Luke 7:11 – Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. ¹² A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. ¹⁴ Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” ¹⁵ Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶ Great fear swept the crowd, and they praised God, saying, “A mighty prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people today.” ¹⁷ And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside. (NLT)

In this passage Jesus is entering the village of Nain, while at the same time a funeral procession is leaving the village.  The Jews always buried their dead outside of the town limits.  We are told that the young man that had died was the widow’s only son.  In those days, a woman’s best chance of survival was to have a husband or a grown son who could provide for her.  There were no employment opportunities for women, and no pensions or social security.  Without a son or a husband, this woman was in a bad way, and this is why Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw her. While a compassionate Jesus is a great picture for us to hold dear, what I find striking is what Jesus says to the deceased: “Young man, I tell you, get up.”

In many ways this speaks to the relationship that we have with Jesus.  Consider what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 6:11 – “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  And in 2 Corinthians 3:6 – “The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.”

If we truly want to follow Jesus, we must die to the world, and live for Christ.  However, we don’t die to the world to simply remain dead, we die to the world to be truly alive!  We die to the world to receive the Spirit of the new covenant.  When we die to the world, Jesus says, “I tell you, get up!”  Having life in Christ is a call to action.  It is a call to live as Jesus lived.  It is a call to love as Jesus loved.

Today, let us get up and live!

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 8:18 – When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake.  ¹⁹ Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”   ²⁰ But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”   ²¹ Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”  ²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.”

²³ Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. ²⁴ Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵ The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”  ²⁶ Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.  ²⁷ The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!” (NLT)

In today’s passage we have two stories back to back.  I am always amazed at the brilliance of the Gospel writers, and the way they often used seemingly unrelated stories to connect to one another.  In the first story, we find several people giving Jesus excuses as to why they cannot follow Jesus at that moment.  In verse twenty-one a man tells Jesus that he must return home to bury his father.  In those day this was a saying that meant one had to care for an elderly parent.  On the surface, Jesus’ answer seems harsh.  Older translations simply have Jesus responding with, “Let the dead bury their own dead”.  More modern translations add ‘spiritually dead’.  The word is νεκρός, which often meant spiritually dead, but generally meant ‘lifeless’.  I don’t believe Jesus was being harsh.  I believed that he knew the man’s answer to be what it was – an excuse for not changing his life to follow Jesus. 

In the second story, Jesus calms a storm.  The disciples asked, “Who is this man?”  This question connects the two stories.  We must each ask ourselves who is this Jesus?  Is this man so important that we need to change our very lives?  Is this man so important that we change our schedules, even our daily activities? Even seemingly good things can become an excuse for not following Jesus.  Even seemingly good things can prevent us from the fullness of discipleship to which Jesus calls.  However, we can be ‘lifeless’ and ‘spiritually dead’ even as we go about doing what appear to be good things. 

Today, let us answer the question – who is this Jesus?  Let us examine our daily activities.  Are there things that are preventing us from truly following Jesus?  Are we spiritually alive?  Will we follow? 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Luke 5:1 – One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. ² He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. ³ Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

⁵ “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” ⁶ And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! ⁷ A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

⁸ When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.”⁹ For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. ¹⁰ His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” ¹¹ And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. (NLT)

I love this story!  I love the interaction between Jesus and Simon Peter.  Let’s consider Simon Peter, often just ‘Peter’ in the New Testament.  Peter was a fisherman.  He was a hard-working man, a ‘salt of the earth’ kind of guy.  He most likely hung out with some pretty salty folk, as well.  Up to this point, he had probably seen a bit of Jesus as Jesus taught and healed around Peter’s hometown of Capernaum.  Jesus even went to Peter’s home and healed Peter’s mother-in-law.  At this time, however, Peter was not yet called into Jesus’ inner circle, and I believe it would have been beyond Peter’s wildest dreams to even consider that Jesus would call him to be Jesus’ disciple.

