Teacher of Truth

Have you ever seen a blind person leading another blind person? Have you made the statement that it is like the blind leading the blind? Do you follow a specific teacher? Is there someone who is or has been a mentor to you? Do you think of yourself more highly than them?

Most of us have seen a blind person. They often have a walking stick that allows them to feel ahead of them while they are walking. They see by touch, which can be a little unsettling the first time a blind person wants to feel our face. Yet, they can be very perceptive.

When Jesus talks of a blind person leading a blind person and falling into a pit, He is not referring to them having a walking stick like we see today. He was speaking of them either not having one at all or a very crude and perhaps clumsy walking stick. Not only that, He might have been referring to them running away from danger. We often don’t realize just how much we rely on our eyesight until we don’t have it or it has gotten hard to see clearly.

Jesus immediately follows up the blind person example with that of a disciple. Have you stopped to wonder why? If the teacher we follow is not teaching the truth, we will learn falseness. He also states the follower of a teacher is not to think of themselves above the teacher. No, the disciple can merely seek to be like the teacher.

In His example, Jesus is referring to the Jewish tradition of following a rabbi. In our world today, we have many teachers as we progress through school. This makes it even more difficult for us to be equal to the teacher in their specific subject. Spending just a few hours with a teacher is not nearly enough time for them to teach all they know on the subject. So, why do we think of ourselves as experts? This applies to our understanding of God as well. We need to spend more time learning about God by reading his Word and participating in Bible studies.

I pray we all choose our teacher wisely. I pray we choose to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I pray each one of us will commit to spending more time reading God’s Word and studying it. Choose not to follow a blind teacher. Choose to be a follower of Jesus. Be a disciple of truth. Spend time reading God’s Word. Participate in Bible studies.

Luke 6:39-40 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.”

Cry Out to God

Have you felt as though you are all alone? Have there been times when you were in dire need of help but did not where to turn to receive it? Who did you cry out to? Who did you finally ask? Did you turn to God? Have you trusted him? Have you experienced his grace?

It doesn’t matter who we are. At some point in our lives, we will be in dire need of something. It may be a material object, but it is more likely something far deeper than that. We will need someone we can trust, someone to lean on, someone who can provide loving arms for us to collapse into.

God is always there for us. As with most of you, I have experienced a deep need for God to step in. I have been in that lonely place. I have been on my knees crying out to God. And…God answered my cry. He gave me strength to go on. He calmed my soul. He comforted me and increased my faith. God does not abandon us. He is always with us.

The Psalmist cries out to God and states his dedication to God. No matter what comes his way, he will continue to devote himself to God and trust him to provide what is needed. He puts his trust in God’s grace. But also notice that the Psalmist does not stop crying out to God. He continues crying out until God answers. He is persistent.

We may need to be persistent. We may need to cry out to God for more than just a couple minutes. We may need to cry out for hours or days or weeks. Continue to cry out when you are need. Continue to trust that God will answer you when he determines the time is right.

I pray we all put our trust in God. I pray we cry out in our time of need. I pray each one of us will continue to cry out to God until he answers our cry. Trust God always. Cry out to God. Put your needs before him. Be persistent. God will provide. He will calm your soul. He will comfort you.

Psalm 86:1-3

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, 

for I am poor and needy. 

Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; 

save your servant who trusts in you. 

You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord, 

for to you do I cry all day long.

Go and Proclaim

Where do you go on a regular basis? Are you willing to go somewhere different? What do you proclaim? Do you proclaim it wherever you go? Do you have good news you should proclaim?

We are all called. We are all sent. We are to go into the world, meaning everywhere we go, to proclaim the good news of Jesus. We are to proclaim the gospel. Yet, I wonder if we are truly proclaiming it.

Jesus told his twelve apostles when He sent them out to proclaim the good news. They were to proclaim the kingdom of heaven was near. The kingdom was near and is near because Jesus is near. He brought the kingdom near to all of us. He put the kingdom into the hearts of those who believe in Him.

Jesus wants us to spread the good news of His kingdom having been put into us. Though the apostles also were given the authority to cast out unclean spirits, cure disease, and cure illnesses, most of us do not have that power bequeathed on us. However, we do have the authority, as His ambassadors, to proclaim His good news.

We are to share what we have been given…the good news of eternal life. We have been given a gift to share with the world. We can start by sharing it with our family, neighbors, and co-workers. Even those of us who are not called to be evangelists can tell others the good news.

I pray we all go into the world every day to proclaim the good news. I pray we tell others the kingdom of heaven is near. I pray each one of us believe the good news and share it with others. You are called. God has sent you. Spread the gospel. God’s kingdom is here.

Matthew 10:7 “As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’”

Jesus’ Compassion

Do you feel lost? Are you in need of revitalization? Do you need rejuvenating? Are you hoping someone will show you the way to a new life? Are you looking for healing? Is there an ailment that has been dominating your life for a long time? Where have you looked for answers?

