The Importance of Power

"These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instruction: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you received; freely give." -Matthew 10 5-8

Why did Jesus have to tell His disciples not to go to the Samaritans or to any of the Gentiles to proclam that "the kingdom is near"? The Samaritans were looked down upon in the Jewish culture. Samaritans were actually after God and believed in the New Testament, but not everything they believed lined up with the Jewish mindset so they were condemned. 

Notice also that Jesus never called the Samaritans lost. The Samaritans were actually seeker of truth and after God, but the Jews failed to relate with them. By telling His disciples to teach to the lost sheep of Israel instead of the Samaritans and Gentiles, He endorsed the Samaritans and Gentiles as equals in the Kingdom. This must have shocked the disciples.

So it appears obvious that Jesus knew what the disciples were thinking. Possibly something like this:

Ok, now we are on team Jesus. I'm going to run and tell all the Samaritans because they are so lost and misguided. Oh, I'll just tell all the Gentiles while I'm at it, I can do this.

Wait, I can't tell any of the Gentiles?

I have to go tell those guys with leprosy? They sure don't smell very good.

The kingdom deserves better than those people, at least let us go to the Gentiles.

Just has Jesus called the disciples, God is calling us to people who need Him the most. The poor, the dirty, the "bad parts of town", the hungry, the sick, the lame, the blind, the homeless, so that He has a platform to display His love and power.

A sobering reality is that we are called to seek out the demons, seek out the demonized in order to say that the "Kingdom is near" and no forces of the enemy can exist within the Kingdom.

How often do we only seek out the Gentiles instead of the lost sheep of Israel? How often do we try to convert someone from a Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, denomination to our denomination instead of restoring the sick, the lame, and the tormented?

Once again, Jesus could have instructed His disciples to preach the Good News to the lost sheep, but yet again, He says to go display my power. "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons."

I believe that the reason that Jesus was so adament about displaying His power from what we nowadays call "signs and wonders" is because He wanted the hearts of the lost to be saved, not their intellect enhanced. Preaching effects the intellect. Miracles capture the heart.

Once a blind man sight has miraculously been restored, there is no longer a need to convince Him of God, because His heart has experienced it. Once a man who has been an outcast because of His incurable skin disease is completed healed by the power of Jesus, He no longer needs to say a sinner's prayer for salavation, because His heart has already repented and accepted Christ.

Perhaps the most important reason that Jesus told His disciples to go to the lost sheep of Israel was because He wanted to change the lives of the disciples. He wanted them to see with their own eyes the living power of His Father. He wanted Simon to place His hand on the back of a man with leprosy declaring the power of God to be healed. He wanted John's face to light up and for His faith to multiply as he casts out the demon inside the woman in the name of Jesus. 

Jesus knew that He had to establish the foundation of faith through the heart of His disciples, not through intellect and knowledge, but through using them as conduits for His power. Miracles awaken Fath. Faith awakens the heart.

God longs to use you and I to display His power. He longs to see our faces light up as we become excited by the idea of advancing the Kingdom through His infinite power and love. Preachers have been saying it for decades, "You may know God upstairs, but not in your heart."

There is no better way for God to build a firm foundation of belief and faith in us, yes even today, then by displaying His healing love in our everyday lives.

The Greatest Ambassador

If Jesus and I could talk man-to-man, it might be a disaster. I can imagine sitting with Jesus and wanting to be like Him so much that I just start copying everything that he says. It would probably go something like this.

"Mark."

"Mark."

"Stop it."

"Stop it."

"I'm serious."

"I'm serious."

"Please stop."

"Please stop."

"I will shut your mouth if you don't."

"I will shu...."

"I was serious."

I am pretty sure that I would revert to the days of my childhood in the presence of Jesus. If He would smile, I would smile. If Jesus wanted to play Simon Says, I would play Simon Says. If He wanted to seat in the quiet, then I would, I would have a hard time with this one becasue there are so many questions to be asked.

You remember when you were a kid and you had that one person that you looked up to so much that you would do anything just to be near them. As they walked you'd cling to their arm, as they sat you'd jump on their back, as they slept you snuggle up close. I think I'd be that way with Jesus if I had some time with Him. Naive, childish, and giddy would describe me best although I'd like to think I'd be bold, confident, and strong I know it wouldn't happen.

