http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+9/
Jesus gives the disciples power and authority over all demons and power and authority to cure all diseases. He then sends them out in all directions with instructions not to take anything, not even a change of clothes. When they reach a town, they are to stay in someone's house until they are ready to leave, but if they are not welcome in the town, they should leave, shaking the dust off the sandals as a warning. The disciples did what Jesus said and travelled around curing illnesses. We are called to go out with nothing but the clothes on our backs to teach the gospel, and if the Holy Spirit has blessed us with the ability, to cast out demons and cure illnesses where we see them. Keep in mind we are not all called to this, and we are not called to live like this always. The disciples do this for a short time. Often, when people go on mission trips, especially to poor countries, they come back with less stuff than they set out with because God breaks their hearts for those people. In this way, the people are similarly going with just the clothes on their backs.
Herod, the ruler over the region at the time, heard all sorts of rumors about Jesus from the people. Some said He was John the Baptist come back to life. Others said He was the prophet Elijah, and still others said He was one of the other old prophets come back to life. When Herod heard all of this, shortly after he beheaded John the Baptist, he wanted to know who Jesus really was. Even when people hear some of the story, God can use that to spark an interest to learn more. While Herod rejects Jesus and His message, some in his courts might have believed because what they originally heard, though inaccurate, sparked an interest and caused them to want to know more.
The next story is very well known and can be found in all four gospels. In this story, Jesus feeds five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. When He had tried to escape the crowds to be alone with His disciples, the people still found Him, so He taught them all day. As it got late, the disciples told Jesus that He should let them go to the nearest town to buy food. Jesus said the disciples will provide food for all the men. That must have been pretty scary for them to think about because there were five thousand men (no count on women and children), and the disciples had almost no money. They told Jesus all they had was five loaves of bread and two fish, so He took the food from them, blessed it through prayer, and began passing it around. I really wish I could see this in action because they kept passing and passing until every person had their fill of food. Then, they collected the leftovers and had twelve baskets of food. Imagine the sight! God will always provide for those who believe in Him. He will take care of all your needs (wants is a different story). I still hear stories today of people who thought they were in a bind because they couldn't get something they needed, but God came through for them.
Jesus prays with His disciples privately one day and asks them who the people say He is. They answer that some say He is John the Baptist, Elijah, or one of the other prophets brought back to life. When He asks them who they think He is, Peter answers that He is the Messiah. He instructs them not to tell anyone. People need to discover who Jesus is on their own. Our job is to proclaim the wonders that He has done, but only Jesus can have people accept Him as their savior. Only He has that power.
Jesus foretells His own death. He says that the Son of Man will be rejected by the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders. They will execute HIm, but He will come back to life on the third day.
Next, Jesus tells the disciples that in order to follow Him, they must reject what they want, pick up their crosses every day, and follow Him. It is an interesting choice for Jesus to use the word cross here because He will later be killed on the cross. Jesus doesn't give much instruction about how to be with Him except that the must follow Him. Once people begin to follow Jesus, they begin to see the difference that He makes in lives. When Jesus talks about taking up our crosses, He means that we must metaphorically die to ourselves everyday because in those days, the cross had only one meaning, death. We, ourselves, have desire for only the evil and sinful things. You can point out people who are not Christian who do a lot of good, but if you were to look at their desires, it would probably be for you to look at them doing the good things they do. He talks about how people who want to save their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives will save them. What He means is that, again, you have to relinquish who you are and take up who Jesus is. Some people say they want to be who Jesus wants them to be, and that's good, but who Jesus really wants you to be is the person that is as close to Him in thoughts and acts as possible. What good is gaining the whole world if you lose your life? If people are ashamed of Jesus, Jesus says that He is ashamed of them. Jesus speaks of eternal life when He tells the disciples that some of them will not die until they see the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a mountain where He goes to pray. The three disciples go to sleep, and Jesus prays. While He prays, His appearance changes, and His body begins to glow. Moses and Elijah appear, and the three of them discuss Jesus' coming death and the prophecies it will fulfill. The three disciples awaken while the others are talking, and Peter, not quite thinking clearly, says that he, James, and John will set up three tents: one for Jesus, one for Elijah, and one for Moses. He though this was a great opportunity to change some people's minds about Jesus, but he didn't understand that what he saw was for his benefit. A dark cloud comes over them, and a voice says, "This is my son whom I have chose. Listen to Him!" When the clouds lift, the three disciples see Jesus is standing alone.
The next story proves that their are some matters that only Jesus can take care of. As Jesus is coming down from the mountain, a man shouts to Him and begs Him to heal his son. A demon comes and makes the boy shriek, convulse, and foam at the mouth. The disciples have tried to heal him but can't. Jesus asks how long He must be with these unbelieving people. The boy comes towards Jesus, but the demon throws him to the ground. Jesus commands the demon to leave, and the boy is cured. All the people were amazed at the power of God.
Jesus tells the disciples that He will be betrayed and handed over to the people. He seems to be telling of His death in reverse order. The disciples do not know what He means because God has kept the meaning from them for the time being, and they are too afraid to ask Jesus what He means.
The disciples begin to bicker about who among them will be the greatest. Jesus know what they are talking about and takes a small child next to Him. He tells them that the one who welcomes the little child in Jesus' name will welcome in Jesus, and the one who welcomes in Jesus, welcomes God. Whoever is least among them, will become greatest. What He means is that whoever serves the case of those who are in need, in Jesus' day mainly children, the elderly, the crippled, etc., in Jesus' name welcome Jesus Himself because His heart goes out to those people. The last thing Jesus says means that the people who lower themselves in service, for example Mother Teresa, for Jesus will be greatest in Heaven because they are saving their reward for that time.
John tells Jesus that the disciples saw someone forcing demons out of people in Jesus' name, but the disciples tried to stop him because he was not one of the twelve. Jesus told them that whoever is not against them is for them. Jesus draws a very definite line. Either we are for Him or against Him. There is no middle ground.
Jesus decides He needs to go to Jerusalem before He dies, so as He and His disciples head that way, some of them go ahead to find a place for Jesus to stay, but the people reject Him because He is going to Jerusalem. The Samaritans and the Jews, who live mostly in Jerusalem, hated each other because of religious differences. When John and James heard this, they asked Jesus is He wanted them to call on fire to rain on the city. Jesus corrects them by saying that they don't know what spirit just overcame them. Jesus came to save lives, not destroy them. They then move on to another city.
This chapter ends with a story of three men who try to follow Jesus but don't have what it takes. The first asks to follow Him, and Jesus tells him foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest His head. Jesus asks a second man to follow Him, but he asks to go bury his father first, a common act of respect, but Jesus tells Him to let the dead take care of the dead. A third man says he will follow Jesus after he tells his family good bye. Jesus tells him that a person cannot begin the journey and look back.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Luke 8
http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+8/
Jesus travels around with the twelve and many others. Among them, there are many women who Jesus has cured. Mary Magdalene; Joanna, the wife of Herod's manager, and Susanna, who has nothing else written about her. This is a big deal because women at the time had very low status, but everyone matters to Jesus because He looks first and foremost at the heart. Then, Jesus tells on of His parables. He talks of a farmer who throws seed. Some of it lands on the path where birds eat it, some of it lands in the rocks where it can't take root, some of it lands among weeds that choke it out, and some falls on good soil and reaps a hundred times what is sown. Jesus calls a lot of attention to this because He tells all who can hear with their ears to hear this. The disciples don't quite understand what Jesus is talking about in His parable, so He breaks it down for them. The seed is the word of God. The seed on the path represents those who hear the Word, but the devil comes and takes it away before they are saved. The seed in the rocks represents the people who hear the Word but take no root in Jesus , so when the testing comes, they fall away. The seed in the roots represents those who hear the Word and believe but let life's worries choke their faith away. The seed on the good soil represent those who hear the Word, retain it, and through perseverance produce a crop.
Jesus talks about putting a lamp on a stand to reveal what is hidden. He speaks of Judgement Day when everything will be revealed, no matter how well you hide it, Jesus knows where it is. We must be careful that our teaching are in the Truth. To have faith and neglect it is to lose it.
Jesus' mother and brothers come to see Him, but there is such a crowd around Jesus that they cannot see Him. Someone in the crowd tells Him, and He responds by saying anyone who takes His Word and puts it into practice is His mother or brother.
Jesus and His disciples cross a lake in a boat. Jesus falls asleep on the journey before a huge storm hits. The boat looks like it will be overtaken, and the disciples wake Jesus up because they are afraid. Jesus, and I like the wording Luke uses, rebukes the storm. Then, He turns to the disciples and asks where their faith is. They have seem to forgotten who they follow. Often times, we forget who we follow, and Jesus has to take control and ask us where our faith is. The disciples respond by asking each other who Jesus can be that even the winds obey Him. I think this is where they start to get the power of the one they serve. They seem to understand for the first time what all of Jesus' teachings apex to.
Jesus went to the town across the lake from Galilee. When He stepped out of the boat, a demon possessed man was waiting for Him. The man had not worn clothes or lived in a house for a long time. Instead, he lived in the tombs. His name as legion. The demons asked what Jesus, the Son of God, wanted with them. Even the demons know who Jesus is. Admitting who He is does not get you salvation. You have to place your sole faith in Him. Jesus commanded the demons to leave multiple times, but they seized the man, begging Jesus not to send them to the abyss. Sometimes, our sins or demons or habits resist Jesus, but He is stronger, and He has more power, so He will drive them away. They asked Him instead to go to the herd of pigs nearby. Jesus allowed them, and the herd ran into the lake and drowned. When the pig herders saw this, they told the towns people. The towns people found the formerly demon possessed man dressed and in his right mind sitting at Jesus' feet. The towns people feared Jesus because of this and sent Him away. So Jesus got in a boat and left. The people witnessed a miracle as demons were driven from a man, but instead of being pleased and finding hope in Jesus, they feared Him. There are times when some people fear change so much that they even reject the good change such as Jesus coming to heal them. The man wants to go a Ross the lake with Jesus, but Jesus sends him home to tell people about what God has done for him. God has a plan for how to use each of His followers, and sometimes His plan differs from ours.
A synagogue leader named Jairus came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his daughter. As Jesus was on His way to Jairus's house, the crowds pressed tight against Him. Here, we have a story within a story. The original story gets interrupted for a few verses. In this way, God causes interruptions in our lives to do big things. Also, we can never be so much of an interruption to Jesus that His will is not done or that He misses out on an opportunity to do a good work. There is a woman in the crowd who has suffered chronic bleeding for twelve years. She reached out and touched the edge of Jesus' cloak and was healed. Jesus stopped in the middle of all of this and demanded to know who touched Him. The woman eventually realized she could not hide and stepped forward. She told what happened to her. No doctors could heal this woman. She was a reject from society because anyone who touched her would become dirty. Yet when she touched Jesus, He was clean enough for both of them. She brought her issue to Jesus even though it had been going on for twelve years. He instantly cured it. He was aware of the change. He this story ends and we pick the Jairus story back up. A servant comes from his house to tell him the daughter is dead. Jesus goes on anyway. He tells the mourners outside the house not to mourn for the girl because she is only asleep. The people laugh at Him. When He goes inside, He only allows Peter, John, James, and the girl's parents inside. He touches her hand and tells her to wake up, and she does. Jesus goes after what seems like a hopeless cause and brings back the hope and life. When He talks to the mourners, they think He's crazy because what He tells the doesn't make sense to them. So often Jesus tells us He can make a difference in our lives and we write Him off before we give Him a chance, and more often then not, He'll prove us wrong.
Jesus travels around with the twelve and many others. Among them, there are many women who Jesus has cured. Mary Magdalene; Joanna, the wife of Herod's manager, and Susanna, who has nothing else written about her. This is a big deal because women at the time had very low status, but everyone matters to Jesus because He looks first and foremost at the heart. Then, Jesus tells on of His parables. He talks of a farmer who throws seed. Some of it lands on the path where birds eat it, some of it lands in the rocks where it can't take root, some of it lands among weeds that choke it out, and some falls on good soil and reaps a hundred times what is sown. Jesus calls a lot of attention to this because He tells all who can hear with their ears to hear this. The disciples don't quite understand what Jesus is talking about in His parable, so He breaks it down for them. The seed is the word of God. The seed on the path represents those who hear the Word, but the devil comes and takes it away before they are saved. The seed in the rocks represents the people who hear the Word but take no root in Jesus , so when the testing comes, they fall away. The seed in the roots represents those who hear the Word and believe but let life's worries choke their faith away. The seed on the good soil represent those who hear the Word, retain it, and through perseverance produce a crop.
Jesus talks about putting a lamp on a stand to reveal what is hidden. He speaks of Judgement Day when everything will be revealed, no matter how well you hide it, Jesus knows where it is. We must be careful that our teaching are in the Truth. To have faith and neglect it is to lose it.
Jesus' mother and brothers come to see Him, but there is such a crowd around Jesus that they cannot see Him. Someone in the crowd tells Him, and He responds by saying anyone who takes His Word and puts it into practice is His mother or brother.
Jesus and His disciples cross a lake in a boat. Jesus falls asleep on the journey before a huge storm hits. The boat looks like it will be overtaken, and the disciples wake Jesus up because they are afraid. Jesus, and I like the wording Luke uses, rebukes the storm. Then, He turns to the disciples and asks where their faith is. They have seem to forgotten who they follow. Often times, we forget who we follow, and Jesus has to take control and ask us where our faith is. The disciples respond by asking each other who Jesus can be that even the winds obey Him. I think this is where they start to get the power of the one they serve. They seem to understand for the first time what all of Jesus' teachings apex to.
Jesus went to the town across the lake from Galilee. When He stepped out of the boat, a demon possessed man was waiting for Him. The man had not worn clothes or lived in a house for a long time. Instead, he lived in the tombs. His name as legion. The demons asked what Jesus, the Son of God, wanted with them. Even the demons know who Jesus is. Admitting who He is does not get you salvation. You have to place your sole faith in Him. Jesus commanded the demons to leave multiple times, but they seized the man, begging Jesus not to send them to the abyss. Sometimes, our sins or demons or habits resist Jesus, but He is stronger, and He has more power, so He will drive them away. They asked Him instead to go to the herd of pigs nearby. Jesus allowed them, and the herd ran into the lake and drowned. When the pig herders saw this, they told the towns people. The towns people found the formerly demon possessed man dressed and in his right mind sitting at Jesus' feet. The towns people feared Jesus because of this and sent Him away. So Jesus got in a boat and left. The people witnessed a miracle as demons were driven from a man, but instead of being pleased and finding hope in Jesus, they feared Him. There are times when some people fear change so much that they even reject the good change such as Jesus coming to heal them. The man wants to go a Ross the lake with Jesus, but Jesus sends him home to tell people about what God has done for him. God has a plan for how to use each of His followers, and sometimes His plan differs from ours.
A synagogue leader named Jairus came to Jesus and asked Him to heal his daughter. As Jesus was on His way to Jairus's house, the crowds pressed tight against Him. Here, we have a story within a story. The original story gets interrupted for a few verses. In this way, God causes interruptions in our lives to do big things. Also, we can never be so much of an interruption to Jesus that His will is not done or that He misses out on an opportunity to do a good work. There is a woman in the crowd who has suffered chronic bleeding for twelve years. She reached out and touched the edge of Jesus' cloak and was healed. Jesus stopped in the middle of all of this and demanded to know who touched Him. The woman eventually realized she could not hide and stepped forward. She told what happened to her. No doctors could heal this woman. She was a reject from society because anyone who touched her would become dirty. Yet when she touched Jesus, He was clean enough for both of them. She brought her issue to Jesus even though it had been going on for twelve years. He instantly cured it. He was aware of the change. He this story ends and we pick the Jairus story back up. A servant comes from his house to tell him the daughter is dead. Jesus goes on anyway. He tells the mourners outside the house not to mourn for the girl because she is only asleep. The people laugh at Him. When He goes inside, He only allows Peter, John, James, and the girl's parents inside. He touches her hand and tells her to wake up, and she does. Jesus goes after what seems like a hopeless cause and brings back the hope and life. When He talks to the mourners, they think He's crazy because what He tells the doesn't make sense to them. So often Jesus tells us He can make a difference in our lives and we write Him off before we give Him a chance, and more often then not, He'll prove us wrong.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Luke 7
http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+7/
The next story is that of a centurion, whose favorite servant falls ill. He sends Jewish elders to Jesus to ask Him to save the man's life. They pleaded with Jesus because the man was wellcrespected in Israel. Jesus went back to the man's house, but before He got there, the man sent out more people. They delivered a message from the centurion saying that he is not worthy to have Jesus in His house. He is not even worthy to go to Him, which is why the centurion sent others to ask. The centurion says he also is under authority and commands soldiers. He tells them to come and go, and they listen. In the same way, the centurion knows that Jesus does not even need to go inside to heal the man. Jesus is amazed by the man's faith, and when He sends the others back to the centurion, they find the servant is well again. This man, who was not Jewish, knew that Jesus was Lord, and he knew he was undeserving of the Lord's healing, but he asked anyway because he had faith that Jesus would come through for him. Jesus was amazed by this faith and provided healing. None of us is worthy of the Lord's healing, but He heals us anyway if we just have faith enough in Him to ask.
