Tag Archives: Matthew

Will you gather or scatter the flock? (Matthew 12/29-30) March 16, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 30-32

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 12:29-30
Jesus: Imagine you wanted to break into the house of your neighbor, a strong brawny man, and steal his furniture. First, you’d have to tie up your neighbor, yes? Once he was bound and tied, you could take whatever you wanted. Similarly—he who is not with Me is against Me, and he who is not doing the Father’s work of gathering up the flock may as well be scattering the flock.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

There are a couple of things in Jesus’ words that struck me as I read them again this morning. That word similarly in the middle as He transitions from the metaphor to His explanation of the metaphor. Did you get that similarity? He says if we’re not with Him, we’re like thieves! We’re like a neighbor who cares so little for our community that we would rob the guy that lives next door to us. That’s pretty low, don’t you think? But that’s the description Jesus uses to describe those who are against Him.

How would you like that description applied to you? One who goes into his neighbor’s house, ties up the owner and takes whatever he wants. I don’t think I want to live next to that guy or even in his neighborhood. That’s the kind of place where you put bars on your doors and windows, get high grade security alarms, and put cameras around the house. Maybe even paid guards to circle the property. Or maybe just put that guy in jail and be done with it.

The description of the neighbor in the metaphor before the transition is pretty bad. But let’s look at what comes after the transition. “Similarly,” Jesus says, “he who is not with Me is against Me…” It sounds like we have only two choices once again. We are either on Jesus’ team or not. That’s it. No other options. We are with Him or against Him. That’s it. It’s just that simple. We want to think we can somehow ride the fence and play both sides against the middle, but Jesus says it just doesn’t work that way. We are either with Him or against Him. Those are our two choices.

We probably remember those words, but we often skip the next thing He says. “He who is not doing the Father’s work of gather up the flock may as well be scattering the flock.” Now those are words we just want to ignore. We’d like to pretend they never came out of Jesus’ mouth. Why? Because they indict us when we hear them. Am I gathering the flock? If not, Jesus says I might as well be scattering it. It’s as bad as the thief He talked about earlier.

As I thought about Jesus’ words, they took me back to His earlier expressions about knowing God. I wrote several days ago about what it means to know God. To know someone intimately in the terms often used in His word, it leads to procreation. Now His comments hit us again. Are we bringing people into the fold of God care? Are we creating disciples with Him? Are we letting Him use us as His messengers to share the good news of salvation and hope to world that needs God so desparately?

Jesus says if we’re not, we might as well be scattering His flock. So it’s not just a matter of listening to His great commandment to go and make disciples, but if we fail to do so, we are tearing His church apart, scattering His church’s members. You might not think that way at first. You might think it’s okay to sit on the sidelines and let someone else do the work, but Jesus doesn’t leave us that option. If I’m not (insert your name there) gathering people into His church, making disciples, obeying His command, I’m scattering them.

How does that work, you ask? Jesus gives all of us the same command. If you carry His name, it means you will obey His commands. If He is Lord, you say yes to what He asks. That means I will make disciples. End of conversation. If I fail to go out and make disciples, then I disobey Him. If I continue to tell others I’m a Christian, a follower of Jesus, but fail to gather people into His fold, it means it’s okay to disobey Him. But we know it’s not. God demands our obedience. His tasks are not beyond our capability. He never gives us more than we can do. But He expects us to carry out His directions.

When others see us failing in God’s plan to enlarge His kingdom through the missions He gives us individually, to make disciples out in the world, it tarnishes God’s name. It says God can’t do what He says He can do. It tells others He has limited power and authority. As Christians we know that is not true, but Satan blinds us and convinces us it’s okay not to obey, let someone else gather people into the fold. Let someone else do the discipling.

That’s not our marching order from our Savior. So will you be doing the Father’s work of gathering the flock, or will you scatter the flock by your inactivity? Again, you get to make the choice. Choose the right path! 

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.

Quit talking, start doing (Matthew 12:25-28) March 15, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Samuel 1-5

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 12:25-28
Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking.
Jesus: That would be like a father splitting his own household down the middle or a king cutting his kingdom in half—the household and the kingdom would fall apart. So, too, if Satan imbued people with the power to drive out demons, Satan’s kingdom would collapse. And you should think about this too: you have friends who drive out demons. If I am working as a tool of Beelzebul, whom are your people working for? When I come to you and drive out demons by the Spirit of your Father in heaven—for the glory of your Father in heaven—you should recognize and rejoice that the kingdom of God has come to you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Have you ever been guilty of the Pharisees’ crime, trying to give credit to the wrong spiritual side? They tried to give credit to Satan for the work Jesus did. Particularly His work in driving out demons from the possessed. They just couldn’t come to grips with Jesus being the Son of God as many claimed. He kept fulfilling the prophecies they kept reading to the people. But surely, this carpenter’s son from Nazareth could not be the Messiah they looked for. Surely, the Messiah would come from the priestly line and would be born in their capital among the priests. After all, they were the leaders of Israel. Everyone expected their Messiah to come from the proud lineage of Levi.

