Posted on Monday, November 25, 2024

Thriving in the ‘In Between’ Times of Life

by Josh Reich

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Have you ever found yourself stuck?

As a leader or pastor, do you know where you want your church or organization to be, but it isn’t moving forward? Or maybe you are married, and you have a vision for your marriage or family, but it isn’t moving towards that or at the speed that you want.

Often, we live in the in-between times of life and leadership.

The “in-between” is when you know (or at least desire something) where you are going personally, with your dreams and goals, or with your church or organization; you see the vision, the place, but you can’t go there yet. It might be timing, it might be that you need more finances, more leaders, or you need to allow people time to train or get used to the idea.

Whatever it is, the in-between time is tough to live in and lead in.

It is tough to lead and live when you’re stuck in the in-between.

Leaders feel this when they know their church should make a change, stop a ministry or program, add a staff member they can’t afford, or change locations, but they are waiting.

The in-between.

We know this feeling when we want to complete school, start dating someone who isn’t ready yet, or get married to someone who isn’t ready.

The in-between.

It is the pain of longing to have children that never happens. It is the late nights as we wait for kids to fall asleep, start listening, or simply grow up and move out so we can get to the next season of life.

The in-between.

Many of us live our lives longing to be in the next place.

Do you wish your life was someplace else?

You know where you are going in the in-between, but you can only talk about it with some. You need to wait for more information for things to fall into place before you let people know and clarify things. A leader lacks influence when he says, “In eight months, this change will happen. So we’ll just wait until then, but it’s coming.”

You can get antsy and frustrated in the in-between because it isn’t getting here. The frustration also comes from seeing things as they are when you know what they will be like and must wait for it. That’s not easy. It means biting your tongue, grinning, and bearing some things until it’s time.

The in-between is also a time when your faith is stretched. You learn about your impatience and lack of belief in God’s power and control as you wonder why He is taking so long, as if His timing is not perfect.

Leadership in this time is difficult because momentum is easily lost. It can be lost because you, as the leader, have moved into the future, but you can’t talk about it yet. Consequently, you are running out of steam on where things are. You must stay mentally engaged in the present, where God has you and your church.

The in-between time is also the time that grows us the most. That’s its blessing. Without it, we can never reach the place God wants us to be. It is easy to despair in the in-between, but if we do, we miss the point.

How to live in the in-between.

Posted on Monday, November 18, 2024

The 1 Thing Holding You Back Spiritually

by Josh Reich

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

In Mark 10, Jesus has a fascinating conversation with a wealthy man, also known as “the rich young ruler.” While the conversation is about money and stuff, it is also about what keeps us from wholeheartedly following Jesus.

The man asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He betrays in this question that, from his perspective, eternal life is for those who do the right things. While many followers of Jesus would scoff at this question, many think the same way as this man. While many of us would say that we view grace as the entrance into the life that Jesus offers, we live like our behavior is what will keep us in that life.

While many of us would say that we view grace as the entrance into the life that Jesus offers, but then we live like our behavior is what will keep us in that life.

Jesus responds to him in his line of thinking about the commandments. He tells Jesus he has kept all of them since he was a youth, so this, at least in his mind, is a righteous man.

Jesus tells him, “You lack one thing…“

I want to pause the conversation and make sure you don’t miss a detail that Mark includes. This is one of the most incredible details in all of the gospel readings. Before Jesus responds, Mark tells us that Jesus looked at the man with love. Often, when we read the words of Jesus, we read them in different tones of voice: sometimes, we will read them in a condescending tone, a disappointing tone, or even a tone that says, “You should have this figured out by now.” But Mark wants us to know that the way Jesus responds to this man is in love, which means that Jesus wants nothing but the best for this man.

Jesus tells him, with love, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

His command is to go, sell, give, come, and follow.

We often fall into two traps with Mark 10: to lessen Jesus’ demands or think they aren’t for us.

We often fall into two traps with Mark 10: to lessen Jesus’ demands or think they aren’t for us.

Jesus did not tell everybody to sell everything they have and give it to the poor; he did tell at least one person that.

