Vision365: Live for Jesus Every Day

Intro:

Mark 10:21 NKJV

21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

Today begins our [Vision365]. From May 1, 2022 to May 1, 2023 we will ask ourselves the same four questions every day:

Have I prayed today?

Have I read my Bible today?

Do I need to fast today?

Have I lived for Jesus today?

These questions will help us remember to place God FIRST in everything we do. Today, we will look at why we should, [Live for Jesus Every Day].

Until the age of eighteen, I had not been out of Oklahoma much. I assumed every one thought the way we thought in my home state. I would think that because I knew nothing different.

I really had a cultural awakening when I went to Costa Rica. For the first time, I was in a country that did not speak my language and had different values than me.

I learned an important lesson in these cultural differences. Being from the United States, we value productivity. There are only so many hours in the day and we need to get as much done as possible.

My missionary friend, Dan Salas, explained that in Central America, it is less about productivity and more about building and maintaining relationships.

On my third trip I took Fire Bibles for the pastors. I had one extra and wanted to take it to an older pastor who let me preach for him on my first trip.

Wanting to be productive, I informed Dan, we can run by there real quick, knock on the door and give them the Bible, we do not even have to go inside.

He listened and explained, it doesn’t work that way here, they will take offense to that. If you go by the house, they will want us to come in and spend at least an hour.

And he was right. We were there for a while, and I learned something— it is not always about getting something done, but getting to spend time with people.

As we commit 365 days to pray, read, fast, and live, I felt in my spirit that we need to look at WHY we are doing this. If we are not careful, our productive mindset, can check these off our list and we miss out on the reason.

In each message I have preached, my goal was to explain why praying, reading, and fasting are important from GOD’S perspective.

Why does the Lord want us to pray, read, fast, and live for Him?

God knows everything about us. He knew the number of hairs on our head as He formed us in our mother’s womb.

He knows our faults, failures, and temptations. He knows the plans He has for us. He knows our every thought and desire.

But, God has a sincere desire for us to know Him. He wants us to know Him.

I have asked myself, Do I really know Him? What makes him tick? What makes Him smile? What makes Him happy? What breaks His heart?

Anybody can tell His, birthday, hometown, parent’s names. But God wants us to know Him on a persona level.

So when we look at living for Jesus everyday, it is important to see that what we do FOR Him flows out of our desire to be WITH Him.

Pray, read, and fast, why? So that we might KNOW Him.

Today, God extends an invitation to everyone in this sanctuary, for the next 365 days— FOLLOW ME. Follow me in prayer, in the word, and in sacrifice. And as we follow Him, we will see that we live WITH Him every day and that helps us to live FOR Him every day.

The next 365 days are not about productivity:

prayer- check

read- check

fast- check

live- check

No, the next 365 days are all about relationship.

prayer— helps me spend time with Him

reading— helps me learn about Him

fasting— helps me hear from Him

And we will see through these daily decisions, we will find that we are living closer to Him than we could have ever imagined.

Let’s look at Jesus’s invitation to live for Him every day by seeing His conversation with the Rich Young Ruler. I have three points, [Following the Rules], [Finding the Relationship], and [Fulfilling the Responsibility].

Let’s begin

1. Following the Rules

Mark 10:17–20 NKJV

17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” 20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”

To see the importance of event, we need a little background into how first century Israelites thought.

First, they believed a natural-born Jew would inherit God’s Kingdom. As long as they avoided sin, they could stay in God’s plan.

In other words, salvation was theirs to lose, but they could only lose it if they did not do good. (Swindoll, Mark, page 270).

Second, someone’s wealth was a sign of God’s favor and approval. The more money, the more God admired them.

With this in mind, think of the rich young ruler coming to Jesus. As I read this account in Matthew 19, Mark 10, and Luke 18, I envisioned a ruler to rabbi conversation.

In the young ruler’s mind, he was good. God had favored him. He also identified that Jesus was a good teacher.

With everyone watching, from the ruler’s perspective, it was a conversation between two good men who were favored by God.

