freedom and hope. Knowing this, Jesus prayed we would be one just as He and the Father are one (Jn. 17:11) so that our unity would show the world that Jesus is the way (17:21). Are we showing the world that Jesus is the way? Is Jesus at the center of all we do?
If you missed the Journey announcement, please check it out on our livestream beginning at the 38:00 minute mark. Here is a link to the livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tp-WB0sy3A
Journey is not another Bible study, small group, or conference. It is an experience. An invitation for men to live again. To hike a path less traveled. To rediscover the adventurous side of our hearts. To do battle together. To refresh our relationship with God. To let our soul catch up with our body. To find rhythm and balance so that we finish our journeys well. If you are even remotely interested, please let me (Justin) know on the sign-up sheet or call me. Here are the dates and locations of the sessions:
Again, it is desirable but in no way perfectly expected that you will be able to make all of these. If you would like to, but can't, sign up still and you will receive the resources in-between sessions and take the journey with us the best you can. What you will need:
What you will NOT need:
This may be the most important journey you take in your life. I hope you'll join us! Pastor Justin I wish it were true that I could place my Bible under my pillow at night and wake up more spiritual. I wish it were true that when we came to faith in Christ, we never struggled with sin again. I wish it were true that by simply attending church, I would be guaranteed to never fail in my walk with Jesus. The reality is, none of these are true, and we know it all too well. We all struggle to walk with Jesus, and even fail Him at times. However, this does not mean that we shouldn’t make it our aim to follow Jesus and become more like Him. In fact, this is our aim! It is also one of our core values at CBC. Calling it a “core value” though, might be an understatement. I would dare to say, as I often have in the past, that the chief responsibility of the Christian is to grow in Christ-likeness. This is what we are about. We want to follow Jesus, becoming like Him, and help others do the same. That’s how we got the name “Christian” to begin with. People identified us as those who followed Christ and His ways.
In the world of five-dollar theological terms, we call this “progressive sanctification.” It’s the idea of progressively becoming more and more like Jesus in how we live. We have our ups and down, for sure, but overall, we want to become more like Him over the course of our lives. For the sake of simplicity and relatability, I like to refer to this doctrine as “modeling.” No, not the modeling like you see on a runway show with fancy designer wear! We’re talking about looking to Christ as a role-model that we seek to imitate or copy. Back in the summer of 2021, I taught a series on modeling Christ. I taught how we can model Christ as a church, in the family, in marriage, in all relationships, and in every circumstance. In this series, we discussed how we all look for other people to imitate and follow. We may call them role-models or mentors, but there’s something about them that we want to incorporate into the way we live. Don’t believe me? Just think of kids. They’re copycats! The mimic what they see and hear whether it’s good or bad. That’s scary as a parent! As a pastor, responsible for casting the vision for our church and for teaching, I’m always looking for exemplary characteristics in other churches or pastors that I want to imitate or incorporate into our church. Paul praised the Thessalonians for being such a church. He says, “You… became imitators of us and of the Lord” and as such, “you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia” (1 Thess. 1:6-7). The Greek word Paul uses for imitate (mimetes), reminds us of the word mimic. It’s a term that could refer to an actor who mimics a person or role. It may remind us of the Mimic Octopus that can change colors to blend in with its environment or change its shape to look like a poisonous lionfish, sea snake, or jellyfish to prevent being eaten by predators. The word Paul uses for example (typos) could refer to a stamped pattern, image, or recreated model. As Christians, we want the Christlike virtues like love, joy, peace, patience, forgiveness, and grace to be recreated in us by His Spirit. When we truly follow Christ, people take notice. One man said, “We exist. We behave. Others notice.” They take mental notes about our faith and Jesus. They’re examining our lives and considering whether or not it would be helpful for them to follow Jesus as well. The atheistic philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, once said, “Show me that you are redeemed, and I’ll listen to you talk about your Redeemer.” He’s got a point. They understand we should live differently. So let’s show the world who Jesus is by how we live so that they too will find hope in Him. Ephesians 4:29-5:2 says, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us.” The following is an article by Pastor Justin published in the Chadron Record under "Minister's Moments." An audio version of this article can be found at the following link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cbc-devo-living-for-what-matters-forever/id1550004417?i=1000651451557
As I write this (Wednesday, March 27th), our community is losing two large buildings at the same time: the old Catholic school and an apartment complex. I was planning to write about Easter, but I woke up to a voicemail from a church member saying that their apartment was on fire. As I was on my way to see the fire, I received another message informing me that demolition had begun on the old school. I decided to drive by this crumbling structure as well. Recently, I’ve been reading a book about staying balanced in life by slowing down and spending extended times of solitude with the Lord. The book also talks about the need to break routine and just be “in the moment.” So, rather than simply driving by, I decided to pull over, get out of my car, and watch the demolition of this historic building. As I stood there, I kept thinking, “This has to be one of the largest and oldest buildings in town. This just isn’t something you see every day.” I also couldn’t