Day 24: Luke 1-3

Today’s reading comes from Luke 1-3 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online. You can get a copy of the New in 90 reading schedule here.

John’s message in Luke 3 resonated with me today. There is a version of Christianity that is all knowledge and little action, all smoke and no substance. I run the danger here of being like that… posting thoughts on scripture, preaching sermons, counseling folks, etc. All that can be done and done convincingly with just a little bit of knowledge and outward action.

And that’s what gets me. Someone can go through the motions and be “clean” but their heart can be “wicked.”  The pharisees lined up with everyone else to be baptized (Matthew 3:7). Out of everyone there they had the longest list of deeds that they could point to in order to certify their righteousness. They made a religion out of being righteous. They even added extra rules for righteousness. But the one thing that separated their deeds from the fruit of repentance was their heart.

It is one thing to look back at a list of deeds and say, “I have done nothing wrong.” It is quite another to look and say, “I have done the right thing.” Like the Pharisees my small children have learned how to keep and manipulate rules to their advantage. They obey the letter, but not the intent of the rule.

Later in Luke we will read the parable of the prodigal son. The older brother has always fascinated me because he is obedient, but we are left with the impression that he misses the party. Real repentance begins in the heart, or it may begin with the action if your heart isn’t there yet… but in the end it encompasses both a right motive and right deeds.

I’m praying that my identity is so swept up in Christ today that I forget what other motives might be out there and live with a heart that beats purely for God.

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.

Day 23: Mark 16

Today’s reading comes from Mark 16 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online. You can get a copy of the New in 90 reading schedule here.

Disclaimer: My thoughts this morning and yesterday morning were similar in nature to what I had a little over a year ago when I read and commented through the gospels. I shared them again here with very little edit. 

Mark 16 closes out the book of Mark with a brief account of the resurrection and a somewhat controversial last 11 verses. Controversy aside, what stuck out to me was the great commission like statement found in Mark 16:15. The idea is found in all the gospels, Acts.

God has made the way to rescue sinners from His wrath through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ who was crucified, buried and risen from the dead. This is indeed good news and the world should hear!

Believers are called to be ambassadors of Christ! We are to take the good news everywhere, including to people who may not count the gospel as good news. We are to go!

But where are we to go? If we are not careful we will become mistaken and think we are to go places (indeed that may be part, but it is not the whole), but the command to go and make disciples is not about geography as much as it is about people. People who at this very moment stand outside the kingdom of God. People who may have never even heard the gospel. The command is to go to the people, not the place. Sometimes we have to go places to get to the people, but please make no mistake we go to share the good news with people.

The implications of this are huge! My city has an abundance of churches, and yet there are people who have not heard.  The condition of those who have not heard in Pensacola is the same as those who have not heard in another city or country with less churches. Again the command isn’t to go to places, but to go to people! Darkness is darkness wherever it exists. We can no longer use the fact that there are more people without the gospel in another region of the world as an excuse to just give our money and not search out those who are without Christ on our own neighborhood. (We should give and give generously to reach people across cultural divides, but not in replace of sharing the good news in our own culture).

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.

Day 22: Mark 13-15

Today’s reading comes from Mark 13-15 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online. You can get a copy of the New in 90 reading schedule here.

There is really slot in this passage to unpack, but what jumped out to me in today’s reading was how Jesus prayed in the garden.

He brought a few of the close disciples with Him and then went a little further to pray. He wanted them to watch and pray. However, they let him down by falling asleep. Jesus comments that they should pray against this temptation because, “the spirit is willing and the flesh is weak.”

This is how temptation often occurs. My desire is to be up early in prayer, but my body says it’s comfortable in bed, my spirit says wake up. I enjoy a reasonable portion for dessert and my body says to try some more, my spirit says you’ve had enough. I see a provocatively dressed woman my body says to stare, my spirit says to look away. I see an opportunity to cheat at a game my mind says no one will know, my spirit says God will know.

