Let Mercy Lead
“ . . . everyone, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher . . . he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.” - Luke 6:40 & 48
What would someone who is “like his teacher” look like? What is the deep foundation, “on the rock” that Jesus is talking about in this passage? There is no way that I would have enough space in a devotional like this to answer those questions. That is unless I move from the world of prose into the world of poetry. Some concepts are just too big and too complex for the confines of regular prose. This is one of them, and so I am going to need to turn to a musical poet for inspiration.
One of my all-time favorite Christian musicians… ok, maybe just one of my favorite Christians period, was a guy named Rich Mullins. Rich was a lyrical genius and a poet, who wrote some of the greatest Christian music of the 80s and 90s, and some of the greatest lyrics of all time. One of my favorites is a song that he wrote for his best friend’s son, Aidan. Before Aidan was born, David Stasser, asked Rich “to write a song for [his son] that will take him through life.” I want to share these words with you today (and I’d encourage you to listen to the song as well) because I think that Rich’s poetic advice might be some of the best you can give to anyone who is wanting to become like the Teacher. In fact, I can’t think of any better advice for those of us who want to build our lives on a firm foundation. My prayer today is that you will learn to let mercy lead.
Aidan the day
Aidan the day will come
You'll run the race
That takes us way beyond
All our trials and all our failures
And all the good we dream of
But you can't see yet where it is you're heading
But one day you'll see the face of love
Let mercy lead
Let love be the strength in your legs
And in every footprint that you leave
There'll be a drop of grace
If we can reach
Beyond the wisdom of this age
Into the foolishness of God
That foolishness will save
Those who believe
Although their foolish hearts may break
They will find peace
And I'll meet you in that place
Let mercy lead
Pastor Josh Rose
Teaching Pastor
Youtube Video with lyrics link: click here
Spotify link: click here
Putting it into Practice
I have a confession to make, I love “to-do” lists. I know, I’m one of those weird people who like to cross things off my lists… and yes, sometimes I write things on my list that I’ve already done so that I get the joy of crossing it off the list. It must be the endorphin rush that comes along with accomplishing a task that energizes me. While “to-do” lists are very effective in helping us accomplish tasks, there are some very important “to-dos” that have never made it on the list.
Here are a few things that haven’t made it onto one of my “to-do” lists: forgive, find a way to express mercy to the person who’s being difficult, let go of the anger that you’re holding onto, or find a way to be generous. Those things have never made it onto one of my “to-do” lists, what about you? And yet, those are things that Jesus called us to do as his disciples. (Luke 6:27-36) I think part of the challenge is that we often read Jesus’ commands and assume Jesus is asking us to agree with him, but we don’t sense him inviting us to actually follow him. Many of us think it’s a good idea to love our enemies, but when was the last time you intentionally and loved an enemy and did some sort of practical good toward them? (Luke 6:27)
As we read through the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-49), our thought should be, I may not be that kind of person yet, but with God’s Spirit in me and God’s grace over me, I can become that kind of person. I’ve heard people say the point of Jesus’ teaching is to set such a high bar that we have no choice but to admit we cannot do and fall on grace. However, this embraces the erroneous idea that grace leaves you as you are. No, we don’t only rely on grace to save us, but also to change us. That change doesn’t happen through willpower, but through the Spirit’s power and work within us. It doesn’t happen through trying harder, but through training to become like him. But make no mistake about it, Jesus is inviting you to posture your life under him as rabbi and to learn to become like him. (Luke 6:40)
Listen to the story Jesus told at the end of his teaching to drive this point home, “ Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.” (Luke 6:47-48) According to Jesus, the doing is the building. Belief is the starting point, but we build a solid life when we take the teachings of Jesus and put them into practice. Maybe we need to put things like forgive, be generous, extend hospitality, and love your enemies on our to-do list. How do you sense Jesus calling you to put his teachings into practice today? What would it look like to take one step of obedience?
