The 5 Minute Discipleship Podcast

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#146: Being Crucified with Christ Jan 03, 2021

Show notes

I was once asked by a man who had recently placed his faith in Christ, “Pastor Loren, what comes after salvation? Is that all there is?” He was sincere in his question, but I had to chuckle. Salvation is both the end and the beginning. It settles our record with God. We have been saved or justified by faith. Our sins have been forgiven, but the process of living for Christ has just begun.
The answer to the question of what comes after salvation is: a process of discipleship. God’s goal is to help us grow and develop in the image and character of Jesus. In other words, he wants us to be like Jesus.
There is a key verse in Galatians 2:20 that many Christians fail to understand. If we can grasp the truth of this verse it will set us on the right track.
It says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
The context of Galatians 2 is how the believer is made right with God. False teachers were telling the Galatian churches that faith in Christ was not enough. To be saved, they said, believers must also be circumcised and in a sense, become “Jewish.” Only then would they be in a right relationship with God. Paul corrects this idea by saying: “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
Being crucified with Christ means that we are no longer under the penalty of the Law. That penalty was paid by Christ on our behalf. When Christ was crucified, it was as if we were crucified with Him. The penalty was fully paid—just as surely as if we had been crucified for our own sins. When Christ rose from the dead, we rose, too. Now the risen Christ empowers us to live for Him in a way that pleases God.
Being crucified with Christ, we are now saved and in right relationships with God. But notice the second part of Galatians 2:20. Paul says, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
Galatians 5:24 helps us understand this. It says, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” What dies in union with Christ is our old passions — our old sinful, Christ-dishonoring desires. Now we have new desires and passions…and they are to honor God.
When Jesus died on the cross, his physical body completely died. No part of him was still alive. In a spiritual sense, we are to die with Christ. We no longer live. Our old sinful man can no longer live. Christ lives in us.
We must clearly understand that the Apostle Paul is talking about a lifestyle of sin, not just a single act or two of failure. He is talking about Christians who go on absolutely unchanged in their lifestyle from what they were before they were Christians. None of us are perfect and we may stumble, but we get back up with the goal of growing in Christlikeness and learning from our mistakes.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul said, “I die daily.” He’s referring to his sinful nature. He willingly and decidedly puts it to death and chooses to live for Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
It echoes Jesus’ command to those who want to follow Him: “If anyone would come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
So, we get back to the original question: What happens after salvation? Is it the end or the beginning? It is both. We are saved from our sins and brought to new life in Christ. It is then that the process of sanctification begins, this letting go of the old life and taking on the new.
Today’s Challenge: This new year, through the power of the Holy Spirit, let’s die to the world and the flesh. Let’s crucify these desires and temptation. Let’s walk in new life in Christ. He has purchased our freedom. Let’s choose to live in it.

#145: God's Plan for Your Future Jan 02, 2021

Show notes

One Sunday when I was growing up, our pastor preached a sermon on the return of Christ. I remember it being a powerful message and they way he shared it, it seemed like Christ was coming that very night. While I very much wanted to go in the rapture of the church, I remember sitting in my pew a little concerned. I began to daydream about my future. I was kind of hoping Jesus wouldn’t come back right way because I had plans for my future. I remember thinking there are two things I want to do first. I want to get my driver’s license and I want to have a girlfriend.
I can look back now and laugh about my teenage dreams for the future, but I have discovered that my thoughts for the future have never stopped. I’m guessing yours haven’t either.
We think about what happens after graduation, and then it’s what happens after college? Then we wonder what the future holds for a career, and marriage, and family. What happens next. Our thoughts are always looking forward towards the future.
Corrie Ten Boom: Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
In Ephesians chapter three, Paul prays for God’s plan for the Ephesian church to be fulfilled. He is praying for their future. Here’s what he prayed…
Ephesians 3:14-19 - “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
There are some things you and I can learn from this prayer as we trust God for our future.
We can face the future because God will strengthen us with power, in our inner being.
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (Ephesians 3:16)
This strength that Paul asks for us is not a strength that we “muster up”. It is a strength that comes from the power of God’s Spirit.
In addition to strength for the future, Paul prayed that the Ephesian church would experience a deeper level of His love.
Paul prays that we might be governed by love in order that we will begin “to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge”
God’s goal for our future is that our lives would be full of Him.
“…and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)
This is the whole goal of the Christian life. The word for “filled” has the idea of being dominated by something. If you are filled with rage, then rage will dominate your life. If you are filled with love, then love dominates your life. If you are filled with joy, then joy dominates your life. When you are filled with God, then God himself will dominate your life. It pictures the total transformation of the human personality by virtue of the presence of God in your life.
This is an amazing thought—to be filled up with all the fullness of God. As believers we have been created to be the containers of God. He desires to pour his life into ours and to fill us until we’re full.
In summary, Paul tells us we can face the future because God will strengthen us with his power and his plan for our future is that we will have deeper and fuller knowledge of Christ.
Today’s Challenge: Confess your fears and worries of the future to God. Put your trust in Him. Let’s focus on knowing him more and believe he will guide our future, one step at a time.