We all wage the war of temptation between the flesh and the spirit. Jesus tells his men to watch and pray for their bodies are weak. Jesus was facing his own time of temptation. He asked God if there was another way, but not to do what He wanted, but to execute everything according to the fathers plan.

How do you handle temptation?

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.

Day 21: Mark 10-12

Today’s reading comes from Mark 10-12 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online. You can get a copy of the New in 90 reading schedule here.

Much of today’s reading is similar to what we have just read in Matthew. The scribes and pharisees take issue with Jesus over his authority. I think this is an area where we seldom really apply our minds. Many professing Christians live their whole lives without a significant thought toward the authority Christ that belongs to Christ, but we wrongfully assume.  We argue for Christ’s authority, yet always leverage our position to make it seem like He is on our side. Brothers and sisters, there are no sides to it.

Either Christ is heir of the vineyard and Lord of your life or you are living in rebellion.  We are all servants, stewards, managers, none of us are owners. Each and every decision that smacks of selfish  is ambition is to be a pretender to Christ’s throne. I find it no accident that near the end of the reading today we see a widow giving her last cent as an offering to the Lord, not for show, not for her own glory, but purely as an act of worship.

I pray that through the power of the Holy Spirit that my life grows more and more to reflect the attitude of the widow.  May what is left of my life be simply given in worship.

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.

Other Posts on Mark 10-12:

• Mark 10
• Mark 11
• Mark 12

Day 20: Mark 7-9

Today’s reading comes from Mark 7-9 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online. You can get a copy of the New in 90 reading schedule here.

Mark 7 really jumped out at me today. The Pharisees were professionals at praising God with their lips, but having their hearts set against him. It’s a terrible thing to live so completely and fully for yourself while proclaiming God’s kingdom with your lips.

In this world their is a great temptation to profess a love for God with our lips and change the rules.  We seek to make God in our image, to assume what he would say or how he would feel about something simply because that is the way we feel about it. Many people capitalize on the fact that God is a “loving” God and then turn around and define love in some other way than God defines it. They end up removing the jealousy of God, and maybe even forgetting his wrath.

Keep reading though. Read the words of Jesus. Don’t use the love of God to say that their is no hell. Hell is real and people go there. Jesus said better to fight sin than go there. Justifying your sin will surely send you there no matter how much you profess the love of God.

The Pharisees had the same issue. They said that honoring your parents was more of a suggestion and if you wanted to pledge your money to the temple instead of supporting your parents in their old age, that you were righteous for doing it. But they were wrong. They were dead wrong.  They were not near to God with their hearts. There jaws moved, their gums smacked, but their heart wreaked of the foulest things.

You have a bad heart when you just want to justify your sin under the love of God. Sure God forgives, but not without repentance. Repentance isn’t just acknowledging what you’ve done, but agreeing with God about what you’ve done and turning away from it.

Do you have a bad heart today? I know in reading this I had to check mine again. I constantly slip if not checked up on a regular basis by God’s word.

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.

Other Posts on Mark 7-9:

• Mark 7
• Mark 8
• Mark 9

Day 19: Mark 4-6

Today’s reading comes from Mark 4-6 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online. You can get a copy of the New in 90 reading schedule here.

I am finally back to regular posting.  Thank you for bearing with me the last few days.

Today I was struck by the parable of the seed growing.  So many times we wonder at what God is up to in our live or the lives of people around us. We proclaim the gospel and it seems like no one is listening. We tell others of God’s love for us and our desperate need for Him but wonder if they are listening.

Then there is growth. In the quiet, in the stillness, after all the striving and all the needless fret on our part, the seed grows. In the silence, pushing against the darkness, reaching up to the light a plant is formed. Drawing strength from the earth, water and sunshine provided the plant continue to reach heavenward, spreading it’s leaves, embracing the sunlight and finally giving back fruit according to it’s purpose. Then comes the harvest.

Sometimes we are impatient to see the harvest. The one thing we forget is that the harvest is determined by the planting. Are you planting to see the kingdom of God expanding in your life, in your community and around the globe. Plant much, harvest much.