Pastor Ryan Paulson
Lead Pastor
Grace is Opposed to Earning But Not Effort
“I will tell you exactly how to get an A in this class,” said Dr. Huffman. It was my first day of Greek II, and I was already terrified! I had heard stories of students staying up late into the hours of the morning, spending endless hours memorizing flashcards and conjugation tables, and working to finish homework just before the deadline.
And yet, Dr. Huffman stood at the head of the classroom, telling us exactly how to get an A in his class. Included in his syllabus was a study guide that laid out exactly what to memorize on which weeks, which concepts to have mastered on what dates, and how often he would recommend going over flashcards.
Here was this professor, teaching this terribly difficult course, telling us exactly how to succeed in his class. And yet, despite the tremendous clarity and even mercy that Dr. Huffman was showing us how to succeed in his class, almost none of us would do what Dr. Huffman told us to do.
It was because, despite his gracious invitation to do as he told us to do, we didn’t want to put in any of the real efforts to really succeed.
This is tragically all too true in our walk with Jesus. Despite him handing us a very clear, detailed, interesting instructional guide on how to become like him, we still do not want to put in the effort.
We wallow in our usual issues, problems, and excuses - all the while ignoring the promise in 2 Peter 1:3, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
Peter, the disciple that constantly put his foot in his mouth, fell out of the boat, and who denied Jesus publicly tells us boldly that we have everything we need to follow him. Despite the conventional stories and wisdom of the day, human beings have been given the power to become Christlike. Still, the flesh sometimes makes it difficult to follow Jesus’ teachings.
Try forgiving the person who cut you off on the freeway, or your spouse or your friend of a careless comment, let alone praying for your enemies, and you will quickly find the truth of what G.K. Chesterton said: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”
Dallas Willard once said: “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.”
When we receive the gracious provision and invitation of Jesus, our savior, and teacher, we can invest our whole selves into the process of mortifying our flesh and sowing to the Spirit knowing that it’s a worthwhile effort in living more fully into his grace.
Pastor Ryan Lunde
Young Adult Ministries
Taking a Next Best Step…
"Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:7-8
A favorite story my dad shared with me was about their family’s friendship with Hall of Fame shortstop, Alan Trammell. Alan and my uncle Steve were really good friends growing up, living just down the street from one another and played a lot of baseball together. As a baseball player growing up, my dad would tell me stories about how Alan used to just spend hours practicing and training to improve his skill set on the baseball field. Each day was an opportunity to train and get better, culminating in a 1984 World Series MVP against his hometown Padres and a Hall of Fame career. While it ended in Cooperstown, it started by training and practicing in his backyard.
As it is with baseball, becoming whole and holy starts with training. If you’ve ever worked out or been trained by someone, you know that training implies two very important things. Firstly, training is always customized. A personal trainer will usually ask for your goals, what you’re hoping to accomplish and work on. Alan being a shortstop probably didn’t train taking fly balls very often. Jesus’ statements are a call for us to be honest with where we are at! You can’t remove someone’s speck without getting rid of your log. Good hearts bring out good treasures. These statements are challenges for us to assess where we are really at. If I walk into a gym tomorrow and my goal is to bench press 400-pounds, I can tell you we aren’t starting there! We have to be honest with where we are at so that we can make progress. The danger here is in the danger of comparison. Sometimes we assume we should be further along than we are. However, Jesus would invite us into authenticity and freedom.
Secondly, training implies progress. Progress is not perfection. Progress is our metric for success. As we train, we improve. No one starts out training to bench press 400-pounds by immediately putting 400-pounds on the bar or stumbles into being a professional baseball player without training and practice. We strive to make progress. We want to become more like Jesus. As D.A. Carson says, “People do not drift towards holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.” It takes effort, patience, and practice.
So how do we train? We honestly assess where we are at and take our next best step. We each have one. Partnering with the Holy Spirit, we pray, seek, and ask God how we might train. Of course, for many of us, it starts with spiritual practices. For others, it starts with taking ownership of a foundational truth about who God created us to be. For others, it’s a step towards obedience. While it looks different for each of us, when we assess and take our next best step, we can train ourselves in godliness which is of great benefit!
