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Gleanings From The Word

Category: devotional

  • Disciples – what are they?

    Disciples – what are they?

    Jesus and his disciples

    Last night we watched the 2016 movie “Risen”. It’s the tale of a Roman soldier sent to find the body of Jesus. He encounters Jesus and the disciples and eventually becomes a believer. It’s the sort of story that’s been told before, and there is a fair bit of artistic license, but it was an okay watch.

    There is a scene where Peter and the soldier are discussing how Jesus, with a full body, can disappear, and Peter admits to not understanding. Peter says, “We are followers, we follow to find out.”

    That’s a good line and fits the movie. We are all followers because we want to know Jesus better. Yet, in another sense, it’s woefully inadequate. We are more than seekers of knowledge. As his disciples, we follow the master in order to become like Him, to follow his instructions. It also keeps the follower as the center of the search not the Lord.

    As disciples, Jesus should be our focus and Lord. We do our part to bring about the answers to the Lord’s Prayer. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10). God changes hearts and minds, but we have labor to do to bring about the kingdom.

    Perhaps you never considered the fact that being a Christian was never meant to be a passive activity and isn’t primarily about you (or me). All true believers are disciples and have been given a task to accomplish by Christ Himself

    And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20

    We all have a differing role to play in that commission and have been given different spiritual gifts to accomplish it. Yet we are called to do our part to bring about the kingdom.

    Yes, we are called to grow in Christ. Yes, we are called to know. Yes, we are called into a deeper relationship with him.

    But if all that stays internal and passive, we are not being true to our calling. Our relationship with Jesus is intimately personal, but it is also public, and we are commanded to take it into the world.

    I pray, that as you grow in Christ, you grow in true discipleship and are used greatly by the Lord.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    Step Out of the Boat Faith

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    # Right Belief Must Become Right Living

  • Dancing with Joy

    Two trees dancing with joy

    Yesterday we went to a friend’s home for our weekly community group meeting. The first thing I saw when I exited the car was these two trees dancing with joy.

    Technically, I was experiencing Visual pareidolia. It’s a psychological phenomenon where your brain recognizes familiar patterns—especially faces—in random or vague stimuli. Humans are particularly wired to spot faces, so we tend to “find” them in things like clouds, tree bark, rocks, or even shadows.

    It happens to me a lot. It’s just the way I am wired. Yet, you don’t need a lot of imagination to look at the picture and see two trees dancing with joy.

    That image got me thinking about the state of the created world, both now and in the future. Right now, it is suffering and groaning.

    For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  Romans 8:22-23

    That will change. The Lord will set everything right.

    “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

    Isaiah 55:12-13

    That day is coming, for the Lord has promised it. Christians are the only people who have a true reason for hope. We ought to be giving thanks, singing, dancing, and praising God more.

    He gives us fresh mercies every morning, and He will deliver on his promises.

    I long for the days when the mountains break forth, and the trees clap their hands and dance. How about you?

    In the interim, remember his blessing and promises and rejoice.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    The Gospel – Spreading Joy
    # Right Belief Must Become Right Living