Matthew 21

Matthew 21 is filled with many events.   Jesus’ Triumphant Entry is described with Jesus instructing his disciples about the donkey, and the people responding to His coming.  We also see Jesus turning over the tables at the temple....declaring that God's  house is to be a House of Prayer.  We understand that Jesus was willing to confront sin.  This is followed by stories of the Kingdom which confront the error of the religious leaders.  Remember God desires to talk to you as you read today.

Matthew 19

Matthew 19 has so much teaching that we need today. First Jesus talks about divorce and relates that God honors marriage. In Jesus day a woman could be divorce at the drop of a hat so to speak for any reason the husband was displeased. It didn't make for a secure relationship. Some teachers taught this was wrong while others taught that it was acceptable. Jesus reminded the disciples that from the beginning God made marriage to be a commitment that lasted.

The middle of the chapter brings a young man who wants to have eternal life and he ask Jesus what he must do. He seemed to have an a high opinion of himself and his abilities to keep the commandments. Jesus pressed further and said, "Sell all tha you have and give to the poor and follow me". Matthew adds that the young man went away sad because he had much weatlth. Some mistakenly think Jesus was saying everyone has to sell everything and be pennyless. Jesus was getting to the root of his problem...he trusted in his riches instead of God. His faith was in what He had and he didn't have care for the poor. Salvation is a gift and accepting Jesus is about loving God with your whole heart and mind. Jesus told the disciples that they would be blessed both in this life and in the life to come...so eternal life is not about buying a ticket....Jesus was pressing for this young mans willingness to give his all to God. He calls us today too...what do you trust most in?

Matthew 18

Matthew 18 talks about a variety of topics from who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, to what to do if you have offence toward someone in your life, to why God wants His children to walk in forgiveness towards those who have hurt you.  Take a look and see what the Lord is speaking to you.

Matthew 17: The Transfiguration

Matthew 17 recounts an exciting event for three of Jesus' disciples.  Peter, John and James went with Jesus to a high mountain to spend some time together.   Men today still enjoy such trips and true to expectations it proved to be a trip to remember.  As the men watched Jesus appearance changed as He revealed to them who he is.  Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking to Jesus.  This brings some interesting observations.  First, it reminds us the God is the God of the living...and though Moses had passed away on this earth....He lives with God and the disciples were able to get a glimspe of eternity as they watched.   Second, interestingly enough the three disciples recognized Moses and Elijah even though they didn't live in the same time period.  It gives us the knowlege that in heaven we will know those who are there with us.   The whole thing came to an ubrupt stop when Peter put his foot in his mouth so to speak.  He started babling about settting up memorials for Jesus, Moses and Elijah.  God the Father spoke from heaven reminding them that Jesus was worthy of worship.  No matter who we respect God is our source and worthy of Worship.  The rest of the chapter has some great highlights so go ahead and read and enjoy.

Here is the video we made a few years ago....we used the KJV because it doesn't have a copyright....but you can read a different version on biblegateway.com. 

Matthew 16

This chapter starts out with the Pharisees and Sadducees demanding a sign from Jesus to prove who He is and why He has authority to do the things He is doing.  They were not really interested in understanding as evidenced by the fact they ignored the prophecies in the Bible and the miracles that Jesus performed among the people.  Jesus let it be known that He would give them no sign except the sign of Jonah.  (Jonah was in the belly of the fish 3 days as Jesus would be buried 3 days) Jesus warned His disciples not to be fooled by the teaching of the Pharsees and Sadducees .   He compared their teachings to yeast in bread.  The disciples started to argue because they thought Jesus was upset they forgot to bring bread. Jesus having to clear that up gives me hope that when I miss the obvious He will be patient while He explains.  Yeast starts out in a small but expands just like false teaching.  It starts out small and expands as it sucks in its prey. 

The rest of the chapter deals with some pretty heavy stuff about who Jesus is and Peter's recognition of it, followed by a big blunder by Peter.  Praise God that we serve a Savior who deals with us with such patience.

Read the chapter yourself in a translation you can understand.  I often use the New Living Testament at blogger.com   Also Pastor John and I did a through the New Testament video series a few years ago using the King James (because it has no copy right)  He asked me if I was putting them on the blog and I had to admit I hadn't been.  We have most of the chapters but are missing some. 

