Tag Archives: Matthew

Pack your bags, wait, don’t (Matthew 10:9-10) February 25, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 15-16

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 10:9-10
Jesus:Do not take money with you: don’t take gold, silver, or even small, worthless change. Do not pack a bag with clothes. Do not take sandals or a walking stick. Be fed and sheltered by those who show you hospitality.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

So, what’s one of the first things you do when you go on a vacation or a business trip these days? If you’re like me, you make motel reservations. I want to make sure I have a place to sleep when I get off the plane or finish the long drive to wherever I’m going. I know I’m going to be tired after traveling and the last thing I want to be doing is trying to find a place to sleep. Once I know I have a place to sleep and know how I’m going to travel, I pack my bags.

After 30 years in the Army and several years in the corporate world after that, I know a little about traveling. I know how to pack pretty lean, but I know what I need to for short or long trips and I take care to make sure I have what I need. It doesn’t take me long to pack my bags because I’ve done it a lot. But I take what I need. I know where everything goes in my bag and everything is in its place so I can find what I need even in the dark. Lots of lessons learned through years of travel have helped me wean down my necessities, but I still need that one bag when I travel by plane, train, or automobile.

Once I arrive, I start looking for the restaurants with cars around them. It doesn’t matter what flavor of food I eat as long as it seems to appeal to the local populace and has a crowd. Restaurants with empty parking lots are usually not places I want to try in strange cities. So, I look around my surroundings for those favorite places for the locals to make sure I know some spots close by where I can get some reasonably good food at reasonable prices. Those crowded parking lots are usually a good clue.

I have to admit, I can not remember a single time in my life launching out the way Jesus told the disciples to travel. Talk about faith.

Put on your sandals, tighten your belt and start walking. When you get to a town, find someone that will listen to your message and take you in. If you can’t find anyone in the village that will give you a place to eat and sleep, shake the dust off your feet and move on. Wow! I’d be asking about the Holiday Inn or Days Inn or something! “Jesus, do you really mean that? Just go and hope someone will take care of us, just like that? Isn’t that a little on the crazy side?”

Granted, middle-eastern hospitality rules are little different than ours. Hebrew hospitality insisted that if you saw a fellow Hebrew in the city square without a place to stay, you should take them in and show them your hospitality. The problem then, like now, is that trust was starting to disappear. After all, Israel sat along the crossroads between Europe and Africa. A lot of strangers wandered through the villages traveling from one place to another. How could you be sure these two or three men that came into the village weren’t thieves or worse?

And with all the taxes Rome required, the economy wasn’t so great. Feeding another mouth or two when they had no money to offer in exchange for their meals…well, that’s just rude. At least they could offer to help pay for the food they ate, right? But Jesus told them to take no gold or silver or even pocket change. The disciples were just out there learning a lesson in faith as they share the message that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So what are we to do with this? First, I think we should recognize that God will take care of us when He sends us on a mission. We don’t need to worry about what we will eat or what we will wear, just as He told us in the Sermon on the Mount. Second, I think He tells us as He showed His disciples, we will face times with Him when He will test our faith. Expect it as part of growing as a Christian. He will put us in situations where our only recourse is to lean entirely on Him. We will find ourselves with nothing left but our faith. But as with the disciples on that mission trip, that will be enough. He will make a way for us if we will trust Him.

It took a lot of faith for the disciples to head out on the tasks Jesus gave them that day. Don’t take money with you. Don’t pack a bag. Don’t take any extra clothes or sandals. Just start walking and trust me to take care of you through the people you meet along the way. Trust Me and share the good news that I have arrived. The kingdom of heaven isn’t just coming, it’s here. I have arrived.

Can you trust Him the way the disciples did on their first missionary venture?

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.

The message (Matthew 10:7-8) February 24, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 21-23

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 10:7-8
Jesus: As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, and cleanse those who have leprosy. Drive out demons from the possessed. You received these gifts freely, so you should give them to others freely.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

What message do you share with others when you tell them about Jesus? He sent His disciples out with a pretty short and sweet message. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Then He gave them a few other things to do to demonstrate the fact of the kingdom’s arrival: heal the sick; raise the dead; cleanse the lepers; drive out demons. A pretty short list. But the list would keep them busy for a while and help show those they met that the Messiah and God’s Kingdom had arrived.

I’m afraid we don’t think too much about the message we share when we go out into the world every day. But if we take Jesus’ words to heart, we are supposed to share His message, aren’t we? Do we think about what we should say? Do we think about what those around us need to hear from God? Do we understand ourselves that the kingdom of heaven is at hand? What does that mean, anyway?

