Today’s reading is John 11:1-12:50.

“For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment–what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (John 12:49-50).

Imagine that. Jesus, God in the flesh, God the Son, incarnate deity, would not speak on His own authority. That is,  unless He had authority from the Father, He did not speak. He did not go out on a limb saying, “The Father is silent about this, I will speak.” He did not cross the Father saying, “The Father has spoken against this, but I will speak for it.” He did not say, “The Father has spoken for this, but I will speak against it.” He spoke only what the Father authorized.

How much more should we?

But why?

Because what the Father has authorized is eternal life. Jesus was not trying to be legalistic here. He was simply recognizing that what the Father had taught and said was the way that worked for those who wanted eternal life. When we go out on our own authority that won’t lead to life. That way leads to death. God’s way works. Ours does not.

Today, I want to simply speak where God speaks and be silent where God is silent. I don’t want to step out on my own authority. I want to be like Jesus.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is John 5:1-6:71.

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30).

When I follow my own path, pursuing what God has condemned or even pursuing what God has not permitted, I am seeking my own will. I am not following in the footsteps of Jesus. When I recognize the true impact of “I can do nothing on my own” my life has peace. In those moments, I know I am with God and He is with me. I know what I’m doing has the full weight of His authority and power behind it. No matter what happens to me because of seeking His will, I know I am abiding in Him and He will get me through.

I want to be like Jesus. I want to be in Jesus. I want the eternal life that comes from Jesus. I want that more than all the other things that I want. Therefore,  today, instead of going my own way or branching out under my own authority, I need to simply pray for the wisdom to know the Father’s will and the courage and strength to carry it out. Today, I need to place highest priority on drawing near to Jesus that I may have life in Him.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Matthew 19:1-20:34.

“He said to them, ‘You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father’” (Matthew 20:23).

I once heard someone share, and have often repeated since, the two greatest lessons I’ve ever learned is 1) There is a God and 2) I’m not Him. What that means for me is I need to let God do His job while I focus on mine instead of trying to do God’s job. Jesus sets the perfect example for me. He understood that even though He is God, He is not the Father. The Father has His job; Jesus has his. Jesus wasn’t about to try to do the Father’s job. He was only going to focus on what the Father had given Him to do.

My life goes so much easier when I don’t try to do God’s job. When I quit trying to make sure the world runs according to my plans and instead simply work on doing the next right thing, I have so much more peace.

Today, I’m just going to do my job, the next right thing, I’ll let God do His job of handling the outcomes.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Luke 21:1-22:71.

Luke 22:24-27 smacked me between the eyes again. I’m glad I’m reading this passage twice a year right now. Of course, there are also the parallels found in Matthew and Mark. I need to read this often.

“The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But no so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”

Being a Christian isn’t about progressing up the ranks of authority. Being a Christian is about becoming more and more of a servant. After all the second greatest commandment is to love my neighbor as myself.

I have to remember this because all too often, I want to be the master, not the servant. I want to be the lord who gets to exercise authority. I want to be the one who speaks and people listen. I want to be the one people look up to as the leader. I don’t want to be a servant. I don’t want to listen to others or be directed by others. I want to command my days. I don’t want them determined by the needs of others.

But Jesus was a servant. His entire life was about serving. It was not merely this moment of serving around the Passover table. He was serving because He was on His way to the cross to die for me. If God’s Son would do that for me, how much more should I do that for others?

I need to remember this at home. I need to remember this in my congregation. I need to remember this in my community. God hasn’t placed everyone else here to serve me. He is raising me up to be a servant.

God, make me a servant, just like your Son.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is John 7:1-8:59.

Once again, the Scripture humbles me and plots a correction course for me. Jesus said, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood” (John 7:16-18).

I love to preach. I love to teach. I love teaching classes. I love teaching one on one. I love to write. I enjoy this blog, my personal blog, and the blog for the congregation with which I work. I love to write articles when asked. I love writing books or participating in the books others are putting together. The problem is with all this teaching, whether verbal or written, there is a huge temptation. I want to say something new. I want to say something profound. I want to say something for which others will look at me and say, “Wow, Edwin, you are amazing.” Jesus explains that when my motivation is glorifying me, I’m not helping anyone. When I’m glorifying God, I avoid falsehood. 

Today’s reading reminds me of my job in Christ’s kingdom. It is not my job to be a profound preacher, a witty writer, a talented teacher. My job is to learn God’s will and pass it on. Why? Because God’s way works and mine doesn’t.

Please forgive me for the arrogant pride that sometimes creeps in as I try to be of help. Hold me accountable and let’s work together to glorify God instead of ourselves.

***Question: What do you do to get rid of pride and instead glorify God?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is John 5:1-6:71.

John 5:30 grabbed my attention today. Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

What really gets me is the one saying this was spoken about in John 1:1-5.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

I know this is talking about Jesus because in John 1:14 the text says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

Here is the one who created all things, but He cannot do anything on His own? Of course, contextually, this doesn’t seem to be saying He can’t do anything by His own power but rather He won’t do anything from His own will. Perhaps both statements are true. But either way it is an amazing statement.