help but think of all the memories that many people had growing up in or around that school. In fact, another bystander told me their own stories and while understanding, they were sad to see another piece of their childhood and Chadron’s history gone. However, the overwhelming thought was, “This is exactly why I want an eternal perspective on life. This is why I want to live for that which is going to matter forever.” Just like these two buildings, the temporal things that we live for—even life itself—can be taken from us in an instant. Jesus told a story about a man who once he finally had all he ever wanted, died, and left it all behind. He said, “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). The point is if we live for the here and now only, building our own little kingdoms, we’ll have to watch them burn and crumble in the end. Instead, we should view life with an eternal lens and live for God’s kingdom, seeking the inheritance that will never perish nor fade away (1 Peter 1:3-5). As C. T. Studd wrote, there’s “only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” You can find an audio version of this blog at: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-mprmt-15a7f6b The core value we are highlighting for the month of March is sensitivity. What do we mean by sensitivity? We mean an awareness of, or sensible response to, the Lord’s promptings and leading in our lives. (1 Cor. 12:12; Gal. 5:25; Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18; 1 Pet. 5:1-5). As individuals and as a church family, it’s important that we have an awareness of the direction that God is leading us and that He is with us in our endeavors. If we’re going to be attuned to the Lord and His leading in our lives, we must first have the Spirit of God dwelling in us to begin with. In 1 Corinthians 2:12-15, Paul shares about how the Spirit of God enables us to understand the things of God and the Word of God. Therefore, without the Spirit of God, we are natural men and not spiritual men. Natural men, who have not been born of the Spirit of God through faith in Christ, cannot grasp the spiritual things of God. So the Spirit of God is required to connect with God on His frequency and have a relationship with Him. This only happens when we place our faith in Jesus Christ and are born again spiritually speaking by the Spirit of God. Beyond receiving the Spirit of God, we need to "walk" with Him. Galatians 5:25 has always reminded me of a sensitive or receptive walk with God. Paul says, If we live by the Spirit let us also walk by the Spirit. When you go on a walk with someone, technically you’re only “with” them if you are beside them or close to them, often talking with them. If you are too far ahead of them or behind them, you are not really “with” them. Simple enough, right? The sensitive believer desires not to get ahead of God or to fail to respond to His promptings altogether, lagging behind God. Because of that, I like the way the ESV and NLT translate this verse. ESV: If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. NLT: Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. How do I know if I’m keeping in step with the Spirit? Following His leading in our lives? Paul says the fruit of the Spirit will be evident in our lives (Gal. 5:16-26). Most people, however, want to know God’s personal will for their lives: How do I know if I should move to that town? Take another job? Marry this individual? Enter this ministry? I’ve been a follower of Christ long enough to admit that there is mystery involved in answering these personal questions and I’ve often been comforted by the missionary journeys of Paul. Even the Apostle Paul wrestled with the direction that the Spirit of God was leading him at times. Sometimes Paul was told exactly where to go and what to do. Sometimes he had no clue (!) and had to wait on God’s response. Sometimes he wanted to go one way and the Spirit of God said, “No.” Other times the Spirit clearly said, “Yes,” and he experienced great opposition! Sometimes he stayed longer in places that were insignificant and stayed a short time in significant places. So how did he know where to go and what to do? There simply is no pat answer because there was no pattern! You can’t calculate something that requires a living relationship. Some of it is simply an adventure with God! That being said, I do want to leave us with few practical steps to discerning God’s personal will for our lives: 1) If we want to know His personal will for our lives, we need to apply the clearly revealed general will of His written Word. His personal will will never violate His written will; 2) Praying and asking; 3) Seeking God through His Word; 4) Inquire wisdom from other mature believers in the body of Christ; ask them, “Is this wise?” 5) then pursuing it further and testing the waters. More than once a person has asked me, “How long do you plan to stay at Chadron Berean?” I always respond with, “I don’t plan on going anywhere. If God called me to live out the rest of my days in Chadron, I would be content with that. However, I always try to remain sensitive to the Lord’s leading. I never want to presume this is where I’ll always be.” In fact, in the past, when presented with opportunities to go elsewhere, I’ve prayed and I believe I was prompted to stay. But the only way you or I will know the answer to personal questions is through a real, living relationship with Him. So, should you take a chance and step out into that job or ministry that you think the Lord is leading you to do? That’s between you and the Lord. That may not be the answer you wanted, but I would give a note of encouragement: flourish or fail, grace is there like a net is there to catch the trapeze artist. You will learn from each fall and will get better. Proverbs 24:16, "For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again." Praying that we will remain spiritually attuned to the Lord's direction in our lives,