I’m afraid we sometimes get so enamored with our future in heaven that we forget we can and should enjoy a piece of it now. When Christ came to live among us and then sent His Spirit at Pentecost to remain with us until He comes again bodily, the kingdom is here. It resides wherever He lives. If He lives in you, a part of heaven and His kingdom is in you. Have you ever thought about that?

He overcame sin, death, and hell to live in us and give us a taste of heaven now. So even more so than the disciples, we can proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And what does that mean? The good news for us is that because of God’s grace, He holds back the wrath that should come pouring down on us because of our past sinful actions. It doesn’t mean those consequences won’t come. There is a judgment day and there is a harvest for each of those seeds we plant. But God’s prevenient grace and mercy holds back His wrath.

Remember the stories of the Old Testament and the early church when His presence entered the camp? People died when they disobeyed. Those who opposed Moses and the commands God uttered through him died. Some were swallowed up by the earth. Some died by snake bite. Some died of plagues in the desert. Most died from the hardships, struggles, and consequences of their disobedience. None of the adults who left Egypt except Caleb and Joshua lived to see the promised land. And in the early church, there were Ananias and Saphira, Silas, the sorceress, and others who found out pretty quickly about God’s wrath when they opposed His preachers.

Do we talk about that when we talk about the kingdom of heaven being at hand? His wrath is as real as His love, you know. Sometimes I’m afraid we water down the words into a feel-good, do whatever you want because God is love, message. That’s not what Jesus sent His disciples to say. His message was the same as John the Baptist. “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Did you notice that?

Jesus called people to repent. Turn around and walk away from sin and walk to God. You can’t have it both ways. He talks about dying to self. He talks about taking up your cross. He talks about making a complete break from what this world offers or thinks is important and listening to what God tells you is important. Jesus’ message is not for the faint of heart. It is not for the coward. It is not for the wishy-washy, in and out, fence-walker.

With Jesus, the message is “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It’s here. God has burst on the scene. Time is short. Do something about who you will serve. You only have two choices. You can serve God or you can serve self. One leads to life, the other leads to death. One is a gift of grace from God, the other receives the wages of our sins, death. You would think it would be an easy choice. Why would anyone choose death over life? Sin over obedience? Hell over heaven? Why would anyone run away from the One who loves us more than we can begin to imagine?

Maybe people run because our behavior doesn’t match our words. So what goes with the words? Jesus said His disciples received gifts from Him. They were to use those gifts for others. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. What gifts has God given you? Do you use them for those around you as you share the message that the kingdom of heaven is at hand? Does your behavior match your message? Maybe if we share the gifts He’s given us and the message He’s given us we might see more results around us. Maybe we would see our churches full. Maybe we would see the miracles the disciples saw. Maybe we would rejoice in the fact that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

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.

Tell your friends first (Matthew 10:5-6) February 23, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Judges 12-16

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 10:5-6
Jesus: Don’t go to the outsiders or to the towns inhabited by Samaritans, a people whose Jewish ancestors married Gentiles. Go instead to find and heal the lost sheep of Israel.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Now that’s a strange command to give the disciples knowing He came to save the world. Why would Jesus tell His disciples not to go beyond their borders? Why not go to the outsiders, the Gentiles? Why not go the Samaritans? Why did Jesus tell them to stay away from those towns and only share His message with the Israelites? Especially given the fact that He specifically sent Paul to the Gentiles later. He gave Peter the vision of unclean foods coming out of the sky to let him know he was supposed to go to Cornelius’ house to share the gospel?

I think the answer come in several smart strategic thoughts from the Master. First, He is still very early in His ministry. He wants to get His message out to as many as possible, but the Jews still hold their racial prejudice against everyone outside their community of faith. Remember Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion. He came to clean up the Jewish faith. Just like Martin Luther didn’t intend to start a revolution that began the Protestant movement away from the Catholic Church. The disciples always went to the synagogues to begin sharing the message of the Kingdom of heaven.

So, to ask these new disciples to go out to the Gentiles early in His ministry might have been too much for them. Pentecost hadn’t happened yet. Jesus was beside them, not in them. They had not received His Spirit in them yet. Asking His disciples to give His message to outsiders might have been too radical even for these twelve selected individuals at this point in their walk with Him.

Second, I think Jesus knew the disciples hearts would be with their own people if He sent them to the outsiders first with His message. The Jews jealously guarded the scriptures. They were God’s chosen and demonstrated to others their pride in their special place. They forgot their mission to bless the world, but they guarded their position and let others know they belonged to God. The disciples were part of that heritage. As I mentioned, in every town, Jesus always started in the synagogue in sharing His message. In the early days of the church, the apostles and disciples did the same. The often found themselves thrown out into the street shortly after their message, but they started in the synagogue…as was their custom the Bible often tells us.

