Holy Week Tuesday: Are you Prepared?
Devotions this week will touch on an event which took place on this day of Holy Week.
Palm Sunday Message: Lead Me to the Cross…Follow the Donkey…Find the Cross!
Are you prepared?
John Wooden, a legend coach of the UCLA Bruins, would tell his team, “What opportunity strikes, it’s too late to prepare.” This statement motivated his team to put in the work, hone their skills, and understand the strategy of the game. Why? Because when the opportunity or need for a certain play, a clutch basket, or a defensive stand came to win a game or a championship, it was too late to stop and practice. Preparation had to happen before the reality came.
In Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus spends a good part of Tuesday of Holy Week instructing his disciples on how to be ready for his return. While there will be signs that the end is near (ones we see regularly even today), the specific day and hour is unknown. Here’s what Jesus said to watch for:
Matthew 25:4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
We like to procrastinate. It may feel good in the moment to put off something, especially if you don’t want to do it. However, I am learning that you never know what is going to happen, even if you know a deadline, so better to get the project done as soon as possible…and don’t procrastinate.
Jesus teaches on the end of times to remind us to always be ready. He doesn’t want his return to catch us unprepared.
Matthew 25:42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
So how do we prepare? We stay close and regularly connected to Jesus. Take to heart the words of Jesus. And put into practice the work of Jesus.
Like a student who regularly does his homework and reads the material assigned, there is no anxiety when the teacher decides to give a surprise quiz, so the believer who trusts in Jesus as Savior, regularly reads the words God has given to us, and puts into practice the love of Jesus…he/she has nothing to fear when Jesus returns. In fact that day will be one we anticipate and look forward to rather than dread and worry about.
Luke 21:25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Apply: Take time to read Matthew 24 & 25. What do you see happening today? Is it possible Jesus could return today? Are you ready? What commitments can you make to yourself and Jesus to be better prepared for the day of his return?
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for encouraging us and teaching us about what it means to be prepared for your return. Help us to stay close to you, regularly take in your Word, and be about your work while we wait. AMEN.
Holy Week Devotions: Monday
Devotions this week will touch on an event which took place on this day of Holy Week.
Palm Sunday Message: Lead Me to the Cross…Follow the Donkey…Find the Cross!
Imagine if you came home from a vacation and found a number of people you didn’t know had moved in and were selling drugs out of your home. You’d be furious. Perhaps today you would call the police, but no one would blame you for being angry and upset and forcibly making the squatters leave. Your house was not a drug house. Period.
Monday of Holy Week, we find Jesus returning to the temple area where he had briefly looked around after his triumphal entry the day before. What he saw in the temple disturbed him greatly. Crooks had moved into his house.
Mark 11:15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written:
“ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’?
But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Selling and buying doves or other animals for sacrifice wasn’t necessarily the issue. This practice of greeting temple visitors with an opportunity to exchange their money into the local currency or to purchase what they needed for the temple sacrifice was not abnormal. The issue was it was being done IN the temple and a symptom of the reality people had lost perspective on the purpose of the temple.
For those Jesus directly addressed they had turned the temple into a business not a place of prayer. For those that were coming the money changers and sellers of sacrificial animals made it easy for individuals to “check the box” of their temple obligation.
The temple wasn’t established simply to go through the motions of ritual, it was a place where God desired to connect with his people. The purpose of the rituals of the temple were to develop a relationship with the Lord. The Lord didn’t want the motions, he wanted the heart.
Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
The fact that the temple area had been turned simply into a place of commerce indicated that people’s heart connection with the Lord had been replaced by either empty ritual or greedy gain.
Jesus clearing of the temple is a strong reminder of how much Jesus is and always has been interested in a relationship with people not just ritual from people. He desires the places where we come to worship to be about worship of the Lord, not serving of self.
Jesus came to Jerusalem to carry out his work to win the hearts of the people and fill them with faith, hope and forgiveness. The overturning of the money changers tables got the attention of the people so he might capture the hearts of people.
