Grace and Love Trumps all

 DEVOTION

                                                    THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

GRACE AND LOVE TRUMPS ALL

 

Matt 5:38-42

38 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'   39 But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

NIV

This is not an easy passage, or rather teaching of Jesus to understand. It is true that the law that can be found in Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy was about justice served by the judges, or magistrates in legal matters among the people. Jesus did not repeal this law; he did not say we should forgo all legal matters that require justice for wrongdoing. Although, there is and has been, arguments over this law of an eye for and eye, would condones capital punishment. Nevertheless, what Jesus did was to take this concept to the personal interactions of people. Grace and love always trump revenge. However, Jesus was not saying that if someone came into our home and started committing violence against our family, that we do not have the right of self-defense. What Jesus says is that if we are offended, turn the other cheek. Revenge is never right, except in the cast the law of the land has been broken, then the courts can seek justice, but that is not to be revengeful justice, but merely applying the law. On personal encounters, we need to see the truth of Christ’s words. Turn the other cheek simply means we do not seek revenge because someone offended us, hurt our feelings, said something about us that was not true, or whatever else we think hurt us emotionally. This idea about the tunic and walking the extra distant is all about living by grace and love rather then about living self-centered. This even extends to the issue of giving to those who ask and not turning away from the borrower. This may be difficult in the culture in which we live. It seems money is at the core of self-preservation. It is somewhat a normal attitude and behavior to horde our money for some future need of ours. It is also not so normal for us to ask someone for money, except, of course, most politicians who always ask for our money. But Jesus was again speaking to the personal interactions within the church. Surely churches do not horde money for some future use, that would seem counter to trusting in God, which a church certainly would seem should promote trusting in God. Most churches are giving churches, using funds to both promote the gospel and helping those in need.  Still, on even a more personal note, we need to be open to ask and being asked, and open to receiving as well as giving. Again, this is about living in grace and love. This is living as someone who loves the Lord and does what is right in his sight. Grace and love always trump selfishness, or self-centeredness. 

No Promise Needed

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

NO PROMISE NEEDED

Matt 5:33-37

33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' 34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

NIV

After checking in with our scholars of old and finding their research, we can now know that the Jews had taken liberty with the law, even expanding it well beyond the intent of God. The point Jesus was making was dealing with the common practice of the Jews using created objects to swear by in the course of daily conversation. Their oaths or swearing by the temple, or their head, had nothing to do with the law regarding not making an oath to God, for no man can keep his oath perfectly. The law said that whatsoever our lips utter, we need to make sure we do. Because we do not make oaths, we would have to update this by using the word, promise. To make a promise is at the core of what Jesus is teaching. We may use this word, promise, a little too liberally. We hear it movies, or television programs when one of the characters promises another that no one is going to hurt them. Our culture may have taken promises as lightly as the Jews took oaths. We use it in our daily conversations as if it is the with ease that we can promise we will do this or that, or in some sense promise we will not do something. It is not good to make a promise about something we may not have any control over. In some sense when we engage in a contract, such as on a home or car loan, we are promising to make the payments on time. In that type of legal contract, we must make those types of promises, but Jesus is speaking to what we say to each other. When we are asked is we will do this or that, we simply need to say either yes or no. If we are pressed to make a further commitment to ensure we will do something, like asking us to promise we will do it, then we simply need to remind them, we cannot, because Jesus told us to simply let our yes be yes and our no be no. Let that people asking us to promise deal with Jesus. We have heard someone promise on their mother’s grave, to do something. We cannot understand how that will make or break a promise. A promise is binding simply because it is a promise. The problem is we may not keep those promises all the time, every time. So then let us forget about making any sort of promise, and simply let our yes be yes and no be no. that is enough said. If we say said, then do what we say, if we say no, then do what we say. No promise needed. 

Holy Matrimony

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

HOLY MATRIMONY

Matt 5:31-32

31 "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'   32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

NIV

We think that we first should understand the culture in which Jesus taught this principle. For centuries it was a completely patriarchal society in that the man had absolute control or authority. Woman only had their identity as they relate to a man. She would first only be known as a daughter, in fact, one to be used by her father as a method to gain something through arranging her marriage into a particular family. Second, she would only be known as the wife of some named man. Her value was based on her ability to produce sons, and then her identity could also be known as the mother of this son or sons. If in any way she displeased her husband, the law permitted him to simply write out a paper of divorce and send her on her way. There would be no court, no arbitration, no settlement, just here is your paper of divorce, you are no longer useful to me, go. This would leave her, in essence, no identity of her own. Of course, there were some exceptions to this identity issue throughout the Old Testament, but this was the normal cultural standard. Jesus breaks that down and starts a new covenant within the marriage. Jesus reinstitutes what He established in the beginning when He created Adam and Eve, one man, one woman to be united together, walking side by side through life. This was the significance of God taking the rib of Adam, putting Eve at his side, not at his foot to be a servant, and not from this head, having authority over him. Side by side is the way of marriage, Jesus has lifted marriage to the right place. But this is also hard teaching as in our current culture it seems marriage has been broken to pieces. Our culture now accepts all types of co-habitation situations and not just between a man and a woman, without the bonds of marriage. In some sense, if there never was a legal or moral marriage, there can be no illegal or immoral divorce. Even within the church, we are seeing divorce as an acceptable solution to marital discord. We are also seeing remarriage of divorced people within the church, although some denominations have specific guidelines that must be met before condoning such a union. Nevertheless, how do we deal with this considering our culture in the world and in the church? How do we deal with a woman who has been divorced, and what about a man who is divorced? Jesus did not mention the man, other than one who marries a divorced woman causes her to commit adultery. Does this mean this principle does not apply to men? That is if a man is divorced and is married to a woman who has never been married before, does she cause the man to commit adultery? This could go down the rabbit hole forever. We think the major takeaway from this teaching of Jesus is that this union between a man and a woman is holy matrimony, the emphasis on holy. 

Looking Away

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

LOOKING AWAY

Matt 5:27-30

27 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'   28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

