Month: January 2016

Today’s reading link: Genesis 22; Matthew 21; Nehemiah 11; Acts 21

Merriam-Webster defines faith as, “strong belief or trust in someone or something”. Matthew has talked to us a lot about faith this week. Today’s reading starts with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  The crowds believed in Jesus, and had confidence he was who he said he was.  Their response was to praise him.

Back in Matthew 17, Jesus rebuked his disciples for not having the faith to cast out demons. He tells them if they just had a little faith, even that as small as a mustard seed, they could do something:  move mountains.  In Matthew 21:21-22, Jesus again reminds the disciples of the power available to them through faith.  “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

As defined in the English dictionary, faith is a noun. Note that Merriam-Webster uses the word “trust” in the definition.  In contrast to faith, trust can also be a verb.  It is something we do, an action, prompted by our faith.  God calls us to act upon our faith.

James 2:17 says, “Faith without works is dead.”  A few verses later, James references one of the greatest examples of faith, which we read about in Genesis 22 today.  Here we see Abraham’s faith in God prompting him to take action.  God tells Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering.  The long-awaited son born to him by Sarah to be sacrificed as an offering to God?  He had just sent Hagar and his son Ishmael away, was God really going to take Isaac from him too?  In order to do follow through with God’s command, Abraham had to trust that God would bless his action.  God is faithful.  Not only did he bless Abraham by preserving Isaac’s life, God’s blessed Abraham by promising to multiply his offspring.

What does that faith look like in your life and my life today? Are we completely trusting God enough to follow through in action?

Family: Genesis 20; Matthew 19. Secret: Nehemiah 9; Acts 19.

Am I the only one that gets a little anxious when reading Matthew 19? There is something about verse 25 that scares the snot out of me. As I ponder the reasons why that may be the case, I am confronted with a stark reality.

In reality, I am just like the rich young ruler (I’m speaking more about my heart than my bank account). That is to say that when God asks me to give something up in order to better serve him, I leave in sorrow, just as the rich young ruler did. Sometimes, I just don’t want to give up what I want!  It doesn’t matter what you call it ambition, wealth, money, possessions or fortune. At the end of the day, these things entangle our hearts. The rich young ruler chooses death. I really do not want to choose the same!

This reality is driven home for me in Nehemiah 9. Starting with verse 35, we are reminded of the great land that God had given his people. It is described as large and rich and surrounded by God’s great goodness. But, of course, the people did not serve God, or turn from their wicked works.  As in Nehemiah 9:36, I realize that I am nothing more than a slave. I become so surrounded and submerged in American culture that I often cannot see the goodness of God. No longer do I care that we have been given a great and rich land. When called upon to use a portion of it for His purposes, we reject him and live for our own passions and desires.

So what are we to do? Is there no hope? It would seem that we are all doomed to live as slaves, replaying this scenario over and over again. Thankfully, the disciples were on to this same question. It appears that they are just as freaked out as I am when they ask, “in astonishment, who can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25). I can hear the desperation in the question. They sense the impending doom. But, it is not. As long as we can keep an eye on Jesus there is hope. Jesus replies, “with man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.”   When we focus on him, nothing else matters.

Father, remember us as you have remembered those before us. Even though we turn away and forsake your goodness, you are great in mercies.   You did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. (Nehemiah 9:31 ESV)

Today’s reading links: Genesis 16; Matthew 15; Nehemiah 5; Acts 15

Every day when I drive my kids to school, we start our 15 minute car ride by talking to God. In these few minutes, we affirm that we want our hearts to look like Jesus, and ask for God’s help to change them.  I’ll be honest, we’ve been praying this prayer for about a year and a half, but my heart still requires a lot of work.  Many mornings, especially on Mondays, this request is often followed by a prayer of thanks that God’s mercies are new EVERY morning.  Oh how I need them!

Since reading Matthew 12 on Tuesday, I haven’t been able to get the last phrase of verse 34 off my mind, “…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

In reading Matthew 15 today, we find the Pharisees and scribes challenging Jesus about his disciples’ failure to keep some traditions. I love how he answers their question with question and begins to get at their hearts.  In verses 10 and 11, Jesus gets very direct with those gathered to listen to his teachings, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”

My small group is reading the book Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.  In this week’s reading, Lewis says, “…surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is.” Why? Back to Matthew 12:34, because what instinctively comes out of your mouth truly reflects what is in your heart.

Think about what’s in your heart. With my children and I, today will you ask God to help change your heart to look like Jesus?

Today’s reading link: Genesis 15; Matthew 14; Nehemiah 4; Acts 14

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

In 2005, I felt God challenging me to come to terms with the fact that I claimed to be a Christian but I was living indifferently, without demonstrating any faith and without any action that might remotely resemble someone who loved, trusted, or followed Jesus. I was lukewarm on God.

