Tag Archives: rules

New Commands and a New Covenant, October 2, 2017

Today’s Podcast

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 5, You Version Bible app, days 29 through 35.

In my younger days I thought Leviticus a really boring book of the Bible. I’ll have to admit, it’s still not my favorite, but I’ve come to appreciate its rules and regulations a lot more as I’ve come to understand the bigger picture of God’s Story and His plan for us.

You see, the big picture of God’s story is His incredible desire to live face to face with us. But there is this problem we created. We brought sin into the world. We broke that relationship with Him and He has been working to get it back. But God cannot live where there is sin. So His Story tells us how He is working through history to exact His plan to bring us back into that perfect relationship that existed in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve chose to disobey Him.

An interesting concept we need to understand about having an intimate relationship with God, though, is this. If expect to get along with God, we must be able to get along with each other. My kids hated time out growing up. They knew the rules of the house and when they broke them, that was often where they ended up…timeout. Sitting on the sidelines instead of participating in whatever was going on around them. But my wife and I wanted to have a relatively peaceful home. In fact, I’m not sure my kids ever heard me holler at them. That doesn’t mean I’m the best parent in the world. I was absent a lot because of military service. So much of their good character is my wife’s fault. But she and I decided early that we would enforce the rules and from a very early age, they learned there were consequences for breaking the rules.

Kids need fences. They need to know what the limits are and they need to know those limits are firm. When the boundaries change every day, they get confused. They will test those limits and push them as far as you will let them. Never learning there are consequences for disobedience until one day it is too late and the consequences are much greater than either the child or the parent ever expected.

The same is true for adults, though. We need boundaries, too. We need rules as surely as our children do if we expect to live in community with other people. And that’s why God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai those centuries ago.

The last six of the commandments are not unique. Many cultures had those same rules imposed on their people. It’s how communities ensured people got along with each other. Respect your parents, don’t murder, steal, lie, commit adultery, or covet the things someone else owns. These six commands keep us in check with those that live around us.

The first four commandments were unique to this new nation God was building through His chosen people led by Moses. Keep God first, don’t make any idols or images, honor and respect His name, and set aside a day each week to remember and worship Him. These four rules keep our vertical relationship in perspective. The last four keep our horizontal relationships right.

But we grouse at the commandments. Why do we need rules? Why can’t I do my own thing? Well, we want rules for everyone but me. That’s the thing. In our selfishness, the very core of sin, we want something that holds everyone else in check but don’t want to be bound by those same expectations. And that’s the problem. We don’t want anyone speeding past our yard when the kids are playing, but we don’t want that ticket when we are guilty of the same crime. After all, I’m in complete control of my car at all times, right? I know what I’m doing, right? Wrong.

God gave us the commandments so we could get along with each other. They model the relationship that exists within the trinity. The Father, Son, and Spirit have existed eternally living within these boundaries and know that we can only get along when we observe these same boundaries. So God sets limits on our behavior to help us live in community with each other so that He might restore our community with Him. He wants so desperately to return to those walks in the garden with us.

The rules also told Moses how to build a place for God to stay. He wanted to be right in the middle of this new nation, so Moses constructed a tabernacle, a big tent, for God. If you read about the layout of the camp, the tabernacle was right in the middle of those three million people. Three tribes on the north, three tribes on the east, three tribes on the south, and three tribes on west with the tabernacle smack dab in the middle of the camp. That was where God wanted to be in regard to His new nation.

But the tabernacle also had to be built to perfect specifications. Special wood, special materials, special utensils, special dimensions. Even special people doing the work and handling everything associated with His new house. In fact, the priests could not even go inside because of their sin. God is a holy God. He cannot tolerate sin and will not live in the presence of sin. So when His house was built, not even the priests could go inside when He was present.

Sin was a problem. God gave Moses instructions on how to allow the priest to come into His special sacred spot once a year. He gave him a way for atonement for his sins and the sins of the people. A perfect lamb was sacrificed and its blood shed in atonement for sin.

God pointed toward this act back in the Garden of Eden when He killed some animals and took their skins to make clothing for Adam and Eve. These rules for atonement, shedding the blood of an innocent animal point to something bigger coming when He sacrifices His own son for us. But it tells us the innocent pay for our sin. That’s pretty bad. Adam’s offspring, us, pay the consequences of Adam’s disobedience.

