Tag Archives: Matthew

The keys to heaven! (Matthew 16:17-19) April 15, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 29-30

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 16:17-19
Jesus: Simon, son of Jonah, your knowledge is a mark of blessing. For you didn’t learn this truth from your friends or from teachers or from sages you’ve met on the way. You learned it from My Father in heaven. This is why I have called you Peter (rock): for on this rock I will build My church. The church will reign triumphant even at the gates of hell. Peter, I give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Have you thought much about Jesus’ words to Peter? I have. From the very first sentence, Jesus gives Peter and us a tremendous blessing and responsibility. First, He says if we really know Him, we are blessed. And if we really know Him, it is because we learned about Him from our heavenly Father, the Creator of all things. We come to know Him because of God’s Spirit teaching us from the inside out.

We can know about Him from sages and teachers we’ve met on the way, but to really know the truth about Jesus, we must get that from God’s Spirit living in us. That comes from faith and letting Him rule our lives. We have that intimate knowledge the Bible talks about by letting His Spirit in us control our lives. We must focus on His Spirit in us rather than the desires of the flesh, Paul would say. Then we, like Peter, can declare, “You are the Son of the living God.”

Second, Simon is called Peter or rock because of what he knows. And Jesus says on this rock, some will say on Peter, most will say (and I agree with them) on the knowledge Peter holds, He will build His church. On the truth we can hold within us by the knowledge we can gain only from the Father, Jesus will build His church. His church will grow. He will build it. The solid foundation of His church will be the truth that Jesus IS the Son of the living God. If we ever falter on our belief in this single truth, the very foundation of the church begins to crumble. This statement, this fact, this knowledge of Jesus from the Creator forms the bedrock of the church.

Third, the church will march on. Satan can try to defend against it, but he cannot prevail. Satan has tried his best to turn this verse around in our thought process and put us on the defense saying that hell cannot break down the church. But read the verse carefully. The church reigns triumphant even at the gates of hell. That sounds to me like heaven marches to hell’s gates, not the opposite. Jesus burst through hell’s formidable doors, they couldn’t hold Him. His church can march triumphant on the offensive against evil in this world. We do not need to defend ourselves against evil. Evil must defend itself against righteousness, but Jesus says, evil will lose.

Finally, Jesus tells Peter and the church, he holds the keys to heaven in his hands. Whatever he binds on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever he looses on earth will be loosed in heaven. Does that mean we have the power to damn people to eternal punishment? In some sense, and I’ll explain. Does that mean we have the power to forgive sins? In some sense, and I’ll explain.

I must make clear we are not God and do not have the capacity or the perfect judgment ability to forgive sins for eternal judgment for the day of reckoning all of us will face. But consider this from Ezekiel 3:18, God says to Ezekiel “If I send this message to a wicked person – ”You will die“ – but then you fail to warn him or help him to reconsider his wickedness so that he may not die, then he will die as a result of his evil deeds. It will be your fault for not warning him. His blood will be on your hands. But if you do forewarn a wicked person and give him My message, and yet he does not change his wicked thoughts and actions, then he will die as a result of his evil deeds. But you will have saved your own life by doing what I directed.”

God’s message to Ezekiel fits Jesus’ message to Peter and to those disciples who come after him in the church. We hold the keys to heaven in our hands. We know how to get there. We know Jesus and know that He is the way to heaven. We know because His Spirit testifies with our spirit that this message is truth. Like God’s message to Ezekiel, if we fail to share that message and shut the door on people by failing to share the message with them, we potentially close an opportunity to find the path we have found to heaven. We ‘bind’ the keys and so ‘bind’ them in our efforts. When we let loose the keys, the message, the good news that Jesus is Lord, the truth, the way, the Light, and Life and others find Him through that message. We loose on the earth and into heaven the opportunity for others to find and believe in Him. We become keys, instruments, tools, to open the door of opportunity to find salvation. We can’t save, but we can be instruments to introduce people to the One who can.

So what is Jesus’ message to Peter and to us, His disciples following after Him? You are blessed if you know Him. Knowledge of the truth of His Sonship to the Father comes from the Father Himself and this knowledge is the bedrock, the foundation of the church. Because of that solid foundation, we, the church can march against evil knowing it cannot defeat us. God has already won the war. It’s just a matter of time until Satan figures it out. In fact, it is our responsibility to share the message of this great truth because we will be held accountable for the use of those keys to heaven we hold in our hands. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Two important questions (Matthew 16:13-16) April 14, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 42-44

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 16:13–16</blockquote

Jesus (to His disciples): Who do people say the Son of Man is?
Disciples: Some say John the Baptist. And some say Elijah. And some say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.
Jesus: And you? Who do you say that I am?
Peter: You are the Anointed One. You are the Son of the living God.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

These are two of the most important questions you’ll ever answer, especially the last one.