We go through a variety of situations during our lifetimes. There will be times when we feel lost, not knowing where to turn or what to do next. There will be times when we are tired, worn out, and simply looking for a renewed focus and energy. There will be times of illness.

Jesus knows about these times. He went in search of people who were going through these types of situations. He had compassion on the crowds of people who were looking for relief. He taught them and proclaimed the good news. But He didn’t stop there.

In His compassion, Jesus also healed those who were suffering from disease. He cured them of their sickness. Jesus’ compassion did not end with healing and teaching. He also showed them the way to God. He led them as the shepherd leads his sheep. He will lead us, so long as we are willing to follow Him.

As we endure disease, illness, feelings of being lost, and wonder who might care, we merely need to turn to Jesus. Just as He had compassion on those He encountered when He walked this earth, He has compassion on us and will grant us His grace and mercy.

I pray we all know that Jesus has compassion on us. I pray we turn to Him in our time of need. I pray each one of us will follow the Shepherd as His sheep, trusting Him to lead the way. Turn to Jesus. Follow Jesus. Trust Jesus to care for you. Know that He has compassion for you.

Matthew 9:35-36 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Dying for Someone Else

Who are you willing to die for? Have you spent any time thinking about that question? Have you walked through a scenario in which you would need to make a life and death decision? Have you mentally prepared yourself for it? Does it cause you pause?

Most people don’t want to think about it. They don’t want to think about putting themselves in danger to save someone else. Oh, they may talk big, but they don’t really want to think about it and may not have ever spent time thinking about it, meaning they don’t really know what they would do.

The Apostle Paul tells the church in Rome that it is rare for anyone to die for a righteous person, but they might die for a good person. Does that make sense? Absolutely! Why? Because most people will not die for someone who is truly committed to God. However, because the world decides who they think is good, they may be willing to die for them.

The good news is, God sent Jesus to die for us. Not because we deserved it. Not because we are good. After all, even Jesus said no one is good except God (Mark 10:18). No, Christ died for us because of the love God has for us. Nothing more. Nothing less. It is because of God’s love for us that we live in his grace and by his mercy. It is because of his love for us that we can look forward to eternity with him.

I pray we all think about what it means to die for someone else. I pray we contemplate Jesus dying for us. I pray each one of us knows that Jesus died for us because God loves us. Spend time contemplating dying for someone else. Understand what that means. Know that Jesus died for you. Know that God loves us.

Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Character Building

Have you ever done endurance work? Has that work improved your overall endurance? Have you spent time building your character? Were there specific pieces of your character you were working on? What were the steps you were taking to build your character?

Endurance is not easy to build. Physical endurance requires us spending time and energy to build, which we may interpret as suffering. Someone who trains to run a marathon will train for weeks or months leading up to the race and run hundreds of miles.

We can also train ourselves to endure mentally. This type of endurance does not necessarily require physical pain but requires us to give up our personal preferences. Enduring grief, anguish, stress, and mental strain is suffering in a different way. As we give up our preferences and take on God’s desires, we grow in our endurance.

The same suffering and giving up of ourselves builds our character. Our character becomes more like God’s. We learn to see the world as God sees it. We learn to see people as God sees them. Our character changes from selfishness to selflessness. We grow in compassion. We desire to serve rather than be served.

As our character becomes more like God’s, our hope increases. We better understand what it means to hope in Jesus Christ. Our faith is strengthened, we are assured and convicted that our hope in God will be fulfilled. With this character, we can boldly step out in faith, trusting God is always with us and he will guide us through whatever situation we face.

I pray we all build our endurance through the sufferings we face. I pray we submit to God’s desires to build our character. I pray each one of us have our hope assured as we mature. Accept the suffering. Build your endurance. Build your character. Exchange your preferences for God’s desires. Increase your hope. Strengthen your faith.

Romans 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Stand in Grace

Are you in need of peace? Are you looking for something you already have? What does it mean to you to be justified? Do you think of being justified in your actions? Do you think of standing before a judge who acquits you of your offenses?

Peace can be allusive for us in this world. We see and hear of conflict and drama wherever we go. It occurs in our lives or the lives of those around us. It occurs across our nation and around the world. We may wonder if peace is possible. It is.

When we think of being justified, it is often related to our actions. In fact, it is often our retaliation against someone who has wronged us. In other words, our justification is really about blaming someone else for us taking matters of justice (as we see it) into our own hands. Whether we are standing in front of a judge or seeking to justify ourselves to others who we believe will judge us for our actions.

But being justified before God has nothing to do with blame and it erases judgment. We are justified because of our faith in Jesus and His sacrifice for us. He paid the price we owe for our wrongdoing. Putting our faith in Him and knowing the penalty has been paid is available to us through God’s grace.

It is in the grace of God that we stand. Without God’s grace we cannot stand at all. It is God’s grace that we are to boast about. His wonderful grace provides us with the hope we all seek. It is the hope we have for eternal life. Our hope is not a false hope but a hope that is confident that God will fulfill his promises.