Apply: What “tables” does Jesus need to turn over in our heart that are creating a barrier to our relationship with the Lord? What rituals are getting in the way of your relationship with the Lord that if changed or removed would free up your heart to connect with the Lord?
Prayer: Lord, always remind us that our heart matters more than our ritual. Let all our rituals of worship be tools to connect our hearts with you. AMEN.
Lead Me to the Cross…The Glory of the Seed is in what it produces (part 2)
Daily Devotions based the Sermon on John 12:20-32 from March 21, 2021
THIS WEEK: Lead Me to the Cross…Plant a Seed…Find the Cross!
Jesus is excited about what his work produces in us.
Yesterday we considered the fruit that happens when we die to this world and live in view of eternity. Jesus’ work changes our mind and perspective on the things of this world and makes them secondary to the things that matter for eternal life.
Today, the second fruit Jesus loves to see:
John 12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Remember this response was predicated on the request of the Greek followers to see Jesus. In essence, Jesus is letting them know they will see him when they see his followers serving him. Jesus is seen when his heart of service is exhibited in his followers.
But this doesn’t grow naturally in us. In fact, what grows naturally in the “weeds” of our heart is the desire to serve self. We are naturally “what’s in it for me” type of people. We have a hard time giving of our time and energy for another person unless there is some “win” in it for me.
So how do we get rid of this self-centered weed and produce the fruit Jesus desires of serving him and serving others?
We have to die to ourselves so we can live for Jesus.
The Apostle Peter understood this change as he wrote: 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
Jesus died with our sins attached to him. This act on our behalf is like a spiritual “Round-up” chemical that kills sin “down to the root.” Jesus work doesn’t just change the outward behavior, but it changes the interior root. We can now die to sin and live for righteousness, live in the way that pleases the Lord and serves Jesus and others.
The Apostle Paul’s heart was changed by his encounter with Jesus. He realized his zealous persecution of the followers of Jesus in his first life as Saul was really a self-centered pride grab to augment his standing among his Pharisee peers. Jesus helped him see life completely differently. No longer was his life compelled by what he wanted for himself, but by what Jesus had done for him. When he realized the depth of Jesus’ love for him, he had no other choice but to dedicate his life to serving the one who gave his life for him.
2 Corinthians 5:14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
Jesus loves to see the Spirit of God change the hearts of mankind. Jesus loves it when his work for you shows up in a compelling life lived in honor of Jesus and in service of others. Jesus loves it when the fruit he desires shows up in the lives of his followers. Jesus loves it when others see him in the lives transformed by him.
The glory of the Seed (our Savior Jesus) is truly in the fruit it produces (our lives changed by him!)!
Apply: What areas of your life are you living for yourself? What does it look like when your thinking and activity shift to serving the Lord rather than self? Ask the Lord for strength to overcome selfishness and replace it with a heart of service.
PRAYER: Lord, may my life always reflect the love and service you have shown to me. AMEN.
Lead Me to the Cross…Glory in what the seed produces!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon on John 12:20-32 from March 21, 2021
THIS WEEK: Lead Me to the Cross…Plant a Seed…Find the Cross!
Gardening takes patience. Lots of it.
I planted a few pepper seeds about 3 weeks ago…I was ready to put new seeds in a couple starter containers that the shoots weren’t coming up. Only to see a couple little green things shoot up just yesterday.
But, by time those little seedlings produce a pepper, it’s probably another 8 weeks. It takes a long time for a seed to finally produce something. But when it does, it’s glorious. Those that don’t…well, not so glorious.
The ultimate glory of the seed is in what it produces. If it didn’t do anything (flowers or fruit) we probably wouldn’t plant the seed. But we plant the seed because we desire to see and enjoy what it produces.
The Lord is the same way. His glory is in what the Seed (Jesus) produces. Our Father in heaven sent Jesus to this earth to live, die and rise again. Yet it wasn’t just completing this work that was his purpose. Ultimately, he did all this to see his work reproduce and experience the fruit of that work.