It seems the questions caught Jesus’ twelve disciples a little off guard. Who do people say I am? They had been out into the villages and hamlets and cities all around the countryside as Jesus had instructed them. They had shared His message that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. They had shared that Jesus was the promised One. The One pointed out in the scriptures as the coming Messiah. They let everyone they saw know about this remarkable man.

Now it was time to report. In my thirty years of service, my bosses sent me out on a lot of inspections, investigations, and missions. And I sent a lot of those who were under my authority out to do the same. I can’t count the number of those missions I accomplished in my thirty year career. But every time I went out on one of those missions, I expected to report back to my boss the answers to the questions he had and I expected a report from all those soldiers I sent out on similar missions.

It’s just common sense, isn’t it. If we’re going to expend time and effort and treasure on a task, we ought to get something out of it. We should find out if the mission was successful or not. We should know at the end if the time and effort and treasure expended was worth it, right? How else can we know that unless there are reports rendered by those engaged in the mission?

So Jesus asks His disciples this simple question, “Who do people say I am?” The disciples were ready with their report. Their surveys were done. All the data was entered and analyzed. They had their spreadsheets completed. They pushed the buttons on their laptops and out came their report. (Well, use your imagination a little there.) “Some say John the Baptist. And some say Elijah. And some say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

So Jesus had His answer from the disciples’ surveys. He knew how well others believed His disciples when they told their story in the villages and hamlets and cities in the areas in which He traveled. But there was a more important question to ask. Jesus listened to the disciples answer and noted that Messiah wasn’t included in their answer. Son of God didn’t appear there. So there is a fundamental question that needed to be asked to know whether or not their sharing in the communities could be convincing.

Now what do I mean by that? It is said that some people can sell air conditioners to Eskimos because they are just that good at selling. Most salesmen aren’t like that, though. Most salesmen are effective in their business only when they are sold themselves on their products and services. If you don’t believe in your product personally, you won’t be very sincere in the delivery of your sales pitch. And that’s all it will be, a pitch. A bunch of words thrown out for someone to swing and maybe get a hit every once in a while.

No, a real salesman understands and believes in the product he sells. She knows all the pros and cons and knows the pros far outweigh the cons. She either has the product or wants the product personally and the only thing keeping her from having it is the price or the lack of immediate need. But when the need or the money is available the salesman knows his product is the one he will purchase.

And so, Jesus asks His emissaries, “Who do you say I am?” Do you believe I’m the Messiah? Do you believe I’m God incarnate? Do you believe I am who I say I am? Do you believe so you can tell my story with complete and total conviction when you share it with others?

He asks the same of us. If we are half-hearted in our belief, we will be half-hearted in our witness. When we are, the best we can do is get reports like the disciples got in their first mission journeys. Some will think Jesus a good man. Some a great prophet. Some will think He is just a story. Until you meet Him in faith and know Him so you might believe who He says He is, your story will only confuse those around you.

What is your status? How would you report when Jesus asks His questions? Who do those you share your story with say Jesus is? But more important for you and for your witness, Who do you say Jesus is? It’s the most important question you’ll ever answer. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

To make bread you need the right yeast (Matthew 16:6) April 13, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 42-44

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 16:6, 8-11
Jesus: Be careful; avoid the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Jesus: You men of little faith, do you really think that I care which baker you patronize? After spending so much time with Me, do you still not understand what I mean? So you showed up without bread; why talk about it? 9-10 Don’t you remember that we fed 5,000 men with five rounds of flatbread? Don’t you remember that we fed 4,000 men with seven rounds of bread? Don’t you remember what excess, what abundance there was—how many broken pieces and crusts you collected after everyone had eaten and was sated? 11 So when I speak about leaven, I am not talking about what we will eat for dinner. I say again, avoid the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Reading so much about bread in the Bible the last several months, I started experimenting with making bread myself. I’ve done a little bit of baking off and on since I retired. It’s something I enjoy, but probably not enough to make it a real hobby. But I’ve come to understand it a little. And because I was a chemistry major in college, I get interested in the why baking soda or baking power is needed in a recipe. How does yeast work or what difference does it make when you add vinegar and soda in a red velvet cake.

I know, it’s a little weird, but that’s just who I am. All of us have a weird streak in us somewhere and that’s part of mine. So when Jesus tell the disciples to be careful and avoid the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. You have to understand a little about leavening to know what He’s talking about.

The problem today, we don’t do much baking at home, except as a hobby like me. Most of us go to the store and buy our bread or get a cake mix that just needs water and a couple of eggs and we’re done. We don’t know what else has gone into that mix to make it rise for that perfect, bouncy, delicious, moist texture. We just stir, bake and eat.

So here’s a little lesson on leavening. First, leavening doesn’t have to be yeast, although in Jesus’ day it usually was. The yeast or other biological consumed simple and complex sugars to form carbon dioxide which forms bubbles in the dough making it rise. But leavening is any number of substances that introduces air into dough or batter to make it lighter or softer. We think of yeast most often, but it can be anything for dough that causes fermentation or produces air from a biological reaction, yeast, beer, ginger beer, kefir to name a few.