NIV

Alas, is there is difference between the act itself and the desire to commit the act? It seems right to consider whether the opportunity is presented to commit the act or if there is no such opportunity. It is known the Pharisees made every effort to appear as pious as possible on the outside, but what we do not know is the condition of their heart. However, Jesus did know because he made reference to them being whitewashed tombstones, clean in the outside, but dead on the inside.  This was pointed to their spirit or their relationship with God, appearing to be religious, appearing to be a “Good Jew”, however, their spirits were dead, in need of being born from above. However, later in this gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they clean the outside of the cup and dish, but on the inside, they are full of greed and self-indulgence. This is the truth of his words about adultery. Most of us, that is both men and woman would not ever consider committing the act outwardly. Again, most of us would consider such an act indefensible. However, Jesus is making the point about our hearts. What is in our heart is at the center of the issue. Can we say we have never looked at a member of the opposite sex without some inner thoughts of lust? Perhaps not thoughts of committing adultery, but simply a desirable looking. We have heard woman swoon over the handsomeness of some male celebrities, or men making comments about how beautiful a female actress is. They are all presented as this wonderful, beautiful people that we should desire to be like them, or yes, even wonder what it would be like to be with them. But this goes past that. This looking lustfully happens in our everyday life, as we encounter attractive individuals everywhere. It is what is in our heart that matters the most. When Jesus speaks about the eye and the hand, he is saying both are members of our bodies that serve us well in the process of lustfulness. What we can see and touch both are a part of this committing this act of adultery in our hearts. However, we have to be careful not to be too harsh with ourselves, as just as James made the process of sin being started with a look, with a temptation, that is not the sin, outward or inward. We are bound to face temptations in life, and that includes the glance at someone who attracts our eyes. Then we look, and then we say to ourselves, look away. The problem is that if we look and then continue to look with the wanting to look more and even get a closer look, not caring about the condition of our heart, but only wanting to satisfy our eyes. Temptations will always present themselves to us, but we must see them for what that are and keep our eyes and hands to ourselves,  thus looking away and facing toward God. 

Owing a Debt

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

OWING A DEBT

Matt 5:25-26

25 "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. 26 I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.  

NIV

Does this deal entirely with lawsuits in the realm of the world, or is there some spiritual truth beyond the trivial experiences of human laws? Some would suggest there is none and the use of making any parallel between God being the judge and our being the accused and that we should reconcile our differences with God before the judgment is given is an abuse of this verse. This may very well be true because Jesus makes reference to having to pay any debt to the last penny before being released from prison. When any attempt to make this about us and God, all the price, down to the last penny has already been paid by Jesus on our behave, thus it cannot be used in that spiritually. But how do we make this applicable to our lives today? We certainly owe no debt to God, it has been paid. We cannot simply look at this teaching of Jesus as one regarding human lawsuits, for those are rather non-existent in our lives, especially regarding any financial matters. Fiscal debt is almost a way of life in our culture, in fact, many institutions encourage our indebtedness to them. Could this be applied to any or all our relationships with each other? We do not know what the prison could be, but it is possible if we do not reconcile any differences with each other, that is if we feel that we have been offended, we need to resolve that matter quickly otherwise we are in somewhat of a prison of our own making. Having hurt feelings without a resolution because we think someone offended us keeps us pent up inside in the prison of unforgiveness. In the first place, feeling we have been offended could be seen as a prison of self-righteousness, or thinking more highly of ourselves than we should. On the other hand, being the offender is sort of a prison of self-centeredness. The point is if we are to love the Lord our God with every fiber of our being and love our neighbor as ourselves then they would be no adversaries in this life. In other words, the only thing we should owe each other is love, a debt that is consistent, that needs to be paid to the last penny. 

Do A Double Check

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

DO A DOUBLE CHECK

Matt 5:23-24

23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

NIV

In general, we do not bring an offering to the altar in the sense of how they did it in the Old Testament. However, although we are what would be considered New Testament or New Covenant times, Jesus is still talking to Jews who practice the ways according to the law. We know this because there were the money changers and those who sold doves, lambs, and whatever in the temple area when Jesus cleansed the temple. However, we do not offer such things at the altar, so how does this apply to us? We would have to think that when we put either our tithe or some offering in the collection plate, basket, bag, or whatever is used when whoever passes it around, we are, in a sense, offering our gift at the altar. This would mean that we had better not have any ill feelings whatsoever toward anyone when we drop that envelope or cash in the plate. However, sometimes we might feel a certain compulsion to tithe and simply must either write that check, or pay the cash, or whatever. We have to do it or we feel like we are either cheating God, or the church treasurer or secretary, or whoever counts and records the tithes and offerings will know we are slacking off or not being a very good member. But the problem is that we cannot have a single person who has anything against us. We have to be at peace with everyone in order for us to be in the right relationship with our Lord and have our offering be acceptable. Of course, the qualifier is that we first need to remember that a brother or sister has something against us. That is we should be aware that we offended someone. This implies that we cannot live in a little bubble and say or do whatever floats our boat. If someone gets offended, that is their problem, they should be a better Christian than that. Oh, how self-centered we can get, and do it with ease. But that is not the way of Christ. That is not the way of living with grace and love. We must always be aware of not offending, of not being offensive, and always thinking of others before ourselves. Then we would have nothing we would have to remember when we bring our tithe or offering. However, just in case, we should do a self-examination, a double check, before we bring any gift to God, just to make sure. 

Shut Up

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

SHUT UP

Matt 5:21-22

21 "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.

NIV

We know that Jesus is referring to what we call the Ten Commandments when he said, “You have heard that is was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder,’ “ . However, Jesus is going past those Commandments, expanding them, in some sense replacing them with a far greater approach both our attitude and behavior toward our fellow believers. The anger is not what we would consider being angry in a upset or mad type emotional feeling. Jesus explains what this angry is about. First, he refers to the word the Jews used, “Raca”. It is a term that implies contempt, looking down upon, which then indicates the one using that term feels superior, or thinking more highly of themselves then they ought to. Jesus said that whoever uses that term is answerable to the Sanhedrin, which means it was covered under the law. Using the term, “Raca” was against the Law. However, although Jesus lived perfectly within the law, thus fulfilling it, so that we do not need to live under the law, but only live in Him, he went past the law, and established a better moral conduct. The use of the term, “You fool”, is more then an attitude of contempt. It has this meaning of saying, “Shut up!”. In other words, “You have nothing of value to say, you are stupid, foolish in your thinking and we do not care about how you feel or what you think about anything, so just shut up”. Maybe we do not do that intentionally, but when we interrupt someone who is talking, are we doing just that? Are we saying in some sense, shut up, we want to talk now, for what we have to say is more important than what you are saying? We are afraid we may be guilty of that, and we need to repent of how we think regarding how we behave, rather our attitude, which usually results in behavior. Listening may be far better then speaking in many cases. In addition, this does not excuse being angry because we feel that we have been offended. This sense that just because we are speaking, we want everyone else to shut up, because what we have to say is far more important than whatever they would have to say. In other words, we need to speak our peace first and foremost, then if we have fully expressed ourselves, we might be open to hearing what you have to say, but if it does not match what we think, then in essence, just shut up, your words are foolish, meaningless to us. Jesus made it clear that we need to live with grace and love in our hearts toward all our fellow believers. That means we never say or even think, “Shut up”. 