What is the fruit of his work? Our lives changed by him in two specific ways. The first is this: We must die to this world and live for eternity. (Read tomorrow’s devotion for the second):
Just as Jesus went through the process of death that we might live, so we must also go through the process of death so that we might live…and not just physical death. Jesus put it this way in John 12:25:
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
It’s a stark and harsh contrast. Yet just like Jesus couldn’t just “partially die” he had to fully die for the payment for sin to be sufficient. So God calls us to die to this world. Die to what our sinful, world focused desires want. Jesus said it this way in Matthew 16:25-26: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
The answer, is there is no profit and no gain for loving this world and despising our connection with Jesus. The fruit of Jesus’ death in our lives is a complete trust and loyalty to him in our lives. It’s not that we can’t enjoy things of this world, but we can not live with our hearts fixated and satisfied by the things of this world.
The Apostle Paul described the change in Galatians 5:24-25 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
The same principle applies to us as Jesus applied to himself. If the seed falls to the ground and dies, it produces many seeds. If we are willing to let our sinful nature die, our Spirit driven nature will produce its fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22).
Truly the glory of God is seen when the Spirit of God produces faith and good fruit. Just like the glory of the seed is in the fruit it produces.
Apply: Evaluate the fruit you are producing. Does it indicate a loyalty, love and dedication to this world, or a loyalty, love and dedication to your Savior Jesus? Ask God to change your focus and love for this world to a focus and love for him.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for giving me a heart of faith that is able and willing to produce the fruit of faith. Forgive my love and loyalty to the world. Give me a stronger love and loyalty to you. AMEN.
Lead Me to the Cross…The Glory of the Seed Is in the Process!
Daily Devotions based the Sermon on John 12:20-32 from March 21, 2021
THIS WEEK: Lead Me to the Cross…Plant a Seed…Find the Cross!
I am not a biologist or a seed expert (never good to start with a disclaimer!).
But here’s what I’ve discovered.
Seeds are part of a cycle of life that God has programmed into a plant to perpetuate a plant once the lifespan of the original plan is over. However, if you skip part of the process, the final result will be stifled at best, completely fail at worst.
Jesus said, (John 12:24) I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
Jesus didn’t get into all the specifics of the seed, but he uses the biology of a seed to set up the theology of what he was going to do.
First the biology. A seed has three main components: 1) the outer shell, 2) the endosperm and the 3) embryo. The outer shell hardens as the seed matures on the parent plant and encapsulates all the energy and information the seed needs to later germinate and produce another plant. If the seed doesn’t mature (is a “wet” seed) it won’t germinate. It would be like picking a green bean (while it is still green) and trying to plant the seed. It doesn’t work because the seed isn’t mature until the bean has dried out and the seed’s outer shell hardened.
Inside the seed the endosperm is the portion of the seed that must give up its substance and nutrition to the embryo for the embryo to produce the root and the shoot. If the endosperm does not “die” the seed will not germinate and replicate. But if it dies, it will produce many seeds. (Hmm…sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)
Now the theology: Jesus knew that the seed would not carry out its purpose until it went through its process. Jesus knew that he could not finish his main purpose (see yesterday’s devotion) of saving souls without going through the process his father had given him. He knew the process entailed suffering and dying…i.e. “falling to the ground and dying.”
Luke 24:7 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’
Seems odd that Jesus had to die, but he did.
Peter tried to discourage it. Jesus called him an instrument of Satan.
Matthew 16:21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Jesus knew that in his death, many “seeds” or followers would be produced.
John 12:32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
Jesus willingly “fell to the ground and died” so that we might live.
It’s just the process the Father had determined.
Apply: It shouldn’t surprise us that the Creator would use an element of his creation to teach a wonderful truth. What other examples of this can you think of? Or next time you take a walk, notice nature around you. What lessons is God teaching you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for being willing to go through the process of living, dying and rising again. Without any one of these we are lost. With them all we are promised life eternal. AMEN.