Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Today
“For to me to live is Christ.”
Today I will love. That is what disciples of Jesus do every day.
Today I will listen to Jesus’ loving voice. Only His voice will set me free to love.
Today I will receive love directly from Jesus who is the source of pure love. Christ lives in me and He is generous with His love.
Today I will see my agenda as Jesus’ loving agenda. What appear to be accidents I will see as Divine appointments that will lead to love.
Today I will let Jesus’ perfect love give rest to my mind, emotions and will. Love from Jesus flows best through me when my soul is at rest.
Today I will see God’s love at work around me. Jesus will open my eyes to God’s loving presence.
Today is a good day for love and Jesus is ready to love through me.
Today is Christ in me.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Abide International is an organization dedicated to helping Christ-followers worldwide
understand and experience true satisfaction in Jesus as a moment by moment reality.
Abide International - 17701 N.W. 57th Avenue - Miami, FL 33055
Web: www.abideinternational.org - Email: info@abideinternational.org
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Discipleship That Isn't
Jesus says,
Discipleship that starts in our history instead of Jesus history isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.26 – “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brother and sisters – yes, even this own life – he cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus says,
Discipleship that is less that a 100% commitments to deliver God’s love on earth isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.27 – “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus says,
Discipleship that depends on human resources for public life or spiritual battle isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.28-33 – “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will be not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with twenty thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus says,
Discipleship that isn’t a continuous generosity toward others isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.34-35a – “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “
Jesus says,
Discipleship that doesn’t begin and continue in listening to Jesus isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.35 b – “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Bud McCord
Abide International
Discipleship that starts in our history instead of Jesus history isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.26 – “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brother and sisters – yes, even this own life – he cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus says,
Discipleship that is less that a 100% commitments to deliver God’s love on earth isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.27 – “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus says,
Discipleship that depends on human resources for public life or spiritual battle isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.28-33 – “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will be not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with twenty thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus says,
Discipleship that isn’t a continuous generosity toward others isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.34-35a – “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “
Jesus says,
Discipleship that doesn’t begin and continue in listening to Jesus isn’t discipleship.
Luke 14.35 b – “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Bud McCord
Abide International
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
"Jesus, please receive me."
I lost a dear Brazilian friend last week. He was well the weekend of May 8th. On Tuesday May 10th he was hospitalized with severe abdominal pain.
By Wednesday night it appeared he was improving. By Thursday morning he was in severe pain and being rushed to intensive care. By 10:30 AM on that same Thursday morning he was gone.
On Thursday evening less than 12 hours since his passing I was speaking at his viewing. By Friday morning less than 24 hours after his death I was conducting his funeral.
Here in Brazil the burial must take place within 24 hours. All goodbyes are fast and it is a shock to all involved.
My friend was one of the kindest and most gentle men I have ever met. We were neighbors here in Brazil in the 1980s and we had renewed our friendship when we returned to Brazil in 2005.
Our friendship spanned 31 years.
The last time I saw my friend was a few weeks ago when he came to here me preach on a Wednesday night. My subject was "What Is The Christian Life?" He gave me a huge smile after the message and a Brazilian hug. He had heard me preach dozens of times over the past 31 years and we had spent hours and hours discussing Jesus. During all these years he never affirmed to me in public or in private that he had received Jesus. He never once rejected my message about Jesus.
Just this week Pam told me that his widow had called while I was traveling. She wanted to thank me for helping during this shocking loss. She told Pam that the last words she heard her husband say were "Jesus, please receive me." I was so glad these words were heard by his wife. I believe Jesus heard them loud and clear.
My friend's words remind me of some words Jesus once heard at Calvary. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus told that man "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
I believe Jesus heard and received my friend last Thursday. Amen!
Bud McCord
Abide International
By Wednesday night it appeared he was improving. By Thursday morning he was in severe pain and being rushed to intensive care. By 10:30 AM on that same Thursday morning he was gone.
On Thursday evening less than 12 hours since his passing I was speaking at his viewing. By Friday morning less than 24 hours after his death I was conducting his funeral.
Here in Brazil the burial must take place within 24 hours. All goodbyes are fast and it is a shock to all involved.
My friend was one of the kindest and most gentle men I have ever met. We were neighbors here in Brazil in the 1980s and we had renewed our friendship when we returned to Brazil in 2005.
Our friendship spanned 31 years.
The last time I saw my friend was a few weeks ago when he came to here me preach on a Wednesday night. My subject was "What Is The Christian Life?" He gave me a huge smile after the message and a Brazilian hug. He had heard me preach dozens of times over the past 31 years and we had spent hours and hours discussing Jesus. During all these years he never affirmed to me in public or in private that he had received Jesus. He never once rejected my message about Jesus.
Just this week Pam told me that his widow had called while I was traveling. She wanted to thank me for helping during this shocking loss. She told Pam that the last words she heard her husband say were "Jesus, please receive me." I was so glad these words were heard by his wife. I believe Jesus heard them loud and clear.
My friend's words remind me of some words Jesus once heard at Calvary. "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus told that man "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
I believe Jesus heard and received my friend last Thursday. Amen!
Bud McCord
Abide International
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Confidence
When we preach about forgiveness of sins and a guaranteed entrance into heaven after death, we Bible believing Christians show complete confidence in the work of Jesus at Calvary. This confidence is the power of the church’s evangelistic message.
This kind of confidence concerning forgiveness and our eternal destiny was clearly manifested in the early Christian church before this confidence was lost a few centuries later through religious tradition and hierarchy. It took a reformation for this confidence to return.
