Matthew 19; Mark 10

Jesus begins both chapters answering questions on divorce. This was never God's purpose for marriage. Moses allowed it because God's people had hard hearts. God views it as breaking the holy covenant we have established with each other, but most importantly with Him. When we flippantly do this and remarry, He views this as adultery. Many countries established have legal divorce laws. These are necessary because of our disregard for the gift God has given us in each other. In many cases one person may not want one and the other person insists that is the only solution. When we do this for the purpose of remarrying, God views this the same as adultery. Whatever has happened, He will forgive when we repent and will re-establish your life and put it in the proper order. We are never to use that as an excuse to give up on our marriage. He does make a provision for divorce when there is marital unfaithfulness, but His perfect plan is repentance, forgiveness and restoration. We then see the Lord commenting on renouncing marriage for the Kingdom and other reasons. He wants us to follow Him in what He wants in our life and to encounter Him as our mate. Some may be able to do this long term or for a season. That time is precious and the Lord will be able to use us in ways we will only understand as we seek His will and rely on Him to fill our life with Him. He will bring us into the lives of His children and use us in ways we otherwise could not experience. Whether we marry or remain single, He will guide us in all of these areas when we trust Him to make our life what He wants.

Then we see Jesus welcoming and praying for the little children He said "for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these... I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." we should encourage our children (and our adults) to go to Him often and get comfortable in doing that.

Then we see how the things of this world can keep us from following Christ or even knowing Him. Then He tells us that we will be rewarded for whatever we give up to follow Him (100 times in the age to come). God is just and will reward us as a loving father in every area.

Luke 10-11; John 10;22-42

We Start today in Luke 10 where we see Jesus sending out seventy two ahead of Him to the place where He was about to go. He said "Go I am sending you as sheep among wolves." Last night I heard Pastor Mitch teach that it is not about God's will in our lives, it's about adjusting our lives to do God's will. He will put us in uncomfortable circumstances in order to experience Him. He will not adjust the assignment so He can experience what we're comfortable with. In 11:28He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." Many times we miss the blessing waiting for God to adjust to what we understand rather than being open to what He understands. In church plant training we were taught to serve the master. The seventy two returned with joy and in verse 21 He said "At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure." Doing God's will brings pleasure to the Father, the Son and to us through the Holy Spirit.

In chapter 11 He taught us to pray and instructs us to: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened...13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"(NIV) The Holy Spirit brings unity and Satan brings division. In verse 17 Jesus told us "Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall...23"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters." Christ is very clear about doing the will of the father. In 11:28He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

In vs. 33 we see the eyes being the lamp to the body. We are to be deliberate about making sure the light within us is not darkness. There are so may of God's people in darkness today because we fail to be discerning in what we view and what we hear. If we do not apply God's word (rightly divide the word of truth we can be deceived by Satan into complacency and be content our version of God's will. We will be doing our idea of ministry. That's Satan's goal for all of us. God placed us here to minister as He wills. He gave six woe to the church leaders who were doing ministry their way.

John 10:27; My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30I and the Father are one."

Today we will go prayer driving. We will meet at the church at 10:00. We ill be seeking lost sheep (John 10). We did this Thursday and were blessed and filled with joy as the Lord worked. We experienced His sheep recognizing those He sent out. Please join us in what the Lord is doing. We covet your prayers and presence as we go. Please feel free to join us in what God is doing.

John 9:1-10:21

We start chapter 9 seeing Jesus on mission as a servant of His father. He said: As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (NIV) He taught us that God allowed the man's sickness so that the work of God might be displayed in His life. This happened in my life. I was born with three spleens. The doctors worked for six years with no clue as to what was going on. I was able to see God answer prayer and like He moved Abraham through prayer, He moved us to a complete different part of the country in order to have the needed surgery. Without it I would not have survived past the teen years. When that happens it bolsters our faith as it did the blind man. The Lord tells us to to whom much is given, much is required. The Lord blesses so we can have that close loving relationship with Him and that the work of God may be displayed in our life (vs 3). He wants us to share that life He gave us with others.

