Living a 220 life

Are you following from a distance?

As I was reading in my quiet time this morning I had a realization that many of us are placing ourselves at great risk by our actions. The ironic piece of the puzzle is this: we live our lives as Christians very cautiously, trying not to make any waves and be a good person, but this caution is the very aspect putting us at risk. I’ll explain through the example of three people: Peter, Judas Iscariot, and Joseph of Arimathea.

The realization hit me when I read Mark 14:54, “Meanwhile, Peter followed him at a distance…” Now, I got it, Jesus had just been arrested and it’s a really scary time. I mean, I’m pretty sure Peter understood his life could be on the line and he was pretty brave just for following Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard but, he still followed at a distance. He was cautious and hesitant. He wasn’t completely committed to following Jesus even if it meant death. Peter’s distance resulted in denying that he even knew Jesus. Now hear me on this, the ultimate result of Peter’s distance is found in Mark 14:72 where we find Peter broken and weeping. Peter thought he was preserving himself but in fact had destroyed himself inside. You see, the pain Peter had inflicted on himself was the same pain Judas inflicted on himself.

Yes, the situation is a bit different between Judas and Peter. Judas sold Jesus to the Pharisees so they could kill him. However, at the core of the issue, both Judas and Peter betrayed Jesus and both Judas and Peter were extremely remorseful of their actions. Both men followed at a distance and both men fell greatly. Please understand, this pain was self inflicted through actions they thought were self preserving. They thought following at a distance was safer than following the “radical” Jesus. They were wrong. Let me give you an example I witnessed just this morning with my son.

Last night we caught a baby snake outside our house. The snake is very small and barely even has teeth. My youngest son has become very interested in snakes and wanted to keep him as a pet, so my wife and I agreed. Well, this morning we opened the cage so my 5 year old son could attempt to get the baby snake out all by himself for the first time. His hand went in very confidently and with great excitement until… a slight movement by the baby snake. The snake barely moved but all confidence ran out of my little boy’s body while his hand and the baby snake had a stand-off. He hesitated because he didn’t want to get bit. However, due to the hesitation the snake became more defensive of the intrusive hand and eventually bit. He quickly pulled his hand back and was clearly freaked out by the incident though the bite didn’t even draw blood. I immediately stuck my hand in and grabbed the snake with no issues. The snake didn’t even make a sound; he just simply curled around my finger and went for a ride like a good little boy. The point is, my son’s hesitation gave rise to the altercation just like our following Jesus from a distance gives rise to our downfall.

Joseph of Arimathea gives us a great example of taking a risk to follow Jesus. In Mark 15:43 the New Living Translation of the Bible says, “Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the kingdom of God to come.) Jesus was still hanging on the cross so obviously being a follower is not yet a popular thing. Clearly Joseph is potentially risking his life by requesting Jesus’ body from Pilate but he’s also risking his career. Joseph was a respected member of the high council, a council which was certainly filled with people who just crucified Jesus. Joseph DID NOT follow from a distance but risked his life and his career to follow His Savior.

My friends, let me ask you this: Are you confidently following close to your Savior or are you cautiously following from a distance? If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ the opportunity will arise every day to associate yourself with Jesus. Do you? Do people even know you’re a Christian? Now I’m not implying you need to be an abrasive, in your face, Bible thumping zealot only concerned with your own goal of proselytizing the world. No, I’m implying you need to be a follower of Jesus who is so in love with your Savior that you identify with Him every chance you get and you lovingly share Him with everyone you can. I’m also implying that you, like Joseph of Arimathea, risk everything to follow your Savior. Joseph gave his time, money, devotion, career, and potentially his life for Jesus. Are you willing to do that? Remember, if you go through life cautiously following Jesus from a distance it’s only a matter of time before the baby snake bites you. Confidently stick your spiritual hand in the cage and follow Jesus as closely as you can. AMEN!

Kids Corner: Standing up for your faith

220 Life Ministries will be starting something new…a KIDS blog! That’s right, devotionals written for kids BY kids. These blog posts will be identified in the title and will be linked to a kids page on the 220life web page. I hope you enjoy and feel compelled to offer your comments.

