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!"

Happy New Year

Hope New Year’s Eve was good and this New Year opens a new chapter in your life that gains victory over many things that may be bigger than our own ability to overcome. This is an exciting time to face these challenges with the understanding who is on your side. With Christ all things are possible. We will be reading through the New Testament this year. We have read through the entire Bible for the last three years and this year I would like to slow down a little and take some extra time with one chapter a day starting today in John then Matthew and going through the entire New Testament. Please take some time to do this with your family, write notes in your Bible and share with each other. Bring your notes and Bible to the praise service and share with us what God has spoken to you through His word. It will be a great time of sharing and growing in fellowship together.
Today in John 1 Jesus said “You will see even greater things than this.” He promised the disciples they would “see heaven opened and the Angels of God descending on the Son of Man.” We see also where God told John the Baptist who Christ was. Then we see Andrew and Phillip believing John when he pointed out that Jesus was the Messiah. They had a choice to believe him and not respond. Instead they chose to believe and follow Him. That one decision enabled them to experience the things Christ was about to do. We all have many things we can do this year. Clear your slate for Jesus first and you will experience being on mission with the living God, creator of the universe.

Tomorrow I intend to read John 2
Have a GREAT New Year,
Dan, Emily and AOBC Church Family

Haggai 1-2; Luke 14:1-24

Haggai is a small book that has changed many lives. It asks us to consider our ways and shows how we can have a relationship with God that will be deep and meaningful or we can look at the book or remain unchanged. One man named Handley Moule was searching for the same vibrant relationship that D.L. Moody had and heard Christian businessman William Stone preach on Haggai 1:6. 5 "Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it." 7 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. He explained that self sufficiency would never lead to a victorious Christian life. That could only come through absolute surrender to God's sanctifying work. Suddenly Moule realized that he had been attempting to do what only God could do in his life. He surrendered his life completely to Christ. For the next 36 years he would enjoy a dynamic international ministry. (The Blackaby Study Bible)

In Haggai 2 we see where God promises to make King Zerubbabel like a signet ring. 23 " 'On that day,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,' declares the LORD, 'and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,' declares the LORD Almighty."
God had removed his grandfather Jehoiachin as a signet ring (Jer. 22:24). A signet ring had the King's emblem on it and was used to seal documents. God chooses servants to be able to establish His ways and seal them in our lives. Being chosen as a servant is a special assignment and our faithful response will result in God establishing us for His work and purposes.

In Luke 14 we see this in the parable of the great banquet. Those too busy were left out and never tasted the banquet. " 12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Esther 9-10; Luke 13:23-35 (The Message)

In Esther 9 King Xerxes makes good on his promise to let the people of God defend themselves. He also justified His people in the face of their opposition. Then the king sent an order to eliminate the sons of Haman because he failed to honor God. He also rejected His word which could have helped him. Gen 12:3 says "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." God's covenants are everlasting and will not be rescinded by humans and He is faithful to keep His promises to His people. The calling and gifts God gives us are forever. Rom 11:29 "for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." One of God's gifts are salvation Eph 2:8 tells us For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. God calls us and establishes us where He pleases and it is permanent. Satan's works are evil and temporary. In Esther 10 we are told: 3 "Mordecai the Jew ranked second in command to King Xerxes. He was popular among the Jews and greatly respected by them. He worked hard for the good of his people; he cared for the peace and prosperity of his race. Haman was removed by God from his place of service to the king and Mordecai replaced him and God kept him there."

In Luke 13 we see a similar theme when Jesus says "Whether few or many is none of your business. Put your mind on your life with God. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires your total attention." (the Message) When the Pharisees asked Jesus to run from King Herod Jesus said: "Tell that fox that I've no time for him right now. Today and tomorrow I'm busy clearing out the demons and healing the sick; the third day I'm wrapping things up. Besides, it's not proper for a prophet to come to a bad end outside Jerusalem."
Jesus knew what was about to take place and had much to do. As we do the work of the father don't let things distract you that would keep us from accomplishing the father's work. Keep doing what the Lord has placed us here to do and work together without arduing or complaining so that others may see Jesus in us. " 'Blessed is he
who comes in the name of God.'" (Vs. 35 the Message)

2nd Chronicles 32-33; Luke 11:1-28

In 2nd Chronicles 32 we see king Hezekiah being threatened By the Assyrian king Sennacherib. He was trying to intimidate him saying "on what are you basing your confidence that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? 11 When Hezekiah says, 'The LORD our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,' he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst. 12 Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god's high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it'?

