276 Psalms 119.113 – 119.176; Matthew 8.1 – 8.17
Give me a break! This phrase of "Give me a break" can mean so many things. It can mean, "you have to be kidding me." It can mean, "life is going bad here, right now." Have you ever thought it could mean, "I need a break from this routine of life." I have heard it said, "if you don't come apart, you will fall apart." We need recreation which is to recreate ourselves. We also need to be renewed. Listen to this verse,
Psalms 119:114 (MSG) 114 You're my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me. I wait may be some of the most difficult words in our language.
If we do wait we are suppose to wait for God's word to renew us. In the book of Hebrews the author tells us that God's Word is alive (Heb.4:12).
Most of us want to live life to the fullest. The question is always the same "how?" You can get as many answers as there are people. Here is what God says,
Psalms 119:144 (MSG) 144 The way you tell me to live is always right; help me understand it so I can live to the fullest.
While you are reading the Bible always be asking the question, "How can this help to live better?" God has given us His Word to help us to really live.
What is faith? We find recorded in Matthew a dramatic representation of faith which is found in a Roman captain. Here is some of the words exchanged,
Matthew 8:8-10 (MSG)
8 "Oh, no," said the captain. "I don't want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. 9 I'm a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 Taken aback, Jesus said, "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works.
This man understood who was really in control. This man could see that Jesus was who He claimed to be and that He could command sickness to leave a persons body.
Today exercise your faith in Christ.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
275 Friday, October 02, 2009
275 Psalms 119.57 – 119.112; Matthew 7.15 – 7.29
Do you have any troubles? Do you expect to have any trouble? One song says, "if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all." Some people seem to have trouble as their middle name, while others seem to live the charmed life. Here is what the Psalmist wrote,
Psalms 119:71 (MSG) 71 My troubles turned out all for the best— they forced me to learn from your textbook.
Trouble that comes can be a friend if we will look to the Lord and His textbook. It is important to always have the Lord as the focal point of our life. If we have trouble look to the Lord and learn. If we are having a good stretch, then look to the Lord and learn. We can always look to Lord and know that His ancient wisdom can always help us live life to the fullest. God's ways are never out of vogue.
Psalms 119:90 (MSG) 90 Your truth never goes out of fashion; it's as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up.
We live in modern, post-modern age and yet if we will listen to God we can find our way. His truth is up-to-date for any age that a person lives in.
Christ wants our obedience not our lip service. It is easy to talk a good game, it is another to back it up. Here is our Savior put it into words,
Matthew 7:21 (MSG)
21 "Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance—isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. Once you say you know the Jesus then it is for us to follow His ways. It is even more serious when you read the next few verses.
Matthew 7:22-23 (MSG)
22 I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.'
23 And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
Help us Lord not to miss the boat. Help us not to just go through the motions. Help us to live this life to the fullest by loving you and obeying you.
Do you have any troubles? Do you expect to have any trouble? One song says, "if it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all." Some people seem to have trouble as their middle name, while others seem to live the charmed life. Here is what the Psalmist wrote,
Psalms 119:71 (MSG) 71 My troubles turned out all for the best— they forced me to learn from your textbook.
Trouble that comes can be a friend if we will look to the Lord and His textbook. It is important to always have the Lord as the focal point of our life. If we have trouble look to the Lord and learn. If we are having a good stretch, then look to the Lord and learn. We can always look to Lord and know that His ancient wisdom can always help us live life to the fullest. God's ways are never out of vogue.
Psalms 119:90 (MSG) 90 Your truth never goes out of fashion; it's as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up.
We live in modern, post-modern age and yet if we will listen to God we can find our way. His truth is up-to-date for any age that a person lives in.
Christ wants our obedience not our lip service. It is easy to talk a good game, it is another to back it up. Here is our Savior put it into words,
Matthew 7:21 (MSG)
21 "Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance—isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. Once you say you know the Jesus then it is for us to follow His ways. It is even more serious when you read the next few verses.
Matthew 7:22-23 (MSG)
22 I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.'
23 And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
Help us Lord not to miss the boat. Help us not to just go through the motions. Help us to live this life to the fullest by loving you and obeying you.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
274 Thursday, October 01, 2009
274 Psalms 119.1 – 119.56
Psalm 119 is an unusual in that it is divided into twenty-two stanzas and each starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is is mainly dealing with God's Word and what His word can do for us as His people. We see this very clearly in this phrase:
Psalms 119:9 (MSG) 9 How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word.
Our Father knows that our walk with Him is to be an informed walk. God has not left us to our own devices. I love maps because they keep me from getting lost. I love google maps even more. I get very specific instructions from Google maps and have rarely been lost because of the information I have received. Some of you have a GPS system in your vehicle and if you have learned to use you are grateful for the instructions you receive.
