Finishing Strong

Races are won at the finish line not the starting line, and so it is with life, marriage, investing and everything else in life that's important.  It is not how you start, it is how you finish that matters.

John 2 records the story of a wedding that started good but was about to become an embarrassment when they ran out of wine. Yet in miraculous fashion, Jesus helped them finish strong when He turned water into wine.  Then it was said, "You have saved the best for last." 

And isn't that what we want? We want our last years to be our best years.

1. To finish strong we must pray. Mary wisely brought the concern to Jesus. "They are out of wine." Is prayer your first response or last resort?

2. To finish strong we must obey. The servants did as Jesus directed. They filled the water jars with water, and notice they filled them to the brim. How is your obedience bucket? Is it half-full or do you fill it to the brim?

"Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."

Will You Take Up Your Cross Today?

Following Jesus is not for everyone. All are welcome, but few are willing to make the necessary sacrifice. Jesus carried a cross and all genuine Christ-followers must do the same. 

Jesus said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). What exactly is the cross? 

  1. THE CROSS IS VOLUNTARY: The cross is not when something bad happens to you (sickness, unemployment, etc). The cross is when you choose of your own free will to die to something. There is nothing passive about the cross, it is an active choice. 
  2. THE CROSS IS PERSONAL: Each disciple must take up "his cross." What God is asking of you and me is different. We each have our own struggles and temptations to moritify. 
  3. THE CROSS IS DAILY: How much easier Christianity would be if we only had to die to self once; but, following Jesus is a daily, moment by moment reality. Jesus said we have to voluntarily take up our personal cross everyday and choose to follow Him. This is the way of the Christian. 

The Apostle Paul taught these same truths in Romans 12:1. Our sacrifice to God is to be

PERSONAL: "I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God"

VOLUNTARY: "that you present your bodies"

DAILY: "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God."

Escaping Tribulation

 Luke 21:36 says, "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." 

Observe first, there is hope! Some will escape the tribulation to come upon the earth and they will be left standing when Christ returns. The travail of the earth will not bend them nor break them, because God will remove them from harms way. So there is hope for some. But what must we do to be included in this elite number?

Notice the standard. One has to be counted worthy. Only those deemed fit will be spared from wrath and able to stand when Christ returns. What does one have to do to be "counted worthy?" The text doesn't say, but drawing upon a wider range of scripture here are three possibilities. First, it surely involves the imputed righteousness of Christ. One must be in Christ and clothed in His righteousness. What else? Positional righteousness must be fleshed out in practical righteousness (Rev. 19:8). That is you can't just be considered righteous, you have to live righeous. Finally, when it says to be counted worthy I think of John 15 and the Lord's emphasis on fruitfulness. The fruitful Christian has Jesus living through them (Gal. 5:22-23) and they are influcencing others toward Christlikeness (1 Cor. 11:1).

Finally notice the way to worthiness which involves both watching and praying. Watch current events, being wise like the sons of Issachar. Watch over those you are discipling, don't let any sheep stray. And watch over your own soul and purity. Then pray for God's kingdom to come in this world and in your family. Pray for the bride of Christ. Also see Mark 14:38.

An alert and praying Christian is valuable to the Lord and He will extend special protective graces to that individual much like He did to Noah in the days before the flood.

Staying Salty

I asked my dad, a retired scientist, about how salt loses its flavor (Luke 14:34) He explained that salt is sodium chloride, and moisture is what breaks the bond between these two elements. Water causes salt to lose its effectiveness.

In Luke 14:25-35 Jesus wasn't giving a chemistry lesson, rather He was teaching about discipleship. Jesus explained that just as moisture can seep in and ruin salt, so certain things can creep into the life of a believer and render them useless as a disciple.

According to Jesus three things can break the bond between us and Him.

To avoid being watered down by these invaders. We must hate, die, and relinquish. 

  1. Jesus said in comparison to our love for Him we must hate other people.
  2. Jesus said we must take up our cross and die to our selfish pleasures.
  3. Jesus said we must be willing to relinquish every possession and follow Him.

Jesus said we cannot be His disciple unless we keep the bond between us and Him strong. We must avoid anything that weakens our relationship with Christ. This is how we stay salty, and remain effective in the Lord's service.