Episode 18: Responders Not Initiators Part 7

In this episode we pick up where we left off on the last episode with Blind Bartimaeus and set the stage for the coming episodes. Through Bartimaeus, we get a glimpse of what responding the Christ really looks like as we venture more into this concept of we are responders, not initiators. 

Transcript

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Why is that? Because in order to live the life that God wants you to live, it's all contingent on what you see about Him. What do you believe about Him? If you believe He's a healer, you will be able to partner with Him in healing. If you believe He's a provider, you will be able to partner with Him in provision. What you believe about Jesus today will determine the life you live with Jesus tomorrow. So over the last couple of episodes, we've been talking about the main belief systems that I believe is important and is necessary to navigate the Christian life. And we've been talking about for the past for about five or six episodes now, we've been talking about responding to Christ, not initiating. In other words, we're as Christians, we are responding to what Jesus has done or responding to what he is currently doing instead of trying to use our religiosity or use our traditions to get him to do things for us, right? It's one of those concepts where we find out what the plan God has and we partner with him, we move with him to bring it to pass instead of us coming to God saying, This is what I wish, this is my plan, will you bless it? Right? It's not asking God to bless something, it's finding out what he has already blessed and partnering with him, right? And so we've taken this from many different angles, many different viewpoints. But over last episode, I decided let's start making this practical. And what I wanted to do is I wanted to look at a specific Bible story and to show you how it how responding to Jesus is recorded in Scripture. Now, there's many of times, many, many, many times, where scripture reveals how to respond to Christ or how to respond to God in many different forms and many different ways. And so I just picked one. And when we talked about, we were talking about blind Bartimaeus and how he is sitting on the side road, he's sitting in Jericho, and he hears Jesus walk walking by, and that's what the whole story starts. So I kind of want to do a quick review over what we talked about last episode, and then we're going to get into the heart of what I want to talk about this episode. And then the next episode, I will become even more practical and start giving you tips and ideas on how we could actually respond to Jesus in our everyday life. Of course, of course, it will be scripturally based, but again, the heartbeat of this podcast is not to be too theological, even though theology has to have its place. We have to have instruction, we have to have specific ways of seeing scripture and seeing things in order to live the life that God wants us to live. But I don't want to spend too much time in that. I want to get back to the practicality of making this Christian life livable, making it obtainable, making it reachable. Okay? So let's look at Mark chapter 10, verse 3 46. And they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Barname, the son of Tamias, sat by the highway side begging. Now stop right there. I just want to highlight that he is blind. Now I mentioned this last episode, okay? So we're kind of doing a review, but I do want to emphasize this that he is blind. So what does that mean? What that means is that he is at the mercy of hearing to determine what is going on around him. And I want you to take a moment to uh compare your life to blind Barnum Mace, especially a Christian life, especially a Christian life, because um we have not seen Jesus face to face. A lot of us have it. Now, some of us are blessed to have visitations where Jesus appears uh in our dreams or even appears to us in the flesh uh spiritually, where we actually see him face to face and have a conversation. Some people get that honor and get that privilege to actually have that experience. But the most of us, we don't get that. We don't get to see him face to face. So we are really at the mercy of what we hear in our study time or what we hear from other ministers and ministry. We are really at, we are literally in the same ballpark, in the same playing field as Blind Barnamaeus, that we don't get to see Jesus, we don't get to place weight or emphasis on what we see, we place weight and emphasis on what we hear, right? It reminds me, uh I think it's Romans chapter 10, where it says, How that how shall they call upon whom who they have not heard, right? So there's this hearing concept that's very important. And again, I go back to the very beginning of this podcast when I gave you that technique about confess the confession of God's word, where we establish how we establish belief system. Well, what's the backbone of confession of God's word? It's hearing, right? It's you are confessing the word, confessing his truths, confessing his nature, repeatedly saying it over and over again over again. Why? Because the more you speak it, the more you hear it, and the more you hear it, the more it will actually go down into you and become a part of you and actually start changing how you see, think, move, and uh articulate, right? And so again, we're even in this this this story about blind Barnabas, we go back to this theme of hearing. What you are hearing is important because what you hear today is what you will speak tomorrow, and what you speak tomorrow is possibly the path that you will walk the next day, right? So again, we're all like blind Barnabas. You might be able to see physically and he can't, but when it comes to scripture, when it comes to the things of God, we are at the mercy of what we hear, right? So, uh let's look at verse 47. And when he heard, keyword, heard, and when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Now I want to emphasize here that Jericho is a major, major