"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed".
-Mark 1:35
Today at my church we had a message on the ending of Mark chapter 1. An interesting thing about Mark's gospel is that it goes through events quickly, not going into as much detail as the other gospels. The passages that we study as a church tend to be short, so we can expand on the events of Jesus' life as described in Mark. For this post, I just want to talk about the one verse I have written above.
This verse is quite short, but it tells us a couple important things. The first is that Jesus prayed in the morning, while it was still dark. My church has a daily prayer meeting at 5:30 am, where often times it is still dark. I can tell you that in the few times I have went to these prayer meetings, it has been very hard for me to wake up. I imagine that Jesus must have been a tired man, since He was always preaching, teaching, healing or driving out demons. However, Jesus still made sure He had time to pray, by waking up in the early morning.
What else does this verse reveal about Jesus' prayer? It says that He left the house and went off to a solitary place. Jesus went away from the house and to a solitary place so that He would have no distractions while He prayed. He didn't want to wake the disciples, because they probably would have bothered Him. Jesus wanted to make sure that His prayer was between Him and God, and that nothing would get in the way of His prayer.
The first question that I had while reading this passage is "why did Jesus even need to pray?" If Jesus is God, why does He need to spend time with God? I think the answer is that Jesus wanted to pray. He probably didn't need to pray, but He wanted to. Why would Jesus want to spend time in prayer? One main reason is to teach us to pray. Jesus wanted to set us an example that we could follow. Why should we pray if Jesus didn't pray? Jesus didn't just want to tell us how to live, but to show us how to live.
Another sign that Jesus wanted to pray is that He did it early in the morning. I once read that the most important things you do are when you first wake up and before you go to bed. Jesus wanted to make sure that He was in line with His Father's will before He even did anything else. Think about people who get up early to do something. The most common types of people who get up early are people who get up to exercise. They wake up super early so that they can go jog or work out at the gym. Why? They understand the importance of exercise, and want to make sure they have time everyday to get in shape. They exercise in the morning so that they have no distractions that can take time away from exercising. People who wake up early in the morning do it because they have a desire to do something they find important.
I believe that following Jesus' example of getting up early to pray is one of the most practical ways to change your spiritual life. If we wake up early to pray, we are saying that God is more important than anything else, and that He is worth waking up for. Waking up early ensures that we have no distractions that can take away time from prayer. Of course, waking up in the morning is never easy. How do we do it? The answer is that you have to learn to enjoy prayer. You also have to learn to prioritize prayer. If you don't think prayer is important, or that it is enjoyable, getting up to pray is impossible. Just remember this- if Jesus, a perfect man, prayed everyday, how much more important is it that we, who are imperfect, need to pray?
-Smart
From Death to Life (Ephesians 2:1-10)
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
-Ephesians 2:10
Yesterday we studied the first ten verses of chapter 2 in Ephesians. This passage basically explains the gospel message in ten verses. In my last post, I compared our situation to adoption. Today, I will be comparing our situation to death and life. Verse one kicks it off right away- "as for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins". The obvious question that was asked yesterday was, "what does it mean to have been dead in our sins"? Clearly, we were not dead physically, so what does Paul mean? A member of YDJ brought up a great point; there is a difference between living and existing. Existing is just being physically alive, but having no spiritual life. Living is to be living spiritually, in communion with God.
When we are spiritually dead, all we can think about is satisfying our cravings and desires for sin. Think about when you last craved something. For me, I often crave junk food, especially when I am at work. When you crave something, it's very hard to stop thinking about it. Eventually, you often just satisfy your craving. Unfortunately, often times the things we crave are not good for our well-being. The same is true of sin. When we want to sin, it's very hard to get it out of our mind. Often times, we just give in to the temptation. However, sin is not good for our spiritual well-being. Sin causes God's wrath to be on us. Sin makes us dead.
As I talked about last week, God did not leave us to die. He made us alive in Christ. Ephesians tells us another key point; not only are we made alive in Christ, but with Christ. Not only does God make us alive, but He raises us with Christ in the heavenly realms. The passage also says that we are saved by mercy and grace. In other words, we do not deserve to be alive. An interesting point was brought up by the discussion leader yesterday. Sometimes Christians get the idea that they aren't as bad of a sinner as someone else. They think that there is no way they can get the same punishment as other people. Think about physical death for a moment. Say that person A is dead for 10 minutes, and person B is dead for one year. Is person B any more dead than person A? Not really.