But I don’t think the focus of the passage is on selling everything we have and giving it to the poor but on figuring out the one thing that keeps us from wholeheartedly following Jesus. For this man, it was his money and stuff, and for many of us, it might also be our money and stuff. But it might also be our family relationships, our careers, or our status in a community.

Jesus did not tell everybody to sell everything they have and give it to the poor; he did tell at least one person that.

The question for every follower of Jesus is to ask: Is there anything in my life that is keeping me from wholeheartedly following Jesus?

If we are willing to identify that and work through what we lack, on the other hand, that will be the spiritual breakthrough that we long to have.

The question for every follower of Jesus is to ask: Is there anything in my life that is keeping me from wholeheartedly following Jesus?

Posted on Monday, November 11, 2024

5 Lessons from the Upper Room Discourse (John 13 – 17)

by Josh Reich

Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash

I recently wrapped up a sermon series on John 13 to 17, the upper room discourse. It takes place on the night that Jesus is betrayed by one of his followers and arrested, and is less than 24 hours from his crucifixion. Reading through these passages in that light takes on newer and more profound meanings for people who have heard these verses.

Jesus is preparing himself for what lies ahead and trying as hard as possible to prepare the disciples, especially because they do not realize what is about to happen. You see this in their questions and interactions with Jesus. The number of times that they ask him, “What are you talking about?” We don’t understand what you were talking about. They also have side conversations about Jesus’s comments about returning to the Father and not knowing what he’s talking about (John 16).

As I reflected on the series and the conversations that I had with people in my church, I thought I would share five things that stood out to me:

Jesus was serious about love. John 13:35 is quoted quite a bit in churches. In it, Jesus says that the world will know who his disciples are by how they love one another. While this is a well-known verse, very few Christians actually live out it.

If you don’t believe that, ask yourself: Does the world find the church and their love for each other inviting or repelling?

It is interesting to read through the gospels how many conversations Jesus had with people about loving their neighbor and who their neighbor was. Throughout history, Christians have tried to figure out how to avoid loving their neighbor or the person at their church who is challenging to love. And yet Jesus sits with his disciples, including Judas, and tells them to love one another.

This verse is even more powerful because it follows Jesus washing all of the disciples’ feet. He serves them in a way that in that culture would’ve been seen as very humiliating and then tells them this is what love looks like. So, the question we have to ask is, am I serving the people around me in a way like Jesus did in John 13?

What if Jesus was serious when he told us to love one another and that by this everyone would know that we are his disciples.

It’s okay if you don’t know what God is doing. Many followers of Jesus believe they should always know what God is up to or calling them to do. We tend to beat ourselves up if we don’t understand something in the Bible or struggle to believe something about God or have questions or doubts about God. However, one of the interesting things throughout the upper room discourse is how confused the disciples were by what Jesus kept saying. They asked him question after question and even had side conversations with each other about what Jesus was talking about and how they had no idea what he was talking about.

Do you see this most clearly in John 16 when they look at each other and ask what he is saying? I wonder what that interaction was like. Did they say it quietly so that Jesus didn’t hear them? But Jesus does hear them and asks them questions about it. However, I think the tone in which we read Jesus’s voice is critical. Often, we can read Jesus’s tone and ask the disciples questions in a very angry or disappointed tone. But I think the tone that Jesus has when he asks them do you not understand? It is one of love and compassion.

Five things I learned from preaching through the upper room discourse.

Jesus knew unity mattered and would be difficult. In John 17, we see the longest recorded prayer in scripture. It is what is known as Jesus’s high priestly prayer, and in it, Jesus prays for three things: our security in the Father, our sanctification in the Spirit, and our unity.

In John 17, Jesus prays for three things: our security in the Father, our sanctification in the Spirit, and our unity.

But I found it most interesting that of all the things that Jesus could have prayed for his disciples, he prayed that they would have unity. This tells us that unity is incredibly important to Jesus, but he also knew that it would be challenging for us to live out, which is why he prayed for it.

But then he says why we should have unity because it will tell the world that the Father sent Jesus and that the Father loves them. So unity is not just some pie-in-the-sky idea that Jesus had but essential to the mission of God being fulfilled here on earth.

