Tag Archives: Matthew

Nothing is impossible (Matthew 19:26) May 5, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 35-36

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 19:26
Jesus: People cannot save themselves. But with God, all things are possible.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We sure try to save ourselves, though, don’t we? We try to buy our way into heaven by giving tokens of material goods. We think if we give enough to a church and get our name on a pew or the wing of church or maybe on the wing of a hospital it will earn us that spot in the kingdom. It’s kind of foolish to think that way, though. Take a look around. How much would it cost to buy the ocean and everything in it? That belongs to God, so does your wing of the hospital impress Him?

Do you know how much gold has been dug out of the earth? If you’ve never thought about it, it’s not quite enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool. That’s all. Men have been pulling gold out of the ground for centuries and that’s all they’ve found. So how much of that Olympic swimming pool sized lump of gold do you own? Do you think that impresses God? I guess not. So buying your way, just can’t save you, can it. There’s nothing you can give God in material goods that could impress Him.

So how about something you could do. Is it some good deed you could do that could get you into heaven? What could it be? What act could you perform that could impress God enough to win your salvation? The answer is nothing. He has seen it all and people have tried everything to try to assauge the guilt of sin they carry with them from their youth. No one has found the cure in good works. Every prophet, every preacher, every priest has talked about it. When you compare what we can do with what God can do, what can we do that would impress Him? Again, the answer is nothing.

We try hard. We do all kinds of things to make up for our past, to atone for our sins, but those actions just don’t do enough. You see, nothing we do can clean up the darkness in our heart. We can’t create light in the darkness. Oh, we can strike a match, but that ’s a chemical reaction, it doesn’t actual create something. We can’t create something out of nothing. Only God can do that. We always start with basic ingredients.

So Jesus starts with this basic premise, this indisputable fact that we try to dispute, people cannot save themselves. We have tried throughout the centuries to prove Him wrong, but no one has, because we can’t. We are not God. We are far from it. We wouldn’t know where to begin to make ourselves pure enough to be in God’s holy presence, but we try…unsuccessfully.

God abhors sin. It sometimes amazes me that He pays any attention to us at all in our sinful state. We separate ourselves so far from His holy, perfect, pure state in our sin, yet He wants to bring us back into His presence. In fact, He puts in place an impossible plan. A God-sized plan to bring us back. He takes all His mighty energy and smashed Himself into the form of a tiny human baby, the likeness of sinful man, and lived among us for thirty years to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

He did what we could not do for ourselves. He acted in a way none of us could because we are sinners. He paid what we could not pay. He did the impossible. Because He is the God of the impossible, He can save us. Because He can speak and create light out of darkness, He can save us from ourselves. Because God can speak and spark life from death, He can bring life to us and grant us eternal life even though we don’t deserve it. Because God has creative power, He can do the impossible. Even bringing us, sinful man, into His holy presence.

How does God do it? I don’t understand it. I only know that He gave His Son, Himself wrapped in flesh, as the sacrifice for the atonement for our sins. I only know that when we exercise our faith in Him as that sacrifice and ask for His forgiveness, He grants it because of His infinite grace and mercy. I only know that because of His love for us He does God-sized things when He forgives us of our sins and makes us right with Him so we can come into His presence covered by the blood of His sacrifice on the cross. How does it work? It’s impossible for my finite mind to grasp the wonder of it all, I’m just glad it does.

I’m just glad that when I cannot save myself, nothing is impossible for God and He shows it by rescuing me from a life of sin. He’ll do the same for you if you ask 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.

Where is your treasure? (Matthew 19:23-24) May 4, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 51-53

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 19:23-24
Jesus: This is the truth: it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We’re taught our whole life to become self-sufficient. Learn how to take care of yourself. You don’t need anyone. Don’t depend on anyone else because they’ll let you don’t. Learn to do everything yourself so you don’t need anyone else. Get everything you can because someone will try to take everything you have. Be careful of everyone; they’re all shysters after your treasure.If they have it you don’t, so go after it.

We hear a lot of stuff.

We even hear that the wealthy are happy. They’re the ones that have it made. But if that’s so, why is the suicide rate highest among those above the average income mark? Why is it that it’s the rich that spend the most time in with the gastroenterologist because of ulcers due to stress? Why is it the wealthy that never seem to have enough? Rockefeller put it best when one day a reporter asked him how much more money he really needed. He answered, just one more dollar. Think about that answer just a second if it didn’t strike you on the head the first time.