place in this time period of commerce. People are walking around and trading and and and bargaining, and it's that is just the norm in this time period. And blind Barnamaeus is very familiar with this, very familiar with the echoes and with the the discussions that are going on in this time period. He's very familiar with it. So when he hears that Jesus is walking by, he automatically calls out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Why does he automatically call? Because he is responding to the character and nature that he has heard, right? And again, this is how we operate. Right? This is how we operate. We're not responding so that Jesus can do something for us. We're responding because we know that he is able to do something, and we are responding to the loving, kind nature that we know he possesses. Black Barmaeus would never have reached out, he would have never called out to Jesus if he did not know if he was able to do what Barmaeus needed, or and also that he was willing. Right? And I talked about this last episode that Black Barmaeus Barmaeus knew that, hey, I do not like my state, I do not like the situation that I'm in, I do not like the posture that I've I've been sitting on this side of the road in Jericho for many days, maybe even years, and I'm tired of it. And I see my opportunity coming by, and I'm reaching out so that I might be able to change my circumstances, right? When we reach out to Jesus, we are reaching out for him to bless us, but again, it's responding to his nature. We are responding to his character. There are many people on the planet that do not are not responding to Jesus because they do not know his nature, they do not know his character. In fact, they might have been told religiosity or even maybe even church traditions that are actually contrary to the nature and character of God. And because they were introduced to that stuff beforehand, that has actually painted the picture of Jesus that is not actually biblical, right? So again, I go back to the very foundation of what we've been talking about. It is important that we understand these foundational belief systems about Jesus so that it actually flavors or influences our response. Bartimaeus knew that he was good. How did he know that he was good? Because he has heard of the ministry of Jesus all throughout Galilee. He's heard it. He's heard it, he was familiar with it, and when he heard that Jesus had come on the scene, he was not going to waste time. His belief moved him into a response, right? And I'll actually talk about that later on when we start teaching on faith, okay? Which is the backbone of living the life that God wants us to live. But let's continue on. Look at verse 48. And many charged him, and this is after he's crying out to Jesus, many charged him that he should hold his peace, but he cried the more a great deal that son of David have mercy on me. Now I talked about this last episode. Notice that the disciples of the people that were following around Jesus, they were trying to get Barnamaeus to be quiet. In other words, they were trying to control his response. Now, last week, last episode, when we talked about this, I made it abundantly clear, and I want to reemphasize that. There are gonna be times where your response is not necessarily appropriate in someone else's eyes. And I mean, look at David. When the Ark of the Covenant was coming back into Jerusalem, what did David do? David danced before the Lord, he was undignified, he was doing everything that a king probably would not have done in that culture. And his wife at the time actually was ashamed of the indignity that David was presenting, right? That is a perfect example of when our response might not necessarily be fully accepted by those around us. But just like David and just like Bartimaeus, they understood something that probably everyone else doesn't understand. And what is that? Is that we are responding to a good God that is willing, able, and is always wanting to operate on our behalf. Right? And so if if if your opportunity walks among you, if your opportunity shows up and you are and you are and you are you're done with your current circumstances, when that opportunity shows up and you are you fully believe that he is willing and able, okay, then that then that belief system will actually move you into responding to get what you require, to get what you desire for, right? So, let's continue on. And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called, and they called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calls you. Now, stop right there. This is where I want to get to what we're talking about today, okay? At least the beginning of it. In one situation, Bartimaeus ignored the opinions of others, right? And I talked about this last episode. There are gonna have to be times where you're gonna have to just make up your own decision of who God is, you're gonna have to make up your own mind of what does scripture say about God, what does scripture say about his nature and his character, and you're gonna have to live out your life with fear and trembling. Walk out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We are part of a biblical community, we're a part of a body of Christ, yes, but at the end of the day, you are not responsible for someone else's belief, you're not responsible for someone else's actions, you are responsible for you, right? The heart be of this podcast is to make life livable for the one, not necessarily for the community. And there are times where God is going to ask you, what do you believe about me? Didn't Jesus ask that to the disciples? He said, Peter, what do you think about me? He didn't say what does your mom think about me. He doesn't say what does your your rabbi say about me. He's like, No, what do you say about me? Why is that? Because in order to live the life that God wants you to live, it's all contingent on what you see about him. What do you believe about him? If you believe he's a healer, you will be able to partner with him in healing. If you