We barely scratch the surface of the Holy Spirit’s power. One of the most difficult things for people to wrap their minds around was for the disciples when Jesus told them it would be better for him to leave so that the spirit could come to live in each of his disciples.

Along with us, he tells his disciples that they will do greater things than he has because of the power of the Spirit living in them.

There’s a lot of debate about what this means and what Jesus intended for the disciples to know. The one thing that seems clear is that most Christians barely scratch the surface of the power of the Holy Spirit and what that means as we live our daily lives with the Holy Spirit living in us.

Eternity is real, and it is our home. John 14 is often a passage used when you preach at a funeral, but it is more than that. When Jesus’s disciples begin to understand that Jesus is leaving and have questions about it, the comfort that Jesus gives them is telling them that he is going to the Father, and when he goes to the Father, he will prepare a place for them. So, he tells them about eternity in difficulty, hardship, anxiety, and fear. This tells us that eternity is real and that if we look towards eternity, we will begin to see how that answers our worries and anxieties.

5 things Jesus told his disciples right before he was arrested and crucified.

Posted on Monday, October 21, 2024

What to do When Life Beats You Down

by Josh Reich

Photo by whoislimos on Unsplash

The reality of evil and suffering is one that a lot of people have argued about and questioned God on, and it is one of the main roadblocks to trusting God and following him.

In my years as a pastor, I’ve sat with couples who have buried a child, adults burying their parents, and wept with people who just found out they had cancer and a short time to live. I have listened to the brokenhearted stories about the end of a marriage, a child who wants nothing to do with the family or God, the loss of jobs, financial difficulties and addictions that can’t be beaten.

It’s heartbreaking, and those are just the ones I’ve been party to. This doesn’t even count the national and international tragedies and natural disasters we see every day on the news and on social media.

What to do when the storms of life beat you down.

I’ve walked through the loss of friends, difficulty in family and work relationships, loss of jobs, setbacks in life, and challenges in starting our church. I’ve walked through the joys and difficulties of moving a family across the country, pastoring a hurting church while watching it grow and reach new people, and walking through the pain of having people leave. I’ve looked at mountains in my own life that seemed impossible to get past, hurt that felt so painful I thought I could never recover, betrayal that ran deep.

And then sits Romans 8:28 – 30. One of the most quoted verses in the Bible is Romans 8:28 – 30. It has been used for encouragement over and over in the lives of thousands since Paul wrote it.

It says: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Right now, you might be in the midst of a storm in life. You might not be. If you aren’t, the reality is your storm is coming at some point.

Here are a few questions to help you see where you are, where God is in the storm you are, and how to have the faith to walk through what you are in and what is ahead:

4 questions to help you trust God when life feels out of your control.

What storm are you facing? It is crucial to identify the storm you are facing. Often, we don’t know what it is. We simply feel down, or something feels off from what used to be or what we hope. Sometimes, it isn’t a storm we’re in the middle of; we’re simply tired or burned out. Other times, we are in the dark place of the storm, and the waves are crashing around us. Also, without identifying our storm, we will struggle to see anything God is doing because we’ll simply go into survival mode or become jaded.

Identifying a storm is a key to getting through the storm.

Are there any sins that need to be confronted? By this I mean, have you sinned to get you into the place you are in, or has someone else? Take finances for an example. This can cause an incredibly stressful storm, but many of our financial issues (housing market, retirement, etc.) are out of our control. Other financial storms are in our control (debt, spending, saving, giving, etc.). Or relational storms: did you hurt someone? Are you holding onto something you need to let go of? Is there someone you need to confront or forgive and let go of?

Look back at a storm, hurt, or pain from your past. With some distance from that situation, can you see God’s hand? I know that the further I am from a situation, the more clarity I have. I will often see my pride and sin more clearly, but I also see God’s hand more clearly. The reality is that on this side of heaven, we will not have answers for everything that happens to us. We aren’t promised that. We are promised that God will never leave or forsake us, that all things serve a purpose in God’s plan, and that all things will bring about God’s glory and our good if we are called by him and love him.

Sometimes you must look back to go forward.