Here is today's

Matthew 15: Wash your hands

The gospels share the story of an event in their life when the Pharisee's complained to Jesus that He didn't make his disciples wash their hands before eating. For years I was confused with this passage. I remember thinking, "Didn't Jesus know about germs...He is God". Eventually I studied more about it and discovered it really had nothing to do with hygiene. Rather it had to do with ceremonial washing as a religious rite. The Pharisee's actually believed that if you didn't follow the right pattern to wash your hands you opened yourself up to the devil. Jesus explained that their tradition was not God's instruction but rather man made. Jesus told them that they are more about their tradition but they forsake the commands of God like honoring your parents and helping them in their old age. Therefore, Jesus was not ignorant of hygiene and the importance of washing your hands but he was not into man made rules that put a spirit of bondage on people. The next point in this story was that our words show our heart. The rest of the chapter talks about a persistent Gentile who believes Jesus can help her...and Praise God He did....it shows God can help anyone. 

Matthew 14: The Character of Jesus

John 14 tells the story of John the baptist death and the injustice that caused it. When Jesus heard it he went to a deserted place most likely to have some time alone realizing that He too would share the fate of being put to death by unjust men, telling the Father of his emotions at the loss of a good man like John the baptist. We see it is not wrong to take some time and reflect. People found out where Jesus was and followed him many desiring healing. It would have been easy for him to say, "Not now, I'm mourning the loss of my dear friend, but instead the Bible tells us He had compassion upon the people and healed their sick. Knowing the crowd hadn't eaten he preformed a miracle which multiplied the food. (This is one of time such events recorded in the gospels).

Read the chapter yourself and ask God to reveal His Character. Somethings I noticed are that Jesus did slip away and desire to be alone. It is not a sin to take some time away and reflect and let God bring restoration of your soul. Jesus also reacted with love when His plans where changed because the crowd followed Him.

The next paragraph talks about Peter making a big step of faith. Write down the things that Holy Spirit is teaching you as you read.

Parables: Matthew 13

Jesus often used parables or stories with a meaning in His teaching.  As you read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John you will see some of the same stories again..the miracles, events and parables.  Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you truth that will be used in  your daily life. 

The parable of the seeds lets us know that there are things that can keep us from applying God's Word to our life be it a word of salvation, healing, family, finances or whatever subject that the Holy Spirit is trying to deal with us about through His Word.  Notice that Jesus first told the parable and then later He explained it to His disciples.  When we are willing to listen to and ask the Lord about His word He will show us things that will work to improve our daily life.  We learn in this parable that when we have to be careful about how we receive the Word given to us if we are to bear fruit or make it active and effective in our everyday life.  The hard soil represents those that harden their hearts or don't seek to really understand and so the seed of the Word that Jesus plants in their life doesn't grow...instead the devil comes and takes it away like birds that come into the field of a farmer in the natural and eat seeds that are on top of the soil.  The rocky soil represents those that hear the word and think it is wonderful, but when they don't grow roots in the gospel and so when trouble or obstacles come they run for the hills.  The third kind of soil is thorny soil and that represents those who hear the Word and approve but then allow worries and the "lure of money" to crowd out what the Word says so they don't become fruitful.  The last kind of soil is the good soil...thy truly hear and recieve the Word...they seek to understand, they stand firm even in the midst of trails and obestacles and they don't allow fears and anxiety or things keep them from walking in the light of the world.  It is not wrong to have things, but you mustn't allow things to have you.  Go ahead and read this and the other parables in the chapter.  Wow, lots of good teaching.

Matthew 12 The Fruit of your Mouth

Each chapter reveals many things for the Holy Spirit to speak to you.  I write a quick paragraph, but read the entire chapter in the Bible.  Something hit me as I read this chapter.  Jesus lets us know that the fruit of our mouth reveals the condition of your heart.  That can be scary.  However, Jesus also lets us know that our hearts and minds can be renewed by the Word of God.  Are there some things that your words are revealing about you?  Bring it to Jesus....and ask Him to renew you by His Spirit...and His Word. 

Matthew 11: John the Baptist ask...Are you the one ?.

