Tag Archives: Pharisees

Just stay away from the fence (Mark 7:6-16) July 31, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Thessalonians 4-5

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 7:6-16
Jesus: Isaiah prophesied wisely about your religious pretensions when he wrote,

These people honor Me with words off their lips;
meanwhile their hearts are far from Me.
Their worship is empty, void of true devotion.
They teach a human commandment, memorized and practiced by rote.
When you cling blindly to your own traditions such as washing utensils and cups, you completely miss God’s command. Then, indeed, you have perfected setting aside God’s commands for the sake of your tradition. Moses gave you God’s commandment: “Honor your father and your mother.” And also, “If you curse your father or your mother, you will be put to death.” But you say to your aged parents, “I’ve decided that the support you were expecting from me will now be the holy offering set aside for God.” After that he is not allowed to do anything for his parents. Do you think God wants you to honor your traditions that you have passed down? This is only one of many places where you are blind. (to the crowd that had gathered) Listen, all of you, to this teaching. I want you to understand. There is nothing outside someone that can corrupt him. Only the things that come out of a person can corrupt him. All who have ears to hear, let them listen.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

We get so hung up in good rules that help us maintain a healthy, good, righteous life, one that keeps us away from those dens of iniquity that would tempt us and easily cause us to fall, that we forget what God really calls us to do. What God really wants from us is a change of heart. He wants to transform us from the inside out. It’s the repentance that turns us away from the world and toward Him that He longs for in us. Not obedience to a set of rules. That’s what the scribes and Pharisees couldn’t understand when Jesus spoke.

The rulers had memorized, adhered to, and enforced their rules for so long, they forgot why they were given to them in the first place. God gave Moses the law, not to become a burden and limit their enjoyment of life, but to show them the boundaries that would keep them in His will where they would enjoy the good things He had created for them.

Think about the fences a rancher places around his pastures. Those fences are to protect his cattle. He knows the kinds of grass and water and feed he puts within the limits of those fences. There are no poisons within those boundaries. No wells or springs that will cause the cattle to fall ill. No weeds or grasses that will hurt them. No unknown vegetation that will make them weak or injury them in any way. The rancher travels back and forth across the pasture often to make sure it is free from everything except the best kind of feed for his cattle to make sure they are healthy and well fed.

That’s what God’s laws are like. They are the boundaries beyond which poisons exist that will pollute, weaken, and destroy our soul. They are the fences God erects to make sure we understand the limits to which we cannot cross and expect to remain spiritually whole and clean and pure in relationship with the creator.

Too often, though, we live at the fence line, just like a lot of cattle you see as you drive by those ranches. They poke their heads through trying to reach those grasses just outside the fence thinking they must taste better than the grass the rancher sowed just for them that fills the entire pasture behind them. Like those cattle we try to poke our head through the fences of God’s laws. We try to test the fence, push it past what He says is the limit. We try to tell God what His rules should be instead of just living within the great pasture He provides for us.

Are the rules important? Sure. They keep us from the poisons outside the fence. But when we let the rules become our god. We’ve gone too far. When we live at the fence, we miss the special food God prepares for His children in the middle of His pasture. Just like the rancher doesn’t put the best grass seed at the fence line, neither does God. He wants us to come close to Him, in the middle of His kingdom. He invites us into His home, and that’s not at the fence.

The Pharisees focused on rules. Jesus focused on our heart. The Pharisees focused on the fence line. Jesus focused on God’s home. The Pharisees focused on what we should not do. Jesus focused on what we should do. The Pharisees’ lives were full of negatives. Jesus’ life was full of positives. So why is it so many people want to follow the way of the rule watchers instead of life giver? Why do so many flock to the list keeper instead of the One who frees us from the list and gives us the pasture to get our fill?

Yes, rules are important, but when you live in the center of the pasture, you never have to worry about getting your head caught in the fence in the first place. 

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.

He will grieve for you (Mark 3:4-5) July 15, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ezekiel 31-36

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 3:4-5
Jesus: Do our laws tell us to do good or evil on the Sabbath? To save life, or to snuff it out?
They remained silent.
Jesus was furious as He looked out over the crowd, and He was grieved by their hard hearts.
Jesus (to the man with the withered hand): So be it. Stretch out your hand.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I wonder how often God gets furious with our silence. As we’ve watched the violence around the world and in our own country the last several days and weeks, I can’t imagine the pain and anger He feels at just how evil His greatest creation has become. How could we stoop so low as to kill each other over the color of our skin or the way we talk or the place we live? How could we get to the point that life means so little that we would kill innocent people because some idiot killed another person? When did it become okay to take vengeance on the innocents because of the guilt of wrongdoers?

