It's not about rules like you may think

This past Sunday, Pastor Fuller titled his sermon, "Surprised by Jesus." 

It was based around the passage of Matthew 5:21-37. 

This reading is shortly after the beatitudes where Jesus presents us radical reversals like, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" and "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me." 

After this He talks about His followers being salt and light to the world, and then follows with a conversation about the Law. For instance, "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell." Jesus is challenging us once again to look outside the box of rules. Of course, Jesus isn't saying, "Forget the 10 commandments, do whatever you want ," instead He is saying, being angry with your brother or discouraging toward another is just as bad as murder so don't do either. Don't say, "Well I won't murder, but I will be rude and angry towards people." 

Instead say, "I won't murder and I won't be rude and angry either, because none of them are life-giving."

Jesus continues to challenge us. He's good at that, isn't is He?

"You have heard that it was said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your whole body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell..." 

Here He goes again by going outside the tablet of rules (10 commandments) and says, don't even think about committing adultery for it is as bad as the act. He says if one eye makes you stumble, tear it out, not literally of course, but to get rid of the sin in our lives for it is better to repent, than to continue to sin. 

THEN, Jesus talks about a common issue in our culture today, divorce.

"It was said, 'WHOEVER SENDS HIS WIFE AWAY, LET HIM GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE'; but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." 

This one can really make people feel uncomfortable, but I was so glad Pastor Fuller talked about it. He said that with any passage, learning the context and history is vital to understanding. 

I learned that back in biblical times, divorce had become a casual thing. The Hillelite rabbis had created the "any cause divorce" because they believed the word 'cause' in Deuteronomy 24:1 meant a divorce could occur for any cause. Men could divorce his wife for whatever reason, even the smallest reasons like forgetting to sweep the floor. This became extremely common among Jews so that's why some Pharisees asked Jesus (Matthew 19:3) if  any cause divorce was lawful and Jesus answered with a bold no. He wanted the any cause divorce to end. He took it serious, but the Jews of the day did not. They only took advantage of divorce. [Check out this article for more info about divorce]

Here again, we see Jesus taking the rules a step further.

Now, He wasn't challenging us to simply add more rules and regulations to our lives. That was one of the reasons why Jesus always challenged the Pharisees, because they were focusing on religious customs and losing sight of the real reason  of faith in this life. 

Jesus didn't come to get rid of the Law (10 commandments), He came to fulfill it, meaning lets go even further than these commandments, not so we can feel boxed in but, so we can be free.

Jesus says the most important commandments are, "love God and love others, including your enemies." Pastor Fuller explained that Jesus doesn't have a problem with the 10 commandments, but Jesus wants our sole priorities to be loving God and others. When we do this, the 10 commandments are checked off. If we love others, we will not murder. If we love others, we will not commit adultery. If we love others, we will not steal. If we love others, we will not lie and so on. 

Many people think that being a Christian means that you have to follow a long list of rules, but being a Christian means to follow Jesus, which in turn, translates to loving God and people. Instead of being scared off by the intimidating 10 commandments, we should focus on God and who He is. When we do that, we can only love Him and because we love Him, we want to obey Him and make Him happy. Everything else falls into place. 

Pastor Fuller said, "Jesus wants to get us past the rules of living to the heart of living."

Jesus' heart is love.

Therefore, as Christians our hearts and lives should focus on love. 

It's not about rules, it's about heart.

He won me over...he stole my heart

In my post, Are you a fan of...?, I talked about how Jesus always had crowds gathered around him, but another thing that has stood out to me during my journey through the Bible in a year plan, was that Jesus never stopped. He never said, "Man, I need a vacation." He kept traveling to teach and to be in relationship with people. Like my Dad says, he "was on a mission". His mission was to win hearts...to win people over.

This makes me think of one of my favorite songs, "Won Me Over" by of course, the one and only, Audrey Assad.

 

"Was on the run, a road that I ruined,
chasing a lie I thought I believed in,
Don't know why I do what I do

Running from you, is running to you
You're everywhere... I couldn't escape
You never stop - you never do.