believe he's a provider, you will be able to partner with him in provision. What you believe about Jesus today will determine the life you live with Jesus tomorrow. Right? Okay? So again, this is all about how do you, what do you know about Jesus? What do you know about his character? What do you know about his nature? But again, in this situation, in the beginning of this, Barnabas ignored the crowd. Right? But notice what happened. Jesus says in Mark, it's interesting, it's interesting in the in the Luke account, Scripture says that Jesus just said, He called out to Barnabas, and Barnabas came. But notice in the book of Mark, he tells the people to tell him. Look at it again. Look at it in um 48. In many, no, sorry, uh 49. And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. In other words, he told the people that were around him, get him. And they called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calls you. So notice, guys, the same people that were telling him to shut up are the same people that are telling him to rise, be of good comfort, be bold, come up and take possession of what Jesus has for you. The same people that were trying to control his response is the same people moments later that are actually in alignment and have actually helping him to get what he requires. So, what's the point? The point is, guys, is that we all live according to different revelations, we all live according to different lives on belief systems and revelations. Okay. The minister, they the minister that is that might be teaching something you you don't agree with now on Monday, tomorrow might be teaching something that you are totally behind. Behind. What's my point? My point is we all operate in part, see in part. We all live in different revelations, different knowledge, different understandings. Okay? And we are all still a part of the same body. But do not forsake someone because do not forsake someone because they might be teaching something or preaching something that you don't necessarily disagree with. Just because you disagree does not mean they're false. There's a lot of people out there that say, oh, false teacher, false prophet. Just because they're wrong does not mean they're false. It just means they're ignorant. Right? And I'm telling you, I don't know it all. You don't know it all. Pastors don't know it all. Prophets, apostles, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, they don't know it all. We all know in part and see in part. And to call someone a false teacher or a false prophet because they get it wrong is unfair, and not to mention it's not really biblical. Right? It's a wolf in sheep's clothing that we have to be aware of. And what's the wolf? The wolf is that he looks like a sheep, he might walk like a sheep, but give him it, give him a long enough time, he will his true colors will show up. His entire heart, his entire tension, his entire intention, his entire heartbeat is to sow discord and destruction in the body of Christ. Right? Just because someone's wrong does not mean they're just does not mean they're false. They just might be ignorant. So what I'm saying is this, guys, is that do not push the same person that might be trying to control your response today, God might use tomorrow to help you in your response later on. The guy that might be preaching against prosperity on Monday, the Lord might get a hold of him and say, Here's a revelation, go with it, and he start teaching again on the next day. Do not forsake somebody because they got it wrong. In other words, look at what Samuel does. When he goes throughout all the all the sons looking for the chosen king, God says, Man looks at the actions, I look at the heart. It's always been about the heart. It's always been about the intentionality. It's all been about the efforts. What is the goal? What is the intentions? Right? So again, just because someone got it wrong, just because someone teaches something wrong now, does not necessarily mean they won't be right later on. And it's those people that you can't forsake, you can't ignore, you cannot say, hey, I might be Pentecostal, I'm not gonna listen to a Baptist. Sorry, that's not community, that's not biblical. I might be Baptist, I'm not gonna listen to a Methodist. That's not that's not community, that's not biblical. We all have different flavors, we all have different perceptions, we all have different perspectives that are in that are required and valued that bring in a different perspective and a different revelation from Scripture. And we all need each other, and we all need each other to obtain the full measure of Christ, which is what we talk about in 1 Corinthians, where Jesus says, I give unto you gifts of man, first apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, right? To the equipment of the saints until we come into the full measure of Jesus Christ. Right? We all think differently, we all see differently, but when we actually learn to glean from each other's differences, that's when we get that's when true harmony comes into place. Okay? And so again, the same people that were trying to sh shut him up are the same people that were comforting him and saying, Hey, Jesus is calling to you. Come, let us help you, let us move with you, let us partner with you so you can actually receive what you're wanting to receive. Right? Now look what Barmaus does. Verse 50. And he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. Now you might have heard this before, but it bears repeating because it's a great part. The garment was a representation of his status. It was a picture of who he was as a beggar. Notice it says blind Barnabas. Doesn't say beggar Barnabaius, it says blind Barnabaius. What was he doing? He was begging. Why was he begging? Because he was blind. What did he cast off? He cast off the symbol, the garment, the symbol of his begging, but not the symbol of his blindness. What's the point? The point is that I want you to understand his his faculty. I want you to understand his mindset. I underst uh he's in this situation