See the rich can find themselves thinking they don’t need anything else. They can get food by spending money for it. They can get medical care by spending money. They can get clothing and a nice home with their treasure. They can even get more treasure with their treasure. Interest on investments is really fascinating. If you put $1,000 in a good fund when you child is born and leave it there. Good funds will average about 12% a year return over the long haul. So by the time your child goes to college at 18, that $1,000 is worth $8,578. Now that doesn’t sound like much, but remember, you haven’t done anything but put that thousand dollars in an account and left it there, right. But watch what happens if you leave it there until your child retires in another 50 years at age 68. That $1,000 just became $3,359,239.80. Remember, you didn’t do anything to it except leave it alone.

That’s why insurance companies are so happy to sell you life insurance when you’re young. You buy a $500,000 policy for $25 or $30 a month, they bet you live a long time. They invest the money into good stocks and bonds and when they pay your estate the $500,000, they keep the rest. Sometimes they have to pay early and lose money, but their actuary tables are pretty good. That’s why there are a lot of insurance companies and a lot of the CEOs drive big cars and have big houses.

So lots of companies make more money from their investments than they do their products. And many of their senior executives get the idea they don’t need anything or anyone. They have it made with their yatchs and servants and multiple houses and jets and what they think is everything. But most can’t say they are happy because they don’t have the most important thing. Like Solomon, they try it all. They try everything under the sun and find it all vanity, useless, meaningless.

The rich young man who came to Jesus found that true when Jesus told him he still lacked one thing. He kept six of the ten commandments, but failed to keep the first four because his wealth had become more important to him than the Almighty. The young man put his confidence in the things he could touch instead of the God he could only believe. The consequence? The verse before today’s said he went away sad because he was very wealthy.

Jesus says it’s hard for the wealthy to find their way to heaven because they find it hard to let go. They forget the material things of life are meaningless. The world tells us they are so important. We work so hard and at some point we have enough to retire and enjoy the remainder of life in some semblance of rest. But it doesn’t work. We can’t take any of it with us. And when our health runs out near the end of life, what good are all those things? Solomon talks about those days when sounds are muffled and sight is dimmed. Life drags on until we take our last breath. It happens to the poor and it happens to the rich.

The rich think they can prolong life by searching out the right doctor, the right medicines, the right elixir, the right cure. They can’t. Only God knows the day or the time your last breath will come and nothing you can do can change that. Your riches or your poverty cannot change the number of your days. God gives us those days and He can take them away. He allows us to be stewards of His property. He can also take that away just as quickly as well. Ask the executives at Enron. They thought they were invincible. It took just a few words in the right place and their empire came crashing down.

It’s all His, give it to Him, He lets us enjoy it while we’re here, but don’t hang on too tightly. You might begin to think like the young man who went away sad. He thought he was wealthy. But was he really? Where is your treasure?

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.

Give it up! (Matthew 19:18-21) May 3, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Samuel 5-9

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 19:18-21
Jesus: Well, to begin with, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.
Young Man: I’ve kept those Commandments faithfully. What else do I need to do?
Jesus: If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give all your money to the poor; then you will have treasure in heaven. And then come, follow Me.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Isn’t it just like us? The young man, I mean. Jesus explains in pretty simple terms what he needs to do to be assured of eternal life. He explains all he needs to do is obey God’s commands. So what does the young man do? He retorts with, “Well, which commands in particular? I really don’t have to keep them all, do I? Just tell me the most important one so I can concentrate on those. Give me the cliff notes so I don’t have to study so hard and let me just keep the one or two commands that are most important to God, okay?”

We do that in school. Hey teacher, just give us the answers to the test. Let us study those so we don’t have to learn all those principles and facts. Don’t make us waste our time learning all that stuff, just give us the answers so we can get the grade we need to pass. Or how about at work. Hey boss, what if we take some shortcuts on this project. No one will know. It’s all covered up by the time we’re done. No one will know we skipped some steps or used inferior parts. It will save us time and save you some money. What do you think? We want everything now. We want great success, but we don’t want to work for it.

We do the same thing in our relationships skipping in and out of marriages. Throwing away relationships like they have no affect on us or those around us. We want the short version so we don’t get locked into anything too deeply. We do it with our prayer life, our devotions, our Bible study.

Jesus doesn’t let the young man get away with that philosophy. The young man asks, “Which commandments in particular must I keep?” Jesus starts His answer knowing the conversation will continue. “Well, let’s start with the last six of the ten commandments and see how you do. Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself, that is do not covet.”

I can see the young man puff out his chest and stick out his chin as he gives his answer to Jesus. “I’ve kept all those commandments since my youth. What else do I need to do?” He knew deep in his heart there was something wrong. He hadn’t made the cut yet. He knew he didn’t have the keys to the gate yet. That’s an important point for us to see. We know if we are right with God. We don’t have to guess. We can examine our heart and know if we are bound for heaven or not.

