Matthew 7:7-14

Ask, Seek, Knock
Keep asking! Jesus is telling us to be persistent in our prayers and active in our faith. Be diligent and keep asking God things. This (to me) means not only bringing your petitions before God but also to bring your challenging questions to Him. I look at the life and writings of King David..... he wasn't afraid of bringing the big questions before Almighty God. He wasn't afraid to argue with God or tell God exactly what was on his mind. The Psalms are filled with David pouring out his heart and soul to God with all kinds of questions, problems, and fears. God is not afraid of our questions. He welcomes them. He wants us to think critically about our relationship with Him. This will deepen our relationship over time as God answers your questions so KEEP ASKING!!

Keep seeking! Proverbs 3:6 says "Seek His will in all that you do." This doesn't say to seek His will whenever you get a chance. It doesn't say to get your chores done and then seek His will. It doesn't say seek His will when you get home from work. It says to seek His will in ALL that you do. Here in Matthew 7 Jesus is reiterating this so KEEP SEEKING!!

Keep knocking! Jesus says that the door will be opened to you if you keep knocking. Have you ever had an appointment at someone's home only to arrive there and have no one answer the door when you knocked on it or rang the bell? What did you feel like? Maybe it was a date and you were stood up. Maybe it was an important business meeting that you would now have to reschedule. If you are like me you probably felt spurned. You might even have gotten angry. Jesus tells us not to worry for if we knock on His door He will always open it for you. You will never be stood up or forgotten about when you go to Jesus' house. KEEP KNOCKING!

Jesus finishes this section with an illustration on parenting. As I parent I know that I will give my son anything he asks for (within reason) as long as it is good for him. If what he asks for is along the lines of what I have in store for his future well being I will give it even more gladly. Jesus acknowledges our good gift giving to our children but then says that the gifts from our Heavenly Father will far outweigh anything we could possibly give to our children. Some of us may have been disappointed or hurt by our earthly fathers. Some of us may have had challenging or even abusive relationships and some of us may have had good yet unemotional relationships with our earthly fathers. No matter what our relationship with our earthly fathers, our Heavenly Father will greatly exceed any and all expectations with His love, mercy, and generosity for those that call upon Him.

The Golden Rule
Jesus makes a bold statement in the next section. In verse 12 He says the whole OT can be summed up in one sentence. As far back as the 16th century (I think) this one statement became known as "The Golden Rule". Do to others as you would have them do to you. This is the essence of the whole OT! The Law and the Prophets was pretty much the whole OT as we know it today including the Psalms and Proverbs. That is a pretty big chunk of material to be summed up in one sentence yet this is exactly what Jesus does. I can imagine the shocked faces of those in His original audience. It's really quite simple; if you want to be loved, love; if you want respect, give respect; if you want to be given gifts, then give freely of what you have. As simple a statement as this is, how many of include this premise in our daily lives? We wonder why no one cares about us or why people treat us like crap. Well...... look in the mirror(I include myself in this statement). Sorry to be blunt.

The Narrow Gate
Jesus is telling us exactly the opposite message that most televangelists speak. Here He is saying that when we become a follower of Christ it does not mean an instant end to our problems. We will not get rich quick or experience unending health and wealth when we follow Christ. He says clearly that the road to follow Him is narrow and difficult and few will actually undertake such a journey. I will tell you that although my imperfect faith-walk is difficult at times and it has meant sacrifice and change in my life; I would never want to experience another day without the love of my life (Jesus) guiding me and teaching me.

Praise God!!

Have a great day.

God bless.

Matthew 7:1-6

Short post today since it's Sunday. Let's get to it!

Matthew 7:1-6

Judging Others
One of the reasons I love Jesus is that He pulls no punches, he tells it like it is, and He is not afraid of what you think about it. In verse one He says, “Do not judge”. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room does it? There is no need to ponder what Jesus means here.

We (I) tend to put labels on people right away when we meet them. This person drives a certain car so they must be (insert opinion here) or that person dresses like a (insert opinion here). We look at people that are different than us and we label them. We may look at how many tattoos or piercings a person has and instantly label that person a certain way. I know that when I am driving I judge others by what car they are in and the measure of their driving habits. I especially judge people who have “Jesus Fish” or other Christian paraphernalia on their vehicle while they are speeding and breaking every traffic rule known to man.

Jesus says quite clearly that judging others is wrong. Who are we to judge one another? I may judge a speeding car with a church bumper sticker on it but I don’t know that person’s situation. Maybe there is an emergency; maybe it’s a pastor on his way to give last rights to a dying parishioner. It is wrong for me to assume anything. How many times have I been in a hurry and sped “just a little” to get to where I am going?

Jesus says we are to take a good look at ourselves before judging others. We are not perfect and therefore have no right to be critical of other imperfect human beings. There is only One who is perfect enough to judge the whole world; Jesus Christ. Let’s let him do the judging.

Have a great day.

God bless.

Matthew 6:19-34

Treasures in Heaven vs. Treasures on Earth

What is most valuable to you? Is it a physical possession like a car, house, or boat? Is it a relationship with a spouse, child, or friend? Is it a career? What do all those things have in common? They will all, with time, disappear. We change houses and sell cars. We even (unfortunately) change spouses. Our children grow up and move away to start their own families. We leave or get asked to leave our jobs and we change careers. All the things of this world that bring us peace, happiness, security, and achievement go away with time, all of them. Nothing we can ever achieve in this world will go with us when we die. We leave everything we ever gained in this world here when we move on to eternity. Sometime the things we gather and that are important to us are taken away from us. Things get stolen and tragedy takes our loved ones and possessions away occasionally.

