And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Matthew 4:18-20

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus called the disciples to be fishermen of men However, at the end of his ministry, He commissioned them differently. He added a new level of complexity to it by commanding them to disciple people. After Jesus spent 3 1/2 years with His disciples, they had grown to a point that they knew what it meant be discipled. Discipling people meant to teach them and show them to be disciplined followers of Christ. If the disciples had only concentrated on catching people as fishermen, the church would not have multiplied and survived the persecution that fell upon them.

Is the church discipling people? Is the church teaching people to become the salt and light of the earth? Is the church teaching people doctrinally and relationally that there is a balance between meeting personal needs and reaching out to others through sacrifice and service?

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hebrews 5:14

Obviously, in any church body, you will find baby believers and older believers, but the messages over time should be able to provide the right type of food for every believer. Solid food should be provided by every church to allow people to come to full age and to be able to exercise their mature understanding of the Word and discern good and evil in a complex and confusing world. Is the church getting people ready to use their spiritual senses and discern between good and evil? Is the church feeding people solid food or is it keeping people in baby phase where they can only handle the milk?

Some may be concerned that giving people meat can push people away because they cannot digest hard words. Life can have tough seasons and some of the scriptures that are tough to swallow are actually making people ready for real life situations. Just as parents’ responsibility is to help their children to face the responsibility of adulthood and teach them about the reality of life away from parents, similarly, the leaders’ responsibility is to train people to be strong and allow their light shine in the midst of adversity.

Let’s pray for the body of Christ to awaken to its God given commission and responsibility to reach the lost and to the disciple the nations!

I shared in the last devotional that some churches are lacking meat in their sermons, and they are a reminder of the below Wendy’s commercial from years ago. Is it time for us to ask our churches to provide more meat in their sermons!?

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Acts 2:42-43

The above scripture is a guideline for church health and growth. It was the apostles’ doctrine along with loving fellowships that won people to Christ. God in His mercy gave us instructions for success. Why do we think that we can do better than the early church? Obviously not every person who heard the message was saved. There were some who were offended enough to oppose them and accuse them of blasphemy.

We can conclude from scriptures in the book of Acts,  that there was a reaction and a response to the gospel message. People either were saved and were added to the body, or they opposed the message. How many churches expect a response at the end of their Sunday sermon? How many churches offer an altar call for those who are ready to respond to the message? Do we believe our sermons are potent enough to bring about a response/repentance towards God? What if only one person came to the altar? Is that going to be humiliating? On the other hand, can we handle the opposition if some don’t agree with the gospel message?

having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2Timothy 3:5

Jesus specifically spoke about the Lukewarm church in the book of Revelations. Lukewarm food is generally not preferred. A lukewarm church has an appearance of nourishing people, but in actuality it is not giving them healthy food to grow and mature.

Paul told Timothy in the above scripture that those who have a form of godliness but deny the power of God should be avoided. Why is he making such a serious statement? Because this is an issue of life and death. If we make people think that they are doing well spiritually by attending church and not give them meat, we are robbing them of the power of the message of God. Over time, they will not be strong and equipped enough to withstand tough times, temptations, or persecutions.

Are we making people ready? Are people encouraged to live a repentant lifestyle that signifies transformation and change? Are they willing to take up their cross and follow Christ? Has their view of God become enlarged due to attending church?

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

Some of you may recall this commercial from years ago:

taken from Youtube.com

Where is the beef?  Nowadays. this is the condition of some churches when it comes to the word of God. I have been listening and speaking to many people who complain about the lack of meat in preaching that goes on in their churches. I’m not sure why the trend is moving in the direction of “feel good Christianity” and worldly strategies. It could be that some think this is how we remain relevant to our culture. Others may be afraid of losing members to more “exciting” churches. Some may think that this is how we are supposed to catch those who fled the churches decades ago due to church being boring and dogmatic. However, none of these were the concerns of the early church.

