Week 24
The Lords Day, Week 24!
Thoughts on Ephesians 1-3:
· Ephesians 1 - The doctrine of Election... The dreaded E-word! If you have been following along in this bible study, you know I don't shy away from the controversial topics, whether in the world or within the church. This doctrine continues to be one of the most divisive within the church. But it falls under the greater category of the Sovereignty of God, which I also hit on whenever it comes up in scripture. There are two truths we see clearly throughout scripture, God is Sovereign, and Man is responsible, those are held in tension, but they are both true. Please keep that in mind as we look at chapter 1, because I know... someone will read what I am saying and accuse me of denying man's responsibility, I absolutely do not deny it. But I will not deny the clear teaching of scripture in order to make myself more comfortable with another teaching of scripture. So... here we go!
· Election - Ephesians 1:3-6 3 Blessed be fthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose usin him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved...Honestly, this should be the end of the debate if you just allow the text to speak plainly and in context. But, nevertheless, let's look at a few things, first, who is the one completing the action in the text? It is God, it He who chooses, it is He who predestines, and this word here means that he in advanced decided, not that He knew, but decided, He set it up in advance, foreordained, what the results would be. So He chose a specific group of people (us) and Paul's use of us would be a reference to all the saints who are in Christ Jesus and then set up the results of what would take place, which would be our adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus. This was the path that He chose for us, that we would walk and eventually end up as His child, all of this was according to Gods will, not ours, we are only passive in this at this point, we weren't there when the foundation of the world was being laid, we weren't their when God resolved to adopt us as His children, this was before we could do anything to earn His love, or before we could do anything to cause Him to turn His back on us. Why did He do this??? To the praise of His glorious grace... The glory of God brothers and sisters is shown in the correct understanding of this doctrine, why? Because it is only in understanding rightly that we absolutely had nothing to contribute to our salvation that then the Lord receives all the glory for it, if we believe in any way, that our salvation was somehow dependent on us, then we rob God of His glory. We are attempting to place some of His glory in our own hands. This text does not allow for that. He alone is responsible for our salvation, He alone accomplishes it, provides it, keeps it, we are mere recipients of it. In verse 11, this is reiterated, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works ALL things according to the counsel of HIS will... So where's our responsibility??? verse 13, In Him you also, when you HEARD the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Here it is, you heard, and you believed, so you were sealed... How do these work together? There is mystery there, but if you don't believe then you were not adopted, you were not sealed, you were not chosen, but how do you know if you were, you heard and you believed, so How can you know, by believing, believe now, along to the gospel now, be consumed by the gospel now, that is your part, and if you are doing so it is because God has adopted you, He set you apart that you would believe, but YOU must believe! So, we don't go around asking who was chosen and who wasn't... NO, we go around proclaiming the gospel and calling on people to believe and those who were chosen will believe, but because I don't know who that is I have to ask everyone, I have to call on everyone, while trusting in Gods good purposes. We don't ask people were chosen, that's Gods perspective, only He knows that, we call on people to believe the Gospel, that's our perspective, that He has allowed us a peek behind the curtain so to speak is that we would recognize there is no room for us to boast in our salvation, it is to strip away at our pride because we have wicked and sinful hearts that would look to make salvation more about us than about God. But it is all of God...
· Reconciliation - Chapter 2 verses 11-22, I'm going to finish here because I already gave you a lot to chew on today. lol But notice here that Unity is not something we work towards, it is something that has been completed and we are to simply walk in. Peace has been accomplished and we walk in it, unity is accomplished and we walk in it, reconciliation has been accomplished and we walk in it. This is in every area of our lives amongst believers. Not in the world, we will have friction with the world, we will have tribulation with the world, because the world is still under the wrath of God, the world is not at peace with God, but because we have peace with God, we therefore have peace with all His children. Here's a confession, though I know I have peace, in my own home at times, I forget and it can sometimes feel like I'm still in a battle. This isn't Gods fault, it's mine, because in those moments where it feels more like a war, where it feels like the enemy has broke through the line, it's my lack of belief, my lack of faith that has caused that, not Gods lack of accomplishment. Mine is to repent of that and believe Him for what He has already accomplished. Brothers and sisters, the reason we have so much division in our homes, families, and churches is not because God has failed, it is because we are of little faith. Read these verses out loud, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our Peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off (Gentiles) and peace to those who were near (Jews) For through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the WHOLE structure being joined together, grows into a Holy temple in the Lord. In Him you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." Peace is not something we accomplish, reconciliation is not something we achieved, it is something we believe, and that is the case within our homes as well as within our churches, and within this world for all those who are children of God. No matter your ethnicity, no matter your social status, no matter your skin color, no matter what your particular sin of choice was, no matter anything else you may want to use as a source of division, all of it has been teared down, Jesus is our peace, He is our reconciler and our reconciliation, we are ONE in Him. Let's believe Him, Let's trust Him, and stop trying to redo what He has already done.
