Pick of the Litter

Have you ever gone to pick out a new animal as either a pet or maybe a farm animal? The first thing most people do when the start to pick out a new animal is to look all the available ones over and try to gauge the potential of each one. Then we try to pick the one with the highest potential to meet our current needs.

Jesus seems to have done the same thing when He was on earth with us, calling Simon Peter to be His first disciple. Jesus seems to have been drawn to fishermen, and Peter was a great example of what it means to be a man as well as a follower of Christ.

Peter had a blind faith like few people I have ever met. When Jesus came walking on the Sea of Galilee, Peter was the only disciple to ask if he could join in the water-walking (Matthew 14:25-31). Peter was also still a man, and shortly after joining Jesus on the water began to sink in doubt.

Peter also directly denied knowing Christ (Mark 14:66-72). However, as soon as he realized his mistake, he was sorrowful and wept. After His resurrection, Jesus reassured Peter of His love in a parallel to his betrayal, by asking him if he loved Him three times, and telling him again to follow Him (John 21:15-19).

After having betrayed Jesus, he subsequently renewed his faith in Him. Then, Peter soon preached the first Spirit-filled sermon on the day of Pentecost to the crowd gathering to see what the commotion was (Acts 2:14-41). Acts 2:41 says "Those who accepted his message", meaning Peter's message, "were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." Peter's message led to the salvation of about 3,000 people in a single day!

What an amazing testimony Peter had. Certainly, Peter had his moments of failure, and some of them quite bad, but he always repented, and came back even stronger than before. As men we will sometimes fail; we sill stumble and fall, but we need to get back up and try again. Jesus will gladly restore our faith and make us even stronger than we once were if only we'll let Him.

Jesus saw the potential in Peter for a great man, and He wasn't disappointed. Sure, as God, Jesus knew that Peter would betray Him. As God, Jesus knew Peter would have doubts and fears. He knew that Peter was a man, and that Peter would make the same mistakes that we all make as men. Jesus still picked Peter first. How great it is that God looks at our potential for serving Him and chooses us, rather than looking at our potential for failing Him.

The Life and Leadership of Jesus Christ

Quite obviously to cover the entire life and leadership examples of Christ would be far more than would be feasible in a single post, but we'll touch on some of the highlights. One of the primary focuses of the New Testament church throughout the Bible is teaching the Word of God. We find Jesus doing this already by the time He was just 12 years old in Luke 2:42-47. And we see this continues as an example in several other verses as well (Matthew 4:23, Matthew 7:28-29, Matthew 28:18-20). We're supposed to teach and preach boldly and with authority. We're supposed to call others to follow Christ (Luke 19:5-10, Luke 5:27-28, Mark 1:16-18).

Going hand in hand, we see that Christ's example was that of unselfishness (Romans 15:1-3), providing for those in need (Luke 11:9-10), and serving others (Mark 10:43-45, Matthew 20:26-28). These are powerful examples. Jesus wasn't just a leader, He was a servant of those who followed Him. He was also a friend to those who followed Him (John 15:15), and He loved them (John 13:34-35, John 15:13). So often as men, it's easy for us to bow down to serve others and show others love, but this was the example that Christ set for us.

One of the greatest examples that we overlook as men that was set for us by Jesus was to not try to do everything ourselves; we need to let other people help (Mark 3:13-15, Luke 10:1). Jesus didn't try to fulfill the Scriptures foretelling His arrival all alone. He chose great men to assist Him in His work. If Jesus needed other people to help bear His load, how much more do we need others to help us?

The final example that Christ set for us was that of not leaving our work half-finished. Jesus finished all that He was intended to, and did so in a complete fashion. John 18:9 tells us that Jesus lost none who was given to Him to save, and John 17:4 and John 19:30 both herald that his work here on earth was completed. His life on earth was short, but it was lived exactly as intended, and completely fulfilled God's will without fail. May that be our testimony when we die: our work was completed, and we were great leaders for God.

Following Directions

This is one all of us men have such a problem with, we've been permanently stereotyped with being unable to perform this one simple feat: following directions. We want to be independent, self-sufficient, and not responsible to anyone. Unfortunately now, even I must swallow my pride as I read Proverbs 1:7-9. "Fools despise wisdom and discipline" are some pretty strong words.

There are two parts to this passage, specifically Proverbs 1:8. As all of us have parents, all of us should listen to our father's instruction and our mother's teaching. There is no cut-off on this; it is until we or they cease to live. As long as they live, they will always have more experience and life lessons learned, and we owe it to them to listen to their advice. We don't always have to do what they say, but we do have to listen.

