Chapel Notes
by Mitch Kruse
Do Discover Significance in the Love of Christ
February 25, 2009 [Download PDF]
Panthers:
Would a little extra money satisfy any of your desires? Do you want to decrease your liabilities? Perhaps you desire to reduce your mortgage, pay off your car, or eliminate credit card debt. Do you want to increase your assets? Maybe you would like to buy a new car, a new boat, a new house, a new set of golf clubs, a new technological device, or a new piece of jewelry. Money in and of itself is not evil. Owning stuff is not evil. The problem occurs when the stuff owns you. Ironically, it isn’t money that we desire, it’s something deeper.
God created us with at least four primary desires. The first desire is significance which came from being created in God’s image (Gen. 1:27). The second desire is contentment from being blessed by God to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue (bring contentment to) the earth (Gen. 1:28). The third desire is control from being empowered by God to rule over the earth (Gen. 1:28). The fourth desire is security from being given every seed bearing plant and fruit bearing tree (Gen. 1:29-30). These desires flow vertically from the heart of God into each one of our hearts. They flow horizontally in our relationships with others (Gen. 2:18).
The first sin was pride, man desiring satisfaction of these desires apart from God (Gen. 3:5-6). God had created Adam and Eve with humble hearts. The object of their desires was God. He satisfied their desires. Pride made man the object of his own desires. Now each person is born with and chooses a proud heart (Gen. 8:21). He trusts in his giftedness rather than his godliness.
Money is pride’s measurement of our giftedness (time, talent, and treasures). Wisdom is humility’s measurement of our godliness (Christ in us). Christ is the image of God (Heb. 1:3). He is humble in heart (Matt. 11:29), and He is the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24). Humility is the beginning of His wisdom in our lives (Prov. 11:2).
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned His disciples about attempting to satisfy their desires with money. He offered wisdom as an alternative. The first desire He addressed was significance (Matt. 6:19-21).
Pride seeks significance from money. Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matt. 6:19). Why do we store up treasures on earth? We do so in order to find significance. Significance is expressed meaning, purpose, importance, or value. Significance can be encapsulated in attention, acceptance, affection, and approval. People might say, “Look at him. He is successful.” Others say, “Look at her. She’s got it all.” We often say to ourselves, “Storing up this stuff really satisfies. I feel significant.”
The result is insignificance. “Where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steel” (Matt. 6:19). In the end, the stuff in just that, stuff. The more we pursue it as the satisfaction of our desires, the more we thirst for more. The result is a never ending cycle of dissatisfaction.
Humility stores up relationships. Jesus said, “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 5:20). Relationships are the only treasure that we can store up in heaven because they are eternal. These relationships flow vertically in communion with God and horizontally in community with others.
Our treasures reveal the object of our desires. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 5:21). Valuing people over profit, or relationships over remuneration, is what God designed for our lives. A proud heart searches for significance from money. A humble heart discovers significance in a relationship with God in Christ and shares that relationship with others.
The result is the love of God in Christ (Jn. 3:16; 1:14). Christ is the love of God, a love that is so undeserved, a favor that is so unmerited, that it’s called grace. Paul said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). God humbled Himself in Jesus Christ offering us the satisfaction of our desires when we humble our hearts’ desires to Christ. Only He satisfies our desires. This frees us to bring His satisfying Spirit to our relationships with a love that sacrificially serves others.
This week, discover the satisfaction of your desire for significance in the love of Christ and take that love to others. Initiate conversation with your customers and prospects, whether you are in sales or service. Get to know them, asking questions and listening, rather than attempting to sell them a product or service. Do it just for the sake of relationship—storing up treasures in heaven rather than for storing up treasures on earth. With your spouse and family, connect relationally, serving them rather than expecting them to serve you. You will be satisfied. You will be significant. You will be love. You will be loved.
Significant in Christ’s Love,
Mitch
Do Fast
February 11, 2009 [Download PDF]
Panthers:
Why do you fast? During trials or times of weighty decisions, do you leverage fasting as a magic wand with God as your object? Do you fast with the motive that others will see your plight and comfort you? Fasting means literally to abstain from food or drink; however, in the Bible it is accompanied with humility of the soul toward God (Ps. 35:13). Fasting is an avenue of surrender to God’s will for our lives.
Fasting appears in 3 forms throughout Scripture. First is a normal fast (no food). Jesus fasted from food for forty days preparing for His temptation and the inauguration of His preaching (Matt. 4:1-2; Lk. 4:1-2). Second is a partial fast (no particular substance or act). Daniel ate no meat, drank no wine, and applied no lotion to his body for 3 weeks of mourning (Dan. 10:3). Third is an absolute fast (no food or water). Esther fasted from food and water for 3 days during a period of national crisis (Est. 4:16); Paul fasted from food and water for 3 days after his conversion (Acts 9:9).
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus described the be-do-go of full surrender. In essence, He said, “Who you are to be determines what you do which determines where you go.” In Matthew, Chapter 6, Jesus moved from who we are to be to what we are to do. He began with three acts of piety in Judaism: (1) giving to the needy, (2) praying, and (3) fasting. In each, Jesus cut to the heart of the matter exposing why we do what we do. We either have a selfish motive or a selfless one. With each good deed, He described what not to do, then what to do. Jesus said, “Do fast” (Matt. 6:16-18).
First, do not fast with the motive to be recognized and honored. “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full” (Matt. 6:16). The law had provided for fasting once a year on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:29-34; 23:26-32). The key phrase was “humble your souls” (NASB). By Jesus’ time, the pious Pharisees were fasting twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays) because Moses was said to have gone up on Sinai on those days (Lk. 18:12). Pharisees wanted everyone to know that they were fasting so they did not wash or trim their hair, and sometimes, they placed ashes on their heads. Abstaining from pleasures such as anointing their heads with oil to prevent dry skin was common, but still made fasting obvious to the people they encountered. Others pretended to fast by disfiguring their outward appearances. In either case, they had a selfish motive.
