As I shared in the last devotional, people have a tendency to look for messages that make them feel good and are pleasant to their ears. However, the Lord has given us sound doctrine through the Bible to ensure that we have a healthy growth. We all need the proper spiritual nutrients to grow in discernment and distinguish between God’s ways and the enemies’ schemes. Regardless of the number of years we have walked with Him, we still need to eat the meat of the Word to remain strong and be prepared for various spiritual battles in this world.

The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule by their own power;
And My people love to have it so.
But what will you do in the end? Jeremiah 5:31

The people of God had turned away from the Lord; God used Jeremiah to tell them the process and the impact of their spiritual decline. Not only the Israelites were compromising, but they were also not interested in the truth. The prophets prophesied falsely, and people liked the happy news they heard from them. When Jeremiah told them they would be going into captivity, the false prophets told the people they were not going to because they were God’s special people. The priests enjoyed their positions of ruling over the people, and the people did not have a problem to follow whoever as long as no one stepped on their toes.

Isn’t this the condition of the American church? Our spiritual decline is evident as observed in various spheres of society such as entertainment, government, universities, churches, and the laws established. People are just looking to go to a nice church and hear an encouraging sermon. They live the rest of the week busy, happy, and occupied by their interests and all along thinking that they are glorifying God.

If you were to talk to some believers about what has changed in their lives in the last two years, their answers would primarily be about what God has done for them. Their focus is not advancing the Kingdom of God and His righteousness on the earth. Their goal is to get what they want out of life and meet their desires. They would rather just offer up a prayer than act on being an answer to a prayer. They may wish for people to get saved, but they will not take the time to get out of their routines to reach unbelievers and the unchurched. They surround themselves with friends just like them, so they can always be in agreement but not necessarily be in truth. They think they are making a difference for the Kingdom of God, but they would not rock the boat and speak up against the ungodliness propagated around them. 

Some of the above is my struggle as well.  I don’t want to be like the fig tree that Jesus spoke out against. The tree only had green leaves but no fruit. If we have itching ears for what we want to hear, we cannot be fruitful for the Kingdom. The good news is that we can change our posture and be willing to receive truth regardless of how uncomfortable it makes us. Lord, give us the courage to receive your truth and to act on it regardless of the cost!

Some people do not want to hear anything that makes them comfortable, or it demands them to change their ways. As Americans, we think we have rights, and our rights give us the privilege to have all sorts of opinions.  When you read the Bible, we don’t see God taking an opinion poll or changing His message based on how people felt about it.  We may have many opinions that are important to us, but when we come to the feet of the cross, we need to lay them all down and be willing to hear what God has to say.

The danger with holding on to our opinion is four-fold. First of all, we begin to perceive our opinion to be truth. Secondly, we don’t want to hear anything that challenges our views. Thirdly, we feel judged by others who disagree with us. Fourthly, we reject the teachings that don’t line up with our opinion.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;  2Timothy 4:3

This is a warning for all of us to hold on to sound doctrine. The “itching ears” means people who desire to only hear pleasant words. Have you noticed the number of churches who only provide pleasant words to people!? If things are so pleasant why is there so much darkness in the world ? If people do not need deliverance from demonic influence and oppression,then why are there so many broken and bound believers in the church? If God considers all the people on the earth His children, then was is the purpose of being adopted as His children? If we are good people, then why did Jesus have to die for our sins? 

The foundation of the gospel began with repentance, and God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus. The Israelites must have been comfortable in their routine of animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of their sins. They didn’t bother to listen to the voice of their conscience rather they relied on their culture to measure their level of holiness. They had become so self-righteous, that Jesus looked like the sinner!  Many of them were angry with Jesus because He told them the truth and shook their little world!

How do you interact with the Bible? Do you only focus on the scriptures that you deem important or support your worldview? Does the Bible or your church ever make you uncomfortable with your spiritual life? Do you have a tendency to get offended with those who don’t agree with you? When was the last time that your eyes were opened to a new revelation from God? Is repentance part of your lifestyle?

Are you ready for God’s new work in your life? Sometimes we think we are ready, but we are not willing to make the adjustments necessary for God’s new work.

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse.Matthew 9:16

When God begins to do something new in us, it requires a paradigm shift. It takes a risk in exercising our faith in the direction of God’s leading.We cannot process the information in the same way we have before. Otherwise, we are patching an old garment on a new cloth as Jesus stated. This patch will look terrible because it will stand out. In addition, the new patch will not work because the new cloth will pull away from the old garment. 