So if their heart was back home, how well would they do on their missionary journey if preaching to the outsiders, the Samaritans? Jesus didn’t want them to have divided loyalties on their journey and the best way to do that would be to assign them to preach to the Israelites only. Share the message with those whose histories were similar to theirs. He wanted them to share His message without an initial barrier of racial prejudice from those who would hear them.

Third, the Israelites looked for a Messiah. Scriptures pointed to the coming of God’s Kingdom and the physical manifestation of God as Savior, the Messiah. If anyone believed in the arrival of a Savior, the Israelites would. They expected Him. They prayed for His arrival. Hebrew girls prayed that they would be the mother of the coming King. Devout Jews knew He was coming. All the disciples needed to do was let people know He arrived. He was here in the flesh.

By sending the disciples only to the Israelites, they would find more success than they would among the Samaritans or the Gentiles. To share their message outside the Hebrew community meant explaining from the start who the Messiah is to those not brought up in the faith. It meant dispelling their belief in the pantheon of gods they grew up with and observed from the Greeks and Romans around them. To share the message to outsiders so early in Jesus’ ministry when they didn’t have the benefit of His indwelling Spirit giving them the words they needed when they stood before others.

Early success in their ministry kept them going before Pentecost. After Pentecost, the power of the Holy Spirit in them overwhelmed any disappointment, frustration, sacrifice, even death when they shared the message Jesus gave them. But before Pentecost, I imagine the disciples felt some disappointment and frustration when rejected by those who should know the Messiah was coming to rescue them. They also experienced the joy and excitement of leading crowds to come and see the one they followed. They took others to meet this man who could do things only God can do.

The disciples did well as they went to their brothers and sisters to share the good news of the Messiah’s arrival. Some 500 people gathered on the hillside at Jesus’ ascension. They shared the story and people believed them. They came to see for themselves, to see this man they talked about, to discover the truth about this Messiah.

So what should we do? Start sharing with those around you first. Share your good news with those who know you. They are the ones who will see the change in you first and recognize there is something different about you when you really give your life to Christ. So tell family and friends first. Then you’ll find your early success there. Then reach out beyond your immediate sphere of influence to share the message to anyone who will listen. But those who know you best are most likely to listen to your story because when Jesus gets on board in your life, they will know by your love. Tell them where it comes from. That’s all He asks. 

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.

Are you ready to work? (Matthew 9:37-38) February 22, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Genesis 28-31

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:37-38
Jesus understood what an awesome task was before Him, so He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into His harvest field.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

When I was much, much younger, I worked on a couple of farms just enough to realize I never wanted to be a farmer. I think the worst couple of days was helping load baled hay onto a hay truck. The harvest was plentiful and the workers were far too few. Those bales got heavier as the day wore on and the bed of the truck must have been on hydraulic lifts that pushed it ten feet higher in the air. By the time we cleared the field of those bales, I could barely move.

Helping with livestock wasn’t much better. Slopping hogs or staring down a cow that weighs as much as my car isn’t my idea of a fun day. To all you farmers out there, my hat’s off to you. I don’t know how you do it. It’s hard back-breaking work without much return on investment other than seeing God at work through your labor. Of course, all of us could use a little more of taking time to admire the miracle of harvest time. Just the thought that crops grow from a seeds is a little mind boggling. After multiple courses in biology and chemistry, I can tell you the theories and mechanics, but what a miracle!

Just take time to hold a seed in your hand and look at the plant that comes from it. Take any seed. It doesn’t matter, but imagine an acorn and an oak tree. Or a pecan and its tree. Or a watermelon seed and the vine that produces a crop of melons. Can you imagine the Great Designer that put all that in place just perfectly for us? God is a magnificent Creator!

Back to Jesus’ words. We distance ourselves from harvest time today by getting our meat and potatoes from the grocery. A large percentage of us don’t even go to the produce aisles, we just get our vegetables in a can. So harvest means nothing to us. Our meat is neatly packaged in little white trays with plastic wrap on it so we can see how fresh it is. We never see the animal the meat comes from or the fields in which our fruit and vegetables grow.

But in Jesus’ day everyone knew what harvest was like. Everyone knew what farming and taking care of livestock was like. Everyone had a small garden in their yard. That’s how they lived. It’s how they got the majority of their vegetables. Most people had some chickens for eggs and a maybe a goat for milk or a couple of sheep for wool. In the cities, animals were everywhere. They didn’t appear on the streets just for transportation, they were a way of life for everyone. The disciples understood about harvest and workers in the field. But the metaphor might have caught them a little off guard.