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Acts 2:42-43

The above scripture describes the growth of the early church following Jesus’ Resurrection and the Day of Pentecost. The disciples preached to people who were Jewish, and they knew their message could have easily been offensive. However, Peter and others did not shy away from preaching the whole gospel and telling them about what Jesus did for them.

Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. Acts 2:23-24

In the same chapter, the scripture show us that Peter did not dilute the Word or water down the gospel to see individuals saved.  As a matter of fact, the scripture clearly shows that Peter accused them of killing Jesus but told them that God had a different plan which included them. Peter’s style of preaching might horrify some preachers these days, and it certainly would not make it into any books or workshops about church growth! The point is not to offend people with the gospel. The issue is that if we don’t tell people the whole Truth, we have taken away the power of the gospel to transform people’s lives.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

I shared in the last devotional that God’s glory is manifested through His creation, His power, and His still small voice. In addition, God shows His glory through His character. 

So the Lord said to Moses, “I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name.”  And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Exodus 33: 17-19

When Moses asked the Lord to see His glory, God told him that He will allow His goodness to pass before Moses. I wonder if Moses needed encouragement when he asked to see God’s glory.  The Israelites had just recently made their golden calf in Moses’ absence. Aaron was blaming the people instead of taking responsibility for his passive leadership. It would have been discouraging and disheartening for any leader to see that kind of behavior and would have needed some encouragement. In Moses’ case, he desired to see God’s glory. God gave Moses the privilege of seeing His goodness to pass by him. This experience allowed Moses to persevere and continue to lead God’s people. The Lord was showing us that His goodness is powerful, and it is more than enough to see and experience His glory.

Everything about God is good, and He is the opposite of what the world offers. When we watch and listen to all the news around us, it can be very disheartening. We can’t tell who is real and who has ulterior motives anymore. People’s views are biased,  and it is hard to gather facts. While we are only getting partial truth, the voices are becoming louder and less credible. In the midst of all of this, God’s goodness can keep us comforted and calm. Recognizing that everything about Him is good is, causes stability for our souls. His holiness is tied to His goodness, and it takes away fear, anxiety, uncertainty. It gives us assurance in the midst of all the noise. His goodness is glorious!

What is God’s glory and how does He manifest Himself? The glory of God changes everything. It makes us be still and to be at awe of His magnificence. We all seek the glory of God and desire His presence in our midst. This is the subject of the next two devotionals.

God’s glory was manifested in different forms in the Old and the New Testament. 

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters. Psalm 29:3

God’s nature is continually showing His glory! The majesty of mountains, the depths of canyons, and the constant rush of waterfalls all speak to the glory of the One who made them. We see the glory of God in the awesome sound of the oceans, the thunder of clouds, and the howling winds. 

And you said: ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives. Deuteronomy 5:24

God showed His glory to the Israelites by leading them through the desert by fire at night, and it didn’t consume them. It only showed them the way. While fire is dangerous, it gives us heat and is useful for a whole host of other reasons. It is a reminder that God is a consuming fire, but in His grace, He manifests His glory through fire without consuming us. Faced with unknown circumstances, it was glorious for the Israelites to hear the voice of God in the midst of the fire.

And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.” 1 Samuel 4:22

The glory of God was present in the Ark of the Covenant, and when the ark was captured, the Israelites knew that God’s glory had departed from them. His glory was a reminder of God’s favor and His special relationship to His people, and they did not want to lose it. 

As the children of God, we have a special covenant with the Lord. He has deposited His Holy Spirit in us, and God manifests His glory through His still small voice. While His voice may not be noticed by others around us, we know God meets us. His voice is glorious!

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2Chronicles 7:14

I shared last time that God gave the above instructions to Solomon in good times before the Israelites were in trouble. The Lord knew that Israelites will need healing for their nation at some point in time! According to above scripture, God asked people to do three things: humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways. The first two were the subject of the last devotional. The third part of the instruction is the subject of this devotional.

