“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14).

“Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give them – to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses” (Joshua 1:2-3).

Hmmm.

Which is it? “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” or “Go and take the land I promised you”?

These are two entirely different things.

As a rule of thumb, ask yourself are the things God is asking you to do within your control and abilities or whether they are outside your control and abilities. When it comes to those things that are outside our abilities and control, that’s when God fights for us. When it comes to those things that are within our abilities and control, God expects us to do what he asks us because he has already made it possible for us to do those things.

“Alright, preacher man, what in the world are you talking about?”

That’s a good question. So, when it comes to salvation, that’s all God. There’s not a darn thing we can do to earn our salvation. There is nothing we can do to get people “saved.” That’s all God. Only God can change this world. Only God can save. These are things way outside our abilities and control. Chill out. Trust God and watch him at work.

But there are many things within our abilities and control. What we think about. How we spend our time. How we treat others. How we point people to Jesus. Overcoming temptation. Forgiving those who hurt us. Repenting our sins. These are all within our control. AND God expects us to go and do what God asks us to do. The only one standing in the way of realizing these promises is you and me.

What are you waiting for? Go ahead. Do that which is in your control. Do those things that you can manage. There is more than enough to keep us busy for a lifetime.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

Every once in a while I come across a sentence or a phrase that lingers, irks, confronts, haunts. This is one of those. So I’m going to share it with you. I hope it lingers, irks, confronts, and haunts you too.

Francis Chan posted in social media, “When we get to a point where we are more concerned about our standard of living than we are about other human beings living…”

He didn’t even finish the sentence. He just left it like that. Francis Chan is a pastor. Back a decade or so, he was a pastor of one of the mega churches in California. But he left the mega church. Not because of a scandal. But because the gospel scandalized him. He realized that there were thousands of people at church every weekend, but very few disciples. Few were genuinely following Jesus. This scandalized him.

Now, Francis Chan pastors house churches with a dozen or people. And when they get to be over a dozen or so people, they plant another house church. And they are making more disciples and authentically living out what it means to be the church in those house churches than in the mega church with thousands of people.

I find his journey challenging and convicting.

And then he posts that sentence!

Dang. You see, I like my things. I don’t think I live an extravagant life, but I like my things. I have a pretty nice fountain pen collection. And I like them. And, if the truth be told, I can cut back on how often I eat out, how many pens and inks I buy…shoot. See. I like my pens!

So, I hope this phrase challenges you too so you can join me in thinking about and doing something about being even better stewards of all that God has given us than we are now.

“Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free'” (John 8:31-32).

If you hold to my teaching…

Things Jesus did not say:

• If you were born and raised in the church…
• If you sing the hymns and praise songs like you really mean it…
• If your mom has been praying for you for decades…
• If you know a bunch of stuff about the bible…

If you hold to my teaching…

• The Greek word for “hold” is meinete. We normally translate this word as “abide”
• The meaning is not that we hold this teaching in our minds but that we abide and live out the teachings of Jesus
• Not only does a disciple know the teachings of Jesus, they are living it out

When we hold/abide/live out the teachings of Jesus, we are his disciples. And when we live out the teachings of Jesus, we come to know the truth and that truth sets us free.

Too many in America’s churches want a Jesus who saves them from hell, but not a Jesus who changes them.

That’s a problem. If you hold/abide/live out the teachings of Jesus, transformation is the result. A disciple cannot remain the same. The disciple is always becoming more like Jesus as they hold/abide/live out the teachings of Jesus.