You see, Jesus talked about souls. He talked about bringing a harvest of people into the Kingdom of God. The world was filling with people as He looked out over the mountainsides filled with villages and cities growing up under the influence of Roman rule. So many came into this tiny crossroads of the world traveling between Europe and Africa, from Persia and India to Egypt. This was the center for all international travelers. Everyone came through here.

Jesus saw these souls wandering aimlessly through life without direction, without hope. He had the answer. He was the answer. But He needed others to get the message out. He needed the disciples to believe, grasp His message of love and surrender to God. He needed more mouths than His to tell the story. He needed more feet than His to carry the message. He needed more hands than His to help the hurting. He needed more than just Him to show God to the lost and dying souls all around Him.

We often jump up and say, “I’ll be one of those workers! Let me work in your fields!” But I think back to my few experiences of farm life and know that harvesting is hard work. That metaphor sticks in the spiritual world, too. A lot of people jump up and wave their hands to volunteer, but when they find out about the sweat and tears and investment in others lives, they quietly sneak out the gate at the side of the field and disappear. What happened to the enthusiasm? What happened to the great cry to win the lost? What happened to mass of people in our churches who said they would volunteer but then don’t show up when it counts?

Talking with my fellow ministers, it’s not a problem in just my church or my denomination. If 15% of your congregation are fully engaged in ministering to others, you are truly blessed. That doesn’t mean giving up your job, it means saying “yes” when God has a task for you to do. It means doing the things Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount. It means living the “Be Attitudes” for others to see the transformation He makes in our lives when we really let Him be Lord.

You see, the Lord of the harvest needs workers, not spectators. He needs people who are not afraid to get their hands dirty, deal with the messy issues of broken lives, love the unlovable. He did it for you, can we reciprocate? Are you ready to work?

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.

Don’t tell! (Matthew 9:30) February 21, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Romans 15-16

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:30
Jesus: Don’t tell anyone about this.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Do you wonder why Jesus didn’t want the blind men to tell about their healing? Why wouldn’t He want people to know He could do these miraculous things? Wouldn’t that solidify His position as the Son of God? Wouldn’t that help to secure His ministry in the world and increase His followers? Wouldn’t that help to build His church while He walked with us? Why ask these men to keep silent about their healing?

Of course, we know they didn’t, anymore than we could if something like this happened to us. Can you imagine what it would be like to suddenly see after years of stumbling around in darkness? Suddenly the lights come on and you can see in living color! You see all the beauty of the world around you. Just by the gentle touch of the Master’s hand, you suddenly receive your sight. Could you keep quiet about it? I don’t think I could any more than these two men.

But why the command in the first place? I think it might go back in part to what we talked about yesterday. Jesus was a busy man with an agenda. I wonder if in some ways He wanted to get to His work faster than the Father wanted and the Father worked to slow Him down by putting people in His path. Jesus knew His mission, don’t you think He wanted to get it done?

Maybe Jesus wanted to keep the men quiet so He could stay on His schedule as the Son of Man, Jesus rather than the Son of God, Jesus. I can’t imagine the struggle He had internally sometimes trying to get His tasks done from a heavenly perspective yet dreading each moment as well, knowing what the end game finally meant. But perhaps He wanted fewer interruptions as He headed toward His fate from His earthly side. Keep quiet, let Me get on with the task I’ve come to do. Don’t get the word of My healing spread too far because I’ll never get the time to do what I really came to do.

From a busy schedule perspective, I think that argument could fit well, the crowds always surrounded Him wanting healing, release from demons, help with their problems. As soon as He reached the outskirts of any village, the word had already spread and Jesus was flocked with those who wanted His help. And by the curious who wanted to see a miracle.

But I really think Jesus didn’t want the blind men to tell because if we’re going to follow Jesus, it can’t be for the miracles He can do for us. Yes, He wants us to ask Him for His help when we need it. Yes, He tells us to ask Him and He hears our prayers. Yes, He acts on our behalf and gives us good gifts as a good father would. But if that’s why we follow Him, our following will fail. We will hit a bump in the road and suddenly we will find our faith gone.

Jesus doesn’t want us to follow Him because of the things He can give us. He wants us to follow Him because He is God and that’s enough. If we ever lose sight of the fact that He is God and we are not, we’ve missed it. There is a God-sized hole in us that only He can fill. He created us to worship Him. All the rest of creation worships Him, but He gives us a choice. We try so hard to fill that void with everything but Him. It doesn’t work. Nothing fits that space in us but Him.

So maybe, just maybe Jesus didn’t want the blind men to tell anyone how their healing took place, because he wanted people to listen to His words, not watch His miracles. He wanted people to understand their need for forgiveness instead of coming for all their other temporal needs on this world. He wanted them to see the spiritual warfare they battled instead of the Roman occupation that clouded their daily conversation. Jesus wanted them to understand the Kingdom of God instead of their self-serving kingdom of self-righteousness.

