“If you love me…”

Exodus 7:14-20   

Yesterday we read about Moses encountering God in the burning bush and today we read about Moses and Aaron encountering God through obedience. Moses and Aaron demonstrate obedience to God by confronting Pharaoh for the first in at least seven times in an effort to seek the release of the Jews from slavery.

Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you love me you will obey what I command.” Obedience – sometimes this is a tough concept. We want to follow our own desires. We want God to do things our way. We want things to “make sense” in this world and in our lives. We read in Exodus that God actually hardened Pharaoh's heart as Moses and Aaron delivered their warnings about some of the plagues.

Clearly God has a bigger picture in mind. His perspective is eternal and He simply asks us, like Moses and Aaron, to be obedient. This is how Jesus said we could show our love for Him.

After the Jews release from Egypt God asked Moses, Aaron and the Jewish people to remain obedient as they made their journey to the Promised Land. In a similar manner, God asks us to be obedient as we make our journey to the “Promised Land”. He does this out of love, wanting what is best for us – for eternity. “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

Get to the Back of the Line

Philippians 2:6-11

From humble servant to exalted King… Today’s passage brings to mind Matthew 20:16, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”  Jesus very well could have used his stature as God’s son to demand obedience from others, but he didn’t.  He didn’t ask for special treatment.  He was just a man among men.

Jesus, who was everything, made himself nothing.  He didn’t take advantage of his power and authority to get out of doing things.  Instead, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross” (v. 8).

Because Jesus made himself last, God made him first.  “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name” (v. 9).

Jesus gives us a wonderful example.  Our adulation will not come here on earth, but with our Father in heaven.  This isn’t the time or place for a big ego.  We’re called to be humble servants who love the Lord.  If we go through this life acknowledging Jesus Christ as our Savior, then we will have done what we are called to do.  A glorious new life will be waiting, and we can trade in our humanness for a royal robe in God’s kingdom. Our riches will come in the form of salvation and eternal happiness.

Now would I still like Publisher’s Clearing House to show up at my door with an oversized check?  Certainly! But as a follower of Christ, I know where my true treasure lies.  I just need Scripture and people like Paul to keep reminding me of that.

Complete Commitment

John 15:18-25

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015%3A18-25&version=NIV;ESV

  

On January 8, 1956, Jim Elliot and four other missionaries, were killed by members of the Auca Indians in Ecuador. They had landed their plane to make friendly contact with the tribe.

 

On April 20, 1999, Rachel Scott was the first student to be shot and killed in the Columbine High School massacre. One of the shooters asked her if she still believed in God. When Rachel answered him that she did, he killed her.

 

Although very different circumstances, these six people died because of their faith in Christ. There have been many other Christian martyrs during the past two thousand years. In fact, according to an April 14, 2017 Fox News report, as many as 90,000 Christians each year are martyred.

 

Jesus spoke the following words to his disciples as he prepared them for what was to come. He seems to be saying, get ready to be martyred for following me.

 

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.     ESV

 

Jesus spoke these words to his disciples at a specific moment in time and in history. What do they mean to us today? Should we expect to be martyred? And if we’re not, does that mean we’re not following Christ? I don’t believe so.

 

For sure, Rachel Scott did not anticipate that on that day she would lose her life because she said that she believed in God. She was being obedient to Christ. That is what we are called to do regardless of whether it means going to the jungles of Ecuador, the hallways of your high school or the office at your job.

 

The good news is that regardless of where God is calling you to serve Him, He promises that you will not be alone; that you will not struggle alone. In John 14, Jesus made this promise to his followers.

 

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth.     NIV

 

His promise is still true today.

 

 

 

Peter and the Risen LORD -- John 21-1:14

A bumper sticker I read once said, "A bad day fishing is still better than a good day at work."  The disciples had certainly had their share of bad days.  They experienced some difficult times what with their beloved friend, Jesus' arrest, torture and ultimate death.  The men found themselves living in fear, running and hiding from anyone who might associate them with Jesus.

Now, this hand-pick crew were further traumatized by Jesus' return to life.  Sure, He told them He would rise on the third day, but can you imagine their surprise and wonder when this actually happened?  This all had to be very stressful for them.

Peter, the new leader of this band of brothers declares, "I'm going fishing!"  The men gathered with him said, "We're going with you."  Fishing was the trade for many of these men and something they could find comfort and familiarity doing, perhaps giving them a sense of having some control over their lives again.  This is where Jesus found them one morning.

Even the fishing didn't go well until a man on shore told them to throw their nets over the other side.  They caught so many fish by being obedient, their nets were bursting.  It was at this moment Peter recognized Jesus.  "It's the Master!" he said.

How often we are rescued, only to realize it was God who got us through a situation, it was God who cured our illness, God who put us in the right place at the right time to get that job we so desperately needed.  Indeed, "It is the Master!"

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