Another thing about being dead is that you can't do anything. When's the last time you saw a dead person contributing to society? When's the last time you saw a dead person do anything at all? The same is true of spiritual death. We can't do anything to change our situation. That is why we need grace and mercy. There's nothing we can do to make ourselves alive. That's why Jesus had to make us alive. Only He is able to change our situation. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."
The last thing I would like to talk about is verse 10, which I have written above. What is the importance of this verse? This verse is vitally important actually. One person mentioned yesterday that because we know that God created us, we know where we came from and where we are going. Think about that- we know that God made us, and that He made us to do good works. Another important thing to realize is that we are God's handiwork. What image comes to your mind when you hear handiwork, or workmanship? To me, I think about woodworking. A person crafting a table by hand means that they put in great care and effort into the table. God crafted us with His hands, and put great care and effort into us. He did not make us to be dead, but to be made alive in Christ.
-Smart
-Ephesians 2:10
Yesterday we studied the first ten verses of chapter 2 in Ephesians. This passage basically explains the gospel message in ten verses. In my last post, I compared our situation to adoption. Today, I will be comparing our situation to death and life. Verse one kicks it off right away- "as for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins". The obvious question that was asked yesterday was, "what does it mean to have been dead in our sins"? Clearly, we were not dead physically, so what does Paul mean? A member of YDJ brought up a great point; there is a difference between living and existing. Existing is just being physically alive, but having no spiritual life. Living is to be living spiritually, in communion with God.
When we are spiritually dead, all we can think about is satisfying our cravings and desires for sin. Think about when you last craved something. For me, I often crave junk food, especially when I am at work. When you crave something, it's very hard to stop thinking about it. Eventually, you often just satisfy your craving. Unfortunately, often times the things we crave are not good for our well-being. The same is true of sin. When we want to sin, it's very hard to get it out of our mind. Often times, we just give in to the temptation. However, sin is not good for our spiritual well-being. Sin causes God's wrath to be on us. Sin makes us dead.
As I talked about last week, God did not leave us to die. He made us alive in Christ. Ephesians tells us another key point; not only are we made alive in Christ, but with Christ. Not only does God make us alive, but He raises us with Christ in the heavenly realms. The passage also says that we are saved by mercy and grace. In other words, we do not deserve to be alive. An interesting point was brought up by the discussion leader yesterday. Sometimes Christians get the idea that they aren't as bad of a sinner as someone else. They think that there is no way they can get the same punishment as other people. Think about physical death for a moment. Say that person A is dead for 10 minutes, and person B is dead for one year. Is person B any more dead than person A? Not really.
Another thing about being dead is that you can't do anything. When's the last time you saw a dead person contributing to society? When's the last time you saw a dead person do anything at all? The same is true of spiritual death. We can't do anything to change our situation. That is why we need grace and mercy. There's nothing we can do to make ourselves alive. That's why Jesus had to make us alive. Only He is able to change our situation. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast."
The last thing I would like to talk about is verse 10, which I have written above. What is the importance of this verse? This verse is vitally important actually. One person mentioned yesterday that because we know that God created us, we know where we came from and where we are going. Think about that- we know that God made us, and that He made us to do good works. Another important thing to realize is that we are God's handiwork. What image comes to your mind when you hear handiwork, or workmanship? To me, I think about woodworking. A person crafting a table by hand means that they put in great care and effort into the table. God crafted us with His hands, and put great care and effort into us. He did not make us to be dead, but to be made alive in Christ.
-Smart
Chosen In Christ (Ephesians 1:1-14)
"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory."
-Ephesians 1:11-12
For the spring semester our church's young adult group (YDJ) is studying the book of Ephesians. We've actually already covered two passages, but I've been busy with school so I didn't get a chance to write about last week's passage until now. I've decided to write about each week's discussion so that I can hopefully encourage you through the book of Ephesians. I also think this is a good way for me to remind myself of what I've learned.
This passage has two key points that are actually both contained in the title of this post. "Chosen", and "In Christ". Last week we discussed what it means to be chosen. The first thing I thought of is when I play a pickup game of basketball. Why? In pickup basketball, the first step is to make teams. There are various ways to pick teams, but one of the most common is to have captains. The captains then decide who they want on their team. One of the best feelings is to be picked first, and one of the worst feelings is to be picked last or not at all.
Now the question I have is "why does it feel good to be chosen?" It's because the captain sees something in you that makes him want you to be on his team. It means that you are worth being on his team. Being chosen first is even better because that means you are seen as the most valuable asset to the team. Let's compare this to being chosen by God. The fact that God chose us might give us the idea that God wants us on His "team" and that we are valuable to Him. If we really stop and think though, why would God want us? How are we valuable to Him in any way?