So the Pharisees disregarded what they saw in front of them and declared Jesus’ miracles must be a product of Satan’s work. But they didn’t use their head and think it through. Just like we too often make rash statements without thinking them through. Jesus’ retort put them in their place, still they plotted to kill Him because He disrupted their system of religious rules. He made them introduce love and mercy and hope into their religious equation, characteristics they were not ready to adopt as the harbingers of justice, not mercy.

So what about you? I’m pretty sure you haven’t told anyone lately that their exorcism is done by means of Satan’s power. We don’t hear much about demon possession in our enlightened society today. But what about other things. Do you call other Christian faiths into question? Do you denounce your brothers and sisters in Christ because they worship in a different way than you? Do you hold Christians in other countries in a lesser light than those in your church or your denomination?

What do you action show that equate to same thing the Pharisees did with Jesus?

You might not even invoke Satan’s name when you degrade someone’s actions, but you denounce them as Christian because they don’t fit your mold, nonetheless. Isn’t that about the same thing? There are only two camps we can belong to after all. We can work for Christ or we can work for self and Satan. That’s it. Those are the only two choices. No others exist, so if we think people do something outside the will of God, then aren’t we saying they do them as part of Satan’s camp?

Jesus will determine if someone is doing things in His name out of selfish motive or for God’s glory, but that is not for us to decide. We cannot look at a person’s heart. So if someone is doing good things in Christ name, like Jesus told His disciples, let God have the glory. God will sort out the selfish from the unselfish, those who want rewards here versus those who only want glory for God. It should be a pretty simple solution for us. Just give God glory when we see someone working miracles in Christ’s name. Period.

I think in these days if we think about Jesus’ words, He would tell us to respect everyone who worships Him. He would tell us to be careful in condemning anyone who did things in His name. It’s His job to judge the good people do. Certainly, we know when bad behavior is taking place and His word tells us to police the members of His church to keep His name and reputation clean, but when His people perform good works in His name, we should be praising Him, not condemning them.

It is amazing how often we see that getting mixed up in our world. We talk about this church or that denomination. We hold this preacher in contempt or gossip about that worship leader. We thing poorly of this televangelist or assume everything that one does is fake. Can we just stop and give God the glory for what we see and let Him sort out the rest? Can we thank Him that someone is bold enough to proclaim His name and do something for Him that others can see?

Maybe we do something really remarkable this week and peek inside ourselves and ask ourselves why we are not boldly proclaiming His name to others. Maybe we can ask ourselves why we need to talk about those who do things whose validity we question and instead ask why we are not doing those things in Jesus’ name. Maybe we can begin to realize Jesus told us we would do more than He did when He went back to His Father. Then, just maybe we can start doing it instead of talking about others. 

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.

Which side will you take? (Matthew 12:11-13) March 14, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Genesis 40-43

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 12:11-13
Jesus: Look, imagine that one of you has a sheep that falls into a ditch on the Sabbath—what would you do?
(to the Pharisees) You would dive in and rescue your sheep. Now what is more valuable, a person or a sheep? So what do you think—should I heal this man on the Sabbath? Isn’t it lawful to do good deeds on the Sabbath? (to the man with the shriveled hand) Stretch out your hand.
As the man did so, his hand was completely healed, as good as new.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Do we get mixed up in what is really right and wrong? The Pharisees did. Jesus used this opportunity with their condemnation of His disciples for their gathering a handful of wheat to teach them a lesson about God’s goodness. What is really important? Doing good or setting and keeping stupid rules? Granted, the rules help to keep us in line most of the time, but sometimes, the rules just don’t make sense. That’s what He was trying to tell these holier-than-thou leaders. People are more important than rules. Relationships are more important than rituals.

Jesus caught these busy bodies at their own game. If one of your sheep falls in a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you rescue it? Of course you would. It’s important to you. It provides wool. It will provide meat on your table. Sometimes it becomes almost a pet. You would rescue that poor fallen sheep from the ditch despite the fact that it violates the letter of the law of the Sabbath. You wouldn’t let it lay there and die!

But these religious leaders were so lost in their rules they didn’t see that they forgot the people they were supposed to minister to. They forgot their mission was to share God’s word and His love to the lost in Israel and in the surrounding nations. They just played ‘gotcha’ with their rules whenever they saw someone putting a toe across the line.

It’s interesting that in this Sabbath day miracle, the Pharisees plot to kill Jesus because of His terrible violation of their law, but read carefully and you’ll find that Jesus did nothing to break the Sabbath. He didn’t lift a load. He didn’t walk farther than the law allowed. He went to the synagogue to worship on the Sabbath as He was accustomed. And there Jesus met a man with a shriveled hand.

