priorities

Mark8

34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, (Jesus) said,

"If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition,

take up your cross,

and follow me.

35 If you try to hang on to your life,

you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News,

you will save it.

36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

37 Is anything worth more than your soul?

38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days,

the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

...what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

In the forefront of the media's choices of what we will see & hear, there seems to be an awful lot of people around who seem to make their top priority to “gain the whole world”.

I have seen so many people come & go from the forefront of life, people who “had it all” but seemingly didn't have a connection to Jesus.

And as each one of them have died, I have wondered...

what would they say to each of us now, if they could?

I think it would be much diff3erent from what they had said while here on earth.

So what does this passage say to us who are still here & alive?

Get your priorities straight?

Keep the main thing the main thing?

Quit chasing fame, fortune, wealth, power, influence – did I mention power?

Maybe to let go of our lives & trust God with our lives?

There's so much to this passage within each layer of truth.

I just hope that more people will see the truth of “...what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Why?

Because eternity is a very, VERY long time.

simple, pivotal truth

Paul, the writer of the letter to the followers of Jesus in Rome, makes a BIG statement about who Jesus is & how He makes a way for us to reconnect with God

The pivotal nature of these verses cannot be underplayed.

This is some important, vital, basic, paramount concepts about the exclusivity of Jesus.

Romans 3

21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.

22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.

And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are or what we have done.

  23 For everyone has sinned;

we all fall short of God's glorious standard.

24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous.

He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.

People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.

This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time.

God did this to demonstrate his righteousness,

for he himself is fair and just,

and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

  27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God?

No,

because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law.

It is based on faith.

28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

  29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only?

Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles?

Of course he is.

30 There is only one God,

and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

31 Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law?

Of course not!

In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.

So much for “all faiths lead to God” thinking.

The best part of all of that is the simple fact that believing that Jesus is God's way of substituting Jesus' perfect life for our sins is possibly the most astounding truth ever uttered.

We are able to reconnect with God simply because we believe - “no matter who we are, or what we've done.

Can we let that sink in today?

which emphasis?

1 Peter 5:7

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

Give all your cares & worries to God, for He cares what happens to you.

It all depends on the emphasis you put on which word.

Which emphasis is yours today?

The fifth one is mine right now.

6 words

Mark 5

21 Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore.

22 Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived.

When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet,23 pleading fervently with him.

"My little daughter is dying," he said.

"Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live."

  24 Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him.

25 A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding.

26 She had suffered a great deal from many doctors,

and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them,

but she had gotten no better.

In fact, she had gotten worse.

27 She had heard about Jesus,

so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe.

28 For she thought to herself, "If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed."

29 Immediately the bleeding stopped,

and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

  30 Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him,

so he turned around in the crowd and asked,

"Who touched my robe?"

  31 His disciples said to him,

"Look at this crowd pressing around you.

How can you ask, 'Who touched me?'"

  32 But he kept on looking around to see who had done it.

33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done.

34 And he said to her,

"Daughter, your faith has made you well.

Go in peace.

Your suffering is over."

  35 While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue.

They told him,

"Your daughter is dead.

There's no use troubling the Teacher now."

  36 But Jesus overheard* them and said to Jairus,

"Don't be afraid. Just trust me."

  37 Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn't let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James).

38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing.

39 He went inside and asked,

"Why all this commotion and weeping?

The child isn't dead; she's only asleep."

  40 The crowd laughed at him.

But he made them all leave,

and he took the girl's father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying.

41 Holding her hand, he said to her,

"Talitha koum," which means "Little girl, get up!"

42 And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around!

They were overwhelmed and totally amazed.

43 Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened,

and then he told them to give her something to eat.

6 words...

That's all Jesus said to Jairus when Jairus had learned his daughter was dead.

What could have been going through Jairus' mind at the time?

He had just been told the most precious thing in his life was now dead.

And back then, dead was dead.

And Jesus, who knows what everyone is thinking, said just 6 words to Jairus...

“Don't be afraid. Just trust me.”

And look at what happened for Jairus...

How many of us have something precious in our lives that is dead?

Something that we tell ourselves, or others tell us to not both Jesus with – dead is dead.

We don't see how Jesus can make anything good happen to it.

Our situation seems, rationally, to be completely hopeless.

And yet, Jesus says the same thing to us that he said to Jairus...

“Don't be afraid. Just trust me.”

I don't know what “dead thing” you have in your life right now.

But what applied to Jairus applies to you, & me.

When things seem impossible, when there is a dead thing in our lives, Jesus says the same thing to us that He said to Jairus 2K+ yrs ago...

“Don't be afraid. Just trust me.”

scared

Mark 4

35 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples,

"Let's cross to the other side of the lake."

36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind

(although other boats followed).