Jesus does, however, call Peter, and Peter answers the call!  As a disciple, did Peter always ‘get it’?  Of course not!  We read in the gospels of a number of accounts where Peter doesn’t quite understand what Jesus is about, but Peter hangs in there.  Peter would even end up denying he even knew Jesus, but Jesus never gave up on Peter, and Peter goes on to be one of the great founders of the Christian faith.  Peter even preached a sermon that was so powerful that thousands become believers in one day! (Acts 2).  We even read that Peter went on to have a ministry of healing and even raises a woman from the dead! (Acts 9)  All of this from the humble beginnings of a salty fisherman! 

I’ve had people tell me that they believed in Jesus but were not ready to be baptized because they were not yet good enough.  Friends, left on our own, who is?  In the passage above, Peter leaves his old life behind and follows Jesus.  Jesus asks the same of us.  Are we good enough on our own?  No, and we never will be, but Jesus calls us and never gives up on us.  That’s the Good in the Good News! 

Today, let us strive to leave behind what we need to leave behind.  Let us strive to follow Jesus, knowing that when our actions deny Jesus, Jesus offers to us the same grace that he offered to Peter.  As with Peter, Jesus will never give up on us.  That’s Good Stuff! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 7:22 – On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ ²³ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

²⁴ “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. ²⁵ Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. ²⁶ But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ²⁷ When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law. (NLT) 

I sometimes find Jesus’ teachings striking not for what he says, but who he says it too.  Consider this passage, Jesus is not telling us that all those heathen sinners out there better straighten up, he’s telling us that all those folks who claim to know Jesus better straighten up.  Yes, this passage is just for all us good church folk!

This passage begins with Jesus telling us that not everyone who claims to know Jesus really know him. There is a big difference in knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus.  James tells us we may say that we have faith because we believe in God, then he tells us that even the demons believe (James 2:19).  Believing in Jesus is not the same as faith in Jesus.  Faith in Jesus changes things about us.  Faith in Jesus changes the world through us.

Jesus then tells us the parable of the house built on the solid foundation and the house built on the sand.  Those Christians who follow Jesus’ teaching are on the solid foundation, while those Christians who don’t follow Jesus’ teachings are on the sand.  The interesting thing about these verses is the word we translate as follow or obey.  The Greek word is ποιέω, which literally means to produce something, or to bear fruit. The word that we translate as foolish (μωρός), was also the word for godless.

If we follow Jesus’ teachings, we will be producing fruit. Likewise, if we know of Jesus but do not have the faith to follow Jesus’ teachings, we are godless!  A powerful and challenging teaching.

Today, let us inspect some fruit!  Let us ask ourselves what are we producing? Let us strive to be more than a believer in Jesus, and endeavor to have the faith to truly change what needs to be changed.

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 7:1 – “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. ² For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

³ “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? ⁴ How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.

⁶ “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy. Don’t throw your pearls to pigs! They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you. (NLT)

In today’s passage we have a couple of well known sayings of Jesus, but many have found it difficult to understand why verse six would come immediately following the first five verses.  Some feel that they seemingly contradict one another.  The first five verses speak of the danger of judging others, while verse six implies that a judgment must be made!  If we are not to waste what is holy on the unholy, as verse six tells us, then we must make a judgment as to what is holy and unholy. 

There are two schools of thought about why these seemingly contradictory verses are included together.  First, some claim that the Gospel writer was simply writing down the collected sayings of Jesus, and not necessarily putting them in any order.  If this is so, then we would have a very difficult time understanding the context of anything written in the Gospel.

The second thought concerning these verses is that Jesus was talking about the interaction of his followers with people in general.  There was no need to be telling people about how sinful and wrong they were when his followers had issues of their own (verses 1-5), and there was no need to waste their time trying to convince anyone of anything if they were not receptive to listen (verse 6). 

This is good advice for Christians today. Christians are becoming known for what they are against instead of the Good News.  There is no need for us to go around telling others, and in particular telling non-believers, how sinful they are when we have our own issues with which to deal.  Additionally, there is no need for Christians to endlessly argue with non-believers about Jesus if they are not receptive to the message.  There are some things – and people – that we must leave up to God.  When we have done our part, we move on, trusting that God may send someone else to that person. 

Today, let’s refrain from being too critical of others.  Also, let us remember that Jesus said that the harvest fields are ready (Matthew 9:37), there are plenty of people who are willing to listen to the Good News, so let’s share the Good News with those who will listen.