Another Lords day brothers and sisters, we will be worshiping today as a body in my backyard, I have limited space but if you are interested, please just reach out to me before 2pm today and if there's room I would love to have you. Whether we have met in person or not, whether you were invited to this group by me or someone else, we are one body and my home is your home! God bless you all and enjoy your Lords Day!
Monday, Week 24!
Thoughts on Leviticus 1-3:
· One of the keys to understanding Leviticus is to recognize its ultimate purposes holiness for the Israelites. They are to be fully consecrated to the Lord. In these first three chapters we see this accomplished by the 3 types of offerings they are to present, first is the burnt offering, followed by the grain offering and in chapter 3 is the peace offering. What each of these represent is ultimately complete dependence on God for everything, He is their Savior, Provider, and Protector and apart from Him they can do nothing. Let's start by looking at the burnt offerings, these were offerings of atonement, and everyone was required to make them. From the richest Israelite to the poorest, thus we have a whole range of acceptable sacrifices, from the Bull, to the Pigeon. Everyone was required to make atonement, because everyone was guilty of sin. A couple of key distinctive's here, first notice the animal was to be without blemish, it needed to be perfect, to symbolize the perfection required before God, which the individual in themself did not possess, secondly the laying on of hands, this is to identify themselves with the animal, it is to be representative of a transfer of guilt. The animal is receiving my sin, and I His perfection. Then there is the spilled blood, the wages of sin is death. Life is in the blood, and it's being spilled out on the altar is representative that death, the penalty for sin, has been paid. Then we have the total consummation of the animal on the altar. Representing the total consecration of the individual to the Lord. As they offer all of the animal to the Lord in a burnt offering, so they offer all of themselves to the Lord as a living one, wholly consecrated to Him.
· Second, the grain offering, this one is a little bit simpler, God was their provider, this offering was one gratitude for Gods material provision. That He was the one sustaining them, and most of this offering went to the priests in order to sustain them being their work was in the temple and they could not work the land and so forth the way the rest of the Israelites could. They were to give of their first fruits, as a symbol of gratitude, dependence and trust, that it was of their first, showed a trust in the Lord for more to come.
· Lastly we have the peace offering, the Hebrew word for peace is "shalom" meaning well being, peace" and the purpose for this sacrifice was usually celebratory and as a way of seeking the Lords blessing. At the time of Moses meat itself was usually only eaten during the feasts, and other celebrations. Therefore any time one was to partake of eating meat, the meat would first be sacrificed, and the parts listed in verses 3 & 4 were offered to the Lord, and the remainder of the animal was taken and prepared and shared with the people making the sacrifice. The overarching picture here though is that there is no blessing, no good in life apart from peace with God. One can not seek to go into a marriage expecting to have peace in marriage apart from peace with God and the same in any other celebration. So a peace offering was made first, and only then could their peace and blessing among the people.
· Jesus in Leviticus... He is on every page brothers and sisters. Jesus is our atonement, He is the final bloody sacrifice given for our sin and because of Him you and I are no longer required to slit the throats of bulls and spread that blood on the altar, because His body was broken, and His blood was spilt. The most blameless, and perfect lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. Jesus is our provider, the words of Philippians 4, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." If we trust in Him, and cling to Him who is the first fruits of our salvation, then we know how great Gods provision is, and we can continue to give the first fruits of our lives, having been fully consecrated to Him Giving of our time, talent and treasure all for the purpose and glory of His kingdom. Lastly, Jesus is our peace, we just read this yesterday in Ephesians, "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." we can have peace in our homes, with our each other, with our neighbors because we belong to Him who is peace, who has reconciled us by His blood to one another and though the world may often still fight us, we do not fear, because it is Him whom they wrestle with and Him who they must trust and turn to for peace. Apart from Him there is only turmoil, only enmity, only strife... I know for a lot of people Leviticus is a hard book to read, but it's so important for us to read it and understand it. Jesus is the fulfillment of it, and He is everywhere in it.
