March 29 – Living Martyrs (Matthew 16: 24-27)

“Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it.”(Matthew 16:25)

IN WORD:
Most people in this world have an approach to life that is all about them. It isn’t necessarily selfish, it’s just self-oriented. Those without very much in terms of material wealth live in survival mode, just trying to get by for now. Those a little better off live in prosperity mode, just trying to get ahead for awhile. In each case, we tend to look for “the next thing.” The next job, the next paycheck, the next big event, the next relationship, the next purchase — we are on an endless track toward improving our lives.
What’s wrong with that? It isn’t how Jesus defines discipleship. No, Jesus calls His followers to “lose” their lives. Those who are wise will not focus on “the next thing,” they will focus on “the last thing” — God’s Kingdom and the reign of His Son as Lord over all. Jesus isn’t speaking to His disciples about martyrdom in this passage. He is speaking of lifestyle. Those who know about eternity will live for it. That has powerful implications.
We’d prefer to think that we can do both, living for now and eternity at the same time. But we can’t. Many of our decisions will compel us to choose one or the other. Yes, we can have a fancy sports car or a dream vacation and still go to heaven. But we can’t have those things and still invest the cost of them toward something eternal. Likewise, we can waste time recklessly and still go to heaven. But we can’t waste time and invest that same time in an eternal work. We frequently make choices between the now and the eternal.

IN DEED:
Jesus never tells us to live spartan lives, as though we were ascetic monks isolated in a desert of self-denial. But He does tell us to be wise. We can enjoy His bounty, but we will be much happier if we realize what makes for a bountiful eternity. How doe we do that? We stop trying to “save” our lives and we lose them. Take your focus off “the next thing” and invest in “the last thing” — the Kingdom of God.

“He who has no vision of eternity will never get a true hold of time.” -Thomas Carlyle-

March 28 – The Deeper Pursuit

“Keep My commands and you will live; guard My teachings as the apple of your eye.”(Proverbs 7:2)

IN WORD:
Why would we want to have the mind of Christ? There are many appealing aspects of having the kind of wisdom that comes from above: Our God has knowledge of the future, He knows the foundations on which He laid the universe, and He knows the fabric of our being. Access to this kind of insight is indeed attractive. It would help us make decisions, understand other people, and live in peace and fulfillment. But there is a higher reason we should want God’s wisdom, a more noble appeal to His understanding. We should first & foremost want to have His mind not because it benefits us but because we love who He is.

We often take a utilitarian approach to God. We want to be filled with His Spirit because it will lead to more fruitful ministry, more fulfilling relationships, and more power in our personal growth. In other words, we want God’s Spirit and His mind as a means to self-improvement or better circumstances. But God is not primarily our self-help technique; He is the lover of our souls. No love relationship fulfills its purpose when one party selfishly uses the other for his or her own benefit. Love relationships are about love.

IN DEED:
Is your relationship with God about love? Or is it about getting more of Him for your own personal improvement? His mind and Spirit are available to us, and His presence in our lives will, in fact, change us dramatically. But do you pursue God simply for the change He can bring you? If so, take a step back and try another approach.
Come to God with a confession of your love for Him. If you can say it honestly, tell Him you want a deeper experience of His presence because you love who He is — His purity, His mercy, His love, His holiness, His power, His wisdom. Do not move on to requests; bask in His character. Have fellowship with Him. Your service and your place in His Kingdom will grow out of this foundation of love.

“I would hate my own soul if I did not find it loving God.”
-St. Augustine-

March 27 – Fidelity (Proverbs 6:20-29)

“Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.”(Proverbs 6:25)

IN WORD:
We may read over this verse too quickly. After all, prostitution does not seem to be a rampant problem in the contemporary church. There are certainly indiscretions among its members, and adultery is tragically more common than in the past. But for those to whom soliciting a prostitute is not a viable temptation, this verse and others like it. Ishtar often go unnoticed.
That is unfortunate. Why? Because there are deeper things at stake here than literal sexual immorality. Those who are wise know that the human heart is tempted by all sorts of adultery. Our opportunities for betraying the heart of our Lord are many in their number and diversity. When Solomon warns us against lusting after the beauty of another, he knows — and the Spirit behind the Scripture speaks — of thousands of lusts by which we are drawn away from God. Did we think this passage was only about wives and husbands? It is also about the marriage between the Son and His bride, the church. We cannot be captivated by another. Fidelity to our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, is paramount.

