Today's Reading; Mark 9

Peter James and John were taken to the mount of transfiguration with Jesus where they saw Him talking with Elijah and Moses. Then they heard God speak and say; "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!" They were later told not to tell anyone about this until He had risen from the dead. These three were taken into Christ's inner circle where they experienced great things and heard directly from God the father. They received the instruction to listen to Him. I believe that would change the way they would pray and seek God. We see later in the chapter that power over certain demonic strongholds can only be given through much fasting and praying. Hhhmmmm... gaining power over Satan by humbling ourselves before God in prayer and becoming first by becoming like a child. And what about Jesus knowing what we say without telling Him? Sounds like He really does get personal. He really cares, He really loves you and wants to change our hearts to be like His. Ready to get into the inner circle? Stat praying, listening and obeying and you will be surprised at what God will do next.

Mark 7

In Mark 7 Jesus dealt with where our heart is. We have things that are important to us because of tradition. These things are familiar and become dear to us. We have to guard ourselves to make sure our tradition doesn't get in the way of the way the Lord is working and the things He wants to do in our presence. These things can allow us to remain in disobedience to God. 9-13He went on, "Well, good for you. You get rid of God's command so you won't be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions! Moses said, 'Respect your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.' But you weasel out of that by saying that it's perfectly acceptable to say to father or mother, 'Gift! What I owed you I've given as a gift to God,' thus relieving yourselves of obligation to father or mother. You scratch out God's Word and scrawl a whim in its place. You do a lot of things like this." (the Message)
We should be careful that we check with God and seek His heart on these things. Then Jesus went on to say that out of our heart comes the things stored up in it. The depravity of man takes over in the absence of God in our lives. Gen 6:5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. This is called the depravity of man. When we fill ourselves with the Lord it will take over the thoughts and attitudes of our heart. It is very important we do this especially during trying times in our lives so Satan will not get the best of us.

The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman
24Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. 26The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

27"First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

28"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter." 30She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. (NIV)
Jesus had come for the lost sheep of Israel and He knew that. He did have compassion on others as the Spirit led Him. Today have compassion on someone that is foreign (a challenge) to you and see what God will do. Ask God to open your eyes so you can see Him clearly and follow in service to our Lord.

Matthew 25

In chapter 25 there are three parables. In the story of the three virgins Jesus is telling us to get things ready for His coming. The arrival of Jesus is something we should be anticipating with joyful expectation - like a child expecting Santa.

We then see the story of the talents. We each have been given things to be good stewards of. Time, influence, and understanding are only a few. Are we playing it safe or trusting God to do great things? He will do great things as we trust Him to take us to the next level with Him.

In the story of the sheep and goats we look at the possibility of those we encounter on a daily basis being Jesus. The person out of gas, broken down on the road, at the cash register, or even pushing a shopping cart down the road. How we treat them determines whether we are a sheep or a goat. Jesus will say to us either:
'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'
37-40"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me." (The Message)

How can we truly join the Lord? We will reap the rewards of the walk we were saved to have when we put legs to what He is asking us to do. We begin to truly understand how He works when we begin to exercise our faith. Just like physical exercise, start out slow and build confidence and strength. We each have the time to get ready for Him, the King is coming. Prepare the way for the King. When we intentionally make that a priority for each day is when we can truly get rid of the temporary things that only seem to matter and start doing the things that Jesus says matter. I encourage you to spend some time with the master in prayer over this passage, write down what He tells you then go and do that. You will begin a walk with Him that will be life-changing.

Matthew 18 & 19

When we look at Matthew 18 we sometimes concentrate on the sin. Whether it be selfishness, being respecters of persons or disagreements among brothers the goal of Christ was not to leave us in sin, but to show us how to be Christlike and restored in Him. We are all going to do things wrong. The Holy Spirit's job is to convict of sin and guide us in all truth. When we respond accordingly then we can worship together in Spirit and Truth in the fellowship that Christ desires for His children. Only He can change the thoughts and desires of our heart and bring the experience of true forgiveness in our midst. In 18:12 Jesus says “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray."
There will be rejoicing in heaven when one is rescued and restored (Luke 15:7). I believe all heaven rejoices because Father rejoices. He loves it when we do that, because He loves us (you) very much.