As He was traveling with many followers, Jesus came across a funeral procession in which the only son of a widow had died. When Jesus saw this, He had compassion on her and stopped the procession to raise the boy to life and give him back to his mother. Sometimes, God does great miracles in our lives even without us asking. Most of the healing Jesus does is from people who ask Him, but this mother never asked. Jesus stopped this funeral procession already in motion to bring the boy back to life. Jesus does this all the time. People heading off to their graves already playing their funeral songs are interrupted by Jesus and brought back to life. And here again Jesus sets an example of compassion for us to follow. He has compassion and goes to the woman. He doesn't stay on the other side of the street. Compassion requires action. When we see someone, and our hearts go out to them, we need to take compassion through an action.
John the Baptist heard about all the thigs Jesus has done, so he sent to of his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the Messaiah. Jesus healed many people in their prescence and told the servants to tell John to report what they had seen. The blind see, deaf hear, lame walk, dead live, and good news proclaimed to the poor. After they had left, Jesus spoke about John the Baptist. He said that John is the greatest man who has ever lived, yet even the least in Heaven is greater than Him. Jesus says that John the Baptist is more than a prophet. He has been prophesied about as the messenger who comes before Jesus. Many people there believed in Jesus then because they had been baptized by John, but the Pharisees still maintained their unbelief because they had not been baptized by John. Jesus told them that John came neither eating nor drinking, and they called him possessed, and Jesus came eating and drinking and they called Him a glutton and a drunkard who hung out with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus compares them to children because God has offered them so much, and they have rejected it all.
Jesus goes to eat a a Pharisee's house. A sinful woman hears of this and takes her bottle of perfume to go see Him. She washes Jesus' feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair. Then, she pours the perfume on them. The Pharisee thinks to himself that Jesus would not be so pleased if He knew who the woman was and what she'd done. Jesus, knowing this, tells the Pharisee a story of a moneylender who had two men owe him money. One owed five hundred and the other fifty. The moneylender forgave both debts. Then Jesus asked the Phariseemwhich person loved the moneylender more. The Pharisee correctly guesses the one with the bigger debt. Jesus then says that the Phariseemgave Jesus no water for His feet, but the woman washed them with her tears and hair. He did not pour perfume on His head, but the woman poured it on His feet. The Pharisee did not kiss Jesus, but the woman repeatedly kissed His feet. Jesus tells the woman that because of her great love for Jesus, her sins are forgiven. The people are amazed and ask Amon themselves who Jesus could be to even forgive sins.
The next story is that of a centurion, whose favorite servant falls ill. He sends Jewish elders to Jesus to ask Him to save the man's life. They pleaded with Jesus because the man was wellcrespected in Israel. Jesus went back to the man's house, but before He got there, the man sent out more people. They delivered a message from the centurion saying that he is not worthy to have Jesus in His house. He is not even worthy to go to Him, which is why the centurion sent others to ask. The centurion says he also is under authority and commands soldiers. He tells them to come and go, and they listen. In the same way, the centurion knows that Jesus does not even need to go inside to heal the man. Jesus is amazed by the man's faith, and when He sends the others back to the centurion, they find the servant is well again. This man, who was not Jewish, knew that Jesus was Lord, and he knew he was undeserving of the Lord's healing, but he asked anyway because he had faith that Jesus would come through for him. Jesus was amazed by this faith and provided healing. None of us is worthy of the Lord's healing, but He heals us anyway if we just have faith enough in Him to ask.
As He was traveling with many followers, Jesus came across a funeral procession in which the only son of a widow had died. When Jesus saw this, He had compassion on her and stopped the procession to raise the boy to life and give him back to his mother. Sometimes, God does great miracles in our lives even without us asking. Most of the healing Jesus does is from people who ask Him, but this mother never asked. Jesus stopped this funeral procession already in motion to bring the boy back to life. Jesus does this all the time. People heading off to their graves already playing their funeral songs are interrupted by Jesus and brought back to life. And here again Jesus sets an example of compassion for us to follow. He has compassion and goes to the woman. He doesn't stay on the other side of the street. Compassion requires action. When we see someone, and our hearts go out to them, we need to take compassion through an action.
John the Baptist heard about all the thigs Jesus has done, so he sent to of his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the Messaiah. Jesus healed many people in their prescence and told the servants to tell John to report what they had seen. The blind see, deaf hear, lame walk, dead live, and good news proclaimed to the poor. After they had left, Jesus spoke about John the Baptist. He said that John is the greatest man who has ever lived, yet even the least in Heaven is greater than Him. Jesus says that John the Baptist is more than a prophet. He has been prophesied about as the messenger who comes before Jesus. Many people there believed in Jesus then because they had been baptized by John, but the Pharisees still maintained their unbelief because they had not been baptized by John. Jesus told them that John came neither eating nor drinking, and they called him possessed, and Jesus came eating and drinking and they called Him a glutton and a drunkard who hung out with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus compares them to children because God has offered them so much, and they have rejected it all.
Jesus goes to eat a a Pharisee's house. A sinful woman hears of this and takes her bottle of perfume to go see Him. She washes Jesus' feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair. Then, she pours the perfume on them. The Pharisee thinks to himself that Jesus would not be so pleased if He knew who the woman was and what she'd done. Jesus, knowing this, tells the Pharisee a story of a moneylender who had two men owe him money. One owed five hundred and the other fifty. The moneylender forgave both debts. Then Jesus asked the Phariseemwhich person loved the moneylender more. The Pharisee correctly guesses the one with the bigger debt. Jesus then says that the Phariseemgave Jesus no water for His feet, but the woman washed them with her tears and hair. He did not pour perfume on His head, but the woman poured it on His feet. The Pharisee did not kiss Jesus, but the woman repeatedly kissed His feet. Jesus tells the woman that because of her great love for Jesus, her sins are forgiven. The people are amazed and ask Amon themselves who Jesus could be to even forgive sins.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Luke 6
www.esvbible.org/Luke+6/
The disciples go through a field on a sabbath plucking wads of grain and eating them. The Pharisees see them doing this and ask Jesus why they do this because there is supposed to be no sort of work on the sabbath, and they consider plucking grain to be work. Jesus recounts a story from scripture in which King David and his men go into the temple and eat the bread reserved for the priest. This is the man after God's own heart. He did so out of necessity, just as the disciples now eat. Then, Jesus tells them the the Son of Man is The Lord of the Sabbath. It is a statement that serves dual purposes. First, Jesus states (albeit a little shroudedly) that He is the Son of Man, and second, He reminds the Pharisees that the sabbath is not about just simply following rules as they had been a accustomed to using it for, but the true purpose, which they had lost sight of, is actually to worship and be mindful of God.
The Pharisees try to catch Jesus doing wrong again on another sabbath day. Jesus taught at a synagogue where a man with a paralyzed right hand worshipped. The Pharisees wanted to see if Jesus would heal the man so they could accuse Him of doing something wrong. Jesus, however, knew what they were trying to do, so He called them out. He brought the man to the center of the synagogue and asked all the people what the sabbath should be used for: doing good or doing evil, giving a man health or destroying him. Then, He healed the man. Again, the Pharisees did not recognize what the sabbath is truly for because they were obsessed with making people follow the rules. Jesus points out that it is important more important to do a good deed on the sabbath when God presents the opportunity than it is to do evil by ignoring it under the guise of honoring the sabbath.
Jesus went to a mountain to pray, and when He came down, He chose twelve of His disciples and called them apostles. It is important to note that Jesus consulted with God about His choice of disciples. We cannot forget to listen to God when we make desicions. The twelve apostles Jesus chose we're: Simon, his brother Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon the Zealot, Judas, and Judas Iscariot (the traitor).
When Jesus and the twelve came down, there was a huge crowd from all over waiting for Him. They wanted to hear Him teach and be cured. They all tried to touch Him because the power radiated from Him. An interesting observance is that only people who want to be healed are healed. People go up and ask or touch Jesus and that is when they are cured. In doing this, these people are first admitting that they need to be cured. Jesus says the sick need a doctor, not the healthy. Only people who know they are sick and will admit it go to the doctor. This is true in the people that come to Jesus, bits those who need physical healing and those who come to receive their salvation.
Jesus teaches His disciples of the way things will be in Heaven. He says blessed are the people who are poor in this world because they will be rich. And He warns the rich because He says they have had their comfort in this world. This isn't to say that everyone who has a lot of money will go to hell. But it talks more of generosity. Are you using your wealth generously, or are you living in excess? He says the hunger are blessed and they will be we'll fed, but the well fed will be hunger. This means that we must rely on the Lord, and be thankful for what He provides us. Finally, He says blessed are you when people insult you because you follow the Son of Man and warns you when everyone has only nice things to say about you. You must be unashamed of what Jesus has done for you. You must speak boldly about Him and His gospel. Otherwise, your heart is not really in it, and Jesus is after the heart.
Jesus teaches a hard lesson. He tells us we must love our enemies, be kind to those who hate us, bless those who insult us, etc. This is where He teaches us to turn the other cheek. He tells us if someone takes our coat, we should offer them our shirt. Give to everyone who asks for something and expect nothing back. Do for other people what you would want them to do for you. After all, how great is it if you only love those who love you? Anyone can do that. Anyone can lend to those from whom they expect something in return or help those who have helped them. There's no honor or reward in that. If you love, help, and lend to your enemies without expecting anything back, you will be rewarded, and God will call you His child. After all, God loves those who are evil and unkind, and a child does what the parents do by example. Be merciful as the Father is merciful.
God uses the standards to treat you that you use to treat others, so if you forgive, you will be forgiven; if you stop judging, you won't be judged; if you don't condemn others, you will never be condemned. Jesus gives the illustration of the blind leading the blind. Both will fall into the same pit. If you send out evil thoughts towards others, it will come back to get you in the same way. No student can be better than the teacher, but a good student who tries will learn to be like the teacher. How can you say to another be,I ever that he has a piece of sawdust in his eye when you have a wood beam in your eye. First you must remove the wood beam in your eye so that you can clearly see the sawdust in your friend's eye. Don't go around pointing out the sins of others because you are not sin free. Just by pointing out the sins of others while you ignore your own sin is sinning. First, clear up your problem with God, then you may help your friend with their problem. Also, when we see the sawdust, we are only seeing and judging based on a small problem because we are distant from it. We are quite close to our own problems, so they are even bibgger to us and blinding.
Jesus uses an illustration of a tree. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. In this way, a good person will do the good things in them while the evil person will do the evil within them. What people say comes from inside them. If someone speaks of good, they are good, but if someone speaks of evil, there is evil inside them.
Jesus asked why the people listen to Him but do not do what He says. He tells them that those who listen and obey Him ate like the man who built his house on the bedrock. When the flood came, the house stood strong. The person who hears but does not obey, however, is like the man who built his house on the sand. When the flood came, it collapsed the house.
The disciples go through a field on a sabbath plucking wads of grain and eating them. The Pharisees see them doing this and ask Jesus why they do this because there is supposed to be no sort of work on the sabbath, and they consider plucking grain to be work. Jesus recounts a story from scripture in which King David and his men go into the temple and eat the bread reserved for the priest. This is the man after God's own heart. He did so out of necessity, just as the disciples now eat. Then, Jesus tells them the the Son of Man is The Lord of the Sabbath. It is a statement that serves dual purposes. First, Jesus states (albeit a little shroudedly) that He is the Son of Man, and second, He reminds the Pharisees that the sabbath is not about just simply following rules as they had been a accustomed to using it for, but the true purpose, which they had lost sight of, is actually to worship and be mindful of God.
The Pharisees try to catch Jesus doing wrong again on another sabbath day. Jesus taught at a synagogue where a man with a paralyzed right hand worshipped. The Pharisees wanted to see if Jesus would heal the man so they could accuse Him of doing something wrong. Jesus, however, knew what they were trying to do, so He called them out. He brought the man to the center of the synagogue and asked all the people what the sabbath should be used for: doing good or doing evil, giving a man health or destroying him. Then, He healed the man. Again, the Pharisees did not recognize what the sabbath is truly for because they were obsessed with making people follow the rules. Jesus points out that it is important more important to do a good deed on the sabbath when God presents the opportunity than it is to do evil by ignoring it under the guise of honoring the sabbath.
Jesus went to a mountain to pray, and when He came down, He chose twelve of His disciples and called them apostles. It is important to note that Jesus consulted with God about His choice of disciples. We cannot forget to listen to God when we make desicions. The twelve apostles Jesus chose we're: Simon, his brother Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Simon the Zealot, Judas, and Judas Iscariot (the traitor).
When Jesus and the twelve came down, there was a huge crowd from all over waiting for Him. They wanted to hear Him teach and be cured. They all tried to touch Him because the power radiated from Him. An interesting observance is that only people who want to be healed are healed. People go up and ask or touch Jesus and that is when they are cured. In doing this, these people are first admitting that they need to be cured. Jesus says the sick need a doctor, not the healthy. Only people who know they are sick and will admit it go to the doctor. This is true in the people that come to Jesus, bits those who need physical healing and those who come to receive their salvation.
Jesus teaches His disciples of the way things will be in Heaven. He says blessed are the people who are poor in this world because they will be rich. And He warns the rich because He says they have had their comfort in this world. This isn't to say that everyone who has a lot of money will go to hell. But it talks more of generosity. Are you using your wealth generously, or are you living in excess? He says the hunger are blessed and they will be we'll fed, but the well fed will be hunger. This means that we must rely on the Lord, and be thankful for what He provides us. Finally, He says blessed are you when people insult you because you follow the Son of Man and warns you when everyone has only nice things to say about you. You must be unashamed of what Jesus has done for you. You must speak boldly about Him and His gospel. Otherwise, your heart is not really in it, and Jesus is after the heart.
Jesus teaches a hard lesson. He tells us we must love our enemies, be kind to those who hate us, bless those who insult us, etc. This is where He teaches us to turn the other cheek. He tells us if someone takes our coat, we should offer them our shirt. Give to everyone who asks for something and expect nothing back. Do for other people what you would want them to do for you. After all, how great is it if you only love those who love you? Anyone can do that. Anyone can lend to those from whom they expect something in return or help those who have helped them. There's no honor or reward in that. If you love, help, and lend to your enemies without expecting anything back, you will be rewarded, and God will call you His child. After all, God loves those who are evil and unkind, and a child does what the parents do by example. Be merciful as the Father is merciful.
God uses the standards to treat you that you use to treat others, so if you forgive, you will be forgiven; if you stop judging, you won't be judged; if you don't condemn others, you will never be condemned. Jesus gives the illustration of the blind leading the blind. Both will fall into the same pit. If you send out evil thoughts towards others, it will come back to get you in the same way. No student can be better than the teacher, but a good student who tries will learn to be like the teacher. How can you say to another be,I ever that he has a piece of sawdust in his eye when you have a wood beam in your eye. First you must remove the wood beam in your eye so that you can clearly see the sawdust in your friend's eye. Don't go around pointing out the sins of others because you are not sin free. Just by pointing out the sins of others while you ignore your own sin is sinning. First, clear up your problem with God, then you may help your friend with their problem. Also, when we see the sawdust, we are only seeing and judging based on a small problem because we are distant from it. We are quite close to our own problems, so they are even bibgger to us and blinding.
Jesus uses an illustration of a tree. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. In this way, a good person will do the good things in them while the evil person will do the evil within them. What people say comes from inside them. If someone speaks of good, they are good, but if someone speaks of evil, there is evil inside them.
Jesus asked why the people listen to Him but do not do what He says. He tells them that those who listen and obey Him ate like the man who built his house on the bedrock. When the flood came, the house stood strong. The person who hears but does not obey, however, is like the man who built his house on the sand. When the flood came, it collapsed the house.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Luke 5
http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+5/
Jesus taught by the Sea of Galilee, and He saw some fishermen cleaning their nets. He went up to Simon and asked him to take the boat a little off shore so that all the people could hear Him. Simon complied, and after Jesus finished teaching, He told Simon to lower the nets in the deeper water. Simon told Jesus that he and his partners fished all night and caught nothing, but he still lowered his nets. He started catching so many fish that he had to call James and John, his fishing partners, over to help him haul in the catch. Simon fell on his face and told Jesus to leave because Simon is sinful. At once, Simon knew who Jesus was and believed. He also knew that he was not worthy of being in the presence of God, but Jesus was all about doing things despite our sin. Jesus told Simon not to be afraid and to come with Him to catch people instead of fish. Simon, John, and James left everything and followed Jesus. I think that the phrase "and didn't look back" should be added on. They knew that a relationship with Jesus was worth so much more than anything that they had that it was an instantaneous decision to follow Christ.