Don’t tell anyone about the healing, tell them about grace. Don’t tell anyone about feeding five thousand. Tell them about forgiveness. Don’t tell anyone about miracles in your life. Tell them about love. Tell them about mercy. Tell them about Peace. Tell them about the relationship God has with you and allows you to have with others because of His spirit in you. Tell others about the transformation He makes in your life, not the temporal fixes to earthly problems.

Don’t tell about the unimportant. Tell them about what really matters. Tell them about your new life in Christ and how He can make a change in them, too. 

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’s your answer? (Matthew 9:28-29) February 20, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Matthew 20-22

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:28-29
Jesus: Do you believe that I am able to do this?
Blind Men: Yes, Lord.
Jesus (touching their eyes): According to your faith, it will be done to you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Matthew records for us another story of healing. Two blind men follow Jesus and beg Him for mercy. Once again, an interesting thing happens that we should note at the very first of the story. Here it is: Jesus goes to the men’s house. I think we sometimes get the impression that Jesus was a wandering homeless nomad with nothing on His calendar and just flitted from place to place. We get the idea that He had no place to be or nothing to do. No agenda to keep. No schedule to meet. We get the idea He could do whatever He pleased and had all the time in the world to stop and do all these things at a whim.

I think that’s the wrong impression. If we could go back in time. I think we would find that Jesus was a very busy man. I think we would find His calendar was very full. I expect His agenda would match that of most successful executives. Jesus knew what His Father sent Him to do and even at an early age, He told His parents He had to get at it, remember. I don’t think getting to His Father’s business meant lazily roaming around the countryside.

I expect Jesus always had a schedule to keep and places to go. I expect He always headed to meet someone in particular or set off to particular places for specific tasks to perform at the direction of His father. I imagine His disciples had to set a pretty good pace to keep up with Him when He set out on those Judean hillsides because He was in a hurry to get to the next meeting place or the next appointment on His agenda.

But the thing that was very different about Jesus as a man was that He understood people were more important than agendas. Relationships were more important than calendars. Meeding human needs was more important than success. So He let people interrupt His schedule as He did the woman with the bleeding disease. As He did with the official whose daughter died. As He did with these two blind men. So Jesus does with us, when we call His name.

So Jesus stopped His journey. He went to their house. He saw where they lived. They invited Him inside. An important point. Remember Revelation 3:20? “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door…” These guys let Him in and He did a marvelous thing for them. Oh wait, He just sat down and made Himself at home. He didn’t do anything.

These two blind men wanted a miracle and all He did was go home with them and eat their food as He sat on the couch and ate. I sometimes wonder what the rest of the conversation was like with the two men. Surely, on the journey to their house and as they invited Him in to sit and with the nature of Jewish hospitality there was much more said than recorded in Matthew. I’m sure it was more than pleasantries about the weather or the latest sports team scores. Jesus probably talked about more than gossip in the Roman entertainment industry or the latest fashion hitting the streets of Jerusalem.

I expect as Jesus entered the blind men’s house, He asked lots of questions that caused them to think. And I expect they had few satisfactory answers. I expect He also pointed those questions at the crowds that followed and those questions caused some of the pious in the crowd to shrink into their pious shrouds in shame as He saw through their sham of self-righteousness.

As the two men finally sat across from Jesus in their home, though, Jesus got to the critical question Matthew records for us. “Do you believe I am able do this? Do you believe I can bring back your sight? Do you believe I can make new eyes for you?” The two men answered in the affirmative.

Then Jesus touched their eyes and like the woman in the crowd who touched His garment, Jesus said to these men, “According to your faith, it will be done to you.” No faith, no healing. No faith, no sight. No faith, no miracle. But with faith, all things are possible.

We go back to our discussion of a couple of days ago, what has changed since the days Jesus walked with us on the earth? What has changed since the days of the early church? He hasn’t. The Father hasn’t. His holy Spirit hasn’t. His love and desire to meet our needs hasn’t changed. What has changed in our world that we don’t see these miracles today? We must answer the question Jesus posed to these two blind men. Do you believe I am able to do this? What’s your 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.

Death was never meant to happen (Matthew9:24) February 19, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Isaiah 40-44

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:24
Jesus (to the crowd): Go away, and do your ministering somewhere else. This girl is not dead. She is merely asleep.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Everyone knew the girl was dead except Jesus. How could He not know that eyes closed, no movement, total paralysis of every muscle, total lack of response meant no life? How could He not understand that when no heartbeat and no breath existed, no life existed either? The girl was dead. Plain and simple. Was this guy crazy? The mourners were already gathered and playing their funeral dirge. The professionals already made their declaration. The girl was dead! How could He say she was merely asleep? He was nuts!