Do you ever think your sins might be hidden? Guess again, the innocent pay for your sins. Your spouse, your children, your neighbors. The innocent pay for your disobedience. And oh, by the way, you pay for the disobedience of someone else! You see we are all in this together. We have to learn to get along. God gave us those rules for a reason. He wants desperately to live among us and walk with us in His garden. But until we can get along with each other, we can never get along with Him.

Jesus said it in answer to the question, “What is the greatest commandment?” “Love your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.” If we can’t love our neighbor who we can see. If we can’t live with each other? How can we expect to live with a holy God?

Why did God give us the Ten Commandments? To show us how the trinity lives and how we should live in community. They prepare us in the furtherance of His bigger picture to live with us again in His perfect dwelling place.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

Music exit

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.

Imposing on our freedoms (John 8:31-32), February 24, 2017

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Have you ever considered just how many laws we must follow every day? Some are so old and archaic they don’t just border on the ridiculous, they fell off the cliff long ago. Here are a couple to consider: It is illegal to milk another person’s cow. The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home. It is illegal for one to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel. Talk about imposing on our freedoms!
Scripture
1. John 8:31-32
2. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Devotional
1. In this country, we talk a lot about freedom. But I think sometimes we have a real misconception about what freedom really means.
  1. Definition: 1.the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial. 2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc. 3. the power to determine action without restraint. 4. political or national independence. 5. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom. 6. exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually followed by from): freedom from fear. 7. the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc.
  2. We can define it, but can we really live within the scope of these words?
  3. Not without infringing on the freedom of someone else except for perhaps the first, at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint
  4. All others are illusions if we live in community with others to maintain order and preservation of the community
2. Look at definitions
  1. Exemption from external control – establish laws and regulations to govern our behavior for the health and safety of the community
  2. Power to determine action without restraint – laws and regulations restrain our actions, cannot do anything we want
  3. Political or national independence – no nation is completely independent in today’s society, we are interdependent because of the trade, commerce, migration of people from state to state, negotiate our freedoms to avoid conflict
  4. Personal liberty – we talk often about the loss of personal liberties: some speech today puts you in jail – hate speech; loss of religious freedoms; debates about what Second Amendment means; even where you live (codes), how much you can make (taxes), and more
  5. Exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually followed by from): freedom from fear – often an emotion that still lingers and we cover with some tools we’ve learned
  6. Absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc. – just as with laws and regulations, we will always live under some kind of laws as long as we live
3. Man’s laws are fickle and always changing, difficult to understand and impossible to follow
4. Follow God, His rules have never changed. Believe in Jesus for forgiveness and life. His spirit will live in you to help you live His within the laws He gives, freedom from the oppression and guilt of the laws that burden others.
  1. Know the rules
  2. Know the spirit of what God wants for your life
  3. Know the truth of who God is and what He wants
  4. Know freedom because of who you belong to and whose rules you fall under
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The importance of the right criteria (John 8:14-18), February 19, 2017

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
How important is the criteria you use to make decisions, to complete projects, or to make judgments? I hope you said pretty important. If you don’t think so, just listen.
Scripture
1. John 8:14-18
2. Jesus: Even if I am making bold claims about Myself—who I am, what I have come to do—I am speaking the truth. You see, I know where I came from and where I will go when I am done here. You know neither where I come from nor where I will go. You spend your time judging by the wrong criteria, by human standards; but I am not here to judge anyone. If I were to judge, then My judgment would be based on truth; but I would not judge anyone alone. I act in harmony with the One who sent Me. Your law states that if the testimonies of two witnesses agree, their testimony is true. Well, I testify about Myself, and so does the Father who sent Me here.
Devotional
1. Have you ever gone through a bunch of papers or files or closets or drawers looking for something only to find out you were looking for the wrong thing. I have to admit, I’ve done that more than once in my lifetime. In fact, I seem to do it a lot more often that I like. What a waste of time, right?
  1. Look for the receipt from a particular company only to find out it’s the wrong company
  2. Look for an address only to find it’s the wrong person
  3. Look for a tool only to find out it’s the wrong tool for the job
2. Justice system is sometimes like that
  1. Every crime has a number of elements that must be proven to find a person guilty of that crime.
  2. Unless all are proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury must find not guilty
  3. Doesn’t mean innocent, but doesn’t meet the criteria for guilty verdict
  4. We get frustrated or angry at verdicts we think are unjust, but those are the criteria we have established to try to keep innocent people from being incarcerated
3. Jesus’ judgments are perfect
  1. Not based on man’s laws
  2. Based on God’s perfect love
  3. Excludes all evil from the Father’s presence maintains His holiness
  4. Perfect judge, perfect accuser, perfect advocate
  5. He made the rules
  6. We perverted them
  7. He judges with grace, mercy, and love
  8. We judge with vengeance, revenge, and at best justice
4. Time to follow the perfect One who will judge us at the end of time; He didn’t come to condemn but to save
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

