Faith that trusts

“But the centurion replied, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed’… When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.’” Mt. 8:8,10 (ESV)

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Audio              (4:17)

There are 3 components to true Biblical faith…knowledge, trust and action. In today’s verses, Jesus makes an astounding statement that illuminates His definition of faith.

Jesus tells those who are with Him that this centurion…a gentile…has faith greater than anyone He has encountered in all of Israel. The greatest faith Jesus encounters is not in a religious leader…not in a devout Pharisee or scribe. The person Jesus finds with the greatest faith is a gentile…and not just a gentile…but an official representative of the nation that is currently oppressing Israel.

Amazing…

What was there about the faith of this centurion that so impressed Jesus?

It was his trust.

The centurion trusted that all Jesus had to do was speak one word from a distance, and his servant would be healed. There is a vast difference between faith as intellectual belief and faith as trusting as I’ve previously written.

Through our rigorous training as health care professionals, intellectual knowledge is emphasized so we are ingrained toward intellectual belief. We must be careful that we don’t approach the Gospel as a truth that only requires intellectual assent.

Rather, we must learn to trust in the Lord…not simply believe in Him.

Prayer: Lord, help me to place my full trust in You to live according to Your will.

The light of the world

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”         John 8:12 (ESV)

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Audio              (7:20)

Today’s verse contains one of the seven “I am” statements made by Jesus that are found in the Gospel of John. The first statement Jesus makes is “I am the light of the world.”

Light reveals…it allows us to see.

Jesus as the light of the world illuminates how we should live in this world.

But the fact is…all of us see this world through a distorted lens. We have been lied to and we have accepted those lies. We began to believe things before we placed our faith in Christ. Therefore, our view of this world is imperfect.

We have a personal bias that arises from opinions and presuppositions that are built upon those lies. They are what distorts our lens to the world.

Jesus is the light of the world…and He has given us His truth in the Scripture.

As we spend time in the Scripture, we must allow it to perform its corrective action on our lens. We must be willing to admit we are wrong…willing to change. If we aren’t willing to change…our lens remains distorted and we will fail to see the world in the true light of Jesus.

What lies are you believing today?

Prayer: Lord, help me to see the lies I currently believe and replace them with Your light and truth!

The process of self-denial

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.’” Mark 8:34,35 (ESV)

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Audio              (4:40)

As unpopular as the message of this passage is…the meaning is clear. If anyone wants to follow Jesus, they must learn the habit of self-denial. That applies even to us in medicine.

Self-denial is not an attitude we can suddenly decide to adopt and expect to be successful immediately. It takes practice because it’s a process. But the sooner we begin living the self-denying life…the sooner we gain our life.

But what does self-denial in medicine look like?

It is being more concerned about the care of patients than our own comfort. One of the common ways this issue pops up is when we are on call. The phone rings during dinner or just before we get into bed. A patient needs us, and we are faced with a choice. Do I go back into the hospital…or do I find a way to put that patient off until the next morning?

Jesus tells us to put aside our selfish desires…and serve.

Or take the example of giving up some of that comfortable salary in order to be able to take care of those who cannot pay as you share the Gospel with them.

Now that’s a life on it’s way to being saved…

Prayer: Lord, show me today how You want me to take up my cross!

CMDA Weekly Devotional

As you take advantage of CMDA’s weekly devotional for today, continue to reflect on how often your desires rule your life instead of the leading of the Spirit.

The Way of Love

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”          Eph. 5:1,2 (NIV)

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Audio              (3:42)

Scripture often uses the analogy of walking to describe our spiritual journey, and today’s verse instructs us that we are to walk in a certain way…the way of love. Paul goes on to give us the ultimate example of the way of love…the self-sacrifice of Jesus.

In other words, we are called to a life of self-sacrifice…but what does that mean?

In the book Your Life in Christ, the 19^th century Scottish writer George MacDonald, who inspired C.S. Lewis, gives us one of the most practical answers to that question. MacDonald proposes that in order to live a self-sacrificial life, we must first separate our desires from our will.

Normally, our desires and our will go together. We desire something…then we immediately will it to happen. MacDonald points out that our desires are ruled by our old nature. Therefore our will is ruled by our old nature as long as our will is connected to our desires.

But if we separate our will from our desires…then the Spirit can control our will.

We separate our will from our desires when we take time to evaluate, question and discern those desires. Age and maturity bring the ability to resist and put aside self-defeating desires.