IN DEED:
What are your temptations? They do not have to be of a sexual nature to carry the warnings of this passage. Any infidelity of any kind to our God is dangerous business. He is a jealous God; the devastation of a damaged relationship with our Creator is far worse than the devastation of a beloved husband our wife having an affair with another love.
Is your relationship with God like a lovers’ union? If it isn’t, it falls short of the divine romance for which we were created. If it is, then you know the importance of commitment and the dangerous power of other lusts. Flee from them. Your Lover wants all of you to Himself.

“God did not call us to be successful, but to be faithful.”
-Mother Teresa-

March 26 – A Persuasive God

“The Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.”(Proverbs 2:6)

IN WORD:
Human nature takes whatever wisdom & understanding we have and gives itself the credit. We pat ourselves on the back, feel a little more enlightened than our neighbors, and have a hard time understanding why others just don’t have enough sense to receive the gospel like we did.
When we think this way — and most honest people will confess that they have, on occasion — we are forgetful of our own sinfulness and ignorant of the Word of God. Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding come from Him. We do not earn it, we do not discover it on our own, and we are not just naturally gifted in spiritual things. It comes straight from His mouth, and if He had spoken it and opened our hearts to it, we would be like billions of others on this planet — living in total darkness. Pure grace gave us the truth.
Not only is this an effective warning against spiritual pride, it is a comfort to those of us who have loved ones who reject the gospel. The key to their understanding is not our convincing words or our clear explanations. No matter how impressive our spirituality is, it won’t just rub off on those who need to know Jesus. That understanding comes from God. Our most effective approach, to be supplemented by proclaiming the message and demonstrating love, is to pray that He would open their eyes as He has opened our — by His unsearchable, unfathomable grace.

IN DEED:
God is the consummate persuader. He is able to convince the mind of the scientist and to sway the heart of the poet. No corner of the human psyche is out of His reach. No mental or emotional wall can withstand His strongest overtures for long. The key to someone receiving His truth is prayer on behalf of the receiver. Does someone come to mind? Pray — diligently, persistently, repeatedly. Pray that God will open eyes and hearts to His wisdom.

“God shapes the world by prayer.” -E.M. Bounds-

March 25 – A Penetrating God (Psalm 51:3-6)

“Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.”(Psalm 51:6)

IN WORD:
David’s confessional psalm contains an acknowledgement of one of God’s greatest desires for us: integrity. The “man after God’s own heart,” the favored king of Israel responsible for much of the Bible’s most beautiful praise, has found within him a gross inconsistency. On the one hand, he has sought God with all his heart and declared his heart upright on numerous occasions. On the other hand, he has sinned. Not just a little, but grievously. There is a wide gap between his stated beliefs and his inner condition. He has discovered within him what we all must discover: God wants His truth & wisdom to reach to our core, not just adorn our outward expressions.
God has made it clear, first through the Law & the prophets, then through Jesus, that He has no tolerance for hypocrisy. None! It is one of the most abominable sins in Scripture. Those who speak pious words in public and then treasure their own corrupted nature privately are far from the heart of God.
David’s great sin does not nullify his devotion. Neither does ours. But it reflects the shallow depth to which God’s Word has penetrated us. To the degree that His wisdom does not reach to our innermost parts — that His Spirit does not transform the very core of our being — then to that degree we have become like the scribes of Jesus’ day: experts in the Word but devoid of its power. In other words, we are hypocritical. Our mouths speak godliness, but our hearts deny it.

IN DEED:
None of us is perfect in our integrity. We all have our inconsistencies. But those inconsistencies should be steadily disappearing if we are growing in the strength of God’s Spirit. Test yourself often. Do the words of your mouth reflect the thoughts of your heart? Like David, we must know that God is zealous for our consistency. We must reflect Him from within, or we don’t reflect Him at all.