Jesus tells us this in verse 19. He tells us not to base our happiness in earthly things but instead store up treasure in Heaven. In other words do the Will of the Father. If we spend time investing in our eternal bank account no one will ever be able to take those things away.

Jesus tells us though that we must do one or the other. We can’t invest our time and energy in the things of this world and give God the leftovers. We cannot spend the day wasting our energy and mumble a three minute prayer to God as we fall asleep. Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” He tells us we cannot serve both God and money. If you try you will end up being consumed by one and hating the other.

Do Not Worry

“But what about all the bills and responsibilities I have?” you might ask. I have to work hard to meet my responsibilities just like the next person. The difference, the big difference, which Jesus has made in my life, is that I have read the next 9 verses and I try to have faith and trust that the words He spoke here are true. Jesus tells us that God is in control of ALL THINGS. He takes care of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. Let me ask you this, have you ever seen a bird freaking out because his bank account was too low? Have you ever seen a bird racing from obligation to obligation? What is the first thing that a bird does in the morning? He sings. He wakes up singing to the creator that made him. Then he goes about his day being provided for by God.

We must approach the day the same as the little bird. Wake up and thank God for giving you another day of life here on earth. Maybe sing to Him. Praise Him before you go about your day. Then have confidence in Him to provide for you. Since relying on God for my safety and security I have never been let down. He has always come through for me providing exactly what I need at the right time AS LONG AS I TRUST IN HIM ANS SEEK HIS WILL IN ALL THAT I DO. Jesus says seek God first and everything will be provided for you.

Some of the happiest people I have ever met where the ones in a foreign country that were basically living in squalor but rich beyond measure in their love for and faith in God. Why do we in the land of plenty seem so miserable? Why are we going to doctors with stress and cardiovascular issues? Why do we need pills to calm us? Why do we need pills to help us fall asleep? Why must we be medicated to be happy in a country that has more than most of the rest of the world? Too often it is because we are trying to serve two masters. Jesus warns us, will we listen to His warning?

Have a great day.

God bless.

Matthew 6:1-18

Watch out!!

This is how Jesus opens His discussion on giving; both to God and fellow man. "Give in secret", Jesus says. There is no need to call attention to yourself. This is a common theme in Jesus' teaching: live for God and His glory, not your own.

In the book of Job, Job and his friends spend 30+ chapters arguing back and forth over why all this bad stuff happened to poor Job. They throw around all sorts of accusations and ideas. In the end God comes to Job and basically says, "Who do you think you are compared to me?" I love God's sense of sarcasm in His response to Job and His friends. He asks Job if he was around when the earth was created and the stars were placed in the heavens. He asked Job if it is he who holds the oceans in their place. God is stating His Omniscience and Omnipresence and putting Job in his place at the same time. The moral of the story is God is in control of all things. God alone knows His reasons for doing things and God alone is worthy of glory and honor.

When we "blow our trumpets" and give glory to ourselves it takes glory away from He who deserves it most-God. So pick your charity and give what you can...... but keep it between you and God. He already knows what you are doing and He will reward you.

When it comes to prayer and fasting Jesus says to follow the same principle. There is nothing wrong with corporate prayer among believers or a church fasting together for a purpose but again; follow the advice of Jesus and be careful of your motives. If your motive isn't %100 to give God all the praise, honor, and glory then your heart needs to be checked. If bringing attention to yourself is behind ANY of your motives for doing these things than it is better off if you don't. Please don't think I am judging or pointing fingers. I must constantly weigh my motives when I do "Christian" things. When I choose to get involved in ministry I must always be sure it is for God's glory and not my own. I struggle with my own pride and selfishness all the time in this area.

The Lord's prayer in verses 9-13 is a model of how we are to approach God with our prayers. Jesus isn't saying that this is the only prayer we are to use. To repeat it over and over again would be a form of legalism in which Jesus explicitly warns against in verse 7. Instead use it as a perfect example of how you are to come before a Holy God.
1) Acknowledge God's holiness before jumping in with your wants and needs. He is Holy and deserves this recognition.
2) Let God know that you are thankful that He is in control of all things and that His Will will be accomplished in Heaven and on earth.
3) Bring your petitions before God. He wants to hear them.
4) Ask for forgiveness and for the will to forgive others.
5) Ask for strength to do God's Will and resist temptation.
6) Close by again acknowledging God's greatness; past, present, and future.

The remainder of chapter 6 is going to take a lot of discussion so I will save it for tomorrow.

Remember to boast only of our God!! How great is our God!!

Have a great day and God bless.

Matthew 5:33-48

Today marks our completion of Matthew chapter 5 but we are still only a 1/3rd of the way through the great Sermon on the Mount that Jesus gave to His disciples. So far we have looked at the beatitudes (vv 1-12), some ethical beat downs (vv 13-20) and some contrasts between Jesus’ idea of ethical behavior and that of which the Jewish legalistic traditions taught to follow.
Basically Jesus has been telling us to live for God and not for ourselves.

Vows (vv 33-37)
Ecclesiastes 5:4-6
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.

In OT times oaths were commonplace in society. The verses above state the importance of keeping your vows to the Lord. In today's culture the practice of oath taking is not as important. How many million dollar athletes attempt to break a contract that they are no longer happy with? As stated in my blog on divorce, how many people break the contract of marriage on a regular basis? How much of the courts time is spent deliberating on broken vows and contracts? When was the last time you or I have broken a promise?

In these 5 short verses Jesus is telling us that His point here is integrity. Since God knows every word that we utter anyway, it is not necessary to make a vow to Him. And since God knows every word that we speak the issue here is telling the truth.

Revenge (vv 38-42)
The issue here is selfishness. We should live for God and not for ourselves. we should trust God so much that we should be willing to leave any vindication up to Him. There is nothing so important as showing we love God-not our honor or anything we might own.