At one town, Jesus encounters a man with a skin disease. The man bows down and says if Jesus wants to, He can heal the man. Jesus says He wants to and touches the man, and the man is clean. A recurring theme with these healings is Jesus touching the sick. In those times, the Old Testament was the only Word of God, and it said that if a sick person, who was considered dirty, touched a non-sick person, the non-sick person also became dirty. Jesus, however, never becomes dirty. He is so clean, because He is God and dirty things are ungodly things, that there is nothing dirty enough to make Him dirty. He takes on the sins of the world, but He comes up clean again. Jesus tells the man to not tell people what happened but to go instead to the temple, present himself to the priest, and offer the sacrifices required of him. The news of Jesus continues to spread. Even with the crowds following, Jesus always made time to be alone in prayer. Jesus' time revolved around God. These are how our priorities should be set.
Jesus taught in front of some Pharisees. Some men tried to bring their paralyzed friend, who was on a stretcher, to Jesus, but they could not find a way in. Finally, they got up onto the roof, removed some tiles, and lowered the man on his stretcher in front of Jesus. Jesus was amazed by their faith, and He told the paralyzed man that He forgave the man's sins. The Pharisees were shocked by this, and they said to each other that Jesus dishonors God because only God can forgive sins. Jesus knew what they were thinking and said that it may be easier to say your sins are forgiven than get up and walk. He tells them that He has the authority to forgive sins on Earth. Then, He tells the man to get up and walk, and the man does. All of the people who saw this were amazed, and they could hardly believe what they had witnessed.
Jesus sees a tax collector named Levi (later Matthew) in his booth. Jesus tells Levi to follow Him. Levi gets up, leaves everything, and follows Jesus. Tax collectors were corrupt, and that made them rich. Jesus called this corrupt man, and Levi left all of his wealth to follow Jesus. Then, he threw a party for Jesus at his home. Many other tax collectors came. The Pharisees complained about why Jesus ate with tax collectors and other sinners. Jesus told them that healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do. In the same way, Jesus came for those who know they need a savior, not those who think they have God's approval. We have to confess that we need Jesus in order for Him to save us, and most of the Pharisees thought they were good with God, and they missed out on their chance with Jesus.
The Pharisees also complain that Jesus' disciples don't fast. Jesus tells them that wedding guests don't fast while the groom is still there. Later, the groom leaves and the guests fast. Jesus and God are often compared to a groom in Scripture. Jesus is foretelling His death although no one realizes it. At that time, the disciples will fast out of obedience, but right now, all they have to do is follow Him. Then, Jesus gives two illustrations. The first is about tearing a new coat to patch an old, and that would tear the old fabric. Then, He talks of putting new win in old wineskins, which would burst the skins. He talks of the new way of doing things because Jesus came. There is a difference now. The new way overpowers the old way, and it doesn't make sense to use the old way when the new way is so much better. But He adds on a final thought that many people will reject the new wine because the like the old wine. Many of the Jewish people rejected Jesus, especially when He was on trial. Jesus says this is primarily because they like the way things are, and they don't want to have to do things the new way.
Jesus taught by the Sea of Galilee, and He saw some fishermen cleaning their nets. He went up to Simon and asked him to take the boat a little off shore so that all the people could hear Him. Simon complied, and after Jesus finished teaching, He told Simon to lower the nets in the deeper water. Simon told Jesus that he and his partners fished all night and caught nothing, but he still lowered his nets. He started catching so many fish that he had to call James and John, his fishing partners, over to help him haul in the catch. Simon fell on his face and told Jesus to leave because Simon is sinful. At once, Simon knew who Jesus was and believed. He also knew that he was not worthy of being in the presence of God, but Jesus was all about doing things despite our sin. Jesus told Simon not to be afraid and to come with Him to catch people instead of fish. Simon, John, and James left everything and followed Jesus. I think that the phrase "and didn't look back" should be added on. They knew that a relationship with Jesus was worth so much more than anything that they had that it was an instantaneous decision to follow Christ.
At one town, Jesus encounters a man with a skin disease. The man bows down and says if Jesus wants to, He can heal the man. Jesus says He wants to and touches the man, and the man is clean. A recurring theme with these healings is Jesus touching the sick. In those times, the Old Testament was the only Word of God, and it said that if a sick person, who was considered dirty, touched a non-sick person, the non-sick person also became dirty. Jesus, however, never becomes dirty. He is so clean, because He is God and dirty things are ungodly things, that there is nothing dirty enough to make Him dirty. He takes on the sins of the world, but He comes up clean again. Jesus tells the man to not tell people what happened but to go instead to the temple, present himself to the priest, and offer the sacrifices required of him. The news of Jesus continues to spread. Even with the crowds following, Jesus always made time to be alone in prayer. Jesus' time revolved around God. These are how our priorities should be set.
Jesus taught in front of some Pharisees. Some men tried to bring their paralyzed friend, who was on a stretcher, to Jesus, but they could not find a way in. Finally, they got up onto the roof, removed some tiles, and lowered the man on his stretcher in front of Jesus. Jesus was amazed by their faith, and He told the paralyzed man that He forgave the man's sins. The Pharisees were shocked by this, and they said to each other that Jesus dishonors God because only God can forgive sins. Jesus knew what they were thinking and said that it may be easier to say your sins are forgiven than get up and walk. He tells them that He has the authority to forgive sins on Earth. Then, He tells the man to get up and walk, and the man does. All of the people who saw this were amazed, and they could hardly believe what they had witnessed.
Jesus sees a tax collector named Levi (later Matthew) in his booth. Jesus tells Levi to follow Him. Levi gets up, leaves everything, and follows Jesus. Tax collectors were corrupt, and that made them rich. Jesus called this corrupt man, and Levi left all of his wealth to follow Jesus. Then, he threw a party for Jesus at his home. Many other tax collectors came. The Pharisees complained about why Jesus ate with tax collectors and other sinners. Jesus told them that healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do. In the same way, Jesus came for those who know they need a savior, not those who think they have God's approval. We have to confess that we need Jesus in order for Him to save us, and most of the Pharisees thought they were good with God, and they missed out on their chance with Jesus.
The Pharisees also complain that Jesus' disciples don't fast. Jesus tells them that wedding guests don't fast while the groom is still there. Later, the groom leaves and the guests fast. Jesus and God are often compared to a groom in Scripture. Jesus is foretelling His death although no one realizes it. At that time, the disciples will fast out of obedience, but right now, all they have to do is follow Him. Then, Jesus gives two illustrations. The first is about tearing a new coat to patch an old, and that would tear the old fabric. Then, He talks of putting new win in old wineskins, which would burst the skins. He talks of the new way of doing things because Jesus came. There is a difference now. The new way overpowers the old way, and it doesn't make sense to use the old way when the new way is so much better. But He adds on a final thought that many people will reject the new wine because the like the old wine. Many of the Jewish people rejected Jesus, especially when He was on trial. Jesus says this is primarily because they like the way things are, and they don't want to have to do things the new way.
Luke 4
http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+4/
Following His baptism, the Holy Spirit filled Jesus, and led Him in the desert. Matthew said the Sprit led Him into the desert, and Mark says that immediately after the Holy Spirit filled Jesus, the devil took Jesus out to the desert. While Jesus is out there for forty days, He eats nothing. When the devil comes to tempt Jesus, Jesus is very hungry. The devil tells Jesus to turn a stone into bread, but Jesus quotes Scripture against the devil. This example is one reason it is important to memorize Scripture. When life comes to tempt you, throw Scripture at it not only to put it at bay but also to remind yourself what you need to do and who you serve. Next, the devil shows Jesus great kingdoms and tells Him that the kingdoms are under the devil's command, and if Jesus bows down to him, the devil will hand them over to Jesus. Jesus remembers He only bows down to God, and He uses Scripture again against the devil. Another interesting note about this part is that the world is the devil's domain. He has command over the things of this world, and that is why Paul says that when we have our Salvation, we are no longer part of this world. Jesus breaks the devil's hold on us, and we are Jesus' domain. This is why immediately after baptism, the tempting becomes the worst, even for Jesus. After we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the devil comes trying to break that bond, but we must remember that God is stronger, and God is our strength. We must remember the promise we made Him that He is the only one we will worship. No other name shall be higher than His. Finally, the devil takes Jesus to the top of a temple and tells Him to jump because Scripture says the angels will come and protect Him. That's right. The devil knows Scripture, and he will take it out of context and out of place to tempt us. Jesus uses a different Scripture against the devil saying that we should not tempt or test God. Luke says that the devil tempted Jesus in every way but did not succeed. He left Jesus until another time. The devil won't leave you alone after round one. He will be after you as long as you stand with God. If you have no struggles with sin in your life, that means you are already in the devil's pocket.
Jesus traveled around teaching in synagogues for a while. Then, He returned home. On the day of worship, He went to the synagogue and read Scripture. He read from Isaiah where the prophet speaks of one who has the Spirit of the Lord to tell Good News. He is sent to heal and forgive. Then, Jesus closed the book and handed it back to the attendent. Everyone watched Him, so He told them that the passage came true on the day they heard Him read it. The people were amazed. They asked each other if that was Joseph's son. Jesus told them that prophets are always rejected in their hometowns. Elijah lived in a time of many widows, but God sent Elijah to a widow outside of Israel. Elisha lived in a time of skin disease, but God only used him the cure a Syrian. This made the people in the synagogue angry, so they took Jesus to the edge of the cliff, where they intended to throw Him over, but He simply walked past them because it wasn't His time. Everything has to happen according to God's time, and if it looks like it's not, God will fix it so that it stays on track. Jesus knew this, so He spoke the truth to the people, and God blessed Him for it.
Jesus spoke in a synagogue on a day of worship when a demon possessed man came up to Him and asked Him what He wanted. The demon said he knew who Jesus was and called Him the Holy One. Jesus ordered the demon to stay quiet and leave the man. Then, it happened, and the man remained unharmed. The people who witnessed this were amazed that Jesus could give a command to a demon, and the demon would obey. News about Jesus spread to nearby villages.
Jesus went to Simon's (who later becomes Peter) house. There, he sees Simon's sick mother-in-law. The family asked Jesus to help her, and He cured her. She got up and made a meal for them. Then, everybody brought their sick to Jesus to be healed. The faith of Simon's family is amazing because they may have heard stories from the nearby regions, but Jesus had not been in action where they lived yet. Still, they had faith that He could heal the sick. Then, as soon as the woman is better, she gets up and serves Jesus. That is what we all should do. When we find our salvation, and Jesus brings us to life, we should immediately serve Him. Later, demons come to Jesus and shout that He is the Son of God, but Jesus commands them to be silent.
In the morning, Jesus went to be alone. It is important to be alone with just God. It refreshes the soul. Then, the people searched for Him. When they found Him, they tried to keep Him from leaving, but He told them He had to go spread the Good News in other cities.
Following His baptism, the Holy Spirit filled Jesus, and led Him in the desert. Matthew said the Sprit led Him into the desert, and Mark says that immediately after the Holy Spirit filled Jesus, the devil took Jesus out to the desert. While Jesus is out there for forty days, He eats nothing. When the devil comes to tempt Jesus, Jesus is very hungry. The devil tells Jesus to turn a stone into bread, but Jesus quotes Scripture against the devil. This example is one reason it is important to memorize Scripture. When life comes to tempt you, throw Scripture at it not only to put it at bay but also to remind yourself what you need to do and who you serve. Next, the devil shows Jesus great kingdoms and tells Him that the kingdoms are under the devil's command, and if Jesus bows down to him, the devil will hand them over to Jesus. Jesus remembers He only bows down to God, and He uses Scripture again against the devil. Another interesting note about this part is that the world is the devil's domain. He has command over the things of this world, and that is why Paul says that when we have our Salvation, we are no longer part of this world. Jesus breaks the devil's hold on us, and we are Jesus' domain. This is why immediately after baptism, the tempting becomes the worst, even for Jesus. After we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the devil comes trying to break that bond, but we must remember that God is stronger, and God is our strength. We must remember the promise we made Him that He is the only one we will worship. No other name shall be higher than His. Finally, the devil takes Jesus to the top of a temple and tells Him to jump because Scripture says the angels will come and protect Him. That's right. The devil knows Scripture, and he will take it out of context and out of place to tempt us. Jesus uses a different Scripture against the devil saying that we should not tempt or test God. Luke says that the devil tempted Jesus in every way but did not succeed. He left Jesus until another time. The devil won't leave you alone after round one. He will be after you as long as you stand with God. If you have no struggles with sin in your life, that means you are already in the devil's pocket.
Jesus traveled around teaching in synagogues for a while. Then, He returned home. On the day of worship, He went to the synagogue and read Scripture. He read from Isaiah where the prophet speaks of one who has the Spirit of the Lord to tell Good News. He is sent to heal and forgive. Then, Jesus closed the book and handed it back to the attendent. Everyone watched Him, so He told them that the passage came true on the day they heard Him read it. The people were amazed. They asked each other if that was Joseph's son. Jesus told them that prophets are always rejected in their hometowns. Elijah lived in a time of many widows, but God sent Elijah to a widow outside of Israel. Elisha lived in a time of skin disease, but God only used him the cure a Syrian. This made the people in the synagogue angry, so they took Jesus to the edge of the cliff, where they intended to throw Him over, but He simply walked past them because it wasn't His time. Everything has to happen according to God's time, and if it looks like it's not, God will fix it so that it stays on track. Jesus knew this, so He spoke the truth to the people, and God blessed Him for it.
Jesus spoke in a synagogue on a day of worship when a demon possessed man came up to Him and asked Him what He wanted. The demon said he knew who Jesus was and called Him the Holy One. Jesus ordered the demon to stay quiet and leave the man. Then, it happened, and the man remained unharmed. The people who witnessed this were amazed that Jesus could give a command to a demon, and the demon would obey. News about Jesus spread to nearby villages.
Jesus went to Simon's (who later becomes Peter) house. There, he sees Simon's sick mother-in-law. The family asked Jesus to help her, and He cured her. She got up and made a meal for them. Then, everybody brought their sick to Jesus to be healed. The faith of Simon's family is amazing because they may have heard stories from the nearby regions, but Jesus had not been in action where they lived yet. Still, they had faith that He could heal the sick. Then, as soon as the woman is better, she gets up and serves Jesus. That is what we all should do. When we find our salvation, and Jesus brings us to life, we should immediately serve Him. Later, demons come to Jesus and shout that He is the Son of God, but Jesus commands them to be silent.
In the morning, Jesus went to be alone. It is important to be alone with just God. It refreshes the soul. Then, the people searched for Him. When they found Him, they tried to keep Him from leaving, but He told them He had to go spread the Good News in other cities.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Luke 3
I've already done Luke 1 and 2 around last Christmas because they are the Christmas story. So we pick up with Chapter 3: http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+3/
God called John the Baptist to begin telling people the Messiah was coming and to teach about repentance. Repentance is simply the act of changing your actions or thoughts. God wanted wicked people to abandon their wicked ways and do what pleases God. John traveled the desert, and many people thought he was crazy. Others thought that he could be the Messiah, but he guaranteed them that the Messiah was far more powerful. John baptized with water as a symbol of cleansing the wicked ways away. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. He literally lays the Holy Spirit upon you. John says he is unfit to untie the Messiah's sandal. As we see later, we are all unworthy of what the Messiah does for us. While spreading the Good News of what would come to the people, John also warned that the Messiah was preparing for judgement. He would separate those who accepted salvation from those who didn't and keep those who did in His Kingdom while throwing those who didn't into the eternal fire. All sorts of people came to John. Tax collectors, who were considered the most sinful, came to John and asked him what they should do. He told them to only take the money they were required to take. Soldiers asked the same question to John the Baptist, and John answered that they should take their pay and not blackmail others for money. John begins preaching the message of love that Jesus will expand upon. John the Baptist criticized Herod, the ruler of the region because Herod married his own sister-in-law. Herod also did many other evil things, and according to Luke, added one more evil deed to his list when he locked John the Baptist in jail.
Jesus went to John the Baptist to be baptized just like the people. As He prayed, the Holy Spirit came down upon Him, and a voice said, "This is my Son. I am pleased with you." At this point, God openly calls Jesus His Son, and Jesus begins His ministry. He was thirty years old. If your opportunity to serve God in big ways hasn't come yet, do not be discouraged. We are missing almost all the information from Jesus' life from the time He was born until He's thirty, and He's the most important person ever to serve God.
Luke traces the lineage of Jesus back through David, back through Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, all the way back to Adam. That's pretty cool!