“God is not deceived by externals.” -C.S. Lewis-

March 24 – A Passionate God

“I am my lover’s and my lover is mine.” (Song of Solomon 6:3)

IN WORD:
There is quite a divergence on how Christians interpret the Song of Solomon. Many interpret it entirely as an allegory of God’s love for His people — or, more specifically, of Jesus’ love for His bride, the Church. Others interpret it purely as a divine sanction of erotic love within its appropriate boundaries. Others are able to accept it as both — God’s love expressed in a human relationship as a reflection of a greater love from above.
It is right to see all love as coming from God. The world will take that argument and say that all expressions of love — as the world defines “love” — are from God, but that is a gross distortion of biblical truth. Nevertheless, all true love is from God, whether it is the love of friends, families, or couples. God created the range of emotions that we have, and it seems logical that He never created a kind of love that He Himself has not experienced. He would not establish a sort of love that is foreign to His own mind. The romantic love expressed in Song of Solomon must also be somewhere in the heart of God. He must have first conceived romantic love before creating a romantic humanity. But if so, whom does He love so intimately?
We’re afraid to utter the answer for seeming too presumptuous, but we know what the Bible says. It is us. We are the ones for whom God has created romantic love — not just to have between ourselves, but first to have with Him. Intimate love between humans is not the prototype; it is a reflection of the divine romance.

IN DEED:
We can easily say of another person that “I am my lover’s and my lover is mine.” But, can we say it of God? Have we approached that level of intimacy with Him? Don’t be afraid. It does not profane the glory of God to approach Him this way. It actually honors Him. It values the love that flows from His heart and does not leave it tragically unanswered.

“Romance is at the heart of the universe and is the key to all existence.” -Paul Billheimer-

March 23 – A Surprising Mind (Philippians 2:1-11)

“He humbled Himself and became obedient to death.”
(Philippians 2:8)

IN WORD:
The mind of Christ is offered to us in Scripture, and it sounds so appealing. We think of the gentle Jesus of Galilee, the Shepherd who cares for us and who can cure any disease. We want that Shepherd as our guide; He will feed us when we’re hungry and cleanse us of our sins. He will wash our feet and settle our disputes. If we could only be like Him, we think. And when Scripture offers us such a treasure — the blessedness of Christlikeness — we ask God to make Him real in our lives.
What a surprise, then, when we find that being like Jesus means more than healing and helping, preaching and teaching, feeding and clothing, and blessing at every turn. It also means obedience — hard, painful obedience. The kind of obedience that every bone in our bodies wants to resist. The kind that sweats drops of blood when confronted with God’s plan for our lives. The kind that requires ultimate humility, compelling us to subdue every dream we once held dear. The mind of Jesus led Him not to glory first, but to death. Yes, that kind of mind is a surprise to us. It is radical and unexpected.

IN DEED:
Does that mean that we shouldn’t pray to have His mind? Of course not. But it does mean that we should understand what our prayers will mean. God will not take us down easy paths to conform us to Jesus. He does not lead us on a walk in the park, but toward a struggle in the garden of Gethsemane, where strong wills are subdued, and the glory of God and the welfare of others compete with our own personal plans. And we know, when we get there, that He will lead us into death.
It’s a painful death, but a glorious one. The other side of it is resurrection, which God has planned all along. Our ultimate, humble obedience will lead to high exaltation. Why? Because a lowly-then-exalted Jesus has called us. The very mind of the Resurrection has become our guide.

“Are you laying a feather bed for me? No, that shall not be. My Lord was stretched on a hard and painful tree.”
-Brother Lawrence-

March 22 – A Lowly Mind (Philippians 2:1-11)

“[He] made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” (Philippians 2:7)

IN WORD:
Human beings rarely aspire to become nothing. Most of us want to be “somebody.” We want to make a name for ourselves, or at least to succeed at our goals. We may not have set our sights very high, but we have set them somewhere. We want a good reputation, plenty of affirmation, and a satisfying life. We’re trying to climb higher.
The mind of Jesus will take us in the opposite direction. Think of what He exchanged in order to serve us in our fallenness — all the things the devil tempted Him with, like kingdoms and immediate glory (see Matthew 4:1-11); a display of His own deity in the face of those who mocked and ridiculed Him; and, perhaps the thing we can most relate to, a pain-free existence. Jesus voluntary accepted pain, humiliation, contempt, and disgrace. Why? Because it is in the very nature of God to serve and to love. And humanity, in our fallenness, needed such love.
Jesus’ mind found satisfaction in deferring to other’s needs. He didn’t cling to deity because, in the long run, a demonstration of power would be less satisfying than a demonstration of character. The godly agenda aims for wholeness and unity over authority and comfort. The divine program for exaltation and glory is to go through humility and meekness to get there.