What does looking at your past help you to see about God with what you are facing? What is he trying to do right now? I like to look back on my life because it often helps me move forward. This is why God had the nation of Israel do things to remember how he moved in the past. This is why, as followers of Jesus, we do things like communion and baptism to remember how God worked in the past, which enormously impacts our faith in the future.

4 ways to handle when ministry gets hard.

Posted on Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Letting God Love You

by Josh Reich

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

One of the things I love to do each year in my own life and a small group I lead is to ask everyone this simple question: If you were to look more like Jesus a year from now, what would that mean? What changes would you make? How would you know if you became that person?

Many people miss what God has for them because they lack a vision for their spiritual growth.

Many of us miss what God has for us because we don’t have a vision for our spiritual growth.

But make no mistake, God has a vision for who we are becoming.

In John 15, Jesus tells his disciples what some of that looks like: to abide in Him.

To abide means to dwell, remain, make your home in, to be held and kept.

To abide in Jesus means to dwell, remain, make your home in, to be held and kept.

A simple heart-check question is, “What or who am I abiding in?” We are all abiding in something or someone. We all look to something or someone to keep us and hold us. We look for love and security from someone or something. We are making our home somewhere. That might be in our career, political party, relationship, kids’ sports, or lives. But we are all abiding in something or someone.

The question is, are we abiding in the right thing?

I have often struggled to know what it means to abide. Abiding sounds passive, but it isn’t.

When we think of the Christian life, we usually focus on the commands to go, do, make, etc.

And those are all over Scripture.

But John 15 also says that part of the Christian life is abiding, dwelling, remaining, being held and kept.

For that to happen, we must choose it.

In many ways, abiding is letting God love me.

In many ways, abiding is letting God love me.

How do we do that?

One, we must choose it. We must actively believe and trust that God loves us. We must believe that we can make a home in God and that he will hold us and keep us.

If this is hard, ask God to help you. Ask him to show you that you are loved and that he is keeping you.

3 truths from John 15.

Two, dwell with him.

Jesus tells his disciples in verse 3 that this happens through the word.

Third, submit to the pruning that the Father brings into our lives.

We don’t know the fruit we need to grow in as well as the Father.

3 ways to let God love you.

Posted on Tuesday, October 1, 2024

What God is Doing Right Now in our Crazy World

by Josh Reich

Photo by Diana Vargas on Unsplash

In the gospel of John, he tells his disciples two incredible things: the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these (14:12), and it is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away, the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you (16:7).

These two verses tell us so much about what God is doing in our world today and how he moves within the lives of Jesus’ followers to bring about his will.

For many Christians, and honestly for me as well, these two verses seem confusing. How is it possible that anyone can do the works that Jesus did or even greater works than he did? And how could it be better without Jesus here?

I’m sure his disciples, just like Christians who have been mystified about this for centuries, had the same confused looks on their faces. What do you mean it would be better if you left? What do you mean we will do greater works?

In John 14, Jesus tells us how this happens. The person who believes and keeps his commands will do greater works than these and see the counselor (Holy Spirit) come to him.

As Alan Fadling said, “Obedience is not the path to being loved. Obedience is the reality of being at home in love.”

Obedience is not the path to being loved. Obedience is the reality of being at home in love. – Alan. Fadling

This is so important.

Jesus doesn’t say obedience saves you. Obedience reveals the reality of your salvation.

Jesus doesn’t say obedience saves you. Obedience reveals the reality of your salvation.

So, the person who will do the works that Jesus did and greater works, the person whose life is better with “the spirit in them instead of Jesus beside them,” is the one who loves God and keeps his commands (John 14:15).

Then, Jesus tells us what followers of Jesus experience in the spirit each day: The presence of the Father, Son, and Spirit; counselor; and teacher.

Jesus tells us that we will find our home through the Father, Son, and Spirit and won’t be left as orphans. Jesus knew that his disciples would feel abandoned and vulnerable, so he told them, “I won’t leave you as orphans; you will not be alone” (John 14:18). As a follower of Jesus, you and I are never alone. We are not navigating anything by ourselves. We are never abandoned, no matter how much the enemy makes us feel that way.

Then he says the Holy Spirit is our counselor (or advocate in some translations) and teacher.