In Matthew 19 Jesus teaches on the condition of our hearts that gives us permission to do things like divorce (1-10) and putting our earthly responsibilities or treasures above the things of the Lord (16-22). According to Charles Stanley, one of the most convicting things we can do is to look where we spend our money. several years ago I was deeply convicted when He taught in that area. It took a while for me to adjust, but Christ kept working and eventually I conceded to let God have more control here. In verse 21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
This life's treasures are temporary, the things of heaven are forever. When we understand that Jesus loves to be asked about this and is faithful to answer.
We also see Him place His hands on the children and pray, and bless them. He will do the same for us when we come to Him as a little child (13-15).

Matthew 17

In Matthew 17 we see Peter James and John witnessing great things God was doing. Jesus was transfigured before their eyes. Moses and Elijah joined Him and they talked. What do you think Jesus was doing there? I believe He desired wise counsel and ministering for the impending assignment, He needed time with the Father and His ministers to walk into the presence of God and get strength, empowerment and empowerment from the father. In today's language, He needed to check messages, and spend time with the source of His strength. Peter James and John were changed forever from this experience. Later in the chapter they are asking Jesus why they could not cast the demon out of the young boy 20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” This taught them the need for spending time with God.
Spend time worshiping the Father today and we will see great things He will do through you. He has uniquely created you and equipped you to serve in a special way.

Matthew 16

The Pharisees were looking for a sign from God. They would not believe the word of God or of Jesus. They were demanding something that God was not going to do. He wanted them to believe the prophets and the signs that He had already given them - to use their faith. I believe He wants the same from us today, for us to trust Him as His word and spirit prompt. He talked about the condition of the heart as a yeast that spreads through bread. The yeast of Christ is the one that should spread, not the yeast of the one who will lead us into temptation. The disciples had a tendency to think and concentrate on the physical, and revert back to the human thought process of feeding their bodies. Sometimes we all do that.
8 Aware of this, Jesus said, "You of little faith! Why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? 9 Don't you understand yet? Don't you remember the five loaves for the 5,000 and how many baskets you collected? 10 Or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many large baskets you collected? (F) 11 Why is it you don't understand that when I told you, 'Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees,' it wasn't about bread?" 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the yeast in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter got a lot of things right, confessing Jesus as the Christ as He was willing to listen to the Spirit of God who had revealed it to him. It was something that was congruent with his spirit. Then in the next paragraph Peter fell far short as Jesus told them of His coming death.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, "Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to You!" 23 But He turned and told Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but man's."
Many times it's hard to take up our cross and follow Jesus when it's not where we want to go or what is congruent with our idea of the journey. 26 "What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done. 28 I assure you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

Matthew 15

In Matthew 15 the Pharisees are trying to question Jesus about the way His disciples are eating grains of wheat without washing their hands. They are really calling them unclean by breaking the tradition of their elders. But Jesus calls them clean as He was working in their hearts rather than on their habits. He told His disciples in Mat 15:8 "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" We must guard against defining our worship based on tradition rather than concentrating on the creator of our soul. Jesus went on to explain this; Mat 15:17 "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him "unclean.'"
There is a song that's about the heart of worship that says "I'm coming back to the heart of worship, it's all about you, it's all about you Jesus, I'm sorry Lord for the things I've made it, it's all about you, it's all about you Jesus. Sometimes we try to define worship as a certain setting or teacher or preacher that we like when it's really Jesus who we have to open our heart to. He is our teacher. The others are simply buildings or vessels to be used for His purposes and as His servants to teach His children to come into a meaningful relationship with Him. True worship opens our hearts and minds to Him so we can effectively lead others into the presence of God. Take 15 minutes today to spend time with Father God and ask Him what He wants. He is faithful to speak to His children and is excited to be the center of our worship.

Matthew 14

Today's reading starts out with John the baptist being beheaded. Jesus upon hearing this withdrew to a solitary place. When life throws us a curve that grieves us we should withdraw for a time and spend time with our Daddy who is excited to comfort us. We can only comfort others with the comfort we allow God to bring in our life (through Christ our comfort overflows 2nd Corinthians 1:3-7). He didn't stay too long, when He realized they followed Him on foot He went and healed and comforted them.

We also see Jesus doing many miracles, feeds 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish, walks on the water and many are healed by touching His robe. Do you need healing and nourishment today? Reach out and touch Jesus today through prayer and fasting. He says taste in Psalms 34:8 "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalms 119:103 says "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"