God must be furious with us, don’t you think? We were created to love each other and worship Him. He is a God of love and peace and joy. We, in our drive to fill our selfish desires, have turned this world into one of hate and war and sorrow. How can we do that in light of all God does for us?

The answer is found in that word selfish. From the very beginning, Satan tempted Adam and Eve to satisfy instead of God. Everything else stemmed from that first fall. We want what we want at any cost and the cost has been high. Just look around and you see the price we pay every day. Broken homes, racial divide, nations warring against each other over 10 miles of land, civil war, war in the name of God. Would He approve of any of this? No. He is a God of love and peace and joy. But in our selfishness we want our way, not His and so we continue to see others the way we want to see them, instead of the way He sees them.

What do our religions do? They stand silent on the sidelines while all this is going on. All of us do it. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, all of them. We stand aside and let the faithful destroy the infidels because we want our way, not God’s. You see, God never told us to go and destroy those that don’t agree with us. He told us to go and make disciples.

But you don’t make disciples by coercion. You can’t turn someone into a follower by putting a gun to their head and forcing them to recite a creed. That’s not how it works. God doesn’t coerce people to come to Him. He only accepts volunteers. He only adopts those that come to Him with contrite hearts and are ready to turn from their selfishness and accept His way as the direction for their life.

Jesus was furious at their silence.

And He was grieved at their hard hearts. Why grieved? Because until we stop trying to justify our selfishness as just human or the way we are or the natural order of things, we will never come to repentance. We close our eyes to the truth God lays out in front of us and stubbornly hang on to what we want. That’s what those in the temple did that day in front of Jesus.

The Pharisees wanted their way. They wanted Jesus to obey their rules, not His. They wanted the people around Him to concede to the law as they interpreted it, not the way this man who some said came from God said it should be interpreted. The people gathered there didn’t want to disrupt the way things had always been. They were comfortable in their rituals and rules. They wanted their way.

So you can just see in your mind’s eye as they straightened their back, stiffened their necks, lowered their eyelids and glared at Jesus. Would He dare to cross them? Jesus grieved because He knew they could not find forgiveness until they allowed their hearts to feel the pain of their sin and understand the selfishness that must be turned toward God if they were to find peace.

Jesus grieved at their lack of understanding. He grieved at their failure to see that they could be freed from the guilt and pain if they would just repent. But instead they stood silent. How many today just stand on the side silent. Trying to ride the fence with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. It doesn’t work. We are either on God’s side or not. And when we are on His side, we can not stand silent. We must do His work to make disciples.

The silent majority helped get us into the mess we’re in today. The silent Christian is an oxymoron. There really is no such thing. When you really find Christ, you can not keep silent. Just listen to the man with the withered hand, the leper, those who chose to follow Him. None were silent despite the persecution, ridicule, humiliation, and even death they faced. No, if you are on His side, you won’t be silent. If you are, Jesus will grieve for 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.

Come to me (Mark 3:3) July 14, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 10

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 3:3
Jesus: Come to Me.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

As usual with eye witnesses, Mark gives us a slightly different account of the encounter in the temple with the man with the withered hand. The Pharisees want to see what He will do since it’s the Sabbath. He’s already scorched them with His answer about His disciples eating a handful of grain as they walked through the field on their way to the temple. But now here is this man with what is described as a withered hand. We don’t know what kind of disease, illness, deformity, or accident caused his hand to be withered, but we know he had little use of it and wanted relief from his malady.

We also know crowds already knew Jesus could heal sicknesses, injuries, deformities, and maladies no one else could heal. Jesus was a miracle worker and this man needed a miracle if his hand were to return to normal. But healing on the Sabbath. Talk about taboo. That would break all the rules. Doctors didn’t practice on the Sabbath. They just didn’t. So what would Jesus do? The stage was set. The Pharisees gaped from one side of the courtyard. The man with the withered hand looked pleadingly from the other side of the courtyard. Jesus stood between them. The crowd line both sides watching the standoff.

Jesus knows what the Pharisees are thinking. “Will He dare to break the law again and heal this man on the Sabbath? Let’s see if His compassion overtakes His sense of their Sabbath Law in the temple.”