Everyone knows the difference between life and death. Or do they? Do those who belong to Christ see things the way He does? How does He see life and death? What’s different about how Jesus saw the girl and how those mourners saw her?

We have to go back to the beginning to understand what Jesus saw. God never intended death to enter the world. He brought life here. He created every living thing. He breathed into us so we became living spirits. He gave us a part that He didn’t give other created beings. He gave us immortality when He made us in His image. He intended for us to live with Him forever. It was Adam and Eve who brought the curse of death on humankind. When they disobeyed God’s command, He let the consequences of their disobedience fall on them and on their descendants who could not help but follow in their footsteps. Death entered the world.

But Jesus saw past the curse of Adam and saw God’s intent. He saw death held no power over God, but only over sinful man. I don’t know the age of the official’s daughter, but I expect she still lived in an age of innocence. I expect He saw her heart and her innocence and saw sins curse had not yet reached out to defeat her. She slept in the arms of the Father. Safe. Innocent. Not yet poluted by sinful choices. Jesus saw life hereafter for her.

So for Jesus, He saw only life. Life in her physical frame and life in her spiritual frame. He saw only life, not death. He saw her untainted by the evil of the world at that point in her life and it didn’t matter which realm she sat in at the moment. She had life. Real life. It was just a simple matter of starting her heart again. Putting breath back into her lungs. Healing whatever malady plagued her. Those were simple for the Jesus. He created all things at the beginning. He knew how to do those things. What those around Him didn’t know, He could also move her spirit back and forth from the one realm to another.

No one could do such a thing. No one, that is, except God. God intended for all of us to live forever. God intended everyone to stick around and worship Him. In His grace, He cursed the human physical frame with frailty and disease so we would not live in these broken bodies in this broken world forever. He makes a better place to live with Him forever. A place free from the constraints of this physical frame and encased in a new body, a spiritual body, Paul calls it.

Jesus just moved her from one body to another, from her spiritual form to back to her physical form. We hear stories life that in near death or life after death experiences during surgeries, at car crashes, from victims of traumatic events or other phenomena that bring them past the point of clinical death. Eyes closed, total paralysis, heartbeat stops, breath stops, brain waves cease. Dead. Yet somehow, they come back to this physical world and relate what they’ve seen and experienced.

Jesus gives us a glimpse of what God must see as He looks at those who follow Him. And those who follow Him get a glimpse of what it’s like to give everything up for Him. “Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory?” They are gone, because we know that death doesn’t exist. We just step from one world to another. We go from this broken down, decrepid old body, to a new body. A body with no pain, no illness, no sadness, no disappointment, nothing but life, joy, peace.

Those around Him stood amazed at the happenings that day. For Jesus it was nothing. God brings life. From the very beginning until the very end of time, God brings life. The consequence of our disobedience results in death. All it takes to stay on the side of the living is listening to His voice and doing what He asks, following Him. I think I prefer to stay on the side of the living. How about 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.

Where is our faith? (Matthew 9:22) February 18, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 13-14

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:22
Jesus: Take heart, daughter. Your faith has healed you.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, a not so quiet revolt across our college campuses began to tell us God is dead. Or there is no God. Atheism had a heyday with suits about pray in schools, separation of church and state. The theory of evolution was no longer taught as theory, but fact and anyone who believed in creation must be crazy. Such was the change that swept through ‘higher education’ and told us what we should think if we were truly enlightened.

An interesting thing happened among the researchers in the last few years, though. People of faith heal faster and have a more complete recovery than those that do not profess any faith in God. Go figure! Hundreds of thousands of dollars went into the study and other researchers tried their best to debunk the study. The results stood the test. Faith wins. Faith helps in the healing process.

So let’s go back to Jesus’ words and put them into context. An official whose daughter just died came to Jesus for help. Jesus and His disciples get up and head to the official’s home. Curious to see what will happen, a crowd follows the disciples until they are pressed from every side and must push their way through. But a woman makes her way through the crowd and touches Jesus’ cloak. She suffered from a bleeding disorder for 12 years. She tried every remedy all her friends and all the physicians she could afford told her to try to no avail.

Mark relates that Jesus asked, “Who touched Me?” But Matthew says Jesus turned and saw the woman. Some will say, “Aha! Proof that the Bible is just stories, look at the discrepancy in the accounts!” But the discrepancy really adds to the proof of the reality of the event. Two witnesses give testimony to the healing of the woman with a disease she had for 12 years. Did He ask the question or did He just turn and see her? Does it matter?