That is not to say that he was all arrogant. He did come before Jesus and kneel down. So there is some sincerity in him. He could tell something lacked.

He asks Jesus to tell him what is necessary to inherit eternal life.

First, Jesus identifies that God alone is good. He was showing the ruler that he is not as good as he thinks. Then Jesus focuses on the commandments.

Remember, Jewish thought, following the rules was enough to stay in God’s favor. Jesus selected six of the commandments that had to do with other people.

Have you murdered?

Have you committed adultery?

Have you stolen anything?

Have you lied?

Have you cheated anyone?

Have you honored your parents?

Most would have thought, of course he has kept the commandments, look at his wealth, clearly God is pleased with him.

The ruler confirmed, I have kept these commandments from my youth. At the age of twelve he would have began to follow all the rules.

At the beginning of the conversation, we see that he thinks if he DOES enough for God then God will show him favor.

Bringing this back to Vision365, choosing to pray, read, fast, and live for Jesus, does not earn favor with God. Following the rules is not what happens first. Instead, God is interested in us...

2. Finding the Relationship

Mark 10:21–22 NKJV

21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Everything we read about this rich young ruler shows us that he was a moral man who had faulty theology and was a little self-righteous.

He thought if he DID everything right, God would love him more. So Jesus gets down to the source, the man lacked one thing, sell everything, give your money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Abandon it all. Give it all away.

At first glance, we might think that Jesus has a problem with money. But that is not the case. In fact, God set up a system where He will bless people, tithes and offerings.

Tithes, returning to God what we owe

Offerings, giving to God from our hearts

The Law shows that God blesses those who are faithful to Him in their finances.

Jesus started at giving everything away, but He ended with an invitation— come, take up your cross, and follow Me.

The focus is not on SELLING, but on FOLLOWING.

The ruler emphasized his ACTS, Jesus focused on the heart. He wanted to know what I can do that I might inherit eternal life. He had everything else and he did everything that was required of him.

By refusing to sell and give to the poor, he rejected Jesus’s invitation to follow him.

Throughout Scripture, being a follower showed what people valued and who was important to them.

Many times God’s people got off track for their started to follow false gods or evil desires.

Whenever they began to obey God it was a sign that they were ready to follow Him again.

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus issued the invitation to many people, following Jesus meant being His disciple and submitting to Him in every area of life.

To say yes to Jesus’s invitation to follow me was to enter into a relationship with Him.

That is what Jesus wanted. He came to reunite people to a relationship with the Father. Sin separated us from God, but through Jesus sin’s hold on humanity is broken. Now, ANYONE can come and follow Him.

The rich young ruler left, sad. He was more impressed with what he HAD and what he DID than becoming willing to accept what Jesus HAD and what He would DO through the ruler.

The focus was not on selling, but on following. It was not about the rules, but about the relationship Jesus had to offer.

Had the ruler accepted the invitation, he would have found the blessing of Jesus’s follower. He would have experienced the joy of being in relationship with Jesus.

But he went away sad. Never knowing the blessing of true relationship with God.

Living FOR Jesus starts by living WITH Jesus. When we accept His invitation to follow Him, we find a relationship that changes us forever.

The Ruler focused on following the rules, Jesus emphasized finding a relationship, and we should desire to being...

3. Fulfilling our Responsibility

Mark 10:21 NKJV

21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

I chose to preach from the Gospel according to Mark because he added something Matthew and Luke did not— in Jesus’s invitation, he included four words— take up the cross.

This was not the first time the disciples heard this instruction.

Mark 8:34 NKJV

34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

People loved the idea of following Jesus until they learned the responsibility to follow Him.

To come after Jesus was an invitation to get in relationship with Him, to fellowship with Him, and to get to know Him.

For many, Jesus was the answer to EVERY problem they had. The Romans had oppressed them for centuries, now they had hope. We can come after Jesus, we can walk with Him, and He will give us EVERYTHING we need.

But Jesus continued, coming after me includes denying self and taking up the cross.