Jesus says, “Come to me.”

I can see the man staring across the courtyard seeing the eyes of those Pharisees burning into him with raw hatred. He wouldn’t be taking more steps than allowed on this holy day. He was careful to measure his steps so he would have plenty left to cross the courtyard and even go to the pool of Siloam if Jesus asked him to. He planned this day well because he heard Jesus might be here today. His friends had seen Him coming to Jerusalem and so this man hoped beyond hope he would find Jesus here today.

He looked at the Pharisees again. Then he looked at Jesus and into His warm, compassionate eyes. He saw the love He had for all humankind in those eyes. He saw something in His countenance He just couldn’t resist. The Pharisees might ban him from the temple the rest of his days, but he would listen to this gentle man with the power of God resting on Him.

He heard the Jesus’ command ringing in his ears. Looked one more time at that band of Pharisees and compared their religion and lack of joy with the faith of this man who spoke like no other and the joy that radiate from Him. He stepped forward and followed Jesus’ command to come. He saw no other way to find the healing He knew this man could provide. The Pharisees wanted revenge. This man wanted healing and peace.

I expect half the crowd sided with the Pharisees that day. They needed their rules. They needed the regimentation the law gave them. They needed someone to intervene for them because they could not or did not want to live up to the law. So they needed the priests. But Jesus wanted them to have a personal relationship with God. He wanted them to talk to God as if He were their father. That’s what He did and He wanted them to do that too.

Jesus wanted them to look beyond the routine and see the possibilities when you let God take charge and do things out of the ordinary and do God-like things instead of just the things man can do. So part of the crowd stood on the side with the man wanting healing. They needed freedom. They needed healing. They needed peace. They needed real relationship with God instead of just their religion.

So what does that tell us today?

I think it says there will always be those, even within our organized religions that want to keep us trapped in rules and regulations. Even if there are good things that should be done that disrupt the ordinary, those will cry out against those good things because of the rules they live by. And they will consequently lose great blessings and the joy of following Jesus.

I think it says we will occasionally have opportunities to hear Jesus tell us to come to Him, but we will have to overcome the glare and ridicule of some tough opposition. The opposition might be fierce and even do everything in its power to destroy us, but if we will stand faithful and follow Jesus’ command, the reward will be well worth it in the end.

I think it says we have two choices, we can cower to the influence of those who want to rule our lives with the way things have always been whether right or wrong and find their favor, or we can follow God and find His favor. There are but two choices. Like the man with the withered hand, make the right one. 

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.

Through the eyes of faith (Matthew 23:34-39) May 28, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Luke 7-8

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 23:34-39
Jesus: That is why I am sending you prophets and wise men, teachers of breadth and depth and substance. You will kill some of them and crucify others. You will flog others in your synagogues. You will pursue them from town to town. And on your heads, stained through your hands and drenching your clothes, my friends, will be all the righteous blood ever shed on this earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah whom you murdered in the house of the Lord between the sanctuary and the altar. I tell you: this generation will bear the blood of all that has gone before.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. You kill the prophets whom God gives you; you stone those God sends you. I have longed to gather your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you refuse to be gathered. Surely you can see that God has already removed His blessing from the house of Israel. I tell you this: you will not see Me again until you say, with the psalmist, “Anyone who comes in the name of the Eternal One will be blessed.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I grew up in a parsonage. And I was ordained in my denomination twenty-five years ago, myself. So I’ve been around the pulpit a long time. One of the things I’ve learned in that time, is that a lot of people like to have the pastor for lunch. I’m not talking about inviting the pastor to their house to enjoy a meal together. I’m talking about carving the pastor up and devouring him or her over the dinner table. I didn’t know until I was a teenager how often my dad got criticism about his messages from the faithful few that just had to say something. And it was always the same few. And there were always a few in every congregation.

I discovered when I began filling pulpits the same thing happened. Most people seemed to appreciate what I had to say from the pulpit. It wasn’t always comfortable, but I always try to share what God places on my heart and invariably the message reaches the right people in the congregation. I never preach to individuals, but individuals get God’s message, often in a way I never expected. That’s how God works.

But some people will hand me a note or make a comment or send me an email and let me know I missed the mark. Do I realize the political state of the world today? I really need to preach about that. Do I understand how many people are being killed by gun violence today? I ought to have a sermon about that. Do I know how many babies die in abortions every year? Am I concerned about that?