God called John the Baptist to begin telling people the Messiah was coming and to teach about repentance. Repentance is simply the act of changing your actions or thoughts. God wanted wicked people to abandon their wicked ways and do what pleases God. John traveled the desert, and many people thought he was crazy. Others thought that he could be the Messiah, but he guaranteed them that the Messiah was far more powerful. John baptized with water as a symbol of cleansing the wicked ways away. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. He literally lays the Holy Spirit upon you. John says he is unfit to untie the Messiah's sandal. As we see later, we are all unworthy of what the Messiah does for us. While spreading the Good News of what would come to the people, John also warned that the Messiah was preparing for judgement. He would separate those who accepted salvation from those who didn't and keep those who did in His Kingdom while throwing those who didn't into the eternal fire. All sorts of people came to John. Tax collectors, who were considered the most sinful, came to John and asked him what they should do. He told them to only take the money they were required to take. Soldiers asked the same question to John the Baptist, and John answered that they should take their pay and not blackmail others for money. John begins preaching the message of love that Jesus will expand upon. John the Baptist criticized Herod, the ruler of the region because Herod married his own sister-in-law. Herod also did many other evil things, and according to Luke, added one more evil deed to his list when he locked John the Baptist in jail.
Jesus went to John the Baptist to be baptized just like the people. As He prayed, the Holy Spirit came down upon Him, and a voice said, "This is my Son. I am pleased with you." At this point, God openly calls Jesus His Son, and Jesus begins His ministry. He was thirty years old. If your opportunity to serve God in big ways hasn't come yet, do not be discouraged. We are missing almost all the information from Jesus' life from the time He was born until He's thirty, and He's the most important person ever to serve God.
Luke traces the lineage of Jesus back through David, back through Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, all the way back to Adam. That's pretty cool!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Philemon
Fun fact about the Letter to Philemon: while it may only be 25 verses long, it helped abolish slavery 1800 years after it was written. http://www.esvbible.org/Philemon/
Paul again opens his letter by identifying himself as its author and addressing it to Philemon and Philemon's sister. The church at Colossae, where the letter to the Colossians was written, met in Philemon's house.
Paul says that he is thankful for Philemon because Philemon has a pure heart and is able to extend the love of Christ. He has remained faithful to the work the God set out before him. Paul prays that Philemon will have an even deeper understanding of the blessings we receive from Christ. So often, we overlook things that Christ has done for us. Sometimes, as the old expression goes, we need to "stop and smell the flowers." Philemon is a comforter to God's people. Comforters are very important in the body of Christ because as another expression goes, "God gave you two ears but only one mouth." We need to be there and listen to what troubles other believers.
The main point of this letter is that Paul asks Philemon to free his runaway slave Onesimus, whose name literally means "useful." Onesimus ran away from Philemon, his owner, and found Paul in prison. He eventually accepted Christ as his Savior. Then, he and Paul became friends. He wants to help Paul spread the Good News since Paul is in jail and can't travel around. Paul desires this greatly, but he does not want to hurt his relationship with Philemon, so he sends Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter beseeching him to free Onesimus. He says that Philemon must see Onesimus's value as a person and a Christian. This part could have gone to freeing the slaves in 1865 because slave owners at that time did not view their slaves as people. Paul says that he can even see Onesimus staying with Philemon forever as a brother instead of a slave. He brings up that God wants Paul to command Philemon to do what is right, but Paul knows the best way to to that for Philemon is through an appeal of love. Paul also says that Philemon owes Paul his life, but Paul says he doesn't want to use that because he knows Philemon will see what the right thing to do is. Paul tells Philemon that if he considers himself a partner to Paul, he should treat Onesimus as he would treat Paul. We later see that Philemon must have obeyed because Onesimus serves in the church at Colossae in Colossians. Finally, Paul tells Philemon to prepare the guest rooms because he knows that the people's prayers will free him, and he will be able to visit.
Paul closes the letter with some greetings from fellow Christian prisoners.
Paul again opens his letter by identifying himself as its author and addressing it to Philemon and Philemon's sister. The church at Colossae, where the letter to the Colossians was written, met in Philemon's house.
Paul says that he is thankful for Philemon because Philemon has a pure heart and is able to extend the love of Christ. He has remained faithful to the work the God set out before him. Paul prays that Philemon will have an even deeper understanding of the blessings we receive from Christ. So often, we overlook things that Christ has done for us. Sometimes, as the old expression goes, we need to "stop and smell the flowers." Philemon is a comforter to God's people. Comforters are very important in the body of Christ because as another expression goes, "God gave you two ears but only one mouth." We need to be there and listen to what troubles other believers.
The main point of this letter is that Paul asks Philemon to free his runaway slave Onesimus, whose name literally means "useful." Onesimus ran away from Philemon, his owner, and found Paul in prison. He eventually accepted Christ as his Savior. Then, he and Paul became friends. He wants to help Paul spread the Good News since Paul is in jail and can't travel around. Paul desires this greatly, but he does not want to hurt his relationship with Philemon, so he sends Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter beseeching him to free Onesimus. He says that Philemon must see Onesimus's value as a person and a Christian. This part could have gone to freeing the slaves in 1865 because slave owners at that time did not view their slaves as people. Paul says that he can even see Onesimus staying with Philemon forever as a brother instead of a slave. He brings up that God wants Paul to command Philemon to do what is right, but Paul knows the best way to to that for Philemon is through an appeal of love. Paul also says that Philemon owes Paul his life, but Paul says he doesn't want to use that because he knows Philemon will see what the right thing to do is. Paul tells Philemon that if he considers himself a partner to Paul, he should treat Onesimus as he would treat Paul. We later see that Philemon must have obeyed because Onesimus serves in the church at Colossae in Colossians. Finally, Paul tells Philemon to prepare the guest rooms because he knows that the people's prayers will free him, and he will be able to visit.
Paul closes the letter with some greetings from fellow Christian prisoners.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Romans 16
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+16/
Paul writes about a lot of people at the very end of his letter. It goes to show that a lot of people go into one person's journey of faith. Do not be discouraged if you do not see the direct fruits of your labors. God is using you for His work but it is not about you, and you are not the only one He uses. Beware of those claiming to be Christians who create divisions. They seek glory for themselves. They are smooth and flattering but deceitful. God can strengthen you. Let His Good News be known, so He can reveal the mystery.
Paul writes about a lot of people at the very end of his letter. It goes to show that a lot of people go into one person's journey of faith. Do not be discouraged if you do not see the direct fruits of your labors. God is using you for His work but it is not about you, and you are not the only one He uses. Beware of those claiming to be Christians who create divisions. They seek glory for themselves. They are smooth and flattering but deceitful. God can strengthen you. Let His Good News be known, so He can reveal the mystery.
Romans 15
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+15/
Those of us who have strong faith must practice patience with those who have weak faith. We must not think only of ourselves, just as Christ did not think only of Himself. Imagine if He had chastised everyone about the small things they did wrong. He would have never had as much influence in helping people see that faith is all that matters. The bottom line of the Scriptures is faith, so Jesus did not let Himself get caught up in the surrounding decisions people made based on their faith. He only looked at the one literal life or death decision. In the same way, concern yourself with people who see you and what will further them in faith.
The Old Testament Scriptures exist because they give us confidence through endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures. It would be much harder to have faith in Jesus if the prophets had not written about Him long before He came. Having a Savior would not matter if we did not know what we needed to be saved from. The whole context that comes from the Old Testament puts the gospel into perspective. It deepens our understanding of just how powerful God is. God gave us the ultimate example for living together in unity by giving us Jesus. The bottom line of Jesus' message is love (faith comes through love). This unity within the church is important because we all have the same goal of brining praise to God the Father and Jesus. When we break down along certain belief lines, we fall out of unity, and that shows nonbelievers that we don't know what we're talking about. It displays a limited power to God instead of the limitless. Another importance in unity is that Christ accepted all of us, despite how messed up we all are, and now we must continue to follow His example and accept each other. Paul lists some very good verses about unity. When God fills you up with joy and peace through your faith, you will overflow into the lives of others. You will feel like you have no other choice than to pour out into those around you. God looks for that in all of us.
Paul talks a little bit about why he shares the gospel. He writes to the Christians in Rome to remind them of certain things that Jesus teaches. God gave him a gift, he calls it, to spread the gospel to non Jewish people. Paul considers this a great blessing from God to have the honor of telling people about Jesus, yet this is something many of us fear doing today. Part of Paul's offering to God is to bring people to a relationship with Christ. He builds on new territory for God because the Scriptures say that those who do not see will be shown. For the rest of this chapter, Paul talks about visiting them on his way to Spain. He asks them to pray for his safe travels.
Those of us who have strong faith must practice patience with those who have weak faith. We must not think only of ourselves, just as Christ did not think only of Himself. Imagine if He had chastised everyone about the small things they did wrong. He would have never had as much influence in helping people see that faith is all that matters. The bottom line of the Scriptures is faith, so Jesus did not let Himself get caught up in the surrounding decisions people made based on their faith. He only looked at the one literal life or death decision. In the same way, concern yourself with people who see you and what will further them in faith.
The Old Testament Scriptures exist because they give us confidence through endurance and encouragement of the Scriptures. It would be much harder to have faith in Jesus if the prophets had not written about Him long before He came. Having a Savior would not matter if we did not know what we needed to be saved from. The whole context that comes from the Old Testament puts the gospel into perspective. It deepens our understanding of just how powerful God is. God gave us the ultimate example for living together in unity by giving us Jesus. The bottom line of Jesus' message is love (faith comes through love). This unity within the church is important because we all have the same goal of brining praise to God the Father and Jesus. When we break down along certain belief lines, we fall out of unity, and that shows nonbelievers that we don't know what we're talking about. It displays a limited power to God instead of the limitless. Another importance in unity is that Christ accepted all of us, despite how messed up we all are, and now we must continue to follow His example and accept each other. Paul lists some very good verses about unity. When God fills you up with joy and peace through your faith, you will overflow into the lives of others. You will feel like you have no other choice than to pour out into those around you. God looks for that in all of us.
Paul talks a little bit about why he shares the gospel. He writes to the Christians in Rome to remind them of certain things that Jesus teaches. God gave him a gift, he calls it, to spread the gospel to non Jewish people. Paul considers this a great blessing from God to have the honor of telling people about Jesus, yet this is something many of us fear doing today. Part of Paul's offering to God is to bring people to a relationship with Christ. He builds on new territory for God because the Scriptures say that those who do not see will be shown. For the rest of this chapter, Paul talks about visiting them on his way to Spain. He asks them to pray for his safe travels.
Romans 14
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+14/
It is important to welcome people who have weak faith, maybe especially so. Be careful, however, not to argue with them over simple differences in opinion. So often, especially in the US, we get caught up in denomination, and what the differences in our denominations mean. We can never stray to a church outside of our denomination and we are cold and hostile to those who were not raised in our denomination. This way of treating other people is wrong because it does not come from love. If we all love God and believe in the sacrifice of Christ, then we should all love each other even if we disagree. Some Christians may believe in ceremonies such as not eating meat or making one day holier than the others. As far as not eating meat, Paul writes that God revealed to Him there is nothing evil about any type of food. The person who eats all types of food does it in praise because He blesses the food before God then eats it. There is nothing wrong with not eating certain types of food because the person still blesses the food before eating it. The person who does not eat certain foods, however, has the weaker faith because he is putting stock in something other than pure faith in Jesus Christ. It is still up to those with stronger faith not to cause others to stumble, so if it will make someone stumble to see you eat meat, do not eat meat in their presence. Never intentionally cause someone to stumble because that is a terrible thing to do against someone you are supposed to love. Also, never let anyone tell you something you believe to be good is evil. If you believe something, go for it as long is it does not go against anything God or the Bible says. The person who follows what they believe is better than the one who believes something that doesn't act on it because that second person does not act on faith. Anything not done in faith is done in sin. It is right to avoid eating or drinking anything that causes other Christians to have doubts regardless of the fact that it is not wrong to eat or drink any certain types of food or drink. The Kingdom of Heaven is not made up of what we eat and drink. It's made up of God's approval, peace, and the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. That sort of joy you feel when you know you've done something that pleases God. That feeling of knowing you are so deeply in love with God and He reciprocates those feelings times a billion. Every person has to make their own decisions regarding faith. We don't live or die to honor ourselves. We live and die to honor God because we belong to Him. Christ died and came back to life to be Lord of the living and the dead. You can never escape Him in all of eternity. You are called upon to honor Him with your life and death. Therefore, we all belong to the Lord as His servants, and it's not up to us to criticize someone else's servant. The Lord will discipline and teach them what is right in these nearly meaningless choices.
It is important to welcome people who have weak faith, maybe especially so. Be careful, however, not to argue with them over simple differences in opinion. So often, especially in the US, we get caught up in denomination, and what the differences in our denominations mean. We can never stray to a church outside of our denomination and we are cold and hostile to those who were not raised in our denomination. This way of treating other people is wrong because it does not come from love. If we all love God and believe in the sacrifice of Christ, then we should all love each other even if we disagree. Some Christians may believe in ceremonies such as not eating meat or making one day holier than the others. As far as not eating meat, Paul writes that God revealed to Him there is nothing evil about any type of food. The person who eats all types of food does it in praise because He blesses the food before God then eats it. There is nothing wrong with not eating certain types of food because the person still blesses the food before eating it. The person who does not eat certain foods, however, has the weaker faith because he is putting stock in something other than pure faith in Jesus Christ. It is still up to those with stronger faith not to cause others to stumble, so if it will make someone stumble to see you eat meat, do not eat meat in their presence. Never intentionally cause someone to stumble because that is a terrible thing to do against someone you are supposed to love. Also, never let anyone tell you something you believe to be good is evil. If you believe something, go for it as long is it does not go against anything God or the Bible says. The person who follows what they believe is better than the one who believes something that doesn't act on it because that second person does not act on faith. Anything not done in faith is done in sin. It is right to avoid eating or drinking anything that causes other Christians to have doubts regardless of the fact that it is not wrong to eat or drink any certain types of food or drink. The Kingdom of Heaven is not made up of what we eat and drink. It's made up of God's approval, peace, and the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. That sort of joy you feel when you know you've done something that pleases God. That feeling of knowing you are so deeply in love with God and He reciprocates those feelings times a billion. Every person has to make their own decisions regarding faith. We don't live or die to honor ourselves. We live and die to honor God because we belong to Him. Christ died and came back to life to be Lord of the living and the dead. You can never escape Him in all of eternity. You are called upon to honor Him with your life and death. Therefore, we all belong to the Lord as His servants, and it's not up to us to criticize someone else's servant. The Lord will discipline and teach them what is right in these nearly meaningless choices.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Romans 13
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+13/
God puts the governments in place. God is all powerful. He is in charge of everything. Nothing happens that surprises Him or throws Him off. This is especially important to realize now, around election time. People get so caught up in their party winning that they can lose sight of regardless about what happens, God is still in charge. Obey the government that is over you. If you resist the government, you resist God. Furthermore, if you resist the government, you will be punished because God has given the government that power. People who do the right thing don't need to fear the government. People who do what is wrong should fear the government. The government serves God, even if it doesn't know it. This is also why you should pay your taxes. Pay what you owe.
The most important thing we can do is love others. If we love others, we fulfill Moses' Teachings because all of the commandments can be summed up in love. If we love others, we won't do anything to hurt them. We are closer to the time of salvation now than when we came believers, and we march forward even now. Rid yourselves of what is dark, and take up the weapons of the light. Give up the things of our sinful natures.
God puts the governments in place. God is all powerful. He is in charge of everything. Nothing happens that surprises Him or throws Him off. This is especially important to realize now, around election time. People get so caught up in their party winning that they can lose sight of regardless about what happens, God is still in charge. Obey the government that is over you. If you resist the government, you resist God. Furthermore, if you resist the government, you will be punished because God has given the government that power. People who do the right thing don't need to fear the government. People who do what is wrong should fear the government. The government serves God, even if it doesn't know it. This is also why you should pay your taxes. Pay what you owe.
The most important thing we can do is love others. If we love others, we fulfill Moses' Teachings because all of the commandments can be summed up in love. If we love others, we won't do anything to hurt them. We are closer to the time of salvation now than when we came believers, and we march forward even now. Rid yourselves of what is dark, and take up the weapons of the light. Give up the things of our sinful natures.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Romans 12
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+12/
In light of everything in this letter, Paul says it's clear that the truest way of worship is to offer your bodies as living sacrifices to please God. We do this by not living like the rest of the people in the world. Not that we are weirdos but that we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Don't let this way of acting lead you to think higher of yourself than you should. Instead, use good judgement for what God tells you to do. A body has many different parts that do different things but they are all connected and come together so that we can go through life. In the same way, Christians are many different people, but through faith in the One True God, we are all connected in the body of Christ. God gave us different Spiritual Gifts and we therefore are important to different aspects of the body of Christ in a specific way. God will use us in those ways. We use a foot in the way a foot is supposed to be used. In the same way, God uses people with the gift of teaching to teach. He uses people with the gift of giving to give, and the person with the gift of serving to serve. If He did not grant you a certain gift, do not fear, He will not make your primary purpose something like that. For example, someone without the gift of giving will not find their primary purpose in funding missionaries. But we are all called to give in some capacity. You do not use a foot as an elbow, and in the same way, God does not use you primarily where your gift does not match. Always love others sincerely and hate evil. Be a family with other believers, especially those around you, Don't be lazy in devotion. Be happy and patient. Pray ceaselessly. Share your relationship with God. Be hospitable. Bless those who persecute you and don't curse them. Live harmoniously. Be empathetic. Don't think you are smarter than you are. Don't be arrogant. Don't repay evil with evil. Live in peace with everyone as much as you can. Don't take revenge. It is God's place alone to take revenge. If you show kindness to your enemies, you will make them feel guilty. Don't let evil conquer you but conquer evil with good.