Please pray for my family and I as we are in the midst of a difficult season and we ourselves need to be reminded that Jesus is our peace, that Jesus has accomplished it all for us and we only need to trust in Him. Thank you all, God bless and have a wonderful day! Don't forget to comment and leave your thoughts.
Tuesday, Week 24!
Thoughts on 1 Kings 10-13:
· Summary: For all his wisdom, Solomon was still only a man. He grows in wealth, in power, receiving the praise of all the surrounding kingdoms but all of this was still not enough. In Chapter 10, Solomon was still following the Lord, though we don't read of him directly seeking the Lord, we do read of the Queen of Sheba recognizing that all Solomon had was due to the Lords love of Israel and He took delight in Solomon. But what was Solomon's downfall? Lust, his appetite for more could not be satisfied, the more he gained the more he wanted, and this was most visible in his relationships with women. 700 wives and 300 concubines, for the record, don't let anyone tell you God was o.k. with this, He most clearly is not given the testimony of Jesus Himself in the Gospels. 1 man, 1 woman, 1 lifetime is Gods prescribed pattern for marriage, anything else is a sinful deviation, and all of it worthy of condemnation. In Solomons case it would bring about the destruction of Israel, and the splitting the kingdom. It was through his wives that Solomon eventually sought after other gods. "So Solomon. did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done." chapter 11 verse 5. There's a tension here that we need to recognize, Solomon and David were both sinful men, David committed murder and adultery, he too had many wives, all of these acts were evil, Solomon had many wives, guilty of lust, adultery, greed and who knows what other sins were among his weaknesses. But it is this that turns the Lord, Solomon goes after other Gods, it is with this act that the Lord brings judgement. This does not mean that God is o.k. with sin as long as you seek Him first, but it does mean that if you seek Him first you will not continuously fall into greater sin. As David grew older his life style slowed, he no longer gave in to as many worldly temptations, and his relationship with the Lord became what he was most known for. But with Solomon, it was the opposite, as he grew older he wanted more from the world and less from God, his passions for worldliness only grew to where he sought to satisfy his wives before the Lord, eventually turning to their idols. What is the pattern of your life? Is like David, or Solomon? As you continue to mature, is your relationship with the Lord becoming a more dominant focus of your life, or are worldly passions filling more of your day? Brothers and sisters, you most examine yourself now, don't wait, correct it now, look to make more of God today, look to spend more time with God today, look to be conformed more to the image of Christ today. We are all being conformed into the image of something... In the end our lives will tell a story, will it be a story of the grace of God in the life of a sinner? Or will it be that of a sinner, succumbing to the folly of this world? There is a lot today to get distracted by, there is so much that sounds good, so many good "causes" but only one Lord. He is the one we are submitted to, He is our greatest cause, our greatest friend, our greatest ally, our Peace, our Comfort, our King, our Savior, our Priest, our God and anything that doesn't point us to Him, anything that distracts us from Him isn't of Him.
· There's much more in this chapter, but I only want to look at the man of God who prophecies against Israel and Jeroboam. He was seeking to honor God, to only do that which the Lord commanded Him to. Then comes along another prophet, "hey, you and me serve the same god, I know that's what he told you, but he told me to tell you to come with me..." (my paraphrase... lol) It's clear in the text, this man lied to him. The man of God, had a clear word from the Lord, which is more sure than any word of man, even when that man claims to be speaking the word of the Lord. Don't miss this, you and I have a more sure Word from God, it's our bible! In our hands we have all that is necessary for salvation, holiness, life, and preparation for eternity. There will be no excuse when you stand before God, He will not accept, "but God, that man who was teaching your word said it was o.k. to live in my sin... but God, that man who prophesied over me said I can divorce my wife... but God, that church that I was going to said all I had to do was say a prayer and I was good..." this can go on and on, but the point is that we are without excuse. His words which are more precious than silver and gold, are in our hands, this is Gods gift to us, and it contains His Special revelation to us about Himself and when we live contrary to it because someone told us that's how we should understand it, that falls on us. Brothers and sisters, the purpose of us doing this bible in a year plan is not for me to tell you what the Bible says! It's so that you will read and it and see what it says for yourself! I can be wrong, and the worst thing in the world you can do is read my commentary without reading the word and thinking it through for yourself. This man of God, who I believe we will see in heaven one day, had the best of intentions... But He was killed by the lion... who is it that prowls around like a lion??? hmmm... just an observation. Don't get devoured by a lion, be on the defense, read, study to make yourself approved. Be ready to do battle with your sword in hand, knowing how to use it, knowing how to attack and knowing how to defend.