A counselor carries the idea of helper, which the Spirit is also called. Someone who helps us, guides us, convicts us, and gives advice and direction.

But also a teacher of all truth. So, in the moments we aren’t sure what to do, what to say, which way to go, which decision is better, when we need wisdom and truth, the Spirit gives it to us. We are not alone. We are not trying to figure it out by ourselves. God isn’t holding back on us.

What does our world need now?

Followers of Jesus who do greater works than Jesus through the power of the Spirit.

Our world needs followers of Jesus who do greater works than Jesus through the power of the Spirit.

What are the “greater works” that you will do — all of you?

Pastor John Piper says, “You will receive the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ. Before the resurrection of Jesus, nobody in the history of the world had ever done that, not even Jesus. And in the power of that absolutely new experience — the indwelling of the crucified and risen Christ — your works of love and your message of life in union with Christ, will point people to the glory of the risen Son of God, and you will be the instrument of their forgiveness based on the finished work of Christ (John 20:23). This will be new. This will be greater than Jesus’ earthly miracles, because this is what he came to accomplish by his death and resurrection.”

Posted on Monday, September 16, 2024

1 Thing Every Follower of Jesus Needs to do This Election Season

by Josh Reich

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

In talking with lots of people in my church and watching the endless scroll on social media, the anxiety levels around this election seem to be at record highs.

There are many talking heads and candidates who say that if this or that person gets elected, this is the end—the end of our country as we know it—the end of our democracy.

Many pastors I talked to this past year agonized over what they would preach leading up to the election cycle. More than one pastor said he wished he was on a sabbatical this fall to skip the election and return for Christmas!

As I prayed and thought through it, I kept hearing, “The end.” And I wondered, what did Jesus say about the end? What did He say at the end?

Immediately, my thoughts turned to what is known as “The Upper Room Discourse” in John 13 – 17. It was the night of Jesus’ betrayal, the last night He spent with His disciples, 24 hours before His death. What did He say to them? What was the mood in the room that night? Knowing that Jesus knew what lay ahead, He chose His words carefully and purposefully.

As I dug into it, I was struck by all that Jesus said and the things He shared with them. It is startling as you read, especially when Jesus washes the disciple’s feet, knowing what will happen that night.

In John 13, at the very beginning, we see the one thing that followers of Jesus need to do this election season.

1 thing every follower of Jesus should do this election cycle.

This isn’t the only thing they need to do, but it is one thing we should always do.

What is it?

Serve.

Serving is all over Scripture, deeply connected to another theme Jesus calls us to: surrender. To live in the kingdom of God, we must surrender our lives to King Jesus, but the picture of the kingdom of God is seen through the servant hearts of Jesus’ followers.

Which Jesus shows us in John 13.

But what is surrender?

John Mark Comer says, “Surrender is the foundation of the spiritual life.” And “discipleship is a lifelong process of deepening surrender to Jesus.”

Surrender is the foundation of the spiritual life. -John Mark Comer

When Jesus washes his disciples’ feet, he surrenders his status as the leader and rabbi to serve them. In the first century, the lowest servant or slave would wash guests’ feet. The head of the family or the Rabbi didn’t wash feet; that was for someone else. In many ways, Jesus does the thing that is seemingly beneath him.

Not only that, but he washes Judas’s feet—the one who, later that night, will betray Jesus.

In doing this, Jesus is showing us what real power looks like and what power is in the kingdom of God compared to the kingdoms of this world.

In the kingdoms of this world, power is about money, charisma, votes, looks, and star power.

In the kingdom of God, power is seen in serving.

John Ortberg said, “Jesus did not come as a servant in spite of the fact that he is God; he came precisely because of the fact that he is God.”

Jesus did not come as a servant in spite of the fact that he is God; he came precisely because of the fact that he is God. -John Ortberg

What does it look like to serve those around you?

One is to decide that you will be a servant to everyone. This is Jesus’s call. He tells his disciples, “I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.” In this room are people with different political opinions, Judas, who will betray Jesus, and people who are difficult to love and often say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Each morning, we must consciously decide to serve those around us.

What might this look like?

This might mean biting our tongue when words come to mind.