This is where He lost many people, including the rich young ruler. For him, self-denial meant selling everything and giving to the poor.

But the self-denial would follow full submission to Jesus- taking up the cross. For them, the cross was the picture of a gruesome death, which is true.

But for us, the cross is a symbol of hope. What once signified death now points to the resurrection.

Something happens when we take up our cross. We lay down our life in exchange for His. When we take up our cross, we exchange what we have for what HE wants us to have.

I want us to get something into our hearts, when we are in a relationship with Jesus, it is not about RULES, but we do have RESPONSIBILITIES.

If we think rules, we try to DO something to please God.

If we think relationship, we want to BE with Jesus, and we will live in a way that pleases God.

Back to Vision365 these four questions:

Have I prayed today?

Have I read my Bible today?

Do I need to fast today?

Have I lived for Jesus today?

Are not stringent rules to follow. It is not as though if we forge to pray, read, fast, or live that Jesus will get mad at us and eventually disown us.

No, not at all. Instead, in our relationship with Jesus, we are responsible to MAKE SPACE to get to know Him. Every day, we come after Him and:

deny ourselves

take time to pray

make time to read the Word

stay willing to fast

When we do, we are making a moment-by-moment decision to live as Jesus lived on earth.

And I can say, living for Jesus is a lot easier when we spend time with Jesus. When we know Him through prayer, reading, and fasting, we live from a RELATIONSHIP, not from RULES.

Therefore, if we want to KNOW Him, it is our RESPONSIBILITY to come after Him, deny ourselves, and follow His example on the cross.

He died on the cross so that we might know the Father. Now we are responsible to take up the cross and commit to the Father, not my will, but yours be done.

There is no telling the plans God had for the rich young ruler. The problem was not his wealth, but his relationship. Jesus was focused on the selling, but the following.

Close:

If we notice, each action, pray, read, fast, and live, has a picture to go along with to help us remember.

Pray— hands in prayer

Read— a Bible

Fast— a plate with a clock

Live— a CROSS

As soon as God gave me these four words, when I go to live, I thought about take up the cross and follow Him.

And it is interesting about God’s timing. Recently I had a conversation with a friend from another state. Our discussion troubled me some because of what this person had to say about being in relationship with God.

His view is that it is ALL about relationship and NOT about rules. Rules are manmade and God is not focused on them. For him, being in relationship with Jesus doesn’t require much from us and we do not have to worry about anything because we know Him.

I have really thought through what he said. And I told Bekah, I think he is half right. What is MOST important is a relationship with Jesus. And there is truth that it is not about following a list of rules.

And through this message God helped me gather my thoughts— rules do not get us to heaven

relationship with Jesus gets us to heaven

but we do have a responsibility

To grow in our relationship with the Almighty we have to MAKE SPACE for Him to speak to us. We have to desire to learn about Him. We have to want to hear from Him.

When we think about prayer, reading, and fasting, those are not rules, they are doorways to KNOW Him.

And it is our responsibility to come after Him, deny ourselves, and take up our cross to follow Him.

For the next 365 days it is not:

I HAVE to pray to please God

it is, I WANT to spend time with my best friend, Jesus

I HAVE to read my Bible or God will get upset

it is, I WANT to know EVERYTHING I can about the Lord.

I HAVE to fast to prove I am dedicated to God

it is, I WANT to hear from Him, is there something I can give up today

If we have this mindset, we will find that what we do FOR Him flows from what we do WITH Him.

God wants us to pray, not to please Him, but because He wants to spend time with us.

God wants us to read the Bible, not to please Him, but because He wants to equip us with His word

God wants us to fast, not to please Him, but because He wants us to make space to hear from Him

God wants us to live for Him, not to please Him, but to show the world that we have lived WITH Him every day.

Pray, read, fast, and live. Not to get something, but to spend time with the ONLY one who never forgets us, never leaves us, and never forsakes us.

Sometimes I am the fast paced American, trying to check off my list so I can be really productive.

For the next 365, I am going to slow down and work on building a relationship with the one who invites me every day, COME, FOLLOW ME.