Friend vs. Friendly

There’s a difference between being a friend and just being friendly, isn’t there? We can be kind and friendly to everyone. But a friend invests time, emotion, and space. They open their hearts, lives, and homes. 

We’ve moved from city to city and making new friends is always tricky. Someone has to open themselves up to you and you have to be willing to step into that space. I’ll never forget moving to Borger. The first week we were there, we went to a high school football game. I was sitting with my four kids, and two women came bouncing down the bleachers and sat and talked to me half of the game. We became close friends…which opened us up to their circle of friends. 

If we’re the permanent people, we need to make an effort to welcome new people. It’s so easy to get comfortable with our friends and want to close ranks.  But oh what we miss when we do that! We miss being the expression of Jesus. We miss new opportunities and friendships. We miss making sure new people feel welcome. 

If we’re new to a place, we have to make an effort, don’t we? We have to go to church, business, or town events and be friendly. We have to be willing to strike up a conversation with a neighbor. We have to quit hiding and just hoping friends materialize. We can even open ourselves up to the people who are newer than us!

Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly.”  Another way of saying that is, “To have a friend, you must be a friend.” We’re living in a culture where it’s easy to just hide at home. We’re exhausted from long days and just want to chill. We’re friendly with a lot of people…but we’re not opening and investing ourselves. We NEED friends! I encourage you to step out. Invest yourself. Make a new friend this week. Don’t just be friendly…be a friend. These days are hard and we need good friends.

Journey to Jerusalem

“But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.” Luke 9:53. 

Jesus knew what was ahead. Jerusalem. Torment. Death. But he set his face toward it. He kept trying to tell the disciples about his death to prepare them—but they couldn’t receive it. But who wants to receive the future of death? Even Jesus asked his Father if there was any other way!

We all face death. It’s a death not of your choosing. Death of a vision. Death of a ministry. Death of a marriage. Death of a business. Death of a friendship. Death…literal death. Jesus showed us how to face it:

1. Set your face toward it. Face death square in the face. Walk towards it. (Luke 9:53)

2. Ask the Father if there is any other way! (Matthew 26:29)

3. Ask friends to pray with you. (Matthew 26:38)

4. Submit to God’s plan. He loves you and only wants His best for you. (Matthew 26:42)

Here’s what God wants us to know. Death is not the end. Even Jesus’ death became the door by which we could enter heaven for all eternity by putting our faith in Him. Death is the seed put in the ground that then sprouts new life. 

But when you’ve set your face for the journey to Jerusalem, it’s hard to see that. Always remember, God is there…even in death. 

“For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, we shall also be [one with Him in sharing] His resurrection [by a new life lived for God].”  Romans 6:5 AMP

Jesus is Lord

What does it mean when we say, “Jesus is Lord?” Lord means master, one who has control, the possessor and disposer of a thing, the one who decides. When we come to Jesus, we have to submit to His control. It’s the only way! He becomes the boss or master of our lives and it’s our “job” to obey and follow Him. 

Satan can’t stand losing control of us. But once we become God’s child, he no longer has control. Oh…he’ll try to make us think he’s in control. He’ll lie to us and manipulate us and our circumstances. He’ll whisper phrases like, “If only…” He’ll try to convince us a job or a spouse is controlling us and smothering us. He doesn’t care—he’ll use parents, peers, kids, finances, or lack of purpose (or lack of anything) to convince us he’s in control. He’ll tell us that we need to take action to protect ourselves because no one else is looking out for us. He wants us fighting and resisting one another.

But if you’ve chosen to follow Jesus, He is your master! You’ve entered a new kingdom where He is King. He is in control. And His instruction to you is to submit to Him and follow Him. It’s a relief, really…isn’t it? Someone who loves you is in control! Someone who cares about every detail of your life is in charge. Someone who wants the very best for you wants to direct not just your life—but even those around you. All you have to do is obey Him. He’s the Master, Lord, King, and Ruler of your life. 

Jesus is LORD.

The Wilderness

The Wilderness

What is the wilderness? The Greek word is eremos which means a lonely, solitary, desolate, uninhabited, wasteland. When we went to Israel, we saw the wilderness—the desolate place where Jesus was tempted. Here’s what I found interesting as I read Luke 3 & 4 this week. John the Baptist came OUT of the wilderness to begin his ministry…and Jesus was led INTO the wilderness by the Spirit of God before he began his ministry. 

Have you ever been to the wilderness? I have. In fact, I’ve been there several times. It can feel like death. It’s a place where you’re shut in by God. There doesn’t seem to be any fruit. It’s a place of self-examination and of confrontation. Satan will accuse you, lie to you, and entice you there. It can feel like God has abandoned you. But He hasn’t…He’s preparing you. 

Luke 4:1 says, “Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit…was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” The wilderness is intentional. It’s a place of testing and sharpening. It’s critical to your growth. It’s laying the groundwork for how God wants to use you. Unfortunately, you can give in to the scandalous lies and enticements of Satan and remain in the wilderness. It’s a terrible place to exist—with the enemy and death. God wants so much more for you!