The Israelites were faced with a paradigm shift in the desert.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,  “I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”  Exodus 16: 11-12

And Moses said to them, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’” Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.  So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need.  And Moses said, “Let no one leave any of it till morning.”  Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them. Exodus 16:15b-20

The Israelites were delivered by God’s mighty hand out of the Egypt. While in the desert, God sent them daily provision of bread and meat. He told them not to save any of the bread for the next day because He was going to provide for them every day. However, some of the Israelites out of fear, tried to save some for the next day. This was a new season in their lives where God asked them to fully rely on Him for their everyday needs. They had to let go of their grim past and exercise their faith daily for God’s provision. 

The Israelites had to let go of their fears and insecurities of the past. They were used to having harsh leaders back in Egypt. That was their old cloth. They did not trust those leaders because they mistreated them. However, God was not like their earthly pagan leaders.

God brought them out of Egypt and placed Moses, a very humble man, to lead them.  They had to let go of their distrust of bad leadership to be able to embrace God’s new leadership in their lives. They had to let go of their self-preservation despite all their fears.

Those that saved extra manna for the next day, found it full of warms. Those Israelites were trying to place the fresh manna in an the old environment of fear and insecurity by saving it an extra day. Their man-made strategy did not work, and the manna stunk and became moldy. The same is true with God’s new work in our lives. We need to make room for it by letting go of the past patterns.

God’s new work will stretch us. I feel that stretch right now in my life as God has opened new doors for me. I have to let go of my fears and my old ways of doing things. I need to adjust by trusting God without having all the answers.

How are you responding to God’s new work in your life? Are you trying to hold on to your old patterns in this new season? It’s time to let go. If we desire to see God’s new work in our lives we need to let him stretch us.

Intimacy and obedience are inseparable, and they are both essential for a thriving and growing relationship with God. If we are obedient without intimacy, we become dry and religious. If we are intimate without obedience, we are subject to deception by the enemy and the pitfalls of sin. In this backsliding state, we may think we are still intimate with the Lord, but we will begin to confuse our desires with God’s voice.  This is a dangerous position to be for a believer.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:1-4

The devil tried to tempt Jesus by suggesting that He should turn stones into bread to satisfy His hunger. Jesus used the word of God (Bible text in Deuteronomy) to combat the enemy. His statement was profound in regards to obedience and intimacy.

First, Jesus obeyed God by withstanding the temptation to satisfy His hunger apart from God’s will. Second, He showed that it is more important to live on each word that proceeds from the mouth of God than to satisfy fleshly desires apart from the will of God. If we were faced with a similar temptation would you have assumed that it is the will of God to turn the stones into bread? Would you have considered the miracle of stones turned into bread a blessing from God!?

The definition of the “word” in the above scripture is as follows:

Word: Strong’s 4487 (rhema): that which is or has been uttered by the living voice, thing spoken, word, speech, discourse, utterance.

Jesus was basically stating that it is was more important for Him to hear the voice of God and remain intimate with the voice of the Holy Spirit than to disobey God. Jesus clearly demonstrated the importance of obedience and intimacy in this scripture. We are called to follow His pattern by abiding in Him and staying connected in the right relationship with the Lord.

While Jesus had the power and the authority to turn the stone into bread, He chose to refrain from it because He desired the approval of God more than satisfying His hunger. He chose not to be presumptuous in His relationship to the Lord and trusted Him with His needs. Interestingly, this was the opposite of how Adam and Eve behaved when they chose to eat from the fruit of the tree of the good and evil. The scripture does not tell us that they were even hungry. Their curiosity and distrust caused them to lose their relationship to the Lord.

Do you have intimacy with the Lord? Do you allow the Lord to correct and direct you? Do you try to obey the Lord in every aspect of your life? The combination of intimacy and obedience is the secret to a fulfilling life of faith!

While obedience gives us the opportunity to remain in a right relationship with the Father, we need intimacy with Christ to stay in tune with Him. If we are only obedient without developing our intimacy, we become religious and dry in our relationship to the Lord.

Showy prayers are not intimacy

But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Matthew 6:6-7

Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. Before He shared what we call the “the model prayer” with His disciples, He spoke about the manner and the attitude of prayer. He told His disciples that prayer is not a show to be advertised in public.