The games children play (John 5:22-23), January 28, 2017

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
I love to watch children play games. They seldom care about the rules that come in the box. They just make up the rules as they go along and change them to suit themselves if it looks like new rules will benefit them. We’re a lot like that as adults sometimes, too. Perhaps we should consider Jesus words when we apply those rules to life, though..
Scripture
1. John 5:22-23
2. Jesus: The Father does not exert His power to judge anyone. Instead, He has given the authority as Judge to the Son. So all of creation will honor and worship the Son as they do the Father. If you do not honor the Son, then you dishonor the Father who sent Him.
Devotional
1. Children have a tendency to make up their own rules when they play games. Have you ever noticed that?
  1. Board games with grandkids
  2. Discard the rules quickly
  3. Make up rules that will help them win
  4. Change the rules in the middle of the game to suit them
2. We try to do that in life
  1. Rules are given to us by God in His word
  2. We discard them quickly or don’t pay attention to them just like my grandkids with their board games
  3. Try to make up our own rules or change God’s rules to suit us
  4. Creates a problem
3. Imagine baseball or football game where there is no referee or the referee changes the rules at a whim
  1. Create chaos on the field
  2. Rules provide order and direction and guidance in games and life
  3. In sports the referee is the judge for obedience to the rules
  4. In life, we set up courts with judges and juries to determine obedience to our civil laws
4. God gives us some civil laws to live by, but His word is primarily focused on our spiritual well being
  1. Relationship with each other
  2. Relationship with Him
  3. We will be judged based on the spiritual rules He has established and given to us in His word
  4. Jesus, His Son, God in the flesh, has been appointed as our judge
  5. Since He is our judge, it pays to learn and obey His rules
  6. You wouldn’t play college football without reading and understanding the rules, why do we think it’s okay to go through life without doing the same in matters so much more important, things with eternal consequences
5. It’s time we pick up that spiritual manual God has given us. Read it again and again. Get familiar with the things He expects us to do as we journey through this game of life. Then practice those things daily. He is the referee and will be our judge at the end of time. Knowing that, don’t you think it’s time to live by His rules instead of making them up as we go along?
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”

Strange rules (Luke 18:31-33) December 22, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Song of Songs 5-6

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

Today’s Devotional

Luke 18:31-33
Jesus: Look, my friends, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the outsiders. They will mock Him, disgrace Him, and spit on Him; they will scourge Him, and they will kill Him. And on the third day, He will rise from death.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Okay team, we’re headed to the Super Bowl. Here’s how the game will go. Once we get on the field, the other team is going to pound us into the ground. The referees will look the other way and won’t call a single penalty on them, though. In fact, when they run off side plays or have pass interference or blind tackles, we’re the ones that will get the flag, not them. By the end of the first quarter we’ll be down 21 to nothing and by the end of the half the score will be 45 to zip. But don’t get discouraged. That’s just the first half. They won’t be bringing their first string in until the second half, so it’s okay.

In the second half, the first string will be ready to play since we will be pretty tuckered out by then. Most of the team will be broken and bleeding on the sidelines within the first few minutes of the second half. I expect we’ll only be playing with about eight players total by the end of the third quarter. The rest will be benched because of injuries or they will just be so beaten up and exhausted they can’t make it onto the field anymore. But that’s okay. I’ll still be the quarterback and we’ll make it.

So at the end of fourth quarter, all of you will be in the locker room or on the way home. I’ll be the only one on the field and the refs will still be calling the game for our opponents. Nothing will be out of bounds for them. In fact, I expect they’ll even try to bring some brass-knuckles and lead pipes on the field just to make it interesting with only one player opposing them. But that’s okay, too. I’ll still be in the game for you and the Super Bowl will still be televised for everyone to see. So in the last seconds when they kill me and the score is 112 to 3, don’t worry. I’ve got this wrapped up.