Jesus and the Law

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

JESUS AND THE LAW

Matt 5:17-20

17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

NIV

The law is still the law, and it will always be the law. It is a permanent record that references all moral conduct. However, there is a problem trying to live by that law. This righteousness the Pharisees tried to obtain was through making every effort, at least in appearance, to observe the law. Their lives had become so ritualistic in nature they lost sight of the purpose of the laws. The law stood then as it stands now to show us it is impossible to obtain righteousness through the law. For the fact remains that if we fail to live perfectly according to the law, that is if we break just one jot, just one small letter, just one stroke of the pen, we have failed the whole law. In failing the law, even if it is only one out of how every many there is, we have failed completely and are condemned to death. There is only one way to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law and that is to be in Christ. He is our righteousness and in him, we have fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law. We know this may sound a bit heretical in some sense, but why do we insist on still following the commands in the Old Testament, if Jesus fulfilled them or completed them all? The reason we think this is that we know, without question, that we have not obtained perfection, and we also know that we have broken commands, for sin is still at work in us, even when we desire to do good. How then can we say that we want to believe in the law, dare we say, even the Ten Commandments when they condemn us to death because we cannot keep them perfectly. However, Jesus did, he fulfilled every aspect of all the law perfectly, and therefore He is our only source of righteousness. Now, does that mean we are free to live in any manner we want if we are in Christ? We think not. Jesus taught many things regarding our conduct, our relationship with Him, and with other people. However, at the root of all our moral conduct, or relationships is grace and love. If we are guided by anything it such be by grace and love. In following Jesus these two are the central theme of our lives. Instead of worrying about what we should not do and what we should do, that is the do’s and don’ts of the Christian life, we need to live by grace and love. If we did that, as Jesus did, then we would be following Jesus, instead of some rules we have set up for ourselves or living with failure of abiding by the law. Of course, there are principles all throughout the New Testament that give us a closer or more in-depth insight into what living by grace and love looks like. Yes, we should study them, contemplate how they impact our lives and fit into grace and love, for it is only as we follow Jesus, have Him in our heart and mind are we able to say that we have indeed surpassed the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Let us not try to live by the law, but live in Christ. We have far more we could say about this, but then it would be a book instead of a devotion of our thoughts 

The Good Work

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

 THE GOOD WORK

Matt 5:14-16

14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

NIV

We thought about being the light, and letting our light shine, that is allowing Jesus to shine through us into a dark world. This is our calling to go into all the world and spread the light of Jesus. But this idea of living as the light so that men can see our good works and praise our Father in heaven has us a little discombobulated. Jesus spoke against the way the Pharisees lived, being religious so men would see their holy-like living. But their lives were not reflecting the love of God toward his people, but rather they wanted the praise of men for their good works, so to speak. Here Jesus is saying that our lives should be lived in a manner that reflects God. Again, we might go back to the words of Jesus when he was asked what work God requires of us, and He answered the work of God is to believe in the one he sent. So perhaps, just maybe this is the good works that are required of us so that men might see and praise our Father in Heaven. That is, we need to show them our faith, our believing in Jesus needs to be open and before men. We cannot hide our faith, that is work in this world like everyone else works, laboring to success, putting all their faith in their efforts. Besides, a lot of unbelievers do a heck of a lot of good works as far as the world is concerned. Many humanitarian efforts are just that, good works are done in the name of humans.  We need to live as the light shines, showing that we put all our faith in Jesus for all we have, all we do, and all we are. Jesus said that apart from him we can do nothing. So, the work of men that is absent of faith in Jesus is nothing, meaningless, void of any value whatsoever. However, the work we do is in Christ, our faith in Jesus, our being connected to the vine is everything and therefore we need to live like that all the time in front of all men, so they see that we are different. They need to see that we believe in God completely for everything in our lives. They need to see our love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, and self-control and want some of that for themselves. That truly would be a good deed. 

Shine

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

SHINE

Matt 5:14-16

14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

NIV

Once again, these words of Christ have most likely been the basis of many sermons delivered over the ages. Occam’s razor t would seem to apply here in that the fewer assumptions made would then point us to the truest meaning. In researching our scholars of old, they have, which seems appropriate for them, to make multiply assumptions regarding what Jesus was looking or pointing to as he made this statement. What we do know is that Jesus called his audience the light of the world. What we do know is that Jesus meant for our light to shine before men. Any other suggestions or reasons for his making this statement are mere conjectures or assumptions. However, we do know Jesus was making the point that those who decided to follow him, those who have accepted him as Lord and Savior became as He is in the sense we have a light within us, a light showing the way to salvation because we have him within us. We cannot hide it, we cannot keep it to ourselves, we must put it on the lampstand and so everyone who sees us, see the light. There is no confusion about this at all. We are to shine the light of Jesus. 

Being Salt

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BEING SALT

Matt 5:13

13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

NIV

We can be sure many preachers have made hay with this verse, and with good reason. Certainly, the use of salt in the days of Jesus was used for other than to shake on the food to enhance flavor. Salt’s primary purpose was to preserve things, such as meat or fish so that it would not spoil without refrigeration, which we are fully aware they did not have any of our such conveniences. From our research, we have found there is a place between Judea and Edom on the south side of the Dead Sea which is called the valley of salt. This is not a place of purified salt, but rather an area that has veins of normal chloride of sodium intermixed with the earth. When some of the compound is broken off it is exposed to the elements, such as the sun and the rain, it loses the saltiness, however, it still has that crystal-like sparkly appearance. Those areas of the veins that are still in the ground, still attached remain salty. It would seem Jesus is making a point that although we might look like a Christian, that has a little of that sparkle left in us if we are not connected to the rock, The Rock, Jesus then we have lost our saltiness and in the time of Jesus that would mean it is absolutely useless for anything else other than a gravel-like substance to use on a pathway, to be trampled by men. Still, there is the metaphorical use of this word salt in that it does preserve as well as enhance the taste of food. So, in that sense, we are that which enhances the taste of this earth in the mouth of God. However, in another sense, we are those who preserve the message of the gospel. We need to be shaking our saltiness upon those who need to be preserved so they will not spoil or perish. If we are not being the salt of the earth, if we are not shaking ourselves out on the world, having the effect that salt has, then of what use are we to the kingdom of God? If all we do is keep to ourselves, separate ourselves, come out from the world, having nothing to do with it, then we have lost our purpose, our way, and perhaps our saltiness, for who of us can taste the salt on our food, if it remains in the shaker, in fact, we cannot be sure it is even salt. 

Loyalty to Jesus

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

LOYALTY TO JESUS

Matt 5:10-12

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

NIV

This is the only beatitude that seems to have been expanded. There may be several reasons for this. One that has been thought is that Jesus expanded on all of those saying that could be seen in the Hebrew texts the Jews were familiar with, and Matthew simply did not record all the expanded words of Jesus for brevities sake. This would fit alone the idea that John recorded about the fact there would not be enough books to record all that Jesus did and spoke. The other thought is that this is the one saying that would have a greater impact on their lives because many were persecuted for their faith. However, what is interesting is this beatitude has style we have come to see from time to time and that is the chiasm or chiastic form. There are two negatives followed by two positives with Jesus in the middle.

Be happy when we are persecuted, insulted,

    Be happy when people say false kinds of things about us, speak evil things about us,

           because we love Jesus and are loyal to him.

    Rejoice and be glad. We have a reward in heaven.

Rejoice and be glad because we have joined the company of the prophets.