There are also chemicals that leaven or create that air we’re looking for in baking, like baking soda and baking powders. These chemicals combine with acids like sour milk, buttermilk, or vinegar and cause the resulting compound to foam creating the bubbles the dough or batter needs to rise.

Bakers also use mechanical leavening like creaming butter and sugar together. The sugar crystals break into the lipid structure of the butter and when heated the crystals break down and leave behind very tiny bubbles in their place. Now we also use steam to create the effect or nitrogen or a number of other discoveries since yeast was first used in baking, but all have the same effect. The chemical or biological process introduces air into the dough or batter, softens it and makes it rise. The gluten or other proteins in the dough or batter hold the structure tight enough to prevent the bubbles from escaping and so the dough transforms into the baked goods we enjoy.

Okay, so now you’ve had a lesson in baking. What does that have to do with what Jesus wants us to know?

I’ve baked enough now, that I’ve made the mistake of using the wrong leavener in what I was making. I’ve used baking powder instead of baking soda. I’ve used regular milk instead of sour milk. I’ve used the wrong stuff enough to know that when you do, you definitely don’t get the results you’re looking for. And once it’s in there, you can’t take it out. It goes through the whole batter and you can’t remove it. Period. The whole batch is ruined and goes into the trash.

That’s what Jesus warns His disciples. If they let the false teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees invade them, they can’t get it out of them. It permeates and fills them. It’s as hard to remove those teachings as it is to remove leaven from bread. It infects the whole of a person. So Jesus warns them. Be careful about who you listen to. Be careful about what you let into the windows of your soul. Be careful about the studies you undertake. Those things have an affect on you that you cannot just forget.

Can God help you recover from false teaching and help you walk the path He wants you to take? Yes. But talk to recovering alcoholics. It takes very little to push them back over the edge. Talk to recovery drug addicts. They don’t want pain killers for fear they will be trapped once again in the vicious circle that pulled them into the death trap they were in before. All those things linger in our physical frame and our minds trapped in this mortal body, these vessels of clay. We can’t get rid of the consequences of letting the garbage in. Just try to convince a terrorist his cause is wrong. You won’t get very far for the same reasons.

We must keep up our guard. Jesus says using this metaphor of leaven. When you understand the chemistry behind this tiny bit of biological or chemical compound and what it can do to a large batch of dough, you understand just how dangerous the wrong kind of leaven can be. If you make a loaf of bread you want the right yeast.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Have some faith without the signs (Matthew 16:2-4) April 12, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Samuel 21-25

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 16:2-4
Jesus: At evening time, you read the sky as a sign—you say, “The weather will be fine because the sky is shading red,” and in the morning, you read the sky as a sign, saying, “The red, stormy sky tells me that today we will have storms.” So you are skilled at interpreting the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times? Only a cheating and evil generation such as this would beg for a miraculous sign from heaven. The only sign you will get will be the sign of Jonah.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

God, I would believe in you if you make me rich. God I would believe in you if you heal my kid. God I would believe in you if you get me that promotion. God I would believe in you if you turned my hair blue.

We make fun of the Pharisees and Sadducees that came to Jesus asking for a sign from heaven, but so many of us do the same thing. They used to call those foxhole conversions back in the days of World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam. We don’t dig very many foxholes any more. But we still try to get a sign from heaven so we can believe that Jesus is who He says He is. Show me the evidence. I just can’t take someone’s word for it. I need to see something miraculous for myself before I can believe.

Did you ever meet someone like that? Are you someone like that? Be careful.

Jesus poked a pretty big stick in their eye with their request. They wanted a sign from heaven. So Jesus pointed to heaven. See that moon up there? What’s going to happen if it’s red? Well, there’s a little poem that everyone near the sea knows, “Red in the morning, sailor’s warning; red at night, sailor’s delight.” We look at the moon and we tell the weather by the color of the moon.

These guys knew that poem. They learned it as kids just as you probably did. But they also knew scripture. They were supposed to be the religious leaders watching expectantly for the coming of the Messiah. They should have their charts all laid out with the things that would show them when He arrived. We’ll give them credit for a few things we know that they didn’t. They didn’t know Mary and Joseph had a baby in Bethlehem, the place where the Messiah would be born. But it wouldn’t take much to find out Jesus was born there.

So let’s go from there. All the kids around His age were killed except Him. His mother and father miraculously whisked Him off to Egypt and saved Him when Herod had all the kids killed. Joseph settled in Nazareth. The home of the coming Messiah. Lineage of David? Yep. In the temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve confounding the rabbis with His knowledge of the scriptures. Does things no one has ever done before like make blind men see, make the deaf hear, make the lame walk, raise the dead back to life. Hmmm? Is it possible that this guy could be who He says He is?

Surely not. He doesn’t look the part. He doesn’t sound pious. He doesn’t spend all His time at the temple, instead He’s out here healing and teaching. What religious leader worth his salt would stay out in the hot sun all day doing that? Surely the Messiah would want to stay in the shade and converse with the rabbis, right?