If you were sitting on a jury and every witness to a car accident said exactly the same thing about the accident, every detail related in the same order, with the same emphasis, content, and descriptions,what would you think? I’d think one of the lawyers did a pretty poor job of rehearsing the witnesses. No one sees an accident exactly the same way. Try it with your spouse, a friend, or a stranger. Spend two or three minutes looking at the same scene, room, or even a painting. Then each of you write a description of that picture separately and compare your descriptions. You’ll be surprised at how different they are.

Now remember that the gospels were written some thirty years after the events! Pretty remarkable recollection, don’t you think? So, back to the story. Whether Jesus asked or turned and saw the woman, He found her out and she came forward and told Him what she had done. She thought if she could just touch His clothing she could be healed if this disease that plagued her for so long. She knew that’s all it would take, just a touch of His cloak and the work would be done. She just had to try. So she pushed forward through the crowd and touched Him. Luke says she just touched the tassels on His cloak.

Jesus surprised everyone with His words. “Take heart, daughter. Your faith has healed you.”

Did you get that? Your faith has healed you! Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell the story and all of them tell us she found healing immediately! She didn’t have to find another doctor. She didn’t have to go to the drug store and get different herbs or home remedies. She didn’t need some incantation. She didn’t even need Jesus to lay His hands on her. She exercised enough faith to believe all she needed to do was touch the tassles on His cloak and she would find what she was looking for.

Do you have that kind of faith? I’m afraid we let our doubts get in the way far too often today. Do we really believe God can do the kinds of things He did through His children in the early church? I’ve said it before, “God hasn’t changed. His Son hasn’t changed. His Spirit hasn’t changed.” So what has changed? I’m afraid it’s our faith. I’m afraid we no longer believe God can do what He says He can do. Jesus said nothing is impossible for God. Do we really believe that is true?

Do we limit God’s work in our lives today because we put Him in a box and just fail to exercise faith in Him? Do we confine His activity in our prayers because we just really don’t think He can do what we ask Him to do? When will we learn that God is God and we are not? When will we learn that our limitations have nothing to do with what God can or can not do? When will we finally discover that, like the woman in our scripture today, God wants to do so much more for us than we can even imagine. All we need to do is have faith in Him. Not just say we do, but have real 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.

Fasting, patches, and wineskins? (Matthew 9:15-17) February 17, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 18-20

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:15-17
Jesus: When you celebrate—as at a wedding when one’s dearest friend is getting married—you do not fast. The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them. Then My friends and followers will fast. You would begin by washing and shrinking a patch you would use to mend a garment—otherwise, the patch would shrink later, pull away from the garment, and make the original tear even worse. You wouldn’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If you did, the skins would burst, the wine would run out, and the wineskins would be ruined. No, you would pour new wine into new wineskins—and both the wine and the wineskins would be preserved.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Why would Jesus tell us about shrinking patches and bursting wineskins? Especially right after talking about fasting? Do they go together? If so, how? I think it’s easy for us to figure out the fasting part. His followers would fast soon after His departure. In fact, they probably fasted while He was here. They just didn’t announce it to the world like the Pharisees did. They paid attention to the sermon Jesus gave those folks at the beginning of His ministry when He said to put oil on your head, brighten your face, don’t let others see by your appearance that you are fasting. Only your Father in heaven needs to know. He’ll reward you, not people on earth who see you fast.

But what about the pre-shrunk cloth and the new wineskins? What about those? What does that have to do with anything?

Sometimes we put too much into putting symbolism and mystery into what Jesus says and lose the meaning all together. If we just look at what He says, He could simply be telling these city boys some important truths about things they know nothing about. Some of them may never have mended a shirt themselves in their life. Kind of like teaching your kids how to do laundry or how to cook. When they go out on their own for the first time, you don’t want them to stare at the washing machine and wonder what to do next or put everything in a single load and assume hot water is better to get everything cleaner. Suddenly the budget breaks and someone will need to bail them out!

So maybe Jesus was just giving good advice. More than likely, He used these two common knowledge pieces of advice as metaphors for a more profound teaching. If we think about the previous statement about fasting after He leaves and celebrating while He is with His disciples. Perhaps Jesus uses the metaphor to help explain this new life His followers enter into.

This new love Jesus talks about, this new way of life, this writing of God’s law on the heart makes us new from the inside out. It changes a person. It transforms a person completely. It means the old habits, the old haunts, the old friends, the old language, the old everything stops. A new way of life begins transformed by the power of God’s Spirit in us. Trying to hold God’s Spirit in us while living the ways of the old life are as fruitless as sewing a new patch on an old garment. When it’s washed the new patch shrinks and rips the whole more making the tear worse than it was to start.