Jesus is in the center of our life. What is more important than that? Some people might think they are persecuted because they are fired from their job, but this in not what Jesus is speaking to. All throughout the history of the church, people have been killed because of Jesus. Even today throughout some areas of the world people are being killed in hideous manners because they have remained faithful to Jesus. We may not understand that kind of persecution in our current culture, but we could someday, depending on the direction our country takes. But the idea is still the same. It does not matter what happens in our lives if we remain loyal to Jesus. We have experienced people speaking evil things about us, pointing out our narrow-mindedness, and single focus on the truth of scripture and that Jesus is the one and only way to heaven. We have had people tell us we are too hard-nosed in our loyalty to Jesus and tell us we should consider their views regarding other paths to God. They have argued with us insisting we are so wrong about the fact all other religions are wrong or false because they are not centered on Jesus.  They think we are too simple-minded for not seeing the truth in other faiths. There are many other evils spoken in our direction, but the point is we will not be moved from our loyalty to Jesus, as He is the truth, the way, and the light. Jesus is our one and only way to heaven. Therefore, we will always live being blessed, happy, content, fulfilled, satisfied, with rejoicing in our heart because of Jesus, and we will rejoice because our reward is great in heaven, and we are in the great company of prophets. We will remain loyal to Jesus. 

Loving Peace

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

LOVING PEACE

Matt 5:9

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

NIV

Once again, we should remind ourselves that it is the happy, content, fulfilled, satisfied person who is completely connected to God, which is all wrapped up in the word, blessed, is a peacemaker. It would be beneficial for us to understand what Jesus meant by using the word peacemakers. It is interesting this word is used only twice in the whole Bible. This Greek word can not be seen as one who is peaceful or one who is a pacifist, but one who establishes peace with others. This is also not to be seen as one who sits as an arbitrator of opposing views or opinions that insight an argument, which might be the most normal view of this word, peacemakers. From our investigation of this Greek word, it would seem the best way to see this is we should live loving peace. That is, we should be exhibiting the peace of God in our lives. This would also mean that we are not at odds with peace, which would mean we do not insight discord for we love peace. It would also mean that if we feel in any way that we have been offended or our feelings are hurt, or being too sensitive, getting upset, we have not understood what it means to love peace and thus be at peace, which results in living in peace and being one who is making peace, or a peacemaker. This would be having the peace of God which passes all understanding, but then that is why if we are living in such a manner that we love peace, we are called children of God. When we think of children of parents, we know from a medical or scientific understanding the child has the same DNA as the parents or is at least a combination of components from both parents. Therefore, many children resemble their parents in both looks and in some sense personality, although each person is unique onto themselves. Nevertheless, the point being that because we live in a manner loving peace, we are resembling our heavenly Father's peace. But what if we are not resembling the peace of God in our lives? Then who are we resembling? Who insights discord? Who creates chasms in harmony? Who causes us to feel offended? Who causes us to hold grudges? Who causes us to be discontent, or unfilled, unsatisfied, unhappy, and therefore unblessed? Can we blame all that on the evil one, or can we put some of the blame on ourselves, the selfish self? No, we have to put self aside, and make every effort to do which leads to peace and mutual edification, being that peacemaker and thus living as a child of God. 

Look and See

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

LOOK AND SEE

Matt 5:8

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

NIV

This beatitude begs the question as to what did Jesus think was a pure heart. Considering his first audience were Jews and their culture included a whole lot of ceremonial washing, cleansing for purification, Jesus was going beyond their external methods and was speaking about the internal man. However, the Jews should and most likely did know about their internal heart for they would have known the words of the Psalmist.

Ps 24:3-4

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

NIV

Anyone can have clean hands, but getting a pure heart is of far greater value, for it is only those who have obtained this pure heart can ascend to the hill of the Lord or as Jesus put it, see God. There is a difference as to how our culture may limit the meaning of the heart to our feelings, although for us Christians, we have taken it to the same level as the Hebrews would have which included the entire inner man, heart, and mind. Nevertheless, we cannot make our hearts or mind pure in and of ourselves. We also know the scriptures that tell us our heart is deceitfully wicked. It is the prophet Jeremiah who made that point by saying the heart is deceitful above all things, but he continues to say that it is beyond cure and who can understand it. Did he mean who could understand the heart, or that it cannot be cured? God surely knows our heart, and we would think we know our own heart. We know the wickedness that resides within, just as Paul did when he said that when he wants to do good, evil is right there with him. What is the cure for this wicked heart of ours? We know we have no cure, but God does, and he has offered the cure to all who desire it. Why would a sick person refuse a cure if one existed? Why would someone with an incurable disease that was terminal refuse to accept a cure that would give them life instead of death? We have that kind of aliment in our heart and left to our own resources our life is terminal. However, God has offered the cure in Jesus Christ, and we have accepted the cure. We have accepted Jesus who gives us life instead of death. Jesus has conquered the terminal disease of death and being in Jesus and having Jesus in us, our heart has been made pure in the sight of God. He has declared us holy and blameless, which means he has given us a pure heart and therefore we can ascend the hill of God, or as Jesus said, we can see God. Of course, no one can see God while we are in the flesh and live. However, we can see God in two ways. First, Jesus would have meant that once we allow Him to purify our heart, through faith in Him, we will one day ascend into the realm of the heavenly and stand before our everlasting God. Secondly, Jesus would have meant that as we allow Him to purify our hearts, we will be able to understand God or have a vision of who God is and what he does in our lives. That is we will see him with our heart and mind, as we read his word, we will see him, perceive him, understand him. In one sense, we only need to look into our hearts, and we will see God, for he dwells there. We Just need to look and see. 

Happily Merciful

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

HAPPILY MERCIFUL

Matt 5:7

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

NIV

The way this is phrased makes it sound that if we show mercy, we will be shown mercy. In this scenario our being shown mercy is dependent on us showing mercy first. This would be the same as in the Lord’s prayer when we ask to forgive us our sin as we forgive those who sin against us. Italics added to clarify for ourselves that as Matthew records this it sounds like these two happen parallel or are at the same time. In other words, while we are showing mercy, which in some sense includes forgiveness, as in the Lord’s prayer, we are being shown mercy or are being forgiven. This happens in a happy, content, satisfied, and completely connected to God's life. It is interesting how Luke approaches this Lord’s prayer about forgiveness, which would include or is compatible with showing mercy. Luke records it in a way that sounds like we must first forgive others before we even seek forgiveness from God. That is we should not bother to seek any form of forgiveness, or in this case, mercy from God unless we first forgive or show mercy to others. There is one other possibility as shown to us in the story of the unforgiving servant. He was first forgiven but refused to forgive others. Here is where mercy fits the same way. God first shows us mercy, but if we do not show mercy in return to others, we stand condemned. Which of these three fits better, or could all three ways be applied in some sense in tandem? It would seem if we were bless-ed or living this happy life because we are connected to God then we would show mercy simply because being connected to God we have mercy from him. The fact is that God’s mercy on us is not dependent on us showing mercy because God’s mercy was shown to us with Jesus on the Cross, way before we were even old enough to know the meaning of mercy. The meaning here must imply that because we have been given mercy by God we are happy, content, satisfied, fulfilled and as a result of that condition, it is a simple matter, a common condition of our heart to be merciful to others, which includes always forgiving or being in an attitude of forgiving, which means not holding a grudge, or always demanding our way. Because we are living a happy life, we can show mercy or compassion. 