On with our story. Jesus knew the young man’s problem wasn’t in lying or stealing or committing murder or not respecting his parents or adultery. He even knew the young man loved his neighbors. But the young man had a problem. Something got in his way in his relationship with God. Notice Jesus didn’t mention the first four commandments when He talked about keeping the commandments. He knew the young man’s answer would have been the same as it was for the last six, but Jesus knew the young man’s heart. So Jesus probed into his inner being and put His finger on the thing that had become the young man’s god.

Jesus said, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give all your money to the poor; then you will have treasure in heaven. And then come, follow Me.” Ouch! Things had become the young man’s god. Had Jesus asked if he obeyed the first four, no doubt, the young man would answer in the affirmative, just like we would. But when Jesus put His finger on the young man’s real god, the thing that mattered most to him, he saw what kept him from attaining eternal life.

The sad commentary that follows is copy for too many of our generation. Matthew says the young man went away sad because he was very wealthy indeed. You say, “But I’m not wealthy, money and things are not my god.” Then let me ask a couple of questions. Do you substitute sports for devotion to God. Do you substitute your lawn or upkeep on your house for devotion to God? Do you substitute your house for devotion to God? Are you kids extracurricular activities more important than your devotion to God?

What does your heart tell you when you ask yourself those questions? Only you and God know the answer. You can put on the airs of the young man who spoke to Jesus and everyone around you will think everything is in order and you’re on your way to heaven. But you know what God thinks. Is it time to find an altar and put all your possessions there? God accepts nothing less. But then, it’s His anyway, we’re just His temporary stewards.

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.

Only One is good (Matthew 19:17) May 2, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Exodus 17-20

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 19:17
Jesus: Strange that you should ask Me what is good. There is only One who is good. If you want to participate in His divine life, obey the Commandments.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We talk a lot today about tolerance. We tolerate different religions, we tolerate all forms of education, we tolerate every political view, we tolerate gender identities. We seem to tolerate just about anything that comes along. I think there’s something wrong with that when I read Jesus’ words in Matthew 19. Yes, we need to tolerate people and have compassion on them. But no where do I see Jesus tolerating behavior that runs contradictory to God’s commandments.

This young man found himself in a world similar to ours. At this point in Rome’s history, their citizens’ primary goal seemed focused on personal pleasure. They engaged in the most base practices to satisfy those desires. Crowds visited the Collosium to watch men slaughter each other. Crucifixions gathered crowds just to view the spectacle of horror and agony endured by other men. Sensuality and sexual exploitation even became part of the temple worship of their gods to legitimize the evil acts they sought to satisfy their sensual desires.

Nothing seemed beyond limits of what the Romans and by association, what the surrounding nations would do to appease their growing demand for something that would satisfy the fleshly desires that continued to demand greater and greater action for an equally sensual response. So the young man comes to Jesus and asks, “What good deed can I do to assure myself of eternal life?”

I’m especially fascinated by Jesus’ answer now. Our vocabulary turns everything around. Gay meant happy when I was growing up, not sexually attracted to the same gender. Bad meant the opposite of good, yet today people refer to something as bad meaning it’s high quality music. We have screwed up our language and our meanings so much that no one understands what anyone else is talking about. It’s no wonder we can’t communicate any more. We abuse the English language to an extent we don’t know what good and bad mean any more.

Jesus clears it up. There is only One who is good. Do what He says to do. He’s the judge. Obey His commandments. I don’t see much tolerance in Jesus’ words there. I don’t see Him saying, “Well, you can follow anyone that sounds like he’s succeeding in the world.” It doesn’t sound like Jesus advocates, “Just do what feels good.”

I don’t think Jesus meant to say, “Any religion works as long as you’re sincere in your belief.” Jesus’ words come out pretty straight forward and remarkably clear. God is good. Do what He says if you want assurance of eternal life. That’s the only way to get it. There’s not other path, nothing you can pay, no spells you can cast, nothing else you can do. Just obey what He tells you to do. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it?

We make it difficult because we don’t like His commands. We don’t want to follow His rules. He says take control of your body. Stop satisfying those fleshly desires in evil ways. Instead listen to what He says and He will satisfy the desires of your soul, but in ways that meet His requirements and in ways that keep you pure and holy. God will get you through this life without yielding to the temptations that Satan sets in front of you. He will let you tap into the same resurrection power that raised His Son, Jesus, from the dead.

We make it difficult because we want to find some easier way to get to heaven. We think there’s some other judge out there that will give us a different set of rules that let us off the hook and let us do what we want instead of what God wants. There is not.

We make it difficult because we want our way. We think we are smarter than God and want the baubles the world flashes in front of us assuming them permanent decorations, when none of those things last. Most of them don’t even last through our lifetime, much less through eternity. We just don’t want to accept that God’s way is the only way to gain eternal life.