Well, let’s just make sure we’ve got it straight. Hey, Jesus. We have this argument. We know you fit the bill from scripture, but you we don’t think you look or act like we think a Messiah should look and act. So do us a favor and show us some miraculous sign from heaven just so we can make sure. Then we’ll know and we can get on board with you. Sound okay with you?

They got the same answer we get from our foxhole confessions. Exercise faith first. God doesn’t make deals. Who do we think we are that we can set the rules for our salvation? We deserve every punishment God could dish out for our disobedience. He is God, after all. Jesus said don’t be looking for a sign. Just look around and see that God is already at work. If you can’t see Him around you, how are you going to exercise any faith if you see some sign in the sky? You’ll just try to explain that away with some scientific mumbo-jumbo anyway.

Instead, just be honest with Him. Either believe in Him or don’t. He knows anyway. But there is only one way to heaven and that’s to believe in Him for salvation. If you don’t, well,…the book has those signs listed pretty well, too. In fact, that path is pretty broad and easy to follow. Just join in with the crowd headed that way. You’ll find that path pretty easily. It’s just that you really don’t want to get to the destination at the end of that road. Really, you don’t. Have some faith in Him. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

How much do you have? (Matthew 15:34) April 11, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Exodus 5-8

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 15:34
Jesus: How much bread do you have?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Have you ever wondered about this second set of questions from Jesus’ disciples? We read in chapter thirteen about the feeding of the 5,000 men and all the women and children with them. When Jesus told them to feed the crowd they doubted their ability and asked where they would get food to feed so many. Jesus asked what they had. Remember?

So here we are again. A crowd has gathered around Jesus to hear His teachings, to see His miracles, to bring their problems to Him for resolution. They’ve been on the hillside with Him for three days without food and Jesus says, feed them. They touch My heart, I want to take care of their physical needs, so disciples, go feed these people.

I expect the disciples Matthew writes about are not the twelve hand-picked disciples. Some of those might have been among those who questioned His feeding miracle the first time, but I expect this batch was another group of disciples. Why do I say that? Because there were hundreds at His ascension. Those gathered at His ascension were in danger of losing their lives for being there. Those were His disciples and I’m sure many of them were among this crowd of onlookers and early believers.

I expect these disciples were new to the teachings and miracles of Jesus. But when they came in contact with the incarnate God, they believed and followed Him. Now they became part of His entourage and did everything they could to assist the twelve. Perhaps the twelve were moving among the crowd assisting as Jesus had instructed them when they went to the cities and villages in the area. Perhaps they were in the cities and villages and this crowd was a result of their spreading the word about Jesus’ coming and announcing His ministry on the hillside.

We don’t know who spoke the words to Jesus recorded by Matthew other than His disciples. Someone who longed to be like Him and wished to study under His tutelage. Like many other disciples of many other rabbis of the day, they followed their teacher. They listened to His teaching. They paid attention to His interpretation of the scriptures. They tried their best to mimic His actions and lifestyle. But Jesus was different.

How could they possibly be like Him? How could they do the things He asked them to do? How could they understand the lessons He taught? They were so different from the messages of the other rabbis, the other teachers. The religious leaders of the day hated this Man who did so much good and performed acts that surely belonged in the realm of God. They wanted to be like Him but couldn’t begin to understand how.

So that brings us to Jesus’ words to these new disciples. “How much bread do you have?” Kind of sounds like that discount suit salesman, doesn’t it? How much does this suit cost? Well, that depends on how much you have. Or the loan officer at the car dealership. How much can you afford for a car payment? Well, do I have a deal for you! Only Jesus has a slightly different motive. Well, slightly different isn’t the right description. Jesus is about to feed the multitude again. His motive is just the reverse of the shady deals you might have fallen into in the past.

But there is one thing that’s alike. Jesus wants it all. How much bread do you have? Give it all to me. Don’t save any for yourself. Don’t hoard any of it away. Don’t think you can save a few crumbs and do okay for yourself. Jesus wants it all. Every last morsel. He wants even the smell of the bread to be given to Him if you could. Because He is about to do something miraculous with it.

Jesus asks the same of us. Paul describes it as being living sacrifices for Him. Giving Him every morsel of who we are. Giving up all we possess, all our ambitions and dreams, giving up everything to His governance. The amazing thing is that many times, in fact, in my experience, most of the time, when we really give Him everything, He gives it right back to us multiplied many times over. I don’t know how He does it except that He is God and we are not.

See I don’t want to let God control just My tithe. I live better on 9/10ths of my income than I do 10/10ths. I don’t understand the math, but I’ve found it to be true over the years. But I don’t want God just to control that 10%. Because if He can make 90% work better than 100%, don’t you think He can make 100% work better than 100%. It’s His math, not mine. I’m stuck with only the math that the world teaches. Two plus two equals four. But God makes two plus two so much more than four. He fed a multitude with seven rounds of bread and a few small fish probably about the size of a sardine. Now you figure out the math if you can.