Shouldn't it be our life long goal to mimic and to constantly mimic Jesus Christ in everything that He did, no matter how quirky or weird it may seem?

We can all agree that Jesus was the greatest ambassador for the Kingdom that there ever has been and ever will be.  This one qualifing factor would make Him a great role model in reaching the lost and advancing the Kingdom in our own lives.

Thousands of people were radically changed by the message that He brought. Crowds swarmed, houses overflowed, and ships followed the person of Jesus. His popularity grew as He moved among the people and lived to follow the heart of God. So I long to follow in His footsteps.

"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness." -Matthew 9:35

At some point in our history as the church, we have shaped Jesus into a preacher. We've turned Jesus into a man behind a pulpit "teaching in their synagogues". Which He did, and He did it rather effectively. But His ministry, His ability to teach the Gospel would not have been effective without His ability to showcase the power and the love of His Father.

Jesus taught, preached, and healed. Some how we miss the healed part.

Matthew 9 clearly displayed that Jesus ministry was more than words, it was wrapped in the power of God. We love to teach, we love to preach just like Jesus, but the church is so divided about the idea of healing we fail to recongize it might be the missing ingredient to revival among the church. 

It was the healing power of Jesus that softened the hearts of the crowds so He could begin to soak the Word of God into their hearts. One cannot be effective without the other. 

Many individuals believe in the power of God, but do not believe that they are capable of being used to display His power. "He called his twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness" Matthew 10:1.

Why was God's first commission to His disciples to "drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness"? It's almost as if Jesus peered into the future, into the 21st century and realized that we would have the teaching and preaching part down to a tee, so He decided to emphasize the importance of His power.

It's as if, He understood that words come easy to man, and even easier to women. He knew that words, speaking of how good God isn't the task that His disciples would struggle with, but He understood that He had to commission them to heal in order to overcome their doubt.

So where's His power? In your life, are you only teaching and preaching?

To experience revival, we have to mimic all of Jesus: the uncomfortable parts of Jesus, the healing part of Jesus, down to every last detail.

1.) Become hungry for the power of God.

2.) Ask daily for the power of God.

3.) Speak truth into your life, "I am called to heal every disease and sickness."

The Source

Money is only a resource. God is the source.

Resource -

a source of supply, support, or aid, especially one that can be readily drawn upon when needed.

Source -

any thing or place fro m which something comes, arises, or is obtained

Our finances are readily drawn upon when needed from the place where something is obtained.

The Struggling Christian

As a child, I used to think G.I. Joes could talk, my green army men could walk, and the sand box ate my toys. Many people have the option of believing in Santa Clause, but my older brother never gave me that luxury, I knew from a young age he was a hoax. Without the thoughts of Santa Clause rattling around in my head, I used to think other oddities like I was Michael Jordan or Dallas Diamond Page (I only like wrestling briefly).

Call it my imagination or my childish thinking, but I used to think some odd things. Much of the imagination has faded into reality -- like the reality I cannot jump nor have the genetics to ever be a wrestler. The one thought which has stuck with me from childhood into this now adult life, is that the Christian life is supposed to get easier with age. I believe that the more Christian like that I become, the more Christ like that I am, the less persecution I will encounter.

Jesus speaks rather candidly about persecution in Matthew,

But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Matthew 13:21

My first thoughts on the scripture is that Jesus says "when trouble or persecution comes", "when" not "if". By simply using the word "when", Jesus is making a clear statement that persecution will come, that this Chrisitan life will not always be easy, joyful, and comfortable.

I have come to realize that persecution doesn't have to look like how Jesus and his disciples were physically persecuted. Persecution isn't always government oppression of religion or people making fun of our faith. Persecution is much more real than that, even in religious freedom we currently experience. 

Persecution is the condition of being persecuted, harrassed, or annoyed. Doubt harrasses us as we strive to follow His voice. Insecurites annoy us as we strive to be more like Him. Persecution persists the closer we get to the heart of God.

A good friend of mine and I were talking the other day, and he stated how he recently struggled with intense doubt over a decision which He truly felt God was impressing on his heart to do. Doubt of having enough finances, doubt of our own capabilities, are both form of persecution.