Spiritual blindness is why Jesus came - He has seen the consequences of judgment. 37Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
38Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. 39Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." 40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?" 41Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

Yesterday we saw Jesus work in a mighty way as we prayer drove through neighborhoods and prayed with those the Lord brought into our path. I would encourage you to join us on Saturday at 10:00 for another time of spiritual enrichment. It is very encouraging to see the Lord at work among us. Please pray and ask the Lord what He would have you do.

In chapter 10 we see Jesus as our Shepherd. He describes Himself as the gate for the sheep. We must enter through the gate to be a sheep as well as an under shepherd. Christ is that gate. Any one who enters by any other means is not a sheep. The sheep will follow the voice of the shepherd. "The shepherd must be willing to lay down his life for his sheep" (NIV) Part of being the good shepherd comes with love for the flock that does not have life as a limit. Christ demonstrated that for us. The true shepherd willingly lays down his life for his sheep. That's how we can tell the real from the imitation: when the consequences of the assignment comes willingly with costing the the ultimate price. Jesus said in 9:4 "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world... 10:9b I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Now that we can see, let's spread the good news.

John 7-8

John 7 starts out with Jesus' brothers wanting Him to have a public ministry and telling Him how to do things. Jesus knew the religious leaders were plotting to take His life so He purposely stayed out of Judea. The key here is even His brothers did not believe in Him (vs. 5). He did go then, but He went later under the father's direction and slipped in. He started teaching in the temple and the crowds gathered. They also had a hard time giving themselves to the Lord as the religious leaders were teaching against Him.

The whole week they pressed our Lord on every issue. He knew what the father was leading Him to do. Still He promised rivers of living water to those who receive Him. Realizing who He is and where He is working among us is the most challenging thing we will ever do. It is also crucial for us to get it right and do things God's way. This only comes from spending time with the master. Our lives should have the marks of change made by the master's hand.

Jesus told them in 8:20 "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." 20He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.

21Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."

22This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?"

23But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."

He went on to say 8:36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed... 38I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father." Pray that the Lord will give us all discernment to rightly divide His word and do His will.

Matthew 18

We begin today with the disciples asking who is greatest in the kingdom. His answer was one that challenges us even 2000 years later. The one who is humble and becomes least is greatest. Here is another saying that does not make sense nor conforms with the world's view of greatness. We must become like children and then be careful that our actions whether intentional or unintentional do not cause one of these little children to sin. Christ is also referring to those older ones in years who young in the faith. We see their angels in heaven looking out for them. He says we should rid ourselves of anything that causes us to sin. When we enter eternity, He will make us whole when we get rid of whatever is causing us to sin.

Then He teaches on forgiveness. He stretches us to forgive each other. The parable of the unmerciful servant tells us that if our father has forgiven us and we do not forgive each other then He will be intentional on disciplining each of us unless we forgive each other in our heart. He knows our heart and we cannot argue with that. Yesterday in Mark 9:49 Jesus said "For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Being at peace with one another is a command , not a suggestion. We are kidding ourselves if we think we can have peace with the father if we don't intentionally seek peace with each other. He summed it up when He said He would leave the ninety nine to go after the one lost sheep. That one may have wandered and done things repulsive to us. That brings us to the crossroads of deciding whether we will follow Him by looking around and see what God is doing around us and joining Him in that.
He is doing great things among us with the children on Wednesday nights. I encourage each of us to join Him in His ministry there. As some minister to the children, discipleship to the teen and adults is still in the forefront in what God has called us to do here. In Matthew 9 our Lord had compassion on the crowds; 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Please pray and ask the Lord of the harvest to bring workers into the field.

Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9-1-17

We start out today seeing John the Baptist being killed because of an ungodly relationship that He stood up against, and was honest to Herod the tetrarch about. Herod recognized John as a man of God and respected (feared) him, although he had him imprisoned for John stand against him. Herod's wife was upset that John had called their relationship unlawful (he had married his brother's wife) and she used her daughter to trick him into doing anything she asked. Manipulation is a tool of Satan and we will always falls outside of God's best for us when we use it to seek revenge or get our own way. John had already understood his mission was accomplished when he told his disciples that he must become less and Jesus must become more. You do not see Jesus morn over this as He understood that spiritually John was back with the father. Physical death never concerned Jesus, but spiritual death was why He came.