You see, the world has these rules they play by, but there is a new owner of the NFL. He just bought all the teams and isn’t allowing any but him to influence or make the rules. He doesn’t really care what the scoreboard says or what the referees think they are doing. He owns the entire franchise now and he sets the rules. When the final whistle blows, he is the one who will hand the cup over to the winning team. He will have watched the whole game from a position where he can see every move, and even hear every word that every player and every coach says.

He’ll know everything that goes on down on the field and will determine who wins in the end. Oh, by the way, he gave everyone the rules a long time ago, but I don’t think very many people read his rule book. They decided to make up their own. That’s why the score will run up the way it will and all of you will need to run away and let them kill me. But like I said, don’t worry. Even though I’m out there not breathing, with no heartbeat, and they decide to bury me, that’s okay. There will be a lot of controversy over the game.

Our opponents will think they won because of the score and all of us gone, but the trophy won’t have been given out yet. So just stick around. This will get interesting. So we play on Friday this year instead of Sunday just to be different. The owner is trying to shake things up a little. And since the game will be pretty brutal and I’ll be a pretty messed up blob of flesh by then, they’ll bury me the same day. But what would normally be game time on Sunday, the trophy will be presented.

And guess who will get the trophy! Me. You guys can join in on the fun later, but I’ll get the trophy and all those guys that thought they won because they scored so heavily on Friday will just stand there with their mouths open. They won’t believe they lost the game, but that’s the way it goes. They didn’t write the rules. The owner of all the teams writes the rules and if you don’t play by his rules, you can’t win. He doesn’t care about scores, he cares about how you play. And since I did everything he asked me to do, I win. Period. End of conversation.

Well, it’s not a super bowl. And it’s not a game. But I hope you get the point. God gave us the rules a long time before any of us were born and He’s watching. He’s the one that determines who wins in the end. In fact, the winner has already been declared. Doesn’t it make sense to be on that team?

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.

There will be a test at the end (Luke 16:15-18) December 10, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Acts 23-24

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

Today’s Devotional

Luke 16:15-18
Jesus (to the Pharisees): You’ve made your choice. Your ambition is to look good in front of other people, not God. But God sees through to your hearts. He values things differently from you. The goals you and your peers are reaching for God detests.
The law and the prophets had their role until the coming of John the Baptist. Since John’s arrival, the good news of the kingdom of God has been taught while people are clamoring to enter it. That’s not to say that God’s rules for living are useless. The stars in the sky and the earth beneath your feet will pass away before one letter of God’s rules for living become worthless.
Take God’s rules regarding marriage for example. If a man divorces his wife and marries somebody else, then it’s still adultery because that man has broken his vow to God. And if a man marries a woman divorced from her husband, he’s committing adultery for the same reason.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Many in our society want to throw out what God’s word says as archaic, meant for another time and another generation. It’s not meant for our progressive, modern society. The people of Jesus’ day had similar ideas. The Pharisees, however, were the church leaders. They tried their best to enforce the laws God had inspired in the writers of the Old Testament. They wanted to make sure all those old rules were followed to the letter of the law and, in fact, they added their own interpretation to those rules so that 612 traditions came along with the Levitical commands God gave Moses on Mt Sinai.

Jesus addressed the Pharisees often about their losing their faith because of their strict enforcement of the rules but their failure to live up to and follow those same rules themselves. But these words of Jesus are pretty interesting and important for our society today. We need to hear these words addressed to the religious leaders because it applies to us just as much as it did to them those 2,000 years ago. Listen carefully to what Jesus had to say once again.

“The law and the prophets had their role until the coming of John the Baptist. Since John’s arrival, the good news of the kingdom of God has been taught while people are clamoring to enter it. That’s not to say that God’s rules for living are useless. The stars in the sky and the earth beneath your feet will pass away before one letter of God’s rules for living become worthless.”

Many want to take that first sentence and stop. They want to conveniently forget the rest of the paragraph. But Jesus didn’t stop talking after the first sentence. The role of the law and prophets changed, but they didn’t go away. Before John the Baptist came to herald the coming of Christ and the kingdom of God to earth, the law and prophets set the boundaries of behavior and condemned the actions of men and women in community. It told us how to live together in society and what God’s standards for living were. The law and prophets pointed out the evil in us.

