Archive for category: Joining Jesus

1. Motives
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Philippians 1:12-18
I remember when I first became a Christian from a completely ‘Never Churched’ background that there were some passages in scripture that surprised me, and this passage from Philippians was one of them. Paul writes to the church in Philippi, a church that fills him with so much joy because of their partnership in the gospel and, as he writes from a prison cell, he says: The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
It surprised me so much when I first read these words, I thought ‘how could anybody preach Christ with a false motive!
Last week I was meeting with a group of leaders to discuss how they may use The Rooftop process to reach students across the campus of their university. As I was introduced by the leader, he said: ‘Before you arrived Dennis we were trying to decide how famous you are’, they then began to mention names of Christian leaders that I was perhaps more or less famous than.
As they were doing this in a very light-hearted way, I found two things happening inside of me. One was more ‘noble’ I genuinely wanted to say to them ‘It is an utterly irrelevant thing to be discussing, the only person that we should want to be well known is Jesus’. As much as I felt that I also had the feeling that these young people were assessing how valuable I was in the Kingdom. They weren’t doing that but I found my defense mechanisms beginning to click in!
Like every other Christian on the planet there is always a little, or sometimes even a lot of ‘me’ in the things that I do for the Lord and I am so grateful to Him that more often than not he uses me in spite of me.
My prayer is repeatedly something like: ‘Lord help me to make you known through the life that I live and the words that I speak’ – maybe this is a prayer that you could focus on this week – let’s make Him our motive!
Dennis

Discipleship 3 – ‘Ambition’
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Matthew 16:23-27
Where I live, in the UK, there isn’t a day, or even a moment that goes by where there isn’t some company or other who is trying to persuade me to buy something or do something that they are trying to sell. TV, Radio, Internet, roadside billboards are just a few of the ways that are used to present me with the encouragement to ‘buy’ what is being sold because it will be so good for me and add so much to my life and make it so much better!
It is tempting, when living in a world that offers us ‘a better life’ to see the offer of life that Jesus gives to be the same, a positive addition to my life which makes it better than it was before. ‘Receiving Jesus’ then becomes a decision to improve my life and make it better.
The words Jesus uses do not make this an option! He doesn’t talk about us inviting Him in to improve our lives, rather He says with absolute clarity ‘For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’
Jesus doesn’t offer us the bonus of a better life that is somehow added to our life. He calls us to lay down our life and give it all to Him, not to hold on to our selfish desires and ambitions but to make Him our greatest desire and ambition.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 1:21- 23
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two”
For Paul, to die was gain and the purpose of His life here was ‘fruitful labor’ – Jesus was the desire and ambition of his whole life. He was torn between entering into eternity with Christ or to continue in this life with Christ as the object of all that he was. Such a person can be used by God to complete the mission of Jesus because Jesus is their ambition, not an ‘improved life’ but a whole new life that is received in exchange for a life that is laid down!
This week, as you reflect upon Jesus words: ‘For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’
Please consider this question: ‘Is Jesus my ambition?’
Dennis

Discipleship 1 – ‘Obedience’
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Matthew 16:23-27
If we are to join Jesus in His Mission it is imperative that we obey His frequently repeated call ‘Follow me’. Over the next few weeks I will be l looking at the vital need there is for true discipleship to be rediscovered in our own lives and in the life of the church across the world. I am convinced that this will be critical if we are truly to Join Jesus in His mission and make disciples of people who are beyond the walls of the church.
The words of Jesus are quite clear:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”.
As we consider these words I will be reflecting on how these were worked out in the life of Peter. It is important to say that neither Peter, or any of the 12 that followed Jesus during His earthly ministry are ‘super disciples’. Each person that follows Jesus as a disciple is required to be a dedicated follower. By considering the life of Peter as a disciple, I am not suggesting that he is a ‘model’ disciple rather that the things he experienced are likely to be faced by all who truly follow Jesus and Join Him in His Mission. Peter had to be a disciple so that he could be sent out to make disciples. This is just as true for each of us!
For Peter, it began at the outset of Jesus public ministry:
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Matt 4:18-20)
Has it ever occurred to you how life-changing this moment was for Peter? The scripture paints the picture so naturally: As Jesus was walking beside the sea of Galilee, he saw Peter (and Andrew) and said ‘follow me and I will send you out to fish for people’.
This life-changing challenge was presented by a person that Peter had never met! His response is quite extraordinary as he immediately left his nets and followed Jesus! Everything he had ever known was to be left behind and his whole life was to change out of all recognition. In spite of this he said yes!
Why?
Was he being reckless and crazy? Was the fishing industry in a state of decline and he was seeking a new career opportunity?
The simple, but enormously challenging explanation is, I believe, is a very uncomplicated one. The simple explanation is: ‘Peter was obedient’. For him, this was not an act of self-interest but one of absolute obedience to Jesus. He didn’t do it for what he was going to get out of it, he obeyed Jesus because He was Jesus!
The beginning of Peter’s life of discipleship presents a real challenge to many of us who call ourselves Christians. As I travel I meet so many Christians all over the world and one of the questions that I love to ask them is ‘how did you come to faith?’ The answer that I hear most frequently is something that is very different from Peter’s whole-hearted obedience. It is usually something like:
‘I heard the gospel preached and I didn’t want to go to Hell so I asked Jesus into my life to forgive me for my sins’.
What I am about to say will present a huge challenge to many who are reading this short devotion but it must be said. Many Christians began following Jesus by praying a ‘self-interested prayer’. Not a prayer of absolute obedience but a prayer that would lead to us receiving a gift. My observation is that the church is filled with people who have never obeyed Jesus unconditionally – for the mission of Jesus to happen this must change because there is a cost to following Jesus!
There is so much more that I want to say about this over the coming weeks but, this week, please take some time to read the passage at the beginning of this devotion and reflect on what it means for you to be a true disciple of Jesus.
Dennis