#144: God of the Impossible Jan 01, 2021

Show notes

Do you remember the four-minute mile? Athletes had been trying to beat this time since the days of the ancient Greeks. Someone found some old documents of how the Greeks tried to accomplish this. They had wild animals chase the runners, hoping that would make them run faster. They tried tiger’s milk: not the stuff you get down at the supermarket, I’m talking about the real thing.
Nothing worked, so they decided it was physically impossible for a human being to run a mile in four minutes. Our bone structure was all wrong, the wind resistance was too great, our lung power was inadequate. There were a million reasons.
Then one day, on May 6, 1954, a 25 year old man named Roger Bannister proved that the doctors, the trainers, and the athletes themselves were all wrong. On a cold wet track he ran a mile in 3 minutes 59 seconds. 46 days later at man named John Landy ran it in 3 minutes 58 seconds. A year later three more people did it. To date, more than 1400 people have done something that was said to be impossible.
Because it was said to be impossible, people believed it was impossible. They believed it for hundreds of years. It’s amazing what we think is impossible. Sadly, we demonstrate this lack of faith towards God. We’ll often speak of a situation that looks bleak that it’s impossible.
Yet, my Bible says something different.
Matthew 19:26 says, “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Jeremiah 32:17 - “Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.”
Genesis 18:14 - “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
Matthew 9:23 says, “All things are possible for one who believes.”
Are you catching it? Our God is in the business of turning the impossible into possible.
I talk to so many people who are facing situations that seem impossible. I can’t change my marriage, my health doesn’t seem to be getting any better. My career is stuck, it’s impossible with this economy to get a better job. Another year has passed, and I’m still not married.
There is so much dysfunction in our family, pastor, you don’t even know. I can’t stop smoking or I can’t stop overeating. Maybe you hear the vision of your pastor and you feel that things won’t change. It’s too hard. People are not interested in the gospel. Our church will probably always be like it is now.
That is impossibility talking. Did you know that impossible is not in God’s vocabulary? My Bible tells me that nothing is impossible with God. He doesn’t know what it’s like to face a situation and not know what to do. He doesn’t know what it’s like to confront an issue and feel powerless.
I believe this is a spiritual issue. We need to exercise the faith God has given us and once again believe that God can move mountains. He can restore marriages. He can bring lost sons and daughters home. He can open new doors of opportunity. He can bring revival to churches. He can heal sick bodies.
As we serve God, it may be confusing, it may be challenging, it may be difficult, but with God, nothing is impossible.
Up until 1956 people believed a 4-minute mile was impossible. They were proven wrong. What is it that you believe is impossible? What have you said that God cannot do? I believe he delights in doing the impossible. Will you ask him? Will you trust him?
Today’s Challenge: Determine where you have given up in believing God? Have you stopped praying about a particular need? Reaffirm your faith in our great God. Believe him once more. Reignite your prayers and your faith and let’s believe God to do the impossible in 2021.