Only then can we begin to walk in the way of love…the self-sacrificial life.

Prayer: Lord help me to question my desires and seek Your will over my own.

The trap of spiritual comparison

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Eph. 5:1,2 (NIV)

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Audio              (3:42)

It’s not uncommon for me to become disappointed with my slow spiritual growth when I encounter someone who has a greater depth of spiritual maturity, or when I have failed once again to apply new truths to an old problem. I become trapped into thinking that spiritual growth is a destination…not a journey.

That’s why Paul uses the term walk.

We are to follow God’s example as dearly loved children…and walk.

In my walk, one of my distractions is comparing myself to other believers. The result is never good, so it helps to remember that each of us starts our spiritual journey from a different place. And though the destination is the same for all followers of Jesus, the path to get there is different for each of us.

Spiritual growth is not a race against others…it’s an individual process.

The truth is more that we are all crossing a wilderness starting from different points and as we look across that wilderness we will see others slightly ahead and behind as we move toward the same goal.

So avoid the trap of spiritual comparison by remembering today that your spiritual growth is a process…a journey unique to you…and He is walking that journey with you.

Prayer: Lord, help me keep my eyes focused on You, not on those around me!

The call to discipleship

“With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” Eph. 1:8b-10. (NIV)

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Audio              (3:10)

Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of living our life with the end in mind by imagining ourselves before the Judgment Seat of Christ. To help us gain clarity of what it would take to hear the Lord say…”Well done good and faithful servant”…we need to understand what God’s will is.

In today’s verses, Paul tells us that God’s will is to bring unity in all things in heaven and earth under Christ. In other words, the Father desires to bring everything together under the authority of Christ. That is why Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Mt. 28:19,20.

We are each called to play a part in making disciples of all of the nations, so that those predestined to be followers of Jesus can be united under His authority.

If we want to hear the words…”well done”…we need to live out our part in the Great Commission.

We begin that journey by remembering that this life is not about us and our desires…it’s about God’s will.

We are called to be living sacrifices in Romans 12:1.

How does God want to use you to make disciples?

Prayer: Lord, show me how You have called me to make disciples…

Seeing the end

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Cor. 5:10 (NIV)

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Audio              (3:14)

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was very popular a number of years ago and though I differ theologically with the author, all truth is God’s truth. One of the seven habits that Stephen Covey included in the book was “Begin with the end in mind.” In other words, in your journey through life, know where you want to end up.

It’s a simple…yet profound truth that few fully incorporate into their lives.

We can all benefit from gaining greater clarity on what we want our lives to look like when we come to that inevitable end.

To the extent we lack clarity of purpose and goal…we are existing…not living.

To gain clarity on your purpose, envision the day you will be standing before the Lord at His judgment seat and reflect on how you want to have lived your life.

Our appearance before the judgment seat of Christ is one of the few things that will happen to every follower of Jesus.

But we don’t need to wait until that time to find out what Jesus wants from us. He has given us the indwelling Holy Spirit so that we can know His will. We begin with the end in mind when we attempt to live our lives according to His will so that we can hear Him say…we done my good and faithful servant.

Prayer: Lord, show me Your will for me today.

CMDA Weekly Devotional

As you take advantage of CMDA’s weekly devotional for today, make sure you are regularly taking time to simply be with Him.

Being still with God

“He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.’” Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

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Audio              (1:17)

As I conclude the topic of stewardship, I am reminded that there is a danger with stewardship.

That danger is getting too caught up in the aspect of doing.

Today’s verse reminds us that first and foremost, God wants us to simply be with Him. The proper order is being in Him first…so that our doing arises out of our being…not the other way around.

And to be with Him, we must first be still.

But in today’s world, it is easier to do than to be still. In fact, we are rapidly losing the art of being still. A friend recently shared a related article with me. It describes a study in which men and women were asked to simply be still with their own thoughts. However, if they were uncomfortable with simply being still, they were given the option of shocking themselves with a small jolt from a battery. Two-thirds of men and a quarter of the women chose to shock themselves rather than being still.

Yes…that’s right…a majority of men and a quarter of women chose to shock themselves rather than being still.

As followers of Jesus, we should we should go beyond simply being comfortable with being still…we should learn to crave being still…with Him.

Try taking some time now…to be still…even if it’s only for 5-10 minutes.

Sit in His presence…

Know that He is God…

Praise Him in your heart…

Praise Him with words…

Exalt Him…

Prayer: Lord, You are God my Creator…