It might mean going the extra mile at work when you aren’t asked to.

Stop keeping score with your spouse or child at home.

As you scroll through social media, keep your opinion to yourself.

On that subject, I’d encourage you to spend less time reading about the election, as that will help your heart in this season.

Ask God if you are struggling to find people or ways to serve. I know He’d love to answer that prayer!

Posted on Monday, July 1, 2024

Where Your Heart Is (The Parable of the Sower)

by Josh Reich

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

One of the struggles many people have is trying to figure out where their relationship with Jesus is.

There are seasons and moments when things feel like they are going well. You are in community, spending time with Jesus through prayer, reading scripture, and practicing other spiritual disciplines. And then there are times when those things fall off, and we wonder, “What happened?”

It isn’t just about practices or disciplines but about where our heart is or is not.

But how do you know?

Because discerning our hearts can be very difficult.

Yet, many of Jesus’s parables address this idea, helping us to see where our hearts really are.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the sower, seeds, and soils. While this is often called “The Parable of the Sower,” the parable is, in many ways, about soils. Through this lens, we begin to see where our hearts are or are not.

James Montgomery Boice has a helpful lens of these four soils:

The hard soil = The Hard Heart
The Shallow Soil = The Shallow Heart
The Strangled Soil = The Strangled Heart
The Open Soil = The Open Heart

The Hard Heart

The hard heart wants nothing to do with Jesus or the things of God.

They are completely turned away from God. They love their sin; they love being in charge of their life.

Paul described this person in Romans 1 as suppressing the truth of God, being spiritually ignorant or against God. They love their sin.

In many ways, our culture is like this.

But it isn’t just about sin; it is about ruling your life. This parable and many others that Jesus tells are about the kingdom of God.

Who is the king of the kingdom of God? God.

This is the key to the hard heart, the one who wants to be king of their life.

The hard heart is not just someone who doesn’t attend church. Many people who sit in church every Sunday have a hard heart. This is the person who says, “I know what God says about money, sex, loving my enemies, forgiving those who hurt me, but ____,” and then they tell you why they don’t have to follow that.

That’s a hard heart.

Do you have a hard heart? What about this soil resonates with you right now? Is there anything you need to confess?

Is your heart hard towards God?

The Shallow Heart

This is the person whose faith cannot handle difficulty.

Much of their faith is built on emotion and their feelings about God. How they evaluated Sunday mornings or Bible readings is based on whether they “felt God” or had a “good feeling during worship.” Did the hair on my neck stand up?

The shallow heart is here for God’s promises and “the best life now” that Jesus promises, but the moment that difficulty comes, I have to take a stand for Jesus. They tap out if God doesn’t answer my prayers the way I prayed them.

Another example is the person who has attended church for years and is still a spiritual infant. They have experienced no growth.

Do you have a shallow heart? What about this soil resonates with you right now? Is there anything you need to confess?

Is your faith shallow or deep?

The Strangled Heart

Jesus is very specific with this soil: They are unfruitful and choke the word out because of the worries of the age and the deceitfulness of wealth.

The worries in every age and every culture. A few things to consider are: What keeps you up at night? What things give you that empty feeling in your stomach? Do you worry about your health, wealth, kids, or other relationships? This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t worry about those things, but it does start to reveal what takes up space in your heart and mind or things you are trying to control that you need to hand over to Jesus and trust Him.

Another one is the worry you feel about the upcoming election. Will you be okay if your candidate loses? If the answer is no, as a follower of Jesus, that reveals something in our hearts.

Do you have a strangled heart? What about this soil resonates with you right now? Is there anything you need to confess?

Is anything strangling your heart instead of trusting God?

The Open Heart

As you read through the parable in Matthew 13, you see that all of this leads to the soil where the seed takes root and grows, “the open heart,” as Boice calls it.

An open heart that receives the word of God and obeys. When it says “hears,” that means “to obey.”

Not just in one ear and out the other.

This means that when we hear the word of God, read the word of God, and feel the move of the Spirit of God in our lives, we obey. We don’t say, “That doesn’t apply to me. I don’t feel like doing that.” We do it.