Love for Enemies (vv 43-48)
Wow!! How hard is this one to swallow? "Love my enemies? Are you kidding me? How in the world am I supposed to do that?" This is actually a conversation I have had personally with God many times. And each time I go to Him with these questions He tells me, "Robert, you can't love them on your own. You need Me to help you with that."

"Pray for those that persecute me?? I don't know what to pray for!" This too is actual verbiage that I threw God's way several times recently. All I heard back was, "Just pray". So I prayed. I wasn't sure what to say and there was a lot of awkward silence between us but eventually I just said, "Lord I pray for (insert name here)! AMEN! Are You happy now?" As time went past my angry prayers became less about me and more about that person and their relationship with God. My selfishness was replaced with love for that person and you know what??? God answered my prayer concerning this person. What started out as legalistic shouts of indignation towards God became a tearstained conversation about someone. Through my prayers for someone who "persecuted" me my heart was softened and that person's heart was as well. Our lives were changed when I chose to obey God.

Perfect! (v 48)
Total devotion to God's purpose in this world. This is what Jesus is talking about when He convicts us to be perfect. Yes, we will fail and sin on occasion. We must repent, turn to God and continue to seek His purpose for us in this world. That is perfection.

Praise God for His grace and mercy!!

Have a good day.

God bless.

Matthew 5:21-32

Matthew 5:21-32

“You have heard it was said…....but I tell you.” Jesus uses this series of statements 6 times over the next part of His discourse. In the previous section on the Law He just established the validity of it. Why then does He seem to be contradicting it?

He is not contrasting the OT teaching with His own, but He is differentiating between the legalistic interpretation the religious leaders of the time used and His own correct view of the Law. He is not saying that the Law is wrong; He is saying that they didn’t understand the true nature of the Law as intended. The Law was not put into place so legalism and externality can be displayed like a t-shirt or bumper sticker is these days. The Law was given to change mankind’s heart.

Jesus is saying that it is the condition of ones heart that is truly important to Him and He gives some very clear examples of where the religious leaders of the day (and today) went wrong in their interpretation. Is it wrong to kill? Yes, of course it is. But Jesus says it is just as wrong to hate someone or hold a grudge against someone. There is no use coming to Him if you have something against someone else. Settle your matters before coming to worship Jesus.

Is it wrong to commit adultery? Not in today’s society. Swinging and partner swapping is much more common than we would like to think. The courts are filled with divorce cases stemming from infidelity. Even though marital vows are not as important to some as they were in days gone by, they are important to God. Infidelity was wrong when God gave Moses the Law and it is wrong today. But here in verses 27-30 Jesus ups the ante even more. Of course it is wrong to have sexual or physical relations with someone other than your spouse but Jesus says it is wrong just to look lustfully at someone that isn’t married to you. In today’s society a common expression is, “Just because I am on a diet doesn’t mean I can’t look at the menu.” In today’s world pornography is one of the top industries in the world making billions of dollars annually. What’s the harm in just looking you might ask.......well Jesus knows the harm and He tells us that drastic measures must be taken to avoid this sin. Any willful, calculated stare that arouses sexual desire is wrong. According to Jesus this is a form of adultery. It is a seed that once planted can grow into an addiction that can ruin relationships and break apart families and keep you separated from God.

The people in the 1st century were not so different than we are today when it comes to divorce. They looked for any excuse to jump from their marital contract. Today it is actually easier to just throw in the towel, divide everything up, and go your separate ways than it is to try to put the pieces back together and make it work. Billboards advertise, “Divorce for as little as $99!”, “1-800-DIVORCE”, and “Divorce made easy”. Lawyers make millions helping people destroy lives and relationships (trust me I know). The vernacular that they use during these proceedings is enough to make me vomit in my mouth. They act like they are doing you a favor as they suck the financial and emotional life out of you while dividing up your family and possessions like it is a thanksgiving turkey fresh from the oven and waiting to be carved. (Do I sound bitter?) These people would make Jesus sick to His stomach as well of this I am sure. In the next few verses He says that there is only ONE thing that warrants a certificate of divorce. Marital unfaithfulness. Period. Seems pretty clear to me.

People sometimes seem confused by the teachings of Jesus. As we are starting to see Jesus does not pull any punches. He is pretty clear on what He expects from us. Yes, He has set a pretty high standard for us. I struggle with maintaining His standard in each one of the issues we looked at today. Why do I struggle so much? Simply put I try to meet His expectations on my own strength. When I do this I fail every time. Only when I surrender my will and desires to Him and let Him take control of my thoughts can I have victory in these areas.

Please do not get discouraged. Put your faith and hope in the only One that can see you through to ultimate victory and eternal life. Please stay with me as we continue to forge ahead through the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament.

All praise and honor and glory go to God.

Have a great day.

God bless.

Matthew 5:1-20

The Sermon on the Mount

I have chosen to break up Matthew 5 and the complete Sermon on the Mount over a period of a couple of weeks. This is going to be a daunting task that only the grace of God will see us through. The Sermon on the Mount is kind of like an Inaugural Address for Jesus. In it He sets the standards for how a Christian should act. Some say that the moral and ethical standard put forth by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is set so high that it is impractical and unreachable. To those people I quote Jesus when He says, "All things are possible with God". Some scholars debate whether all the information in this Sermon was given at one sitting but taken from several of Jesus' teachings others say it was was one giant lecture. I don't really care about that, all I care about is that these are the words of my Lord. Let's get to it!!

For this exercise I am going to predominantly use my NLT translation because it opens things up for me and I understand it better. "Poor in Spirit"? What does that mean exactly? "Mourn"? Over what? Well, for me the NLT translation spells it out much clearer and I hope it will for you as well.