All I know is that when Jesus asks, “How much do you have?” Get ready for the next comment. “Give it to Me, I want to do God-sized things with it.” But remember, it has to be in His hands for it to happen. Our hands can’t do it. Our math doesn’t work. Our skills fall short. But in God’s hands miracles happen. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Is it time to calibrate your heart’s desire? (Matthew 15:32) April 10, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Corinthians 13-14

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 15:32
Jesus (to His disciples): We must take pity on these people for they have touched My heart; they have been with Me for three days, and they don’t have any food. I don’t want to send them home this hungry—they might collapse on the way!

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Here we are on the mountainside once more. Jesus is doing His thing. He makes the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear, the mute speak. Everyone who comes to him for healing is healed. People come from everywhere to receive a touch from the Master. And a lot of them stick around just to be in His presence. Thousands have gathered on that remote hillside above the Sea of Galilee to watch His compassionate hand and hear His teaching.

Jesus turns to His disciples. I love these words. “We must take pity on these people for they have touched My heart…”

I’m about to say something that will probably make a few of you really upset, but that’s okay. Here goes. Do you remember how we were bombarded with Humane Society commercials around Christmas? The videos showed poor little abused puppies and sitting in cages waiting for some gentle soul to take pity on them and take them home. Every dog they chose for their video had the saddest looking face. And in the background you could hear “Amazing Grace” softly playing.

Wait a minute! Animals only have one expression. I watch my dogs. They jump up and lick my face and spin around excitedly when I come home or play with them, but their expression never changes. It’s always the same. They don’t get droopy eyes or sad faces. They just have faces. They know when I scold them for doing something wrong. They know when I praise them for doing something good. But their expressions are always the same. And “Amazing Grace” in the background? These guys are obviously trying to pull at our heartstrings! And they do. That annual campaign provides most of the money to operate their organization every year because it works.

Unfortunately, we don’t get as excited about the people in Cameroon facing genocide. Or the ongoing battles in Uganda. Or the fight that keeps killing thousands in the Sudan. Or the kids still dying of hunger in the Congo and Ethiopia. Or the thousands of young girls being sold into the sex slave market from Central and South America, Asia, and India. We don’t hear much about the plight of the thousands of homeless in our own country. We see them, but we don’t. They stand on our street corners with signs that say something like “Please, help” or “God bless you” or “Anything will help”. We assume it’s their own fault for being there in the first place. Or we hear about the number of panhandlers that make a sizable, tax-free living that way and so we just ignore the problem in our cities.

We see the hurting around our world, but what do we do? I know we can’t feed everyone. I know we can’t take in everyone. I know some of those on the streets will just continue to live that way no matter how much you try to do for them. I know there are evil men and women that will continue to take advantage of our young boys and girls as long as there are other men and women willing to pay for their services. But can’t we have at least as much pity on them as we do for those puppies in the cages we see in videos at Christmas?

Have we become so callous that we no longer see the people around us that are desperately in need of our help and the cleansing that Jesus can bring into their lives? Jesus looked at the crowd scattered across that hillside that came seeking relief from the various maladies in their lives. They had been with Him for three days. They went without food and water just to be near Him. If you have never fasted for three days, try it some time. They were hungry and thirsty. He looked across that sea of people and they touched His heart.

I’m glad God doesn’t act the way we do most of the time. I’m glad He isn’t callous to the needs of the people on the street corner or the invalid whose kids just quit visiting all together. I’m glad He’s not insensitive to the needs of the masses or even to the single individual. No, He reaches out to each person. He wants every single person He created to know His saving grace. He wants all of us to come to Him and enjoy eternity with Him.

Will all of us choose Him? Unfortunately, no. But, like Jesus, we can have His heart if He lives in us. We can begin to see people the way He sees people. We can let them touch our heart and do what we can to share the resurrection power of Jesus in us with those He lets us touch. We can introduce those who have not met Him to the One who can make all the difference in their life. Because Jesus had pity on us and took us into His care, we can do the same for others and demonstrate God’s love, grace, and mercy in a world that needs it desperately.

So which touches your heart more, the video of the puppies at Christmas or the beggar on the corner? Is it time to calibrate your heart’s desire?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Her faith paid off (Matthew 15:24-28) April 9, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Mark 9-10

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 15:24,26,28
Jesus: I was sent here only to gather up the lost sheep of Israel.
The woman came up to Jesus and knelt before Him.
Canaanite Woman: Lord, help me!
Jesus: It is not right to waste the children’s bread by feeding dogs.
Canaanite Woman: But, Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that fall by the table as their master is eating.
Jesus—whose ancestors included Ruth and Rahab—spoke with kindness and insight.
Jesus: Woman, you have great faith. And your request is done.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus’ words at first seem pretty harsh, don’t they? Here’s a women in desperate need for her daughter. The girl is possessed by a demon and she can do nothing to help her. She comes to the Master hoping that He can do something to relieve her of the plight she suffers. And what does Jesus do? He snubs her. “I was sent here only to gather up the lost sheep of Israel.”