Just as our intimate times with our loved ones are not blasted to the world, our intimacy with the Lord is to stay hidden from the public eye. Furthermore, Jesus told His disciples not to pray mindlessly. Some use scripted prayers that they repeat without their spirit being engaged in it.  It is not the repetition or the length of the prayer that makes it meaningful. We just need to talk naturally to the Lord and share from our heart. 

Intimacy requires time and conversation

 We see Jesus’ intimacy through his prayer time.

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. Mark 1:35 

Jesus made time for God regularly. Before the demands of the day, He got up early to spend time with the Lord. If anyone had the excuse not to spend this time with the Lord, it would have been Jesus. He came from the Father, and He knew the Father very well. However, Jesus was never presumptuous in his relationship to the Father. He stayed connected and humble. He chose to use His authority for the benefit of others not for His own benefit. He was so secure in His relationship to the Father that it kept Him full not needing man’s attention. 

For a Christian, prayer should be a two-way communication with the Father. That means we pray with the intent of listening to the Father. God hears our prayers, but do we listen to hear what He has to say to us?  If we are doing all the talking, how is He going to have opportunity to touch us, share His heart, or give us an insight?

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

Is your relationship with Jesus based on intimacy or obedience? Our relationship should include both intimacy and obedience. There are times that we feel intimate, so we assume that we are obedient. At other times we measure our intimacy with our obedience. Intimacy and obedience go hand in hand, and the health of our relationship with Jesus requires both.

What kind of obedience is Jesus looking for?

“If you love Me, keep My commandments”. John 14:15

Jesus told His disciples that they cannot claim they love Him if they are not following His commandments. Just because we get emotional or we cry, it does not mean that we are obedient to God. Our obedience should impact every area of our lives. There are Christians with strong emotions or artistic gifts who can express their love for God through worship, music, or dance, but they cannot show up on time to work or be reliable. They do the work they like to do but not the work they are not as interested in. God expects us to obey Him and be faithful people. Our consistency shows our love towards God. Obedience to Him is following Him on a narrow path and not everyone is interested to be on that path!

Furthermore, Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission by stating:

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; Mark 16:15-17

While salvation is free, we have a responsibility with this gift.  Jesus expects us to reach others with the same message that we have received. The Great Commission shows clearly that God has work for all of us to do. Therefore, obedience is necessary to follow His Commission.

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23

On the other hand, Jesus is not impressed by our activities apart from having intimate knowledge of Him. The word “know” in the above scripture comes from Greek (ginosko), which means intimate knowledge of someone. These individuals used their spiritual gifts to prophesy and cast out demons, but they did not know Jesus. Somehow, they were busy doing so called “spiritual work”, but they missed the master of the work. It is interesting that Jesus counted their actions as lawlessness because those actions were not birth out of a relationship with Him. They were only motivated by fleshly desires to be seen and to be impressive. 

I will continue with this subject and share about our intimacy with Jesus in the next devotional. 

In every relationship, it takes time and effort to develop a healthy and growing relationship. We need to give each other time and attention to keep a relationship alive and flourishing.

Time and effort also holds true in our relationship with Christ. The difference in this relationship is that God has made Himself always available. Therefore, any struggle in this relationship is due to the lack of investment of our time in the relationship. Furthermore, the relationship is not between equals. We are under his guidance and rulership. Our relationship with the Lord grows through obedience as well as intimacy. This is the part that causes confusion for some of us.

In terms of obedience, Jesus set the example when he told His disciples the following:

Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. John 5:19

Jesus came to this world with the goal of doing the will of the Father. He did not do anything on His own volition. He was not presumptuous to think that God would bless anything He did based on Jesus’ relationship with Him.  This was evident when the devil tried to tempt Him. How did He know what the Lord desired for Him to do? It had to do with His level of intimacy.

For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. John 5:20

In verse 19, Jesus’ obedience is apparent, and this verse (20), shows that God kept revealing His will to Him. Jesus’  relationship to God was an intimate relationship that was filled with revelation of God’s heart. His obedience caused Jesus to be intimate with God, and in turn His intimacy allowed Him to know the will of the Father and obey His will.

Some of us have a tendency to rely on our intimacy with God while others rely on their obedience. The truth is that one cannot be done in exclusion of the other.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

Good Friday marks the day that Jesus went to the Cross for the sin of humanity. I invite you, in the next couple of days, to spend sometime before the Lord and meditate on His sacrifice for us. John 18 and 19 show us Jesus’ march towards the Cross. In this devotional, I point out two passages from these readings for self-examination and meditation. However, there are many passages that the Holy Spirit can use as He speaks to you about Jesus’ sacrifice. 