The harsh truth is that there is nothing in us that makes us of any worth to God. We are sinners, and we are actually disgusting to God because of our sins. So again I ask, why does God choose us? Let me give another example, adoption. I have no experience with adoption, but I can understand the basic concept. A set of parents want to have kids, so they decide to take in someone to their family. They decided to adopt rather than have their own kids (or both), for various reasons. That's the parents' side of things, but think about the child. This child is lost, forgotten, and left behind. They feel worthless, and might feel that they can't ever be in a family again. However, when they are adopted, I cannot imagine what they must feel. Suddenly they are part of a family, a valuable and wanted member of the family. They are chosen.
I think that this is why Paul compares our redemption to adoption. We were lost, forgotten and left behind. Instead of leaving us to our own demise, God chose us to be part of His family. How amazing is that? We had nothing to offer God, yet He chose us. How can God accept us if we are separated from Him by our sin? The answer is again in the title- "In Christ". If you read through Ephesians 1, you immediately notice that Paul continually uses the phrase "In Christ". What does that mean? It means that all of the blessings that God pours out on us are only possible in Christ. I said earlier that there is nothing that makes us of any worth to God. While this is true, it is only true when we are not in Christ. In Christ, we are of the utmost value to God, and He wants us to be with Him. Christ has given us all of the blessings mentioned in Ephesians, including the adoption to sonship. My challenge to you is to think about what this all means. What does it mean to you that you are chosen in Christ?
-Smart
-Ephesians 1:11-12
For the spring semester our church's young adult group (YDJ) is studying the book of Ephesians. We've actually already covered two passages, but I've been busy with school so I didn't get a chance to write about last week's passage until now. I've decided to write about each week's discussion so that I can hopefully encourage you through the book of Ephesians. I also think this is a good way for me to remind myself of what I've learned.
This passage has two key points that are actually both contained in the title of this post. "Chosen", and "In Christ". Last week we discussed what it means to be chosen. The first thing I thought of is when I play a pickup game of basketball. Why? In pickup basketball, the first step is to make teams. There are various ways to pick teams, but one of the most common is to have captains. The captains then decide who they want on their team. One of the best feelings is to be picked first, and one of the worst feelings is to be picked last or not at all.
Now the question I have is "why does it feel good to be chosen?" It's because the captain sees something in you that makes him want you to be on his team. It means that you are worth being on his team. Being chosen first is even better because that means you are seen as the most valuable asset to the team. Let's compare this to being chosen by God. The fact that God chose us might give us the idea that God wants us on His "team" and that we are valuable to Him. If we really stop and think though, why would God want us? How are we valuable to Him in any way?
The harsh truth is that there is nothing in us that makes us of any worth to God. We are sinners, and we are actually disgusting to God because of our sins. So again I ask, why does God choose us? Let me give another example, adoption. I have no experience with adoption, but I can understand the basic concept. A set of parents want to have kids, so they decide to take in someone to their family. They decided to adopt rather than have their own kids (or both), for various reasons. That's the parents' side of things, but think about the child. This child is lost, forgotten, and left behind. They feel worthless, and might feel that they can't ever be in a family again. However, when they are adopted, I cannot imagine what they must feel. Suddenly they are part of a family, a valuable and wanted member of the family. They are chosen.
I think that this is why Paul compares our redemption to adoption. We were lost, forgotten and left behind. Instead of leaving us to our own demise, God chose us to be part of His family. How amazing is that? We had nothing to offer God, yet He chose us. How can God accept us if we are separated from Him by our sin? The answer is again in the title- "In Christ". If you read through Ephesians 1, you immediately notice that Paul continually uses the phrase "In Christ". What does that mean? It means that all of the blessings that God pours out on us are only possible in Christ. I said earlier that there is nothing that makes us of any worth to God. While this is true, it is only true when we are not in Christ. In Christ, we are of the utmost value to God, and He wants us to be with Him. Christ has given us all of the blessings mentioned in Ephesians, including the adoption to sonship. My challenge to you is to think about what this all means. What does it mean to you that you are chosen in Christ?
-Smart
Ravi Zacharias Quotes
Today I decided to share some quotes that I really liked from Ravi Zacharias' podcast. I've talked about his topics a little bit in the past, but today I want to share some of his quotes that stuck with me. They are not word for word, but I tried to be faithful to the main idea of the quotes. (If you want to listen to his podcast, which I recommend, the podcast is called "Let My People Think").