And it gets worse!

The woman cries and pleads, falls on her face at His feet and cries out, “Lord, help me!” What was the reply of the only One who could help her? “It is not right to waste the children’s bread by feeding dogs.”

Did Jesus just call her a dog? Did He insult her in the most vile way and cast her aside as so much garbage?

I don’t think so. I think we have to look at the rest of the story as Paul Harvey used to say. Sometimes we get so use to God answering our prayers that we forget who does those miraculous things for us. We forget that it really is God answering and we just walk away after He has done some incredible thing for us without even thanking Him. Sometimes we are really ungrateful, snobbish little brats. And I think Jesus in some ways wanted those around Him to understand we sometimes need to get desperate in our asking.

When you really think about it, none of us deserve to have God answer our requests. What have we really done to deserve His grace, mercy, and kindness? What have we done that merits His expenditure of power on our behalf? Nothing. We were His enemies. Lost. Rebellious. Disobedient. Sinful. Still He pours out His favor on us. Pretty remarkable, isn’t it?

So one thing Jesus wants to show us in this story is to be grateful for what we get from God, because we really don’t deserve anything.

Another point that comes out clearly in this story is that sometimes we need to be persistent in our desperate petitioning. Jesus will give us more examples of being persistent in our prayers and petitions later. I think it’s a hard lesson for us to learn, but one that is so important for us in the United States where we live under a philosophy of instant gratification. I want what I want…and I want it NOW! I even get frustrated with the little hour glass on my computer when it takes more than five seconds for a website to load. Can you imagine? What have we come to? Where is our patience, our persistence? We sometimes need to be like this woman who came back to Jesus and said, but Lord, even the dogs get crumbs from the table.

And that’s the next point. God gives even us dogs His grace and mercy. We don’t deserve it, but He gives it to us. In fact, He pours out His love lavishly on us. He loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die for us. We can not begin to imagine the love the Father has for us. Compared to God, we are so far below the level of a dog or a rat or a worm, how could He be mindful of us, David asks in the Psalms. Yet, God gave us His very best. And Paul tells us, if God gave us His Son, would He withhold anything else from us? We gives us everything. He makes us heirs as He adopts us into His family. Just stop and think about that. We are not worthy to receive the crumbs from His table, yet He adopts us and sits us in chairs at the banquet feast.

But it takes something on our part. It takes faith. The woman in our story had enough faith to come back to Jesus and plead for her daughter. She had enough faith to believe He could do something for her that no one else could do. She had enough faith that she was not going to go away until Jesus did something for her. She knew He might tell her no, but she had to try. She had to exercise her faith in Him. She had to plead for her daughter. And she was willing to break all the social norms to do so. She was a Canaanite. Even worse than a Samaritan. She lived among the worst of the pagans. And she was a woman. How in the world could she dare to approach Jesus with such boldness? But she did because He was her hope.

Do you have the gratitude, the persistence, the faith to approach Jesus? This lady did. And it really paid off.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

How’s your heart? (Matthew 15:13-20) April 8, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Jeremiah 12-16

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 15:13-20
Jesus: Every plant planted by someone other than My heavenly Father will be plucked up by the roots. So let them be. They are blind guides. What happens when one blind person leads another? Both of them fall into a ditch.
Peter: Explain that riddle to us.
Jesus: Do you still not see? Don’t you understand that whatever you take in through your mouth makes its way to your stomach and eventually out of the bowels of your body? But the things that come out of your mouth—your curses, your fears, your denunciations—these come from your heart, and it is the stirrings of your heart that can make you unclean. For your heart harbors evil thoughts—fantasies of murder, adultery, and whoring; fantasies of stealing, lying, and slandering. These make you unclean—not eating with a hand you’ve not ritually purified with a splash of water and a prayer.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Don’t you just want to shake the disciples sometimes? They seem so dense when we look back and listen to the questions they have for Jesus. Explain your riddle. Tell us what your parable means. Why do you make your sermons so hard to understand. And Jesus spends time slowly going over what He’s just told the crowd. He puts things in terms kindergarteners can understand. Still they ask their questions and we sit back and shake our heads at them.

But…should we be so quick to chastise them for their ignorance? We live on this side of the cross. We have heard Jesus’ explanation of all those parables. We know the answers to the questions the disciples raised. We have centuries of writings from the apostles, early disciples, and theologians that tell us the meaning of Jesus’ words. These guys heard these words for the first time with no other background except His words.

So we have all this knowledge about this information Jesus shares with the people who listened to Him talk about those rituals and the difference between what went into a person and what came out of a person. Which one makes you clean? The rituals didn’t do it Jesus says. He made it pretty clear to the folks who listened to Him. We know that on this side of the cross. We know that what you eat or drink doesn’t make you righteous. Neither does the physical act of washing a certain way, sitting in certain places, following certain practices. None of these outward acts makes one righteous.