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 6:25 – “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. (NLT)

As you have grown as a disciple of Jesus Christ, what things have changed in your life?  Just as important as that question is, we must also ask ourselves what things have not changed in our lives?  These are questions that we all need to ask ourselves.  The answer to these questions can act as a fair indicator of the strength of our faith. 

Many Christians do, indeed, work hard at changing their lives for the better, yet many of those same Christians remain set on accumulating material possessions.  They work hard (not bad in and of itself) to have bigger homes, fancier cars, the best clothes.  Many even feel that to achieve these worldly things equals success. 

We should consider the question that Jesus asks when he spoke of our daily worries about these things: “Why do you have so little faith?”  Jesus then tells us that these kind of worries are what dominate the thoughts of unbelievers!  Faith in Jesus Christ is more than trusting in eternal life, it is trusting for life here and now.  Faith in Jesus should bring us to a place where we can let go of our worries about material things.  While it is not wrong to want to better our lives, we have to ask ourselves at what cost?

Today, let our thoughts be thoughts of rejoicing over our blessings, and not about what we do not already have.  Instead of worrying about what we might purchase, let us seek the Kingdom of God above all else. 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 6:19 – “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

²² “Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. ²³ But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (NLT)

Recently, television shows that depict the lives of compulsive hoarders have become popular.  The reasons for compulsive hoarding are many: fear of throwing something away that may be useful in the future; emotional attachment to things; and even perfectionism have been listed as possible reasons.  In reality, we all are hoarders on some level.  We all accumulate a certain amount of ‘stuff’.  Our attics or basements often contain boxes filled with items we never think about, yet we save them for years.  We like our stuff, and we hang onto it!

If we are honest with ourselves, what we hang onto will not make much of a difference when our lives are over.  My wife, Lisa, and I used to attend estate auctions, trying to find a bargain or two. Many of those estate auctions were held by children whose parents had passed away.  It was sad to see what appeared to be the sum of someone’s life auctioned off for a fraction of the value that the owner had placed on their ‘stuff’.

I don’t think that Jesus objects to our possessing objects of sentimental value, but I do think we should all ask ourselves: what do we value most?  Consider verse twenty-one: “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”  Jesus did not say, where the desire of your heart is, there will be your treasure.  Many Christians would say that they desire the things of God, but their treasures tell a different story.  Our hearts (emotions) trick us into believing that some things are of great importance to us, but in reality they are not.  Our treasures do not follow our hearts, our hearts follow our treasure.

So, what are we to make of this verse?  We must understand that as Christians we must discipline ourselves – for that is what a disciple does!  We must discipline ourselves so that we treasure the things of God: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  These are the things of God that we should treasure, for these are the very things that the Spirit of God can and should produce in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).  If we treasure these things, then our hearts will desire the things of God.  If these are not the things that we treasure, then as Jesus says in verse twenty-three above, the light we have is actually darkness.

Today, let us discipline ourselves to treasure the things of God, and we will notice that our hearts will desire these very things! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 6:7 – “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. ⁸ Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! ⁹ Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
¹⁰ May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today the food we need,
¹² and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
¹³ And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

¹⁴ “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (NLT)

Keep it simple – that’s what Jesus teaches us about prayer.  While this prayer seems simple enough, we should note that these simple words contain powerful petitions.  Consider asking that God’s will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.  We have often prayed this, but we should consider what we are asking!  In heaven there is no sin, no anger, no grudges held, no prejudices.  When we pray this simple prayer, we are asking that our lives be radically changed!  When we pray for God’s will here on earth, we are in essence asking that we have the strength to lay every selfish desire that we have aside, and instead humbly serve others.  We might worry about a worship service going a few minutes over an hour, yet will we be quick to leave worship in heaven?  We put conditions on our love for others, but no such conditions exist in heaven.  What radical words this simple prayer contains. 

Verse fourteen presents a huge challenge for many – if we refuse to forgive others, then God will not forgive us.  However, if we are truly seeking to live kingdom life now, then we will forgive.  If we refuse to forgive, then whenever we pray the Lord’s Prayer, and ask for God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, we are either lying or ignorant of what we ask!