John the baptist needed assurance that Jesus was the one promised.  He had heard form the Father when He baptized Jesus, but now in prison things didn't seem so clear.  Jesus reminded him of all the things that were happening, the miracles and the good news is bieng preached to the poor.  Sometimes when things are not going as we would think it is easy to wonder if God is moving and if we really know what we thought we knew.  Jesus didn't get mad at John and He doesn't get mad at us when we ask honest questions coming from an honest heart.  Jesus let the crowd know that John the baptist was honored and since he began his ministry the kingdom of God had advanced with power.  At the same time he said....the least of the kingdom is greater than he.  Read chapter 11 and let the Lord reassure you of His love.  Remember to pray for God to open the Word to your heart as you read!

Matthew 10

Jesus teachings cover many subjects.  Chapter 10 covers many topics.  Jesus tells us that if we confess him before menh that He will confess us before the Father. 

Matthew 9....Healing Continues

Matthew 9 continues with more healings.  As you read the gospels you will see these stories again and each disciple gives more detail.  It is exciting to see the love of Jesus being expressed through healing.  He healed people that others would have avoided as we saw in chapter eight when he touched the leper and made him whole.  In chapter 9 He not only heals but he forgives a man of his sins which causes a stir among the religious leaders because they did not recognized Jesus' authority.  Jesus also called Matthew, a tax collector, to be one of his diciples...this bothered the religious leaders who didn't like tax collectors.  Take a look at the story and what he said in repsonse to the religious leaders.   The story of the Woman with the issue of blood and the little girl being raised raised has some great lessons.  What is God showing you each day. 

Matthew 8...If you are willing you can heal me

Matthew chapter 8 is an exciting chapter because it is chock full of the healings of Jesus.  It reveals to us that he is indeed willing to touch our bodies and bring healing.  Take a look at the chapter and note all of the circumstances where Jesus brought healing.   Some circumstances were overwhelming yet Jesus intervened and changed things.  A leper comes to Jesus and says, "Lord, if you are willing you can heal me"  Jesus put out his hand and touched him, and said "I am willing...."  Jesus speaks to us today and says, I am willing. 

Matthew 7...Juding and Fruit Inspection

Even the unsaved are aware of the statement of Jesus, "Judge not that you be not judged"  Unfortuately so many read just that statement without reading the context.  In our society it has come to mean that anything a person does is not to be judged or tested but rather simply accepted.  that is not what Jesus was saying at all.  In the same chapter Jesus talks about the fruit of a person's life.  He talks about the fact you can recognize someone coming to you as a wolf in sheeps clothing by their fruit or actions.  So what is Jesus saying?  There were many in His soceity who deemed a person unworthy, unworthy of God's love and forgiveness, unworthy of a second chance in life, unworthy of respect for a variety of reasons.  Their hyprocrosy held  no bounds because they to were were tryi8ng to point out flaws in others while not looking in the miror themslevs to ssee how they were treating others.  Today folks get really upset if someone says that what they are doing is wrong and they say "You are judging me and you are not suppose to"  However, let's remember that Jesus does tell us to be fruit inspectors.  Jesus did correct sin and He helped people overcome it, but He did let folks know that they had to reprent.  What are some examples of Jesus reminding people to repent?  What portion did you enjoy reading form the res tof the chapter?

Matthew 6....Jesus speaks

Jesus continues teaching about everyday things that impact our life. The Bible is full of real time advice. There is a lot jammed into this chapter so as you read ask the Holy Spirit to make real to you would He would have you concentrate upon. He speaks about not tooting your own horn when you do good toward others, or when you are exercising a spiritual discipline like fasting, because doing show hurts you and those who would be ministered too. He gives the sample prayer we know as the Lord’s Prayer. It talks about praising God for His very character and goodness, asking for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, being with us in our daily life, helping us overcome temptation and to forgive those who have hurt us. He talks about not allowing your life to be eaten up with worry for what might happen because God loves us and will take care of us. It is not wrong to plan or to have a savings account, but not to live in constant worry because of lack of trust in what God wants to accomplish is not His plan. Our focus is to be on God not simply material things. What did Holy Spirit talk to you about as you read?

Matthew 5 Be Attitudes....Easy and Hard sayings.