What does Jesus do? He speaks to the man these words. “Stretch out your hand.” That’s it. Jesus didn’t touch him. He didn’t have any of his disciple touch him. Jesus didn’t bring in any salve or balm or medical instruments. All He did was give the man one simple direction. “Stretch out your hand.” Nothing more. Does that sound like He broke the Sabbath rules? It doesn’t to me. What did Jesus do that was so grievous? The man with the shriveled hand did all the work. He’s the one that stretched out his hand. Jesus just said four words to the man.

The Pharisees from this point on plotted to kill Jesus because of his healing on the Sabbath. Wow! They said He broke their rules. But did He? I’m not so sure. And even so, Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. He can do what He wants on that day. He’s the one that put in place. He’s the one that declared it a day of rest, but also the one who told the priests to minister to the rest of the tribes of Israel on that day. They could work without punishment, why not Him?

So what does all this mean for us? A great deal of things are wrong with our society today. We could go down a long list of pet pieves Christians have against different segments that our government ignores or even promotes that we know from God’s word are just not right. We see the degradation and disintegration of families, abortion, unemployment often encouraged by the way our welfare system operates, misuse of basic rights such as separation of church and state resulting in the discrimination of Christians in a world sliding further and further into the clutches of evil.

And we see some who call themselves Christian standing up against these injustices. But the way they do so, is equally wrong. When anti-abortion groups bomb abortion clinics or the homes of workers in those clinics, they are just as guilty of wrong doing as the abortionists? They are just like the Pharisees Jesus condemned that day. Just like those Pharisees, they forgot that people are more important than the rules. That doesn’t make abortion right and we should still stand against it, but not by protesting with equally sinful, illegal, wrongs against others.

Should we protest the disintegration of families? Absolutely! But not in ways that tarnish the name of our Savior. Two wrongs do not make a right. Jesus conquered with love. Jesus didn’t break the law to bring real justice to those who suffered. He didn’t strike out against the leaders in ways that negated the law. Remember, Jesus came to fulfill the law and to teach others what the law means in relation to our interface with God and with others.

Jesus came to leave a legacy of real peace between us, our fellow man, and God. That doesn’t happen by breaking laws. It happens through extending God’s love to everyone we meet. It happens by remembering that every person is someone God created and deserves our respect and attention. It happens when we make people more important than the law and God more important than anything else in our lives.

Which side will you take? The Pharisees’ or Jesus’?

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.

Extend a little mercy (Matthew 12:7-8) March 13, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Corinthians 5-6

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 12:7-8
Do you not understand what the prophet Hosea recorded, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”? If you understood that snippet of Scripture, you would not condemn these innocent men for ostensibly breaking the law of the Sabbath. For the Son of Man has not only the authority to heal and cast out demons, He also has authority over the Sabbath.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus points back to a peculiar prophet. God told Hosea to demonstrate His words through actions that all of Israel would understand. God told Hosea to marry a prostitute who then ran away from him and went back to her long list of lovers. But Hosea went after her and brought her home. Hosea graphically showed us God’s incredible love for us and His attempts to bring us back into His fold through Hosea’s actions with his wayward wife.

One of the outcomes of Hosea’s demonstration was the realization that God shows mercy to His children. He is more interested in mercy than the rituals we go through year after year and day after day to try to please Him. It’s not those rituals that He wants. He wants our love, He wants us to show others grace and mercy just as He shows us grace and mercy. He wants a relationship with us.

One of the things necessary to build a relationship with God is obedience. And one of the things He demands of us is mercy to others. Because He shows us mercy, we should show mercy to others, something the Pharisees seemed to have in short supply. They were ready to condemn Jesus’ disciples for being hungry and eating a few grains of wheat on the Sabbath. Their rules said you couldn’t harvest on the Sabbath and the disciples act of running their hand across a ripe stalk of wheat growing in the field and eating those few grain, they considered harvesting.

Now, you and I would probably think about harvesting as cutting down the whole field then thrashing the wheat to separate the grain from the chaff. We would think about that kind of work as a harvest activity, not the simple act of running your hand across one or two stalk to get a few grains to satisfy your immediate needs. But the Pharisees carried their rules and regulations to extreme. They put limits on even the simplest of activities. The distance you could walk on the Sabbath. The maximum weight of any object you could lift. The types of activities in which you could participate. The preparation of meals allowed and disallowed. The type of food you could eat. The clothes you could wear. They tried to control every aspect of life.

It was bad in Hosea’s day and got continually worse. God reminded His people through His prophet that He wanted them to give each other mercy. Don’t be so hard fast with rules that you forget people are involved. Don’t forget the mercy He showed you when you broke His rules and failed to obey the commands He gave you. Remember, all of us have sinned. All of us fail in our attempts to reach God in His glory. Yet He extends His mercy to us. We should extend mercy to those around us in the same way.

