This week John W. taught us about Philippians 1:27 where Paul instructs us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel, to stand firm in the Spirit, and strive together as one.
We need to be aware that our faith is what makes us worthy. We need to always be on our guard and be prepared to share the Gospel. And we need to work together as one body, one mind, that is, the mind of Christ. Let us consider this teaching as we go about our daily walk.
Webster defines Blasphemy as either claiming the attributes of deity, or an act of insulting or showing contempt for God. In many ways Christians have committed blasphemy based on this definition. Often we try to take the place of the Holy Spirit by intervening in someone’s life through judgement or bringing conviction. Jesus explains to us that it is not our place to convict or judge others; the Holy Spirit has been tasked with this.
Danny also discusses the statement from Jesus about sinning against the Holy Spirit, and how it applies to our walk. Many of us know people in our lives who have continued to reject the Holy Spirit, and we need to remember it is our place to love and pray for them and let the Holy Spirit work through them. Ultimately it is their choice, but we must still do our part.
Ever have a bad day? How about your worst day on record? In Matthew 26 & 27 we read about Jesus’ last day on earth. It’s hard to image all that He went through.
Although He knew what was about to happen He started the day with a troubled and sorrowful mind. He prayed for intervention and was prepared to accept God’s plan. Throughout the day He was rejected by people around Him, His closest friends deserted Him. He was falsely accused and condemned to die on a cross, where He as forsaken by God as the sins of the world were put upon Him.
Overall, this sounds like a “very bad day”. However, as we begin to look at it from a Kingdom perspective, this bad day for Jesus turned out to be the very best day for mankind. A true love story where Jesus gives up His earthly life so we can join Him. Let us remember in our dark days that God has a purpose for what he is putting us through. We may not understand in our days here, but once we see God’s plan the vision will be glorious.
This week we read about the Sadducees and others who challenged Jesus with trick questions that take situations out of context to see how Jesus would respond. They tried to demonstrate their knowledge in order to trap Jesus.
Many times we try to show our righteousness by demonstrating our knowledge of scripture, or call out the power of God separate from each other, and all we end up doing is show our pride and arrogance to bring others down.
If we look closely at how Jesus responded He demonstrated that these are not separate concepts but need to be combined to be effective. Combining the Power of God with our knowledge of the scripture is effective in changing hearts, and in these three cases left the persons challenging Jesus astonished, marveled, and they left with respect for Him.
In Matthew 16 the people are asking Jesus for a sign to prove who He was, and His response reminds us that there are many “Signs” out there, but they can be interpreted in many ways. Asking God for a sign can limit our ability to ensure we are following His direction. Signs in our lives do not intrude on our thought processes, since they can be interpreted based on our beliefs and are a quick justification for our actions.
When we look closer at Jesus’ example we find that it is more important to listen for God’s direction, but that means we have to stop, open our mind, and pay attention. The Bible has many examples of where Jesus did just that. He went to a secluded place and spent time with the Father, even when everything around Him was vying for attention. How often do we take time in Solitude and Silence with our Father?
In our reading this week Jesus and His Disciples were walking through a field on the Sabbath when His Disciples grab a snack. The Leaders of the Jews confront Him on their action that appears to violate their laws about the Sabbath. Jesus’ response to the leaders makes us ponder what is the true meaning of he Sabbath as God intended.
Today the meaning of the Sabbath has been watered down and pushed aside as we chase after our own desires in the world. We need to look at the true meaning of “Shabbat” in the Hebrew language, which is not only to stop or take a break, but also means to take delight and celebrate. We need to follow the example set down for us by God to not only take a break from “work”, but spend time celebrating what God has done, and get our desire back on Him.
In this week’s reading in Matthew Jesus covers some of the Spiritual Disciplines around being righteous (doing good), prayer and fasting. His coverage makes us think about “who are we doing these for?” Is it to get praise from the people around us, or are we focused on God and following His guidance, and let Him pass along the blessings.
Jesus lets us know that our Spiritual Disciplines will be rewarded based on who our target audience is. Do we want to accumulate rewards from the people around us, or do want to store up our rewards with God? Where is our focus? Where are we looking for our reward?
This week’s message provides a perspective on Joseph as the “step daddy” of Jesus. We find from the passage that Joseph was just, and he was Godly, but more importantly he listened and obeyed as God spoke to him. God had a purpose for him to be the earthly father for Jesus. To care for him, to worry when he was missing as mentioned in Luke, and to follow God as he was directed.
Danny mentions some quotes to reminds us that all we experience must first pass through God for His purpose. That makes us think “What if we focused on Kingdom purposes instead of trying to fix things as we see fit?” Keep in mind that God has a purpose for us too. It may seem messy at times, but the results are beyond what we can imagine. A truly abundant life.
Hearing takes on several contexts that can appear as noise or pleasant sounds. The Bible mentions hearing several times where we are instructed to not only hear, but to listen, understand and obey. The story of Samuel and his calling is one of the examples where God spoke directly.
This week John W presented our message on how critical it is to not only hear (listen) to what God is saying to us, but to understand and obey. With all the background “noise” from the world, it is difficult to discern what God is guiding us to do, unless we focus on Him.
Picture this, it’s Resurrection Day, Jesus has risen as He said he would, the tomb is empty, and where are the disciples? Hiding in a locked room for fear of persecution. Even after Jesus appears to them and reassures them of His presence, they remain behind the locked door even a week later. It is not until they choose to unlock the door and go out that Jesus reveals their true purpose.
How many times have we hidden behind locked doors to prevent from being hurt or taken advantage of, because of past experiences? Danny’s message today reinforces that there will be challenges, but until we are willing to unlock the doors, and trust in Jesus we will not learn our true purpose in the Kingdom.