This post is by Audrey, age 10.

Genesis 6:9-22

No one likes it when they get laughed at or bullied at school just because of their faith. But we as kids have to stand up for our faith no matter what. For example, when God told Noah to build an ark and to bring two of each animal on it how do you think Noah felt? He got called mean names, laughed at, and bullied but did he stop? NO! He kept on building the ark. After the 40 days and 40 nights God gave Noah a beautiful blessing of a rainbow. That shows us that if we do as God asks he will return us with a great gift. So next time someone starts to make fun of you for your faith just remember Noah. Never stop believing in Jesus because you get picked on, bullied, or anything at all.

Faith in Action for KIDS

TAKE A PENCEL AND PUT IT NEXT TO THE WALL. TRY TO MAKE IT STAND UP ON ITS OWN. IT CAN’T DO THAT, RIGHT? IT HAS TO LEAN AGAINST THE WALL. WELL THAT’S JUST LIKE US AND GOD. WE HAVE TO LEAN UP AGAINST HIM TO MAKE IT THROUGH TIMES. ALWAYS LEAN ON GOD, HE’LL NEVER LET YOU DOWN.

Benson’s Story

Benson is a 46 year old African from Kenya who passionately loves Jesus. The Lord brought Benson into my life in Iraq and has done so clearly to build a friendship and team that would advance the Word of God to the ends of the earth. Benson is married to the beautiful Monica and has five children; Roselyne Mutethya 19, Milica Naumi 15, Christine kathini 14, Angela Jane 12, and Joshua Mathano 6.

Benson served in the Kenyan Army for seven years during which time he joined the African Inland Church (AIC), a main protestant denomination in Kenya. Benson quickly became very active in his church and was asked to lead the youth church choir. Benson aggresively studied the Word of God under his pastor Geofry Mutua Muywoki and began teaching others. The congregation grew under the leadership of Geofry and Benson and soon found the need for more room. Benson and Monica prayed about the need and were led to give a piece of their land to the church, that they might have a house of worship.

After donating his land to the church, Benson was praying how he might serve the Lord in other ways. Nehemiah 1 was placed on his heart and he began crying out to the Lord that He might use him in a mighty way. The Lord answered this plea with a vision. Benson was called to reach the youth with the resources he already had. (Exodus 4:1-2)

Benson used an old black and white television, a video deck, and one box speaker to show videos to the youth. He showed video’s on the life of Jesus, Moses, Samson & Delilah, Esther, the Ten Commandments, and more. Many people, young and old, would travel great distances to come view the videos. Benson explains, “To my surprise, Jesus did wonders and I could see people surrender their lives to the Lord.” The word got around about Benson and the videos and he was soon invited to many churches and schools. The parents of the children requested Benson begin speaking on topics to include HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, peer groups, dangers of abortion, and more. He agreed and began studying these topics and teaching them at the same time. All the while the Lord continued blessing him with larger and larger crowds of people.

The requests to speak became more and more and Benson moved his TV and equipment into his wheelbarrow. Across the country-side Benson went and the Lord continued blessing him. Soon he upgraded to a bicycle to reach schools and churches even further away. He would strap the video deck to the handle bars, the car battery to the back of his bike, and the TV was carried on his back in a bed sheet. Benson was speaking every day to two schools a day. He would come home late in the evenings, risking his own life by riding through the African country side at night alone.

Benson and Monica grew produce in order to raise money to purchase more equipment. They invested every extra penny into the ministry, that they might win just one more for Jesus. Then, as Benson was shooting a video, a power surge spiked through all his equipment and left him with nothing. Benson began praying to the Lord that he might be blessed with equipment to begin the ministry again. Later, Benson volunteered to come to Iraq in order to support his family and try to save a little extra money in hopes of continuing the ministry God has called him to.

Benson and I are joined in prayer that God would raise up fellow believers who wish to support this wonderful ministry. What an investment in the Kingdom of God this is. Beth and I will be visiting Benson in Kenya and are praying the Lord has provided equipment prior to our arrival. Friends, won’t you pray about your role in Benson’s ministry to the beautiful people of Kenya. AMEN!