Thank you all for your prayers! Let me know how we can be praying for you. God bless you all and I hope you have a wonderful day.
Wednesday, Week 24!
Thoughts on Psalms 69-71:
· Psalm 69 - This Psalm is quoted or referred to a few times in the New Testament, and each time it is pointing to Jesus as the fulfillment of it. It's not perfect in its depiction, but there are several verses that seem to fit only Jesus. As with many Psalms, there is most likely some sort of double fulfillment in this, of course David himself was often hunted of no cause of his own, but He was never truly innocent. Jesus is the only one who has ever suffered innocently, and much of the Psalm can be read from His perspective. "I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God." Consider this, "What I did not steal, must I now restore?" What was stolen? our innocence, what was stolen was our relationship with God, and this was done first by our first parents Adam and Eve, but we are willing partakers in their rebellion by continuing in sin. Jesus has come to restore us to our initial inheritance, and yet He was not the cause of it being taken. As Jesus died His disciples went into hiding, He had become a stranger to them (verses 6-8). Verse 9 is quoted by Jesus in the temple when He chases out the money changers, verse 21 was fulfilled on the cross as the guards gave Him sour wine. Jesus was afflicted and in pain; it was for the cause of our salvation that He is now set on high, as King of Kings, (verses 29)... I bring all this out because I want us to be thinking always Christologically. Immediately when I read this psalm, I put myself in the place of the psalmist, I was the one in pain, I was the one suffering and needing relief, I was the one who was needy and wanted the Lord to punish my enemies. But the Bible is not primarily about me, it is about God and what He has done to save and reconcile us to Himself. Jesus is the main Character of scripture, not Ryan nor any of us. In fact, when I look at this psalm now, I see that I am more of the one who has caused His pain, than I am the one experiencing it. All of it was for our sin, my sin that He endured what He did. There was a time when I hated Him, when I spoke of God with lies, and then He saved me, He adopted me as His child that I could read this now seeing His Son and having a part in His Spiritual inheritance. So yes, let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them!
· Psalms 70 & 71 - These psalms should probably be read as one, with the first portion likely penned earlier in life, and the remainder towards the end of Davids life. Here's what sticks out to me in this psalm. Davids continuous praise, "may all who seek you rejoice and be glad, may those who love your salvation say evermore, "God is great"... for you O Lord are my hope, my trust... my praise is continually of you, my mouth is filled with your priase, and with your glory all the day, I will praise you yet more and more, my mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation, I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone..." and on and on they go, and yet we see, sandwiched in between this is a man who is week, and can feel life coming to an end, who even in old age is looking to God, trusting in Him not to forsake him. The same God who the psalmist says, "have made me see many troubles and calamities..." We have to be able to see the greatness of God in all of our circumstances, in all of our trouble, in all of our pain, even as our lives are coming to an end... The end of our lives will not make God any less great, it is only when this life is over that we all truly know how great He actually is. It's hard to focus on the faithfulness and greatness of God in the midst of our troubles, but that is exactly what a child of God must do, it's how we endure, it's what brings comfort and peace in the midst of chaos. You don't have to act like your pain isn't real, no, that's not what He is doing here, but we do so while also reminding us of who is sovereign over our pain. We must dwell on the fact that He has saved us, and we will dwell in His house all of our days. That our lips would shout for joy, when we sing praises to Him, our souls which He has redeemed!
The psalms never cease to amaze me, they hide nothing, both the pain and suffering of our savior, and the pain and suffering of HIs servants and how in both, His purposes remain the same, He remains the same, yesterday, today and forever... God bless you and I hope you all have a wonderful day!
Thursday, Week 24!