But until we realize the truth of Jesus’ words, “There is only One who is good. Listen to His words, obey His commands. Eternal life is the reward for those who do.” Until we recognize that truth, we will continue to traipse down dead-end paths wasting time and effort for nothing. There is no other way to God than through Jesus, the Son of the living God. As He told us so many centuries ago, He is the truth, the life, and the way. No one comes to the Father except through 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.

Take care of the children (Matthew 19:14) May 1, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Corinthians 4-5

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 19:14
Jesus: Let the little children come to Me; do not get in their way. For the kingdom of heaven belongs to children like these.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

A few days ago I talked about the characteristics of children that we should observe and emulate. The things that Jesus saw in them that make them ripe for the kingdom of heaven. Characteristics like happy, trustworthy, inquisitive, and knowing where to go when they are hurt. Jesus saw in the children around Him the innocence God wants to see in us but we seem to run away from far too quickly.

Let’s go back and look at the scene and see what we learn from it. Some parents wanted Jesus to bless their children. So they began to push through the crowd with holding on to their toddlers’ hands or tightly holding their precious bundles in their arms. But as Jesus’ disciples, those wanting to be like Him remember, saw these parents dragging their kids toward Him, they assumed He wouldn’t want to be bothered a bunch of little rug rats that throw up on your shoulder and ask a thousand questions and run around your feet wanting to play, never listening to what you have to say (or so it seems).

Things haven’t changed much in society today. Take a look around the world and see what happens with children in almost every society. Children and the elderly are the throw-aways of society. In poverty stricken areas, it is the children who starve. In areas rampant with disease, it is the children who die in droves. In areas with the most evil crimes, children become the target of kidnapping and sex slavery.

Societies at large have little regard for children and the elderly. But Jesus turns the tables on His disciples who, like many around them, want to push them aside and pretend they just don’t exist. They are the ones who die of starvation in famine raked countries. They are the ones denied scarce medicines in disease ridden sections. They are the ones left on doorsteps or locked in homes to fend for themselves while those who should be caregivers selfishly go party.

Because children and the elderly are non-productive members of our societies, we push them to the curb and forget about them when things get tough. We often talk a good game and tell ourselves we have great programs to help. But when it really comes down to it, thousands of kids, even in our country are left alone, left in the cold, forgotten because they are just kids. They are the invisible human beings of our society.

But not to Jesus. He says, “Let them come to Me.” Jesus wants the children by His side. He knows that they make up the kingdom of heaven. Jesus know s that unless we become like them, our character keeps us from reaching the promised land just like the adults that left Egypt never made it to the promised land. Those grown-ups couldn’t get past their old ways and old beliefs and died in the wilderness.

Jesus says even more about children, though. He says, “Don’t even get in their way!” Don’t become a stumbling block to them. Don’t put obstacles in their path that would keep them from reaching Him. Don’t do anything that would hinder them from finding and coming to Him. In other places, He says it would be better to have a millstone put around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little one to lose their way to heaven.

Do you think Jesus cares about children? There is no doubt in my mind He does. When He talks the way He did to His disciples and the crowd around Him, I know they held a special place in His heart. In fact, I think His wish is that all of us would emulate them. He wants us to understand how important they are. He wants us to care for them and love them as much as He does. He wants us to realize they are not disposable, but rather they are vital to our future. When we treat them as insignificant, disposable pieces of our society, we are in danger of destroying ourselves from within. Children are not our future, they are our present. The way we treat our children reflects our love of God and our love of each other because as Jesus said, “Such as these make up the kingdom of heaven.”

Don’t be one of those that push the children away. Remember they make up the kingdom of heaven. Learn from them. Be like them. Teach them God’s way. Children are loved by God. Be careful how you treat His loved ones. 

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.

Divorce should be a dirty word (Matthew 19:4-12) April 30, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Mark 15-16

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 19:4-6, 8-12
Jesus: Haven’t you read that in the beginning God created humanity male and female? Don’t you remember what the story of our creation tells us about marriage? “For this reason, a man will leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” If a husband and wife are one flesh, how can they divorce? Divorce would be a bloody amputation, would it not? “What God has brought together, let no man separate.”
Pharisees: Why did Moses explain that if a man leaves his wife, then he must give her a certificate of divorce and send her away, free and clear of him?
Jesus: Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But divorce was an innovation, an accommodation to a fallen world. There was no divorce at creation. Listen, friends: if you leave your wife, unless there is adultery, and then marry another woman, you yourself are committing adultery. Only if there is adultery can you divorce your wife.
Disciples: If this is how it is, then it is better to avoid marrying in the first place.
Jesus: Not everyone can hear this teaching, only those to whom it has been given. Some people do not marry, of course. Some people are eunuchs because they are born that way, others have been made eunuchs by men, and others have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Anyone who can embrace that call should do so.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Our society has fallen far short of God’s design for marriage, hasn’t it? Does that mean it’s okay to lower God’s standard because society thinks it’s an archaic command? Just ask the families traumatized by divorce. The translation you’ve heard today describes the consequences of divorce pretty well. We think everything will work out so much better when we sever ties with the one we married because we found we’re not compatible any more, but listen to Jesus’ description. Divorce would be a bloody amputation… And just about every divorce I’ve ever seen has looked like that in the end – a bloody amputation.