The way C.S. Lewis boiled it down was the turning point.  Those words spoke to me saying: decide for yourself, man up. It was time to get rid of my bad assumptions as to what Christians believed or how they behaved.  It was time to act: read, seek, pray, get real and come to a final answer for these two very important questions. Was Jesus who he said he was?  And if so, what did he say?

I had previously dabbled in Bible reading but it was mostly half-hearted. This time I approached the Bible with reverence because I was actually afraid of coming to the conclusion that Jesus was perhaps a madman, and then I’d be left lost and empty.  Then I read the book of Matthew and it spoke to me like it had never done before.

Matthew documents how Jesus faced opposition even though over and over he proved his love for people, he wisely taught them, and performed numerous miracles for the benefit of those he loved and to give glory to God. Jesus healed every disease and became famous:

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains,those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. Matthew 4:23-24

People were going crazy for Jesus and his fame was spreading like wildfire but, in his hometown of Nazareth he was rejected. They had heard about his miracles but they didn’t believe, and this disbelief was why he didn’t perform any miracles in Nazareth. Isn’t this how we treat Jesus sometimes? Show me a sign, then I’ll believe.

Matthew 11 tells us that after a long day of teaching, Jesus’ disciples hop into a boat and after dismissing the massive crowd (of 5,000 who Jesus just miraculously fed), Jesus went up the mountain to pray. I’m thinking Jesus had a good heart-to-heart with his Heavenly Father and spent some time mourning the loss of John the Baptist. This John, whom Jesus referred to in Matthew 11:11 as “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater”. John was a relative of Jesus, he prepared the way for Jesus, he baptized Jesus. John served him through imprisonment and a brutal death so Jesus must have been in deep sorrow.

Faith saves, doubt destroys.

When Jesus returns from praying, he finds that the boat had drifted and he performs another miracle: He walks on water to meet his disciples. They see someone coming; they were frightened and thought he was a ghost. Jesus tries to calm them but Peter wants proof of who he is. Peter shows some faith by telling Jesus to “command him” to walk on water. Peter then miraculously walks on water, but even with this he starts to doubt and he begins to sink. Again, like us, we want a sign, we get a sign, but we end up doubting and sinking.

Before closing, I want to take the time to say happy birthday to Rick Jebb. Rick is one of our authors, a close friend, a mentor, a leader, a brother who cannot stop talking about Jesus (seriously, I don’t think it is in his power to stop).  Rick is the person who was integral in my own in-depth study of the Sermon on the Mount – which I am eternally grateful for. Rick, you’re a difference maker and a wonderful human being, I thank God for all that He has shaped you to become!

With that, we’ll close today with some questions to measure ourselves as we consider the Matthew readings thus far. First, please meditate on this verse for a moment:

And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” – Matthew 14:33

Finally, let’s ask ourselves:

1. Do I believe that Jesus is the son of God?
2. Do I live like I believe Jesus is the son of God?
3. Would my friends, family, and co-workers agree with my answer to question two? What actions should I take to reconcile any differences?

Genesis 14; Matthew 13. Nehemiah 3; Acts 13.

Choices have consequences. There is something ominous about this phrase. Seriously, I get really nervous when I think about it because, like most of us, I have made (am making?) some really poor choices. Today’s scriptures brought this to light in a new way for me. In order to explain, I want to consider Abram. To do so, we need to start in Chapter 13.

In yesterday’s journal, Michael wisely noted Abram’s response to the riches that he possessed. In verse 4, “Abram called upon the name of the Lord.” I think you will see that this sets the stage for many events that follow.

The first of these events begins with strife between Abram and Lot. In order to resolve the conflict, Abram leads the way, suggesting that they split apart. Now, the part that confounds my worldly wisdom is that Abram gives Lot the first choice.   I refuse to believe that Abram did not see the same things that Lot did, as described in verse 10.  He saw the Jordan Valley which was, “well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt.” Even so, Abram did not choose it. He gave the privilege of first choice to Lot. Why not? The simple answer is that it was not important to him. Abram recognized that his blessed life was not a result of his surroundings, but of God’s hand on his life.

The second choice Abram makes shows up in Genesis 14:21. The king of Sodom offers him the loot that was stolen from the city. Not unlike his refusal to take the land in the Jordan Valley, Abram refuses the easy and obvious choice. What is it about Abram that causes him to make such choices? Simple; he knew how to keep God the one thing. The one thing for Abram was crystal clear. His purpose in this life was to serve God. Neither the money (rich in livestock), nor the first choice of where to live (Jordan Valley) or even the enticements by the king were worth his attention.

This world is always falling victim to misguided purpose. In order to make good decisions we attempt to increase our will power or gain more wisdom. It occurs to me that Abram didn’t worry about those things. Instead, he “called upon the name of the LORD,” “gave him a tenth of everything,” and “lifted his hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.” Today is a new day. How will you choose?