In light of everything in this letter, Paul says it's clear that the truest way of worship is to offer your bodies as living sacrifices to please God. We do this by not living like the rest of the people in the world. Not that we are weirdos but that we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Don't let this way of acting lead you to think higher of yourself than you should. Instead, use good judgement for what God tells you to do. A body has many different parts that do different things but they are all connected and come together so that we can go through life. In the same way, Christians are many different people, but through faith in the One True God, we are all connected in the body of Christ. God gave us different Spiritual Gifts and we therefore are important to different aspects of the body of Christ in a specific way. God will use us in those ways. We use a foot in the way a foot is supposed to be used. In the same way, God uses people with the gift of teaching to teach. He uses people with the gift of giving to give, and the person with the gift of serving to serve. If He did not grant you a certain gift, do not fear, He will not make your primary purpose something like that. For example, someone without the gift of giving will not find their primary purpose in funding missionaries. But we are all called to give in some capacity. You do not use a foot as an elbow, and in the same way, God does not use you primarily where your gift does not match. Always love others sincerely and hate evil. Be a family with other believers, especially those around you, Don't be lazy in devotion. Be happy and patient. Pray ceaselessly. Share your relationship with God. Be hospitable. Bless those who persecute you and don't curse them. Live harmoniously. Be empathetic. Don't think you are smarter than you are. Don't be arrogant. Don't repay evil with evil. Live in peace with everyone as much as you can. Don't take revenge. It is God's place alone to take revenge. If you show kindness to your enemies, you will make them feel guilty. Don't let evil conquer you but conquer evil with good.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Romans 11
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+11/
God has not rejected the Jewish people. He does not reject anyone. Just think of it like this: there are Jewish people who come to know Christ. Paul and all of the other Apostles were Jewish. Israel, and Jewish people by extension, have never fully achieved what they have striven for. Only those on which God has bestowed His kindness can achieve salvation. And you don't get God's kindness by anything you do because if you did, it wouldn't be kindness. The fall of Jewish people made the world rich because it helped open salvation to the non-Jewish. If the Jewish people return to Jesus, the world will be richer. If God is the root of an olive tree, then the branches are holy by extension. For a while, the branches were Israel, but God cut those off who did not believe and grafted the gentiles on who do believe. He can just as easily cur anyone off who does not continue to believe. If Jewish people start to believe, they can easily be grafted back onto the tree. We cannot become arrogant in being one that has received God's approval because the branches of the olive tree did not graft themselves onto the tree. The make had to do it for them. After all, who knows how God thinks? Who has anything to offer Him that He doesn't already have? Who can give Him something that He will have to pay back? God uses us because He loves us, not because He needs us.
God has not rejected the Jewish people. He does not reject anyone. Just think of it like this: there are Jewish people who come to know Christ. Paul and all of the other Apostles were Jewish. Israel, and Jewish people by extension, have never fully achieved what they have striven for. Only those on which God has bestowed His kindness can achieve salvation. And you don't get God's kindness by anything you do because if you did, it wouldn't be kindness. The fall of Jewish people made the world rich because it helped open salvation to the non-Jewish. If the Jewish people return to Jesus, the world will be richer. If God is the root of an olive tree, then the branches are holy by extension. For a while, the branches were Israel, but God cut those off who did not believe and grafted the gentiles on who do believe. He can just as easily cur anyone off who does not continue to believe. If Jewish people start to believe, they can easily be grafted back onto the tree. We cannot become arrogant in being one that has received God's approval because the branches of the olive tree did not graft themselves onto the tree. The make had to do it for them. After all, who knows how God thinks? Who has anything to offer Him that He doesn't already have? Who can give Him something that He will have to pay back? God uses us because He loves us, not because He needs us.
Romans 10
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+10/
Paul says that he prays for the Jewish people to be saved. It's hard for some of them to accept the message of Christ. Before Christ, they were God's chosen people. They had to follow Moses' Laws to prove that they were worthy of God's approval. It's easy to look at things retrospectively. Moses spoke of faith being the true way to receive God's approval. Scripture even says that the message of faith is near to you and on your lips. It is natural for us to seek God because no one comes into this world as a hopeless case for God. God seeks after the hearts of those who don't know Him. We want this salvation, and we all, at some point or another, come close to proclaiming it and sometimes even succeed. All you have to do to be saved is believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and God raised Him to life from death. By declaring your faith, you are saved because Scriptures say that you cannot be ashamed if you have faith. There is no difference in any people because there is one God that all people must receive approval from to come to true life. Anyone who calls on Jesus' name will be saved; however, if they do not believe in Jesus' name, how can they be saved? How can they believe if they have not heard what He has to say? This is also why it is important to have quiet time with God and to study the Word. Read the whole Bible all the way through, so you know what God is all about. That's what I'm working on. How can they hear if no one tells them the message? How can people tell the Good News if no one sends them? We need missionaries to go out into the world and teach people about the one, true way to Heaven, and those missionaries need environments that foster a growing relationship with Jesus to send them out and teach others how to achieve a similar relationship in their own personal way. At the same time, the message has already gone out through the world because of the Holy Spirit. Scripture says that God is found by those who are not looking and revealed to those who weren't asking. Meaning something similar to what Jesus taught, which is that He came for those who know they are sinners.
Paul says that he prays for the Jewish people to be saved. It's hard for some of them to accept the message of Christ. Before Christ, they were God's chosen people. They had to follow Moses' Laws to prove that they were worthy of God's approval. It's easy to look at things retrospectively. Moses spoke of faith being the true way to receive God's approval. Scripture even says that the message of faith is near to you and on your lips. It is natural for us to seek God because no one comes into this world as a hopeless case for God. God seeks after the hearts of those who don't know Him. We want this salvation, and we all, at some point or another, come close to proclaiming it and sometimes even succeed. All you have to do to be saved is believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and God raised Him to life from death. By declaring your faith, you are saved because Scriptures say that you cannot be ashamed if you have faith. There is no difference in any people because there is one God that all people must receive approval from to come to true life. Anyone who calls on Jesus' name will be saved; however, if they do not believe in Jesus' name, how can they be saved? How can they believe if they have not heard what He has to say? This is also why it is important to have quiet time with God and to study the Word. Read the whole Bible all the way through, so you know what God is all about. That's what I'm working on. How can they hear if no one tells them the message? How can people tell the Good News if no one sends them? We need missionaries to go out into the world and teach people about the one, true way to Heaven, and those missionaries need environments that foster a growing relationship with Jesus to send them out and teach others how to achieve a similar relationship in their own personal way. At the same time, the message has already gone out through the world because of the Holy Spirit. Scripture says that God is found by those who are not looking and revealed to those who weren't asking. Meaning something similar to what Jesus taught, which is that He came for those who know they are sinners.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Romans 9
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+9/
Paul says that he wishes, after living as a Christian, that things could go back to the way they were before when the Jewish people were automatically God's children through the first covenant. Life would be so much easier on him, since he was born Jewish. Now, God's children are those He chooses, and He choses those who put their faith in His Son Jesus. God gave Abraham a son in his old age when it shouldn't have been possible. When Isaac had his sons by Rebekah, God told Rebekah that her older son would serve the younger son. God made this so because He wanted to show that His plans are always dominant. In those times, the oldest son was the most important, but God wanted to say that the way humans thought things should be did not matter to Him. The Jewish people all came from that younger son, Jacob, so God proved He can choose who He wants. God made you in the exact way that you are supposed to be. Don't come to Him and point out things that aren't the way they're supposed to be. How can the created talk back to the creator. God can refine you, but He has made you how you are supposed to be.
Paul quotes the prophets, who wrote hundreds of years before Jesus that those who were not the chosen ones will become God's children, and although the descendants of Abraham are as numerous as the grains of sand on the shore, few of them will be saved in the end. Many of those who have found salvation through Christ are non-Jewish people who weren't looking to please God. But they found that they needed to place their faith in Jesus. Many of the Jewish people looked to please God by obeying Moses' Laws, but the corrupt nature keeps them from doing so, and they did so instead of placing their faith in Christ.
Paul says that he wishes, after living as a Christian, that things could go back to the way they were before when the Jewish people were automatically God's children through the first covenant. Life would be so much easier on him, since he was born Jewish. Now, God's children are those He chooses, and He choses those who put their faith in His Son Jesus. God gave Abraham a son in his old age when it shouldn't have been possible. When Isaac had his sons by Rebekah, God told Rebekah that her older son would serve the younger son. God made this so because He wanted to show that His plans are always dominant. In those times, the oldest son was the most important, but God wanted to say that the way humans thought things should be did not matter to Him. The Jewish people all came from that younger son, Jacob, so God proved He can choose who He wants. God made you in the exact way that you are supposed to be. Don't come to Him and point out things that aren't the way they're supposed to be. How can the created talk back to the creator. God can refine you, but He has made you how you are supposed to be.
Paul quotes the prophets, who wrote hundreds of years before Jesus that those who were not the chosen ones will become God's children, and although the descendants of Abraham are as numerous as the grains of sand on the shore, few of them will be saved in the end. Many of those who have found salvation through Christ are non-Jewish people who weren't looking to please God. But they found that they needed to place their faith in Jesus. Many of the Jewish people looked to please God by obeying Moses' Laws, but the corrupt nature keeps them from doing so, and they did so instead of placing their faith in Christ.
Romans 8
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+8/
Those of us who are believers are marked differently by God. Having the Holy Spirit in us frees us from sin and death. We, as humans, cannot live up to God's standards because of the way our nature is. The only way to reconcile this was for God to send Jesus to Earth as a human and take our corruption as His own. God condemned our corrupt and sinful nature without having to condemn us; therefore we do not live by the corrupt nature but by the spiritual nature. When we live in our Spiritual nature, we can meet God's standards because God's Spirit cannot go against God. People who live by the corrupt nature have that attitude because they cannot accept what God tells them. They cannot live in the way in which He has called them. This life ultimately leads to death. Those who live in the Spiritual nature will find life and peace. If the Holy Spirit lives in you, you live under the Spiritual nature. If you find your desires line up more and more with what you know God wants for you instead of what the world says is okay or what you want for you, the Holy Spirit lives in you. If you struggle with sin instead of coming to terms with what you're doing remorselessly, then the Holy Spirit is in you. It is possible for you to cast out the Holy Spirit and once again live by your corrupt nature, but if you do, you head back down the path that leads to death. Remember, it is not by force we have the Holy Spirit, like a slave might receive a sentence. We received it as an adoption by God to be His children. As His children, we will share the same inheritance that Christ received, everlasting life.
Any afflictions you suffer from now, you will consider insignificant when you finally get to see the glory of God. We wait for Him to reveal who His children are. This implies that some who claim to be His children do not have the faith they claim to have. In these cases, God does not accept them as His children. Ever since Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, all creation has groaned with the pain sin has cast down upon it. Even we believers continue to groan as we eagerly anticipate Heaven and the time when we will finally be freed from our Earthly bodies. We were saved thinking of this hope. It's not only acceptable but common to accept Christ because you want to go to Heaven. It is later that you find even more reasons to follow Him. You must grow in your faith and not stagnate at that stage. We must keep our hope forward on the things we have yet to see because how can you hope for something you've already seen? The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness because we don't know what to pray for. We don't know what's best for us, but the Holy Spirit is God's Spirit and therefore knows the things God knows. God knows what's best for us. The Holy Spirit intercedes inside of us the way God wants Him to.
All things work together for the good of those who love God. It is a fact that almost all believers know that God has the perfect plan for our lives. His Son is the firstborn among many. If God is for us, nothing can ever stand against us. God could have stopped Jesus from being killed, but He handed Him over to death in order to save all of us. Christ also intercedes for us from the highest position in Heaven, that is why He said that if we ask anything in His name, it shall be done for us. Christ died and came back to life for us. Nothing can separate us from His love.
Those of us who are believers are marked differently by God. Having the Holy Spirit in us frees us from sin and death. We, as humans, cannot live up to God's standards because of the way our nature is. The only way to reconcile this was for God to send Jesus to Earth as a human and take our corruption as His own. God condemned our corrupt and sinful nature without having to condemn us; therefore we do not live by the corrupt nature but by the spiritual nature. When we live in our Spiritual nature, we can meet God's standards because God's Spirit cannot go against God. People who live by the corrupt nature have that attitude because they cannot accept what God tells them. They cannot live in the way in which He has called them. This life ultimately leads to death. Those who live in the Spiritual nature will find life and peace. If the Holy Spirit lives in you, you live under the Spiritual nature. If you find your desires line up more and more with what you know God wants for you instead of what the world says is okay or what you want for you, the Holy Spirit lives in you. If you struggle with sin instead of coming to terms with what you're doing remorselessly, then the Holy Spirit is in you. It is possible for you to cast out the Holy Spirit and once again live by your corrupt nature, but if you do, you head back down the path that leads to death. Remember, it is not by force we have the Holy Spirit, like a slave might receive a sentence. We received it as an adoption by God to be His children. As His children, we will share the same inheritance that Christ received, everlasting life.
Any afflictions you suffer from now, you will consider insignificant when you finally get to see the glory of God. We wait for Him to reveal who His children are. This implies that some who claim to be His children do not have the faith they claim to have. In these cases, God does not accept them as His children. Ever since Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, all creation has groaned with the pain sin has cast down upon it. Even we believers continue to groan as we eagerly anticipate Heaven and the time when we will finally be freed from our Earthly bodies. We were saved thinking of this hope. It's not only acceptable but common to accept Christ because you want to go to Heaven. It is later that you find even more reasons to follow Him. You must grow in your faith and not stagnate at that stage. We must keep our hope forward on the things we have yet to see because how can you hope for something you've already seen? The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness because we don't know what to pray for. We don't know what's best for us, but the Holy Spirit is God's Spirit and therefore knows the things God knows. God knows what's best for us. The Holy Spirit intercedes inside of us the way God wants Him to.
All things work together for the good of those who love God. It is a fact that almost all believers know that God has the perfect plan for our lives. His Son is the firstborn among many. If God is for us, nothing can ever stand against us. God could have stopped Jesus from being killed, but He handed Him over to death in order to save all of us. Christ also intercedes for us from the highest position in Heaven, that is why He said that if we ask anything in His name, it shall be done for us. Christ died and came back to life for us. Nothing can separate us from His love.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Romans 7
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+7/
Laws are only binding as long as a person is alive. Paul gives the example of a married woman. She is only bound to stay true to her husband as long as he is alive. When he dies, she can get married to someone else, and she is not technically committing adultery. In this way, Moses' laws have died to us. We are not bound to them anymore. Now we have "remarried" the heart and desires of Jesus Christ. It is what God wants for us that should control what we do.
Moses' Teachings point out what sins are. For example, Paul says that he read not to have wrong desires (those outside of God's standards for us). After reading that, he found himself sinning in this way. Before he read it, he simply followed only what God dictated to him, and so this sin wasn't necessarily part of his life. On the flip side, there are sins that we commit that we don't know we're committing or don't know are sins. By a more careful study of the word of God, we can find and change these parts of our lives.
People are inherently sinful, and God's standards may seem hard to match for this reason. There are times that even when we try to do what is right, we do wrong. We do things that we hate ourselves for doing because we know that they are against God. But it is not us who does them but sin within our worldly desires. It is still sin that we need forgiveness for, but if you suffer because of your sins and feel awful after you do something like that, be encouraged. God is at work in you. If you didn't feel anything about your sins, you would be in trouble because that means you are not in the Spirit who points out right and wrong.
Laws are only binding as long as a person is alive. Paul gives the example of a married woman. She is only bound to stay true to her husband as long as he is alive. When he dies, she can get married to someone else, and she is not technically committing adultery. In this way, Moses' laws have died to us. We are not bound to them anymore. Now we have "remarried" the heart and desires of Jesus Christ. It is what God wants for us that should control what we do.
Moses' Teachings point out what sins are. For example, Paul says that he read not to have wrong desires (those outside of God's standards for us). After reading that, he found himself sinning in this way. Before he read it, he simply followed only what God dictated to him, and so this sin wasn't necessarily part of his life. On the flip side, there are sins that we commit that we don't know we're committing or don't know are sins. By a more careful study of the word of God, we can find and change these parts of our lives.