God instituted the ritual sacrifices to point out the necessity of coming to Him to ask forgiveness for our sins. He pointed out through those rituals that He is God and we are not. He deserves our worship and He extends His mercy to us. He reminds us the consequence of sin is death and the price demanded takes the life of the animal sacrificed in the rituals that remind us of that consequence. God gave His people those rituals as reminders of the awful justice that sin demands, but He extends His mercy to us when we follow Him. As His children, He forgives and substituted first animals and then Himself as the price for our sins.

Can we do anything short of showing the same mercy to those around us who fail to meet the standards that we hold? Does that mean we condone bad behavior? Absolutely not! No more than God condones bad behavior. But we can learn to forgive. We can show mercy and demonstrate God’s love to others. We can show others how to extend grace and in so doing, bring them into the knowledge of God. We can introduce them to the One who brings hope and joy and life to a world of hopelessness and death.

The people around Jesus that day didn’t listen to Hosea and many of them didn’t listen to Jesus. Unfortunately, it’s the same today. But the few that will listen and understand, find His peace, the legacy He left behind. They find His joy, His love, His life coursing through their veins. All it takes is trusting in Him and following His commands.

Extend a little mercy today. You’ll be surprised at the difference it will make in you.

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.

What are your hangups? (Matthew 12:3-6) March 12, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Mark 1-2

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 12:3-6
Jesus: Haven’t you read what David did? When he and his friends were hungry, they went into God’s house and they ate the holy bread, even though neither David nor his friends, but only priests, were allowed that bread. Indeed, have you not read that on the Sabbath priests themselves do work in the temple, breaking the Sabbath law yet remaining blameless? Listen, One who is greater than the temple is here.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

What is your religious hangup? Maybe you have several. I remember growing up we had a lot of “don’ts to contend with.” They weren’t bad rules. They kept us out of trouble. They helped discipline us. But some of them really didn’t make a lot of sense and were carryovers from a generations past and didn’t really apply anymore.

As I’ve grown older, I realize the importance of some of those taboos and the frivolity of others. I’ve also come to see these words of Jesus as they apply not just to the disciples picking grain on the Sabbath, but to a lot of our rituals and rules that sometimes help us remember different aspects of our faith, but are in truth just rituals to jump start our memories. They mean little in themselves apart from the memory and meaning they bring to us in regard to our relationship with God. The Sabbath is really just another day on the calendar unless you spend it in a vibrant, meaningful relationship with God.

Baptism is a wonderful ritual, but if you go under an unrepentant sinner, you come up a wet unrepentant sinner. It’s only a ritual to help us recall an important event in our lives, that of giving ourselves fully to God. Dying to self and living in Christ. There is no other purpose for baptism. It’s a great thing. It’s an important thing. It’s something we follow Christ in doing. But if we’re not careful, it can be just another ritual. And you know what, God doesn’t really care about rituals. He cares about relationships.

Maybe your hangup is clothes. We used to talk about going to church in our Sunday best. I don’t see that much anymore. We have made Sunday dress pretty casual. I kind of like Sunday best. I like to think God likes me to dress up for Him at least as much as I’d dress up to go to an important job interview or a meeting with an important dignitary. But I don’t get hung up on clothes. Jesus met with people in rags and He met with people in regal attire. It made no difference to Him because He looks at the inside, not the outside. I do believe we should dress with modesty in mind as scripture tells us. But then again, whose definition of modesty are we using?

Maybe your hangup is jewelry. I have to tell you, I’m not much on body piercing of any kind. Maybe it’s partly because I really don’t like pain and all that stuff in ears and eyes and noses and tongues and elsewhere looks terribly painful. Can I tell anyone else it’s wrong? Nope. It’s my hangup, not necessarily yours. Don’t expect to see me with earrings anytime soon, but I won’t ask you to take out your nose ring either. It’s one of those things that really doesn’t matter in the greater scheme of things.

Maybe your hangup is music. What happened to the great hymns of the church? Why do we only hear choruses with the same five words sung twenty times? I like the old hymns. But then if I think back fifty years, the songs we introduced were heresy to the older crowd then, so maybe I just need to get over my likes and dislikes of music styles and be happy that people are singing the praises of Jesus no matter what beat or how few or how many words are used. It’s about worship and relationship, not about the music, anyway, right?

So what’s your hangup? What is it that you just can’t get over someone else doing that you think must be wrong? Take a look at it again from Jesus’ perspective. Is it one of those that He would same the same thing He did to the Pharisees about their comments to Him about the Sabbath? It’s not that observing the Sabbath is wrong. It’s not that your particular hangup is wrong. (sorry, I probably shouldn’t call it that). But sometimes the things that we think are just so important, are not. God wants more out of us. He wants a relationship with us and that doesn’t come through those rituals and rules and habits we think are so important. Relationship comes through listening and talking and doing things together. And since He’s God and we are not, doing the things He wants us to do. It means reciprical love. You know God loves you, He wants you to love Him back.