Hunger Will Be Filled

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

HUNGER WILL BE FILLED

Matt 5:6

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

NIV

If there is one thing we are familiar with it is being hungry and thirsty. That is not to say that we ever miss a chance to eat or drink, but that the natural body is sustained by food and drink. Without the food and drink for our body, we would perish. No being is indestructible or unfailing in its nature but God. No being is independent, but him. Just as our body depends on nourishment, health, and strength on the earth, so our soul depends on heaven. Heavenly things cannot support our body, they are not suited to our nature. The same is true of earthy things, they are not suited for our soul, they cannot support our soul. So, if our soul does not get the things of heaven and if it does feed on heavenly things and if it goes hungry and gets nothing to drink then our soul will perish. Jesus is telling us that we must hunger and thirst for the things from heaven, where all righteousness is. We must feed our soul, or we will perish eternally. We can tell when the pains of hunger in our stomach act up, and we immediately try to supply its need. Sometimes, perhaps with good things, and sometimes perhaps with not-so-good things. Good food is good for the body, while other things we can eat may not be so good, in fact could even do some damage to our body. The same is true for our soul. We must be on guard against food for our soul that does not come straight from God. The enemy of our soul may try to offer some tasty half-truths, but if we were to indulge in them, it would be damaging to our soul. Only from the hand of God comes righteousness, and only God can fill that need within our soul for righteousness. The truth is that Jesus is our righteousness, as Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians when he says that Jesus has become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. It would make sense that we should hunger and thirst for Jesus and in doing so we will be filled. We can be sure that if that is the prayer of our soul, God will always fill it. 

Humble and Inherit

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

HUMBLE AND  INHERIT

Matt 5:5

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

NIV

A better word here is happy is the humble as meek seems to us to imply a milli-mouse type of character, and this is not what Jesus was saying. The Greek word means to be gentle or humble in heart. Jesus said that we should learn from him, for he is gentle and humble in heart. James tells us that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Both James and Peter make the statement that we should humble ourselves before the Lord and He will lift us up. There are the opposites shown to us here. We can be either proud or humble and it has everything to do with how we interact with the Lord. Of course, we also can be prideful before men or humble ourselves before God and men. Peter tells us to live in harmony with one another by being sympathetic, loving as bothers, being compassionate, and humble. He continues to say that we should not repay evil with evil, which is not to seek revenge or have that get even attitude. Still, the way to be happy is to humble ourselves before the Lord. To know that we are his creation and that we were created for him and for his purpose. Granted the earth will be our inheritance, but not as it is now. There are some who see this as the land which would imply that Jesus meant the Jews would inherit the land of Israel, but they already had this land. Many years ago, Joshua led them across the Jordan and the Lord went before them and they took the land away from giants. Plus, if this was what Jesus meant, then the beatitudes were just for the Jews, and we should not pay any attention to them at all. However, we know that is not true and these words of Jesus as well as all scripture is profitable for correcting, rebuking, teaching, and training us in righteousness. So, then this earth that we who have learned to humble ourselves, to be meek in heart, not given to anger, not given to revenge, but at the same time, not cowardice or having meanness. Being humble of heart also does not mean surrendering our rights. However, as we do see ourselves in the right place with the Lord, we will see a new heaven and the new earth and live in this new City of Jerusalem. This is what we will inherit because we have humbled ourselves before our Lord. We have to admit that without Him we can do nothing, that He is the source of life itself. 

The Happy Life through Mourning

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THE HAPPY LIFE

Matt 5:4

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

NIV

We would first have to determine just what should we mourn about. We could mourn over the loss of a loved one and surely in those times God would comfort us, but there still might not be the result of being happy. Of course, that might also hinge on whether the loved one lost was a solid believer in Jesus or had rejected the idea of the need to follow Jesus. To know that a loved one missed out on heaven and was spending their time in torment could never bring us the result of being happy. Even if the one we loved in this life, went to be with the Lord and was rejoicing in His presence, our feeling of loss, even in a time of comfort of knowing the Lord, may not result in our being happy. However, there is another reason we would mourn and that is over the sin in our own lives. This is having the knowledge of our own insufficiency to solve our situation and that our sin condemns us. But, when we mourn over that sin, when we grieve about the sin in our lives and turn to the only source that can do something to remedy the result, we will find comfort. When we turn to God, accepting the provision he supplied, Jesus, then we find true comfort. We might try to find some form of happiness in the world. A new home, RV, car, or even a new outfit, a pet, more money, or whatever we think will bring us a good feeling does not bring the result of being comforted by God, who is the only source for being blessed, happy, content, satisfied, and complete. Nothing relieves the result of sin, except Jesus. So, this is the reason we mourn over our sin, and find the comfort, the parakaleo, the same root word used of the Holy Spirit, the paracleat, the comforter. This is then the result of truly being happy, because we know that through Jesus we have salvation, we have been declared by God to be holy and blameless in his sight. Why would we not be happy about that? Yes, even through we mourned over our sinful life, turned to Jesus and are now saved, we still have this sin within. Just as Paul said that whenever he wanted to do good, that is live free of sin, evil, sin was right then with him. As long as we live in this flesh we will also have that same war the wages within us. There will also be this battle with sin, but through Jesus we have already been given the victory, and the result will be the comfort of God which means we can live a happy life. 

Joined to God

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

JOINED TO GOD

Matt 5:1-3

5:1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

NIV

We have come to the portion of this gospel according to Matthew that is the Lord’s sermon or teaching on the mount, although he was on the mountainside. It is also interesting that he was sitting, thus we have reason to think this was more of a teaching rather than preaching as in a sermon. This is at least how we perceived it, as we are more accustomed to sermons being delivered from a standing position. Nevertheless, that is just an observation that has little to no significance to any truth spoke by our Lord. What we are beginning now is what has been called the beatitudes, or what could be seen as attitudes to incorporate in our lives, or the be attitudes. To begin we deal with this word blessed. This is not a word that implies that God gives us some special blessing because we are poor in spirit. This word translated as blessed implies our state of mind. This is the meaning as the Hebrew word used in the 1^st Psalm when it says blessed is the man that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. This blessed means to be happy, which implies content, satisfied, and fulfilled, which only comes from being joined with God. Without being joined with God, or we could say accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, which is how we are joined with God, a person cannot really be happy, content, fulfilled and satisfied. Jesus says that the person who is happy, content, fulfilled and satisfied understands the whole reason is that we are joined to God and thus will inherit the kingdom of heaven. This is because we understand all our happiness comes from the Lord and so we are poor in spirit, or we have come to the realization that we are nothing but a beggar in that we have nothing within ourselves to qualify for the kingdom of heaven, and we are totally dependent on God. Thus, being completely dependent on God is the reason we are so happy because we have everything we will ever need. This reminds us of the beggar that Peter and John stopped at on their way to the temple. They had no silver and gold, but what they had was the name of Jesus, and it not only caused the lame man to walk, but he went leaping and jumping and praising God, he was not just what we would say happy, he was overjoyed and, in his happiness, joined to God. We also see that Peter and John said they were not rich in the worldly sense, but more than wealthy because they knew Jesus, and their happiness was in him. We are happy because we know that nothing is in ourselves, and that everything is in Jesus, and thus we are joined to God and live in the kingdom of heaven. 