But their role changed when Christ came on the scene. When He died for us and His spirit came to live in us when we let Him, His laws are written on our heart. It’s a law of love. Remember what He told the scribe who asked about the greatest commandment? Love God and love your neighbor, every other commandment rests on these two as their foundation. But we can’t love the way He wants us to love until He lives in us and we let Him control our lives. When He does, He writes His laws on our hearts. His laws don’t go away. They transform us. His rules don’t disappear, they become an integral part of who we are because He becomes an integral part of us.

All of the don’t do this and don’t do that kind of evil rules of living get turned around to do this and do that kind of good because you love God and love others the way He loves. The world gets turned upside down because you begin to see the way He sees. He lives in you and you become part of Him just as He is part of you. The rules didn’t change, you do. The guidance doesn’t change, you do. The taboos don’t change, you do. The things that He says will destroy your life don’t change, you just don’t desire them any more. God transforms our thinking because He wants to live in a temple – us – that remains pure and clean and holy. So He changes us. He wants us to be that vessel.

Is adultery still wrong? Yes. Is homosexuality still wrong? Yes. Is theft still wrong? Yes. Is lying and cheating and stealing and desecrating the Sabbath and disrespect for you parents and murder and breaking all the other commandments still wrong? Yes. These things hurt not just the one committing the sin, but they hurt the community in which they are committed. Just look around at the state of our society and it’s not hard to see that thinking it’s okay to throw out the commandments is okay has led to total decay across our land.

God’s laws will not go away before the stars in the sky or the earth beneath your feet disappear. It might be worth while to brush up on them. There will be a test at the end.

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 some good today (Luke 6:9-10) September 29, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Proverbs 26-27

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

Today’s Devotional

Luke 6:9-10
Jesus: Here’s a question for you: On the Sabbath Day, is it lawful to do good or to do harm? Is it lawful to save life or to destroy it?
He turned His gaze to each of them, one at a time. Then He spoke to the man.
Jesus: Stretch your hand out.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus made a habit of doing good. He also made a habit of going to the synagogue or the temple on the Sabbath. He knew the importance of both. He knew we were created to do good for others as a demonstration of the love God pours into our lives individually and collectively. It’s important to show God’s love through actively doing good for others. The Pharisees, though, began to obscure the lines. They didn’t understand the two fit together the way Jesus did. They knew we should do good for others, but not at the expense of the Sabbath rules.

Are we guilty of the same, today? Do we let rules get in the way of doing what’s right? The Pharisees’ traditions about how far you could walk, how much weight you could carry, what kind of activities you could perform, all led to this farce concerning the purpose of the Sabbath. Jesus knew the Sabbath was created for our good. To make sure we rested from our labor and recovered from the toil that came as part of the curse on humanity for the sin of Adam’s race. We needed that day of rest and a reminder that God gives us our both our purpose and our ability to carry out that purpose.

The scribes and Pharisees, those who should have known best, perverted the Sabbath and made it something God never intended it to be. They made it a burden just to make it through the day without violating one of the many rules the religious rulers set in place. There were so many, it was impossible to keep up with them and many of them didn’t make sense even to God. Like allowing a person to get his ox out of a ditch on the Sabbath, but not allowing that same person to take a meal to a sick friend on the Sabbath. How does that make sense? Isn’t it more effort to get the ox out of the ditch? And aren’t people more important than oxen?

Do we do what the scribes and Pharisees did and pervert God’s intent for our setting aside time to remember Him? Do we forget that our purpose is to worship Him and demonstrate His love for us by doing good for others? Do we focus on rules instead of doing good and get those roles reversed? Do we get so hung up on our petty traditions that we forget that people are the most important thing around us?

It’s a lesson that’s so easy to forget. I think that’s why the gospels included this story. I’m not sure Jesus intended to heal anyone that day. I’m not sure He expected to face down the Pharisees once again on that Sabbath day, but then again, He’s God, so He might have known all about it. In any event, Jesus saw the opportunity to help a man in need. He saw the chance to do good for someone and He took it. Why? Because doing good for others is how we can best demonstrate God’s love.

Did Jesus break the Sabbath? Not so sure He did. Paul and the writer of Hebrews say Jesus was sinless. If that’s so, then His actions on the Sabbath certainly did’t constitute sin. And if His actions on that Sabbath day were in violation of the fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, then it would have been a sin, right? So what the Pharisees saw as wrong in their perverted sense of what it meant to keep the Sabbath and what God intended for us in keeping the Sabbath are obviously in opposition to each other.