This parable warns us against superficial hearing. And shows us what real hearing is.

Hearing the word of God = Obedience.

Fruit comes from obedience.

But how do we know? How do we know if we have an open heart?

The fruit. It produces fruit.

The fruit of a changed life evidences an open heart.

The fruit of a changed life evidences an open heart.

I love that Jesus says, “Some will be a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”

The fruit that comes from your obedience might be a world-changing fruit that is 100x.

It might not. It might be thirty.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Shoot for 100 times.”

He says, “There are different levels of fruit, and they all matter and are important. One is not better than another.”

This truth should free us from having to produce what someone else does.

Jesus doesn’t judge us on a curve or compare us to others.

The question isn’t, “Did I produce what the person next to me produced?” The question is, “Did I produce the fruit I was supposed to produce?”

Do you have an open heart towards God? Here’s how to know.

Posted on Tuesday, June 11, 2024

How to Live Life without Regrets

by Josh Reich

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

At the end of 2 Timothy, Paul says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Imagine getting to the end of your life and saying that. Saying I had done what I was supposed to do. I left it all on the field of life. I kept the faith. I ran my race.

But how does that happen? How do you and I get to where we can say that?

Much of 2 Timothy is Paul telling Timothy (and us) how to make that truth true in our lives.

In chapter 2, he tells us three things that are true of a person who can say that: they are approved by God, they are pure, and they are servants.

3 truths about every follower of Jesus.

Approved by God

A follower of Jesus is approved in God by God. As a follower of Jesus, God cannot more approve you than you are, and you don’t need any more approval than you have. Paul tells us that a follower of Jesus, a worker approved by God, is not ashamed and rightly handles the truth of God’s word.

We shy away from risk, passion, and what God has called us to because we worry about what other people think. This is why we don’t share our faith, aren’t generous, don’t serve, take chances, or we sit on the sidelines—we care what others think more than the God who created us.

How do we know?

In verse 19 of chapter 2, Paul tells us that God knows who belongs to him.

This verse has always blown me away. God knows who belongs to him.

Pure

Paul says in a house, there is gold and silver for special use, honorable use, and some things made for dishonorable use. God uses those who are holy, set apart, different, and clean.

This is purity the way we often think of purity, but it is more than that.

This is connected to our motives and why we do the things we do.

Why we make the decisions we make.

Do we do what we do to please and honor God or to please and honor those around us?

One of the themes in 2 Timothy is Paul’s statement that he has lived his life without regrets and has a clear conscience. This doesn’t mean there aren’t things in your past you wish had never happened. Before following Jesus, Paul was a terrorist and a murderer. But because of what Jesus did, he was made clean.

It does mean that the truth of the gospel changes us.

Here is a truth that is often hard to remember: When God looks at you as a follower of Jesus, he doesn’t see you standing there in your sin; he sees Jesus standing in front of you, saying, “He’s mine. She’s mine.”

Servant

When we think of a servant, we think of someone who opens a door, maybe a meek and quiet person standing in the corner, or maybe even a doormat in a relationship.

That’s not what Paul is talking about.

He returns to holiness and says, “A servant flees youthful passions.”

This can mean a whole host of sins, but he focuses on things we do when we are young.

This might mean if you are 40, act 40, not 22.

Stop bouncing from relationship to relationship.

Stop bouncing from job to job and be a hard worker who provides.

Stop giving your heart and body away.

Stop having silly arguments on the internet.

Instead, pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Purity. God’s servants should be known for these things. They don’t get caught up in controversies and quarrels.

But you might say, “I’m an arguer. I love a good debate.” A follower of Jesus should not be known as an arguer or an angry person. Nowhere does Jesus say, “My followers will be known because they are good debaters.”

Nowhere does Jesus say, “My followers will be known because they are good debaters.”

A follower of Jesus should not be someone no one wants to work with or can’t get along with. If you struggle to keep friends or work well with people, at some point, it has to stop being them and start being you.

An immature follower of Jesus loves to sit around and debate theology and end-of-the-world beliefs, not to learn and grow but to win and be right. Not so with God’s servants as they mature and grow. They learn, grow, and ask questions, but they don’t argue theology to win and be right.