"Sometimes in the tense moments in life, we learn that the man who delivered us into this world will drive us to our destination." Ravi said this after telling a story about a girl who traveling home from the airport. While waiting for her plane, a man approaches her and makes small talk. He asks her where she is going, and he remarks that he is headed to the same place and can even drive her home. She gets suspicious, because she lives in a small town, and it seems very unlikely that this man is headed to the same place as her. However, the man reveals that he is the doctor who delivered her at birth. At this point Ravi says the quote above.
"People often say things like 'my, how you've grown', or 'oh, how time flies'. Yet if we heard a fish saying 'wow, this water is wet', we would find that weird. That is, of course, unless the fish was meant to be on land." Ravi has said different variations of this quote in his podcast, but I really like it. The main point is that we were meant to live in eternity, which is why we don't feel completely in sync with time.
"What belongs to God? Jesus would answer, 'whose inscription is on you'?" I really enjoyed this quote by Ravi when I heard it. Ravi is talking about the Pharisees asking Jesus about taxes, and whether people should pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus responds by saying "give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." The Pharisees left after this, but Ravi said that if they were to ask Jesus "what belongs to God?", Jesus would have said "whose image is on you"?
"The existentialist lives for the now, the traditionalist in the past, and the utopianist for the future. Scripture says, 'as often as you eat of this bread and drink of this cup [now], you proclaim the Lord’s death [in the past], until He comes [in the future].' Jesus took every moment in history and fused it with meaning." This quote is pretty self explanatory, but it's very well written. It speaks of the significance of the cross and how it has meaning not only in the past, but for the present and future.
"Jesus did not come to make bad people good, no, He came to make dead people live." This is probably my favorite quote from Ravi Zacharias that I've heard so far. It's not as artsy as some of the other quotes, but is speaks volumes nonetheless. Ravi often talks about morality in his podcasts, so we may get the impression that God came to make us "good" people. However, he reminds us that Jesus came not to make us good, but to take us out of sin and death. We can never be good, and God knew this, so He sent Jesus to make us alive. Without Christ, we are not just "bad", we are dead. In Christ, we are made alive.
These are just a few of the quotes that really stuck with me while listening to his podcast for about a year or so. Ravi is truly gifted in speaking, and I hope you get a chance to listen to his podcast for yourself. I don't know if I will make another one of these posts, but let me know if you liked reading it, and maybe I'll consider doing another one in the future.
-Smart
"Sometimes in the tense moments in life, we learn that the man who delivered us into this world will drive us to our destination." Ravi said this after telling a story about a girl who traveling home from the airport. While waiting for her plane, a man approaches her and makes small talk. He asks her where she is going, and he remarks that he is headed to the same place and can even drive her home. She gets suspicious, because she lives in a small town, and it seems very unlikely that this man is headed to the same place as her. However, the man reveals that he is the doctor who delivered her at birth. At this point Ravi says the quote above.
"People often say things like 'my, how you've grown', or 'oh, how time flies'. Yet if we heard a fish saying 'wow, this water is wet', we would find that weird. That is, of course, unless the fish was meant to be on land." Ravi has said different variations of this quote in his podcast, but I really like it. The main point is that we were meant to live in eternity, which is why we don't feel completely in sync with time.
"What belongs to God? Jesus would answer, 'whose inscription is on you'?" I really enjoyed this quote by Ravi when I heard it. Ravi is talking about the Pharisees asking Jesus about taxes, and whether people should pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus responds by saying "give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." The Pharisees left after this, but Ravi said that if they were to ask Jesus "what belongs to God?", Jesus would have said "whose image is on you"?
"The existentialist lives for the now, the traditionalist in the past, and the utopianist for the future. Scripture says, 'as often as you eat of this bread and drink of this cup [now], you proclaim the Lord’s death [in the past], until He comes [in the future].' Jesus took every moment in history and fused it with meaning." This quote is pretty self explanatory, but it's very well written. It speaks of the significance of the cross and how it has meaning not only in the past, but for the present and future.
"Jesus did not come to make bad people good, no, He came to make dead people live." This is probably my favorite quote from Ravi Zacharias that I've heard so far. It's not as artsy as some of the other quotes, but is speaks volumes nonetheless. Ravi often talks about morality in his podcasts, so we may get the impression that God came to make us "good" people. However, he reminds us that Jesus came not to make us good, but to take us out of sin and death. We can never be good, and God knew this, so He sent Jesus to make us alive. Without Christ, we are not just "bad", we are dead. In Christ, we are made alive.
These are just a few of the quotes that really stuck with me while listening to his podcast for about a year or so. Ravi is truly gifted in speaking, and I hope you get a chance to listen to his podcast for yourself. I don't know if I will make another one of these posts, but let me know if you liked reading it, and maybe I'll consider doing another one in the future.
-Smart
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