Luke 4:11 says, “Then Jesus returned in the POWER OF THE SPIRIT to Galilee.” (Emphasis mine). The wilderness is to empower you for the work ahead. John came out of the wilderness and prepared the way for the Lord. Jesus came out of the wilderness and fulfilled God’s redemptive plan. 

You can come out of the wilderness empowered—empowered by the Spirit of God to participate in God’s kingdom plan! 

That’s the purpose of the wilderness.

Mary and Elizabeth

God was so gracious in giving Mary some distinct encouragements along the way of giving birth to the Messiah. One of those was to give her close relative, Elizabeth, a child. THE child who would prepare the way for Jesus. In fact, Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was with child. Elizabeth had been barren and was now old…but Gabriel said, “For with God, nothing will be impossible.”

Don’t you know it was a sign post to be told Elizabeth was with child? “Hurry!  Go to her! You can encourage one another.” Some theologians think these women were distant relatives. I think they were much closer. Their mothers may have been sisters—even though Elizabeth was old enough to be Mary’s mother or grandmother. If you have a big family, you know how that is possible. But for Mary to want to go to Elizabeth tells me they already had a strong relationship. 

Elizabeth’s baby leapt in her womb when she saw Mary and she KNEW Mary was the mother of God’s Son. They both praised God! Mary stayed with her for three months. I’m sure they helped and encouraged one another during a difficult time. Who better to help Mary, an unwed mother, than someone who’d endured wagging tongues over her own barrenness? How kind of God to “keep it in the family” by giving the one who would prepare the way of the Lord to Elizabeth, Mary’s relative. 

Mary had many encouragements from God along the way. But somehow…I feel this one was very precious.  

Envy Kills

Envy kills. The chief priests handed Jesus over to be killed because of envy. (Mark 15:10) Envy is stronger than jealousy. Jealousy wants what another person has. Envy is willing to rip away what the other person has for himself—and he’ll go to any lengths to do it. Envy wants to be better than the other person—so he can’t have the other person looking good or succeeding. Envy is a reputation-killer.  Envy wants to look better than everyone else.

James 3:16 says, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” You’ve probably seen it in action in your own community. I’ve seen a mother of a teen-age girl plot to make their daughter the most popular by destroying the reputation of other moms and daughters. This created an atmosphere of a group of girls becoming malicious and hate filled. I’ve seen business owners start rumors about competitors until those other businesses had to shut their doors. The whole town became a hotbed of evil. Envy is rampant!

I Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love does not envy.” If you find an envious person, you can know there is no love there. Turn away from them. God tells us not to even desire to be with them. Why? You’ll become like them—or get yourself killed. 

Because envy kills.  

Jesus’ Compassion

When I’m ready to be alone…I’m ready to be ALONE! That’s where I recharge. I’ve been known to get away by myself for a week at a time. And when I’m alone, I don’t want contact with the outside world. 

There are two important stories back-to-back in Mark 7 & 8. The first says Jesus entered a house and wanted no one to know it. He’d just had a confrontation with the Pharisees and then spent time teaching his disciples what it meant. I can’t imagine how exhausted he was. He’d been traveling, healing, teaching, and doing miracles. Those all set him up for attacks from the enemy. So not only was he tired physically, but he was spent emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. If anyone deserved a break, it was Jesus. But instead, a Greek woman hears he’s in the house and comes and wants a demon cast out of her daughter. Instead of having her sent away, he interacts with this woman and then delivers her daughter—from where he sat. 

This may seem like a small thing. But Jesus was SPENT! He gave out of what he didn’t have. Instead of being exhausted and thinking only of himself, he sacrificed and gave. He leaves there and performs another miracle on his way to the Sea of Galilee…which brings us to chapter 8. 

It's here that Jesus spends three days teaching a multitude of over 4000 people. He tells his disciples, “I have compassion on these people because they’ve been listening to me teach for three days and have no food.  We can’t send them home like this or they may faint along the way.” Jesus doesn’t say, “Guys, I’ve been teaching for three days and have eaten very little. I’m exhausted. Will you figure out how to get these people some food and send them away while I go sleep?”  No. Jesus takes the little they find, blesses and breaks it, and feeds over 4000 people. 

Did you know that a person preaching a 30-minute sermon can expend the same amount of energy as someone working an 8-hour work day? They give mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Jesus had to have been exhausted—and coming off of a time when he was already spent! But…he had compassion. He didn’t ask the disciples to “fix it.”  Instead, he demonstrated how to give out of compassion when you have nothing left to give. He was always mentoring them…and us. 

We’re living in a day where the needs are great and people need to know about Jesus. We have a choice. I have a choice. I can come home tired, hide away, and kick my feet up…or I can have compassion for the hungry and feed them.

Which will you do?  Which will I do?