Jesus Heals All

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

JESUS HEALS ALL

Matt 4:23-25

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

NIV

Several truths are before us here. At least for now, Matthew does not give us any details about individual encounters with Jesus which would give us specific healings. We do know that Jesus is Jesus and his preaching had to be far better than anything than people had ever heard before. However, it would appear the main reason so many people started to follow him was that he healed everyone who needed to be healed. We are soon going to be at the place where he delivered what we call the sermon of the mount, and what has been happening is the reason there were so many people there to listen to him. He was teaching, preaching, and healing everywhere he went. In the natural realm, he was becoming the shepherd of the people, and of course, we call him the Good Shepherd. We quote the psalmist’s 23^rd song, The Lord is my Shepherd, I will not want. Here the record of Matthew shows us that very reason. He brings us the good news of the kingdom and he heals all our infirmities. What more could we want? He gives us life eternal and heals every disease and sickness. Why then are we sick? Why does it seem every prayer request is for some ailment or infirmity? Is that because we are not being healed? Why are we not being healed if Jesus heals every disease and sickness among the people? Why do we still suffer from various diseases, and severe pain? Questions that we should have the answer for. What seems to be, and that may only be a conjecture, is that if we are not healed, then maybe we are not going to Jesus. Again, maybe just an assumption, that we truly do not believe Jesus will heal us. We cannot know for certain why we have any illness, diseases, ailments, or sickness, but it would seem if Jesus healed everyone, we should be healed. Yes, it may be a natural response to age, that is our aging process, this body begins to wear out and it does not work as well as it did in our youth. But Matthew does not give us the details of the age of people that Jesus healed. Did he only heal the youth, or did he heal all the people which it would seem only right to think there we some older people there as well? Should we expect to be healed even in our older years? Why not? Whoever came to Jesus or was brought to Jesus because they could not come on their own because they were paralyzed, he healed them all. Has he stopped healing people now that he is in heaven? Was that just for then and not for now? It certainly does not seem like they were any more healthy than we are because of the type of foods they ate compared to what we eat, for they were in need of healing from various diseases and infirmities just as we are. Sure, the times were different, but God, Jesus, never changes, and he says that he is the Lord God who heals us and Jesus healed them all. We should expect to be healed and this is not just hoping he will heal us, but we should expect him to heal us and accept it. 

Follow Me

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

FOLLOW ME

Matt 4:18-22

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  20 At once they left their nets and followed him. 21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

NIV

We do wonder who were the disciples of Jesus that were baptizing which caused that dispute with the disciples of John. The reason of this wonder is here we are seeing the calling of Simon, Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee, James, and John. At some point we will be told of the twelve that Jesus picks which are referred to as his Apostles. Nevertheless, as we do not know the names of those who were already considered disciples of Jesus, we should start to focus on those we are told he called. It is interesting that these two fishermen, perhaps just common folk trying to make their living, certainly Jews, certainly aware of the prophets, most likely attending temple, or synagogue every Sabbath, were aware of the coming of the Messiah. Perhaps, even word had reached them about what had happened at the Jordan when John baptized Jesus. It is even possible one or all of them were there on that day. We also do not know where, exactly along the Sea of Galilee they were. It is possible they were near Capernaum, living in the same area where Jesus lived and maybe had seen him before. Nevertheless, the point here is when Jesus called them, they left whatever they were doing and followed him. It is interesting that most of us post-modern Christians do not leave everything to follow Jesus. We do not leave our jobs, our homes, or whatever to follow Jesus. We just simply continue to live the same as we always live and say that we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Sure, we might start attending a church, which could be something different for some. Some may already be church attender when they accept Jesus, but the point is we do not leave everything to literally follow him. There is a following in a metaphorical sense. We may leave something behind, again in a metaphorical sense, such as we leave smoking behind or drinking, or gambling, or wild parties, or what used to be considering following Jesus, such as no dancing, or going to movies, or woman leaving their pant suits behind. Over the years we have thought of many different ways in which we considered what needed to be left behind to follow Jesus, but as the culture changes, so do those things, which means they were meaningless in the long haul, when we decide to answer His call, to follow Him. From what we know about Peter, Andrew, James and John, is that there boats and nets were still there and still within their families possessions, for sometime after Peter said he was going fishing. This is when Jesus made breakfast for them on the shore, as well as when he told them to cast their nets on the other side. So, in some sense, they did not leave everything behind for good, but they did stop what they were doing to follow Him, when he called. This is our story, we simply picked up and followed him because we heard his call upon us. Some of us have moved because he called us to, some of us have done things we normally would not have, because of his call. Some of us have not changed much about our normal daily lives, but we have changed our minds, our way of thinking, as we considered that Greek word translated as repent. The point is that when Jesus calls our name, telling us to follow him, we leave something behind and followed Him. 

Change your mind

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

CHANGE YOUR MIND

Matt 4:17

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." 

NIV

We think we should stop right here and consider just how significate these words of Jesus are. First, Jesus was admonishing people to repent. This Greek word used here, which of course Jesus did not speak in Greek, but rather this is what is now the translated version of the languages spoken, such as Aramaic, is the from the same word we use as metamorphosis. This word repent means to change one’s mind. To have a transformation of how one thinks. To think differently than one has been thinking. Of course, Jesus was saying to change the way of thinking that righteousness comes from the law. He wanted them and us to see that righteousness comes from the kingdom of God. We know that there is no righteousness except in Christ. We cannot attain any form of righteousness on our own, for as we have considered before, that although we desire to do good, evil is right there with us. So then, Jesus says to repent, change our minds about things, we cannot ever be good enough. We cannot ever do enough good works. We cannot ever do anything that affects our gaining eternal life, except accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He is the kingdom of God. He is our way to the kingdom of God. He is the only way to heaven. The Jews always thought their obedience to the Law of Moses gave them the path to heaven. Jesus said repent, change your minds. It seems some believers use the word repent to mean we must confess our sin, which we should do, but that is not the repentance Jesus is speaking about. Simply change your mind, think differently about how you are going to get to heaven. The reason it is so important to change the way we think is that the kingdom of heaven is near. What did Jesus mean when he said it was near? That Greek word means to bring near, to join one thing to another. That meaning might bring us some insight. Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is being joined with the earth, that is the two will be one. Before Jesus, could we say that kingdom of heaven remained aloft, above the earth and men could not enter this kingdom while on earth? But since Jesus, he has brought the kingdom of heaven to earth so that as we live here in the physical, we can live in the kingdom of heaven spiritually, at the same time. This would coincide with the fact that we are no longer citizens of this world, but our citizenship is in heaven. We live in the kingdom of heaven right now, although someday this body will go through a complete change, putting off the perishable and putting on the imperishable, changing from mortal to immortal. But for now let us know in our heart that the kingdom of God is near, it is here, within us as we are within it because we have changed our minds. 