Seth Redden
HS Pastor
The Builder and the Master
In Luke 6:46-49, we see Jesus saying he doesn’t want shallow commitment rather he wants devoted obedience. I thought of an allegory that might put this into perspective.
Say you have a master and he just commanded you to go build a house, but you’ve never built one before. He starts in on some basic instructions, but you ignore them because you have ideas of your own. You’re smart, driven, resourceful and you’re confident that you can pull it off. Plus you want to impress your master with your ideas. You want him to see that you’re competent and that he should entrust you with more stuff in the future.
You diligently set to work with all the enthusiasm in the world, only you’re met with failure after failure. Your determination and creativity are quickly exhausted and after a while, you’re forced to recognize just how badly you underestimated the difficulty of the project. Utterly defeated, you return to the master all downcast, miserable, and confused as to why he would even give you such an impossible task.
To your dismay, he again commands you to build this house, only with some added urgency this time. Out of swelling frustration, you complain, “How am I supposed to do this, it’s impossible!” He responds, “Well, you need to listen and do what I instruct you to do this time.” To your surprise, his instructions are pretty straightforward and readily achievable. Then he goes with you to show you how it’s done.
Jesus is our master and he expects us to walk the walk. We often don’t do the things we are supposed to. In Luke 6:46-49, we see Jesus calling out those who call him master but do not commit to obeying him. Convicting stuff, if I’m being honest. We need to commit to obey whatever instruction he gives, even if it seems simplistic. Let's make sure we have the foundation to weather the storm.
Jonathan Duncan
Who Am I?
Today’s devotion is a little bit different. You’re going to have some homework because this is going to be more like a workshop than a normal devotional. However, I’m convinced that God has something he wants to show each of us as we dwell in His word.
A number of years ago Neil Anderson published a list of affirmations from Scripture about who we are in Christ. We gave out a bookmark on Sunday morning so we could renew our minds with truth from God’s word. I’d like you to read through those same passages today and ask Jesus what truth he wants you to hear afresh? Read slowly and read prayerfully. Ask the Spirit to give you wisdom and revelation as you read through these affirmations that are true of you today.
I AM ACCEPTED...
John 1:12 I am God’s child.
John 15:15 - I am Christ’s friend.
Romans 5:1 - I have been justified.
1 Cor. 6:17 - I am united with the Lord, and I am one spirit with Him
1 Cor 6:19, 20 - I have been bought with a price. I belong to God.
1 Cor. 12:27 - I am a member of Christ’s body.
Eph. 1:1 - I am a saint.
Eph. 1:5 - I have been adopted as God’s child.
Eph. 2:18 - I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit.
Col. 1:14 – I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins.
Col. 2:10 - I am complete in Christ.
I AM SECURE...
Rom. 8:1,2 - I am free forever from condemnation.
Rom. 8:28 - I am assured that all things work together for good.
Rom. 8:31f - I am free from any condemning charges against me.
Rom. 8:35f - I cannot be separated from the love of God.
2 Cor. 1:21, 22 - I have been established, anointed, and sealed by God.
Col. 3:3 - I am hidden with Christ in God.
Phil. 1:6 - I am confident that the good work that God has begun in me will be perfected.
Phil. 3:20 - I am a citizen of heaven.
2 Tim. 1:7 - I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind.
Heb. 4:16 - I can find grace and mercy in time of need.
1 John 5:18 - I am born of God, and the evil one cannot touch me.
I AM SIGNIFICANT...
Matt. 5:13,14 - I am the salt and light of the earth.
John 15:1,5 - I am a branch of the true vine, a channel of His life.
John 15:16 - I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit.
Acts 1:8 - I am a personal witness of Christ’s.
1 Cor. 3:16 - I am God’s temple.
2 Cor. 5:17f - I am a minister of reconciliation for God.
2 Cor. 6:1 - I am God’s co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9).
Eph. 2:6 - I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm.