[chorus] I was full of fear and prone to wander,
lost & lonely till the day you won me over, you won me over
I was halfway gone and going nowhere
Half alive until the day you won me over, you won me over, over

I should have known what I was missing
If I were you, I would have stopped chasing
Your love's too strong to let me go.

[chorus x2]

I was halfway gone and going nowhere..."

 

 

Can you relate to that song? I know I can. I think we have all experienced a "full of fear, prone to wander, lost & lonely" time in our lives. You see, Jesus doesn't want us to fear or wander or be lost and lonely. When He was here on earth, His mission was to win those people over. Even though He may not be physically here now, His spirit is with us and still winning people over.

 

He doesn't win just church going people. He doesn't win just people who drive the speed limit. He wants to win everyone over. Whether you've done drugs, been to jail, turned your back on Him, He still wants to win you over. Even if you are running from Him, He is still there. Most of the times when we run from Him, we find Him. "Running from you, is running to you.You're everywhere... I couldn't escape You never stop - you never do." God is a pursuer. He is a chaser. He does not give up. That's not His style. Just like He was here on earth, He would not stop teaching and loving people.

 

I love the lyrics, "I was halfway gone and going nowhere. Half alive until the day you won me over." We may think a life of luxury makes us alive, but the truth is, it doesn't. When we let Him win us over, we become truly alive. A lot of times we run after things that cannot make us happy, the worldy things. God wants to give us true happiness. So if you haven't been "won over", stop and look around. He is trying to show you that He is there and He wants you. He wants you to notice that He is the only one who can give  you happiness and a purpose. You may have this "worldly" film over your eyes that makes it hard to see, but God has the ability to remove that film and show you what you've been missing.

 

"I should have known what I was missing. If I were you, I would have stopped chasing
Your love's too strong to let me go." Don't waste your time on things that can't win you over, let God win you over. Let Him steal your heart. You don't want to miss out.

 

Do you remember when God won you over? What did it take for you to realize that He was with you the whole time? Were you running from Him?

 Feel free to leave me a comment! I'd love to hear about how God won you over :)

 

P.S.- If you are reading along with me, today's scripture is Mark 14.

 

 

 



Holding your word close

Some of you may know that I started volunteering for a kids bible verse memory program. Since I'm unable to work, I figure this is a great time to do some volunteering. This program is just 2 hours a week so I figured I could handle it. Anyway, I missed the first week because of my herxing but I was able to make it last night. Yay!! 

My duty for this program is to listen to 3 year olds recite bible verses (I think it's the cutest thing EVER) and give them snacks. I thought it might be difficult to get them to say the verse, but surprisingly, probably 80% knew the verse by heart. I was impressed! My job is pretty simple..ask them to say their verse, affirm them, and give them a sticker! They were just precious. Kids definitely know how to put a smile on my face especially when they talk about Jesus. I don't think anything gets better than that. 

I think this program is wonderful because it helps kids treasure God's word in their hearts. My college minister always encouraged us to memorize scripture (I admit, I've been slacking :/). The bible tells us many times that we should guard God's word within us so that it can help us be witnesses and remind us of God's promises. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training righteousness." Psalm 119:9 says, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word." My favorite, Colossians 3:16, says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." When we let His word dwell in our hearts, we have a constant reminder of His love, grace, and guidance to live out our lives they way He intends us to live. I was reminded a few days ago by a friend/mentor how memorizing scripture can encourage others and be a shield to protect us. She prayed over me, recited scripture, and it was such a blessing to me. She didn't need her bible to tell me the word of God...it dwelled in her. It was such great encouragement for me to be more proactive in truly learning God's word and guarding it in my heart. She suggested that if I memorize a promise each week, I can say it when I'm anxious and God will give me peace and reassurance. I thought that sounded like a pretty good idea!

My verse that I'm memorizing is Psalm 91:2. "I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust." 

So my challenge for you is to pick a bible verse for this week and memorize it. You can even use my verse! Recite it. Guard it. Use it. God's word is truth. Nothing is better than speaking God's truth because it grants us peace, confidence, and guidance.

What verse will YOU be memorizing? 

PS- you know what one of the most popular phrases I heard last night? "I wanna be line leader! I wanna be line leader!" Haha...if you read my last blog you would understand the irony.