Ordered Footsteps

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

ORDERED FOOTSTEPS

Matt 4:12-16

 12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."  

NIV

It is interesting how our scholars of old spend much time defining the areas of Nazareth and Capernaum and the use of the words land of Zebulun and Naphtali. There does seem to be a physical reason for Jesus to leave Nazareth as Luke mentions the people rejected him and even seemed to want to kill him. But we think the real story here, the truth to all this moving from one place to another is to fulfill what was written about him. Jesus is not without full knowledge of the complete writings of Moses, David, Solomon, and all the prophets. This gives us two truths to ponder on. First, Jesus is divine. Even though he came in the form of man, he was and is fully God. Jesus did not do just anything he wanted to do or responded to the whims of the world. He was not forced out of Nazareth without his full consent. If he had wanted, if his own human will be determined what course his life would take, he could have made them see the truth, forced his will upon them. But Jesus was here to do the will of the Father and save mankind from the wrath that was upon them. However, the prophet spoke about his future, his move to Capernaum, and the prophet did not speak on his own, but what was told him by God. So this move was already determined by Jesus, being God, before it happened. The second truth relates to us today. We are aware that we might make our plans, but we must also understand that God orders our footsteps. We certainly have the option to follow our own will, to do our own thing, live according to our desires, goals, or ambitions. However, if we say that we are following Jesus, if we have chosen to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, then our footsteps, our path, our choices in life are determined by God. We go when he says to go, we stay when he says to stay. We work where he determines and for as long as he determines, for all our footsteps are ordered by God, not by us. Isaiah said there was a great light living in the darkness of people, offering the way, showing the way to eternal life. The light of Jesus took away that shadow of death that hung over us, and now, as we have been told, we are the light in the world, and we are not to hide our light but put it where it will be seen by all. The only way we can do that is to be where God has determined us to be when he determines we will be there, ordering our footsteps. The Apostle Paul makes this profound statement, “for in him we live and move and have our being”. Let us follow where he leads.

 

Worship Who

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

WORSHIP WHO

Matt 4:8-11

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"  11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

NIV

This is the third temptation which is the most hideous of them all. The desire for the kingdom of this a strong one which is always available for anyone who wants to pursue after it. Here the devil offered Jesus want was already His for everything that was made was made by Him. Although as Jesus came in the form of man, he was able to fall to temptation as every man is, however, He is also fully God, and would not yield to this temptation. This is the very reason the devil was cast from heaven in the first place. Lucifer was filled with pride and wanted to be like God or better then God and that could never happen. So, it is not a surprise that he wanted Jesus to bow down and worship him. But this is the challenge we as mankind must also face. We are told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. This would mean that we are not to seek after the kingdom of this world. Just what does seek after the kingdom of this world look like instead of seeking after the kingdom of God? We know that we cannot seek both for Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve two master, God and money, or in this sense, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. It is not that we cannot have some of the things of this world, for Jesus said that he knows we need them and that because we seek His kingdom first and foremost in our lives, he would add some of the things in this world to us. That is things would be added, gifted to us. We have some things, even things like a home, car, and other items because God added them to us, not because we worked hard for them, labored to increase our wealth, storing up as much as we can for our own benefit. If we are doing that, working hard, or smart, and laboring to achieve success, and increasing our wealth and looking to it as our source of security in our lives, then maybe, just maybe we might be bowing, ever every so slightly, to the kingdom of this world, serving another master other then God. That is just not the case, for we know, without question that all we have and all we all is an absolute result of God added whatever we have to us. Have we worked hard? Yes! We have been told that we would work all the days of our lives, but the sweat of our brow, we would work the soil for our sustenance, at least that is what was told to Adam when he was cast from the paradise of God. In one sense, we are still the descendent of Adam, for we are in the same flesh he was. Yes, we are now children of God, but we have not been removed from the earth yet, and we are still subject to committing sin, so perhaps we still need to work all the days of our lives for our sustenance, but without seeking the kingdom of this world. Maybe that is a fine line, but we have to be careful not to get to involved with wanting all that world has to offer, when God offers us far more then anything in this world, and again, we cannot want both. So then do we worship the things of this world, or God? Do we seek after things, or God? Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house will will serve the Lord. 

Speaking Truth

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

SPEAKING TRUTH

Matt 4:5-7

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" 7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 

NIV

Yes, the tempter knows the scripture, but he twists it, takes it out of context, manipulates it for his own purpose to test Jesus. It is difficult, in some sense, to understand how Jesus would allow this to even happen as he was the one who cast this devil, lucifer from heaven in the first place. We also think it was God who cast Lucifer to the earth, but Jesus is God, nothing was made that He did not make. Jesus was there in the beginning and so these two have a lot of history together, they are not strangers. Still, Jesus allows this to happen, so that we can gain insight into how the schemes of the devil will play out in our lives. We know Jesus is not going to yield to any of the temptations and we would think the devil knows that too, but still, he attempts to trip Jesus up in his scheme. We think that is a problem in our lives in that it seems for the most part that we always blame the devil for all the temptations we face. We think that first, we have to understand that the devil is not omnipresent and cannot be tempting all of us all the time. Yes, there are other evil spirits, angels that were cast down with Lucifer and may do his bidding or may not. First, we do not know how many angels were cast out with him, and second, we do not know for sure that he is in absolute control of all of them. From the experiences Jesus had with these evil spirits, these demons, they knew him, again because He was there when they were cast out of heaven. Nevertheless, because we cannot be sure if there are enough demons for each person that is alive, and of course the population of the earth has increased dramatically since the time they were cast down to earth and it continues to increase and their numbers do not. So the point of all this is that as Paul said, when we want to do good, evil is right there with us, and that is not in the sense beside us, but within us. The Apostle James makes it very clear that it does not take God, the devil, or a demon, to tempt us for we are drawn, dragged away by our own evil desires and when that temptation is conceived it becomes sin. The temptation is not sin, but it is what we do with it that counts. But, at the same time, we have to understand that we are capable all on our own to do evil, to sin, without any help whatsoever from an outside tempter. We are in error if we think we are a good person, for no one is good except God himself. Those are the very words of Jesus that both Matthew and Luke record when a young ruler came to Jesus and asked him what must he do to inherit eternal life. He started out by calling Jesus a good teacher and that is when Jesus made that comment about no one is good except God. Therefore, there can be no such person who can claim to be a good Christian, for that implies we are inherently good, when we are just the opposite, inherently bad, with evil residing within. We are all capable of evil all by ourselves. Here the devil tempts Jesus to prove that God will watch over him and keep him from harm, and we might think that sounds right, in some sense. But do we put God to a foolish test by some of the dumb things we do in life? Do we take chances that we shouldn’t? Do we put ourselves in situations that could raise up that evil within us so we yield to that temptation? We need to understand what we are capable of and resist even putting ourselves in those situations that could cause evil to have its way. The best way includes allowing God to clothe us in His armor, plus hide His word in our heart and mind so, like Jesus, we can discern the truth and quote ourselves those verses that speak to our temptation.