The Beatitudes

Right off the bat I want to point out something that can oftentimes go overlooked in the study of this grand discourse. In verse one it states that Jesus sat down before teaching His disciples. It was common practice for the religious teachers and Rabbis of the day to sit before preaching. Jesus is basically telling us that He is the Rabbi of all Rabbis and teachers of all teachers by this simple gesture.

In the NIV the first of the Beatitudes says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit...." and I was always confused by that. What does it look like to be poor in spirit? Well when I started reading the newest edition of the NLT it says, "God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." You see.....I can relate to that statement much more than I can with the "poor in spirit" thing. I know for a fact that I need Him and I am poor without His presence in my life.

In verse 4 it says that God blesses those who mourn. I always wondered what Jesus meant by that. What should I mourn? I thought mourning was bad. I thought mourning was something that you looked to avoid at all costs. What Jesus is telling us to mourn over is our sin and that which keeps us separate from God. Believe me I mourn over that. I hate anything that keeps me from the warmth of God's embrace.

As I read the rest of these Beatitudes I am struck by how extremely opposite of our culture and societal ways Jesus is telling us to be like. Humble? Merciful? Pure hearts? Being persecuted? Not here in the good ol' USA. The only ones I think our country does in excess (although it doesn't always go about it in the right way)is thirsting for justice and working for peace. Although the peace and justice Jesus is talking about is a little different than the one we so willingly invade other countries for. It's all about motive and somehow I think our motive has been and always will be about our wealth and comfort not necessarily the well being of man-kind in general. I better get off this soapbox before I get myself in trouble. I am not judging just trying to state my opinion.

Jesus is saying, "BE DIFFERENT!" than the rest of the world. As children of the most high God we should look and act very different from everyone else. Because of this difference we will be mocked and made fun of. In some parts of the world we may even be killed. Jesus tells us to be glad for that. It means we must be doing something right. He will reward us for our perseverance under trial. It is easy to state that these standards are impossible to reach so we might as well not even try. What is hard is seeking God for the strength, wisdom, and discernment to reach for and exceed these high expectations. What is hard is being different and being mocked and standing tall and staying the course for your convictions. I know I can do a better job of this.

Salt & Light

In this section Jesus is restating and condensing the previous 12 verses. He is again practically yelling for us to BE DIFFERENT. What good is salt that isn't salty. As a chef I know the beauty that only a pinch of salt can make to a recipe. It brings out all the other flavors of the dish and enhances them. Do you or I do that? Can it be said that the people around us are better off with us or without us? What impact do we make to those around us (in a good way). Do people even know that we are Christians? Would someone be able to tell you are a follower of Christ if not for the bumper sticker on your car that states "God is my co-pilot" or the NtW t-shirt? Do you bring out the best in people or are they relieved when you leave the building? These are all hard questions I must ask myself each day and I am not always pleased with the answers.

We are Jesus' ambassadors. We are His secretaries of state. We are to go unto the world and be His department of foreign affairs. We are to advance His objectives and interests in the world. We should be implementing His foreign policy. When we don't we are like salt that has lost it's flavor. We are like a light that has been put under a basket.

Teaching about the Law

Jesus is very clear in His next statement. He says, "Don't misunderstand!" He didn't come to give us new laws to follow. He came to clarify the existing Law that was written down by Moses as given to him by God. He expected his followers to understand and apply the moral principles already revealed in Scripture. He is using this introduction (vv 17-20) so-to-speak as an opening for the remainder (vv 21-48) of His lecture on the Law. He is basically saying, "If you thought the Law was tough, then wait until you see this! If you really want to be my disciples than give me your hearts!"

Tomorrow we will continue our discussion on Matthew chapter 5. After grabbing his disciples' attention with his opening statements, Jesus defines the Law not only in terms of how people behave but also in terms of who they really are (5:21-48).

Have a great day! God bless!

Matthew Chapter 4

The official start of Jesus' ministry has begun! Yesterday we went through His baptism and saw how all three persons of the Trinity were present to give Jesus' ministry a send off. So how does the King of the universe begin His ministry.....by going through a fast for 40 days and nights and being tempted in His humanity by the Accuser! I would have started things off a little differently.......maybe eased into it a bit. Not Jesus. He jumps right into His humanity by suffering in the flesh just like those He created. I don't know about you but when I fast as soon as I start to get hungry my mind plays tricks on me. It tries to talk me out of what I am doing. It comes up with all kinds of excuses of why I should eat and not succumb to hunger. My willpower is extremely weak in this area.....I am a chef after all and food is an idol of sorts to me (one I am constantly battling).

So here Jesus is, the God of all creation in human form, fighting off the hunger and weakness He was sure to be going through when the devil shows up to add insult to injury. He tempts Jesus to meet His fleshly needs by turning stones into bread. Satan even acknowledges Jesus' divinity in His opening salvo. Jesus responds just like we should to temptation, He goes to the Word and finds comfort, solace, and ammunition there. He deflects the enemies attack by quoting Scripture at him. We should take note of Jesus' tactics here and do the same. I encourage you to memorize a verse or two and when the enemy tempts you or tries to confuse you recite and reflect on the Word!!

Next the devil tries to appeal to another desire of the flesh, one for safety. He tells Jesus to prove His divinity but this time he quotes from Scripture also!! This proves that even the enemy knows the Word and he may use it in an effort to confuse you. Be prepared and study the Scriptures. Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and ask for discernment so the enemy can not use your own weapons against you!! Jesus again quotes a verse from Deuteronomy and deflects the attack of the evil one.

