Stand and Knock

Reaching Higher: A Series on My Journey of Discipleship

Significant person: Ken Baker

Revelation 3:14-22

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%203%3A14-22&version=NIV;NLT

[Preface: This series is autobiographical to the extent that it is loosely based on my spiritual journey. In some ways, you could compare it to the stock market with a gradual overall increase, but many ups and downs; even a crash or two. Through it all though, the Lord has loved me and been with me the whole time. I hope you find my journey encouraging, but also, that the Lord might speak to you through it.]

 

College can be a time of dramatic change for young people. Typically, this is the first time that they’ve been away from their parents. Suddenly, they are independent; able to make decisions without Mom and Dad looking over their shoulder.

 

I was a pretty compliant son. Even when I went to college, I just kind of cruised along with friends similar to the ones I had in high school. But then, something unexpected happened that resulted in a dramatic change, setting a whole new course for the rest of my life.

 

It seems like for every significant step of spiritual growth that I’ve taken, there has been some person, or persons, who were central to the impact on my life. In the summer of 1970, Ken Baker was in the same degree program that I was. When my high school girlfriend dumped me, Ken was there to pick up the pieces; to be a friend; to help bring purpose and direction to my drifting life.

 

²⁰ “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.           NLT

 

Ken shared this verse with me and it opened my eyes to a personal relationship with Christ. Faith had never been explained to me before in those terms. As I wrote last week, being a Christian for me had to do with rules, not relationship. This was a significant shift in perspective.

 

That summer, Ken and I spent almost every day and evening together. During the day, we were on geological field trips in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. At night, we went to a Christian camp called Gitche Gumee near the shores of Lake Superior. The summer as a whole was a mountaintop experience where I learned and grew in leaps and bounds.

 

In essence, I was taking the advice given to the people of Laodicea who had been relying on their material wealth and religious self-righteousness, but were spiritually poor. Jesus said the following to them.

 

¹⁸ So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.            NLT

 

Revelation 3:14-22 was written to Christians; Christians who had become lukewarm. This is a temptation for me today… to be satisfied with the status quo; to rely on my religious self-righteousness.

 

When that happens, I need to look back to that summer of ’70, and remember that Jesus is still standing and knocking, for me to open my heart to him.

 

 

 

 

 

All In

Reaching Higher: A Series on My Journey of Discipleship

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%206%3A1-9&version=NIV;NLT

[Preface: This series is autobiographical to the extent that it is loosely based on my spiritual journey. In some ways, you could compare it to the stock market with a gradual overall increase, but many ups and downs; even a crash or two. Through it all though, the Lord has loved me and been with me the whole time. I hope you find my journey encouraging, but also, that the Lord might speak to you through it.]

 

 

The job of a parent is to prepare their children to go on a journey... the journey of life.

 

Growing up is a series of learning experiences for children. You start with some basic rules to give them boundaries. “No, Joey. Don’t do that.” As a result, they learn what is expected of them; what is right and what is wrong. Hopefully they learn what the rules are in order to become a self-sufficient, successful adult.

 

In Deuteronomy 5, Moses summoned the entire nation of Israel to present the Ten Commandments to them. Like a parent, he was preparing them for a journey; he was preparing them to possess the Promised Land; he was preparing them to live on their own while facing the trials and temptations of life in a foreign land.

 

“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, ² and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life.         NLT

 

My Mom and Dad loved me and did their best in raising me. They made sure that I said my prayers every night; they made sure that I went to church every week; they made sure that I attended youth group and church summer camp. I learned well how to obey the “rules of church”. That was the start of my spiritual journey.

 

Fortunately, the Lord meets us where we’re at. If the extent of your spiritual journey is obeying rules; then he’ll meet you there. All he asks for, is a mustard seed size of faith to work with.

 

The Pharisees and religious leaders were always trying to trap Jesus into saying something that he shouldn’t. One time they asked him what was the greatest commandment. Jesus, being well versed in the Old Testament, quoted these verses from Deuteronomy.

 

⁵ And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. ⁶ And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.    NLT

 

When I was a child, it was more about obeying the rules of my parents than “loving the Lord your God”. But as I grew older, my faith became my own.

 

 

 

As a result, it wasn’t about rules; it was about a relationship. A loving relationship that I daily commit to wholeheartedly. One that I’m all in for.

 

 

 

Come Coach Me Lord

The Lord is… my coach

A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 139

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20139&version=NIV;NLT

 

When I was in full time urban youth ministry, one of the roles I played was that of a boys’ basketball coach.

 

One particular game still sticks in my mind from forty years ago. It was a tight tournament game and one of my players, Terry, was at the free throw line. Because he was feeling the pressure of the moment, he missed his first shot.

 

Sometime during the season I had told the team a joke where the punch line was a number. Don’t worry, I didn’t quit my day job. When Terry stepped to the line for his second shot, I called out to him and said “Hey Terry… 12”. He laughed; turned to the basket; and calmly sank his free throw.

 

A coach has to know his players. He has to know what’s going on inside of them; what motivates them; when to push and when to joke. A coach teaches, leads, pulls and pushes a player to be the best they can be. A coach has to get inside the player’s head so that in a sense, he is with them all the time.

 

David thought of the Lord as if He was his coach.

 

¹ O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.

⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!

¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.      NLT

 

The following prayer is David’s plea for the Lord to keep him accountable; to search his heart; to test him; to know his anxiety; to show him what is offensive and to lead him into what is good; in essence, to come coach him.

 

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.   NIV

 

We would do well to pray the same prayer, “Come coach me Lord”.

 

 

 

Amazon

The Lord is… my deliverer

A Series from the Psalms

Psalm 116

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20116&version=NIV;NLT

 

You’ve seen their vans and trucks driving on your highways and through your neighborhood. They’re bringing shoes, small kitchen appliances, movies and jewelry. Virtually any merchandise that you can buy at a brick and mortar store, you can buy online through Amazon. Not only that, it’s delivered direct to your door step; sometimes within the hour.

 

Amazon is successful because they hear your call and deliver; but this isn’t new. The psalmist wrote about these same elements in reference to the Lord.

 

¹ I love the Lord because he hears my voice
    and my prayer for mercy.

⁸ For you, Lord, have delivered me from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling,
⁹ that I may walk before the Lord
    in the land of the living.            NIV

 

The word deliver, or save, is used several times in this psalm. In fact, it is the overarching theme of the psalm. But don’t misinterpret it to mean that the Lord is your own personal “genie in a bottle”. Keep in mind that He has his own timing for when things will happen.

 

Consider that Israel was in bondage in Egypt for 430 years despite their desperate pleas. They were in exile for 70 years; a lifetime for many. And Paul begged the Lord to remove his “thorn in the flesh” multiple times, without the desired results.

 

You may be facing your own kind of bondage or exile or thorn in the flesh. Call out to the Lord for him to save you; to deliver you; and keep calling even if nothing seems to be happening.

 

You know that He loves you; is always with you; and always at work in your life. You know that the Lord hears your prayers. He may not answer them today, next week, next month, or even next year. But He does have a plan for you. Therefore...

 

² Because he bends down to listen,
    I will pray as long as I have breath!   NIV