Can it be that simple? Can our spiritual life be summed up as simply as that? Yes! His word says it is so simple that even a fool doesn’t need to miss it. So unless you want to call yourself dumber than a fool, it’s not that hard to figure out. Let Him be Lord!

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.

What do yokes have to do with us? (Matthew 11/25-30) March 11, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Isaiah 56-61

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus: I praise You, Father—Lord of heaven and earth. You have revealed Your truths to the lowly and the ignorant, the children and the crippled, the lame and the mute. You have hidden wisdom from those who pride themselves on being so wise and learned. You did this, simply, because it pleased You. The Father has handed over everything to My care. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son—and those to whom the Son wishes to reveal the Father. Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Put My yoke upon your shoulders—it might appear heavy at first, but it is perfectly fitted to your curves. Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. When you are yoked to Me, your weary souls will find rest. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I’m not sure most of us are in the same ballpark as the people Jesus gave these words to twenty centuries ago. We complain about our forty-hour work weeks, and sometimes pushed into four ten hour days or three twelve hour days. We complain if we have to work on a Saturday. We complain if we have to work overtime. We complain if we don’t get our vacation time or sick leave. We complain about how hard our life is today.

Think about the people Jesus gave these words to. They lived in an agrarian society. It took four hours to bake the bread they would eat at their evening meal. The women of the house would cook and clean all day, from before sunrise until well after sunset. The men would plant and plow and weed and harvest. They would tend to their crops and the animals that helped them eek out a meager living from day to day. When Jesus gave them a model prayer and told them to ask for their daily bread, some of them didn’t know where their daily bread would come from. Even so, Jesus invites when we are weary and burdened to come to Him for rest.

He uses a metaphor most of us know little about today. He says, “Put My yoke on your shoulders…it is perfectly fitted to your curves.” We don’t know about yokes today because we don’t plow fields with animals as they did when He walked the earth in the flesh with us. The yoke fit around the ox, horse, or other work animal’s neck and shoulders and the reins fed through the yoke to control the animal as it plowed the field or pulled a wagon or did whatever work was required of it.

The yoke was fit to each animal individually. It needed to fit exactly right so that it didn’t rub in one place or another or place more weight in one area over another, but spread the weight over the entire yoke. When the yoke fit just right, the animal could pull tremendous amounts of weight without hurting itself. If the yoke didn’t fit, it would bruise one or two spots and like you, the animal avoids doing anything that hurts that spot already injured. It no longer works effectively or efficiently.

So what would He tell us today? Maybe instead of yokes He would look around at the news reports and see soldiers in their battle array. The equipment and kevlar protective gear they carry weighs about seventy pounds when they go out on patrol, but when it’s fitted correctly, it doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t feel like seventy pounds. If you grab your bag and pick it all up, you know how heavy it is, but once it’s all in place and distributed over your body, you can almost rest as you walk along doing your work as a soldier.

Until we come to Him, we’re like a private in basic training, unfamiliar with that equipment. He puts it on, but doesn’t know how to make it fit right. It jostles and rubs and pushes in the wrong places as he moves through training and everyday he goes back to the barracks with more bruises and sores than the day before. Until finally, he gets smart and asks his drill sergeant for help. That’s all the drill has been waiting for. Helping the new recruit understand that he’s not alone and can’t make it by himself. He needs someone else to show him the way.

That’s what Jesus does for us. He’s like that drill sergeant just waiting for us to realize how desparately we need Him, come to Him and ask for His help. He willingly gives it. But He doesn’t force Himself on us. He wants us to desire Him, not be robots that just jump because we’re programmed that way. He desires us to love Him the way He loves us. So He tells us to come along side Him in His work, share His yoke. He will take the heavy load and give us the lighter burden. Just as with a team of oxen, the lead ox takes the heavy load. That’s just what Jesus invites us to do as He invites us to come to 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.

Will you fare better than Sodom? (Matthew 11:21-24) March 10, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 19-20

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 11:21-24
Jesus: Woe to you, Chorazin! And woe to you, Bethsaida! Had I gone to Tyre and Sidon and performed miracles there, they would have repented immediately, taking on sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you this: the people from Tyre and Sidon will fare better on the day of judgment than you will. And Capernaum! Do you think you will reign exalted in heaven? No, you’ll rot in hell. Had I gone to Sodom and worked miracles there, the people would have repented, and Sodom would still be standing, thriving, bustling. Well, you know what happened to Sodom. But know this—the people from Sodom will fare better on the day of judgment than you will.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus’ condemnation of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum should scare us to death today, but too many of us just don’t get it. He compares the plight of these three cities to Sodom and the utter destruction of that city in the days of Abraham. You probably remember the story.

God’s judgment came to Sodom because of its great wickedness. Abraham convinced God to spare the city if just ten righteous people could be found in the city. God agreed and His angels took inventory. But not even ten righteous people were found in that great city of the plains. God’s angels gathered Lot, his wife, and daughters together and led them out of the city with the warning not to look back. Lot’s wife, lured by the pleasures of the city, took one last look and turned to a pillar of salt. Nothing remained of the city after fire and brimstone fell from the sky to completely destroy the city and its wickedness.