We see Jesus healing many people they had so much faith that they just asked to touch His garment and were healed. He was not able to do that in His hometown because of their understanding of Him being the carpenter's son. We see Jesus do miracle in many other places as He walks on the water, feeds the five thousand, sending out the 12 with the authority to heal and cast out demons. Jesus had compassion and met the needs of the five thousand. They became hungry as they followed Him. Follow Him and the master will meet all of your needs.

Matthew 9-10

In Matthew 9 when Jesus saw their faith He said "take heart your sins are forgiven." This offended the teachers of the law and He knew their thoughts. He knows the attitude and intentions of our hearts and what He is able to do through us because of that. Many times we limit what God can and will do through our lives by our lack of trust in Him. "Get up, take your mat and go home." 7And the man got up and went home. 8When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men. (NIV) Are men praising God over what you are allowing God to accomplish in your life?

We then see God calling Matthew Jesus said "Follow me." Many times the message will be simple and the response is so important. If Matthew had hesitated it would have changed his whole destiny. He didn't hesitate and it did change his destiny and God used him mightily - a sinner! He could have chosen any religious leader. What has He been telling you to do? Follow Him and your whole life will change. 29"According to your faith will it be done to you" 30and their sight was restored.(NIV) What is God wanting to add to your life? We are to pray for workers - 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

In Matthew 10 we see the Lord giving the 12 the authority to do the work before them. With the assignment comes the equipping. He told them "freely you have received, freely give." We are to share our Lord with others. We fear that. Jesus said "28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell...42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."(NIV)

We see people led to follow Jesus to be an active pat of supporting His ministry. God raised them up to follow in that way. They were there to help with anything that was needed. They had much love for Him because they had been delivered from much.

Jesus told the parable of scattering seed and did not explain it to the large crowd. He later explained it to His disciples. The Lord only reveals these things to us when we ask. He tells us if we are not listening then we will forget what we know now. He does not force us to listen, but graciously and generously imparts wisdom and knowledge to those who seek Him. 8b "This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!...15 "And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest." (NLT) We see the true family of Jesus is the ones who hear and obey God's word.

Jesus is sleeping in the storm (peace through faith). His tremendous power came from His faith. Faith helped Him through His entire assignment. He was able to heal from sickness, demons, and death; spiritual and physical. The peoples faith made a huge difference in their healing. We also see Jesus saying Jairus' daughter was only sleeping, not dead. He understood physical death is not near as permanent as spiritual death. He not only understands what life is, He has the power over life and death.

Matthew 12:22-50; Luke 11

In Matthew 12 Jesus heals a man of a demon and the Pharisees tried to say He must be doing it by Beelzebub prince of demons. Jesus said a city or household divided against itself will not stand, that a good tree bears good fruit and that out of the mouth comes the overflow of the heart. He said by their words they would be acquitted or condemned. He also said who does not gather with me scatters. If we are not actually working with the body of Christ He considers to be us scattering. We are either following His will and plan or our own. That takes us away from what He would have us do. He went further and said whoever does the will of my father is my brother, sister and mother.

In Luke 11 He teaches us to pray. He teaches us to ask, seek and knock. We are to pray expecting God to answer. We are to repent (vs 32) so that judgment will not come and that our eyes are important. They are the lamps to bring light into our body. He then gives warnings to the Pharisees because their life was empty spiritually even though they had a knowledge of God but were filled with greed, wickedness, sought the praise of men. They caused others to stumble under the burden of rules and law and would not lift a finger to help them. Instead of repenting, they opposed him and besieged Him with questions. How will we respond to our Lord? Our response to His teaching is key and will make all the difference in our walk with Him.