It’s interesting how many times I’m given sermon topics that someone is sure God has spoken to them about and so is sure I should speak to the congregation about it. Well, it just doesn’t work quite that way. At least it doesn’t work that way in any of the homiletic classes I’ve even taken. So I usually thank them for their concern and let it go. I would hate to be as miserable as they appear when they pick apart sermon topics and miss what I’ve tried to talk about in that day’s message.

I think that’s what Jesus was telling the crowd of teachers and Pharisees gathered around Him that day. God sent teachers and prophets and wise men to them to help them understand God’s message, but instead of listening to their message, they had them for dinner. Criticizing everything those prophets and teachers and wise men tried to do to help them. Those Pharisees thought they knew better. They thought they knew the law better than God knew the law.

Pretty silly, isn’t it? God gave them the law. He sent the prophets. He put the words into the prophet and teachers’ mouths. Why did these governing priests, who continually fought for position and power think they knew more than those God sent?

The answer is pretty simple. The Bible tells us Satan puts a veil over our eyes. The analogy I like to use takes you back to elementary school days. Remember those hidden picture puzzles? The teacher would give us a picture and we would have to find the shovel and the comb and the pail and the apple and umbrella and other objects hidden in the picture. God’s truth in this world is like looking at that hidden picture. Satan has put a veil over our eyes and all we see is the picture until we deliberately exercise our faith in Him.

When we put our faith in God, the hidden objects appear. We see all those things we couldn’t see before. The truth stands out and every time we look at that picture, there are the hidden objects. We can’t help but see them from then on. The truth stares at us. We can try to ignore it, but we can’t. But first, we must exercise our faith in Him. So what are you waiting for? Want to know the truth? It’s there in plain sight. Take another look through the eyes of faith. 

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 a Pharisee? (Matthew 23:23-33) May 27, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Jeremiah 47-52

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 23:23-33
Jesus: So woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees. You hypocrites! You tithe from your luxuries and your spices, giving away a tenth of your mint, your dill, and your cumin. But you have ignored the essentials of the law: justice, mercy, faithfulness. It is practice of the latter that makes sense of the former. You hypocritical, blind leaders. You spoon a fly from your soup and swallow a camel.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You remove fine layers of film and dust from the outside of a cup or bowl, but you leave the inside full of greed and covetousness and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee—can’t you see that if you clean the inside of the cup, the outside will be clean too?

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like a grave that has been whitewashed. You look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside you are full of moldering bones and decaying rot. You appear, at first blush, to be righteous, selfless, and pure; but on the inside you are polluted, sunk in hypocrisy and confusion and lawlessness.

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build monuments to your dead, you mouth pieties over the bodies of prophets, you decorate the graves of your righteous ancestors. And you say, “If we had lived when our forefathers lived, we would have known better—we would not have joined them when they rose up against the prophets.” Even when you are preening, you make plain that you descended from those who murdered our prophets. So why don’t you finish what your forefathers started? You are children of vipers, you belly-dragging snakes. You won’t escape the judgment of hell.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Ouch! Jesus let those Pharisees have it! I’d sure hate to be in their shoes. But have I looked inside to make sure I’m not them? It’s easy for us to point fingers at those hypocrites and talk about how bad they were. But that’s exactly what they did, too. Remember Jesus’ words to them? “You say, ‘If we had lived when our forefathers lived, we would have know better…’” Isn’t that what we say about the Pharisees? If we lived when they lived, we would have known better. We would have followed Jesus. We would have obeyed Him. We would have believed everything He said. Really? Then why don’t we follow His commands now? Why do we have so much trouble listening to His voice now?

Are we so different from the Pharisees? If so, why do so many of us just play at worshiping God? We attend church on Sunday, but forget about Him the rest of the week and do whatever we feel like doing. We think God is pleased with us as long as we give Him that hour on Sunday every once in a while and we have our ticket to heaven. But that’s not what God wants. He wants our total devotion.

We can be such avid sports enthusiasts and build shrines to our favorite teams with rooms filled with paraphernalia. Banners hung on the walls, pillows and blankets and curtains with the team symbols everywhere. We can be such fans we have season tickets and never miss a game. Yet when it comes to God, we find it’s okay to skip devotions or skip church or forget prayers or set aside reading His word. God will understand, right?