143: Remembering What God Has Said Dec 31, 2020

Show notes

I was thinking this morning about the faithfulness of God. God does so many amazing things and often we fail to recognize them. Every day he is the same. Without fail God puts on a display of his power every morning as the sun rises from the east. The sun is 865,000 miles thick, 1.3 million times heavier than earth, and blazes at one million degrees. God has placed it at just the right location…a little closer we would be consumed, a little further away, and we would freeze. His power is on display! Yet, for me it’s easy to take God’s creation for granted.
As we look back over this year it’s easy to count our difficulties, our challenges, and frustrations. We have been through a lot this year. But if you and I will take time to do some reflection, we’ll realize God has been faithful this year. He has provided for us and protected us. He has given us strength, courage, and peace. He has given us wisdom when we needed it. God has answered prayers and shown him as the good Father he is.
But if you are like me, sometimes you are forgetful. Sometimes we forget God.
I was reading in Exodus chapter 5. Moses in obedience to God is going before Pharaoh requesting that the children of Israel be released. Pharoah is angry and as a result he is making life more difficult for the Israelites.
In verses 22-23, the Bible say, “Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”
Moses is discouraged. He doesn’t understand what God is doing. He has been called by God to represent Him before Pharaoh. Pharaoh doesn’t respond well. In fact, he makes life more difficult for the Israelites. Now, the Israelites are frustrated with Moses. “God, what is going on here?”
Moses needed to remember his encounter with God back at the burning bush. God had told him explicitly… “I will be with you and I will lead these people out of Egypt.”
As I read this story, I can’t help but think of the many times I have forgotten what God said and I needed to be reminded of what he has said and what he has done.
Like Moses, we begin to question God. I begin to forget important truths about God. If you read the entire story of the nation of Israel, you will see God reminding them over and over again…. “Do not forget me.”
Like Moses, we forget:
•We forget Who God is
Over and over again, Moses and Aaron, and the Israelites had to be reminded of who the Lord is. When Moses threw his questions back at God, the Lord didn’t answer his questions. He simply reminded Moses of who He is.
•We forget what God has done
Psalm 103:2-5 – “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things…”
•We forget what God has promised
God has made us promises! His character and reputation are at stake. God always keeps his promises.
Have you forgotten God? Have you forgotten who he is? Have you forgotten what he has already done? Have you forgotten what he has promised? Have you forgotten his power? Have you forgotten his love?
Today’s Challenge: Make time for remembrance! Over the next day or two, instead of focusing on your questions, decide to focus on what you know about God. Focus on those things in which you have confidence. Thank him for this assurance. Live in his presence and in his promise.

142: How To Satisfy Your Spiritual Thirst Dec 30, 2020

Show notes

A couple of years ago, my wife and I were blessed to take our first trip to Israel with a group from our church. It was a life changing trip to see the Bible come to life. One day we drove to the Dead Sea and as our bus traveled the road through the dry, arid Judean Wilderness, I thought of a verse in Psalm 63 where David said, “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.”
I had read this verse many times before, but seeing this desert wilderness, I could imagine what David was talking about. As he looked out at the dry land and could see no water, he thought about his desire for God. He said, “my soul thirsts for you.”
David was talking about a spiritual thirst and everyone of us has one. Have you ever been truly thirsty? I mean really thirsty? I remember drinking out of the water hose as a kid on a hot summer day in Texas.
We don’t know much about serious thirst. When you don’t have proper fluids you become dehydrated. It gets serious fast. Dehydration begins to set in when you have lost only 2% of your fluids. If you are not hydrated quickly as long list of medical conditions begin to happen: headaches, decreased blood pressure, dizziness, blurred vision, fainting, you become delirious, rapid heart rate, unconsciousness, and eventually death. All that is prevented by something so simple…water.
Jesus said in John 7:37-38 - ““Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
What does it mean to drink of Jesus? He answers this question in verse 38 (whoever believes in me). What Jesus means by drinking is the same thing he means by believing or trusting. In (John 6:35) Jesus says, “He who believes in me will never thirst.”
Inside all of us there is a thirst that nothing in this world can satisfy. There is a thirst within us that only God can fill. Some people thirst for sexual fulfillment and they hop from one relationship to another. Some people think career advancement is the key to happiness, so they move from job to job. There are so many things that people search for thinking it will satisfy.
I made the most important decision of my life at age 18. I decided I was going to truly become a follower of Jesus. I was raised in church…I knew it all. I could easily pretend. I look back at myself during my teenage years. I was so thirsty…thirsty for success, affirmation, and acceptance. I remember thinking…”if I could just be great at something!”
But I discovered that Jesus could offer me something that nothing or no one else could offer. He could quench my thirst. He offered me a relationship. He offered me purpose for my life. As I began to sincerely follow him, my life was filled with contentment. I realized that Jesus could satisfy the hunger, the thirst, the longing that I had inside.
Hear this truth: Only Jesus can satisfy this thirst.
No one can force you to come to Christ but you need to know that He’s been offering to quench your thirst your whole life.
Will you receive it? Water only works if you drink it and the Savior won’t save you from your sins unless ask him to. I know this to be true: You won’t be satisfied until the Savior washes your sins away.
Today’s Challenge: If there is an emptiness inside of you, if there is a thirst that cannot be satisfied, you need to know there a a way for this thirst to be satisfied. Nothing on earth can meet this need for you. You have to drink of the water Jesus provides and you do this by placing your faith in him as savior and Lord.