Satan must be furious by now and he tries one more attempt at appealing to Jesus' flesh. This one is for security. He offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if He will just bow down to him. Jesus tells the slimy one to basically get lost because the only one worthy of worship is God Almighty. The enemy leaves and finally Jesus allows Himself to be attended to by His angels.

Why did Jesus go through this trial of His will and His flesh? Why did He allow the enemy to come and tempt Him? I think He did it so that He could feel what it was like for His children to go through the same thing. The three trials He went through are things we are tempted by on a continual basis every day. All you have to to is turn on the television set and watch what they are trying to sell you. Eat this, Eat that, don't go hungry! Your needs are satisfied just a short drive away! we are inundated by advertisements in all forms for food and its entrapment's. It's no wonder we are the most overweight nation in the world. Other marketing tools tell us we need to be safer and have more security. Buy this and you will be alright. Purchase this for the utmost feeling of power and control! Our houses are much too big for what we actually need, our cars are gas guzzling behemoths that are far too impractical, and the only way for us to be truly safe and secure is to have more money and more possessions than the next guy. Temptation, temptation, temptation; every time we turn on the radio or T.V. or open a newspaper or magazine. Well guess what.....Jesus went through the same thing and He came out of it perfect and sinless. But He knows what we go through. He has felt the same pressures as we do. He understands.

Once Jesus left His time of trial and temptation behind His next task was to start picking His disciples. He runs into Peter and his brother Andrew, two local fishermen. He calls out to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people."

Picture yourself in the middle of a long workday. You are working hard at your trade doing what you feel is your lot in life. Now some fellow comes walking over to you and says, "Come with me and I will show you how to evangelize!" What on earth would go through your mind? Would you do as Peter and Andrew did? They dropped what they were doing AT ONCE and followed Him. They didn't finish their shift and punch out, they didn't ponder it, they left what they were doing AT ONCE. Then Jesus finds the "thunder brothers" (more on that later) James and John and He calls them in the same way. They IMMEDIATELY left not only what they were doing but also their father behind. IMMEDIATELY. Their dad must have been like, "Where did my boys go?"

When Jesus calls us, whether it is for salvation or for a task that He has for us, how many of us drop what we are doing and follow Him AT ONCE or IMMEDIATELY? I know I don't. I think about it. I weigh my options. I try to decide if it is really Jesus calling. It would be really helpful if He could leave a business card when He ask me to do something so I wouldn't have to spend all this time thinking and wondering and worrying if it is "really" Him or not. What does our hesitation say about our faith? What does the response of the disciples say about theirs? I give the 12 a hard time a lot. After all they screwed up more times than not while Jesus was with them. On more than one occasion even Jesus got frustrated with them and chastised them. But here, in the beginning of what would become an amazing journey for them, their faith was pure. It was blameless. It was willing. I pray for a faith like Peter, Andrew, James, and John. I pray that when Jesus comes calling I answer AT ONCE and IMMEDIATELY.

Once these four where on board Jesus started what would become the three major reasons for His coming down to earth; teaching, healing, and preaching. News of this amazing man traveled far and fast and large crowds started to follow Him. News of Jesus is still traveling far and fast even today and large crowds are still coming to Him. Praise God.

Have a great day.
God bless.

Matthew 3

REPENT
1) To turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of ones life.
2) [a] To feel regret or contrition. [b] To change ones mind.

There are several things of importance that I want to bring up in this chapter. First and foremost is this character of John the Baptist. Here is a guy that was born under some unique circumstances that aren't covered in this Gospel. The circumstances of his conception and birth will be covered when we get to the Gospel of Luke. For now I want to look at this man who dressed in weird clothes, ate some strange stuff, and lived a nomadic and simple lifestyle. He preached a message that had been around forever, that of repentance, but he did it in a powerful way with an urgency for a prompt moral U-turn.

The key terms in the definition of repent are "turn" and "change". For those that know me I have said for years that a relationship with Jesus should be evident by a change in that persons life. Only until recently has God begun to convict me of my need of my own radical change. Repenting is a two-part process: turning from sin and turning to God. It is not complete until you do both parts. I tried just turning from sin but I forgot about the turning to God part. Without the second part all the trying to change on my own strength was destined for failure. Now I am seeing that I must turn to God for the strength to change and complete the repentance that He has already started in me.

John preached this two part message by his words and his lifestyle. He lived simply as a visual protest against self-indulgence. He preached about the Kingdom of Heaven. This Kingdom is the establishment of God's rule in the hearts and lives of His people. It is the reign of God brought about by and through Jesus. This Kingdom was a central message that Jesus brought to us and Matthew mentions it 50 times in his Gospel.

John confronted the religious leaders with this message and I can only imagine how they felt when confronted by this radical and powerful speaker. It says that people came to JtB from the whole region to hear his message. All three Synoptic Gospels quote the famous passage of Isaiah 40:3 about "a voice of one calling from the desert. Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him." JtB might have been the voice and instrument but it was God Himself preparing the hearts of His people and making the path straight for Jesus' ministry.

The last time we saw Jesus He was a newborn being carted all over the countryside from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth. Now He is around 30 years old and ready to begin His ministry. While He didn't need to be baptized for the same reasons as we do, after all He was sinless, this ritual was done to consecrate Him to God and publicly announce that His earthly ministry was about to begin. During His baptism all three persons of the Trinity are seen as the Spirit descends upon Jesus to give Him strength and equip Him for His ministry and the Fathers voice is heard in approval of His Son.

Get ready for the ministry of Jesus starting in Matthew chapter 4! God bless.

Matthew Chapter 2

Alright, day two!! Here we go....may all the praise, honor, and glory go to God!