Eph. 2:10 - I am God’s workmanship.
Eph. 3:12 - I may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Phil. 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
There are two things I want to invite you to do in response. First, identify a truth you sense the Spirit driving home in your life in a new and fresh way. Second, write a personal affirmation that goes along with that truth and read it each morning for the next week asking Jesus to let it settle in your soul.
Pastor Ryan Paulson
Lead Pastor
Jesus’ Power
In Matthew 4:8-10, Jesus is tempted in a conversation that went like this:
Satan: “I will give you all the kingdoms of the world if you just fall down and worship me.”
Jesus: “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and He only shall you serve.’”
I feel this would be a pretty appealing temptation for Jesus. I mean, an argument could be made that Satan was going to give Jesus what he came to earth to accomplish. Philippians 2:9-11 tells us that God wanted Jesus to have “the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!” In other words, God wanted to give Jesus all authority and power, so why not take it now? This was a temptation to shortcut the long and tedious process of winning the right way, a temptation that would be especially intriguing to someone who knew that the right way would lead to crucifixion and death. This doesn’t sound like a terrible option to me. I mean, it would fast-track his whole movement, and wouldn’t the ends justify the means?
This is reason #4392, as to why you should worship Jesus, and not me.
Jesus clearly didn’t think this way. He didn’t even hesitate with this temptation to take the shortcut to power. In fact, before he quotes the scripture above and without even taking a moment to reflect on this temptation, Jesus says, “Be gone, Satan!” And get this, Satan leaves. I love this! Satan was tempting Jesus with the power he didn’t even have in the first place. If Satan were the one with power, then he’d be the one commanding Jesus to do things. Instead, when Jesus, being Almighty God in human form, says the word, Satan listens and leaves.
So, Jesus definitely had power… in fact, he had ALL POWER! But he didn’t use it the way that Satan wanted him to and he didn’t use it the way that most of us would have. And this is actually the thing that makes Jesus so powerful: his unwillingness to use power to his own advantage (see Phil 2:6 NIV). There have been countless leaders who have lived before and after Jesus, who have ruled with power. Some have done good things, some have done terrible things, but all of them used power for themselves. To this day, you could add up all the rulers and kings and queens and presidents and leaders who have ever lived and they still wouldn’t have the influence that this carpenter from Nazareth has.
Why? Because while those other leaders led out of a love of power, Jesus leads out of the power of love. He knew that there was no use forcing people to follow him. It had to be a choice. A free choice. So, what are you going to choose today? Will you follow Jesus as King? I hope you do.
Josh Rose
Teaching Pastor
The Performance Trap
Confession…public speaking makes me super nervous! I love people, and I love being able to share the amazing truths of Scripture and how God is working in people’s lives, but my need to perform and come across looking like I have it all put together often gets in the way of being able to enjoy the moment.
A couple of years ago it was my turn to share the Church Life announcements on a Sunday morning. I had memorized the list of announcements and as I started to share about one particular event, Pastor Dennis called out from the front row, “February, not September.” I laughed nervously and tried to regain my composure, but it all went downhill from there. I proceeded to share more wrong dates and details until the audience was laughing with me. After a painful three minutes, I started to walk off stage then recalled that I had missed one last announcement. I returned to the mic and said, “Oops, I forgot… the Alzheimer's Support Group will be held…” With this, the audience roared into laughter. What did I miss? I knew that I totally butchered the announcements, but was it really that funny?
As I made my way to the foyer, the irony of what had just happened started to set in. I was so concerned with my own performance that I completely missed the humor of the situation and my deep need for approval had caused me to not experience the joy of the laughter and of just being real.