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.

Other post on Mark 4-6

• Mark 4: Can you Hear Me Now
• Mark 5: Where are you Going?
• Mark 6: An Uncommon Man in Common Clothes

 

Day 15: Matthew 22-24

Today’s reading comes from Matthew 22-24 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online. You can get a copy of the New in 90 reading schedule here.

One of the benefits of blogging my thoughts everyday is that I now feel compelled to not be late in posting them and I find myself a bit more disciplined in reading and sharing.

Matthew 24 really popped out at me today. I had several new insights and I’ll share a few here, but first my bias (I’ll warn you I’m a bit of a nerd and I promise not to share nerd insights often)… I grew up hearing all about the tribulation, rapture, etc. from pastors and teachers and have always understood this passage in those lines. When I was sixteen and felt a call to ministry my dad told me to always believe the book (the bible), but to always be skeptical of what others might say about the book.

So I decided to take off my “dispensational” glasses as best I could and look at this passage for its own merit.  My questions was, if I had never heard of the rapture or any other end times information what would I glean from this passage?I really just wanted an honest examination of this passage and today I feel as though I was richly blessed.

Matthew 24:1-2, It’s helpful to know that the context of this conversation has to do with the future (to the disciples) destruction of the temple.

Matthew 24:3, The Disciples ask three questions of Jesus…

1.Tell us, when will these things be,

2.and what will be the sign of your coming

3. and of the end of the age?”
(Matthew 24:3 ESV)

Matthew 24:15-16, The Abomination of Desolation is something that can only happen in the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus warns those in “Judea” to flee… so this is in reference to the destruction of the temple and all that is attached to this passage such as pray that it doesn’t take place on the sabbath, etc. is related to the destruction of the temple.

Matthew 24:23, After this event if someone tells you they are the Christ, or that Christ has returned… be wary.

Matthew 24:27, when Jesus returns you will know it. It won’t be like the first time.

Matthew 24:29, I have to ponder. The first thought that jumped into my mind was Revelation 12:1 and Genesis 37:9. I get that this is often imagery for the Nation of Israel and darkening and falling would fit the metaphor of Israel being scattered after the destruction of the temple… However, Like I said… much to think over on this point. The temple was destroyed in AD 70 and the Jews were exiled from their homeland.

Matthew 24:34, This now appears to be the bookend that ties this all together with the destruction of the temple, “this generation will not pass away.” The temple was destroyed in AD 70 a round about forty years after Jesus made this statement.

Matthew 24:36ff, Now we seem to be getting into the questions that the disciples have tied into the destruction of the temple which is the end of the age. Jesus notes that it will be swift and in Judgement.

I have always heard Matthew 24:41 in reference to the rapture and to be fair the word “taken” is neutral in that it could mean rescued or it could mean killed. Given the context of destruction and pretending that I have never heard of the rapture before I would be inclined to say the most natural reading of this passage is that they are ‘taken’ in death.

(Just a side note. The more I read the scripture, the more I see the Trinity and the less I see the rapture).

The real point to this passage is that Jesus will return, it will be when we least expect it, and He will judge the world and reward those who have been faithful to follow Him. I look forward to His return whether I meet him in the air or he comes all the way down to Earth. I hope he finds me faithful.

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.

Day 14: Matthew 19-21

Today’s reading comes from Matthew 19-21 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online. You can get a copy of the New in 90 reading schedule here.

As always lots of stuff to cover in today’s passage.  One of the joys of covering so much ground is that you glean so many nuggets of Truth along the way. I guess the focus for me this on the rejection of Christ’s authority.

Funny thing about rejecting the authority of Jesus… it doesn’t change the fact that Jesus is the authority. When you reject authority all you end up doing is hurting yourself.  There was a saying that went around back in Jesus’ day that when to the effect of, “when a clay pot falls on a rock, the pot breaks… and when a rock falls on a clay pot, the pot breaks.”  One way or the other the only real reaction of a collision between a clay pot and a rock is for the pot to break.

