Luke 10-12

My church recently finished studying Your Church Experiencing God Together by Henry and Mel Blackaby. It was terrific! As I reviewed what God had taught me over the last ten weeks, I noticed that I view myself somewhat as a “spiritual recruiter.” My philosophy is that being a part of the Body of Christ is way more fun if you are in over your head doing your part. So, I keep my eyes open for pew sitters, and I do what I can to encourage people (okay, maybe even twist their arms) to get involved in ministry. Unfortunately, I probably scare the wits out of some people when I get them in my sights.

My recruiting for Team Jesus is more likely to end on a positive note when I take the time to mentor the person I enlist. As I read the teaching of Jesus in Luke 10-12, I realized that it provides a remarkable outline for training others to follow Christ.

Go and tell others the good news. (10:1-24)
Love God. Love people. (10:25-37)
Sit at the feet of Jesus and worship him. (10:38-42)
Pray. (11:1-13)
Fill your life with godly thoughts, not evil. (11:14-36)
Faith is built on grace, not on self-righteousness. (11:37-54)
Speak up for your faith in Christ. (12:1-12)
Be generous rather than selfish. (12:13-21)
Trust God and do not worry. (12:22-34)
Be prepared and anticipate Christ’s return. (12:35-59)

We may be tempted to rearrange the outline a bit and move the Go and Tell portion to the end when our pupil is more mature in her faith. Never squelch the fire of a new believer! Allow her to tell her story and bring others to faith in her excitement. Then if you are faithful to your task, God will enable you to disciple your recruit, plus the people she wins to Christ. One of my greatest joys this summer was to pray with children who wanted to follow Jesus at Vacation Bible School. One night we celebrated the salvation of a little girl, and the next evening, the very first thing she asked me was, “Do you know Jesus as your Savior?” I was thrilled to be asked! After responding with an enthusiastic, “Yes, I do!” I encouraged her to keep asking all her friends and family that same question.

I am asking you, "Do you know Jesus as your Savior?" Whom will you ask today?

Luke 8-10

8:1—“After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God.”—Have you traveled any this summer? Have you proclaimed the good news to anyone? Tell us about it!

8:3b—“These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”—Have you helped support any Christian mission projects? Tell us about it!

8:9—“His disciples asked him what this parable meant.”—One of our deacon’s wives in Colorado told me that she always prays before she does her Bible reading and asks God to make His Word clear to her as she reads. When you do not comprehend God’s Word, who better to ask for clarification than the author himself?

Read and compare these two verses—
8:39—“'Return home and tell how much God has done for you.' So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.” & 8:56—“Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.”—Why was it okay to spread the good news that the demon-possessed were healed, but not okay to tell that the dead were raised?

9:23—“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”—Are you choosing to follow Jesus no matter the cost today? (Luke 9:57-62) Share your story with us!

Read the fabulous story in Luke 10 about Jesus sending out 72 missionaries. My favorite verses are 16-21. The missionaries returned with joy, and Jesus was full of joy because of their stories! Can you just picture the exciting celebration their group had? Do you realize that Jesus gets excited when you and I go on mission too? When was the last time that your Lord rejoiced over your story?

Let’s finish reading Luke 10 through 12 tomorrow, okay; because I really want you to take the time today to post a comment on the blog or to send me an email to answer some of the questions I asked you today. Pretty please, with sugar on it???

Mark 10

Okay, I sat down to read Mark 10 one more time before writing my blog, and I fully intended to write a comparison of the rich young man and blind Bartimaeus. I still may, but this morning one verse jumped off the page at me, and my friend Cindy says we should always pay attention when a particular word leaps at us from God’s Word.

“It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. (Mark 10:5) Is my heart so hard against God that I ask Him to let me get by with breaking a commandment? The Pharisees were asking Jesus about divorce, but you and I may ask God about any one of the commands. Is it lawful for me to tell this “little white lie”? Is it okay for me to leave this item out of my tax report? Isn’t it my right to take the life of my unborn child if I choose? Shouldn’t I leave my husband so I can be happy with another man? God, I want her house, her car, and her family, pretty please? Okay. . . just to be clear, I personally am NOT asking these questions of God, but you and I know people who have.

Let me attempt to paint a word picture. I have taught high school business in three different schools since I graduated from the University of North Texas in 1991. During those years a great number of my students have excelled in my classes, making terrific grades, creating fabulous products, and earning awards at contests. At the same time, some of my students did just enough work to get by. Same teacher, same classroom, same expectations. The students who followed the rules, performed the work, and met the expectations were the outstanding students, not only in my classes, but throughout their high school careers and beyond. The students who did not put forth the effort, and who did not turn in their work, were usually the students who asked me to bend the rules for them. “Please, Mrs. Young, give me one more day.” “Do I have to answer all the problems?” “Can’t I skip this one because I don’t understand it? or don’t like it? or don’t agree with it? or don’t want to put forth the effort it will take to finish it well????”

My students earn their grades in my classes. I don’t give grades. Excellent work earns excellent marks. Poor work and poor attitudes earn poor marks. What type of student am I in God’s classroom? Do I strive to please Him and to meet His expectations? Or do I whine, complain, and forget to do my homework? I do not believe a teacher should have to hound a student about completing a project, and I do not believe God will force us to obey His law. He will allow us to choose just to get by in life.

The rich young man in Mark 10 was not willing to put God first in his life, and Jesus allowed him to walk away sad. The rich man was not willing to submit his finances to God. He chose to excel in worldly wealth rather than in godly riches. Blind Bartimaeus was willing to place his trust in Jesus, and he found healing through his faith. He chose to follow Jesus rather than continue to sit by the roadside begging. Which of these students would you have voted as most likely to succeed? Which one is more likely to graduate at the top of God’s faith class?

I don’t know about you, but I want to finish this race as a medal winner, not as the guy who had to hitch a ride on the golf cart. Let’s not cut corners and wimp out on the hard assignments. Let’s rise to meet God’s expectations rather than ask Him to make an exception to the rules for us. I want to graduate with honors. How about you?