A Servant Leader - Deut. 6-10 & Mark 10-11

In the midst of Jesus and his disciples, Jesus had a special relationship with a certain three - Peter, James, and John. I don't know if they "got it" more and so He spent more time with them - or perhaps the opposite - maybe they needed the most work! Or maybe it was as simple as Jesus and these men had similar personalities or senses of humor so they spent more time together. Whatever the case may have been, one day two of these three ask Jesus for a favor - a big one. They ask if they can sit on His left and right in the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses this as another opportunity for teaching. He teaches His disciples and us that, "Whoever wants to be a leader must be a servant." How true this is in the church. How wonderful of a world we would live in if more folks took on this attitude instead of "Me first."

Jesus goes on in the very next chapter to portray His message further. In what may sound to us like the opposite of a humble scene, Jesus shows His frame of mind to the crowd. He enters Jerusalem on a donkey as the people sing to Him and lay branches and coats on the ground in front of Him. To use this may seem like Jesus thought He was high and mighty. But to the audience back then it would've almost seemed embarrassing for Jesus. When kings entered a town they would ride in on a mighty stallion with somewhat of a royal parade to welcome them. Jesus, who was indeed a king, rode in not on a stallion, but a donkey. And not with a royal parade, but with tree branches and peoples' jackets. Jesus was reinforcing the idea that He was a king, but a completely different kind of king. A king who was a servant. A king who would suffer on behalf of His subjects. A King of Love.

I am proud to serve Him and attempt to follow His lead as a servant to this world.

Remember - Deut.1-2 & Mk 10:1-31

The book of Deuteronomy is Moses' teachings to those who would enter the Promised Land. He recounts the entire history of the Exodus and God's redeeming acts. He recounts the laws that God gave, so the people can obey them and not suffer "wandering through life" as their parents did. And he instructs Joshua, as the new leader of this nation.

Today, as we start the book of Deuteronomy, think about these things in your life. How has God acted in your life? How has He provided for you, protected you, defeated your enemies? What might He have in store for you? What guidelines has God provided that you need to follow so that you're not stuck wandering through life, but rather following His path.

An interesting thing that I saw today as I read Deut. 1 is that it says that the Israelites wandered for 40 years and path that should've taken ELEVEN DAYS! Wow, I want so badly to just follow God's lead so it doesn't take my whole life to get around to what God wanted me to enjoy years earlier.

Moving on into Mark 10, we get to hear Jesus' teaching on divorce, entering the Kingdom of Heaven, and the cost of following Him.

With regard to divorce, it's not really a tough issue for Jesus, is it? Don't do it! If you do you are an adulterer. Jesus sounds pretty harsh, but remember that our relationship with Him is mirrored in the marriage relationship. It's supposed to be one of unending love. Jesus, obviously doesn't want this image messed up.

Jesus also teaches on entering the Kingdom of Heaven b/c someone asks him what they must do to have eternal life. Notice that His answer is not "Just believe." His answer is first of all, to obey God's commands, and secondly, give up everything on account of Him. This is obviously not easy for anyone, but Jesus points out that it is particularly hard for the rich. For those of us who live in America, that is something to pay attention to. Especially considering that even our poorest people are much more blessed than most folks in other countries.

Jesus isn't shy about letting people know that entering His kingdom is costly - it costs you everything! Why are we so shy about it? We want to give people God's grace and love unconditionally. But there is a condition - we must first give ourselves to Him. Jesus gave His life for us - are we willing to give our lives to Him?

Numbers 23-36 & Mark 8-9

Wow, I haven't posted since last Wednesday - sorry about that. I did pretty much the same thing last week. It is a discipline for me to blog everyday, I will try to be more faithful.

If you are reading along with me, congratulations again, we just finished another OT book! We have already made it through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers! If you have made it this far that is indeed an accomplishment - good job.

Towards the end of Numbers, we get a glimpse of who all makes up the nation of Israel at this point and we see a changing of the guard, with Moses preparing Joshua to take the lead. We also get to see God preparing the people for their new home. It's interesting how He provides common-sense guidelines for them and instructs them on how to divide things up evenly. We will get a pretty detailed summary of the last few books as we read through Deuteronomy. Remain faithful, things will get more exciting as we head into Joshua...

In the chapters 8-9 of Mark, we have seen Jesus feed four thousand, give sight to a blind man, accept Peter's confession of Him as the Messiah, predict His own death, be transfigured on the mountain, heal a demon-possessed boy, predict His own death again, teach the disciples that whoever is a servant to others is the greatest in His kingdom, and warn people not yield to temptation. That's a lot to cover in just a couple of chapters!!! But I think most important in these passages is Jesus' identity. Some try to claim that Jesus was simply a brilliant thinker or a great man, maybe even a prophet. But in these chapters, by Peter's confession, Jesus' transfiguration, and by His own predictions of His death, Jesus reveals Himself as either the one, true Messiah, or a madman! His miracles and healings only prove the fact that He is from God.