Beginning July 5th and through the month of August you’re invited to join me on Zoom at 7:00 each Tuesday evening for a time of growing in God’s word.
Begins tonight!
July 5th-26th
A 4 week study from the book of Jonah. When God calls us, we have to decide – obey or run away. And, like Jonah, the decision we make will have great consequences. In studying the life of Jonah, we have an opportunity to learn many things; this book is only a sampling of what God can teach us through the life of Jonah.
A 5 week studyfrom Paul’s letter to the Philippians. We will learn that joy is not a response to life’s circumstances rather it is what gets us through life when our world is falling apart. We will come to understand that joy doesn’t just happen, it is a choice.
Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Romans 12:16
A home can be a wonderful thing. For many of us, home is where we can be honest, where we’re with our family, and where all things—even the flaws—feel familiar. Perhaps most importantly, though, a true home is where we can be ourselves, in genuine humility. Such ought to be our experience in the fellowship of God’s people.
Paul’s call for Christians to “not be haughty, but associate with the lowly” is a way of calling us to treat one another like family in the household of God. Another way to translate the command “Associate with the lowly” is to say “Be willing to do menial work.” Both translations are helpful; we shouldn’t be so proud that there are either people with whom we won’t associate or jobs we refuse to do.
In the secular world, respectability is measured by status, significance, influence, wealth, intellect, and so on. This must not be the case among Christian men and women. Indeed, one of the distinguishing features of God’s people should be that characteristics such as materialism, pride, and slander, which mark the wider community, are no longer prevalent.
How could we dare give in to the broader culture’s influence when our Lord described Himself as having “nowhere to lay his head” and as being “gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 8:20; 11:29)? He came not to save those who are well but those who are sick (Mark 2:17). He continues to call the weak of the world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27). Even the apostle Paul, that eminently qualified teacher of the law, deemed his entire resumé rubbish in order to gain Christ (Philippians 3:8).
Jesus is building a church, and the church He’s building is the family of God. Our Father is in heaven, our elder Brother is reigning, and our brothers and sisters are worshiping with us. Next time you’re with your church family, take a step out of your comfort zone and get to know a member of the family you don’t normally interact with. Next time you’re asked to do a job or take on a role that you would not naturally be drawn to, ask yourself if this is an opportunity to be humble and not haughty. After all, our elder Brother did not consider a cross beneath Him, and He died there to raise up lowly sinners like you and me. The ground is level beneath His cross. And so His family is to be marked by humble love.
Come to me … For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28, Matthew 11:30
A yoke is a wooden frame placed across the back of oxen or other strong animals, joining them together in order to haul a heavy load. The yoke’s purpose is to evenly distribute the weight on both sides, making it possible for the animals to walk while bearing it.
Jesus uses this illustration to offer those who might follow Him the chance to find unparalleled freedom under His yoke. With His invitation to take His “easy” and “light” yoke, Jesus distinguishes Himself from mere religion, with its heavy burden of rules and regulations. The Pharisees of Jesus’ time were consumed with doing what was right—not only seeking to abide by God’s law but adding a great number of their own rules as well. Such man-made obligations and expectations create crushing burdens. Repeatedly saying, “Come on now, try harder; come on now, do this,” will figuratively wear down anyone’s neck.
But Jesus’ yoke is different.
To be under the yoke—the authority—of Jesus is not a burden; it is a delight. How can this be? There is a freedom found in Christ—not a freedom to do what we want but a freedom to do what we ought. Since by nature we cannot do what we ought, we are yoked to our own desires. That path promises much but delivers little. We need somebody—Jesus—to set us free from our bondage to sin so that we might live in freedom and obedience to God’s will: to become the people we were designed to be. So it is that Christ’s commands are “the perfect law that gives freedom,” and so it is that those who obey them “will be blessed in what they do” (James 1:25, NIV).
This is why we declare with joy, “Jesus is my Lord.” This is His identity—and because of His lordship, when we respond to His invitation and receive His yoke upon our shoulders, we accept a newfound obligation to live freely under His perfect will. The issues of morality, sexuality, business, family—all these things and more are gathered under the yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For those who still feel yoked to a burdensome weight, be it impossible rules or sinful desires, Jesus extends the invitation to come and let Him lift these burdens. You need to hear this today. Where are you struggling with sin? How are you seeing the commands of the Lord as burdensome? In what ways might you be struggling against His ways? Hear Him again: Come to Me. I’m humble. I’m gentle. Your burden is so severe that I had to die on the cross for you, and I did so willingly. Come and be yoked to Me. My burden is light.
Morning Moments 