Self-Reliance

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

SELF-RELIANCE

Matt 4:1-4

4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 

NIV

It is interesting that Jesus had just experienced one of the greatest highs having the Holy Spirit descend upon him and hearing the voice of God the Father declaring that Jesus was His Son and that He was well pleased with him, then by the influence of that Spirit he is sent out into the desert to fast for forty days, and be tempted or tested by the devil. There are several truths here that are of interest.  First, we could compare This experience of Jesus, the second Adam, that he won the battle with the devil, as compared to the first Adam who lost his battle with the devil. Because of the first Adam, mankind was ruined, however, because of Jesus, the second Adam, Mankind is redeemed. It is also interesting that two of the Old Testament men fasted for forty days and forty nights. Both Moses and Elijah fasted, and it was at a time they were in complete union or communion with God. This is not to say that for us to find that kind of communion with God that we need to fast for forty days and forty nights, but it is just interesting that what Jesus did is sort of the same thing, in that he spent time alone with the Father and the Spirit. It was not till after his fast had been completed that the devil came to tempt him. This does give us some insight into our lives. It was when Jesus was hungry the devil came to him to tempt him with food, with providing himself with food by turning stones into bread. Hey, if you are a true believer in Jesus, you can do this or that, you can become famous, or well known, or wealthy, all on your own, with your own skills and talents. There are all sorts of schemes the devil can come up with to tempt us to trust ourselves rather than on every word that comes from the mouth of God. This is what he was tempting Jesus to do, trust in his own abilities as the Son of God, to break his allegiance with the Father. We know Jesus would never do that but are we confident that we would do never break our allegiance with God and look to ourselves for our needs. This morning we were just reminded that the Lord is our shepherd, we will not want. He is the one who shows us where the green pasture is, the place in our lives where we are provided for, where through his leading we are where we are supposed to be. He is the one who causes us to lay beside still waters, that he is the one who calms our hearts, that gives us the peace of mind, the world cannot give. He is the one who restores us, gives us life, sustains our life, even when it seems we are fading away, losing the fight, so to speak, getting down, experiencing a little despair, or even depression. We need not be concerned with our provisions, or search our own way in life, depending on ourselves for whatever we need. That is the scheme, the temptation to make these stones into bread. No, each one can choose for themselves, but as for me and my household, we will rely on God.

Baptized and Anointed

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

BAPTIZED AND ANOINTED

Matt 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness." Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

NIV

It is interesting that Jesus felt that he must submit to this ordinance of baptism. There is a question as to whether this was an ordinance in the same sense as that of circumcision following the law of Moses. However, what is referred to as the law of Moses, is really the Law instituted by God, the highest authority. John the Baptist stands in the Jordon calling for the baptism of repentance with the authority of God. There is also something else that makes this an important event. Because within the Jewish law, when a new high priest is installed into office, he is washed, that is ceremonially washed and anointed. Jesus serves as the high priest forever, and thus he should be washed, baptized, and anointed. We see His anointing coming directly from the Father. It makes perfect sense that Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day and that he Bar-mitzvah at age twelve, this is when Joseph and Mary had to go back into the city to find him. They were all there in the first place for the bar-mitzvah of Jesus. As we were in Jerusalem, we witnessed these celebrations with music and dancing in the streets. Jesus did all that was required as a Jew, and now this was the beginning of his ministry and needed to follow the protocol as a high priest. What an event that must have been. Surely those who were there, saw the Holy Spirit descend like above. This does not mean the Spirit was in the actual form of a dove, although He was in some appearance that was notable. If He was simply a dove, nothing would have been extraordinary about that. He had to have some special glow, some supernatural appearance for those to recognize, for Matthew to record this was the Spirit of God, one of the holy trinities of God. The fact that the Spirit hovered upon Jesus like a dove would have shown everyone that He was there. Then the voice from Heaven, this was the Father speaking clearly, not as the Israelites hear at Mt Horeb in the desert. Here, God the Father speaks in words the people can hear clearly. The Father anoints Jesus, making sure people know that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is loved by God, and He is pleasing to God. Would this not be the most excellent testimony that we could have? We have been anointed by Jesus, as He sent the Holy Spirit to rest on and in us. We have the plain words of God to hear each day. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior God declares us holy and blameless in his sight. He tells us that he loves us and is pleased with us because we are in Christ. When Jesus said that we would do that which he does, and even greater things, that would include being baptized, having the Spirit descend upon us, and being anointed by God as His children, loved and pleased with us.

Gathered in His Barn

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

 GATHERED IN HIS BARN

Matt 3:11-12

11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

NIV

There it is the fullness of the gospel in one statement. The whole truth of salvation is told right here. We are either in or out, and the choice is ours. Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. That is if we accept his baptism because he has that winnowing fork. This fork is used to pick up the grain and throw it up in the air to separate the grain kernels from the chaff, or to stalk. In the day of Christ, the way a grain, such as wheat, was harvested, it would be cut down and piled up. The piles would be taken to the threshing floor, a place where the grain would not get lost as they took the winnowing fork and threw it up in the air, thus getting the kernels to fall to the floor and the chaff would blow away. This is the analogy of how Jesus will separate those who accept his baptism and those who do not. The kernel, those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and are baptized in the Holy Spirit will be gathered into his barn, or heaven, or the kingdom of God. The chaff, those who are not the kernel of grain, those who refuse to accept him, and his baptism will be burned up in the lake of burning sulfur. We know this due to the detailed account in the revelation given to John. Why would anyone want to be the chaff when they can decide to be the grain is beyond reason? We are so thankful that the Spirit got through to us and that we repented of our sin and accepted Jesus’s baptism with the Holy Spirit. Yes, the Spirit was the one who first convicted us of our sin, but that is far different from being baptized with Him. This being baptized is being immersed in the Spirit. Although he dwells within, it is deeper than that. We are immersed in the Spirit, which is completely covered by Him. He is more than a part of our life, he is our life. In some sense, it is like being immersed in water, and not just a second as in water baptism, but we are fully and completely immersed in the Spirit forever, under his leadership for he is the only one who can lead us into all truth. Without being fully immersed in the Spirit we cannot see or know the truth and we would then be susceptible to the lies and schemes of the evil one and all those who follow his ways. The other beauty here is also the confidence we have that we are going to be gather into His barn.