#141: The Necessity of the Holy Spirit's Power Dec 29, 2020

Show notes

Fred Rogers, of the television program, Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, took courses on how to preach while he was in college.
During the semester he was attending a class on homiletic. On weekend he and his wife took a trip out of town with a couple of friends. On Sunday morning the visited a little church together.
During the sermon he kept counting every mistake he thought the preacher was making. The pastor looked as if he was about 80 years old. When the sermon was over, Rogers turned to one of his friends intending to say something critical about the sermon. He stopped when he saw tears running down her face.
She whispered to him, “He said exactly what I needed to hear.” Rogers said it was a formative experience for him. He said, “I was judging and she was needing, and the Holy Spirit responded to need, not judgement.”
When I hear a story like this I am reminded of the necessity of the Holy Spirit’s power. God was using the elderly pastor to share exactly what someone needed to hear. Rogers learned God uses not just human excellence, but the Holy Spirit’s power to work in people’s lives.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4 - “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”
Without the Holy Spirit we operate in our own strength and only accomplish human-size results. But when we live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence is supernatural.
The Holy Spirit is absolutely vital to our lives today! We’ve never needed Him more than we need him now. If the Holy Spirit moves, nothing can stop Him. If He doesn’t move, we will not produce genuine fruit – no matter how much effort or money we expend.
Christianity becomes irrelevant when it becomes purely a human creation. When our lives and our church can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Holy Spirit, something is terribly wrong.
Francis Chan - “If you read the Bible completely outside of the context of contemporary church culture (for example if you lived on a deserted island), you would be convinced the Holy Spirit is as essential to a believer’s existence as air is to staying alive. You would know the Spirit led the first Christians to do unexplainable things, to live lives that didn’t make sense to the culture around them, and ultimately spread the story of God’s grace around the world.”
Ephesians 5:18 – “Be filled with the Spirit.” The command is in the present tense. This doesn’t mean we are to be filled once. It means we are continually filled. We are continually to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. We must continually cooperate with the Holy Spirit. We must stay in contact with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told us that the essential purpose of the gift of the Holy Spirit is that we would have power to serve as God’s witnesses. Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Today’s Challenge: Where is the power of God’s Spirit in our lives? Are you and I daily walking in the power of the Holy Spirit? Let’s begin to pray that God would fill us with His Holy Spirit and that our lives would manifest power as we serve others around us.

#140: Preparing Your Personal Testimony Dec 28, 2020

Show notes

When I was in Bible college, I was taking a class on personal evangelism. One of our assignments was to write out our personal story of how we placed our faith in Jesus and how Christ has changed our lives. I remember the professor challenging us to be prepared to share Christ. He said, if we would prepare ourselves, God will give us opportunities to share with others. Why would God use people who do not prepare themselves? It’s a powerful question.
Shortly after the assignment, God gave me two incredible opportunities to share my faith with people at work. I was blessed to pray with one and lead him to Christ, the other was very moved, but wasn’t ready to commit to Christ.
1 Peter 3:15 - “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
Everyone has a story. If you have never sat down and written out your spiritual testimony in chronological order, when you do, you’ll be amazed at how God has been working in your life. No testimony is boring. Your story is unique and fascinating, and whenever you tell it, it will be relevant, and potentially life changing for the listener.
A personal testimony is the most nonthreatening way to tell an unbeliever why Jesus is important to you. It allows you to be open about your life while giving God the glory.
Your story is compelling because it’s personal! You can prove it’s true because you were there. It can’t be refuted!
Your story is simply an account of how God has changed your life. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then surely He has done miraculous things for you. People are looking for evidence that God exists and that He is personally involved in people’s lives. You can’t make God appear on the spot to prove His existence, but you can certainly point straight to Him by talking about how He has worked in your life.
One of the advantages of preparing your personal testimony is that it makes you realize how God has been at work in your life. Sometimes we forget don’t we? When you sit down and begin to remember how Jesus has reached out to you and touched your life…it’s amazing. You can’t help but begin to worship God. You are reminded of how faithful God has been.
Some of you might be thinking, “Should I really have my story prepared? What ever happened to spontaneity and speaking straight from your heart? Doesn’t the Holy Spirit give us the words we need to speak?”
Think about this: Would you go to an important business meeting without being thoroughly prepared? Would you walk unprepared into a courtroom for a trial? Would you show up to perform on opening night without your lines memorized? Of course not!
It’s true the Holy Spirit moves us and leads us in our conversations about Christ. But it’s our responsibility to use what the Lord gives us in the best possible way. We prepare for important meetings – we need to prepare to give an account of our faith as well.
Today’s Challenge: Make some time to sit down and write out your testimony. Think about the story in the context of the past, the present, and the future. Who were you before Christ? What is he doing in your life now? Where is God taking you. I believe if you will prepare your testimony, God will bring people in your life who need to hear it.