We have to ask ourselves the question, “who determines our value?” If we allow unpredictable human beings to determine our belovedness then we will constantly be striving to be and do what we think people desire. The sad reality is that when we spend our energy performing, we may please some but not others. We also may unintentionally communicate that perfection, our own standard, is the standard that we have for others. When we embrace the truth of whom God says we are, his precious beloved children, we recognize that no amount of perfect performance can make us any more loved. In his book, “Abba’s Child”, Brennan Manning says, “Being the beloved is our identity, the core of our existence. It is not merely a lofty thought, an inspiring idea, or one name among many. It is the name by which God knows us and the way He relates to us.”
Scripture tells us often about God’s immense love for us as his precious creation. This love is not based on our performance, but rather on whom God says we are. In Isaiah 43, God declares, “I have called you by name and you are mine”. Jeremiah 3 tells us that the Lord has “loved us with an everlasting love.” And Jesus, in John 15 says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love.”
Ask yourself today who your audience is. Are you performing for the approval of man or are you living out of the freedom of being a chosen, loved child who was created perfectly by the master of the universe? Choose today to live in that love!
Lynette Fuson
Director of Soul Care & Counseling
I Can Do This
Not so long ago, we didn’t have GPS and google maps. I remember when we were young my dad took us to Portland, Oregon to see my mom’s family and invariably got lost and frustrated. Would he stop and ask for directions, no. He just knew if he drove in circles long enough, he would find the way. After all, he was a police officer—he was used to solving problems and finding things. As the oldest of seven, dad started taking care of siblings at the age of 5, and always had to be responsible. Now I realize, my dad never learned how to handle the stress of life, so alcohol became his escape. Most importantly, he never gave Jesus the wheel. He was self-sufficient, but also self-destructive.
When Jesus was in the desert fasting, the Tempter said you can turn these stones into bread. In other words, disobey God, you have the power, just do it—satisfy your hunger, be self-sufficient. When Jesus prophesied that Peter would deny him, Peter proclaimed twice no way would he do such a thing in Matthew 26. Peter blew it big time because he trusted in himself to stand firm. He loved Jesus, but he didn’t listen and thought he knew himself better than God.
Writing these devotionals is a privilege and a gift but not something that comes easily or naturally to me. If I try to do it on my own, anxiety takes over and writer’s block results. When I say—"no way can I do this without your help Lord,” he steps in and whispers his ideas, verses, and even illustrations. When I pray, “give me your words, tell me what you want people to know”—ideas begin to form. Jesus says, “. . . apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
We can only overcome self-sufficiency by being so radically God-centered in our thinking that the details of our daily lives become petitions, praises, and gratefulness. When we embrace the truth that we only serve in the strength God supplies, we will beg for his help and trust him to give it. When we recognize that God loves our dependence upon him for every need, he will get all the glory and we will have peace. A good reminder from 1 Peter 4:11 is "If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen."
Deb Hill
Executive Assistant
I’m with Him!
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased.”
Proper to do this to fulfill all righteousness? Righteousness means right standing from right living. For Jesus, getting baptized was the right thing to do before God and the people gathered there. I find myself asking, “Why?”The only answer given comes in the description of what happens next. I’ve seen a lot of baptisms, but there has only ever been one like this.
“Heaven was opened,” pause a moment to imagine that moment. What did that look like? How would you have felt as it was happening?
“He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.” It was obvious that this was the Spirit of God. How was that obvious? Pause a moment and imagine how one would have known that this “form of a dove” was God’s Spirit?
The voice! The sky tears open, the Spirit of God falls on Jesus and then the voice of God proclaims that Jesus is his Son, his beloved Son! What a powerful moment! What a powerful proclamation!
Every baptism is a powerful proclamation! Jesus’ baptism was the one where God spoke and announced, “He is with me!” In every believer’s baptism since we get to be the ones who speak and announce, “I’m with Him!”
Let’s live out that proclamation today, “I’m with Him!”; enjoying the truth that the love God has for his Son falls on our shoulders too. Also, if you have not yet followed in Jesus’ footsteps and publicly proclaimed your faith through baptism, remember, “it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.”
Pastor John Riley
Junior High Ministry