We know these things from the lessons Jesus gives the crowds on the hillsides of Judea and the interpretations He gives to His disciples as they ask for deeper explanations of His stories. So, if we know all these things, why do we continue to do the very things Jesus preaches against? Why do we keep acting like going to church makes us okay? Why do we act like putting a few dollars in an offering plate buys our ticket into heaven? When every other day except Sunday we look like, talk like, and act like every other person around us?

Why can’t we understand on this side of the cross that Jesus expects us to live the way He lived? Why can’t we see that just walking through religious activities isn’t good enough to make you right with God? Why can’t we read His word and see that He wants more from us?

I’ve mentioned before the survey the Barna Group did several years ago that compared those who call themselves Christian with those who are unchurched. The difference between the two groups in his study – those who call themselves Christian didn’t curse as much. Every other marker was statistically the same – lying, cheating, adultery, pornography, petty theft, embezzlement, you name the vice and those who call themselves Christian are involved in it. We just don’t curse as often. Hmmm!!

Is that how God wants us to live? Is that why He died on the cross, for us to live the same way everyone else does? I don’t think so. Jesus calls us to a higher standard. He calls us to a higher plane of life. He calls us to live a righteous, holy life. And He gave us His holy Spirit to live in us with His resurrection power to help us do just that. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness, John tells us, so that we can choose not to fall prey to the wiles of Satan, our adversary.

We are not strong enough to stand against him, but Jesus in us is. He has resurrection power and has already defeated sin and death. And His resurrection power in us can keep us if we focus on His Spirit in us, God’s indwelling presence that He sent to live in us. That’s the message He had for the disciples. What lives inside us determines whether we are clean or unclean, good or evil, obedient or disobedient. The one who has control of our mind determines which we focus on. Do we give control to God or do we keep it for ourselves?

Jesus said, it’s what’s inside that counts. How’s your heart?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Is your worship ordinary? (Matthew 15:3-11) April 7, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 27-28

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 15:3-11
Jesus: Why do you violate God’s command because of your tradition? God said, “Honor your father and mother. Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.” But you say that one need no longer honor his parents so long as he says to them, “What you might have gained from me, I now give to the glory of God.” Haven’t you let your tradition trump the word of God? You hypocrites! Isaiah must have had you in mind when he prophesied,
People honor Me with their lips,
but their hearts are nowhere near Me.
Because they elevate mere human ritual to the status of law,
their worship of Me is a meaningless sham.
(to the multitude) Hear and understand this: What you put into your mouth cannot make you clean or unclean; it is what comes out of your mouth that can make you unclean.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

How do Jesus’ words sound to you today? You might look at the Pharisees and wag your finger and say, “He really put you in your place, didn’t He?” But be careful. When you point your finger at someone, remember three are pointing back at you. Look at His last words to the Pharisees. “You hypocrites! Isaiah must have had you in mind when he prophesied, People honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are nowhere near Me. Because they elevate mere human ritual to the status of law, their worship of me is a meaningless sham.”

I think about what we do in our services sometimes and wonder if we have reduced our worship routine to just a ritual. We used to talk about the service being three hymns and a sermon with an offering thrown in there somewhere. We’ve gotten rid of the hymns, but most churches have a pretty set routine for that hour and a half people spend inside their walls. You can probably recite your routine for me without much trouble.

And so it goes. We come to church, spend our time in mindless rote without even thinking about the words we sing or the scripture we read. We listen to the pastor pray a few words and give a nice sermon. Then we walk out the doors and do the same thing we did last week. We don’t let God intervene in our lives. We just go on day after day assuming we are okay with the Creator.

Did you listen to Jesus’ words? He called the Pharisees hypocrites for doing just that. God isn’t interested in our routines in worship. He wants our real worship. He wants to touch our spirit with His Spirit. He wants to lead us to a life of righteousness, holiness. We have become callous in our familiarity with God. He tells us we are His children, but we have lost sight of the command Jesus quotes when we don’t honor Him as our heavenly Father. Jesus says to honor our Father.

How is just going through the motions of worship honoring Him? See, He wants a relationship with us. He wants to talk to us. He wants to listen to our prayers. He wants to hear our praise. He wants us to set aside anything we have between each other and anything we have between us and Him so we have open communication. He doesn’t want anything to block the transparency between us so His Spirit in us can work as He wants to work.

Have you ever noticed in the books of the Law, especially as laid out in Leviticus that God gives no remedy for those who intentially disobey Him? He talks about punishments and sacrifices for those who do things accidentally. Those who injury or kill by misfortune, not by plotting to do so. For those who intentionally commit sin, God gives one punishment. Death. Because the wages of sin. Is death, eternal separation from the Creator of Life, God.

So what do we do about it? Do we change the order of our services? Unless you’re the pastor or worship leader, probably not. Do we refuse to go to worship services? That won’t help, we need to worship in community with others. So, what’s the answer? The answer lies in examining Jesus’ worship. He went to the synagogue or temple every Sabbath. He participated in all those rituals He just condemned those Pharisees about performing.

