The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”
Luke 10:17-21

Jesus sees Satan fall and the Gospel advanced, so he rejoices. We rejoice when we see the same in our lives!

Tonight, God told me to go somewhere that I didn’t want to go and I didn’t know why. A few minutes later, I overheard someone sharing about Jesus with a student and realized why I was there.

What a blessing it is to be a part of God’s work!

Father, continue to work in our hearts, all of us. Keep your promises, Lord, that if someone asks they shall receive, that if someone seeks they will find! God, we submit to you and recognize that it is your power that saves, your power that redeems. God, that people would come to know Jesus Christ, their savior!

But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:41-42

The semester started today for me and what a busy start it was.

I recently got an e-mail from a good friend of mine and she said that she was “such a Martha.” It’s amazing that she shared that with me yesterday. I believe it was the Holy Spirit prepping me for today, because honestly, I oftentimes am Martha more than Mary.

I’m having difficulty adjusting to busyness whereas this summer was so singularly focused. I must remember to work not out of anxiety, but rather serving out of love, the result of my being enthralled by Christ.

The first thing for our soul’s health, the first thing for his glory, and the first thing for our own usefulness, is to keep ourselves in perpetual communion with the Lord Jesus.
Charles Spurgeon

Gotta keep my eyes on the Gospel.

Father, help my unbelief that you will take care of things. You’re enough; everything else pales. Dad, please help me to listen to when I need to go and when I need to slow down. Help me to be obedient to you so that you would be given all the glory in my life!

So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
1 Kings 19:19-21

Yesterday, Pastor Mark talked about the last part of Luke 9. He briefly mentioned the calling of Elisha and I had to read it for myself.

Elisha wasn’t poor. The Bible says that he had twelve yokes of oxen, which provided for his family and was the source of their sustenance and provision.

But, when Elisha is called, he follows in obedience. He asks Elijah if he can bid farewell to his family, as Matthew Henry explains, not to ask leave of them, but rather to take leave from them.

His plow was the source of everything he had. Without it, what could he provide?

Before he goes, Elisha lights it on fire.

Is that you? Are you like Elisha?

Has God called you to leave everything behind? (Yes.)

What must you set aflame?

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:62

Jesus doesn’t promise that everything will go well for us. We may not have a big house, or a house at all. Jesus didn’t have one. We may hurt; it could be painful. Jesus was betrayed. We might not live to see sixty, fifty, forty, thirty, twenty-one. Jesus died.

These past weeks, God’s revealed a lot of things that I look back towards. Pastor Mark said that those that look back are those that go back. I look back at my relationships. I look back on my career plans. I look back on the need to know what’s going on. I look back on my own importance.

All of that is empty. He took a lot of it away. He taught me how to be happy when it’s just me and him. His love remains constant in times when the Holy Spirit can be felt powerfully, like music filling a room, and when circumstance has everything crumbling apart through your fingers.

His love is always true.

He bids the three in Luke 9 to leave security and comfort: forget about the uncertainty of whatever riches you have and instead place your hope in God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy, that we would look to his glory!

Be ready to set everything on fire; you don’t look back on ashes.

Father, show me what I’m still looking back at—make me an arsonist. Commit my life to the Gospel, that I might live for your Word, willing to die for your Word.

I just finished watching this sermon given by Pastor Chandler, where he unpacks the Gospel out of Luke 15. Watch the entire thing, but for today, I needed to hear the first half. Tomorrow, I might need to hear the second half.

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”
Luke 15:11-19

“What do I have to do to come home to you, God?”

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
Luke 15:20-24

“Nothing, my son. Just come home!”

A lot of times, I’m the older brother, but just as often I’m the younger one, too. My sins don’t fit in nice corner, they run the gamut of all rebellion. When Jesus came for me, he ruined my rebellion; there’s nothing I can do right, including making God not love me.

Father, thanks for sending Jesus. I’m no longer a slave.

Now I’m your son.