#139: Becoming People of Compassion Dec 27, 2020

Show notes

When I was a teenager, I read the biography of missionary Mark Buntain. Mark was a missionary to Calcutta, India. In addition to sharing the message of Christ, Mark planted church, established bible colleges, built a first class hospital, and fed thousands of hungry people every day.
Once when Mark was in America preaching at churches and raising support for the work in India, he stayed overnight in a pastor’s home. Thinking Mark would enjoy it, the pastor had bought a record of Indian music to play for the missionary. They listened to the entire album and Mark asked to listen again. Finally, the pastor went to bed. Later in the night the pastor woke up to find Mark in the living room. With the album still playing, Mark was on his knees weeping prayer for the people of India.
I’ve never forgotten this story because I’m challenged by the compassion one man had for the lost. How does a person have this kind of compassion? How can we develop a heart like God’s for those who don’t know him?
- We have to ask God to help us develop his heart.
- We have to begin seeing needs around us.
- We begin responding as God directs.
In Luke 10:29, an expert in the Jewish Law asked Jesus a question. He asked, “Who is my neighbor?”
The Bible says, the man asked this question because he wanted to justify himself. He wanted to prove he was doing what was required by the law.
Jesus responds by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. You probably know the story, if not, you can read it in Luke chapter 10. It’s a story with a surprise ending. Jesus describes a man who had been attacked on the road and left for dead. Two religious men walked by without helping. Amazingly, someone of a different race, stops and offers assistance. The point is that proper question is not: who is my neighbor, but to whom can I be a neighbor.
A person with a true heart for God is a person who demonstrates compassion and kindness towards others in need. A title doesn’t make me a man of God. A position of leadership doesn’t automatically make me someone who faithfully serves God. Being religious on the outside doesn’t always mean that my heart has been truly changed.
My struggle, if I’m not careful, is that I ask the same question the lawyer asked in this story, “Who is my neighbor?” This is the wrong question. What the man was really asking is? “Do I have to love EVERYONE?”
My guess is that he was very sincere in his religion and did his very best to keep the law. But Jesus is teaching us that genuine biblical faith is not found in rituals, but rather a heart relationship with God. This relationship shapes every facet of your life.
Our relationship with God is inseparable from our relationships to the people in our lives. We can’t be in a love relationship with God and not act in love towards other people.
1 John 3:17 – “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”
Compassion may call us to:
•Be a friend to a person who feels like an outcast
•Take time to teach a skill
•Lovingly confront someone who is going down a dangerous path
•Relieve a burden someone is carrying
•Transport someone to the doctor
•Take a meal to someone who is sick
•To serve on one a ministry teams at your church
•Don’t forget the most powerful act of compassion is to share Christ with someone who doesn’t know the Lord. This can turn someone from an eternity in Hell to eternity in Heaven.
Today’s Challenge: Ask God to show you people to whom you can be a neighbor. Imagine the impact on our world if every believer prayed this prayer. Respond as the Holy Spirit directs you and let’s be people of compassion.