The emotional scars are always deep and long lasting. It’s something from which you never fully recover because as Jesus says, you were one flesh and when you were torn apart, an amputation occurred. We have become so flippant about marriage, though. It is no wonder we are just as flippant about divorce. We think it’s okay to just though away relationships and don’t worry about the damage it causes to families, children, parents, siblings, friends, and others we touch. Divorce affects the whole of society as it breaks down the very fabric of our community, the bond between a husband and wife.

The marriage relationship is at the core of our community. It should be the relationship from which all others spring. When we disregard the importance of marriage and begin to trivialize
or minimize God’s directions for us in regard to marriage, we stand on shaky ground in regard to the whole of our society. It isn’t long before the family unit dissolves as we have already seen in our country. In fact, our rules for welfare support seem to encourage the dissolution of families rather than support them.

Now we see a small minority working feverishly to change the definition of marriage to include the union of any two people regardless of sex. But such a union was never in God’s plan for the procreation of the earth. It just doesn’t make sense in His plan. His mission for the first couple was to populate the earth. That marriage, that union, required them to become one flesh. To procreate. To expand the population. Adoption doesn’t procreate.

As Jesus says, divorce was contrived because we live in a fallen world. It was never God’s plan. We fall away from each other in marriage primarily because we fall away from God. If God is first for both partners in a marriage, it is unlikely the marriage will fall apart because the closer we come to God, the closer we come to each other as we keep God as the head of the home. The geometry of that marriage triangle always works. We just don’t like to put the effort into it in this fallen world that we need to.

Remember, Jesus gave these words to the people living in a community in which most had no choice in who they would marry. Marriages were arranged. Daughters were given to sons of others in the community and neither had a choice in the matter. Neither had any say in who they would wed. They were told. Fathers got together and determined the two would be a good fit and the engagement was set. The father of the groom had his son begin building rooms for the new bride on the family property and when complete, the father would send his son to retrieve his bride.

That was the culture in which Jesus said, the only acceptable reason for divorce was adultery. Have we become so civilized that the rules no longer apply? If we look at our society, I’d say we would do well to apply the rules God gave us. We’d be a lot better off. The evil rampant in our society would be a lot less if we paid attention to God’s word. It’s not any more, but divorce should still be a dirty word. 

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.

Warm those cockles (Matthew 18:23-35) April 29, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Jeremiah 27-31

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 18:23-35
Jesus: If you want to understand the kingdom of heaven, think about a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. Just as the king began to get his accounts in order, his assistants called his attention to a slave who owed a huge sum to him—what a laborer might make in 500 lifetimes. The slave, maybe an embezzler, had no way to make restitution, so the king ordered that he, his wife, their children, and everything the family owned be sold on the auction block; the proceeds from the slave sale would go toward paying back the king. Upon hearing this judgment, the slave fell down, prostrated himself before the king, and begged for mercy: “Have mercy on me, and I will somehow pay you everything.” The king was moved by the pathos of the situation, so indeed he took pity on the servant, told him to stand up, and then forgave the debt.
But the slave went and found a friend, another slave, who owed him about a hundred days’ wages. “Pay me back that money,” shouted the slave, throttling his friend and shaking him with threats and violence. The slave’s friend fell down prostrate and begged for mercy: “Have mercy on me, and I will somehow pay you everything.” But the first slave cackled and was hard-hearted and refused to hear his friend’s plea. He found a magistrate and had his friend thrown into prison “where,” he said, “you will sit until you can pay me back.” The other servants saw what was going on. They were upset, so they went to the king and told him everything that had happened.
The king summoned the slave, the one who had owed so much money, the one whose debt the king had forgiven. The king was livid. “You slovenly scum,” he said, seething with anger. “You begged me to forgive your debt, and I did. What would be the faithful response to such latitude and generosity? Surely you should have shown the same charity to a friend who was in your debt.”
The king turned over the unmerciful slave to his brigade of torturers, and they had their way with him until he should pay his whole debt. And that is what My Father in heaven will do to you, unless you forgive each of your brothers and each of your sisters from the very cockles of your heart.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus is still in the throes of His fourth sermon. He talked about brothers and sisters in the congregation who needed correction and how to deal with them. Peter asked how many times he had to forgive and Jesus responded with what seemed a ridiculously large number of times. He really says, don’t count, just keep forgiving. Then He gives us this illustration to understand the scope of forgiveness we should have because of the scope of forgiveness we have received.