Jesus says the people of Sodom will fare better than those of these three cities. Why do you suppose that is true? I think scripture tells us when it says “to whom much is given much is demanded.” You see, Sodom and Gomorah suffered God’s judgment for their wickedness before the law came to Moses. Those cities felt God’s wrath because of the moral law He places in each of our hearts. We know what is right and wrong. Whether we grow up in a Christian background, a Muslim faith, a Hindu, or some pagan tribe in dark Africa, we know some semblance of right and wrong. Every community understands that murder is wrong. It must be or the community disintigrates.

So Sodom and Gomorah found themselves judged by that primitive moral law God stamped on their hearts. But Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum had the law of Moses. They were part of the twelve tribes of Israel. They descended from Abraham who God gave the responsibility to bless all other nations. Part of that blessing included sharing the laws God gave Moses on Mount Sinai. The law pointed them to right living, yet they continually failed to live according to the law God gave Moses.

The law pointed toward the coming of the Messiah and all the prophecies showed Jesus to be that Messiah. His actions, His words, His character, His background all said He was the Son of God. Yet those who should have known best refused to believe in Him. They had all the information in front of them, yet refused to look at it with eyes of faith and stayed blind to the truth.

So what does that have to do with us today? Look around you? How many Bibles do you have in your home? How easy is it for you to access God’s word with the number of sites that carry it online? What translation do you want? There are dozens for you to pick from. What language do you want? You can find it in at least 180 languages now. What excuse do you have for not reading and hearing and studying God’s word? The answer is none.

All of us have access to His word today. All of us are in the same boat as Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum. We have no excuse. We can read the scriptures and know the truth. If we choose not to listen to His word, that is our fault, not God’s. If we choose not to take advantage of the resources available to us, that is our fault, not God’s. If we choose not to learn about Him, that is our fault, not God’s. At judgment, we will be as guilty as these three cities Jesus points out in the words we consider today. If we fail to take advantage of His words, listen to Him and follow Him, it’s our fault, not His.

God has done everything He can to make salvation available to us. But He won’t make the choice for us. The one area in which He has removed His power is in respect to our moral choice. We can choose to do right or wrong. We can choose to make Him Lord of our life or not. We can choose to live eternally by following His decrees or we can choose death by living our own way. It’s always our choice. He wants us to fare better than Sodom.

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.

What should we look like? (Matthew 11:16-19) March 9, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 27-29

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 11:16-19
Jesus: What is this generation like? You are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out, “When we played the flute, you did not dance; and when we sang a dirge, you did not mourn.” What I mean is this: When John came, he dressed in the clothes of a prophet, and he did not eat and drink like others but lived on honey and wild locusts. And people wondered if he was crazy, if he had been possessed by a demon. Then the Son of Man appeared—He didn’t fast, as John had, but ate with sinners and drank wine. And the people said, “This man is a glutton! He’s a drunk! And He hangs around with tax collectors and sinners, to boot.” Well, Wisdom will be vindicated by her actions—not by your opinions.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

What do you look for in a Christian, a real follower of Christ? Many today look for an always somber, downcast demeanor, someone who looks like they have a perpetual case of indigestion or who lost their kitten and can’t find it. Some think Christians must always be frowning and wearing this mask of sorrow and grief because of the ills and evils present in the world today. Perhaps that’s the picture Jesus painted of John in the wilderness. His was not an easy life wearing camel skins and eating locust and the honey he could find in the trees and bushes in the wild.

But Jesus came and He wasn’t like John. He didn’t stay in the wilderness eating locust and wearing the skins of animals He killed in the brush to survive. He didn’t walk around with a sour disposition preaching doom and gloom. He didn’t keep His head bowed and His eyes on the ground groveling in false humility. Jesus loved people and embraced life everywhere He went. If He didn’t, I don’t think He would have gathered crowds of thousands around Him when He spoke. Think about the charasmatic speakers you see today. There are few that can surround themselves with thousands of listeners. And today they have the advantages of multimedia advertising to help draw their crowds. Jesus had word of mouth to let people know He was coming, yet scripture records events in which He spoke to multitudes…often.

So what should Christians look like and act like? Jesus had fun. He ate with prostitutes, tax collectors, who everyone considered thieves, sinners. He conversed with outsiders, the most poverty stricken who sometimes did unscrupulous things to survive. He ate with the wealthy who sometimes did unscrupulous things to gain and maintain their wealth. How could He associate with such people if He were the Son of God? In those settings, too, He had a crowd around Him. He laughed, He smiled, He told stories, He listened to other people’s stories. He enjoyed life.