#138: The Problem with Greed Dec 26, 2020

Show notes

Most of us have at one time or another, dreamed about what it would be like if a distant relative left us a fortune. We have sat around and asked one another, “What would you do if you won the lottery?” What would you do with all that money? Oh, how we love to dream!
In verses 16-21, Jesus tells the story: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
A certain man had a great year with his crops. The man had such a good crop that he had nowhere to store the huge abundance. So he decided to build bigger storage facilities and then he could retire and live off the income the crops would produce. So he built his barns, bought a nice rocking chair and sat out on the porch convinced that he had finally arrived at the “good life”.
What he didn’t realize was that that very night he was going to die. Perhaps he had a heart attack, maybe it was a stroke, maybe he had an accident . . . it doesn’t matter. The point was that this man put all his effort into storing up earthly riches but gave little to no thought for investing in the riches of Heaven. He had spent his life building a treasure others would consume . . . and he would head into eternity with nothing!
We like the first part of this story. The man is a success. What’s wrong with that? Is it wrong to make a good living? Does it displease God is we run a successful and profitable business? Is it wrong to make investments and to save for retirement?
The answer is no. None of those things are wrong.
The ability to work comes from the Lord. Wisdom, insight, understanding, and ideas come from the Lord. All of this is a blessing.
Yet, there is a place where money becomes a problem for us. It’s a very subtle line. Most of us don’t think this is a problem for us. I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone who admitted to the sin of greed. It’s very subtle. It’s often hard to know when you have crossed the line. But usually, it happens when, very quietly, we begin believing the lies that money tells us.
Lies:

If I just had more, I would be happier
If I could just get to the next level, I would be content
Money can solve my problems

His focus was only on this temporary world. He lived without any thought for eternity. This is why Jesus called him a fool. He is not called a fool for being a successful farmer and for owning a profitable business. But he forgot about what was most important. The shortest part of your existence is your life on earth. We are going to live for eternity in either Heaven or Hell. We have to prepare for eternity.
This story teaches us:
• Our first priorities are the things that are eternal
Matthew 16:26 – “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
Today’s Challenge: Guard your heart. Greed slips in so easily. We guard our hearts by valuing Jesus above all things and by making sure we don’t let money, careers, and possessions come before our relationship with God.

#137: Making Room for Jesus Dec 25, 2020

Show notes

Once again this week, I read the Christmas story from Luke chapter two. I’ve read this story hundreds of times, but it never gets old.
I’m struck with the journey Joseph and Mary had to make to Nazareth. Luke tells us the story.
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”
Do we think Mary and Joseph wanted to take this journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem? Especially when Mary is in her last trimester of pregnancy? The distance was 90 miles. Ladies imagine walking this distance or riding a donkey or horse while pregnant?
Historians tell us the trip would have been very difficult. Up and down a lot of hills. The weather would have been cold at night. They could travel 10 miles per day at most. Meals would have been dried bread. There was danger of wild animals and danger of bandits and thieves.
But finally, the arrive. They see the lights of the town up ahead. All they could think of was finding a warm room and a place to lay down. But because of the census and everyone going to their hometown to register, the normally quiet town of Bethlehem was filled with visitors. As they walked throughout the town, inquiring as they went, they discovered there was no vacancy throughout the entire town.
Can’t you hear Joseph pleading with the inn keeper? Can’t you hear the desperation in his voice? Please sir, please….you must have someplace where my wife can lay down.
The innkeeper’s response is…if you guys want to get out of the weather, I’ll let you use my stable. It’s out back.
Mary lies down with a sigh and then she feels some. “Joseph, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I think it’s time.” He opens his eyes and ask, “Mary, it’s time for what?” She gives him a look and he sits up straight and asked, “Now? Here? You are going to have the baby here? Tonight?
And you know the rest of the story. In a stable, most likely a cave, the Savior of the World was born.
Imagine that. No room available for Jesus. If Cesar Augustus had come to town there would have been room. If King Herod had come to town, there would have been a room. But, no room for Jesus? Why?
The world was not waiting for a baby to be born in Bethlehem. The world was frustrated. The Jewish people were living under Roman rule and occupation. They were consumed with what was happening politically. Taxes were high. A census was being conducted so the government could make sure the proper taxes were collected. No one was expecting a Messiah, much less a baby.
Our times aren’t altogether different than the first century. That list of Roman distractions sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Political intrigue. Racial tension. Rampant immorality. People consumed with busyness.
Will you make room in your heart for Jesus?
Will you make room in your family for Jesus?
Will you make room in your priorities for Jesus?
Will you make room in your schedule for Jesus?
Will you make room in your life for Jesus?
Today’s Challenge: Let’s make sure it this unusual year and these unusual times that me make room for Jesus. Let’s make him a priority in our lives.

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