The first thought that comes to my mind when discussing doubt and annoyances as being a from of persecution is that we are soft compared to the amount of persecution described in the Bible. But it's important to label it as persecution because we need to embrace it as part of following God. As Chrisitans, at the first impression of discomfort, our natual instinct is to create comfort dropping God in the process. We seek financial stability more than we seek God because it is safe, it is the opposite of being persecuted.

By labeling the struggles that we face as persecution, allows us to rejoice in the fact that we are suffering for Christ, we are enduring for His sake. More than likely, a Christian struggling with doubt or fear is much closer to God than the person who is not, because at least they have heard the voice of God to have doubt and fear.

We must struggle for Him. We must get outside of our comfort zones and embrace persecution. The voice of God will cause you to struggle, we can bank on that. God say "when" not "if". It's important we stop looking for and seeking perfection and start allowing God to make us uncomfortable so we can become more like Him.

God and Community

I have always had awesome friends. From the time I was in elementary school, I have had comrads to adventurously explore the great-unknowns of the play ground with. Racing down slides, through tunnels, and over the monkey bars striving to stay above the rocks below. On the play grounds when I was little, we had these pebbles that kicked up dust and left a horrible chalky feel on our skin and provided as much cushion as shattered glass. Now-a-days, kids effortlessly glide across this spongy surface that feels like your walking on a cloud or a ten layer cake. The rocks that I had for padding as a child would imbed into the skin if one fell to high from the monkey bars and would sending you tumbling face first as they skid beneath your feet.

I am not super jealous of the advancement in play ground equipment, because when I was little our play ground equipment was made of old telephone pools. They truly appeard to be a pile of telephone poles fashioned together with no rhyme or reason. While splinters were an every day occurence, the real thrill was conquering the massive pile of wood and being at the very top as it swayed like a ship at sea from the sloppy engineering. Never knowing if today was the day that the wind finally blew the equipment to the ground, we would hang out at the summit hoping to witness the epic collapse. The collapse never came, but the splinters increased, cries sharpened, and we one day walked out to new bright red and blue equipment. It's just not the same.

As you can see, my friends and I have been through alot all the way back to grade school. As I went through school, some of my friends followed. I kept most of them through middle school and on into high school because making new friends is hard, so I kept the old ones around. 

My friends of choice were always the ones that had similar interests. The ones that liked to play Donkey Kong or ride bikes all over town. The ones that enjoyed tackle football or watching Jurassic Park multiple times. My parents would preach to me to choose friends wisely and "watch the company you keep." As many of us do, I have found that this has been a motto I have kept throughout my life. 

Because of this same philosophy of choosing friends wisely, friends that encourage, friends that just like us, as a society we create these safety nets formed by relationships. We have our Monday night friends to eat out with and our Sunday morning friends to sit by at church. We have our family to call when we are bored or need some one to eat with. You know we all have these people. Just look at your speed dial or favorites list on your phone.

Inherently, there is nothing wrong with friendships. In fact, that idea of true community is one of the most taught principles by Jesus. He lived in community. He developed community. Friends are awesome. Family is awesome. Community with good Christian fellowship is important to develop our identity and to be our safe place in times of need. 

But at what point do relationships no longer become about us?

At what point do friendships and our daily encounters stop benefiting us, and instead we selflessly give the God inside of us away?

Jesus put it this way,

"Then he turned to this host, "When you put on a lucheon or a dinner," he said, "don't invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will repay you by inviting you back. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind. Then at the resurrection of the godly, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you." Luke 14:12-14 (NLT)

How often do I seek relationships that benefit me? How often do I approach someone because I need good conversation or because I know that this person will repay me?

How about I ask the same question Jesus did, who are we inviting to lunch? Are we asking the poor man begging on the street corner or the lost girl that needs Jesus at work? 

The fundamentally discrepancy stems from the idea that we think the idea and the purpose of community is about us. We think that we are supposed to build a community of good Christian friends so that we don't "get lost". I am embarassed as I write this because that is what I have thought for some many years, and I look at it now and see how selfish I am.

The purpose of community is to do unto others not unto ourselves.

I think if Jesus was walking the earth in the 21st century, Luke 14 would read something more like this.

"When you have lunch or dinner," he said, "don't invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. Because you know they will do the same to you. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the 'hard-to-talk to, and the unfriendly. Then at the resurrection of the godly, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you."

I challenge myself, I challenge you to step outside of your comfort zone, step outside of the easy relationships and allow the light of God within you to change someones life.