The religious leaders of the day, thought Jesus should fit their mold. They thought He should look and act a certain way. They thought He should fit into their picture of what a righteous person looks like. The problem with their thought process, though, they didn’t know what righteousness was. They assumed they were righteous because they kept the rules. But we cannot be righteous just by keeping rules. Remember what Paul says? “We have all sinned. All our attempts to reach out to God have failed.” We cannot become righteous through our actions. It’s not possible.

But God made it possible for us to wear His righteousness. We can wear His likeness and when we do, we won’t look like the crowd. We won’t act like the crowd. We won’t worry about what others say about our actions, either. We will do what Christ would do because He will be directing our actions. We will act like He acts and look like He looks because we will be more interested in pleasing Him than pleasing others. We will want to go where He would go and say what He would say. We will be His emissaries and represent Him in all we do.

So what should Christians look like and act like? Sometimes we will look and act like John the Baptist. Sometimes it’s necessary to be the prophet with the message of repentance. When Christ asks us to take on that role, it isn’t always pleasant and our countenance will probably reflect the difficulty of confronting others with the truth of the gospel. We will sorrow for those who refuse to listen and continue on their selfish path to ultimate destruction and eternal punishment.

But most often, we will be like Jesus was as He drew crowds around Him. Welcoming the children. Singing. Laughing. Telling stories of God’s grace and goodness. Helping others understand the good news of God’s salvation and His empowerment in our life, now, in this place, in the middle of all the evil that surrounds us. Our lives as Christians today are certainly no more difficult than that of the early followers of Jesus. In fact, we probably have life too easy. Maybe a little persecution would help us understand just how much we need to rely on Him instead of ourselves.

The leaders in His day couldn’t understand how Jesus fit it to their religious formula. Because He didn’t. He didn’t come to uphold or create a religion but to create relationships. That’s what God wants from us. So He was just Jesus, the Son of Man, the Son of God. What should we look and act like as His followers? Him, that’s all. 

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.

Who do you want to hear? (Matthew 11:7-15) March 8, 2017

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ruth

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 11:7-15
John’s disciples left, and Jesus began to speak to a crowd about John.
Jesus: What did you go into the desert to see? Did you expect to see a reed blowing around in the wind? No? Were you expecting to see a man dressed in the finest silks? No, of course not—you find silk in the sitting rooms of palaces and mansions, not in the middle of the wilderness. So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes. Yes, a prophet and more than a prophet. When you saw John, you saw the one whom the prophet Malachi envisioned when he said,
I will send My messenger ahead of You,
and he will prepare the way for You.
This is the truth: no one who has ever been born to a woman is greater than John the Baptist. And yet the most insignificant person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. All of the prophets of old, all of the law—that was all prophecy leading up to the coming of John. Now, that sort of prepares us for this very point, right here and now. When John the Baptist came, the kingdom of heaven began to break in upon us, and those in power are trying to clamp down on it—why do you think John is in jail? If only you could see it—John is the Elijah, the prophet we were promised would come and prepare the way. He who has ears for the truth, let him hear.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Who do you look for to learn about spiritual things? Jesus pointed to John the Baptist and asked the crowd following Him what they thought of John. What were they looking for? Someone soft that would bend in the political wind of the time? That wasn’t John. He was in prison for speaking out against Herod’s marriage. John saw Herod, who proclaimed to have a Jewish heritage, do something well outside the bounds of the moral code of the Jewish faith. The priests wouldn’t say anything about it for fear of reprisal from the king, but John had no such fear. When he saw wrongs that needed righting, he jumped in with both feet and let them be known whether the perpetrator lived in a hovel or sat on the king’s throne.

That’s the kind of person I want as a spiritual teacher and leader. Someone unafraid of the politically correct. Someone who stands for what is right regardless the consequences of that stand. John was such a person. I’m afraid many that we see in our pulpits today, may bend with the political climates instead of standing firm on God’s word.

Jesus next asked, “What about his comfort level?” Did you think John would live in a big house, drive a big car, wear $1500 suits as he talked to people about repentance? Not John. He just needed a place to lay his head and clothes to wear. Just any clothes. He wasn’t about creature comfort. He was about getting the message out. He was about telling as many people as he could as fast as he could that the Messiah was breaking in on the scene. It was time to change their ways because God touched His feet onto the earth and His kingdom had arrived.

That’s the kind of person I want as a spiritual teacher and leader. Someone more interested in sharing Christ and getting His message out than climbing the church ladder or making a name for himself. More interested in seeing lives changed by the power of God’s word than his eloquence from a fashionable pulpit in a high-styled church. See, God doesn’t care about any of those external trappings. None of those things go with us when we die. He sees past all that to our heart. So I want someone to teach me that will challenge my heart. Someone that digs into the deepest parts of my soul and makes me look inside myself because he shines God’s light on me.