37 But soon a fierce storm came up.

High waves were breaking into the boat,

and it began to fill with water.

  38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion.

The disciples woke him up, shouting,

"Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?"

  39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Silence! Be still!"

Suddenly the wind stopped,

and there was a great calm.

40 Then he asked them,

"Why are you afraid?

Do you still have no faith?"

  41 The disciples were absolutely terrified.

"Who is this man?" they asked each other.

"Even the wind and waves obey him!"

We often condemn the disciples for being so scared of the storm & of drowning, what with the Son of God in the boat.

But before we condemn the disciples, think about this...

Each of us has found God to be faithful, having had Him save our butts more than once.

But yet, when the “storms of life” hit us, how many of us are just like the disciples, scared of the storms & wondering if we'll survive, when the Son of God is right there with us?

Think about that today...

who do we look to?

Here's a vid that goes with this psalm...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtZX7a44fMI

Psalm 121

1 I look up to the mountains—

  does my help come from there?

(dan note: when this was written, many pagans believed the gods lived on high mountains. That's why the psalmist asks that question. He goes on to say that his God doesn't live on a mountain top.)

2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth!

3 He will not let you stumble;

  the one who watches over you will not slumber.

4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.

5 The LORD himself watches over you!

  The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade.

6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.

7 The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.

8 The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

2 quick question

Mark 2

13 Then Jesus went out to the lake shore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him.

14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector's booth.

"Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him.

So Levi got up and followed him.

  15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests,

along with many tax collectors and other notorious sinners.

(There were many people of this kind among Jesus' followers.)

16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples,

"Why does he eat with such scum?"

  17 When Jesus heard this, he told them,

"Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do.

I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."

Just a couple of quick things to think about on what will probably be a busy Thanksgiving Day for you.

Like Jesus, is the quality of the way we love & care about people so compelling & so genuine that even people who are pretty spectacular sinner want to be around us?

And if so, how are we leveraging that connection & influence to not only point people to Jesus but get them to commit to believe & follow Him?

2 quick question

Mark 2

13 Then Jesus went out to the lake shore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him.

14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector's booth.

"Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him.

So Levi got up and followed him.

  15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests,

along with many tax collectors and other notorious sinners.

(There were many people of this kind among Jesus' followers.)

16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples,

"Why does he eat with such scum?"

  17 When Jesus heard this, he told them,

"Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do.

I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."

Just a couple of quick things to think about on what will probably be a busy Thanksgiving Day for you.

Like Jesus, is the quality of the way we love & care about people so compelling & so genuine that even people who are pretty spectacular sinner want to be around us?

And if so, how are we leveraging that connection & influence to not only point people to Jesus but get them to commit to believe & follow Him?

pure & simple

Mark 116 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.

17 Jesus called out to them,

"Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!"

18 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

  19 A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee's sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets.

20 He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

If we claim to follow Jesus...

if we claim we are trying to walk in such a connection that we consider ourselves to be disciples of Jesus, people in the ways of discipleship...

then our mandate is the same as those 4 guys Jesus called early in His earthly ministry.

We are to “fish for people”.

We are supposed to try & connect people to Jesus, to show them by our lives & our words how to connect with God because of Jesus' life.

We are not supposed to wrap ourselves smugly in the warm security blanket of our connection with God & sit all safe & secure while the rest of the world goes slam to hell.

Ours is the same mandate as Simon, Andrew, James, & John...

follow Jesus, be his disciples, & spend ourselves trying to show those to whom He sends us how a way has been made to connect to God.

Pure & simple.

Follow Jesus.

Spend ourselves pointing people to Him.

go

Matthew 28

16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

17 When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!

  18 Jesus came and told his disciples,

"I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.

And be sure of this:

I am with you always,

even to the end of the age."

I still see the operative word in this passage as the word, “go”.

Jesus told his disciples, some of who still doubted Him, to not stay where they were, but to move forward, to something, get out there & tell people about Him.

Some still doubted Him – Jesus had come back to life – I wonder what it took for some of those disciples to fully believe that Jesus was who He said he was?

Jesus expects the same from us.

He expects us to leave the status quo, the comfortable, the safe, the regular, & get about the business of telling people about Him.

All my life I heard this passage used to challenge people to serve overseas as missionaries.

And it's a pretty good one for that.

But we miss the boat if we think that's all it is.

It is Jesus mandate for ALL of us to leave our comfort zones & reach out to people & tell them about what Jesus' life & death, & resurrection, mean.

That going could be close at hand – people we know, people we work with, people we encounter day to day.

What it does not mean is that we just bask & languish in the wonderful life we have in Jesus.

We are to “go” to people who don't connect, accept, believe, or follow Him & what He's all about.

And before we dismiss this mandate to “go”, consider this...