People are inherently sinful, and God's standards may seem hard to match for this reason. There are times that even when we try to do what is right, we do wrong. We do things that we hate ourselves for doing because we know that they are against God. But it is not us who does them but sin within our worldly desires. It is still sin that we need forgiveness for, but if you suffer because of your sins and feel awful after you do something like that, be encouraged. God is at work in you. If you didn't feel anything about your sins, you would be in trouble because that means you are not in the Spirit who points out right and wrong.
Romans 6
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+6/
God's grace can overcome any and all sin. Since that is the case, should we keep sinning? Of course not. Jesus Christ, who despite being part of the Trinity of God, felt every ache and pain of a normal person. He was killed in one of the most brutal ways possible after being severely beaten because He wanted to repair your relationship with God. You must understand that when you wholeheartedly put your faith in Jesus, you are no longer responsible for the punishments of your sin because you have personally placed Jesus on the cross to take your place. You were dead before you put your faith in Jesus; therefore, you were dead with Christ, and at your baptism, you were metaphorically buried with Him. When you raised from the water, you were brought to new life. The old you was gone. With this new life comes new ways. You need to pray about what the desires of God's heart is in order to act in accordance to His will for your life. If you truly place your faith in Him you should have new desires because after we died with Christ, we live with Him. Christ died, but only once, when all the sins of humanity rested on Him, but He only died once, and when He came back, He defeated sin. So take your victory over sin and remove yourself from it's power by standing with Jesus. You should only do the things God approves of and never let any part of your body succumb to sin. Christians should live differently than other people because of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We are not controlled by the sinful natures of our flesh like the rest of humans are. But just because we are not controlled by sin doesn't mean we should give into sin. A slave can only serve one master. For humans, that master is sin or obedience to God. Offer yourself to what God approves of just as you once offered yourself to all the things that sin made you do. If you live a life of sin, you pay for it with death, but if you live in accordance to Jesus, you receive everlasting life.
God's grace can overcome any and all sin. Since that is the case, should we keep sinning? Of course not. Jesus Christ, who despite being part of the Trinity of God, felt every ache and pain of a normal person. He was killed in one of the most brutal ways possible after being severely beaten because He wanted to repair your relationship with God. You must understand that when you wholeheartedly put your faith in Jesus, you are no longer responsible for the punishments of your sin because you have personally placed Jesus on the cross to take your place. You were dead before you put your faith in Jesus; therefore, you were dead with Christ, and at your baptism, you were metaphorically buried with Him. When you raised from the water, you were brought to new life. The old you was gone. With this new life comes new ways. You need to pray about what the desires of God's heart is in order to act in accordance to His will for your life. If you truly place your faith in Him you should have new desires because after we died with Christ, we live with Him. Christ died, but only once, when all the sins of humanity rested on Him, but He only died once, and when He came back, He defeated sin. So take your victory over sin and remove yourself from it's power by standing with Jesus. You should only do the things God approves of and never let any part of your body succumb to sin. Christians should live differently than other people because of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We are not controlled by the sinful natures of our flesh like the rest of humans are. But just because we are not controlled by sin doesn't mean we should give into sin. A slave can only serve one master. For humans, that master is sin or obedience to God. Offer yourself to what God approves of just as you once offered yourself to all the things that sin made you do. If you live a life of sin, you pay for it with death, but if you live in accordance to Jesus, you receive everlasting life.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Romans 5
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+5/
We have God's Approval! Again, we receive this favor through faith. When we brag, we do it because of what God has done for us. We brag about God. But don't just brag about God when things are going well, brag when you suffer because suffering builds endurance, which builds character, which builds confidence. We cannot be ashamed of what Christ has done for us. We must proclaim it and tell others about it. The next part puts the gospel in such a way that is truly unbelievable, but it really happened. Christ died at the perfect time. Why? He came to die for the evil, which is unheard of. You might give your life to save a good person if you knew it would cause them to survive, but never an evil person. You would just let them go and continue on about your business as before. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Sin is the one thing that causes God anguish to watch people do. There is nothing remotely of God in it or about it. Still, Christ died to save us while we acted out against Him. So, if Jesus died for each of us to save us even when we were at the darkest moments when sin controlled our lives, how much more will He save us daily now that we have His Approval? Christ restored the relationship between humans and God.
Adam brought sin to the world, and sin brought death because death is the payment for sin. Sin existed even in a time before there were written laws about it from Moses, yet everybody from Abraham to Moses still died. We should not compare Adam's failure to God's gift. God is the one who controlled the fate. After Adam sinned, God condemned people to die, and all people became sinners because we all came from Adam. God also eventually gave the gift that brought people out of the hopeless fate. What we can compare is a one to one system. Each and every one of us committed sin, and Jesus died in place of us by taking that sin upon Himself. Sin cannot overtake God. Jesus rose from death. Even if you feel your sin is the worst (and no sin is worse than any other) or that you have committed more sins than others and we have all committed so many that it is pointless to try to count), God's grace will always overcome the sin.
We have God's Approval! Again, we receive this favor through faith. When we brag, we do it because of what God has done for us. We brag about God. But don't just brag about God when things are going well, brag when you suffer because suffering builds endurance, which builds character, which builds confidence. We cannot be ashamed of what Christ has done for us. We must proclaim it and tell others about it. The next part puts the gospel in such a way that is truly unbelievable, but it really happened. Christ died at the perfect time. Why? He came to die for the evil, which is unheard of. You might give your life to save a good person if you knew it would cause them to survive, but never an evil person. You would just let them go and continue on about your business as before. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Sin is the one thing that causes God anguish to watch people do. There is nothing remotely of God in it or about it. Still, Christ died to save us while we acted out against Him. So, if Jesus died for each of us to save us even when we were at the darkest moments when sin controlled our lives, how much more will He save us daily now that we have His Approval? Christ restored the relationship between humans and God.
Adam brought sin to the world, and sin brought death because death is the payment for sin. Sin existed even in a time before there were written laws about it from Moses, yet everybody from Abraham to Moses still died. We should not compare Adam's failure to God's gift. God is the one who controlled the fate. After Adam sinned, God condemned people to die, and all people became sinners because we all came from Adam. God also eventually gave the gift that brought people out of the hopeless fate. What we can compare is a one to one system. Each and every one of us committed sin, and Jesus died in place of us by taking that sin upon Himself. Sin cannot overtake God. Jesus rose from death. Even if you feel your sin is the worst (and no sin is worse than any other) or that you have committed more sins than others and we have all committed so many that it is pointless to try to count), God's grace will always overcome the sin.
Romans 4
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+4/
Even if we look back as far as Abraham, we can see the effects that faith have had on God's Approval. When Abraham received God's promise, he did so through faith. He believed what God promised him. Through this promise, God bestowed His Approval upon Abraham. There is nothing about Moses' Law coming into it (because Moses hadn't lived yet) or any other set of rules for that matter. Abraham had faith in God. At the time, he was not even circumcised. People in the time that Paul wrote this letter were very hung up on circumcision because that had previously been what marked a Jewish man different from a gentile man. In the times before Jesus, the Jewish people were the ones who could have God's Approval, and the gentiles could not. If we looked to Moses' Teachings as the only way to Heaven, then faith would mean nothing. God would practically be taken out of the equation because it would come down to people doing works. This system would also be very bad for people who are not from a Jewish heritage because under Moses' Teachings, only Jewish people go to Heaven. David even knew God as the God who desired faith (probably one of the reasons God called him the "Man after God's own heart"). He wrote that the man whose sins are forgiven is blessed. He didn't say anything about the man who knew all the right things to do and always did them is blessed. We have already seen in romans that is an impossible feat. Abraham believed in God's promise that he would have a great many descendants even when he was one hundred years old and had yet to have a child, and his wife was considered barren. He still held on in faith to God's promise, and eventually, God blessed him with a son. Finally, when Paul says that Abraham's faith was regarded as God's Approval of him, that applies to us too. This is an example of the Bible indirectly talking about being a Living Word that can be prevalent to our lives thousands of years after it was written. The whole reason Jesus died was so that if we had faith in Him, we would have God's Approval. If we got to Heaven based on works, He would have died and been raised to life for no reason.
Even if we look back as far as Abraham, we can see the effects that faith have had on God's Approval. When Abraham received God's promise, he did so through faith. He believed what God promised him. Through this promise, God bestowed His Approval upon Abraham. There is nothing about Moses' Law coming into it (because Moses hadn't lived yet) or any other set of rules for that matter. Abraham had faith in God. At the time, he was not even circumcised. People in the time that Paul wrote this letter were very hung up on circumcision because that had previously been what marked a Jewish man different from a gentile man. In the times before Jesus, the Jewish people were the ones who could have God's Approval, and the gentiles could not. If we looked to Moses' Teachings as the only way to Heaven, then faith would mean nothing. God would practically be taken out of the equation because it would come down to people doing works. This system would also be very bad for people who are not from a Jewish heritage because under Moses' Teachings, only Jewish people go to Heaven. David even knew God as the God who desired faith (probably one of the reasons God called him the "Man after God's own heart"). He wrote that the man whose sins are forgiven is blessed. He didn't say anything about the man who knew all the right things to do and always did them is blessed. We have already seen in romans that is an impossible feat. Abraham believed in God's promise that he would have a great many descendants even when he was one hundred years old and had yet to have a child, and his wife was considered barren. He still held on in faith to God's promise, and eventually, God blessed him with a son. Finally, when Paul says that Abraham's faith was regarded as God's Approval of him, that applies to us too. This is an example of the Bible indirectly talking about being a Living Word that can be prevalent to our lives thousands of years after it was written. The whole reason Jesus died was so that if we had faith in Him, we would have God's Approval. If we got to Heaven based on works, He would have died and been raised to life for no reason.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Romans 3
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+3/
Paul asks if there is any advantage to being Jewish, and he says there is. After all, God entrusted the Jewish people first with His word. Paul makes an amazing remark that God is honest while everyone else is a liar. Can anyone honestly say that they have never in their entire lives told a lie at some point? People make all sorts of crazy excuses for why their sin is okay or why God punishes them unfairly. They think that if their sin shows that God is fair, they are alright. God is always fair when we sin through His judgement. If He took it easy on us when our sins proved He was fair, He would not judge anyone nor be fair at that point. Some say that the ends justify the means, but that simply is not true. If you sin, you sin. There is no reason for the sin that can be good enough to make it okay. No one truly has any advantage to who they are because everyone sins. Because of Adam and Eve, no one can have God's approval from birthrights. Everyone spends some part of their lives turning away from God. No one does good on their own. How many times have you seen a young child do something bad? Have you ever seen the parent teach that child to do bad? Doing what is wrong is in our nature. You cannot gain approval with God form following Moses' Teachings because Moses' Teachings only show what sin is.
There is a simple way to receive God's approval. Moses and all of the prophets even speak of it in their own form. Anyone who believes has God's approval through Jesus. Everyone is basically the same because everyone sins. No one is perfect. No one, save Jesus, walked this Earth and never sinned. In addition, all types of people freely receive God's approval through faith in Jesus. God is a God who sends His approval to those who believe in Jesus Christ. This should eliminate bragging because what do we have to brag about. We lived lives of sin, and God gave us His approval because we believe in Jesus. We are all the same. No variation in the story. Is this something from our own efforts? No because it is from faith. We all have one faith, whether we are circumcised or uncircumcised, Jewish or gentile.
Paul asks if there is any advantage to being Jewish, and he says there is. After all, God entrusted the Jewish people first with His word. Paul makes an amazing remark that God is honest while everyone else is a liar. Can anyone honestly say that they have never in their entire lives told a lie at some point? People make all sorts of crazy excuses for why their sin is okay or why God punishes them unfairly. They think that if their sin shows that God is fair, they are alright. God is always fair when we sin through His judgement. If He took it easy on us when our sins proved He was fair, He would not judge anyone nor be fair at that point. Some say that the ends justify the means, but that simply is not true. If you sin, you sin. There is no reason for the sin that can be good enough to make it okay. No one truly has any advantage to who they are because everyone sins. Because of Adam and Eve, no one can have God's approval from birthrights. Everyone spends some part of their lives turning away from God. No one does good on their own. How many times have you seen a young child do something bad? Have you ever seen the parent teach that child to do bad? Doing what is wrong is in our nature. You cannot gain approval with God form following Moses' Teachings because Moses' Teachings only show what sin is.
There is a simple way to receive God's approval. Moses and all of the prophets even speak of it in their own form. Anyone who believes has God's approval through Jesus. Everyone is basically the same because everyone sins. No one is perfect. No one, save Jesus, walked this Earth and never sinned. In addition, all types of people freely receive God's approval through faith in Jesus. God is a God who sends His approval to those who believe in Jesus Christ. This should eliminate bragging because what do we have to brag about. We lived lives of sin, and God gave us His approval because we believe in Jesus. We are all the same. No variation in the story. Is this something from our own efforts? No because it is from faith. We all have one faith, whether we are circumcised or uncircumcised, Jewish or gentile.
Romans 2
http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+2/
We as mere people should not judge others. Who are we to judge people for their sins? We are equally huge sinners. We may have even committed the same sins. Do we honestly believe that if we point out the sins of others that God will go easy on us for our sins? It is God's place alone to pass judgement. If we judge, we are showing disdain for God because it shows that we don't think that He is doing a good enough job. God uses His grace and kindness to try and change the way you think and act. Out with the old and in with the new. Anyone can judge, but if we change the way we think and act, shouldn't that mean that we void our lives of judgement? If we do not change the way we think and act, we are not doing what God has called us to do; therefore, we only add to His anger on Judgement Day. At this time, He will give out His decisions that He can prove are fair. He will give eternal life to those who seek glory and honor and immortality by keeping close to God. He will punish with anger those who do evil. There are no exceptions.
Even for those who are not Jewish and are unfamiliar with Moses' Laws, there is something that they find inside of them that tells them right from wrong, even if they don't always listen. This is the Holy Spirit seeking after them. He brings only what is right. If the person still refuses the Holy Spirit, God will judge them for all of their secret thoughts and the things that they have done.
The Jewish people who converted to Christianity at the time thought that they were better because they had Moses' Teachings, so Paul addresses them. He says that they think they can guide people through the dark, instruct the ignorant, and teach children because they were taught Moses' Teachings all their lives. But how do they stack up against those who do not have Moses' Teachings if they preach against stealing and steal things themselves? How do they look to God when they preach against adultery and commit adultery? Moses' Teachings entail a lot of the things that God desires for us, but they are not the qualification for what brings God's grace to people. Someone who has no knowledge of Moses' Teachings who prays earnestly for forgiveness is in better with God than someone who thinks they can take it upon themselves to stick to Moses' Teachings when he or she will always fall short. Paul goes into a little about circumcision. A circumcision is very important in Moses' Teachings. All baby boys must be circumcised within a few days. But if the man who is circumcised does not follow the rest of the laws, he might as well be uncircumcised. It's not as if God looks at if we followed one of the rules He set out and determines that's good enough to make up for all of the times you didn't follow the laws. Under the new covenant signed with the blood of Jesus Christ, anyone can be God's chosen people, which was an honor that used to be reserved just for those of Jewish heritage. In a sense, anyone can be Jewish. You are Jewish inwardly. If you are circumcised, make sure you are circumcised in your heart. Use it as a reminder that you belong to God and should adhere to the standards He sets out over our own standards.
We as mere people should not judge others. Who are we to judge people for their sins? We are equally huge sinners. We may have even committed the same sins. Do we honestly believe that if we point out the sins of others that God will go easy on us for our sins? It is God's place alone to pass judgement. If we judge, we are showing disdain for God because it shows that we don't think that He is doing a good enough job. God uses His grace and kindness to try and change the way you think and act. Out with the old and in with the new. Anyone can judge, but if we change the way we think and act, shouldn't that mean that we void our lives of judgement? If we do not change the way we think and act, we are not doing what God has called us to do; therefore, we only add to His anger on Judgement Day. At this time, He will give out His decisions that He can prove are fair. He will give eternal life to those who seek glory and honor and immortality by keeping close to God. He will punish with anger those who do evil. There are no exceptions.
Even for those who are not Jewish and are unfamiliar with Moses' Laws, there is something that they find inside of them that tells them right from wrong, even if they don't always listen. This is the Holy Spirit seeking after them. He brings only what is right. If the person still refuses the Holy Spirit, God will judge them for all of their secret thoughts and the things that they have done.