Who do you want to hear? Who do you want to teach you the ways of God? Jesus pointed to John and shared with the crowd he was more than just a prophet. He was the prophet foretold by Malachi who would herald the coming Messiah. That’s the kind of teacher and spiritual leader I want. Someone who will declare the truth in a world that doesn’t want to hear it. Someone who understands the events of time as they relate to the scriptures God gives us. Someone who is not afraid to declare God’s word with boldness and authority. Someone who will serve as a prophet in a time we sorely need prophets.

Are there any around today? I think so. I think there are some really godly men and women who listen to God and break open His word with boldness and power and grace and compassion. But always with the truth of His word. I think there are men and women who preach and teach without frills and fancy footwork to make their congregations feel good, but to convict and convince them of their need for a Savior. That’s the kind of teacher I want to sit under. I want to be reminded I’m a sinner whose only hope is through believing in Jesus, the Son of God, who died on the cross for my sins, who defeated death and hell and the grave. I want to grow in my knowledge and understanding of my Savior under the teaching of a solid disciple of His making.

Who do you want to hear? Someone to tickle your ears, or someone like John? 

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.

Something is afoot! (Matthew 11:4-6) March 7, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Genesis 36-39

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 11:4-6
Jesus: Go back and tell John the things you have heard and the things you have seen. Tell him you have seen the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers cured, the deaf hear, the dead raised, and the good news preached to the poor. Blessed are those who understand what is afoot and stay on My narrow path.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

John expected someone to come and rescue the nation from the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. When he baptized Jesus in the Jordan several months earlier, God showed him Jesus was that Messiah he was looking for. But Jesus didn’t fit the image everyone, including John looked for. John did what God asked and instead of finding relief from the oppression, he sat in a prison cell in Herod’s basement. Did he make a mistake? Was Jesus really the one he was looking for? Did God really point Him out as the Messiah? How could he still be in prison if the Messiah had come?

So, John sent his disciples to ask Jesus the ultimate question, “Are you the One we’ve been waiting for or should we look for someone else?”

I like Jesus’ answer. He didn’t answer yes or no. He just told them to look at His actions. Go back and tell John the things you’ve heard and the things you’ve seen. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers cured the deaf hear, the dead raised, the good news preached. Go tell John what you’ve seen. That will be enough for him.

I think it was not to John, but to John’s disciples and the crowds that followed Jesus out of curiousity that He said those last words, “Blessed are those who understand what is afoot and stay on My narrow path.” I think those are the critical words for us, too. Do we understand what is afoot today? Do we look for the miracles God performs in our lives and know He lives today? Do we acknowledge His authority over all things and recognize His hand at work when He comes to our rescue? Do we see Him for who He is?

Jesus told John’s disciples to just look around and see the miracles happening around them and report back to John. He will know the truth when he hears their report. Can we look around and see the truth of God’s word around us? If not, maybe it’s because we’re not in touch with Him. Maybe we need to open our eyes and look around at the things He does for us everyday to understand what’s afoot. If you have a hard time finding miracles, just think about the process of breathing the air around you, the miracle of life. Think about how extraordinary it is that God makes you in such a way that your body naturally pulls in enough oxygen to power the processes that turn food into energy so your muscles can do what they do, so your brain can think, so your body can function, so you can live. Life itself is a miracle beyond description!

God is afoot!

The other thing I think Jesus wants us to know is afoot as He talks about staying on the narrow path with Him is that there are many things that would try to pull us away from Him. We live in evil times, as did those around Him then. Then, as now, the mainstream religious institution fell far short of God’s expectations for His people. In our churches, we say we are Christian, but often our actions are no different than the world’s. A Barna survey several years ago noted that the only difference between the churched and the unchurched in terms of outward behavior was that the churched didn’t curse as much. We used cleaner language. Wow!

If that’s the only difference between those who call themselves followers of Christ and the rest of the world, something is afoot. Many have left the narrow path Jesus told us to follow. People saw a difference in Him and those who followed Him. People noted the change in behavior when Christ came to dwell in their lives. Something is afoot when others cannot see the difference Christ makes in our lives.

How does this happen? How can we be lulled to sleep and become like the world and so unlike Christ? The answer is simple. We stopped listening to Him and started listening to false prophets that tickle our ears and make us feel good about ourselves. We don’t want to hear about sin or God’s wrath or judgment. We don’t want to hear about following His standards or living under His commands. We want to hear about His love and grace and mercy and forget the rest of the story.

But to listen to the good news, the gospel, we must hear all of it. Paul reminds us the wages of sin is death. We all are sinners and all our attempts to reach God in His glory fail. But that doesn’t mean we are hopeless. We have a Savior. We have a Redeemer. We have One who wants to rescue us from the penalty we deserve. God incarnate, in the flesh as Jesus, His Son, gives us that hope. But as with almost all of God’s promises, that hope comes with an if clause. If you believe. If you follow Me. If you obey Me.

Something is afoot. It is hope for our salvation. It is hope for eternal life. But we must follow Him to have it. What path will you take?

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.