If we want to take it the way it first hits us, that He can’t do anything by His own power, we should be greatly humbled. If God the Son, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ could not do anything on His own but relied on the power of His Father for all His work, who are we to think we can do anything on our own? We must acknowledge God in all our ways (Proverbs 3:6). If He were to remove His grace completely and totally from our lives, we would be dissolved into speechless, powerless, hopeless blobs of matter. He is the one who grants life, breath, and all things (Acts 17:25). So many of us settle for mediocrity in life because we only do what we think we can accomplish on our own. Perhaps if we began to realize we accomplish nothing on our own and therefore fully rely on God, His power might work through us mightily (II Corinthians 12:7-10; Ephesians 3:20). Who knows? We might lead Israel out of Egypt on the heels of 10 amazing plagues, part the Red Sea, kill a giant, bring down walls, withstand lions. Mere people like us do amazing things when they quit relying on their own strength.

If we want to take Jesus’ statement in the more contextual sense that He does not do anything from His own will but only as His Father has directed Him, we should still be greatly humbled. Jesus is as much God as the Father is. He is divine in every sense. He has the power of deity. He has the mind of deity. Yet, He doesn’t go His own way. He submits to the Father. He surrenders to the Father. If Jesus will only do what is the Father’s will, how much more should we? We are not to go our own way. We are not to pursue our own will. Rather, we are to sacrifice ourselves to God’s will (Romans 12:1). We are to crucify ourselves and live by faith in Jesus (Galatians 2:20). We are to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Sadly, many today laugh at the idea of seeking authority for all that we do from God’s word, but Jesus could do nothing from His own will, but only did the will of His Father. We need to be like Jesus and only do what God wills.

However, notice that Jesus didn’t simply say, “I will do nothing of my own.” He said, “I can do nothing of my own.” Why do you think He phrased it that way?

***Question: What do you do to stay within God’s will?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is II Corinthians 10:1-11:33.

In II Corinthians 10:8, Paul said, “For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.”

I haven’t been given much authority. However, I need to remember that whatever authority God has given me is to be used to build others up, not dominate and destroy them. I have been given authority in my home. When I preach, there is a certain authority I have. When I write, there is a certain amount of authority. (Don’t misunderstand, I’m not suggesting I have some kind of intrinsic authority or that the preacher is the role of authority in the congregation, just that anyone who takes a mantle of teaching has a certain amount of authority through that process.) 

I must not use any amount of authority granted me in order to put others in their place, lift myself above others, or in any other way dominate and tear down others. If God has granted me some authority, I should use that in service, not selfishness. He hasn’t granted anyone authority in order to set them over others as more important. He has granted authority to serve others. Whatever blessing God has given us should be used this way.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Acts 19:1-20:38.

“In the name of Jesus…” In religious circles, that phrase is tossed around about as flippantly as, “Hey, how ya doin’?” It’s the thing we’re supposed to say as part of our religious practices. We gather in the name of Jesus. We speak in the name of Jesus. We end prayers with in the name of Jesus. Everything we do we say it is in the name of Jesus.

Sadly, I think some of us are convinced what we are doing is in the name of Jesus just because we said that phrase. Not so. Today’s reading demonstrates that.

The seven sons of Sceva tried to cast out demons in the name of Jesus in Acts 19:13. It didn’t work. Why? Because doing something in the name of Jesus means far more than simply saying, “In the name of Jesus.” Acts 4:7 helps us understand what “in the name of…” means. Peter and John were being questioned by the priests after they healed the lame man. 

“And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?”

Peter responded in Acts 4:10:

“…let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead–by him this man is standing before you well.”

“In the name of” meant the same as “by the power of.” That is, “in the name of” declares the source of empowerment. Have you been to a wedding and heard the officiant say, “By the power vested in me by the state of __________, I now pronounce you man and wife”? The point was the state has empowered me to make this declaration. Or, the classic example is the police officer chasing the criminal and shouting, “Stop in the name of the Law.” The point is that the Law has empowered the man to make this demand.

Doing something in Jesus’ name does not mean saying those words. Rather, it means doing what Jesus has empowered us to do. Jesus had not empowered the seven sons of Sceva to cast out demons. They were trying to co-opt power that had not been given to them.

Sadly, many folks do this today as they run their religions however they want, coming up with all kinds of practices foreign to the Scripture but trying to make it legitimate by tacking on the phrase “in Jesus’ name.” We need to think more deeply than that. Before we declare something to be done in Jesus’ name, we need to make sure Jesus has actually empowered us to do what we’re doing. Otherwise, we can say it all day long, but the end result will be like that of the seven sons of Sceva. We’ll simply be overpowered by the devil, wounded and naked.

I trust this post has been offered in the name of Jesus.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?