Thoughts on Proverbs 4:
· Wisdom is best passed down from generation to generation, we are much more likely to repeat that which we have seen modeled for us than we are to develop new habits, and in this chapter we see a Father directing his child to embrace wisdom, to seek her out. Wisdom is personified here as a woman as we discussed earlier when we began the book of proverbs. Verses 1 - 9 are simply an exhortation to seek wisdom, get wisdom and continue to embrace wisdom. For those of us who are parents we have an obligation to do the same for our children, to exhort to seek, get and embrace. This must be modeled as best we can, and by dependence on the Holy Spirit. But both are necessary, to both verbally encourage as well as model. One of the best things we can do with our children is allow our own failures to be teachable moments as well, those moments where we abandon wisdom for folly. Many parents ignore their failures and choose to instead act is if they can do no wrong. This is hypocritical and will damage any credibility you have with your children. If they hear us speaking all the time of gaining wisdom, seeking wisdom, and yet in our own lives we fail to do this, we don't acknowledge our failures, then the message we preach with our words is betrayed and our children are much more likely to do as we do, rather than as we say. In verse 10 begins the instruction on the two paths of life, wisdom and wickedness, these are the only two options and those who know Christ and are clinging to Him are on the path of wisdom, or way of wisdom. Some though, do walk a straighter path than others! Constantly swerving left and right, but the father here is encouraging his son, keep an eye on where you are going, don't lose sight of it, keep your gaze forward. We are bombarded with distractions, and those very distractions can often cause us to veer one way or the other. The only One we can keep our gaze fixed on, that will help keep our path straight is Jesus. It's His word we must keep in our heart, His word that is life, and brings healing, His word is that which is to be kept in our heart that we would not sin against Him. When we fill ourselves with His word, we abandon devious talk, so let your eyes be fixed on Him, He is the way, the Truth and the Life... In Him are the treasures of all wisdom and knowledge, teach it to our children, and live it out all of our lives. I know this is much easier said, than done, this is why we need each other as well, why we need community, and fellowship. That when one swerves, the others can redirect. We've been so alone for so long now that I can't help but wonder how many of us are now off on some detour? Get back in community, get back on the right path, confess to one another, and put your eyes back on Jesus!
God bless you all! I hope you are having a good week, and that you are blessed by todays reading and that it helps you to fix your on Jesus.
Friday, Week 24!
Thoughts on Ezekiel 1-6;
· Chapters 1-3 give us Ezekiels call to prophetic ministry. We learn that this all takes place when he is around 30 years old, while in exile in Babylon. Zedekiah is on the throne of Jerusalem because his nephew Jehoiachin has been taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, and he was left in charge. We read about much of this in Jeremiah. Some things to take note of in Ezekiels call, first is that he is brought into the presence of God. "Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord..." chapter 1 verse 28... and Ezekiels response was to fall on His face. This is the common reaction, Gods glory and power are to great for us to bear, and the natural reaction is to fall to the ground before Him. Keep in mind, this is all taking place as a vision, not a physical manifestation, which is important because no one can see God and live... The second thing we need to notice is that God calls him to go and speak His word to the people. The scroll that is eaten containing Gods words, which were as sweet as honey, was representing the words of God that Ezekiel would now speak to the people. But once again there is the warning, the people are a hard and stubborn people. So Ezekiel should expect rejection in his ministry, they will not listen, they will not turn. The people that Ezekiel would prophecy to were already in Exile, they were already feeling defeated, but the Lord still wants them to return, that they were alive meant it wasn't to late for them. For Ezekiel to preach to this people he to would need to take courage, and the Lord warns him. If I tell you to warn a person that they will die, and you don't tell them, they will still die but their blood is on your hands. The temptation to not share bad news is great, no one wants to be the bearer of bad news. But it's the bad news that prepares us for the good. We might be tempted to keep the bad news, but consider Gods warning, in so doing you aren't helping the individual, they are still going to die in their sin, only now you have left them without the only hope that can save them. So share the bad news, that it would lead to the good, that some would be saved.