We need to develop an appetite for God's ways and His instructions. Here is what Psalm 119 says about this hunger for His Word:
Psalms 119:20 (MSG)
20 My soul is starved and hungry, ravenous!— insatiable for your nourishing commands.
We need to ask God to give us this kind of hunger. In my conversations with people I find that people don't want that kind of thirst because they want to live a free life. They want to be unfettered. In every sport there are rules and there are penalties for not following the rules and yet people want to live their lives without rules or penalties. Life does not work without rules! All of us need boundaries in our life in order to live life to the max.
We are still hearing the words of Jesus. This is His longest message and it is enough for a lifetime of reflection. Truly I could write a paragraph about each line of His sayings and would only be warming up. God wants us to be very, very careful in how we treat others and how we treat Him. We are not to be judging people, but helping them. It is just like this verse says,
Matthew 7:12 (MSG) 12 "Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get.
Perhaps today you could take the initiative and help someone in their need.
Psalm 119 is an unusual in that it is divided into twenty-two stanzas and each starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is is mainly dealing with God's Word and what His word can do for us as His people. We see this very clearly in this phrase:
Psalms 119:9 (MSG) 9 How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word.
Our Father knows that our walk with Him is to be an informed walk. God has not left us to our own devices. I love maps because they keep me from getting lost. I love google maps even more. I get very specific instructions from Google maps and have rarely been lost because of the information I have received. Some of you have a GPS system in your vehicle and if you have learned to use you are grateful for the instructions you receive.
We need to develop an appetite for God's ways and His instructions. Here is what Psalm 119 says about this hunger for His Word:
Psalms 119:20 (MSG)
20 My soul is starved and hungry, ravenous!— insatiable for your nourishing commands.
We need to ask God to give us this kind of hunger. In my conversations with people I find that people don't want that kind of thirst because they want to live a free life. They want to be unfettered. In every sport there are rules and there are penalties for not following the rules and yet people want to live their lives without rules or penalties. Life does not work without rules! All of us need boundaries in our life in order to live life to the max.
We are still hearing the words of Jesus. This is His longest message and it is enough for a lifetime of reflection. Truly I could write a paragraph about each line of His sayings and would only be warming up. God wants us to be very, very careful in how we treat others and how we treat Him. We are not to be judging people, but helping them. It is just like this verse says,
Matthew 7:12 (MSG) 12 "Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get.
Perhaps today you could take the initiative and help someone in their need.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
272 Tuesday, September 29, 2009
272 Psalms 115 – 118; Matthew 6.19 – 6.34
No shame in asking for God's blessing. Psalm 115 is full of asking and praising. "O God, remember us and bless us, bless the families of Israel and Aaron. And let God bless all who fear God---bless the small and the great." In Ephesians 1:3 we are told we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. As a Christian we are to pray that our eyes would be opened to how we have been blessed, but also we should ask for God's blessing upon our lives. When Paul says to Christians, grace and peace be unto you, are they not already blessed with grace and peace. Of course they are! Yet Paul is extending that prayer of blessing toward them. What do you want God to bless you with? Understand that you are asking your loving Father in heaven who sent His Son to die for you--so I think the Lord wants to bless you! Go for it. Ask the Lord to bless others, it is a good thing!
One of the great battles of life is the temporal verses the eternal. Jesus is reminding us not to hoard treasure down here on earth--temporal, but to stockpile it in heaven--eternal! Choosing our investments wisely is our responsibility. Giving to God is incumbent upon us. God takes what we give to Him, saves it up and gives it all back to us 20, 30, 100 fold. The Lord is trying to get us to understand how short life is down here and how long life is up there. We are to live with the end in mind. They tell me, ‘show me a person's checkbook, and I will show you what they worship.’ I am not totally convinced of that statement, yet there is a lot of truth contained in it. The reason it can't be totally true is some people give to cover up or buy blessing from the Lord--ha, ha, ha.
No shame in asking for God's blessing. Psalm 115 is full of asking and praising. "O God, remember us and bless us, bless the families of Israel and Aaron. And let God bless all who fear God---bless the small and the great." In Ephesians 1:3 we are told we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. As a Christian we are to pray that our eyes would be opened to how we have been blessed, but also we should ask for God's blessing upon our lives. When Paul says to Christians, grace and peace be unto you, are they not already blessed with grace and peace. Of course they are! Yet Paul is extending that prayer of blessing toward them. What do you want God to bless you with? Understand that you are asking your loving Father in heaven who sent His Son to die for you--so I think the Lord wants to bless you! Go for it. Ask the Lord to bless others, it is a good thing!
One of the great battles of life is the temporal verses the eternal. Jesus is reminding us not to hoard treasure down here on earth--temporal, but to stockpile it in heaven--eternal! Choosing our investments wisely is our responsibility. Giving to God is incumbent upon us. God takes what we give to Him, saves it up and gives it all back to us 20, 30, 100 fold. The Lord is trying to get us to understand how short life is down here and how long life is up there. We are to live with the end in mind. They tell me, ‘show me a person's checkbook, and I will show you what they worship.’ I am not totally convinced of that statement, yet there is a lot of truth contained in it. The reason it can't be totally true is some people give to cover up or buy blessing from the Lord--ha, ha, ha.
