Luke

Radical Generosity

May 9, 2019 by Tim Sherfy

Did you know if you have running water, a roof over your head, clothes to wear, food to eat, and some means of transportation, that you are among the wealthiest 15 percent of the world? My guess is this is going to include just about every single person reading this. So, congratulations, welcome to a very affluent community. Perhaps you never thought of yourself as being rich and are excited right about now.

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Would you maintain your excitement once I reminded you Jesus said, “To whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48)”? As you read through Scripture, you will find the unmistakable call for us to live with radical generosity. We have been made rich to serve the needs of others.

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Exclusive Devotion

May 2, 2019 by Tim Sherfy

David Platt once wrote, “Plainly put, a relationship with Jesus requires total, superior, and exclusive devotion.” Is this how you would describe your relationship with Jesus? When I hear or read statements like this, I get excited. This is exactly the life I want to live. I want to be so committed to Jesus others cannot help but know. Such radical obedience and devotion stir something deep inside me.

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I know it is for this I was created. Knowing why you are here on this earth will motivate you like nothing else. But alas, I cannot claim my relationship with Jesus is characterized by total, superior, and exclusive devotion to Him. Despite knowing this is the deepest yearning of my heart, I fall short again and again.

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Time with Jesus

April 11, 2019 by Tim Sherfy

In the familiar story of Mary and Martha, Martha is busy preparing a meal for Jesus and His disciples, while her sister Mary sits at the feet of Jesus and offers no help to her sister (Luke 10:38-42). Martha is upset by this and complains to Jesus. The reply of Christ speaks volumes about how we should live our lives. He tells Martha Mary has chosen what is more important (Luke 10:41-42).

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The story ends without telling us how Martha responded, but I am more interested in the choice of Mary. What was it about Jesus she found so fascinating, so compelling, she defied cultural customs and ignored family responsibilities to spend time at the feet of Jesus?

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Foolishness

April 1, 2019 by Tim Sherfy

Since this post happens to be originally publishing on April Fool’s Day, I thought it to be a good time to discuss foolishness. Many who don’t know Christ think we who do are foolish to believe in a God we cannot see and can’t scientifically prove. I’ve always held it takes more faith to not believe in God than it does to believe in Him, so I think those without Jesus are more foolish than I am. To not believe in God means you are going to have to come up with explanations for everything in existence and to determine the reason for that very existence in the first place.

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Jesus makes sense to me. None of the scientific (or even unscientific) explanations others have offered passes either the logical or believability test. I may not be able to prove the existence of God, but by the same token, no one has ever been able to prove He doesn’t exist either.

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Not My Will, But Yours

March 18, 2019 by Tim Sherfy

The prayer of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane is powerful for us today. It’s easy to miss the simple power contained within this prayer because we are accustomed to reading it as part of the crucifixion story. Jesus prayed, “Father, if You are willing, take this cup away from Me—nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42). It is the second half of the prayer on which I’d like to focus: “not my will, but yours be done.”

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A couple of years earlier, Jesus had taught His disciples to pray in a similar manner, when He prayed, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus prayed and instructed us to pray for God’s will to be done, regardless of what we face or what is swirling around us.