Pastor Justin You can find an audio version of this blog at: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cbc-devo-core-value-joy In recent years our church has had a theme to focus on each year. This year, however, instead of a specific theme I want to focus on core values. These core values developed over the past several years of preaching on subjects like spiritual gifts, modeling Christ, the Christian family, prayer, and worship. In compiling these subjects, we now have an extensive list of core values that I don’t want us to forget and that we need to apply if we’re going to continue being a healthy, effective, life-giving, and God-glorifying church. Each month I plan to focus on one core value through a devotional like this one. The core value will also appear in our bulletin. If interested, you can find the entire list of core values on our website. The first core value I want us to focus on is joy. Joy! It’s what everybody wants! In my first year as a pastor, my personal theme that year was “to serve the Lord with joy.” Followers of Jesus should be known for their joy. I’ve said many times before that if we can’t have fun and enjoy doing ministry, we won’t be doing much ministry at all! No one wants to be part of a church or any other group that has no joy. We can communicate all the right information to people but without a sense of joy, it will go over like a lead balloon. Who wants to hang around a bunch of cranks who argue and complain about everything or go through life as an expressionless Stoic? They make a terrible witness for the good news of the gospel! Joyful Christians, however, are winsome witnesses for Jesus. Charles Swindoll once said that long before people are attracted to our life of love, they are often attracted to our joy. Christ came to give us an abundant life (John 10:10) and in a very real sense, part of that “life” is a lightening of our spirits and learning to laugh at life! There are two principles that I would like to share to make sure we don’t lose our joy. The first one is that joy comes with abiding. In John 15:10-11 Jesus said, If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. Jesus teaches that we can abide in His love by keeping His commandments. The reason He tells us this is because He wants us to have an abundant life characterized by joy! He wants us to have His joy and for our joy to be complete. One translation says “so that your joy may overflow.” Sometimes people are tempted to view God’s commands as restrictions that steal their joy. God is looked at as a big bully in the sky who doesn’t want us to have any fun. On the contrary, for believers, it’s when we are living in sin against God that we lack this overflowing joy. God will not let His children enjoy what is not good for them. Therefore, overflowing joy only comes when we are walking in fellowship with the Lord and thus abiding in Him. The second principle is that we must be careful about where we find our joy. In Luke 10 when the disciples returned from their first short-term missionary journey, they returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." Understandably, the disciples learned that serving Jesus can bring them immense joy. They were joyful about the way He used them and empowered them for the work of ministry. However, Jesus knows that ministry hardship lay ahead and they need something more secure to rest their joy in. He responded, saying, Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. As heaven’s disciples, and especially for those in some sort of vocational ministry, we must beware of placing our joy in what we do (maybe it’s a ministry or job) or in what we possess (maybe it’s material possessions, influential qualities, or personal performance). Placing our joy in anything other than Christ and what He has done for us—formally inscribing our names in heaven’s book of life—is a recipe for disaster because everything other than Christ is temporary and fleeting or fluctuates up and down. If I place all my joy in my job but my job isn’t doing well, my joy won’t be doing well. If I place my joy in a fancy vehicle but then it gets wrecked or I am forced to sell it, my joy will go with it. Joy comes to stay when we recognize that Jesus is everything we need and because of Him, we are saved and going to heaven. If you seem to have misplaced your joy lately, I encourage you to pray with David in Psalm 51:12, Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. In Christ with you,
Pastor Justin 2/18/2024 The other day I watched a video showing the final, game winning touchdown play in a high school football matchup. The white team threw a touchdown pass and ended the game with a last-second win! Everyone on the white team immediately started celebrating with their teammates, jumping up and down with their hands in their air—all except one. One of the players on the white team was going around and speaking with players on the green team who had collapsed on the field in tears, heads down, grieving over the loss of a championship win. At first, you would assume that this player might be mocking the other team for losing the big game and rubbing it in their faces, but that wasn’t what he was doing at all. He was gently consoling them and speaking words of encouragement to them. One by one he lifted them up, shook their hands, and congratulated them on a hard-fought game. Immediately I thought, “That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 4:29.” Paul tells us to build others up—lift them up with our words! Ephesians 4:29 is in a section of Scripture where Paul is telling us how to live now that we are in Christ and how to have healthy, Christ-centered relationships that last. He is telling the Ephesians to lay aside the old self with the sin nature and put on the new self that is renewed in Christ and in righteousness. This renewing includes our words! There are words to put off and words to put on. He says, Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. The words to put off are unwholesome words. Some of your translations call them corrupt or foul words. These are all great depictions of the Greek word that is used in relation to fruit and rotten or decaying food (Mt. 7:17; 12:33). Rotten words like this are destructive and detrimental to others’ physical, mental, or moral well-being. Paul mentions some of what he has in mind in verse 31; they would include harsh words spoken in anger, coarse (unclean) jesting, degrading slander, and heartless malicious gossip. Speech like this doesn’t bring life—they destroy life. Some workplaces and homes are miserable, lacking peace and joy, because they are filled with rotten words. They deteriorate the spiritual well-being of others. Paul says to stop these words from coming out of our mouths.