IN DEED:
If our minds are ever to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus, we have to learn to think that way. We must embrace holding the welfare of others to be more valuable than our own. We must embrace service, working for the benefit of each other rather than trying to get ahead ourselves. And we must humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God in order for that hand to lift us up.
When we pray for Christlikeness and then aim for the aspirations of our fallen human nature, we are undermining our own prayers. We have not embraced the mind of Jesus. But if we readily accept servanthood and the value of others, we bear a striking resemblance to Him.

“Our Lord lived His life . . . To give the normal standard for our lives.” -Oswald Chambers-

March 21 – One Mind (Philippians 2:1-11)

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 2:5)

IN WORD:
Euodia and Syntyche were at odds with one another. The two women, each a valuable member of the church, couldn’t agree on some point (Philippians 4:2-3). We don’t know what the issue was, only that it was somehow divisive. It interrupted the unity of that body of believers.
Paul could have stepped in and settled the disagreement. He claimed apostolic authority on other occasions; he could have acted as a judge in this one. If he had, however, one party could have resented the decision, and the other may have taken pride in it. And neither would have learned any lesson other than the fact that Paul was in charge. No, there was a better way. Paul gave them a deeper remedy.
What was the remedy? To have the mind of Christ. Paul had told the Corinthians that Jesus’ mind was their inheritance (1 Corinthians 2:16). Now he tells the Philippians what having His mind implies: It means thinking like Him, Having His attitude, and most of all, having His humility.

IN DEED:
When we think of having the mind of Christ, we usually think in terms of getting His direction and following His will. We’re focused on action. But God has a higher purpose. He is focused on character. When He gives us the mind of Jesus, He is giving us the one gift that will fundamentally alter our sinful, conflict-prone nature. It is a gift that will shape us into the very image of God.
What is Jesus’ mind like? Paul goes on to tell us of Jesus’ humility — though He was God incarnate, He was a humble, obedient man. A servant. A dying servant, in fact. That’s usually not our goal when we strive for godly thinking, but it’s the first element of character that God will work in us. If we haven’t learned the humility of Jesus, we’ll never really understand His resurrection power. Our prayers will lack strength because they lack the nature of a servant. Our work will lack power because it doesn’t conform to His character. And our fellowship will lack unity because, unlike Jesus, we aren’t looking out for each other’s interests.

“If you are looking for an example of humility, look at the Cross.”
-Thomas Aquinas-

March 20 – The Sign of a Son (Proverbs 3:1-12)

“The Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.”(Proverbs 3:12)

IN WORD:
We give no correction to strangers. Why? It’s not our place to do so; there’s no relationship there. We can take comfort, then, in the fact that God disciplines us. It implies a relationship, and not just a casual one. It implies that He loves us as children and is intent on our becoming more like Him. He does not discipline those He has given up on. He disciplines those He treasures.
Imagine a sculptor with a vision that consumes him as he works day & night on his creation. Little by little he chisels & shapes. Carefully he lets his vision take form. As the sculpture nears completion, imagine this artist just dropping his tools and walking away. Ludicrous? Of course. So is the idea of God dropping His tools before He has made us wise.
Or imagine a caring father spending years of intensive attention on his child, only to walk away before the child reaches maturity. Only a father with a drastic personality change would do such a thing, and God does not have drastic personality changes. He loved us in the beginning, and He loves us now. His correction will not cease until His work is complete and we are mature. It’s a sign of His delight.

IN DEED:
Are you going through a hard thing today? It may be discipline from the Lord to urge you to change something in your life. Or perhaps it is simply a divine stress test, planned for your greater endurance and character. Regardless of its specific cause, it is designed to shape you into His image, and it is monitored with great care — even delight — by the hand from which it comes. You would not be going through it if He did not care. You would not be in the painful process of conforming to His likeness if you were not His child. Cooperate with His work, no matter how uncomfortable his tools are. He does not use them recklessly. He uses them as lovingly as a father touches his child.

“Discipline is a proof of our sonship.” -Erwin Lutzer-