Trying to put God into an unrepentant life is like putting new wine in an old wineskin. As the wine ferments, the expansion causes the air to expand, but the wineskin doesn’t expand with it, but bursts instead. Following Jesus means taking on a whole new lifestyle. It means turning away from the old life and sin and following His directions, His commands, His rules. His laws become more important than my desires. His will overrules my will and my desire.

This transforming power He brings to life cannot be adequately explained. It can only be experienced. No matter how much I might talk about it, until it is absorbed into your life by faith in Him, you cannot know what it is like. You cannot know the joy and peace God brings until you surrender your life to Him. Only then can you realize the legacy of peace He leaves with us.

Does Jesus’ metaphor fit with His dialog about fasting? I think so. As long as Jesus walked the earth with His disciples, they would not be seen fasting. No one needs to see you fasting. You don’t need to show anyone your piety. All you need do is let Christ live in you and let Him transform your life. Others will know you are His follower. Others will see the difference in you if He truly lives 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.

Spiritual hospitals (Matthew 9:12-13) February 16, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Judges 7-11

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 9:12-13
Jesus (overhearing this): Look, who needs a doctor—healthy people or sick people? I am not here to attend to people who are already right with God; I am here to attend to sinners. In the book of the prophet Hosea, we read, “It is not sacrifice I want, but mercy.” Go and meditate on that for a while—maybe you’ll come to understand it.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I like these words from Jesus. In fact, I use them whenever I hear anyone talk about the church. You might think that’s a little crazy, but let me explain a little. Let’s look at the story.

Jesus goes to the home of one of His disciples to have a meal with them. And this disciple, maybe it was Matthew, since it talks about the character of the others who came, invited a host of his friends to join with them to meet Jesus. This turned out to be a pretty good sized dinner party. First, we need to consider that this disciple must have been fairly wealthy, so that might fit Matthew at the time of his calling. He was a tax collector, hated by the rest of the Jews because he worked for the Roman government. His pay came from the excess he collected above what the Romans required as their part from each citizen.

So Matthew fills his house with his friends.

Needless to say, his friends were not church goers. They didn’t frequent the temple regularly. They were fellow tax collectors and prostitutes. They were the dregs of society. They were the outcasts. They were the people the religious leaders called the scum of the earth. But they were Matthew’s friends. So he invited them to meet the Man who called him away from his life of sin and showed him a new life. He invited them to meet the One who could forgive and bring new life to the downtrodden.

But the pious leaders saw the crowd and were appalled that Jesus would associate with such vile people. “How can you be in the same room with such trash!”

And then we have Jesus’ words. “Look, who needs a doctor—healthy people or sick people? I am not here to attend to people who are already right with God; I am here to attend to sinners.”

So what does that have to do with talking about church? Usually, normally, most of the time, whenever someone talks about the church, they talk about the hypocrisy in the church. Sister so-and-so does this, Brother so-and-so does that. How can the church put up with such hypocrisy? Do you know what Pastor whats-his-name did? The gossip is alive and active and sharp. It cuts deep.

But I usually address the person with Jesus’ thoughts. You know, it’s great there are hypocrites in the church. I’m glad they are there. I’m glad the church has tax collectors and prostitutes and thieves and liars and all sorts of outcasts in it. I’m glad to see the pews filled with unrighteous people. I’m happy to see crowds come in that don’t fit the mold of the solid Christian character. Why?

Because for at least that thirty minutes or so that the gospel is preached from the pulpit, they will hear the message of Christ. At least for those few minutes, the world’s message will be shut out and they will know they will be in the presence of at least a few saints of God and hear from His holy word and maybe, just maybe their hearts will be softened enough to open the door for Jesus to come into their heart. For those few minutes, there is an opportunity to introduce them to the One who can change their life forever and pick them up out of their world of sin and make them a new creation in Christ, the Creator of the universe.

We come together in the church building to worship, but if we ever begin to shut out the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the drug addicts, the thieves, the liars, the name the sinner you might think of, we have missed the boat. Our churches must be spiritual hospitals for the sin sick of our world. And you know what else, sometimes the staff in hospitals need help, too. Sometimes, doctors and nurses get the flu. Sometimes, those in leadership positions need prayer and support.

Maybe instead of going home and having the pastor for lunch, we ought to take the pastor to lunch. Lift him up, pray for him, support him, tell him how much you love him, let him know how much you care, do something to lighten his load, volunteer to assist in carrying the burdens of the church, pray, pray, pray! You’ll be amazed at what a note of kindness will do for your pastor. They don’t get many of those. They get a lot of the other kind.

Do our churches have sin sick people in them? I hope so. God, may it always be so. How else can we help them see Jesus! How else can we teach them to find and grow in Christ? May we always be a spiritual hospital where people can find grace and mercy and hope in Christ through our love for all people. 

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.