God’s kingdom now is radical, and God wants us to live radical lives now.  Today, let’s live radically.  Today, let us allow someone to see the difference that God can make in the world by seeing the difference that God has made in us!

Posted by Ramón Torres

Psalm 30:1 – I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me.
You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
² O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you restored my health.
³ You brought me up from the grave, O Lord.
You kept me from falling into the pit of death.

⁴ Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones!
Praise his holy name.
⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

⁶ When I was prosperous, I said,
“Nothing can stop me now!”
⁷ Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain.
Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.

⁸ I cried out to you, O Lord.
I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,
⁹ “What will you gain if I die,
if I sink into the grave?
Can my dust praise you?
Can it tell of your faithfulness?
¹⁰ Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me.
Help me, O Lord.”

¹¹ You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing.
You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,
¹² that I might sing praises to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!

In this passage we can find parallels between David’s prayer and our relationship with God.  Verse one leads us to believe that David had been in distress, nearly overwhelmed by his enemies.  I doubt that any of us have been out battling Philistines, but I believe that we can relate to this feeling! There are times in our lives when it seems as if the world is closing in on us.  We are told in verses two and three that when David cried out to God, God rescued him. When we are faithful and cry out to God, God is there.  We may not recognize it at first, but like David in verse four, we can come to a place where can praise God for bringing us through our trials.  

In verse six, David admits that there was a time when he believed that he had achieved his success on his own.  He felt good about what he had accomplished.  He forgot the one who gave him life, and gave him the gifts to achieve success.  Here is a danger we must watch out for – thinking that we are self made.  God is the one who gives us our abilities.  When we are successful, we can be satisfied with our hard work, but we must not forget the one who has given us our abilities to work hard.  David recognizes in verse seven that it was God who gave him success, but he also admits that he felt secure as a mountain!  In other words, he lost his focus on God and felt it was all his own doing that brought him his success. 

Then in verse seven, David admits that he was shattered when God turned away.  I believe it was David who turned away, having found satisfaction in himself and not in the Lord.  How often we find it difficult to keep nurturing our relationship with God when all is well.  We forget who it is that has guided us along the path that brought us success.  James tells us:  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights (James 1:17 NIV).  Our successes in life, and what we have achieved, are gifts from God.  When we lose focus on the giver, we sometimes lose the gifts! 

In verses eight through ten, David recognizes his mistake, and cries out once again to God.  Having returned to God, David says that his mourning has turned into joyful dancing.  God wants us to dance!  God wants us to enjoy life, and even to enjoy our successes in life, but God wants us to maintain focus on the one who has made our success possible. 

Today and every day, let us be quick to praise God (verse 12), so that we will never lose focus on the giver of all good and perfect gifts!   

Posted by Ramón Torres

It’s almost here!  A new year full of possibility and opportunity.  Twelve months.  Fifty-two weeks.  Three hundred and sixty five days.  Eight thousand, seven hundred and sixty hours.  Well, you get the picture.  We have a strange relationship with each new year.  We all feel compelled to make some changes in our lives, which is not a bad thing, yet we are often held back by our failures from the past.  Sometimes we make a resolution to change, but since we failed at making significant changes in the past, we figure there is no use in trying again.

If this depicts your struggle with resolutions, I would ask you to reflect upon the following Scripture verse: “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” (Philippians 3:13) It’s important to note that Paul does not simply say to look forward to achieving the goal, but to first forget the past.  To press forward, we must let go of the things from the past that hold us back from moving forward.  That does not mean that we cannot learn from the past, but we should not dwell on the past.  We cannot let the past paralyze us with guilt or fear.  

Jesus said: “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)  When we focus on our past, we begin to believe that what we have been is what we will always be.  The Bible promises us that with God the opposite is true!  Indeed, consider 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

I would encourage you to make resolutions that would glorify God.  That could mean reading your Bible more, but it could mean many things: improving a relationship; furthering your education; taking control of health issues; and the list could go on and on.  My point is this, as Christians we should always seek to glorify God.  Indeed, we are told in 1 Corinthians 10:31 – “whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

So, make plans to improve yourself, and look forward to it!

Happy New Year!

Posted by Ramón Torres