We are still dealing with the birth of Jesus in Matthew chapter 2. In the first 12 verses "Wise Men from the East" have made an incredible journey following a star that was prophesied as a sign of the birth of the "King of the Jews". Again I will point to the movie, "The Nativity Story" as a visual reference for this journey. It is easy for us to overlook what an amazing journey this must have been. These "Magi" didn't just hop in a bus or a plane and jet over to the Holy Land. This was probably a 9 month journey across barren lands on the back of a camel!! This "King" wasn't even their king either!!

We aren't told why they chose to undertake such a journey. It isn't stated whether or not this journey was prompted by God and I don't know if they really knew who they were going to see......what are your thoughts? We are told later in verse 12 that they were told by God not to return to Herod but nowhere is it stated that God told them to undertake this incredibly difficult and expensive journey. Whatever the case may be......they made the journey and when the star stopped over the place where Jesus was it says that they were filled with joy! They bowed down and worshiped Jesus and gave great gifts to Him. Why did these strangers from a far away land (who were probably another religion) show such awe and respect to Jesus? I think God was telling us that Jesus was (and is) going to reach into the hearts and minds of people from every tongue and every nation. People from all over the world may not be quite sure who Jesus is but THEY WILL bow to Him.

If these strangers could make such a hard journey just to worship Jesus then why can't we? Why is it so hard to surrender to Christ all that is His anyway?

Sorry.........got off on a bunny trail. Before moving on let me point out Matthew is again telling us in verse 6 how Jesus is fulfilling more prophecies from the Old Testament. In Micah 5:2 a "shepherd for Israel" is to come out of Bethlehem.

In the remainder of chapter 2 things get brutal. Herod is so threatened by this prophesied "King" that he has all the newborn male babies killed (this fulfills an OT prophecy). Herod thinks that he can supplant the Will of God......but God has already warned Joseph to get out of Dodge while he still can. Joseph and his family flee to Egypt......this fulfills another prophecy from Hosea 11 where God says, "Out of Egypt I called my son."

Eventually Joseph moves his family to Nazareth under a prompting from the LORD which fulfills yet another prophecy about Jesus being called "a Nazarene". In just the first two chapters alone Matthew is clearly telling his readers that Jesus is the Christ; the Anointed One, The Messiah, and that He is the One that is going to fulfill all the prophecies concerning the Messiah's coming.

I hope I gave you something to think about. Have a great day and God bless.

Matthew Chapter 1

Alright here we go!I am so excited..........wait a minute........what's that.....a list of names?? A genealogy? *YAWN* *SNORE* *HEAD THUMPS ON TABLE*

Whoa!! Sorry I must have dozed off. Please excuse me, I mean no disrespect but does anyone really read these long lists of names? This person was the father of that person and so on and so forth. Be honest, do you just skip over these parts like I do? Come on.....I said be honest.....God knows!!

I always ask myself what the point is to listing these family trees in Scripture. What is it that God wanted to tell us when He included them in His Holy Word? I have to believe that He has a reason.....and He does.

In this instance (by the way, I am not an authority on Scripture. I only know what I have read and researched. If I am wrong or you have another viewpoint or something to add please let me know and I will include it in another post.)God is letting us know that Jesus fulfilled one of the prophecies that stated that the Messiah would come from David's family tree. Another significant part found here is verse 17 when the author adds up the generations and groups them in 14. Fourteen is a multiple of 7 which I believe is the number that signifies perfection as it relates to God's creation being done in seven days.

So even if it seems boring or insignificant God has a reason behind every word found in the Bible!! Maybe next time we see a list of names we will pay more attention and show the proper respect for God's Holy Word!!

The next thing I want to point out is in both translations (NLT and NIV)the author clearly states that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ or "The Anointed One". Right away in verse one Matthew places this very important title on Jesus. When he is finished with the genealogy he again points to it and when he starts his next section about the birth of Jesus he includes the title again. He is clearly stating the point of his book.....to let everyone who reads it know for a fact that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who was prophesied about all throughout the Old Testament.

As I read through the birth account of Jesus I can't help but think what a great guy Joseph was. Here he is engaged to Mary and all of a sudden she shows up with a bun in the oven. He had every right to scorn her publicly and have her tried. Under the penalty of Jewish Law I believe she could have been killed for this infraction. But Joseph keeps things quiet even under the intense scrutiny that he himself must have been under. If you haven't seen the movie "The Nativity Story" I highly recommend it. It is a wonderful film that attempts to portray what Joseph and Mary must have been feeling inside as all of this was unfolding around them. I try to watch it with my family every Christmas Eve to remind myself how amazing it was for Jesus to come down to earth for us in this manner.

As Joseph struggled with this God gave him reassurance in a dream. When Joseph woke up he knew he was doing the right thing. He married Mary even though the society around him must have thought he was crazy. He was probably shamed and made fun of around town but he was obedient to God's will for him and God used him in an amazing way. We don't know too much more about Joseph, all we know is that he obeyed God even though it must have been extremely difficult and uncomfortable to do so.

Well, that's it for Matthew Chapter 1. Let me know your thoughts.
God bless.

I think I am going to change things up a little!

I have been thinking about the format of this blog and wondering how God can teach me through it and use it to reach others. I know all things are possible through Him but I want to get away from some of my thoughts and feelings and get into a more stable format (some of you might be saying YAAAYYYY!!). So here is my idea: I am going to work my way through the New Testament one chapter at a time and write something about it. I am not going to be using any Bible study tools or commentaries except what is found in my two precious copies of the Bible that I use. I use a NLT Life Recovery Bible and a NIV Study Bible as my two main sources for reading and studying scriptures. I have two great links to websites that offer some great study tools on the bottom of this page but for this experiment I will not be using them. The discussion I hope to promote will be one that is from the heart and from the Spirit.
So........check back later and we will be starting with Matthew chapter one and working our way through to Revelation 22 (263 chapter if my math is correct!!.
God bless.