Monday, September 28, 2009
271 Monday, September 28, 2009
271 Psalms 111 – 114; Matthew 6.1 – 6.18
The good life--what is it and where does it begin? The Psalmist teaches us that, "The good life begins in the fear of God---Do that and you'll know the blessing of God." The good life begins with the fear of God and it is having the blessing of God upon your life. I often ask people who are about to break an explicit command of God if they want the blessing of God on their life? I do not recall one person saying they did not want the blessing of God in their life. Yet, when I would open the Bible up and let them read the verses of Scripture that were contradicting the decision that were about to make, they would still argue their case. We want God's blessing on our life---period, regardless of what God says about our lifestyle. In other words there is no fear of God--our fear is we might miss out on some pleasure or at least feeling good. Do you want the blessing of God in your life?
Is it Memorex or is it real? I'm sure I have done my little Christian performance when trying to keep up with what I perceived as the super spiritual Christian. Jesus wants us real without us always having to spill our guts. Christ says, "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding." We are called to an authentic and genuine faith in Christ. We can walk in Christ without having to pretend to be something that we are not. We are free!!!
The good life--what is it and where does it begin? The Psalmist teaches us that, "The good life begins in the fear of God---Do that and you'll know the blessing of God." The good life begins with the fear of God and it is having the blessing of God upon your life. I often ask people who are about to break an explicit command of God if they want the blessing of God on their life? I do not recall one person saying they did not want the blessing of God in their life. Yet, when I would open the Bible up and let them read the verses of Scripture that were contradicting the decision that were about to make, they would still argue their case. We want God's blessing on our life---period, regardless of what God says about our lifestyle. In other words there is no fear of God--our fear is we might miss out on some pleasure or at least feeling good. Do you want the blessing of God in your life?
Is it Memorex or is it real? I'm sure I have done my little Christian performance when trying to keep up with what I perceived as the super spiritual Christian. Jesus wants us real without us always having to spill our guts. Christ says, "Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don't make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won't be applauding." We are called to an authentic and genuine faith in Christ. We can walk in Christ without having to pretend to be something that we are not. We are free!!!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
270 Sunday, September 27, 2009
270 Psalms 109 – 110; Matthew 5.21 – 5.48
Please pray for the Fall Festival this weekend and especially the services as we by God's grace will be presenting this wonderful news called the Gospel of Christ. It looks as if we are going to have great weather--praise God.
Yesterday we pondered the beatitude, ‘blessed are they are at the end of their rope.’ On page 1176, the Psalmist cries out with similar words, "Get me out of here---your love is so great!---I'm at the end of my rope, my life in ruins." David is crying out to God for help. We don't usually cry out for help unless we are at the end of our rope. No more tricks up the sleeve, no more wheeling and dealing--just a simple prayer---HELP!!!!!! In this Psalm, notice how David ends it by praising God. You can start with a complaint but end it with praise when addressing God. In the next Psalm, David is praying and we hear these words, "God gave His word and he won't take it back: you're the permanent priest, the Melchizedek priest." David is thrusting himself upon the Word of God. He also seems to be addressing Christ since Jesus is referred to in the N.T. as the priest after the order of Melchizedek. It is a great word in that Jesus brought us the Word and He is the Word.
Jesus continues in the Sermon on the Mount to raise the bar as to what is the true code of morality. The teachers of the law were about outward appearances but Jesus was about the inner heart. Murder is more than killing, it is a person hating someone in their heart. Jesus came to fulfill the law not to do away with it. Read carefully these words of Christ they are life changing.
Please pray for the Fall Festival this weekend and especially the services as we by God's grace will be presenting this wonderful news called the Gospel of Christ. It looks as if we are going to have great weather--praise God.
Yesterday we pondered the beatitude, ‘blessed are they are at the end of their rope.’ On page 1176, the Psalmist cries out with similar words, "Get me out of here---your love is so great!---I'm at the end of my rope, my life in ruins." David is crying out to God for help. We don't usually cry out for help unless we are at the end of our rope. No more tricks up the sleeve, no more wheeling and dealing--just a simple prayer---HELP!!!!!! In this Psalm, notice how David ends it by praising God. You can start with a complaint but end it with praise when addressing God. In the next Psalm, David is praying and we hear these words, "God gave His word and he won't take it back: you're the permanent priest, the Melchizedek priest." David is thrusting himself upon the Word of God. He also seems to be addressing Christ since Jesus is referred to in the N.T. as the priest after the order of Melchizedek. It is a great word in that Jesus brought us the Word and He is the Word.
Jesus continues in the Sermon on the Mount to raise the bar as to what is the true code of morality. The teachers of the law were about outward appearances but Jesus was about the inner heart. Murder is more than killing, it is a person hating someone in their heart. Jesus came to fulfill the law not to do away with it. Read carefully these words of Christ they are life changing.
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