He goes on…

The Lord’s servant is not quarrelsome, is not a fighter, an arguer. We don’t argue people into the kingdom of heaven or beat them down with Facebook posts; we love them into the kingdom.

We don’t argue about stirring controversy, gossip, or trying to split churches apart.

The Lord’s servant is kind to everyone (even those they disagree with). If we asked people in our lives, those we disagree with their political or religious beliefs, would they say we are kind to them in our disagreement?

The Lord’s servant can teach. This doesn’t mean preaching or standing in front of people but being able to communicate what they know of the gospel.

When you share the gospel, you say, “I was once lost, but now I’m found. I was once broken, but now I’m set free.”

Why does this matter?

The people who matter most determine a lot in our lives. How our spouses, parents, teachers, or coaches look at us can give us enormous confidence or take away our confidence. The same is true with God. If we believe God sees us as approved, pure, accepted, and loved, that will determine how we live. But, if we think God is disappointed in us or sees us as unloveable, that will also impact how we live and where we end up.

Posted on Monday, May 13, 2024

3 Truths for Every Child of God

by Josh Reich

Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash

On Sunday, I preached one of my favorite parts of the book of Galatians, an idea that is central to the gospel of Jesus but so hard to live out daily.

What is it?

Living like a child of God.

The truth in Galatians 3:26 – 4:7 is that as a follower of Jesus, we have the same access, rights, and privileges to God the Father as Jesus.

As a follower of Jesus, we have the same access, rights, and privileges to God the Father as Jesus.

But according to Paul, this isn’t some future experience but a daily experience. He says in Galatians 3:26, “You are all sons of God in Christ.” Present tense. This is the daily experience of a follower of Jesus.

So, what does this mean on a daily basis? According to Galatians, there are 3 things we experience today as children of God.

3 truths for a child of God.

The first thing we experience as children of God is being close to God.

Paul uses the picture of adoption and calls God “Abba,” which means papa or daddy. It is a title of love and affection.

This can be hard for men and women depending on their relationship with their dad. But, many men don’t know how to be affectionate or loving without being sexual, and they struggle to be affectionate with their kids. I was talking to a guy recently who told me that my dad never hugged me, put his hand on my shoulder, or rubbed my head, and he struggled to show love to his daughter because he didn’t know what that meant.

God is a loving, caring father.

Paul also uses the picture of adoption.

What does it mean to be adopted into the family of God?

In the first century, adoption looked differently than it does today. A father could adopt one to take over his estate if he had no heir. He would often adopt one of his slaves and make him a full heir, giving him everything as if he were a son born to him.

I still remember when we adopted Judah and Nehemiah, standing before the judge and them asking us, “Will you treat them as your son? Will you make them a full heir, having the same rights and privileges as your biological children?”

Here’s what that means for a follower of Jesus: Who is God’s son? Jesus. Being adopted by God, God as our father, means that we have the full rights and privileges given to Jesus, God’s son. We are clothed in Jesus.

This means that when God the Father looks at you, his adopted son or daughter, he sees Jesus. As Pastor Tim Keller said, “Jesus has given us His righteousness, His perfection, to wear.” He doesn’t see your failures, regrets, or shame; he sees you clothed in Jesus’ righteousness.

Jesus has given us His righteousness, His perfection, to wear. -Tim Keller

The second thing we experience as children of God is being free from the law’s curse.

The entire book of Galatians is about this one point. A follower of Jesus is free from the law, free from earning God’s love or approval because you have it in Jesus.

Stop working; rest in the grace given to you.

Most of our sin comes from trying to prove ourselves or make ourselves feel better when if we truly could understand, you are a son, set free; you don’t have to do that.

A child of God is free from the curse of the law.

The third thing we experience as children of God is being led by the Spirit.

This sets Christianity apart from other religions. God the Holy Spirit is one of the trinity: God the Father, God the Son Jesus, and God the Spirit. The Spirit lives in you as a follower of Jesus.

The spirit guides you and shows you the way. When you read the Bible, the spirit helps you understand it, speaks to you, shows you God’s will for your life, and brings things to mind that God is calling you to.

A child of God is led by the spirit.