Matthew 8-13; Luke 7

In Matthew 8 we see Jesus interacting with large crowds that were drawn to Him. The man with leprosy came humbly kneeling and asking. Jesus granted his request as well as the Centurion's of whom He said had not found such great faith because he believed if Jesus commanded it, his servant would be healed. His servant was healed at that very hour. Luke 7 is Luke's account of the Centurion and both accounts we see Jesus was astonished and amazed at his faith. Then in Nain Jesus touched a widow's son and raised Him from the dead at His funereal. The news about Him spread and when John the Baptist's messengers inquired about it, God confirmed it with signs and miracles. His father has given Him power to complete the assignment. We then see Jesus being doubted by the religious leaders. The people acknowledged that God's way was best and that bothered them. Jesus said "wisdom is proved right by all of her children." Then we see Jesus anointed by a sinful woman. She washed His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair and would not stop kissing His feet. He said she loved much because she had been forgiven much. Only God can forgive us unconditionally. Jesus said "your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Matthew 5-7

In Matthew 5-7:29 we see the beatitudes. This is the sermon on the mount in which Jesus gives God's perspective on what reality is in spiritual life (who is going to be blessed, what effect we can have as salt and light, fulfillment of the law and ethical teachings from God's perspective. Many times our views on a spiritual walk differ from our Lords. Our views on murder, adultery, divorce, relationships, justice and love differ from God's heart in these matters. We have the decision to bring God's standards down to ours, or bring our thinking and behavior in line with His. Loving our enemies for example is not something we would think of in our walk apart from God. Our challenge is to bring our life in line with His.

In chapter 6 our motives in giving to the needy are addressed. They should be intended to be seen by God - not man. Prayer and fasting are the same way. As God works on us we begin to see the value in storing up treasures in heaven and not earth. Then He addresses putting our trust in Him and not worrying. "Our father knows our needs and will meet them. He has good gifts in store for us that will shape us into the person that He knows is really behind the image we try to display.

More later...

Matthew 12:1-21; Mark 3; Luke 6

In Matthew 12 we see the Lord healing and doing the work of the Lord on the Sabbath. This was against their customs and they used some points of the law to try to stop Him. Jesus knew that the entire law was given to show honor to God and He understood what the Sabbath was really all about - bringing people to honor God and to do the will of the father (to do good). He is the Lord of the Sabbath and everything. He worked as much as He could behind the scenes, but more and more people were drawn unto Him.

In Mark 3 we see the jealousy of the religious leaders while Jesus was working among them. They did not understand or accept His Lordship and sought to make Him look crazy and demonic. We see Him healing many and appointing apostles to be with Him that He might send them out to preach and have authority to drive out demons. The religious leaders increased the pressure to the point of getting Jesus' family concerned. Jesus understood that His brothers and sisters were spiritual (vs 31) and that was eternal.

In Luke 6 He instructs us not to judge but to recognize a tree by its fruit. A good tree bears good fruit, and to be those who are deep rooted - the same as having a firm foundation. The result is that we hear His words and put them into practice (be disciples).

John 2-4

John 2 shows us the beginning of Jesus power before his ministry began. He grants His mother's request turning water into wine foe the wedding banquet. "He revealed His glory and His disciples put their faith in Him." Seeing the lord at work among us has that effect on us. We cannot deny it. He then showed His love for the father by clearing the temple. He told them something that they would remember later "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The things we here the Lord tell us may be for later use. Jesus did put His trust in men as He knew what was in a man.

In chapter 3 we see Jesus explaining to Nicodemus that he must be born again. Nicodemus was a member and leader in the church. Vs6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.(NIV) Whoever comes into the light shows that our accomplishments are through God.

John knew he came to prepare the way for Christ. He was delighted to assume that role. He knew He must become less and Christ greater.

We then see Jesus going through Samaria speaking to the woman at the well. He told her everything abut herself and told her that - "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (NIV) Jesus understood the fields were ripe to harvest and went through Samaria to accomplish that end. we see the official pleading for His son's life and believing Him when Jesus said "Go your son will live." What measures has Jesus gone to reach us, and do we believe Him when He tells us to just trust Him?

Matthew 3 - Mark 1 - Luke 3

Here in all three accounts we John the Baptist preparing the way for the Lord. He spoke boldly and called for repentance. He understood his role and did not feel worthy to baptize our Lord. God wants us to be ready to encounter Him and sends those to prepare us. We see how God was pleased at the obedience of His son and proclaimed that audibly from heaven and sent His spirit in the form of a dove. Jesus was ready for the assignment and God gave that assignment to the only one able to carry it out. The people were counting on the fact that they were Abraham's children to save them but John told them that every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down. We are to have a life of contentment and servant hood that is evident in all our actions. God has a plan to minister through you to His children that are calling out to Him. Are you ready for the assignment?