Let's be clear

Good morning! I want to thank everyone who has been emailing me with their comments regarding this blog. This blog was created to promote discussion and it certainly has done that. A lot of people are emailing me their concerns that I am being too hard on myself regarding the content in each days blog. I want to be clear about some things.
The subheading of this blog is "My imperfect walk with my perfect God". This walk of faith that I am on is far from perfect, especially measured up to a perfect God. That being said, my faith in God has never faltered. I have been through some of the darkest times in my life over the last 7 months and at times my faith in Jesus Christ was the only thing I have had to cling to. The peace and joy that come from a relationship with Jesus is unsurpassed by anything else I have ever experienced.....and I have tried a lot of things in my life in the search for peace and joy!
I discussed how great God is in a general sense, now let me get personal. God has given me much more than just peace and joy. He has given me eternal salvation and my faith in that salvation purchased by Christ for me at the cross is NEVER going away!! The love that God showed for me that day amazes me. I was a sinner, now I am a child of the most Holy God. I was lost and He found me. All through my life I ignored God but He wasn't ignoring me. I had my own agenda but He never gave up on His plan for me. He called me, and reached out for me, and called me some more. Looking back at my life I see many, many instances of His clear call to me which went ignored. But He never gave up and eventually in February of 2004 I heard His call and accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord.
Since then I have had many trials. As I have stated my walk closely resembles the walk of Israel as seen in the Old Testament. When I stray from God and His will, He nudges me in the right direction by reminding me of my need for Him. I nearly lost my family due in part because I was not following His will for me as the spiritual leader of my household. I never lost faith in God though and at the midnight hour when things looked the darkest, my family was given hope. I prayed for Jesus to reach out to someone close to me and pull that person back into a vibrant relationship with Him and when it looked like it would never happen.......it did. There was a time that it looked like I was going to lose my home in this financial meltdown that the world has been going through. I never lost my faith in God and His timing and everything worked out just perfect. At exactly the right moment my home was rescued. A day later and things wouldn't have worked out for me. I thank God for His timing. I have been close to financial ruin recently but God has always provided for me. Money has shown up out of nowhere in almost the exact amount that I have needed. Never too much.....never not enough.....always exactly what I need when I need it.....that's my God!! He has answered countless prayers for me and my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have seen miracles happen. I have seen people given weeks to live survive due to the power and persistence of godly men and women in prayer. I have seen relationships rescued and renewed. Most of all I have seen change in my life. Change for the better. I am a different person today. My anger and addictions no longer have the power over me that they once did. Things that I once stressed over are no longer important to me. I have peace and joy found only in my relationship with Jesus.
I tell you these things to give you hope. Hope in a glorious God who loves His children. Hope in an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. Hope that I have. I know God loves me and I am secure in my eternal relationship with Jesus. I have a faith that has seen me through a lot of dark times but has also been there in the best of times....like the birth of my son and our continuing relationship as he grows up.
So don't worry about me. The content of this blog is just stuff that is going through my head. Stuff that I want to share. Stuff that I am at times struggling with. Stuff that God and me are wrestling with. It's OK.
God bless!!

How to put God in a box

Do you impose limitations on your god? Do you have an image of your god that is incorrect? Do you make your god into the god you want him to be instead of the one that he truly is?
I do it all the time and I call it putting God in a box. I make my God small by not trusting in His greatness and provision. I make Him into an angry God when I am suffering from extreme guilt over a sin I just can not conquer on my own. I worry about my finances as if He couldn't and wouldn't provide for my every need. I stress out about things that I have no control over....but He does. I see God as an angry father figure pointing down at me with an accusing finger (picture the image of the Sistine Chapel)instead of the loving God that died on the cross for me. I put conditions on my obedience and faithfulness to a God that is ALWAYS faithful in keeping His promises. The Bible is filled with God providing for His children. It is filled with God's love for His people. It is stuffed with the image of God's grace in the form of Jesus Christ.
He tells us over and over again, "Don't worry, I am here for you." Even the name He gives Moses for Himself, "I AM" speaks volumes of His greatness and providence. He tells Moses, "Don't worry, I will be there for you." And then guess what....He was there for him. He tells Joshua, "Don't worry, I will be there for you." And then guess what......He was there for him. He tells His people over and over again all through the Old Testament not to worry or be afraid. And guess what happens.....His children/people/prophets all worry and stress about things and put constraints on an uncontainable God. This usually corresponds to a season of incredible trials and hardship before they finally get it through their thick heads to trust God. And once they trust God guess what happens......things turn out just as He said they would.
With all these clear examples in the Scriptures why then do we (I) keep doing the same thing to God? Why do I not trust Him with all of my heart? Why do I lean on my own understanding of things instead of leaning on His irrefutable control over all things? This is the God that put that beautiful crescent moon in the sky for me to look at on my way to work this morning. This is the God that spoke things into being. The God that made 1000 species of trees in a 1 mile area of the South American Rain Forest. This is the God that made a caterpillar's head contain 246 muscles. This is the God that keeps my heart beating and my lungs filled with air and my liver and kidney's functioning without me having to think about it. This is the God that made the incredibly complex human brain. Why then can I not use that grey matter to do what is right in the eyes of God and not put him into a small box of my own making?