13 "Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? 14 Who of all the gods of these nations that my fathers destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your god deliver you from my hand? 15 Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my fathers. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!"

God did deliver king Hezekiah after he summoned the prophet Isaiah and they prayed and trusted God and the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.

31 "But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart." Sometimes we will pray and we will not get the answer we want because God knows what choice we are going to make if we do not get our wish. He tests us to teach us about us. One of Hezekiah's sins was pride. When we pray for something and God does not answer knowing what what our response will be we should look deep inside and see if God is testing our faithfulness during this time. Be willing to look and see if pride may be in the way. One way to detect this is if we are only going to be content if our prayer is answered our way. When we get to the point where we can be fine with the answer even if it does not grant our request we are getting closer to servanthood than we were before. God does not serve us, we serve Him.

In Luke 11 Jesus is answering a question on how we should pray. In the Lord's prayer we see praise to God,desire for His Kingdom to come and some manuscripts say for your will to be done. We see petition and request for forgiveness which is tied to our willingness to forgive, and a request not to lead us into evil and some manuscripts ask for deliverance from evil. Many times how we pray and what we ask for reveals where we are with the Lord. Many people in jail only pray for their deliverance. Then after they grow some they pray for their families. Later they can get to the point where the Kingdom is as important as all of that to them. When the Kingdom becomes more important than anything else then we can be used in ways other than before. We do not neglect our families, but God knows when they are more important than Him to us. They are a gift from God and He is to be worshiped as the giver of the gift. When we get the order right, there is order in our family and our spiritual life.

Ezekiel 33-34; John 16 (The Message)

In the first part of Ezekiel 33 God reveals again to Ezekiel that He is a watchman for the people of God. a watchman is to warn them of coming war and danger. A pastor's job is similar in that we are to seek the Lord and relay the message to the flock or individual of impending spiritual danger. It is sometimes easier to be delivering a message of cheer than the one the Lord reveals. It is a very dangerous position to be in to deliver a message that is not from the Lord. As a member of a local body of believers we must decide what message we would rather hear. The Lord will never reveal something that is not necessary and ultimately beneficial to His children. The people of Jerusalem decided to remain in their evil ways and count on being a descendant of Abraham to save them. 29 "They'll realize that I am God when I devastate the country because of all the obscenities they've practiced."
Another thing that concerned the Lord was the people were eager to hear the message of God and then it did not affect their lives in any way. They went on and did exactly what they had were doing before. 30-32 "As for you, son of man, you've become quite the talk of the town. Your people meet on street corners and in front of their houses and say, 'Let's go hear the latest news from God.' They show up, as people tend to do, and sit in your company. They listen to you speak, but don't do a thing you say. They flatter you with compliments, but all they care about is making money and getting ahead. To them you're merely entertainment—a country singer of sad love songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it.

33 "But when all this happens—and it is going to happen!—they'll realize that a prophet was among them."

Ezekiel 34 tells us about the shepherds over the people of God that do not do their job. It shows how God will intervene in order to shepherd His sheep and protect them from shepherds that prey on His flock. 28-29 "'No longer will they be exploited by outsiders and ravaged by fierce beasts. They'll live safe and sound, fearless and free. I'll give them rich gardens, lavish in vegetables—no more living half-starved, no longer taunted by outsiders." He says He will replace them and His servant David will shepherd. That is pointing to Christ the Good Shepherd who is the shepherd of the churches. The pastor's role is that of an undershepherd under Christ's authority and direction, and that always puts things in the proper order.

1-4 "I've told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he's doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I've told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you'll be well-warned and ready for them."
We are living in a day when people will think they are actually doing god a favor by getting radical people out of public places. We witness young men getting thrown out of christian schools for speaking truth and telling people of all religions and denominations you must be born again.
33 "I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."