John's ministry was to bring God's people to repentance to get things out of their lives that would keep them from their Lord. What things in our life would keep us from knowing, following and bringing others to Christ? Are we counting on being a church member, maybe our church attendance as a child, or a Godly heritage? John was talking to the church and called them a brood of vipers. That was their spiritual condition. God sees our hearts and knows if His Son truly lives in us. In Him is life and that life is the light of men and women (John 1). Experience that abundant life by asking the Lord to come in and dwell with you.

Matthew 2; Luke 2:39-52

In Matthew the wise men came to Jerusalem from the east asking about the one born King of the Jews. Here we get to see Satan working in king Herod. He tries to trick them in to finding Christ so he can kill Him. We talk about discernment and understand that it is key to a successful spiritual life, but it is revealed to wise men in a dream. God has used dreams several times in the birth of Christ. The dream or vision paints a vivid picture of what God wants. It will always line up with His word and we get confirmation this way and through prayer. They were wise enough to understand this and went home another way. Herod responded in anger and killed all of the boys under the age of two. This did not surprise God as it was prophesied that it would happen (Jer. 31:15). In a dream the angel told Mary and Joseph to take Jesus to Egypt which was also prophesied (Hosea 11:1) and in another dream called them home two years later. God placed them in the district of Galilee in the town of Nazareth and fulfilled the prophecy He shall be called a Nazarene.

In Luke 2:39 we get to see the story of Jesus at the age of 12 being about His Father's business. His parents looked for him for three days. I would have been upset too. They did not understand his answer. Sometimes we have to look for the answer. Then He went to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. 51b "But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." (NIV)

Matthew 1 & Luke 2:1-38

Matthew was a tax collector before He knew the Lord. Now He is charged with writing an account of the life of our Lord. He starts out with the genealogy of Jesus and shows the order of our Lord 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 form him to the exile, and 14 from the exile to Christ.

We then see the birth of Jesus and described the Holy Spirits role in His birth. The Angel stopped him from separating from Mary and confirmed the truth of Her testimony. All of this was revealed in a dream. That makes dreams even more significant than we may have thought.

In Luke 2 we see the details of Jesus birth from Doctor Luke. God adds those from all walks of life to the body of Christ to complete us. We see our Lord was placed in a feed trough to show He came into humbly this world. A heavenly host of angels praised His name and confirmed His Lordship. They went to Christ and spread the good news of Christ.

Then we see the Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that He would see the Lord before he died and Anna understood Her role as a widow and consecrated her life to God through fating and praying daily. The Lord God arranged for them to be there and spread the good news to the worship leaders there. When tragedy strikes, consecrate your life to our Lord and see what great and mighty things He will do.

Luke 1 & John 1:1-14

We see Luke feeling led to draw an accurate account of all He knew to be true so that we may be certain of what we have been taught. He starts with Zechariah the priest and gives the account of the Angel Gabriel revealing God's plan to him. He was told that his son would be born with the spirit and power of Elisha. His doubting God's plan caused him to be silent until his son John the Baptist was born.

The angel Gabriel also visited Mary and told Her all things that would take place in her life. Jesus the son of God would be born to her while she was still a virgin and that and Elizabeth was going to have a child. Mary asked how can this be, that was to get the details of how this was to take place she wanted him to know she was a virgin and had no intention of that changing. The answer was nothing is impossible with God.

We see great joy of the mothers and the birth of John. Zechariah could speak again after confirming that his name was John. His father understood what God had done and rejoiced. We see individuals blessed because of their dedication and hearts for the Lord. How will we let Him use us?


In John 1 we see a different account. Not an historical view, but a spiritual account of God's work among us. He fills in the gaps for us. and shows us the aspects of God from the one who knew Jesus best. He was the disciple Jesus Loved.
The word became flesh and dwelt among us...we have seen His glory the glory of the only one who came from the father. More later.