Where would each of us be if the people who impacted & influenced us to fellow Jesus had not taken seriously His mandate to “go”?

holding on

Holding on to this...

Psalm 27

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation - so why should I be afraid?

The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?

2 When evil people come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

3 Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid.

Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident.

4 The one thing I ask of the LORD - the thing I seek most - is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD's perfections and meditating in his Temple.

5 For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary.

  He will place me out of reach on a high rock.

6 Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me.

At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music.

7 Hear me as I pray, O LORD.

  Be merciful and answer me!

8 My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me."

  And my heart responds, "LORD, I am coming."

9 Do not turn your back on me.

  Do not reject your servant in anger.

  You have always been my helper.

Don't leave me now; don't abandon me, O God of my salvation!

10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close.

11 Teach me how to live, O LORD.

  Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me.

12 Do not let me fall into their hands.

  For they accuse me of things I've never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence.

13 Yet I am confident I will see the LORD's goodness while I am here in the land of the living.

14 Wait patiently for the LORD.

  Be brave and courageous.

  Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.

prophetic?

Prophetic words?

We shall see...

Psalm 37

1 Don't worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong.

2 For like grass, they soon fade away.

  Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

3 Trust in the LORD and do good.

  Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.

4 Take delight in the LORD, & He will give you your heart's desires.

5 Commit everything you do to the LORD.

  Trust Him, & He will help you.

6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, & the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

7 Be still in the presence of the LORD, & wait patiently for Him to act.

Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

8 Stop being angry!

  Turn from your rage!

Do not lose your temper - it only leads to harm.

9 For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the LORD will possess the land.

10 Soon the wicked will disappear.

  Though you look for them, they will be gone.

11 The lowly will possess the land & will live in peace and prosperity.

12 The wicked plot against the godly; they snarl at them in defiance.

13 But the Lord just laughs, for He sees their day of judgment coming.

14 The wicked draw their swords & string their bows to kill the poor & the oppressed, to slaughter those who do right.

15 But their swords will stab their own hearts, & their bows will be broken.

16 It is better to be godly and have little than to be evil and rich.

17 For the strength of the wicked will be shattered, but the LORD takes care of the godly.

18 Day by day the LORD takes care of the innocent,& they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.

19 They will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough.

20 But the wicked will die.

The LORD's enemies are like flowers in a field - they will disappear like smoke.

21 The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers.

22 Those the LORD blesses will possess the land, but those He curses will die.

23 The LORD directs the steps of the godly.

  He delights in every detail of their lives.

24 Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.

25 Once I was young, and now I am old.

  Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.

26 The godly always give generous loans to others, & their children are a blessing.

27 Turn from evil and do good, & you will live in the land forever.

28 For the LORD loves justice, & He will never abandon the godly.

He will keep them safe forever, but the children of the wicked will die.

29 The godly will possess the land & will live there forever.

30 The godly offer good counsel; they teach right from wrong.

31 They have made God's law their own, so they will never slip from his path.

32 The wicked wait in ambush for the godly, looking for an excuse to kill them.

33 But the LORD will not let the wicked succeed or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.

34 Put your hope in the LORD.

  Travel steadily along his path.

He will honor you by giving you the land.

  You will see the wicked destroyed.

35 I have seen wicked and ruthless people flourishing like a tree in its native soil.

36 But when I looked again, they were gone!

  Though I searched for them, I could not find them!

37 Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.

38 But the rebellious will be destroyed; they have no future.

39 The LORD rescues the godly; He is their fortress in times of trouble.

40 The LORD helps them, rescuing them from the wicked.

He saves them, & they find shelter in him.

sheep & goats

This is Jesus, the Son of God, speaking here.

Our attitude towards the people mentioned by Jesus in this passage really sucks.

The next time any of us hears the crappy attitudes we have towards the people Jesus mentions here, we should as forcefully remind them of Jesus' words.

I doubt it will affect their thinking.

We white evangelicals have legitimized long ago our attitudes towards the people Jesus talks about here.

Matthew 25

31 "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.

32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence,

and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

  34 "Then the King will say to those on his right,

'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.

35 For I was hungry, and you fed me.

I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink.

I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.

36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing.

I was sick, and you cared for me.

I was in prison, and you visited me.'

  37 "Then these righteous ones will reply,

'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?

Or thirsty and give you something to drink?

38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality?

Or naked and give you clothing?

39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?'

  40 "And the King will say,

'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'

  41 "Then the King will turn to those on the left and say,

'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.

42 For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me.

I was thirsty, and you didn't give me a drink.

43 I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home.

I was naked, and you didn't give me clothing.

I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'

  44 "Then they will reply,

'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?'

  45 "And he will answer,

'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'

  46 "And they will go away into eternal punishment,

but the righteous will go into eternal life."