The new way of speaking in Christ is mentioned second. These are the words we are to put on: edifying words. These words, as some of your translations say, are helpful for building others up. This is a construction term (edifying/edifice). These are words that strengthen or “make more able” someone else. Words like this give grace to those who hear. In Colossians 4:6, Paul says to season our words with salt. Salt, as you know, has a preservative effect on things. When I do taxidermy, I use to salt to preserve deer hides until they can get tanned. Salt kills the bacteria that would cause that deer hide to rot. It preserves the deer hide. I guess we could say the best way to fight against and prevent rot in our relationships is to use salty words—words of grace that build others up. Just this week I was the unexpected recipient of constructive words through text messaging. In the middle of this crazy week, I can’t tell you how much that brightened my day! It’s so much easier to use rotten words than constructive words. We find it so much easier to criticize than to commend and to put down than to praise! We could all use a little more encouragement and affirmation. Indeed, some peoples’ love language is words of affirmation! So how can you build someone up right now with your words? Make it your goal this week to build someone up each day. Life is better when we are better with our words. In Christ with you, Pastor Justin By now in this study on prayer, you’ve realized it’s not that easy to stay in prayer. We have enemies known as the flesh and the devil that want to keep us disconnected from God. They are the greatest adversaries to prayer. They like to whisper things like, “You’re too tired to pray. You don’t have time. Just skip it. You have better things to do anyway. Why should God take notice of your prayers anyway?” One of the things that I find distracting to my own prayer life, especially when spending any length of time in intercessory prayer, is the to-do list that comes to mind. It’s comforting to know that we are not the first people to struggle with prayer. The Apostle Peter, if you’ll remember, kept falling asleep on Jesus while praying in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:42-43). Jesus told Peter to watch and pray that he might not enter into temptation because though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak (Mark 14:39). Peter clearly learned from his sleepy episode in the garden of Gethsemane, for in 1 Peter 4:7 he says, “Be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.” In 1 Peter 5:7 he says, “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. You adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Prayer is a connection with God that is crucial to living a victorious life over despair and temptation, so it’s important we learn to stay connected. I just want to give you a couple of personal tips that I use to stay connected during extended periods of prayer. As I share these two tips, understand that these are not something I use daily, nor are they tips that I think everyone must do. I just find them helpful at times. Take them or leave them. Staying Persistent Tip #1 - Pray with a pen handy.Like I said, when I pray, the to-do list starts to come to my mind, and I’m tempted to quit praying and get with it! First let me say, this is totally normal. It’s expected when we’re praying about things going on in our life and the things we are going to work on that day. Maybe, through prayer, we sense God’s prompting to do something that we hadn’t previously thought of. One of the things I do to stay connected in prayer rather than start the to-do list, is to keep a pen handy so I can write those things down. This way, I know I won’t forget and I can move on with the rest of my prayer time. If you don’t have a pen handy, maybe punch the thought down in the notes application on your phone. Just about all of us have a phone handy. Staying Persistent Tip #2 - Try using prayer cards.I have 3x5 cards with things that I need to be praying for regularly. I have cards for different areas of my life such as a husband, father, and pastor. I have a prayer card for my wife and things she asks for prayer for. I have a card for our church, and one for special requests. I have one for each of my kids. On these cards I have both long and short term requests. The long-term requests I link with Scripture and pray the Scripture. For example, “Lord, help me to love my wife like Christ loves the Church” or “Help me to bring up my children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, being careful not to exasperate them.” When I see patternable unChrist-like tendencies in my kids that I know may take decades to overcome and only by the Spirit of Christ, I pray Scripture for them. “Lord, keep my children from a love of this world.” We pray regularly(!), “Father, help us to be at peace with one another and look out for each other’s interests and not our own.” I don’t use these cards every day, but I do find that they keep me on track with long-term, eternal matters and in those times when I just don’t know what to pray for. Also, if I don’t write some requests down, I often don’t pray for them at all. These cards keep me from saying, “I’ll pray for you,” and then later asking myself, “What was I going to pray for?” Staying Persistent Tip #3 - Try something different.Maybe you're sitting up and praying and looking around and you feel yourself distracted, trying switching positions or locations. Try praying on your knees if you are able. The Apostle Paul, I think, was a man who liked to pray in a humble posture on his knees. In Ephesians he talks about bowing his knees before the Father. In Acts 20, him and the Ephesians elders pray on their knees on the beach before Paul sets sail again. Sometimes just trying something different can help you stay in prayer longer.