There was another kind of confidence in the early church that has nearly disappeared in today’s church. It is the confidence that Christ’s presence in us by the Holy Spirit can free us from the sinful works of our flesh. Listen to these words of Paul as recorded in Galatians 5:16 and ask yourself when was the last time you heard a preacher make such a confident affirmation about the transformation of a believer’s behavior.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Do we really believe that there exists a power so perfect and so available to every believer that the lust of the flesh can be continuously overcome and give place to real, continuous love?
Do we really believe that the presence of Jesus in us right now is as real and as perfect as His death for us 2000 years ago?
Those of us who counsel and disciple others must face this question: Do we lead others to the confident experience of Galatians 5:16?
Do we know how to lead others to “Walk in the Spirit”? If not, we are in need of a reformation in our understanding of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Just as surely as the church needed a reformation in its evangelism I am convinced the church needs a continuing reformation of spiritual formation for this day.
Where there is no confidence in Jesus’ perfect presence in us by the Spirit there will be imperfect discipleship that leads us around in circles. We do not need a church wandering around in circles looking for the fruitful life. We need churches that are vineyards living the fruitful life.
Bud McCord
Abide International
This kind of confidence concerning forgiveness and our eternal destiny was clearly manifested in the early Christian church before this confidence was lost a few centuries later through religious tradition and hierarchy. It took a reformation for this confidence to return.
There was another kind of confidence in the early church that has nearly disappeared in today’s church. It is the confidence that Christ’s presence in us by the Holy Spirit can free us from the sinful works of our flesh. Listen to these words of Paul as recorded in Galatians 5:16 and ask yourself when was the last time you heard a preacher make such a confident affirmation about the transformation of a believer’s behavior.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Do we really believe that there exists a power so perfect and so available to every believer that the lust of the flesh can be continuously overcome and give place to real, continuous love?
Do we really believe that the presence of Jesus in us right now is as real and as perfect as His death for us 2000 years ago?
Those of us who counsel and disciple others must face this question: Do we lead others to the confident experience of Galatians 5:16?
Do we know how to lead others to “Walk in the Spirit”? If not, we are in need of a reformation in our understanding of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Just as surely as the church needed a reformation in its evangelism I am convinced the church needs a continuing reformation of spiritual formation for this day.
Where there is no confidence in Jesus’ perfect presence in us by the Spirit there will be imperfect discipleship that leads us around in circles. We do not need a church wandering around in circles looking for the fruitful life. We need churches that are vineyards living the fruitful life.
Bud McCord
Abide International
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The Human Spirit, Soul and Body
The human spirit, soul and body were created to be God's delivery system of love on earth. Each person comes equipped with an inner and outer reality that should be completely and continuously at the service of God's loving intentions.
When the Scriptures say in Romans 3:23 that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God that means we have all used our inner and outer life for something less than love. God's glory was meant to be revealed by each human being continuously loving God and loving one's neighbor. To sin is to fail to love. This failure is coming short of the glory of God.
Perhaps the easiest way to notice when our inner and outer life have stopped loving is to notice each time we begin to judge other human beings as not worthy of our love. We have all done this. We have all sinned. Pay attention today and you will find yourself judging.
I grew up in the south of the USA during a time when people of a different skin color than mine were "legally" categorized as not entitled to the same love as other people in our town. This institutionalized love withholding left an entire country with a deep sickness of the soul. Many are still sick with some level of this spiritual sickness.
Laws were passed and much has changed in the USA. Even so, the issue we all face is much deeper than the color of one's skin. The issue is God's glory (continuous love) not being revealed by human beings.
As I travel across our world teaching that we must all abide in Christ if we are to be what God intends us to be, I am amazed at how many ways the human soul can create to justify the stopping of love. Truly without Jesus we can do nothing that even approaches God's glory. Without Jesus' perfect love filling our spirit and our soul our love will stop and we will find ourselves once again part of another culturally "legalized" form of sin. Every culture has its own form of "racism." Every culture finds a way to stop love.
If you would be free from the human tendency to stop love, you must abide in Christ moment by moment. He is the only way for a continuous culture of love to be found on earth. That culture is called the Church of Jesus Christ.
Jesus must heal us all for the Church to be the Church.
Bud McCord
Abide International
When the Scriptures say in Romans 3:23 that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God that means we have all used our inner and outer life for something less than love. God's glory was meant to be revealed by each human being continuously loving God and loving one's neighbor. To sin is to fail to love. This failure is coming short of the glory of God.
Perhaps the easiest way to notice when our inner and outer life have stopped loving is to notice each time we begin to judge other human beings as not worthy of our love. We have all done this. We have all sinned. Pay attention today and you will find yourself judging.
I grew up in the south of the USA during a time when people of a different skin color than mine were "legally" categorized as not entitled to the same love as other people in our town. This institutionalized love withholding left an entire country with a deep sickness of the soul. Many are still sick with some level of this spiritual sickness.
Laws were passed and much has changed in the USA. Even so, the issue we all face is much deeper than the color of one's skin. The issue is God's glory (continuous love) not being revealed by human beings.
As I travel across our world teaching that we must all abide in Christ if we are to be what God intends us to be, I am amazed at how many ways the human soul can create to justify the stopping of love. Truly without Jesus we can do nothing that even approaches God's glory. Without Jesus' perfect love filling our spirit and our soul our love will stop and we will find ourselves once again part of another culturally "legalized" form of sin. Every culture has its own form of "racism." Every culture finds a way to stop love.
If you would be free from the human tendency to stop love, you must abide in Christ moment by moment. He is the only way for a continuous culture of love to be found on earth. That culture is called the Church of Jesus Christ.
Jesus must heal us all for the Church to be the Church.
Bud McCord
Abide International
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