The Jewish people who converted to Christianity at the time thought that they were better because they had Moses' Teachings, so Paul addresses them. He says that they think they can guide people through the dark, instruct the ignorant, and teach children because they were taught Moses' Teachings all their lives. But how do they stack up against those who do not have Moses' Teachings if they preach against stealing and steal things themselves? How do they look to God when they preach against adultery and commit adultery? Moses' Teachings entail a lot of the things that God desires for us, but they are not the qualification for what brings God's grace to people. Someone who has no knowledge of Moses' Teachings who prays earnestly for forgiveness is in better with God than someone who thinks they can take it upon themselves to stick to Moses' Teachings when he or she will always fall short. Paul goes into a little about circumcision. A circumcision is very important in Moses' Teachings. All baby boys must be circumcised within a few days. But if the man who is circumcised does not follow the rest of the laws, he might as well be uncircumcised. It's not as if God looks at if we followed one of the rules He set out and determines that's good enough to make up for all of the times you didn't follow the laws. Under the new covenant signed with the blood of Jesus Christ, anyone can be God's chosen people, which was an honor that used to be reserved just for those of Jewish heritage. In a sense, anyone can be Jewish. You are Jewish inwardly. If you are circumcised, make sure you are circumcised in your heart. Use it as a reminder that you belong to God and should adhere to the standards He sets out over our own standards.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Romans 1
Paul wrote the book of Romans to the people of Rome to teach them how to become Christians and how to live like Christians. This book serves to sort of explain the heart of Christianity. If you have questions about being a Christian, this is the place to turn. Romans has inspired many christian heros and even prompted Martin Luther to start the Protestant Reformation when he realized Christianity is about faith, not works. http://www.esvbible.org/Romans+1/
Paul identifies himself as the author of the letter, and that he wrote it to the believers in Rome. Something here that is not in most of the other letters is this parenthetical about who the person of Jesus was. He was a descendant of David, as God had promised the Messiah would be. In the spiritual things, He is the Son of God. Because of Him we have grace. Paul even says without Jesus, there would be no apostles because there would be no Good News to spread.
One of the things Paul says in almost every letter is that he prays for the people he is writing to every time he prays. Paul expresses his love in this way. He wants the people he loves to grow even more in Christ, so he prays for them. Similarly, he prays that he can visit them because he loves them. He hasn't recently been able to visit because God has called him to share the Good News with all peoples of every nation, but that includes Rome, which is why he hopes to visit. Some examples Paul sets is that he wants to share spiritual blessings, and we should all be encouraged by each other's faith. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel because it is God's power to save people, first the Jews then the gentiles. Jesus preached to the Jews and taught them what He had to teach, and then many turned to Him. When He left, he left to apostles in charge of carrying His message to the gentiles, so that we may also be saved. The Good News contins God's approval, and it says that the one who has God's approval will live by faith. Period. Bottom Line. Faith gives us God's approval. Nothing else.
God reveals truth about His anger against ungodly things. God has made clear to all people what they need to know of Him. His qualities, powers, and nature have all been on display, but some people still turn away from Him. These use ungodly pleasures and lusts to suppress the things they know to be true. They claim to know God, but their actions are against Him. They have traded their praises of Him, the Creator, for praises of things created. God allows these things to control them. Because of this, they dishonor themselves. Because they traded in the things of God for their own lusts, God allows their immoral minds to control them. They fill their lives with every kind of sin and hurt themselves and others because of it. Those who know who God is and what He does but choose to ignore it by giving into their sinful ways deserve to die. They not only partake in these things but approve of others who do. People who claim to be believers and know Christ should not approve when people use their lives to dishonor God.
Paul identifies himself as the author of the letter, and that he wrote it to the believers in Rome. Something here that is not in most of the other letters is this parenthetical about who the person of Jesus was. He was a descendant of David, as God had promised the Messiah would be. In the spiritual things, He is the Son of God. Because of Him we have grace. Paul even says without Jesus, there would be no apostles because there would be no Good News to spread.
One of the things Paul says in almost every letter is that he prays for the people he is writing to every time he prays. Paul expresses his love in this way. He wants the people he loves to grow even more in Christ, so he prays for them. Similarly, he prays that he can visit them because he loves them. He hasn't recently been able to visit because God has called him to share the Good News with all peoples of every nation, but that includes Rome, which is why he hopes to visit. Some examples Paul sets is that he wants to share spiritual blessings, and we should all be encouraged by each other's faith. Do not be ashamed of the Gospel because it is God's power to save people, first the Jews then the gentiles. Jesus preached to the Jews and taught them what He had to teach, and then many turned to Him. When He left, he left to apostles in charge of carrying His message to the gentiles, so that we may also be saved. The Good News contins God's approval, and it says that the one who has God's approval will live by faith. Period. Bottom Line. Faith gives us God's approval. Nothing else.
God reveals truth about His anger against ungodly things. God has made clear to all people what they need to know of Him. His qualities, powers, and nature have all been on display, but some people still turn away from Him. These use ungodly pleasures and lusts to suppress the things they know to be true. They claim to know God, but their actions are against Him. They have traded their praises of Him, the Creator, for praises of things created. God allows these things to control them. Because of this, they dishonor themselves. Because they traded in the things of God for their own lusts, God allows their immoral minds to control them. They fill their lives with every kind of sin and hurt themselves and others because of it. Those who know who God is and what He does but choose to ignore it by giving into their sinful ways deserve to die. They not only partake in these things but approve of others who do. People who claim to be believers and know Christ should not approve when people use their lives to dishonor God.
Monday, July 23, 2012
2 Peter 3
http://www.esvbible.org/2+Peter+3/
Peter says that both of His letters serve to remind us what the prophets said and what Jesus said through the apostles. Near the end, a day will come, when men will ridicule the Lord and His promises. They will say that things are the same as they've ever been and question Jesus' returning. What they forget is that it is through the Word of God and Christ the the world came to exist in the first place. We also cannot forget that time is meaningless to God. He does things in His own time and a day to Him is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. We must stay true because a day is coming when theEarth will be destroyed, and everything that was done by humans will be gone. Heaven and Earth will be destroyed. Yet God promises a new Heaven and earth on which all that God approves of will live. Because of all this, we must be sure to stand firm in our beliefs. People will come to discredit all of the Scriptures, but we must remember that they all come from God. We cannot let these types of people carry us away.
Peter says that both of His letters serve to remind us what the prophets said and what Jesus said through the apostles. Near the end, a day will come, when men will ridicule the Lord and His promises. They will say that things are the same as they've ever been and question Jesus' returning. What they forget is that it is through the Word of God and Christ the the world came to exist in the first place. We also cannot forget that time is meaningless to God. He does things in His own time and a day to Him is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. We must stay true because a day is coming when theEarth will be destroyed, and everything that was done by humans will be gone. Heaven and Earth will be destroyed. Yet God promises a new Heaven and earth on which all that God approves of will live. Because of all this, we must be sure to stand firm in our beliefs. People will come to discredit all of the Scriptures, but we must remember that they all come from God. We cannot let these types of people carry us away.
2 Peter 2
http://www.esvbible.org/2+Peter+2/
Peter warns us about false teachers. They are nothing new, not even in the time of Jesus. They have always been around, and Peter assures us that God knows how to punish them on Judgement Day while saving His people. After all, He saved Noah and Noah's family while He wiped out the sinful people with the flood, and He saved Lot and Lot's family while He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where the people lived their lives in sin. The false teachers are usually people who used to be in the faith but left because they decided they would rather pursue their own selfish interests. They may have even started out teaching the truth, but they changed in the hunger for fame or greed when they saw what their teachings could get them. Now, they work to exploit innocent believers and bring them into the false teachings, which they create themselves. Most of these people are new Christians and don't know any better. Peter says that it is worse to be in Christ and leave than it is to have never known the Way at all. It is true when the prophets said that a sow is cleaned and then returns to the mud. These false teachers were cleansed of their sins, but they chose to go back to how they lived in their sinful lives.
Peter warns us about false teachers. They are nothing new, not even in the time of Jesus. They have always been around, and Peter assures us that God knows how to punish them on Judgement Day while saving His people. After all, He saved Noah and Noah's family while He wiped out the sinful people with the flood, and He saved Lot and Lot's family while He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where the people lived their lives in sin. The false teachers are usually people who used to be in the faith but left because they decided they would rather pursue their own selfish interests. They may have even started out teaching the truth, but they changed in the hunger for fame or greed when they saw what their teachings could get them. Now, they work to exploit innocent believers and bring them into the false teachings, which they create themselves. Most of these people are new Christians and don't know any better. Peter says that it is worse to be in Christ and leave than it is to have never known the Way at all. It is true when the prophets said that a sow is cleaned and then returns to the mud. These false teachers were cleansed of their sins, but they chose to go back to how they lived in their sinful lives.
2 Peter 1
http://www.esvbible.org/2+Peter+1/
Peter begins with a greeting, affirming he wrote this letter, and it is written to all Christians.
It should be reassuring that God has already given us all the gifts we need for our entire lives and godliness. We received this through knowledge from God, who called us to faith. Through His glory, He gave us great promises, and in these promises, we share in divinity because we have escaped sinful nature. But we must always be adding and improving because there is always room to better ourselves. We must add integrity to faith, knowledge to integrity, self-control to knowledge, endurance to self-control, godliness to endurance, Christian affection to godliness, and love to Christian affection. We can always build and improve. Once we have added all of these things to our lives, and they are improving, we are productive in Christ, but if they are missing, we forget we have been forgiven. Make every effort to secure that what you are doing is God's calling for your life. By continuing to add these things and make improvements, we will never fall away and will be allowed to enter God's Kingdom. Peter says he will keep reminding these of these things until he dies, and we must too remind people of how they need to stay right with God. Finally, Peter says that God revealed to Him that His time is short, yet Peter uses this time to make sure that others are right with God. This is how we should spend our days, making sure others can join us in our salvation.
Peter assures the other Christians that the apostles aren't making up the stuff that they teach about, but they were there with Jesus and witnessed it all as it happened. They saw Jesus get baptized and heard God say that "This is my Son in whom I delight." They know as a fact that the things the prophets said are true, so he encourages Christians to heed their warnings. Indeed, nothing in Scripture is of men's interpretations or from their imaginations, but they actually come from the Holy Spirit spoken through men's mouths.
Peter begins with a greeting, affirming he wrote this letter, and it is written to all Christians.
It should be reassuring that God has already given us all the gifts we need for our entire lives and godliness. We received this through knowledge from God, who called us to faith. Through His glory, He gave us great promises, and in these promises, we share in divinity because we have escaped sinful nature. But we must always be adding and improving because there is always room to better ourselves. We must add integrity to faith, knowledge to integrity, self-control to knowledge, endurance to self-control, godliness to endurance, Christian affection to godliness, and love to Christian affection. We can always build and improve. Once we have added all of these things to our lives, and they are improving, we are productive in Christ, but if they are missing, we forget we have been forgiven. Make every effort to secure that what you are doing is God's calling for your life. By continuing to add these things and make improvements, we will never fall away and will be allowed to enter God's Kingdom. Peter says he will keep reminding these of these things until he dies, and we must too remind people of how they need to stay right with God. Finally, Peter says that God revealed to Him that His time is short, yet Peter uses this time to make sure that others are right with God. This is how we should spend our days, making sure others can join us in our salvation.
Peter assures the other Christians that the apostles aren't making up the stuff that they teach about, but they were there with Jesus and witnessed it all as it happened. They saw Jesus get baptized and heard God say that "This is my Son in whom I delight." They know as a fact that the things the prophets said are true, so he encourages Christians to heed their warnings. Indeed, nothing in Scripture is of men's interpretations or from their imaginations, but they actually come from the Holy Spirit spoken through men's mouths.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
1 Peter 5
http://www.esvbible.org/1+Peter+5/
Peter instructs spiritual leaders. He says that they should watch over their flock as God does. Don't serve because they have to but because they want to. They should do it to serve and not out of greed. They are not to be rulers over the people but examples to them.
Then, to the young Christians, Peter instructs that they should submit to the spiritual leaders. They should serve one another because God favors the humble. Turn over all anxiety to God because the devil is on the prowl, and he's looking for someone weak to devour. Be firm because other believers are going through suffering as well. God is with you as you suffer for a short time, and He has all the power!
Peter instructs spiritual leaders. He says that they should watch over their flock as God does. Don't serve because they have to but because they want to. They should do it to serve and not out of greed. They are not to be rulers over the people but examples to them.
Then, to the young Christians, Peter instructs that they should submit to the spiritual leaders. They should serve one another because God favors the humble. Turn over all anxiety to God because the devil is on the prowl, and he's looking for someone weak to devour. Be firm because other believers are going through suffering as well. God is with you as you suffer for a short time, and He has all the power!
1 Peter 4
http://www.esvbible.org/1+Peter+4/
We all suffer for our faith, and Peter says that we should take the same attitude that Jesus took in His suffering. That way, we won't give into our sinful nature but stay in the things that God desires for us. Once, we too did the things that nonbelievers do and led sinful lives. We are no better than them. Now, they insult us because we want to do what is right. Do not worry about them because it is up to God to judge them on their final day. They will have to give an account for everything that they've done. Peter repeats what He says about love. We must love each other with warm sincerity. Love even has the power to cover up sin. Then, as a final thought to all of this, Peter reminds us that we all have Spiritual Gifts, and we are called upon to use them in the name of God. We must speak of His Word. We must serve with His strength. In this way, He receives all of the glory.
Just as Paul said, Peter repeats that all Christians will suffer in the name of Christ, but when this happens, we should not feel alone. How much better do you feel knowing that people suffer for the name of Jesus all around the world, from all different backgrounds, and for all different reasons? When you suffer, embrace it. Know that you are sharing some of what Christ felt. It should even make you joyful because it means that the presence of the Lord rests on you, and Satan os trying to drive you away from God. Therefore, it is important in times of testing to stand firm in faith. When you suffer for God, praise Him.
We all suffer for our faith, and Peter says that we should take the same attitude that Jesus took in His suffering. That way, we won't give into our sinful nature but stay in the things that God desires for us. Once, we too did the things that nonbelievers do and led sinful lives. We are no better than them. Now, they insult us because we want to do what is right. Do not worry about them because it is up to God to judge them on their final day. They will have to give an account for everything that they've done. Peter repeats what He says about love. We must love each other with warm sincerity. Love even has the power to cover up sin. Then, as a final thought to all of this, Peter reminds us that we all have Spiritual Gifts, and we are called upon to use them in the name of God. We must speak of His Word. We must serve with His strength. In this way, He receives all of the glory.
Just as Paul said, Peter repeats that all Christians will suffer in the name of Christ, but when this happens, we should not feel alone. How much better do you feel knowing that people suffer for the name of Jesus all around the world, from all different backgrounds, and for all different reasons? When you suffer, embrace it. Know that you are sharing some of what Christ felt. It should even make you joyful because it means that the presence of the Lord rests on you, and Satan os trying to drive you away from God. Therefore, it is important in times of testing to stand firm in faith. When you suffer for God, praise Him.
Monday, June 25, 2012
1 Peter 3
http://www.esvbible.org/1+Peter+3/
Wives can win their husbands over to Christ by submitting to their authority. They should also never let their beauty be something external because true beauty comes from the inside. This is how truly beautiful women have always shown their beauty. Peter also had to remind the men of his time that their wives were equally people, and they receive the same love from God that men do.
Even in today's world, people struggle with the last thing that 1 Peter 3 says. In this part, Peter says that we should live in harmony with other people. We should never repay evil with evil but should repay it with blessings because we have something so much greater than them, and we need to share it with all people. People shouldn't want to make you suffer when you do good, but if they do, just think about how much God has in store for you if your suffering is His will. Keep your conscience clear. When you were baptized, it was not so that the dirt could be washed away but so that you could have a clear conscience. Jesus didn't sin but He died and came back to life. His actions speak volumes more than any of us ever could, so we have to at least stay out of the way if we're not doing good.
Wives can win their husbands over to Christ by submitting to their authority. They should also never let their beauty be something external because true beauty comes from the inside. This is how truly beautiful women have always shown their beauty. Peter also had to remind the men of his time that their wives were equally people, and they receive the same love from God that men do.
Even in today's world, people struggle with the last thing that 1 Peter 3 says. In this part, Peter says that we should live in harmony with other people. We should never repay evil with evil but should repay it with blessings because we have something so much greater than them, and we need to share it with all people. People shouldn't want to make you suffer when you do good, but if they do, just think about how much God has in store for you if your suffering is His will. Keep your conscience clear. When you were baptized, it was not so that the dirt could be washed away but so that you could have a clear conscience. Jesus didn't sin but He died and came back to life. His actions speak volumes more than any of us ever could, so we have to at least stay out of the way if we're not doing good.