1. Fix your eyes!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrew2 12:1-3
Running with perseverance is vital if we are going to join Jesus in His Mission. It will not always be easy because when we follow Jesus we will often find that this doesn’t make us popular among people. Jesus said to His first disciples: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (John 15:18)
This ‘hatred’ can be expressed in a variety of ways that do not necessarily result in the kind of life-threatening persecution that was being faced by the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews. However, whilst not life-threatening, the resistance that we may face as we share our beliefs causes many of us to say nothing because we are afraid of what others will say if we open our mouths.
To those people who are tempted to ‘hide’ and ‘stay safe’ the writer to the Hebrews says: fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith’. Following Jesus is not just about ‘running’, it is vital to focus on who it is that we are running for. Our focus should be on Jesus, the ‘pioneer’ and ‘perfecter’ of our faith. Jesus is the one who did EVERYTHING required for us to receive the gift of eternal life, the one who was ‘despised and rejected by men’ (Isaiah 53:3), who ‘made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:7-8).
‘Fix your eyes upon Jesus’ is the clear instruction and note that it does not say ‘occasionally glance in the direction of Jesus’ but FIX THEM ON HIM. Making Jesus our focus is something that requires daily discipline and a willingness to spend time in the word and in prayer.
Let me encourage you to consider these questions as you begin a new week:
• Have you lost sight of the one who us calling you to follow?
• Are you trying to ‘run for Jesus’ in your own strength?
If you are drifting and feeling weary with the effort then I encourage you, right now, to take some time to speak with Jesus. Open your heart to Him and make Him your focus!
Dennis

1. Throw it off!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrew2 12:1-3
Over the past few weeks we have been thinking about the cost that is involved if we are to stay on mission with Jesus. I concluded last time with an encouragement for you to focus on the scripture above throughout the week. I decided to do the same and, as a result, the next few reflections will be based on these words of inspiration, encouragement and challenge found in Hebrews 12. I will be looking at the scripture in the context of what it means to stay on mission with Jesus.
The letter to the Hebrews was written to Christians who were finding it extremely difficult to follow Jesus. They had come to faith in Christ from a Jewish background and the faith they had left was a protected religion while those who were following Christ were being persecuted, even to the point of death. The temptation for many was to revert back to their previous faith because then they would not suffer from the persecution. It is easy to think ‘how could they ever do that?’ but, faced with such an immense threat to our comfort and our loves, I think many of us would be tempted in just the same way!
Indeed, I would go even farther and say that many of us retreat into our own comfort zone even in the absence of persecution! If we are to stay on mission with Jesus we must, like these early Christians, learn to overcome the many things that so easily become barriers to our effectiveness as we seek to follow Jesus and Join Him in His Mission.
To those first Christians and to us, the writer to the Hebrews says:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

His words present such a strong and clear image. As we are trying to make progress there are things that weigh us down and make it difficult for us to progress. In addition, there are things that we get entangled with that trip us up and again, prevent us from making progress. His instruction is clear: “Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” Stuff that we make a priority and sin that distracts us THROW THEM OFF! –
As you seek to stay on mission with Jesus this week let me ask you a couple of questions:
What are you carrying that is slowing you down in your pursuit of Jesus and His Mission?
What is tripping you up as you try to make progress?
I find the words of hymn that we used to sing many years ago a great help as I seek to ‘Throw off’ the things that hinder:
What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!
Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.

This week, whatever the burden or entanglement – take it to the Lord in prayer!
Dennis