We can deny the existence of God. Pretend he doesn’t even exist. Maybe even say that perhaps he started everything, but he doesn’t care anymore.  You can say what you want to, but it doesn’t change the fact that He is God.

Funny thing about authority though. When you embrace it, it has the power to unleash great potential in you. The corner stone was the one by which the whole building was pieced together. It became the model and foundation for all the other stone work on a building. When we build our lives upon the authority of Jesus Christ, we become conformed to his image and are an extension of his kingdom at work in humanity.

I’m going for a second cup of coffee this AM… I included some old sermon video’s below. The one about the stone the builders rejected is form Luke’s account, but is should help connect the dots in the story of the tenants.

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.

Sermons of Interest:

The Stone the Builders Rejected (Sermon Brief)

First and Last from Pastor Jonathan on Vimeo.

THe Stone The Builders Rejected from Pastor Jonathan on Vimeo.

Day 13: Matthew 16-18

Today’s reading comes from Matthew 16–18 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online.

There is much in today’s reading about forgiveness.  There is so much here that we need to contemplate when it comes to dealing with those who have offended us.  Often it is easier to see the sins of our brother than it is to see our own sin and so we condemn them and write them off as being purely evil… while we enjoy the pleasures and benefits of being God’s servant.

However, Jesus says you can’t live that way. You can’t write someone off for their sin against you.  He didn’t write you off.  He went to the cross for you and so for the sake of forgiveness and reconciliation the least you can do is walk across the room and lovingly confront the wrong (notice I said lovingly).

It’s easy to hate someone in their wrong doing.  You can count the tears, the lives affected, and try to put a value on the pain… but then again Jesus didn’t chose the to go to the cross for you when you were lovable. Don’t pretend like your sins don’t cost too.

You see we don’t forgive because we are commanded to and that is the end of the story.  We forgive because we are forgiven. When you realize your debt before God and what lengths he went to to absorb your debt against Him… well then that bit of unforgiveness in your heart just looks plain silly.

The power to forgive isn’t in you… The power to forgive comes from God alone. You see all sin is ultimately gets paid for… Either in your soul for ever in Hell, or Jesus on the cross.  At the end of the day all of us answer to God.  He is the only one who judges our hearts right.

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.

Other Posts of Interest:

• When Church People do Bad Things
• 3 Things you should know before you Judge your Friends
• Forgiveness

Day 12: Matthew 13-15

Today’s reading comes from Matthew 13 – 15 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online.

Chapter thirteen in today’s reading is a collection of parables concerning the kingdom of heaven.  Most of the parables indicate that not everyone makes it into the kingdom. The difference seems to be that those who take action on the commands of Christ are saved, but those who do not respond to the promises of God are ultimately rejected (because they have rejected God).

This seems to be the reoccurring message in both gospels that we have been doing our reading.  Some people would rather choose to live in the darkness than respond to the light. Some people may even look like Christians on the outside without any real transformation on the inside.

Jesus has another run in the with the religious crowd in chapter fifteen, this time over the issue of his disciples not washing their hands. (This has more to do with a ritual purity than germs at this point). Jesus presses the crowd to look past the “going through the motions” aspect of law keeping and look at the real issue. The issue is not what you do outwardly, but what you are inwardly.

Be careful here though. Many have taken this to mean that as long as my “intentions” are good, then I’m good.  The problem is that Jesus isn’t talking about “intentions,” he is talking about our “motive.”  Intentions never seem to get done or fulfilled.  You can have the best of “intentions” and be the laziest person on the planet.  No, what’s at stake here isn’t what you intend, but what drives what you “do.”  The pharisees were driven to “do” the right things with the wrongs “motives.”  Jesus is saying, pure motives drive pure living. Corrupt motives can only make you look clean.

 

What did you take away from today’s passage? What are your thoughts?

Don’t forget to also check out Chrisaiken.wordpress.com  and dawnjefferson.wordpress.com for other insights and thoughts on today’s reading.