1 Peter 2
http://www.esvbible.org/1+Peter+2/
More warnings from Peter. We should get rid of anything evil that we have in our lives. It can come in so many forms that we may not even realize it, but we are examples of Christ for the non believers in the world, so we must be different. Peter calls Jesus the cornerstone, which is a common analogy because building are build based on where the cornerstone is laid. It is the most important stone and the most glorified. Jesus plays that role in life. He says that people rejected this cornerstone, but we as Christians are running towards it. The prophecies said that the stone builders rejected became the cornerstone and people tripped over it and found offense. People did not like Jesus. They had Him executed, but He is the cornerstone of Salvation. People trip over Him because what He calls us to do is difficult and they take offense to Him because they do not want to do what He tells them to do. A reminder: we were once not God's people, but He accepted us as His people in time. Keep the corrupt nature's desires at bay because they constantly attack our good nature. We are foreigners to this world because as Jesus said, we don't belong here any more than He did. We must live in a way that the unbelievers find weird. They will think what we do is bad when we truly do good.
Place yourself under the authority of the government. This pleases the Lord. Peter tells the people of the time ti obey the emperor because he has the highest authority. In the US, that translates to obeying the president. MOST people don't have a problem with this; however, God calls you to obey him whether you believe in his policies or not. God wants you to silence fools by doing what is right. How can you set the right example if you do what is wrong? Keep in mind that Peter even wrote this when Nero outlawed Christianity. He's saying obey the laws but God does come first in all things. Don't use faith as a means to do what is illegal. He tells slaves to submit to their masters and show them respect. People in that time could've come to know Christ in that way. Obey not only the kind one's but the unfair ones as well. God loves it when people remember how great He is and continue to obey Him while they suffer. Remember, you get no credit for enduring suffering for doing what is wrong, but God is pleased when you endure suffering for doing good. We have to suffer because Christ suffered for us. He left us here as His examples to the world to follow in His footsteps. Christ suffered, yet He did not sin or do anything even remotely wrong. He healed us through His wounds.
More warnings from Peter. We should get rid of anything evil that we have in our lives. It can come in so many forms that we may not even realize it, but we are examples of Christ for the non believers in the world, so we must be different. Peter calls Jesus the cornerstone, which is a common analogy because building are build based on where the cornerstone is laid. It is the most important stone and the most glorified. Jesus plays that role in life. He says that people rejected this cornerstone, but we as Christians are running towards it. The prophecies said that the stone builders rejected became the cornerstone and people tripped over it and found offense. People did not like Jesus. They had Him executed, but He is the cornerstone of Salvation. People trip over Him because what He calls us to do is difficult and they take offense to Him because they do not want to do what He tells them to do. A reminder: we were once not God's people, but He accepted us as His people in time. Keep the corrupt nature's desires at bay because they constantly attack our good nature. We are foreigners to this world because as Jesus said, we don't belong here any more than He did. We must live in a way that the unbelievers find weird. They will think what we do is bad when we truly do good.
Place yourself under the authority of the government. This pleases the Lord. Peter tells the people of the time ti obey the emperor because he has the highest authority. In the US, that translates to obeying the president. MOST people don't have a problem with this; however, God calls you to obey him whether you believe in his policies or not. God wants you to silence fools by doing what is right. How can you set the right example if you do what is wrong? Keep in mind that Peter even wrote this when Nero outlawed Christianity. He's saying obey the laws but God does come first in all things. Don't use faith as a means to do what is illegal. He tells slaves to submit to their masters and show them respect. People in that time could've come to know Christ in that way. Obey not only the kind one's but the unfair ones as well. God loves it when people remember how great He is and continue to obey Him while they suffer. Remember, you get no credit for enduring suffering for doing what is wrong, but God is pleased when you endure suffering for doing good. We have to suffer because Christ suffered for us. He left us here as His examples to the world to follow in His footsteps. Christ suffered, yet He did not sin or do anything even remotely wrong. He healed us through His wounds.
1 Peter 1
1 Peter was written by the disciple Peter. We have seen a lot of him in the Gospels because he was very close to Jesus. He was a huge influence as a leader of the early church. Fun fact: my Bible tells me he was married, which means Jesus called him away from his wife for three years. In 1 Peter, he discusses hope, suffering, family life, and how to act like a true Christian. When he wrote this, Nero had outlawed Christianity, and Peter was eventually crucified upside down because he did not even feel that he was worthy enough to be executed in the same way as Jesus. But in the letter, he is able to point to how Jesus handled suffering since Peter witnessed it first hand. Here is 1 Peter: http://www.esvbible.org/1+Peter+1/
Peter uses a different greeting than Paul. First, Peter says he writes to the temporary residents of the world. I really like that because as Christians, we know that our time on Earth is brief. CS Lewis says it's a breath. Going on, he says that God chose them long ago to live with the Holy Spirit and be obedient to Jesus. Then, he and Paul similarly bless the lives of the readers.
Peter talks about what great joy comes from worshipping the One, True God. He gave us new life through Jesus. We can be confident in this new life because Jesus came back to life; therefore, death cannot hold back God. He can truly do anything. In this new life, we have an inheritance from God that cannot be destroyed. In fact, nothing can happen to it because it is kept safe in Heaven. God will give it to us when we die. The gift is Salvation. The gospels all did research about Salvation, and they found their answers in the prophets. God spoke what is useful to Christians through the prophets, and it was not until the Gospels that people could make sense of some of the things that the prophets said God told them. It is through the Holy Spirit that we can now understand the things that were once a mystery. This salvation is something to rejoice about. We rejoice even though we have not seen Jesus. Despite that, we are so happy that we cannot even express in words how great God has been to us. That just further shows the power of God. He can still do work through Jesus without a physical body present on Earth.
A warning: live a holy life because we are now of Jesus, and He lived a holy life. Not only that, but He commands us to live holy lives as He did as an example. We must spend our temporary time on Earth keeping in mind that Jesus will judge the Earth at the end of all time. He will judge each and every one of us as we die. We didn't gain freedom from death by paying money or because we come from a certain lineage. We have only gained life because Jesus, blameless and perfect, shed His blood in our place as the most holy sacrifice so that no sacrifices were needed after that point in time.
Peter echoes what Jesus tells as the second greatest command: love your neighbor. He tells us that we should love fellow believers especially because we are all family through Christ. Because of the Word, we are saved for all eternity because the Word lasts forever. Meanwhile our human selves will die like the grass and the flowers. When you think about it that way, doesn't all this petty hate seem pointless?
Peter uses a different greeting than Paul. First, Peter says he writes to the temporary residents of the world. I really like that because as Christians, we know that our time on Earth is brief. CS Lewis says it's a breath. Going on, he says that God chose them long ago to live with the Holy Spirit and be obedient to Jesus. Then, he and Paul similarly bless the lives of the readers.
Peter talks about what great joy comes from worshipping the One, True God. He gave us new life through Jesus. We can be confident in this new life because Jesus came back to life; therefore, death cannot hold back God. He can truly do anything. In this new life, we have an inheritance from God that cannot be destroyed. In fact, nothing can happen to it because it is kept safe in Heaven. God will give it to us when we die. The gift is Salvation. The gospels all did research about Salvation, and they found their answers in the prophets. God spoke what is useful to Christians through the prophets, and it was not until the Gospels that people could make sense of some of the things that the prophets said God told them. It is through the Holy Spirit that we can now understand the things that were once a mystery. This salvation is something to rejoice about. We rejoice even though we have not seen Jesus. Despite that, we are so happy that we cannot even express in words how great God has been to us. That just further shows the power of God. He can still do work through Jesus without a physical body present on Earth.
A warning: live a holy life because we are now of Jesus, and He lived a holy life. Not only that, but He commands us to live holy lives as He did as an example. We must spend our temporary time on Earth keeping in mind that Jesus will judge the Earth at the end of all time. He will judge each and every one of us as we die. We didn't gain freedom from death by paying money or because we come from a certain lineage. We have only gained life because Jesus, blameless and perfect, shed His blood in our place as the most holy sacrifice so that no sacrifices were needed after that point in time.
Peter echoes what Jesus tells as the second greatest command: love your neighbor. He tells us that we should love fellow believers especially because we are all family through Christ. Because of the Word, we are saved for all eternity because the Word lasts forever. Meanwhile our human selves will die like the grass and the flowers. When you think about it that way, doesn't all this petty hate seem pointless?
Sunday, June 24, 2012
2 Timothy 4
http://www.esvbible.org/2+Timothy+4/
Paul encourages, as always by telling Timothy (and us) to complete the work set out by God. Teach the Word all the time. Be ready to point out errors, warn of judgement, and encourage. Be patient in teaching. In the future, people will not listen to accurate teachings. They will only listen to and do what they please. He warns to keep a clear head and endure the suffering. Devote yourself to your work. Endurance and devotion are the only ways to ensure salvation because it may seem like a long life, and you will have plenty of opportunities to walk away from God, but you must stay strong in order to fully fullfil what you were put on this Earth to do. Paul says that he knows his time is coming, and he isn't sad about it. He kept faith, and he knows his reward is coming. He will give the same reward to everyone who believes and keeps faith.
Paul encourages, as always by telling Timothy (and us) to complete the work set out by God. Teach the Word all the time. Be ready to point out errors, warn of judgement, and encourage. Be patient in teaching. In the future, people will not listen to accurate teachings. They will only listen to and do what they please. He warns to keep a clear head and endure the suffering. Devote yourself to your work. Endurance and devotion are the only ways to ensure salvation because it may seem like a long life, and you will have plenty of opportunities to walk away from God, but you must stay strong in order to fully fullfil what you were put on this Earth to do. Paul says that he knows his time is coming, and he isn't sad about it. He kept faith, and he knows his reward is coming. He will give the same reward to everyone who believes and keeps faith.
2 Timothy 3
http://www.esvbible.org/2+Timothy+3/
Paul warns that "in the last days" there will be a lot of corrupt people. They will be easy for the Christians to see because they will wear their disbelief plainly. They will act out against what God wants us to do. Nobody is perfect, but these people won't even try. They will go into people's homes and try to mislead them. At one point, Paul goes far enough to say that their stupidity in doing this will be there downfall because they oppose the truth. If two people who opposed Moses ended up having stupidity be their downfall, think how much more people opposing the very Word of God will be exposed by stupidity.
Paul tells Timothy that Timothy knows all about who Paul is, what he is doing, and why he is doing it. Following this, he says that Timothy knows that because of all of that, Paul is persecuted, and the persecution follows him. We can see a lot of this in the Book of Acts. Furthermore, Paul says that anyone who lives the life of a Christian will be persecuted. It's harder to understand that in a country like the US where so many people are followers of Jesus that we despise others for their meaningless differences in practice when all that really matters is that they are believers. In places like China, the persecution is so bad that if you are a follower of Christ, you will band with any follower of Christ you find because at least you have somebody. We can't separate the real believers who love the Lord with every fiber of their beings from the posers because the persecution is so little. I respect the believers in other countries where the penalty could be death because they truly experience what Jesus and Paul both talk about. Paul says that we should use the Scriptures because they are all useful in some way for teaching or correcting others. All Scripture was inspired by God.
Paul warns that "in the last days" there will be a lot of corrupt people. They will be easy for the Christians to see because they will wear their disbelief plainly. They will act out against what God wants us to do. Nobody is perfect, but these people won't even try. They will go into people's homes and try to mislead them. At one point, Paul goes far enough to say that their stupidity in doing this will be there downfall because they oppose the truth. If two people who opposed Moses ended up having stupidity be their downfall, think how much more people opposing the very Word of God will be exposed by stupidity.
Paul tells Timothy that Timothy knows all about who Paul is, what he is doing, and why he is doing it. Following this, he says that Timothy knows that because of all of that, Paul is persecuted, and the persecution follows him. We can see a lot of this in the Book of Acts. Furthermore, Paul says that anyone who lives the life of a Christian will be persecuted. It's harder to understand that in a country like the US where so many people are followers of Jesus that we despise others for their meaningless differences in practice when all that really matters is that they are believers. In places like China, the persecution is so bad that if you are a follower of Christ, you will band with any follower of Christ you find because at least you have somebody. We can't separate the real believers who love the Lord with every fiber of their beings from the posers because the persecution is so little. I respect the believers in other countries where the penalty could be death because they truly experience what Jesus and Paul both talk about. Paul says that we should use the Scriptures because they are all useful in some way for teaching or correcting others. All Scripture was inspired by God.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
2 Timothy 2
http://www.esvbible.org/2+Timothy+2/
Paul encourages Timothy to stay strong in the grace that Jesus grants. What Paul writes next, I interpret to mean that if you do not have teaching as a Spiritual Gift, you still have a great role to play. You could witness to someone who does, and then you play a part of their story when they become a teacher of the Gospel. Next comes some great metaphors of how to take suffering. First, take suffering like a soldier because a good soldier does not intermingle in civilian affairs for the pursuit of popularity with them. Instead, he serves the one who enlisted him. An athlete can only be victorious by playing the sport according to the rules. A hard working farmer gets the first of the crop. Then, I find it encouraging that Paul tells us the Lord will provide understanding for what Paul writes. Jesus came from the line of David, just as the Old Testament says and Paul suffers in chains for this Word, but the Word cannot be contained, so Paul preaches on. If we die for Him, we live with Him, if we endure, we reign with Him, if we deny Him, He denies us, if we are faithless, He is faithful.
Present the Word with the Truth. It really speaks for itself. You shouldn't have anything to add or change. Steer clear from godless words because they will only serve to mislead others' faith. Paul gives two examples of people who thought that after their resurrection, they could go on doing what they want, and they upset the faith of some. The Lord says that He knows the ones who are His, and that those are the ones who depart from iniquity (sin). Paul gives a metaphor that their are many utensils in a house and some have a more noble purpose than others. If we cleanse ourselves of the ungodliness in our lives, we are opening ourselves up to more noble purposes that are wielded by the master of the house himself. Finally, do not partake in quarrelsome matters. We should show love and compassion, correcting our enemies with gentleness. In this way, they are more likely to repent and come to know the Lord and may even escape traps set by the devil.
Paul encourages Timothy to stay strong in the grace that Jesus grants. What Paul writes next, I interpret to mean that if you do not have teaching as a Spiritual Gift, you still have a great role to play. You could witness to someone who does, and then you play a part of their story when they become a teacher of the Gospel. Next comes some great metaphors of how to take suffering. First, take suffering like a soldier because a good soldier does not intermingle in civilian affairs for the pursuit of popularity with them. Instead, he serves the one who enlisted him. An athlete can only be victorious by playing the sport according to the rules. A hard working farmer gets the first of the crop. Then, I find it encouraging that Paul tells us the Lord will provide understanding for what Paul writes. Jesus came from the line of David, just as the Old Testament says and Paul suffers in chains for this Word, but the Word cannot be contained, so Paul preaches on. If we die for Him, we live with Him, if we endure, we reign with Him, if we deny Him, He denies us, if we are faithless, He is faithful.
Present the Word with the Truth. It really speaks for itself. You shouldn't have anything to add or change. Steer clear from godless words because they will only serve to mislead others' faith. Paul gives two examples of people who thought that after their resurrection, they could go on doing what they want, and they upset the faith of some. The Lord says that He knows the ones who are His, and that those are the ones who depart from iniquity (sin). Paul gives a metaphor that their are many utensils in a house and some have a more noble purpose than others. If we cleanse ourselves of the ungodliness in our lives, we are opening ourselves up to more noble purposes that are wielded by the master of the house himself. Finally, do not partake in quarrelsome matters. We should show love and compassion, correcting our enemies with gentleness. In this way, they are more likely to repent and come to know the Lord and may even escape traps set by the devil.
2 Timothy 1
http://www.esvbible.org/2+Timothy+1/
Paul starts out by greeting Timothy and declaring that he is the one who wrote the letter in the name of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Paul first tells Timothy how appreciative he is to know Timothy. He says he thanks God for Timothy in his prayers. Even beyond that, Paul says that he prays God will allow him to see Timothy again soon because that would make him happy. He remembers Timothy as a man of great faith, and he posses the same faith as his mother and grandmother. He urges Timothy to stay strong because within us dwells a Spirit of love and ferocity and power not a timid spirit. Furthermore, Paul says not to be ashamed of Jesus or even Paul as a prisoner because everyone who truly follows Jesus will experience suffering. Jesus of course was always rejected and eventually murdered in one of the most gruesome ways historically known. Paul suffered many times in prison for continuing Jesus' teachings. He tells us here that it's not an easy life to spread the gospel, and we all as believers are called to share our faith. We will be ridiculed and made fun of and rejected but if we stay strong in our faith, a wonderful, everlasting reward awaits us. When Jesus calls us to do something, it is not because He finds virtue in our works but because there is virtue in His plans for us. Why should we question God or be ashamed of Him when He sent His Son to die on the cross so that death could no longer hold us back from God? He made death into life but we are too afraid of humiliation to tell others about Him. We should all be ashamed of ourselves because we all at one time or another have backed down from sharing the Gospel. Paul writes that many people in Asia turned away from him, and in our lives people will turn away from us because of what we believe. But he writes that a friend sought him out while he was imprisoned in Rome. True friends through Christ are the truest friends that a person can have.
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