worry and the wardrobe

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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SUBSTANCE OVER STYLE

Luke 12:27-28

Luk 12:27 Think about how the flowers grow; they do not work or produce clothing. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these!
Luk 12:28 And if this is how God clothes the wild grass, which is here today and tomorrow is tossed into the fire to heat the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you people of little faith!

worry and the wardrobe

For many in Jesus’ day, clothing was the symbol of success and status. So people went out of their way to dress well, because it affected how they were treated. Even today, I notice that when I dress well, people tend to pay more attention to me. But pursuit of better, more expensive clothing can steal time and effort from pursuing true maturity, so Jesus warns us all not to let concern over the wardrobe consume us.

LORD, we choose to trust you to give us all we need.

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maturity without worry

Posted on April 6, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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WHO FILL THE GAPS?

Luke 12:22-26

Luk 12:22 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “For this reason, I tell you, do not worry about your soul, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.
Luk 12:23 Because there is more to a soul than food, and more to the body than clothing.
Luk 12:24 Think about the ravens: They do not plant or harvest, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!
Luk 12:25 And which of you by worrying can add an hour to his life span?
Luk 12:26 So if you cannot do such a very little thing as this, why do you worry about the rest?

maturity without worry

There is a certain period in one’s life when one takes on more responsibility as he or she matures. That is not what Jesus is talking about. He is warning against an unnatural, unhealthy fear that stunts spiritual growth. If you are so caught up in trying to control every factor and do everything that looks like it is going undone, you are on your way to burnout and loss. Maturity means knowing when to rest as well as work. It means learning to trust the Lord to fill the gaps.

LORD, mature us in the right way.

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one last heartbeat

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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WHAT REALLY MATTERS?

Luke 12:16-21

Luk 12:16 He then told them a parable: “The land of a certain rich man produced an abundant crop,
Luk 12:17 so he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, because I have nowhere to store my crops?’
Luk 12:18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
Luk 12:19 And I will say to myself, “You have plenty of goods stored up for many years; relax, eat, drink, celebrate!”‘
Luk 12:20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded back from you, but what will the things you have prepared be then?’
Luk 12:21 That is how it is with the one who stores up riches for himself, but is not rich toward God.”

one last heartbeat

The man was rich, resourceful, productive, and successful. He had made a plan that would provide for his needs and (presumably) those of his family. He would have been praised by the popular culture of his day, and ours. But in just one moment – one last heartbeat – he was going to lose all that he had ever gained.

A person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God. This is the moral of the story. Jesus tells his disciples and the others who have ears to hear “don’t waste your life just collecting stuff. Bigger barns are not the answer.” So, what is the answer? The answer is a rich relationship with God.

LORD, show us how to invest in our relationship with you.

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prayer and possessions

Posted on April 4, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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IS YOUR PRAYER LIFE A GREED ENGINE?

Luke 12:13-15

Luk 12:13 Then someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Luk 12:14 But Jesus said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or mediator between you two?”
Luk 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out and guard yourself from all types of greed, because one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his belongings.”

prayer and possessions

That man in the crowd was doing something that lots of us do without even thinking about it: we pray to Jesus so that we can get our fair share of life’s loot. We should expect our Lord to be interested in our well-being, and to provide for all our needs. But we should also take his warning to heart, and not be so quick to utilize our relationship with him to increase our bank accounts!

LORD, show us how to be faithful to you in our prayers, and to avoid greed and excessive self-interest in them.

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renouncing the revelation

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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WHAT IS YOUR BACK-UP PLAN?

Luke 12:10-12

Luk 12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the person who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Luk 12:11 But when they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you should make your defence or what you should say,
Luk 12:12 because the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you must say.”

renouncing the revelation

There is a great deal of commentary out there on what it means to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, but very little of it has anything to do with this actual passage. Luke makes it clear that the context of this hard saying is when someone is being challenged to renounce their faith. In that context, blaspheming the Holy Spirit would be rejecting the truth in favour of a convenient lie. The Holy Spirit will give me words to say in my defence. If I refuse to testify to that truth, I have blasphemed against his revelatory ministry.

LORD, give us the courage to stand for you, and speak the words you give.