In our country, we’ve kind of lost all sense of number value in the last couple of generations. With Congress and our states tossing out $1tn budgets in the same way they treat $1,000 price tags, it’s hard to keep up with what all the government numbers mean. Particularly when our leaders don’t tell us what those numbers really mean to our children’s children. We hear the numbers but it doesn’t translate very quickly to us that each of your children and each of my grandchildren (they are 7,5, 4, and not quite 2) owe just under $40,000 each if we all paid our part of the national debt. See, we just don’t understand real numbers any more.

Changing the numbers to something a little more meaningful as “The Voice” does in its translation helps us grab hold of Jesus’ illustration. The king forgave the slaves debt that amounted to more than a laborer (that’s you and me, much more than the slave) could make in 500 lifetimes. Did you get that? The laborer made significantly more than the slave, but it would take 500 lifetimes, not years, but lifetimes, to earn enough to pay off the debt if he gave every penny to the king.

Now you get an idea of the size of the slave’s debt. Jesus gives a clue as to how he could run up such a bill, perhaps he was an embezzler. So not only did he owe the king money, but he was also a criminal. The king had every right to put him in jail and throw away the key. Instead, the king forgave him because the slave asked repentantly.

But when the slave failed to forgive a fellow worker a significantly, 100 day’s pay versus 500 lifetimes pay, the king reacted. So in today’s average market what would that be, just so you get a feel for the numbers? Assuming a person works for 45 years, that’s probably a few years short, but we’ll use that number for this argument. And the average wage for a laborer today is about $25/hour, and the laborer takes two weeks vacation every year. That’s $2,250,000 earned in one lifetime with no overtime, just straight 8 hours a day five days a week. So compare that slave’s debt of $1,125,000,000,000, there’s that trillion dollars we have no concept of as a number. Versus the debt the king’s slave failed to forgive of just $20,000.

I guess he went to the same schools a lot of our kids in the last couple of generations went to. We just don’t understand how gracious God is when He forgives our sins, that $1tn debt when we are so reluctant to forgive those who do petty things against us that irritate us, that $20,000 debt. Can we get ourselves back to school to figure out how different these numbers are again? Can we begin to understand the vast level of love God has for us when He forgives us? Then can we exercise just a little of His great love to share some of that forgiveness with those around us?

Jesus says we must forgive from the very cockles of our heart. Ever heard that expression? It means the ventricles of your heart. You see, when you love someone, it makes your heart beat a little faster, a little harder. It warms your heart. It’s a great expression that came to us from the Latin. Forgive until your heart is warmed. You’ll like it. God promises.

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.

Forgive how many times? (Matthew 18:22) April 28, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 33-34

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 18:22
Jesus: You must forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We are still in Jesus’ fourth major sermon in the book of Matthew. He has given instructions to His disciples on how to deal with the unrepentant in the church. But Jesus’ goal in all of His actions and all His instructions for those who will follow Him continues to be to draw men and women to Him. He wants reconciliation and restoration as the outcome of our actions. He wants us to maintain purity within the ranks of the church. His bride will be spotless when He ushers us into the banquet hall of heaven, but He also wants us to bring as many with us as we can.

That means we must learn to forgive. So Peter, after hearing all these instructions about how to deal with tough issues within the body of believers asks the question most of us want to forget about. We don’t want to ask the question because we don’t want to hear the answer. "How many times must I forgive? Seven times?

Peter thought he was pretty magnanimous in his offer to forgive someone seven times for their offenses against him or his brothers and sisters in the church. But listen to Jesus’ words. “You must forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven.” Those words probably slapped Peter in the face as much as it would us if we had asked the question.

But Jesus, you don’t know what he did to me. Forgive anyway. But Jesus, you don’t know what she said about me. Forgive anyway. But Jesus, he just keeps doing the same thing again and again. Forgive again and again. But Jesus, he just doesn’t seem to get it through his thick head that what he is doing hurts the church. Forgive and teach him. But Jesus, every time she gets around me, she seems to start with that sarcasm that just grates on everyone. Forgive and show her love.

Jesus doesn’t pull any punches in his command to forgive. In fact earlier, you’ll recall He told us that we are forgiven in the same measure we forgive. He even gave us a model prayer that reminds us to ask the Father to forgive us in the same way we forgive others. That’s pretty powerful praying. If I want God to forgive me of my sins and they are many, so are yours, I must forgive others when they sin against me. I must be willing to let go of any bitterness and anger and let God heal me of all those emotions so that I may forgive as He forgives.