So which pattern should we follow? The rules and regulations that burden us and make us look pious to those around us or those that Jesus showed us, doing good for others? I think the answer is clear. Does that mean we should go out and work to make a living on the Sabbath? There are some that must work on the day that some hold as the Sabbath. Firefighters, police, healthcare workers, and a host of others don’t have a choice as they provide essential services to our community. But many of us do have a choice and should set aside a regular day to stop and remember God and recover from our routine labor.

Jesus said it best, the Sabbath was made for us, not the other way around. It was made as a time for us to not just consider God and His love, but to demonstrate it to a world that needs it so much. Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or harm? It’s a pretty easy answer. Go do some good for someone today and everyday.

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.

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

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

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.

We need the Sabbath (Mark 2:25-28) July 13, 2016

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 81-83

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

Today’s Devotional

Mark 2:25-28
Jesus (turning toward the Pharisees): Do you remember the story about what King David and his followers did when they were hungry and had nothing to eat?
They said nothing, so He continued.
Jesus: David went into the house of God, when Abiathar was the high priest, and ate the bread that was consecrated to God. Now our laws say no one but the priests can eat that holy bread; but when David was hungry, he ate and also shared the bread with those who followed him.
The Sabbath was made for the needs of human beings, and not the other way around. So the Son of Man is Lord even over the Sabbath.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I wonder how many of our religious rules and regulations we get wrong. The Pharisees, the priests, the scribes, those in positions of authority within the constructs of the religious order of the day built their whole existence on upholding and enforcing their understanding of those rules. If people didn’t believe in those rules or live by them at least most of the time, then their livelihood disappeared.

The Mosaic law described how the priests and the tribe of Levi would gain its wealth. They would get a portion of most of the sacrifices the people made to God. That was their pay as the intermediaries for God. It was their wages for caring for the tabernacle and then the temple and the synagogues after the desporia. If those rules and regulations fell apart, how would the priests and scribes make a living? They might have to figure out some other kind of work to feed their families.

It wasn’t that the work of the priesthood was easy. They often started their day at two or three in the morning to begin preparing the fires for the altar, sharpening the knives, cleaning the utinsels used for the various rituals of the day. The traffic in and out of the temple every day was pretty significant. It was much more than the town hall or the city court house or even the nation’s supreme court. This place was the center of everything for the Jews. So things were busy and the priests and their families were responsible for keeping it running smoothly.

So we might understand a little about why the Pharisees came down so hard on Jesus and His disciples. They were breaking the rules. God said not to work on the Sabbath and they grabbed a handful of grain as they walked through the field because they were hungry. The Pharisees considered taking that handful of grain off the stalk harvesting so they were breaking the Sabbath.

But the Pharisees forgot why the Sabbath came about in the first place. God didn’t get tired and need rest after He brought everything into creation on those first six days. He set aside the seventh day for humankind to rest. God has infinite energy and power. He doesn’t sleep. He doesn’t rest. He doesn’t take a day off. But He knows that we need to stop from our labors and remember who brought all of this into being in the first place.

Part of our problem today is we somehow forgot about taking time off to remember God and His goodness to us. I don’t think it really matters what day of the week it is, we just need to stop and spend time remembering Him. And that hour and a half on Sunday morning doesn’t cut it if that’s all the time we give to Him. We need to stop, slow down, quit our busy-ness, set aside time to meditate on God and the blessings He gives us. We need to remember the Sabbath, not as a day on which we must follow a bunch of dos and don’ts, but as a time to worship and praise our Redeemer.

I wonder what would happen if we started remembering the Sabbath again? I’m not too sure we know how anymore. What if we spent one whoe day in worship and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ relaxing in the company of each other, hopefully safe from the evils of the world as we share in that one day together each week? What if we stopped doing all our household chores and our shopping and our sports and other activities we didn’t have time for during the other six days of the week and spent that whole day on things related to our salvation instead of on things related to ourselves? Would that make a difference in our spiritual lives? Would it change the dynamics of our families? Would it change our churches?

The Sabbath isn’t about making or breaking rules and regulations. Jesus made that clear when He spoke to the Pharisees that day. But have we gone too far by just forgetting it all together? Maybe it’s time we pull out that Exodus verse and see what it’s all about again. Maybe it’s time we remember God set aside a day for us to focus on Him instead of doing the things we usually do every day. Jesus said the Sabbath was made for the needs of human beings. It’s about time we start realizing just how much we need to use that day.

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

Leave a reply

Today’s Podcast

Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

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.