3. Turn from their wicked ways

With the presidential elections so close, there has been a new level of interest in prayer, and this scripture gets quoted as an encouragement to pray for our nation.  The scripture calls us to humble ourselves and pray, but we forget the portion that tells us to turn away from our wicked ways, in order for God to forgive us and heal our land.

Why does our nation need healing? Somewhere along the line, we have changed direction and have moved towards deliberate sin. This causes all sorts of ailments for society that leads to distrust and breakdown of relationships at every segment of society. If we want God to heal our land, then our part is to reflect at a personal, church, and national level and see if there is any wicked way in us. The posture of humility and prayer opens the door for the Lord to show us the areas that need repentance and change.

You may say,” I am a pretty good Christian, and I don’t have any wicked ways in me.” Then here are a couple questions that might help:  Are there areas in our society that you think the system is broken and needs improvement? If yes, have you been a contributor to the problem by your words, attitude, and activities? Is there anything you can do to help and/or bring about a change in that area? Sometimes wickedness is overt. At others times, it is due to passivity when we allow wickedness to go on.

The above scripture is about taking personal responsibility, repenting, and asking Him to heal our land. We cannot repent for other people. However, we can repent for our part and then intercede for our nation. 

In the Old Testament, there were many times that the nation of Israel fell into the cycle of sin. However, they would eventually repent and reset their focus back on God. As people of God, we reset our focus by humbling ourselves, praying and turning from our wicked ways, in order for God to intervene and show His mercy by healing our land. 

If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2Chronicles 7:14

God spoke to Solomon and gave him the above instructions following the temple dedication ceremony. It took years for  Solomon to build the temple, which was followed by a dedication service that lasted seven days. The nation of Israel was doing well in that moment, but God knew that the seasons of sin and disobedience will come! Therefore, He gave them the above instructions for those seasons!

The Lord gave the people three instructions:

1. To humble themselves

   It is hard to be open to hear God’s instruction or be willing to make adjustment unless we are willing to humble ourselves.

   Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17

   Regardless of our personal or national success, we must remember that the Lord is the giver of all good things. We can do nothing apart from God giving us the strength, the means, and the right circumstances to help us make progress.

2. To pray

   There is a prayer famine in the land. We are a society who does more and prays less. This is true personally and nationally. At the personal level, we are on the move all the time, so our prayers are drive thru type of prayers, or we are praying while we are doing something else. We generally pray when we need something, or we have something to say to God. How often do we just listen to what God may say in return? What would be the quality of our relationships with our loved ones if that was our regular form of communication with them?

   At the church level, we have many programs, but prayer is lacking. If there is a prayer ministry, only a few old people attend it because everyone else is too busy to attend prayer meetings! At the national level, our leaders and presidents who claim to be Christians, don’t mention the name of God in fear of offending people. Our Founding Fathers had no reservation to talk about their faith or write lengthy prayers for our nation, but that is not the case anymore. The leaders use the name of God only in times of tragedy or when concluding lengthy speeches by stating, “God bless America”! Is that all it takes for our nation to be blessed by God!? Was He just waiting for us to include Him at the end of a speech to show the world that we have not forgotten about Him? Why have we believed the lie that people are offended by mentioning the name of God? Has democracy made the concept of popular sovereignty more important than divine sovereignty!? Do we really believe that we can have true governmental freedom apart from the author of freedom!?

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

I shared in the last devotional, that when we follow Jesus, we begin a process of transformation that positions us for true unity with others. This helps us not to force ourselves into a certain mold of  conformity in order to be in unity with others. 

Biblical unity is based on scripture and God’s will for the body of Christ. Paul tell us the following in 1Corinthian 12:12-14:

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. 

If we are going to operate as a body, we need to be united and remain united. Looking unto Jesus and desiring to conform to His image, does not negate that each of us still will look and operate differently from each other.  God has designed us to be a body with many members and functions. Our differences should not separate us but complement each other. A body of many parts needs each member to do its job in order for the body to be supported well and accomplish all its assigned tasks.