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the higher court

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Luke 12:8-9

Luk 12:8 “I tell you, whoever admits allegiance to me before men, the Son of Man will also admit that he is connected to before God’s angels.
Luk 12:9 But the one who denies me before men will be denied before God’s angels.

the higher court

The people who listened to Jesus and saw his miracles would be amazed by him, but soon the question for them would not be whether Jesus was wise or powerful or godly. The question would be whether they wanted to admit allegiance to Jesus and his kingdom in light of the wave of opposition to him. The religious experts would turn against Jesus, and most of the population would side with them in spite of what they has seen and heard.

Jesus knew this, so he warned his followers that there is a higher court than the court of popular opinion. That higher court is God’s court, witnessed by God’s angels. The decision made in the higher court would not be the decision of the creatures, but the decision of the creator.

LORD, may we remain loyal to you and your coming kingdom, even if the court of present popularity stands against us.

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five sparrows

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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YOU ARE VALUABLE TO HIM

Luke 12:6-7

Luk 12:6 Aren’t five sparrows sold for two assarions? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.
Luk 12:7 In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

five sparrows

This carpenter’s son knew how much it cost to purchase five sparrows in the market. He used that bit of trivia to remind his followers that everything has value in this world, and they are more valuable than those five sparrows.

There are some days when we do feel that value. There are some days we want to give up, and we find it very hard to believe that God places any value on our lives. But in our frustration and temptation to blamed God and accuse him of not caring, he stays there beside us. He knows our value even when we are tempted to question it.

LORD, forgive us for failing to bless you and trust your love.

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whom you should fear

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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YOU ARE IN DANGER, BUT DO NOT FEAR IT

Luke 12:4-5

Luk 12:4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who are killing the body, and after that have nothing more they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will warn you whom you should fear: Fear the one who, after the killing, has authority to throw you into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

whom you should fear

This bit of advice comes just after a warning against the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They were a powerful and influential religious and political entity within Jesus’ society, and they had set their hearts on the goal of killing Jesus. The Lord knew they would get what they wanted: he would go to the cross, dying because of their hatred of him, and all those who followed him would be in danger of the same fate.

Yet, in spite of their obvious danger to him and those who followed him, Jesus taught all of us not to be afraid of people like that. Their anger could end us, but not forever. God’s anger — on the other hand — could result in eternal destruction in Gehenna.

LORD, in spite of the danger all around us, we choose to fear you, and respect your will above the will of the powerful ones who threaten us.

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expect exposure

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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ARE YOU HIDING SOMETHING BEHIND THAT MASK?

Luke 12:1-3

Luk 12:1 Meanwhile, after many thousands of the crowd had collected so that they were beginning to trample on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, “Be on your guard against the yeast that the Pharisees contaminate others with, which is hypocrisy.
Luk 12:2 Nothing is hidden now that will not be revealed later, and nothing is secret now that will not be made known later.
Luk 12:3 So then whatever you have said in the dark now will be heard in the light later, and what you have whispered in private rooms now will be proclaimed from the housetops later.

expect exposure

Much of this generation’s rejection of organized religion stems from its belief that it is full of hypocrites, that everyone has a secret or two that they are hiding behind a mask of public faith. This stems from the fact that all those “cultured despisers of religion” have secrets too.

Jesus challenged his disciples to be real, and that meant exposing their failures now, because those failures would most certainly be exposed at the judgment later. A confessed sin now cannot harm me later. A hidden sin now most definitely will.

LORD, rid us our hypocrisy, so that the world can witness the reality behind our religion.

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bitter opposition

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Jefferson Vann

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SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO TAKE SIDES

Luke 11:52-54

Luke 11:52 Tragedy is coming to you experts in religious law! You have taken away the key to knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were going in.”
Luke 11:53 When he went out from there, the experts in the law and the Pharisees began to oppose him bitterly, and to ask him hostile questions about many things,
Luke 11:54 plotting against him, to catch him at something he might say.

bitter opposition

The 2016 political campaign in the USA was marked by accusations and bitter opposition. It was an embarrassment to live in another country and have to respond to those who questioned me about what was going on. At the heart of it was personal passion, and ideology clashes. The same thing happened between Jesus and the religious experts of his day.

History has revealed that Jesus’ kingdom ideals have the power to change society, and the expertise of the religious experts was pretense. Today, there are a whole new set of ideologies and factions which oppose the kingdom of Christ. There will be some times when it is appropriate to take sides against them and for Christ.

LORD, give us discernment, and the ability to show our loyalty to Christ.

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