that he's been in for probably years, at least months, probably years. Probably his entire life. He's been in this situation his entire life, and he's been hearing about this man, Jesus, that he heals the blind, he heals the leper, dead men rise, okay? And and and and and he's he's hearing all these truths and all these these understandings are flowing to him. And he's like, if I can just, if he can just be uh near me, I will have my opportunity to change my circumstances, right? And he finally hears that Jesus is around. And because he's been hearing these messages, he's been hearing these truths, he's been hearing these these these understandings and these these mysteries and all these these these these situations, all this time, it's been building up on the inside of him. So when he hears Jesus has come, it that belief system of Jesus can heal me, Jesus is the answer, moves him into crying out. He ignores everyone to get what he needs, but then he embraces everyone when they help him get what he needs, right? And then when Jesus says, Come to me, the first thing he casts off was the symbol of his state. Why? Because he knows my state is changing. Was he still blind? Yes. Was he technically still begging? Yes. But because he knew who Jesus was, because he was aware of Jesus' character and nature, to him it was a done deal. I am getting rid of this garment, I'm removing this garment, I'm removing the outward expression of my current status because I know in a moment my status is about to be changed. I am not gonna be, I'm not gonna be blind anymore, and therefore, if I'm not gonna be blind anymore, I'm definitely not gonna be beckoning anymore. All because I know who Jesus is. Right? And this is and this is the the full this is before I even start teaching on faith, this is actually one of the key elements of faith, is is it is our response to the character and nature of Jesus. So again, before we start moving into the next episode where I start making this even how we can respond, let me just set the stage for you. The first thing that we respond to, just like Barnamaeus did, is that we're responding to his character and Christ's character and nature. But where do we get his character and nature? From the Bible. Right? We the same God, the same God that worked with Moses is still alive today. The same God that worked miracles with through Elijah, is still alive today today. The same God who worked through Ruth, that worked through um Esther, that worked through all the Old Testament um stories, is still alive today. Right? And it's it's those stories, it's those, it's those understanding his nature and his character and his mindset and his wording and his approach and his heart in every scenario. It only establishes establishes hey, my God is a good God. There's that second belief system that he is good, and not only is he good, but he's good to me. And not only is he good to me, he's good to those around me, and he he he desires. To be to not only be good to me, but to be so good to me that it puts me on a pedestal and saying, Hey, look at look at what look at the goodness of my Lord. Look what he has done. I was blind, now I see, I was poor, now I'm rich. Let the I mean, you see my point. Right? God is not looking for a theologian, He's looking for someone who has experienced His goodness and say, Hey, look what He has done for me. Another blind man, another blind man. He gets healed by Jesus, and the Pharisees are just saying, Well, Jesus is working on the Sabbath. And the guy says, I don't know anything about your Sabbath. All I know is that once I was blind, now I can see. You see my point? God is waiting for someone who just has an experience with him, and it and is so filled with that experience that they actually become an evangelist. They become bold to say, This is what Jesus has done for me. And this is what happens to blind Barnamaeus. He's been hearing, hearing, hearing, hearing, and hearing. And what eventually happened, his hearing got him moving. And his movement, his movement moved him into an experience. And that is literally the foundation of everything that I've been talking about. From day one. We are responders to him. We are responding to him. And the key thing is, guys, it's difficult to respond to him when you don't know him. It's difficult to move with him when you're not familiar with him. It's difficult to partner with him when you don't know your partner. So, all in all, we're kind of moving over time. On the next episode, I'm going to make this even more practical. I'm gonna I'm gonna make this how can you respond to Jesus? What does it look like in our day and age? Right? I'm gonna say, I'm gonna talk about what are some practical steps, what are some practical techniques in order to actually start living this life that we are responding to him, not not manipulating him, not hey, I'm gonna fast so that God can bless me. That's not how this works, right? So to close this up, let's do a quick review. Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick review. In order to partner with Jesus, in order to respond to him, we have to know him. Where do we know him in his word? In the scriptures, where we see him at work, where we see where we hear him talking, where we see him ministering, not just in the gospels, but we see him, we see him moving in the background with Moses and Elijah and Ruth and Esther and David and Saul. We see him moving in the background. When you become acquainted with him and you see he is good, that is when you are equipped with everything that you need to move with him. And when you move with him, then that is when you will experience him. And you'll be just like David. He was with him with the bear, he was with him with the lion, and because I have a history with him, I know he will be with me in with every single galap that I come in across. Amen. So I hope this has been a blessing to you, hope this has been of value to you, and I really do hope that you have a good rest of your day and a good rest of your night. God bless you.