Does that mean I will give an embezzler charge of the treasury? Probably not. I will forgive him, but I will also act with what I would call “smart trust”. I would not put such a temptation at his fingertips when that same temptation caused him to falter and fall before. That would be like giving an alcoholic a job as a bar tender. That’s just not smart. God tells us to forgive and we do, but He also expects us to use some smarts in how we use the talents of those around us. So that embezzler? He’s great with numbers, so why not use him in an area that allows him to use his math skills but keeps him away from money.

But forgiveness is more than restoring a person into a position or bringing them back into the fellowship of brothers and sisters. It’s a reminder of the grace and mercy God extends to us. As we recognize the position others place themselves in apart from the fellowship of God’s people and apart from God by their actions, we recognize their lost state and our hearts should break for them. We can remember how God’s heart broke for us when we were far from Him. He died for us and took us under His wing when we came repentantly to Him.

There will also be those that never repent of their wrong doing, yet we must still forgive them. Because forgiveness is not really for them, but for us. When we harbor ill feelings in our heart for someone for something they did to us or someone close to us, that bitterness takes a foothold and gives Satan a way into our spirit. It isn’t long before all that’s left is bitterness and anger and a quest for revenge. If we are to keep our hearts clean and pure, we must recognize the truth of God’s forgiveness of our sins and then willingly forgive others.

Nothing must stand between us and God or between us and our fellow man. The only way to ensure we retain that close relationship with God is to forgive and be forgiven. How many times must we forgive those who wrong us? As many times as it takes. 

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.

Do you follow or pretend? (Matthew 18:18-20) April 27, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 48-50

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 18:18-20
Jesus: Remember this: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And this: if two or three of you come together as a community and discern clearly about anything, My Father in heaven will bless that discernment. For when two or three gather together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We quote the last sentence of this paragraph often. “When two or three gather together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” We talk about it when there are small numbers gathered for prayer. We use it when small numbers gather to worship. We use it to motivate small numbers that come together for a task that needs larger numbers. We use these words to remind us that when God is with us we always have a majority. Using these words in this way does motivate us and they are true, but…

Look again at these words in context. Jesus just talked about the way we should approach a brother or sister who wronged us. He just talked about how we should first go to that person in private and if that doesn’t work, go to the person with one or two others, and if that fails to remedy the situation, then take the matter to the congregation. If the sinner remains unrepentant, then Jesus says remove the person from the fellowship in hopes the harsh punishment will wake them up and bring them to their knees in repentance at some point. But in the meantime, their actions will not pollute the church, the bride of Christ.

So, just after giving the instructions on how to deal with the wrongs of a fellow member in our congregation, He gives these words. “What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” He refers back to the resolution of issues in the church he’s just been discussing. He hasn’t broken His chain of thought. He’s still in the middle of this fourth sermon and continuing to expound on His instructions to His bride, the church.

He tells us two or three or four heads are better than one in discerning the right course of action to take when issues come up in the church. And He says we should pray and talk with each other when He says, “if two or three of you come together as a community and discern clearly about anything…” It’s important that we get the perspective of others when issues pop up in the church, and they will, before we damage the reputation or character of another member. When we deal with relationship issues with brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, they get messy. Discerning the right path, the right actions, often takes two or three heads.

When those two or three people earnestly seek God’s counsel, His will, and find consensus in the right path to take in a particular issue with their brother or sister who has strayed and needs correction from the body of Christ. When those two or three find agreement in God’s presence. Jesus says, “the Father in heaven will bless that discernment.” What does that mean? Does it mean they will be happy with the decision and no tears will be shed when they mete out some punishment on a friend? No. Does it mean everything will go back to the way it was before the incident? No. Does it mean God will be present as you carry out His will and ensure the results work for the good of His church? Absolutely!

Why is this true? Because Jesus gave us the promise we quote so often. “When two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” What a powerful promise. We can know the actions to take when difficult issues arise in the church. We can take the appropriate actions to keep the name of Christ clean and pure. But today, there is a difference between being the member of Christ’s body, His church, and being the member of an earthly denomination.

My daughter told me recently of a young woman who sincerely announced that she was a Christian, but followed the ways of Buddha because he was such an enlightened teacher. I would invite her to attend my church, the building where I worship and teach, but I would not let her become a member of my church. At least not until she stopped following anything or anyone but Jesus. But that’s the problem in many of our congregations today. We fail to confront the false teaching and wayward living that exists within the four walls of the institutions we call the church and let outsiders think we are Christian when we clearly are not. When we allow individuals like this young woman to come into our institutions and truly believe they are right with God, there is something wrong with our teaching.