Matthew 5 is the beginning of the sermon on the mount.  You'll find the next few chapters chock full of Jesus teaching.  Some of it is an easy Amen...while other things are harder for our flesh to take.  I love the part that assures us that when we allow God to help us to be merciful that in our life we will receive mercy, but the part about loving your enemies and praying for them can be harder to take when you are in the throws of a situation where someone is doing you wrong.  It doesn't mean that you let people run all over you...Jesus didn't do that....but it does mean that you begin to understand that everyone has an eternal soul that will go to Heaven or Hell and so to pray for their good and desire them to be right with God is allowing yourself to desire the same things Jesus desires.  Some things like praying for your enemies is not about always "feeling" like it...we do it and God blesses the obedience and then sometimes we do "feel" a stiring in our spirit.  Jesus talks about divorce in this chapter as well.  At this point of history it was easy for a middle easterner to divorce his wife for any little thing.  All he had to do was to walk around her three times and say I divorce you...and she would be on the street or in the best case she would have to go back with her parents if they would take her.  Jesus made it clear that God never intented for men to throw their wife away for any little purpose.  As you read what sayings were easy for you?  What sayings were hard for your flesh to take in at this time? 

Matthew 4

Matthew 4 

In chapter one we learned that Jesus is Immanuel...God with us.  He walked among us the very Son of God.  Jesus was baptized by John the baptist in obedience to the Father and right after He is lead by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness where he goes on a fast from food and is tempted of the devil.  Jesus became a man and showed us how to walk this journey as a human being led of the Holy Spirit and able to defeat the enemy through the Word of God.  Take note of the devils tricks.  Jesus was baptised and is about to walk in Ministry expressing who He is and what He came to accomplish on the earth.  The enemy comes at Him trying to bring doubt about His identity .  He comes after a time of fasting when Jesus body is tired and He is hungry.  The enemy even tries to twist Scripture to his own advantage. Take a look at this passage and the Scripture Jesus uses to refute the enemy.  Perhaps you are learning who you are in Jesus and are beginning your journey as a Christian.  Understand the the devil doesn't play fair.  He will try to create doubts in your mind either about God or about your ability to walk faithfully with God...he will come at you at your human weak points...when you are tired, when circumstances are hard.  Knowing his tactics can help you understand what is happening in such a situation...Remember Jesus used the Word of God to defeat the enemy.  He also understood who He is.  When we are in Christ we are not on our own.  We may have weaknesses but our strength is in Jesus.  We are God's child. 

The rest of the chapter deals with Jesus ministry.  What did this chapter speak to your heart about? 

Matthew 3

Matthew Chapter 3
It is an exciting journey to read through the Bible.  In church I told the story of my college professor who used to always pray what I considered an annoying prayer.  Before every test he would pray, "Lord, help the students to remember that which they have faithfully studied as they complete their test."  If I'd studied it didn't bother me, but when I had whittled away the time with other things it annoyed me and brought conviction.  When we read the Word God is able to speak to our spirit and best of all He is able through the Holy Spirit to bring it to our remembrance and help us apply it in our daily circumstances.  Stay excited about the Journey.

In Chapter 3 we see John the Baptist and Jesus grown and beginning their ministry.  John prepares the way for Jesus the Messiah explaining to the people the need to repent and turn to God because the Kingdom of Heaven was coming.  He tells them that Messiah would soon come.  Jesus comes and is
baptized by John the Baptist.  

As you read todays passage what did you find interesting?  Did the Holy Spirit talk to you about something?
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Happy New Year: Matthew chapter 2

I hope you enjoyed the start of our reading through the New Testament yesterday.  An easy way to read the New Testament online is to go to biblegateway.com and go to the passage lookup and type in the chapter for the day.  You can even choose which version.  My favorite version is the New Living Testament. 

Today we are reading  Matthew Two  Click the link and it will take you to Biblegateway.

It gives an opportunity to reflect on the Christmas story after all the hustle and bussel of the season.  We find the wisemen traveling to see Jesus and finding him at a house and Herod pretending to want to worship Jesus too while really he was desperatly trying to figure out when he was born so he could have him killed.  Indeed boy babies two and under were killed in that region based on the time frame the wisemen gave Herod.  Herod was worried about his position and wanted to make sure nothing changed.  The wisemen were kings and embraced God's King.  God the Father protected Jesus and Mary and Joseph from harm.

Wise men and women still worship Jesus today.