And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.
Luke 9:33

Today at church, Pastor Mark taught from Luke walking us through the Transfiguration. This passage is all about God’s glory and Pastor Mark spent most of his time there, but there was one thing that he said that the Spirit tucked away in the back of my head and marinated.

Peter tells Jesus, face shining and clothes glittering, decked with bling, “Hey, it’d be great if we could all just hang out for a bit. I’ll set up some tents for you, Moses and Elijah, we can just stay here and chill,” but the Bible says that he didn’t know what he said.

I manage to say the wrong things at the wrong time quite often, so I find much comfort in the fact that Jesus loved Peter.

What Pastor Mark said about this verse is that Peter here wants to prolong this mountain top experience, but there’s such danger in doing so. It’s so easy to associate place and circumstance with times where we met God, and in so doing, we crave those experiences in our lives more than God himself.

The archetypal example of this is the “spiritual high” from a retreat, but for me, it takes a much more insidious and daily toll. On Sundays, sometimes if one band is leading but I like another, my heart is so cold and broken that it refuses to worship, only being at church in body but not in spirit. If one pastor is away on a sabbatical and another is teaching, oftentimes my heart is unwilling to learn, because he’s not pastor so-and-so.

So, instead of seeking to relive certain experiences, where do we go so we can see a little bit of God’s glory?

For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
2 Peter 1:17-20

Peter himself, who saw all these things, tells us that what is more sure than these mountain top experiences is the Bible! Why do we seek to be satisfied with creation in chasing these experiences that God gives us, instead of the God who gives us those experiences?

Listen diligently to God and eat what is good, delight yourselves in rich food, his Word, which is sweeter than honey, because it is the very word of God that is spoken to you. Through Scripture, the Spirit leads us and teaches us about that which will satisfy our souls most.

How are we doing on this? Have your methodologies in pursuing and worshipping Christ become, as Pastor Mark puts it, methodolatries?

Father, reveal to me how often I replace you with experiences, that I might see my methodolatries and be corrected by your Spirit. You are better than any emotion or experience this world has to offer. Teach us the Bible so that we can get to know you better so that we can tell the world about your Love!

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
John 19:26-27

The first time I read these two verses, I was struggling a lot with my own relationship with Christ. Why couldn’t I love him more? But God has been teaching me about how to love him and where that love comes from, so with different heart and eyes, I wanted to take another look at this passage.

It amazes me the capacity of Jesus’ love. He hangs from the cross, but his concern is still for his mother, “Mom! I know you’re losing your son, but you are gaining another.” Then to John, “I entrust you my mother to care for as your own.” How great is that love that fights through pain and agony, always looking at its own state second ensuring the best for the recipients of that love. It’s beyond me.

One thing to note here is that Jesus had brothers, so his mother would have been taken care of, yet he still charges John the task of being his mother’s son. Why is that? What did God intend for us to see here?

Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Luke 8:19-21

When Jesus wins over our lives and we put our trust in him, we’re re-born not only to life, but to family. Christian, you are my brother. Believer, you are my sister. We are God’s adopted in the family of Light.

Christian, how are we doing here? Family goes to the ends of the Earth for each other. Father, what must I give up for my brothers and sisters to show them that which will satisfy their souls most? You would not leave your mother on the streets in February without a blanket. If your brother needed a car to get to work, you’d give him yours. So we must give without regards to cost, for all you have is given to glorify our Dad.

My heart always sinks when I hear stories of broken families. Hearing the statistics that come out of schools in AISD is disheartening at best. Sadness is looking into a child’s eyes and not seeing a little boy or a little girl, but a loss of innocence and a premature familiarity with loneliness. I can’t wait for the day when all of that ends. Until then, we give everything for them, as God gave everything for us.

Friend, where do you come from? It’s no matter, there is someone that wants you to be with them. He’s my Dad. He knows everything about you, but he still loves you and I can’t even begin to describe it. He wanted to save you so badly that he sent my big brother to die for you. Keep walking with me. I’ll tell you all about him.