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Ephesians 2:2-4

In Ephesians 2, Paul tells us that in humility we need to consider others better than ourselves. The truth is that our fallen nature does not function that way. Superiority complex or inferiority complex should have no room in the life of a believer or the body of Christ. The Biblical mandate tells us  to humble ourselves which means we need to stop being self-absorbed and make everything be about us. We also need to consider others better than ourselves. This is not for the purpose of comparing our value to others and feel inferior.  It is about appreciating and valuing what others contribute to the health of the body as a whole.  We would suffer if they were not here.

Lord, thank you for the provision of the body of Christ. Please show us your heart for the body and teach us how we can be part of bringing unity and avoiding conformity.  Amen!

In part I of this devotional, I shared the difference between conformity and transformation, and in part II, I wrote about the difference between imitating rather than following people to learn for a season. Today, I’ll pull those truths together to share what God is looking for us individually. Part IV of devotional will be about our corporate unity that is established on our individual transformation.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2

The scripture in Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conforming to the world but allowing our minds to be transformed. In order to develop true unity, we need to find our identity in the person of Christ. We also need to challenge our view of unity according to the Bible rather than our upbringing or the messages we heard from those around us.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29

In Romans 8:29, Paul urges us to be conformed to the image of Christ. We were born in the image of God. Sin marred that image, and we lost sight of true righteousness and holiness. God sent Jesus to us as the perfect example of what He desires His children to become for His intended original purpose. The scripture tells us that we are to have the mind of Christ.

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 1Corinthians 11:1 (KJV)

In 1 Corinthians 11:1,  Paul tells us to follow him, as he follows Christ. Jesus is the blueprint of what God is looking for in His people. Jesus made the way for us to escape the corruption of the old nature, in order to freely follow Christ and model our lives after Him.

When every believer is willing to go through the process of transformation, we are in a better position to be in unity with others without having to conform to others. I will continue with this subject in the next devotional. 

One of the common scriptures used in the body of Christ to defend conformity is the following: 

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NKJV)

The word “imitate” does not exist in King James Version (KJV). Instead the word “follow” is used the in King James version of this scripture:

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 1Corinthians 11:1 (KJV)

There is a difference between mindlessly imitating and intentionally following! Mindless imitation is conformity but intentional following causes growth and transformation! A parrot imitates its master and can speak something without ever understanding the meaning of what has been said. On the other hand, children mimmic their parents because they are learning a skill. They repeat what a parent says or does because the child is curious and interested to be like mom or dad. As we all know, eventually, the children stop mimicking their parents and form their own words and sentences. This is an important part of the development. I don’t think any parent wants their 10 or 15 year old to sound or act just like them.

Similarly, Paul is asking the Christians to follow his way of life as he is following Christ. Looking up to our spiritual mentors and initially imitating them can be part of our spiritual development. However, there should come a time that our faith has taken its own life. We learn to hear the Lord and His direction for us, and it is not always the same as our mentor’s instruction. As a matter of fact, there may be times that we actually challenge a perspective/interpretation that our mentor has regarding a topic or a scripture.

Our children stop conforming at some point as well. There comes a time in teen-age years that they don’t actually like or agree with everything we say, and that is ok. If we desire for them to develop independence from man’s approval, we have to give them room to be their own person. We don’t need to get overly concerned that this is the end of our relationship with them. There may be some rocky years ahead, but hopefully that will subside in time and instead we will develop a mutual respect and love for each other’s views.

If we remain in imitation mode, we will not grow beyond those whom we have been following. If we grow beyond what our mentors have taught us, it may get uncomfortable at times, but we are allowing God to shape us uniquely for His purpose. If we remain in conformity mode, we will disengage with God and just develop a religious vocabulary and activity. This will cause us to miss the most important part of our faith which is to being transformed into likeness of Christ.

Jesus called His disciples to follow Him. The call has not changed. He is not calling us to follow the crowd,  a particular denomination, or a certain preacher. He is calling us to Himself!