Forgiveness

I know I already wrote about forgiveness the other day but this is a topic that is front and center in my life right now and it needs to be brought up again. I hope I do not get too redundant and I will try to bring it up in a new way.
In Matthew 18, Peter asks Jesus, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" Jesus told Peter to forgive (basically) as many times as needed. He gave him a number that translates to "times without number". Then He told Peter a parable about the punishment handed out to one who didn't forgive or show mercy as he had been shown. At the end of the story the unmerciful guy is punished and Jesus says that this could happen to us "unless we forgive from our heart".
I am a lot like Peter. I am brash and I do a lot of talking without thinking....stuff just spews out of my mouth sometimes. I too ask Jesus, "How many times must I forgive this person?" and He patiently replies, "as many times as it takes".
I find myself now trying to heed His command and forgive on a daily basis. I thought it would be easier than this. I thought if I turned over my anger and resentment to Him and forgave based on that then I would be done with it. No, I have to wake up every day and choose in my heart to forgive those who have wronged me. I have to choose mercy every day just as Jesus does with me. I can not put conditions on my forgiveness........imagine if Jesus put conditions on His forgiveness of us!!
I can choose to forgive and act in loving ways and be free.

How can I forget about God?

Yesterday I wrote about how amazing my God is but even though I recognize His greatness and majesty, I don't always give Him what He deserves from me. Sometimes I forget about Him.
I wake up each day with the best intentions; I pray as I walk the dog, I marvel at each sunrise which to me is more breathtaking than the previous day, I sing songs of praise and worship on my way into work, and I converse with Him over my morning cup of coffee. Then something unfortunate happens.....I get busy and forget about Him. I forget to feel love and thanksgiving towards Him. I forget to keep Him in my thoughts. I don't reflect my relationship with Him towards others with my actions or with my speech. I forget how great He is and how worthy of my love He is.
This confuses me. Why is loving God so hard? Shouldn't it be easy to love such an awesome God consistently throughout the day and not just when it is convenient for me?
I want so badly to surrender every part of my self to Him. I want His presence to permeate my every moment. I want Him to become bigger in my life and for me to become less. I want to have Him in my thoughts all day long. I want to never forget about Him. I never want to lose my zeal or love for Him. Jesus said the greatest commandment was for us to love God with ALL of our heart, with ALL of our mind, and with ALL of our soul. This is my desire.

How great is our God.

I have a difficult time coming before the Master of all creation. I am humbled by His greatness. When I think of the millions of stars and the thousands of planets that we know about and the countless billions more that we don't know about but that God put there anyway, I can't help but to be wowed by my amazing Lord. His creation speaks of His greatness and the book of Romans says that because of this fact I have no excuse when it comes to believing in Him.
For me, belief is not a question. I have faith in the greatness of my God but it is that greatness that makes it difficult for me to come before Him sometimes. I have a hard time with how to present myself and respond to God's greatness-especially in a society that is determined to either ignore Him totally or just tolerate Him.
My problem is I ask myself, "Am I being reverant enough? Am I showing proper respect for the majesty and ever-present greatness of God? Do I treat Him with the respect He deserves? Could I ever be humble enough before Him?"
It confuses me that loving God the way He deserves is so hard for me. It baffles me that I can't seem to give God what He deserves from me without the constant struggle between my flesh and my spirit. Should't it be easier to serve, respect, and love such an awesome God?

What is Christianity?

What does it mean to be a Christian? What is this "walk of faith" supposed to look like anyway? Will people know I am a follower of Christ just by observing me? Can they tell by my words and my actions that Jesus is the most important person in my life?
Is being a "good Christian" just fighting my desires so that I can please God?
Or is it that by surrendering myself totally to God's will and purposes for me in my life He will bring me the most pleasure here on earth and for all eternity?

God's will or my will?

It is clear to me that this walk of faith is going to be more of a marathon than a sprint. It is going to take endurance. From this mornings Bible study I have been convicted of a couple of things. 1) I still have too much of this world in me to be comfortable with Jesus and I have too much of Jesus in me to be comfortable in this world. 2) I often put a godly spin on my will and call it God's will.
I am a spiritual child that has much to learn before I can call myself a true disciple of Christ. I must learn to yield myself to the Holy Spirit. I am in it for the long haul. Praise God that He is patient and merciful.

You learn something new everyday

"Blog" can be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog (a contraction of the word "weblog"). How many of you out there knew that? I didn't (see my earlier post).
What I also didn't know was that my walk of faith would be one of the most difficult things I have ever done. You see Jesus expects certain things from me, things that are very different than the ways of society. Jesus demands forgiveness, total forgiveness. If someone hurts me or does something unfair to me I am to show that person love and forgiveness. After all, while I was still a sinner Christ died for me and forgives every sin I ever made and will make as long as I believe in Him. That is unconditional forgiveness. No matter what.
Now how can I do the same for those that wrong me? The world would call me naive. Society would tell me to get what's coming to me. Friends and family might even tell me to get a lawyer if the offense was great enough. What does Jesus say? "Forgive as I have forgiven you". This is quite possibly the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I want to please my God. I want to do what He commands. He deserves my love, praise, and obedience. He gets 2 out of 3 of those all the time....the obedience part is tough though.
I know that when people wrong me I have an opportunity to show them grace and mercy just like my God has shown me. I know that people who know I am a follower of Christ watch me to see how I react. I have a great obligation and responsibility to do what's right in God's eyes but so many times I follow the way of the world.

To blog or not to blog?

I never would have imagined myself as being a "blogger", a person that "blogs". What does it mean....blog? Is it a verb? Is it a noun? What is the point of blogging?
Well, my point is theraputic in theory. I hope that by blogging about the trials and victories in my life as I walk with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that it not only brings me peace and closure to things but that it also helps others as well. I hope that others can view my imperfect walk with my perfect God and see their need for Him as well. I am not going to preach to you. I am not going to try to convince you as to your need for a Savior. That's not my job. It's God's job.
I am going to share what I go through as I wrestle with what the world expects from me and what God expects from me. I hope to entertain you and make you think....that's it.
I can't wait to see you around the "blogosphere".
God bless.