There is but one way to heaven and that is through Jesus, the Son of God. There is but one Savior, Jesus. There is but one Redeemer, Jesus. There is but one perfect sacrifice for our sins, Jesus. There is only One capable of forgiving our sins, Jesus. There is only One who will plead for us at the final judgment, Jesus, the Son of the living God. Following after, worshiping, obeying, focusing your devotion on anything or anyone other than Him is idolatry and violates His commands. If you violate His commands, you cannot call yourself a Christian. Well, you can call yourself a Christian, but I can call myself a martian, too, but that doesn’t make me one.

Do you do more than just believe in Jesus? Remember, He said even the demons do that. You must truly follow Him if you desire to carry His name.

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.

Go to your brother in private (Matthew 18:15-17) April 26, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Samuel 1-4

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 18:15-17
Jesus: This is what you do if one of your brothers or sisters sins against you: go to him, in private, and tell him just what you perceive the wrong to be. If he listens to you, you’ve won a brother. But sometimes he will not listen. And if he does not listen, go back, taking a friend or two friends with you (for, as we have learned in Deuteronomy, every matter of communal import should be testified to by two or three witnesses).Then, if your brother or sister still refuses to heed, you are to share what you know with the entire church; and if your brother or sister still refuses to listen to the entire church, you are to cast out your unrepentant sibling and consider him no different from outsiders and tax collectors.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Man, if we would just put these words into practice in our churches, what a difference it would make in the love people felt for each other. What a difference the outside world would see in the sense of community with our churches and in our mission to the greater community around the facilities that hold our worship services. If your church is like every church I’ve attended in the last 62 years (by the way, that’s nine months before my birth for those that are wondering). People gossip, backbite, tell tales, exaggerate, talk about each other behind their backs, and all sorts of things that run contrary to these biblical principles.

And the world outside our doors know it goes on, because they hear the stuff around the water fountain at work, over the fence in the neighborhood, and now plastered all over facebook, instagram and twitter. We don’t even pretend to hide our failures to do the right thing in confronting the sins of one of our brothers and sisters. We’re afraid we might hurt their feelings, I guess.

But there’s a reason Jesus says to first go to the brother or sister who sins against us in private. Let me enlighten you after years of attending a lot of different churches in a lot of cities, states, and countries. Several years ago, good friend put this verse in great perspective. When you’re thinking about a brother or sister in Christ saying or doing something that hurts you, sins against you as Jesus starts his example, what do you have to think about that brother or sister to think they would purposely, intentionally, viciously do what ever it is they did against you a fellow brother of sister in Christ? Then ask yourself, knowing what you know of that person, do you really think they would do that? Usually, normally, most of the time if you’ll take the time to ask yourself those two questions, your answer to the second will be an emphatic no.

So what happened? The answer can usually be found in an illustration I used with soldiers about communication. If I gave the order to secure the building. It might seem clear at first. But what outcome would you expect? If you’re a Marine, you’d storm the building and nothing would be left of it. Not even a cockroach would survive. If you’re an Army soldier, you’d put up fighting positions around it, concertina wire, perhaps a few landmines, so nothing within 300 meters could come close without you knowing about it first. If you’re an Air Force pilot, you’d lock the door and turn out the lights. If you’re a Navy submariner, you’d pull out your checkbook and buy it. So what did I mean when I said secure the building?

That’s what happens in most of the events brothers and sisters in the church get most riled up about. What they heard is not what was said. I wanted the doors locked and the receiver of the information blew it up. Same words, but the outcome, the interpretation of those words were so totally different because of our different experiences, backgrounds, the lens through which we understand information, that what I wanted was completely missed.

That’s what happens usually, normally, most of the time between brothers and sisters in Christ. So Jesus says, go to that person in private. Find out what was really done. Maybe she said, “Secure the building” (lock the door) and what you heard was, “Secure the building” (blow it up). Getting together in private suddenly defuses the situation. You find out the words were meant to help, not hurt because you left the door unlocked and she was trying to save your stuff! You’ve won a friend.

If you still can’t communicate, if there is still tension between you, Jesus says take two or three people with you. The broader experience in the group helps sort that stuff out. Remember, the first two questions my friend asks, what do I have to believe about my Christian brother or sister to think they would really do what you think they did? Then, knowing what you really know about them, do you believe them to be that person? Three or four heads together can straighten things out and get everyone on the same sheet of music. If not, Jesus says, bring the sin to the whole congregation. If there is no repentance, no contrite heart, no brokenness, throw them out of the congregation before the infection of brothers and sisters failing to try to find unity in the body of Christ spreads to others. That’s what Jesus is telling us.

It’s a shame we don’t go to Jesus’ formula first. It really does work. There’d be a lot fewer squabbles in the church if we did. We see a lot fewer churches split over silly issues. Visitors would find and feel more love when they walked in the door. We would get along a lot better month after month and year after year if we would just do what Jesus told us to do. Try it. It works. 

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.