Are we so different than those Pharisees? But take a look at the people Jesus criticized. These were the one who took a calculator with them to make sure they gave a tithe, a tenth, of everything to God. When they went to their garden and took out herbs for dinner they weighed them on the scale and set aside a tenth to take to the temple. When they plucked grapes off the vines, the first of every ten grapes when into a separate basket to go to the temple so God would get His tithe. These guys knew the law and lived it. If they accidentally took a wrong turn on the Sabbath and it caused them to approach the limit of their allotted distance for travel on the Sabbath, they would stop where they were and spend the rest of the day on that spot until the Sabbath concluded. Then they would complete their journey.

We might be avid sports fans, but these were avid law fans. They lived every jot and title. Yet Jesus told them they would not escape the judgment of hell. Why? Because they didn’t understand the kingdom of God is about living a relationship with the Almighty, not about keeping a long list of rules. God’s wants our love, and our love is shown through our obedience to His will. He will let us know our position with Him. Just ask Him. The Pharisees knew. Jesus made it pretty clear. If we ask He will let us know.

The question is, will we do something about it. The Pharisees thought they could fix their problem by destroying God’s Son. Of course, their solution didn’t work. The only solution is to come to Him in repentance. Confess who we are and who God is, then turn away from sin and toward Him. Follow the path He lays out for you. That’s the real solution. It works. We never need to hear the woes the Pharisees heard. It just takes listening and doing what God says.

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 catch the woes! (Matthew 23:13-22) May 26, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Job 41-42

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 23:13-22
Jesus: Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. There is such a gulf between what you say and what you do. You will stand before a crowd and lock the door of the kingdom of heaven right in front of everyone; you won’t enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from doing so.

Woe to you, you teachers of the law and Pharisees. What you say is not what you do. You steal the homes from under the widows while you pretend to pray for them. You will suffer great condemnation for this.

Woe to you Pharisees, woe to you who teach the law, hypocrites! You traverse hills and mountains and seas to make one convert, and then when he does convert, you make him much more a son of hell than you are.

Woe to you who are blind but deign to lead others. You say, “Swearing by the temple means nothing, but he who swears by the gold in the temple is bound by his oath.” Are you fools? You must be blind! For which is greater: the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, “Swearing by the altar means nothing, but he who swears by the sacrifice on the altar is bound by his oath.” You must be blind! Which is greater: the sacrifice or the altar that makes it sacred? So anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by the sacrifices and gifts laid upon it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the God who sanctifies it. And when you swear by heaven, you are swearing by God’s throne and by Him who sits upon it.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

These first woes Jesus gives to the leaders of the religion of His countrymen should give us warning about what God does not want to see in His church today. These were the elite according to those who went into the temple and synagogues. These were the teachers and preachers of the day. These were the ones you were told to emulate if you wanted to get on the right side of God’s grace. Yet Jesus had a lot of pretty harsh words for them as you hear this recollection from Matthew.

“What you say is not what you do. You steal the homes out from under widows. You are blind trying to lead others. You don’t understand what is really important in the temple or the rituals you use within the temple.”

How would you like to hear those words from Jesus? Would it make a difference in what you did or how you acted? It didn’t do much for the Pharisees. They just plotted to kill Him and then carried out their plan. Do we do that? I’m afraid sometimes we do. I’m afraid sometimes we get so caught up in what we think is right we refuse to listen to anything else. We won’t even listen to God. We refuse to listen to anything that might disrupt our comfortable position in the world. We want to be first or at least in the top ten and so we disregard any advice from anyone that would disagree with our position.

That’s what happened to the Pharisees. Jesus disagreed with them. He told them their interpretation of God’s word was wrong. He told those they tried to lead they were blind and not worthy of following because they only wanted glory for themselves and not glory for God. They could stand to share the limelight, even with God. As soon as Jesus began to challenge their position, the thing they coveted the most, they did everything they could to destroy Him.

Jesus saw through them, just like He can see through us when we seek glory for ourselves. We can talk a good game and maybe even do some good things for those around us. The Pharisees did. They prayed well. They took up offerings for the poor. It looked like they did great works for all those around them. But Jesus, and the Father knew better. God knew their hearts and the purpose behind their plans and actions. God knew the ego they worked to stroke with every action they took.

So Jesus told them like it is and hoped they would hear and repent. Those words remain for us today so that we can hear and understand and avoid the temptations to which the Pharisees fell. Woe to you Pharisees. Get it right. Do what you preach. If you know God’s word, then do it. Don’t just pray for the widows, but put feet to your prayers and help them. Don’t live a double standard. Be straight up with the people you lead and should be serving. Understand what’s really important. It’s not the rituals and programs you put in place to help you remember God and His grace. It’s His grace. It’s not the monuments we build to remind us about our journey with Him, it’s Him.