I pray we all accept the peace of God into our lives. I pray we put our faith in Jesus Christ. I pray each one of us know we are justified by our faith and God’s grace, receiving hope, and sharing in God’s glory. Seek God’s peace. Know you are justified by faith. Receive God’s grace. Put your hope in God. Share in his glory.

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

Hard to Believe

Have you ever heard something that just seemed to be too good to be true? Did you believe what you heard? Were you skeptical? Did you downright disbelieve it? Is there something you have heard many times over that still seems to be too good to be true?

We have heard some outlandish stories in our time. Some of them have been true and others not. Through experience, we come to expect things to follow a pattern. We inherently develop a belief system regarding what is possible and what is not.

Sarah could not believe that she was going to have a child. After all, she was about ninety years old. She was beyond childbearing age. Her husband, Abraham, was bout one-hundred years old. Through their decades of marriage, there had been no children. Neither expected to have children at this time in their lives.

God comes to tell them they were going to have, not just a child, but a male child within the year. A male child was important as the first-born son inherited the land and property of his father. Sarah laughed at the prediction. She thought it was preposterous. But God reinforces what he told Abraham…and it came to pass just as he said.

We may believe the idea of spending eternity with God in paradise without sin, pain, and sickness is too good to be true. Or we may hold onto a ray of hope it is true without fully believing it. We live our lives as though whatever we do in this life will last forever. It is not to say what we do in this life is unimportant, but it is not the end game. We live this life to choose to follow Jesus, to commit to God, and to accept his promises as true. When we fully believe his promises, we no longer need worry about this life.

I pray we all believe God’s promises. I pray we learn the lesson from Sarah and Abraham. I pray each one of us will choose God, commit to him, and give him all our worry in this life. Believe God’s promises. Trust God to fulfill them. Choose to follow Jesus. Commit yourself to God. Give God your worries.

Genesis 18:13-14 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.”

Recommit to God

How do you go about repaying your debts? Do you set up a payment plan? Do you pay them as quickly as you can to get out from under them? Have you repaid all your debts? Do you know there is one debt you can never repay? How does that make you feel?

Paying off our debt feels good. When we make the last car payment, we are thankful it is done. Making that last house payment is cause for celebration. It can be a relief to simply repay a friend or family member. We pay off many debts in our lifetime. Some of them small and some much larger. 

Despite paying off many debts, there is one we can never repay. However, that does not mean we simply ignore it. We can never repay God for his blessings, especially the gift of eternal life. Yet, we can give him all the credit for his blessings. We can commit ourselves to him. We can declare his blessings before others. We can spread the good news of Jesus.

Notice how the psalmist attempts to repay. Though he knows he can never fully repay God, he honors God. We might say he toasts God, not with a cup of wine, but with the cup of salvation which he knows came from God. He calls on God to give thanks and to vow to be loyal to God. He does this not in a private setting but publicly.

We, too, can toast God and proclaim our faith. In fact, we do just that every time we gather around the communion table. The cup of salvation is the cup we drink that represents the shed blood of Jesus Christ. At the same time, we also renew our vow to be loyal to God. When we think on these things, it makes our time around the table with Jesus a little more significant.

I pray we all lift the cup of salvation to God. I pray we recommit ourselves to Jesus each time we drink it. I pray each one of us call on the name of the Lord publicly to declare his wonderful blessings. Honor God. Give him the credit. Be thankful for his blessings. Lift your cup to him. Recommit to him daily.

Psalm 116:12-14

What shall I return to the Lord

for all his bounty to me? 

I will lift up the cup of salvation 

and call on the name of the Lord,

I will pay my vows to the Lord

in the presence of all his people.

Follow Me

What does it mean to follow someone? Do you recall a mentor you had earlier in life? Do you think of following someone down the highway? Do you think of people who are following you? Are you following someone today?

Over the course of our lives, we may follow many different people. We may follow in the footsteps of our parents. We may follow a mentor or teacher. Social media provides a means for us to follow people or organizations we do not know personally.

In Jesus’ day, to follow someone meant to literally walk in their footsteps. This was especially true of those who followed a rabbi. As the rabbi lifted his foot to take a step forward, his follower would place his foot in his footprint. He would follow so close the dust the rabbi kicked up would land on him.

Jesus asks us to follow Him, just as He asked Matthew to follow Him. Matthew had a well-paying job, even if he was not well liked by his fellow Israelites. Yet, he simply got up and followed. He had no idea where he was going. He did not know what would become of him.

Jesus does not ask us to follow Him and give us all the answers beforehand. Implicit in His asking is to trust Him into the unknown. But is that really any different than anything in life? We have no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring. But when we follow Jesus, we can trust He has our best interest at heart.

I pray we all hear Jesus asking us to follow Him. I pray we trust Him to lead us where we need to go. I pray each one of us will choose to follow Him into the unknown. Hear the call of Jesus. Follow His lead. Go where He asks. Trust Jesus. Give Him your life.

Matthew 9:9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.