· In chapters 4-6 we see Ezekiel's ministry take shape, and his ministry was very different in that his "sermons" were more illustrative than anything else. The things that he did were to paint a picture to Israel. This prophecy is all fulfilled and we read about it in Jeremiah the final chapters where Jerusalem is destroyed, and we see the same wording used by the sword, pestilence and famine. Consider that these two prophets did not know each other and one was in Jerusalem and the other in Babylon yet the word they spoke was the same, and God did exactly as He said He would. God always speaks the truth, His word can be fully trusted. These illustrations by Ezekiel were not pleasant, but the life of a servant of God is not meant to be pleasant. God is our joy and strength and His service is our calling. If you are His child then He is the prize, and He is enough. The life we are called to live here, in His service is all about preparing us for the next life. I think about Ezekiel having to shave his head, be bound up, eat next to nothing, and prepare his food over "dung" oh but it was cow dung and not human dung, so I guess that's better??? and yet today, He is in the presence of His God and Savior, having reaped His reward, having heard the words well done good and faithful servant and He's been there for almost 3000 years, well 2600 give or take some... He has no regrets today. But will you? How many times have you and I been unfaithful and we haven't been called to do even a fraction of what Ezekiel was called too... We have to wake up and recognize that our lives are a living sacrifice, with God as the only one we are to please, God as the only audience we seek!
Praise God for another day which He has made! Thank you for your prayers and let me know how I can be praying for you.
Saturday, Week 24!
Thoughts on Luke 11 & 12:
· Summary - So much again to look at but for the sake of your time I'll pick only a few things... First let's start with the Lord's Prayer. Of all the things the disciples could ask Jesus to teach them, it's prayer, and so we cannot ignore this. It seems that it was common for teachers to teach their disciples how to pray as even within the context they ask to be taught as John taught his disciples. We have another account of this in Matthew's gospel and its usually that account we memorize, but either way we notice that the petitions contain the same information, first theirs an acknowledgment of adoration, followed by a petition for the Lords will and/or kingdom to come, then for daily sustenance, forgiveness, and protection. Our prayers daily should contain this basic information, we want to open by acknowledging and giving God praise, we want to always be seeking His will and kingdom, we want to ask for our daily needs, that which is necessary for survival recognizing that it all comes from Him, we confess our sins and seek forgiveness (1 John 1:9) and then protection from further sin and evil. From this point Jesus gets into a discussion that has largely abused in the church. Ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find, knock and will be opened to you... The false teacher tells us, you see, God will give you all your desires, so ask, seek knock... But that's a lie, there is a very specific context and a very specific gift that Jesus is speaking of, just continue reading to verse 13... All of this is about the Holy Spirit! Not any other gifts or blessings, but the greatest blessing, His Spirit!
· Next let's look at verses 37 -54, and Jesus insulting the Pharisees! Yes, He insults them, "you Pharisees cleanse the outside but inside you are full of greed and wickedness, you fools!!!" those are His words. If it makes you feel uncomfortable then you need to take it up with Him. But notice that they even recognized it as an insult verse 45, but Jesus doesn't lay off, He continues to push into them and call them out. Not every encounter we have is with a hard hearted Pharisee, but there are times where we need to go after people harder and the truth may even seem insulting to them. We cannot back away, it's not unloving to point people to who they truly are, to reveal to them the state of their heart. As God continues to work in my heart, I am less hurt by insults because I realize that whatever anyone calls me, the truth is that I am far worse, and yet Jesus saved me. As we point people to their own hypocrisy the goal isn't to hurt, but to cut to the heart that they would see themselves as Christ does and that they would turn from their own sin and trust in Him.
· Chapter 12 - in verse 8 we have Jesus telling us about the need to acknowledge Him before me. One of the things that bothers me so much about much of the social justice movement today is the lack of Christ. Many inn that movement claim to know Him but He is only in the background and they won't proclaim Him to others in the movement because they know most don't want any part of Jesus. I think a lot of Christians that have been sucked into it are there for good reasons, they see injustices in the world that they want to help with. But then they go chase after human, vein, philosophies in search of ways to help. Those will never help, we are warned against such philosophies in the scriptures. Jesus is the one we must acknowledge before all men and point them to as the only source of justice and mercy and hope for all people. Then we have in verses 13- 34 this talk of treasure. Brothers and sisters, we want to be wise with our money for the glory of God, but we do not want to hoard it, none of it really matters in the big picture, you can save up for yourself all you want in this life, and not one dime of it will matter when you're dead. We want to do all we can to leave an inheritance for our children, but if we are ruled by it and not using our finances to further the kingdom then we are behaving like fools. The greatest inheritance we can leave for our kids is a kingdom one. So do not be anxious about your life, what you will say nor about your body what you will put on... Trust in God for everything, all that He has given you be prepared to lay it down for Him, and continue to seek after Him. For where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also...
Today's a beautiful day and I am going for a long bike ride this morning! I hope you all find ways to enjoy your day as well. God bless you all!