Until we recognize God for who He is and bow before Him as the Creator of all things, God, Commander of His Heavenly Armies and King of the universe and all it contains. Until we acknowledge He is God and we are nothing beside Him, we will try to be like those Pharisees, jockeying for position and power instead of giving our all to the King of kings, giving all glory to Him. Don’t be caught catching the woes the Pharisees caught from Jesus.

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

Do what they say, not what they do (Matthew 23:2-12) May 25, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 60-62

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

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 23:2-12
Jesus: The Pharisees and the scribes occupy the seat of Moses. So you should do the things they tell you to do—but don’t do the things they do. They heap heavy burdens upon their neighbors’ backs, and they prove unwilling to do anything to help shoulder the load. They are interested, above all, in presentation: they wrap their heads and arms in the accoutrements of prayer, they cloak themselves with flowing tasseled prayer garments, they covet the seats of honor at fine banquets and in the synagogue, and they love it when people recognize them in the marketplace, call them “Teacher,” and beam at them.

But you: do not let anyone call you “Rabbi,” that is, “Teacher.” For you are all brothers, and you have only one teacher, the Anointed One. Indeed, do not call anyone on earth “Father,” for you have only one father, and He is in heaven. Neither let anyone call you “leader,” for you have one leader—the Anointed One. If you are recognized at all, let it be for your service. Delight in the one who calls you servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

It’s easy to play the church game. We can belong to the biggest, most popular church in the city. We can recite the Apostles’ Creed and the tenets of our doctrine. We can sing in the choir and teach a Bible class. We can be on the church board or council of elders. We can sing the right songs, pray what sounds like holy prayers. We can dress just like the preach and even fill in for him when he is absent. We can do all those things, but does that make us right with God?

Of course the answer is no. God doesn’t look at those things by themselves. He care less about the external trappings and actions that we do to impress others and looks at the inside as to why we do the things we do. Others will see all those things and might even view us as righteous, right with God, on the inside track with Him. But we and God know better. We know if we do those things to impress people or in service to God. We know if our actions please Him or us.

That’s what Jesus was talking about here. The Pharisees appeared to do all the right things. They prayed long prayers in the temple and synagogues. They wore robes that others thought showed their piety, maybe like the robes of the priests and pastors in some of our churches today. They wore headgear that showed the status of their position in the priestly hierarchy. They kept their solemn demeanor in the presence of their parishioners to let them know how serious they were about their faith. These Pharisees let people know they fasted at least twice a week instead of once a week. They let everyone know they prayed three times a day. They let everyone know all about their religious disciplines.

Everyone knew just how great these men were. Or at least they thought they knew. Then Jesus comes along and looks in their heart. He sees why they do the things they do and recognizes the paradox in their actions. None of their demands on the people fit the reasons carried out their own daily behaviors. They wanted others to act the same way they did. None of those actions were wrong. But the reasons were. The Pharisees did all those things to be noticed by men, not God. Jesus says, do them, but do them for God. Let go of the selfish desire to be recognized by others and just be good because God is good.

Jesus says to understand the meaning behind all those rules the Pharisees spout so eloquently. The meaning God intends is to love. Jesus shared the truth behind the rules. They are good, holy, God gave them, so they are right. But as Paul points out, we perverted the rules. We twisted them so that they only point out our sin. The rules can’t lead us to God, but rather, they drive us toward evil. But when we exercise faith in the truth of God’s word, He gives us deeper understanding that leads us to salvation.

God wants our heart. When we give it to Him completely, we will do the things the Pharisees say we should do. We will give. We will help the poor. We will pray. We will study God’s word. We will work tirelessly to build God’s kingdom. We will do all kinds of things willingly for the Creator of the universe. We will do it all with a smile on our face and joy in our heart. Why? Because of the grace He gives us and the grace He enables us to extend to others,

The Pharisees’ words were good, their displays were sometimes right. But their hearts centered on themselves and their satisfaction, not on God. So Jesus tells us don’t be like them. Do what they say, not what they do. Be real, act from your heart in service to God.

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

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

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 42-44

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

Today’s Devotional

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

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 1 Samuel 21-25

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

Today’s Devotional

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

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Genesis 40-43

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

Today’s Devotional

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

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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