How has Easter changed you?

He is Risen! Happy Easter! What an exciting time. Think about it; our Jesus rose from the dead. Amazing. My question following this amazing act of love is this: How has Jesus rising from the dead changed your life? You understand Jesus died for you so that you would live for Him. He willingly allowed Himself to be tortured for you, so how has His act of selflessness changed your life?

In John 21:3 we find Peter going back to fishing. This was the profession he was in before Jesus called him to leave it all in order to follow Him. Peter had not gone fishing since the day he left it to follow Jesus. However, Jesus was killed on the cross and Peter didn’t believe He was risen. (Mark 16:9-14) Since Peter didn’t believe, he turned back to the thing he knew before Jesus; fishing. All night Peter toiled and caught nothing. He was fruitless!

My friends, we are in the same position as Peter. We can either disbelieve in the resurrected Jesus and be fruitless or we can believe in Him and bear much fruit. Believing in the resurrected Jesus means we leave our old life in the past and don’t return to it. Believing means we live for Him since He died for us. Folks, this is a complete surrender of our will. This means we spend much time in prayer, in the Word, in fellowship, in outreach, this means we’re obedient and pursue His will. Folks, the resurrected Jesus should completely transform who we are. If our life isn’t transformed we must take a close assessment of our belief in the resurrected Jesus.

Friends, Easter should change who you are. Every day we must come back to the resurrected Jesus and put down our nets in order to be fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19) So let me ask you again; How has Easter changed your life? AMEN!

Learning from physical fitness

When Soldiers deploy to Iraq one of the most popular past times is working out. Many Soldiers will hit the gym more than they ever have in their entire lives; I’m one of them. Over the last seven months I can proudly say I’ve lost nearly 35 pounds. I can also sheepishly admit I came to Iraq seven months ago with a little extra baggage. :) None the less, I started working out with the intent of surprising Beth with a new and improved husband when I come home. Little did I know the Lord had other intentions for my strict diet and physical fitness.

You see, as I began getting into my workout regime I began to enjoy the discipline because I was seeing the results of my hard work. That’s when the Lord grabbed my attention. In 1 Thessalonians 4:4 we’re told believers are to “learn to control his own body.” (NIV) I began to realize dieting isn’t easy and it takes getting used to. I had to learn from my incredible wife what foods were good and what foods were bad for my intended goals. Losing weight became much more than simply ‘wanting’ to lose weight; no, losing weight became both a learning process as well as hard work.

The Lord revealed growing spiritually is very similar to physical fitness. We go through life with spiritual blue berry pie’s calling our name and tugging at our desires. We know we shouldn’t indulge in the pie because it will harm our relationship with the Lord, but all too often we give into the temptation out of nothing more than a lack in spiritual discipline. 1 Corinthians 9:27 says, “I discipline my body and bring it under strict control”. Friends, are you letting your spiritual body run wild or are you bringing it under strict control?

As I began working out I saw other Soldiers in the gym who were very physically fit. I would all too often compare myself to the fittest of guys in the gym and get discouraged because my abs weren’t as well defined. Then I realized Christians do the same thing. We know what we’d like our spiritual lives to look like, but get discouraged when it doesn’t match up. In essence, spiritually, we’re stepping into the gym on our first day and expecting to look like a professional body builder. It doesn’t work that way folks. We need to ‘learn’ to discipline our bodies and grow into a spiritually well defined body.

Beth explained to me that when you’re trying to get into shape, you can never out work a bad diet. She told me if I eat unhealthy food I could work out all day long and continue to get fat. The same is true spiritually. Unless you’re eating a healthy diet of God’s Word every day, it doesn’t matter how disciplined you are, you’ll continue to fail. You must off set your spiritual discipline with large quantities of God’s Word.

My friends, let me encourage you. At first, a healthy diet is difficult because we’re used to eating bad. It doesn’t take long though, before the diet and working out become a fun part of life. Consider both a physical and spiritual workout plan and diet. The Lord wants to bless your fitness both physically and spiritually. Dig into the Word and begin bringing your body under strict discipline and see if He doesn’t turn you into a spiritual body builder. AMEN!