So, what’s the difference? The difference rests in why and how He participated. First, He always stayed connected to His Father. He didn’t wait until He got to the synagogue to pray or meditate on God’s word. He spent time in prayer, fasting, study. He communed with His Father regularly and frequently.

Second, He recognized the significance of each ritual and symbol within the worship service and each time He participated in any of the rituals, I imagine He let them envelop Him. He let them sink into His heart and mind. He didn’t allow Himself to just go through the motions, but instead focused on each action, each word, each symbol and let them become a part of His individual worship of His Father.

Finally, He let those rituals enrich His life throughout the days ahead until He could come back and renew them again the next time He came into the synagogue or temple. He made them a part of His thought process and used those symbols and actions as teaching points, sermon prompts, exits from temptations, means and methods to draw closer to the Father.

How can you use the services you attend help you draw closer to God? How can you use the routine to take you to the extraordinary? Remember, when we worship, it’s never about routine, it’s about God, and He can never be described as ordinary.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Step out of the boat (Matthew 14:29, 31)April 6, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 39-41

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 14:29, 31
Jesus: Indeed, come.
Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water and began walking toward Jesus. But when he remembered how strong the wind was, his courage caught in his throat and he began to sink.
Peter: Master, save me!
Immediately Jesus reached for Peter and caught him.
Jesus: O you of little faith. Why did you doubt and dance back and forth between following Me and heeding fear?

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

This is the rest of one of my favorite stories in the New Testament. Jesus walking on the water. The disciples think He is a ghost or some apparition, then Peter calls out to Him, and the Master confirms it is really Him in the flesh. But then Peter does something few of us would have the courage to do. He’s still not quite sure, so He makes a request of this dim figure in the mist. “If it’s really you, tell me to join you out there.”

There’s something most of us don’t understand about the culture of that day that makes those words really important. And Jesus next words equally important. You see, these men in the boat were becoming disciples. In Jesus day, that carried certain characteristics. Everyone understood wht it meant to be a disciple. Jesus wasn’t the only person with disciples, every rabbi with any smarts had disciples.

A disciple gave up what he had to follow his rabbi. He lived with him, and watched him carefully. He ate what he ate, drank what he drank, slept where he slept, wore what he wore. He studied what the rabbi studies. He became like his rabbi in every way possible. The mark of a good rabbi was the mimicry of his disciples. How much like the rabbi were his disciples?

We sometimes decry Peter for his lack of faith and taking his eyes off Jesus. We preach sermons about his looking at the storm around him and failing to keep his eyes on the prize. We talk bad about Peter’s faith sometimes. But if you really stop and think about it, there were at least twelve disciples in the boat. All of them saw Jesus out there. All of them heard the conversation. The boat wasn’t that big that they could avoid what was going on. All of them heard Peter’s request and Jesus’ reply.

All twelve of the disciples had an opportunity to step out of the boat that night and do something no one else had done. All of them had an invitation to come out and see what it was like to walk on the surface of the sea. But only one really acted like a disciple that night. Only Peter decided he would be like his Master and stepped out of the boat. He longed to be like Jesus so much he dared to put his foot over the side and onto the stormy sea.

Peter was rewarded for his action. He began to walk to Jesus…on the water. The Bible doesn’t tell us how far he walked. We don’t know if it was two feet, ten feet, or a hundred feet, but we know it was far enough that everyone in that boat knew Peter walked on top of the Sea of Galilee. They also watched him long enough to see him take his eyes off of Jesus and look at the storm around him. When he did, he began to sink.

Two things happened then, Peter cried out, “Master, save me.” And immediately Jesus reached out His hand and rescued him. Peter knew who could help him and cried out to Him. He knew he was in over his head and needed help fast. There was only One who could rescue him and Peter sought that One, Jesus. And Jesus did.

We can learn a lot from this story. Jesus talks to them when He gets into the boat about their faith, and so we must exercise our faith in Him. But we do that by remembering this story. If we are to be a true disciple of Jesus, we must do what He did. We need to be willing to step out of our comfort zone into the unknown inexplicable areas of life sometimes when He tells us to come. Recognize that when we do, if we keep our eyes on Him we do not need to sink under the waves. We can do miraculous things through His power in us. We just need to remember Who to focus on, not the circumstances around us.

We don’t need to worry about the storms around us. Jesus is here. If we belong to Him, we have nothing to fear. He tells us that over and over, but we just don’t seem to get it sometimes. We fret over unimportant things and wonder why our faith falters. He says lift up your eyes and look at Him. It will be okay. He will rescue you from the storm.

When the storms do seem to swallow you up, remember you have One who can rescue you from what seems like an ocean of problems, distress, frustration, or fear. When we call on Him, He is ready to reach out His hand and pull us free from the things that keep us from our peace. His legacy is peace. He may not take us out of the storm, but He gives us the assurance of His presence and His peace.

I pray that I will be like Peter and step out of the boat when Jesus calls. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.