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”  Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”  Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”  Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” John 18:33-36

The question, “Are you the King of the Jews?”, can be asked with varied tones for different reasons. The Magi came from a great distance to find the King! Others came hungry and thirsty for the truth seeking to find the Messiah. Nicodemus came in the night to find out more about this teacher. He was not content with other people’s report about Jesus, but he wanted to know the truth for himself. On the other hand, Pilate did not care about Jesus’ identity. He only cared about his political ambitions and was trying to find out what the Jewish leaders had against Jesus. Pilate was not hungry spiritually!

Jesus ceased the moment and asked the most important question in Pilate’s life, “Are you speaking for yourself…?”,  in regards to His identity. This was an opportunity for Pilate to slow down and examine his beliefs, but he missed it. Pilate was only repeating what he had heard from others. Do you speak about Jesus from your own convictions? Or is it something you have heard from others?

Sometimes, we can be guilty of being parrot-like, and we repeat what we have heard from others without examining our own convictions about the truth. Some Christians are part of a system, that expects the right answers, so they acquiesce to what others expect of them. At times, we expect our children to be programmed and to only speak the right things.  Does this mean that our children really believe the truth? 

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”  Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all. John 18:36-37

Finally, Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” That is the crux of the issue. We are in a age that many people do not believe in universal truth. They believe truth to be the figment of one’s imagination. What is truth? What does truth mean to you? Does your truth line up with the Bible or do you try to fit the Bible to align with your views? Do you believe Jesus is the truth? How does truth change the way you live your life? Did you learn the truth from others or do you have your own personal experience with the truth? Is Jesus your King? 

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,  Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” John 13:1-6

While Palm Sunday may have excited Jesus’ disciples, Jesus knew the hardest work was still before Him. The triumphant entry into Jerusalem did not distract Jesus from marching forward towards the Cross. He knew His time on earth was near the end, so He shared with His disciples His final words and desires in the last week He had with them.

One evening following their dinner, Jesus began to wash the disciples’ feet. In spite of being considered the King of the Jews, Jesus was showing once again that the rules of engagement in the Kingdom of God are very different than the world’s system. While He was considered the prophet, rabbi, and the Christ, He served His disciples. He serve them instead of expecting to be served by them.

Jesus washed the disciples’ feet in spite of knowing that Judas was going to be betray Him. He certainly wasn’t condoning Judas’ behavior, but He didn’t allow Judas’ actions, to stop Him from doing the work of His ministry.

Washing other’s feet is forgiving their ugly side. Washing other’s feet is restraining from exposing their flaws to others. Washing other’s feet is declaring, “Lord I want to decrease, so you can increase in my life!”

Are you able to serve those who have ill thoughts about you? Are you able to love those who have been unlovable towards you? Do you allow other people’s attitude to choke your love and your generosity towards them?

By His example, Jesus showed that the higher God takes us, the more humble we need to become. In addition, we need to serve others with the grace God has given to us not just with our emotions. Others need to see the love of God even when they don’t deserve it. The power of love is the only hope for transformation. Praise God that Jesus did not back down from His march towards the Cross.

They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”  So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” Matthew 21:7-11

Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and multitudes honored Him. They cried out His name and spoke of the prophetic word given centuries prior about the coming of Christ. In terms of Jesus’ ministry, this was possibly the most popular time in His ministry. In the natural, it would have been easy for Jesus to get distracted by the popularity. As a matter of fact, the triumphant entry may have raised disciples’ expectations about Jesus’ kingdom.  

We can also get easily distracted by popularity. If we focus on being popular, it will compel us to do things to just get attention. We cannot let popularity take the place of our identity in Christ. Otherwise, we will begin to make compromises to remain popular. 

Nowadays, the social media gives us an avenue to measure our popularity by the number people who like our posts. Some of us cannot put our phone down for more than few minutes at a time before we need a reassurance from our FB friends. We need to hear their complements and flattery.

Jesus knew behind all the song and dance, the people were not supportive of His true mission and had a false expectations of Him. False expectations lead people to disillusionment, and disillusionment leads to betrayal. 

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. John 2:23-25

If Jesus had focused on popularity, He would have been disillusioned by people’s rejection. However, Jesus was prepared for the moment of his betrayal because He knew man’s fickle nature. 

Palm Sunday is a reminder of Jesus’ march towards the cross and a warning of man’s temperamental attitude towards Him. Let’s thank Jesus for His commitment to be our Savior.