We find out what kind of father figure God is in Exodus 34:6-7: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, loving thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. This is the love that He extends to His children. As fathers, this is the same love that we should show our children. However, the rest of Exodus 34:7 goes on to say that He does not leave the guilty unpunished. We are still responsible to ensure that our children understand that their actions will result in consequences: good rewards for good behavior, punishment for bad behavior.

Exodus 20:12 even further confirms this, when God added this as the fifth of the Ten Commandments, being the first of the commandments pertaining to how men should treat each other. The first four commandments are how men should treat God, the last six how men should treat one another. This is another pretty strong testament to the importance of it, and it's the only commandment given with any good promise for obedience. Whether we're eight or eighty, let's remember this important command, and listen to what our parents have to say; let's make sure that we provide wise instruction to the children who are listening to us.

Life's Not Just a Bed of Roses

Did you get saved expecting it to make life easier? Did you get saved expecting God to make you rich or famous? Do you preach, teach, and believe the Word of Faith doctrine? 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 would tend to disagree with your idea of what it means to be saved. Certainly, God does richly bless His children, but it is not always so.

God always meets the needs of His children though. Consider the children of Israel in Exodus 16:3, out in the desert, hungry; then in Exodus 16:11-15 God sent bread in the morning with the dew for them to eat. And no, it wasn't just some bland bread, according to Exodus 16:31 it was like wafers made with honey. Ultimately though, God's people got tired of the provision of God and longed for the enslavement of Egypt again in Numbers 11:1-6. Their greed brought the wrath of God on them though, and many died of a plague in Numbers 11:33-34.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes good things happen to bad people. Matthew 5:45 tells us that God causes the sun to rise on everyone, and rain to fall on everyone. So then, ultimately, did you become a Christian because you love Jesus because He died on a cross as a sacrifice for the sins you had committed and because God in His supreme love reached down His hand of grace to you, or did you become a Christian because you wanted earthly treasures? Wanting things you don't need or deserve is greed. Is your entire faith is based on greed? Matthew 6:19-21 says to store up treasure in Heaven, nothing on this earth is going to last.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 now gives us the greatest thing we have. For as much hardship, as much pain, and us much suffering as we go through, we have an equal amount of comfort in Christ. We can rejoice that we have hope in Jesus that through our suffering for Him we are drawn closer to Him, and that one day we will see Him face to face.

Stephen: The Love of God, Loved by Godly Men

In Acts 6:5-8 we are introduced to Stephen. Stephen was chosen as one of the first leaders of the church by the apostles. He was "full of faith and the Holy Spirit." We even see that the people who persecuted him saw his face was "like the face of an angel" in Acts 6:15. Stephen, though it was apparent even to those unbelievers, was killed for his faith, becoming the first recorded Christian to be martyred. We can read the entire account of his persecution and death in Acts 7.

The verses that I'd like to point out, however, are the verses at the very last of Stephen's life, Acts 7:59-60. In these verses, we see the love of Christ spilling out of Stephen much in the same manner as Christ's love as he died for our sins in Luke 23:34 and Luke 23:46. Stephen showed a perfect example of Christ's love for us as he showed Christ's love to those who were stoning him.

We follow the end of Stephen's story into Acts 8:2, where we find that "Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him." These men knew the character of Stephen, Godly men, and they mourned deeply for him. Will Godly men mourn deeply for us when we die? Will they say we were "full of faith and the Holy Spirit"? What kind of people will mourn our passing? I pray that the world because of conviction will be glad to hasten my departure, but that Godly men will mourn when I die.

Love Like a Man

Many may already be familiar with the passage 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 where we find one of the most powerful definitions of love the way we should love others, and the way we should love our Saviour. This passage beautifully describes the characteristic behaviors of love.

1 John 4:7-8 tells us that if we don't have love for others, then we do not know God. 1 John 4:15-16 tells us that if we are saved, God is in us; God is love. 1 John 4:21 even goes so far as to explain that we are commanded by God that if we love Him, we must also love our brother.

These passages show us that have no claim to know God if we don't demonstrate our love to others. We often tell people that we love them. We tell our parents, grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren that we love them. We tell our spouses that we love them. Do we show it?

There is no lack of manliness in showing love. Loving someone so purely as defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is an amazing way to actually demonstrate our manliness. Our world has moved from chivalry; it has moved away from love. And looking around us, we can also see that our world has moved far away from God. Through Christ we are capable of showing love in a way that others are incapable. Let's demonstrate God in us today by showing love to those around us, that others will be inspired both to serve God, and to strive to have as pure of love as ours.