We are in a spiritual battle. This battle involves prayer. The flesh and the devil don’t want us to pray, so Paul, complementing the “armor of God” in Ephesians 6:18, says this: “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for the saints.” In Christ with you, Pastor Justin In his Bible study series called In the Dust of the Rabbi, Ray Vander Laan popularized the idea that if a disciple wants to be a close follower of his rabbi, he needs to be close enough to get the rabbi’s dust on him. He must sit in the dust of the rabbi’s feet and keep up as the rabbi as he travels from town to town teaching. We see a picture of this in the Gospels as Jesus called His disciples to literally follow in His steps. Jesus and the disciples traveled from home to home and town to town, teaching God’s Word. Supposedly, Vander Laan heard this saying about “being covered in the dust of the rabbi” while enrolled at a Jewish university. The saying comes from the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish writings composed around A.D. 200 that in many ways gives us insight into the religious culture during the days of Jesus. This “dusty” saying is found in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), a tractate containing short sayings on ethics and wisdom. Avot 1:4 reads, Yose ben Yoezer (a man) of Zeredah and Yose ben Yohanan (a man) of Jerusalem received [the oral tradition] from them [i.e. Shimon the Righteous and Antigonus]. Yose ben Yoezer used to say: let thy house be a house of meeting for the Sages and sit in the very dust of their feet, and drink in their words with thirst.1 [emphasis mine] You may recognize in these verses, the oral tradition that we also called the Oral Law in our sermon a few weeks ago (Come & Rest). It refers to the traditions and cultural codes passed on orally through repetitious learning (the “613 Fence” is mentioned in Avot 1:1; “a fence around the Torah”). A “sage” (older, wiser teacher of the Law) would sit on low pillows or short chairs while disciples would sit at their feet in the dust, humbly repeating and memorizing their teaching.2 To “sit at the feet of” became an idiom for learning from a rabbi.3 Paul said in Acts 22:3 that he trained “at the feet of Gamaliel” (Young’s Literal Translation). However, not all the teaching was wise. We might recall Jesus rebuking the religious leaders and “sages” for the Oral Law that went beyond the God’s Law, which ultimately led to the crucifixion in their jealousy of Him. In Avot 1:5, one verse later, the “sage” advice is to not engage in too much conversation with women, including your wife, because it takes away from the study of Torah and in the end you will inherit gehinnom! Gehinnom is derived from the Hebrew ge Hinnom, or Valley of Hinnom. It was the burning refuse heap and bone pit for child sacrifices on the southern side of Jerusalem. Jesus used Gehenna as a reference for hell (2 Ch 28:3; Jer 7:31; Matt 10:28; Mk 9:47). I’m not sure that my wife would see that as sage advice! You might want to avoid that marriage counselor! In Luke 10:39, Jesus was welcomed into the home of Martha, who had a sister named Mary. While Jesus was teaching, Martha was busy and distracted with all her preparations. Mary, however, is, seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. When Martha gets upset with Mary’s lack of assistance, she tells Jesus to make her help! Jesus calmly replied, Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. What about you? Does your life look more like Mary or Martha right now? Have you chosen the good part? Are you still taking time to sit at the feet of the Rabbi and learn His ways? Are you still thirsty for the His teaching? Still following Him closely and getting powdered with His dust? In this busy and distracting world with many unbiblical and temporal cultural teachings being passed around, we must make sure that we are still sitting at His feet and learning how to become like Him. Jesus had a busy life too! He ministered to people from sunup to sundown on occasion. However, He always made time to spend time alone with the Father as an example for us, even while busy. One man said, “It’s okay to have a busy life. It’s not okay to have a busy soul.” Maybe you need to be reminded of the words of Jesus today that when we take time in His Word and in prayer we are choosing the good part. Encouraging you to reconnect with God this summer,
Pastor Justin 1 https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Mishnah 2 Lois Tverberg, Ann Spangler, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 18. 3 Ibid. |
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