Hypocrites were actors. They wore masks on stage, pretending to be one way on the outside, though they were another on the inside. Jesus said that if being seen (outside) was one’s motive (inside), then the attention he had received was His reward in full (a reference to payment in ancient business receipts). There would be no reward of an intimate relationship with God because of the selfish motive.
Second, do fast in secret. “But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matt. 16:17-18). Both anointing one’s head and washing one’s face, two common acts of daily life in Palestine, were forbidden by the Pharisees during fasting. Jesus did not say that no one can know we are fasting. Rather, He said that fasting should not be done with a selfish motive to be recognized and honored by others. Fasting should be done with a selfless motive to surrender our wills to God. When our fasting motive is unselfish, our reward is intimacy with our heavenly Father, the greatest reward of all.
Fasting has always been about intimacy with God (Isaiah 58:3-12). During your next trial or decision, humbly fast in secret as a support to prayer, and discover God’s will for your life.
Fasting in secret,
Mitch
Do Pray
February 4, 2009 [Download PDF]
Panthers:
What, why, and how do you pray? Do you pray solely for your personal comfort and abundance? Do you ever pray in a public restaurant, hoping that people seated near you will see you? Do your nighttime prayers sound like broken records saying the same selfish things in the same selfish ways for the same selfish reasons? What would happen if you prayed for what God prayed?
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus described the be-do-go of full surrender. In essence, He said, “Who you are to be determines what you do which determines where you go.” In Matthew, Chapter 6, Jesus moved from who we are to be to what we are to do. He began with three acts of piety in Judaism: (1) giving to the needy, (2) praying, and (3) fasting. In each, Jesus cut to the heart of the matter exposing why we do what we do. We either have a selfish motive or a selfless one. With each good deed, He described what not to do, then what to do. Jesus said, “Do pray.”
First, do not pray with the motive to be recognized and honored. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men” (Matt. 6:5).
Hypocrites were actors. They wore masks on stage, pretending to be one way on the outside, though they were another on the inside. Jesus said that if being seen (outside) was one’s motive (inside), then the attention he had received was His reward in full (a reference to payment in ancient business receipts). There would be no reward of an intimate relationship with God because of the selfish motive.
Second, do pray in secret. “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matt. 6:6). Jewish homes had only one room with a door—a storage chamber. Jesus used this imagery to describe a secret place where no one but the heavenly Father would see. This does not mean that we cannot pray publicly. It means that we should not seek selfish recognition and honor when we pray. When our prayer motive is unselfish, our reward is intimacy with God.
Jesus cautioned against babbling like pagans who when they prayed reminded their deity about their good deeds in order to receive a return favor (Matt. 6:7). Sometimes we do the same with God, reminding Him of all of the righteous acts that we accomplished in order to receive a one-for-one benefit. Greeks used many names for their deity in order to gain its attention. Often times, we pray publicly using many names for God in order to be seen and heard by others. Two thousand years ago, Rabbis debated the use of fixed prayers, a pattern used by many of us today. They determined that they were acceptable only if offered genuinely. Thankfully, Jesus taught us how to pray to the one who knows what we need before we ask Him (Matt. 6:8).
Jesus taught us how to be a person who PRAYS (Matt. 6:9-15). Prayer is the connection of one’s heart with God’s. Jesus said, “This, then, is how you should pray” (Matt. 6:9).
(1) Praise “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matt. 6:9). Heaven had three meanings: (1) where we go when we die, (2) the stars in the sky, and (3) the air in and around us. When you pray, praise your heavenly Father for who He is (holy) and for being as close as the air is in and around you.
(2) Renew “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). It was understood that after God’s kingdom came, His will would be done on earth as in heaven. Jesus ushered in God’s kingdom. As a result, this part of Jesus’ prayer calls for a renewing of our minds in order to experience God’s kingdom and will in our lives (Rom. 12:1-3). This is a 180 degree turn from our world’s standards. Jesus prayed for His Father’s will (Matt. 26:39). When you pray, renew your mind.
(3) Ask “Give us today our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). This referenced God’s provision of Manna in the desert for the Israelites. It is an illustration of total dependence on God for our needs to advance His kingdom. When you pray, ask God for your needs to advance His kingdom.
(4) Yield “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). C. S. Lewis said that “as” was the most sobering two-letter word in all Scripture because the prayer is for God to forgive us in the same exact manner in which we have forgiven others. For some of us, this is a scary prayer. We have to yield all unsettled accounts to God, radically issuing to others the forgiveness that we have received from Him. If we don’t, then we really haven’t received God’s forgiveness (Matt. 6:14-15). When you pray, yield all unsettled relational accounts to God.
(5) Surrender to be Spirit led “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13). The Aramaic sentence structure might indicate “Let us not sin when tempted,” rather than “Let us not be tempted.” This is supported by the fact that Scripture tells us that God does not tempt anyone (James 1:13). When you pray, surrender your heart to be Spirit led.
Take a 30 day experiment, and be a person who unselfishly PRAYS in secret. Go into your own room at night, get on your knees if you are physically able, and (1) praise your heavenly Father for who He is, (2) renew your mind to seek His will for your life, (3) ask for His provision of your needs to advance His kingdom, (4) yield all unsettled relational accounts to Him, and (5) surrender your heart to be Spirit led. In this pattern, pray specifically for someone who is either skeptical of or seeking God to surrender his heart to Him. The kingdom of God will break through your life in a way that only God’s intimacy can do. That intimacy will attract others to Christ in you.
Praying in secret,
Mitch
