“What kind of Soil Are You?”
The Parable of the Sower is Jesus’ longest. It is also His most in depth explanation of a parable. There should be little wonder then about it’s meaning and its importance. The clear message is that the gospel is the seed of the kingdom. It has to be sown and when it is different, results follow based on the kind of soil on which the seed lands. The unstated great truth is that we, as people with a…
“Not Peace, but a Sword”
Jesus’ words of comfort to all, end Matthew, chapter 11, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” An array of circumstances for disciples fill these chapters. Chapter 10 begins with Jesus giving miraculous power to his chosen disciples as they were sent out to preach. But the circumstances of life for them and for all disciples is often complicated because His message is not received by all with…
“Miracles”
These two chapters record an array of miracles performed by Jesus including cleansing a leper, healing a centurion’s paralyzed servant, Peter’s mother-in-law, casting out demons, subduing instantly the wind and waves that created a tempest on the sea, making blind men see and a man who was mute to speak. But the pinnacle of His work recorded here is a girl restored to life. A summary statement about all these compassionate acts of Jesus is found in verses 16…
“The Beatitudes”
This passage contains the famous “Sermon on the Mount” spoken by Jesus. But we have to go back to Matthew 4:23-25 to see who the crowd is to whom Jesus preached. They are the “multitudes” who had heard about the “healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” They all either need a miracle of healing themselves or know someone who does for whom nothing else has worked. They may even have carried someone…
“The Family of God”
This amazing opening to the New Testament contains so many important things! We are familiar with most of them. But if there is a part of this beginning to the gospel we pay the least amount of attention to, it is surely the very first part of it, the geneaologies. Closer examination of these and those in Mark’s gospel show that Matthew was establishing the legal ancestry of Jesus and Mark his bloodline. That is consistent with what is…
“Giving God Our Scraps”
“Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.” — Malachi 1:8 God is our greatest authority. We would not give our earthly authorities our scraps. Yet so often we offer God the leftover portions of our time, money, energy, thought, and emotion. He gets the scraps and rejects—just as the Israelites were offering the worst of their animals in sacrifice. It must have been a…
“A Glimpse”
DISCUSSION Again, we find ourselves among the prophesies of Zechariah to God’s people. Chapters 1-8 record visions prophesying the eventual internment of God’s people to the Babylonians. In chapters 9-14 Zechariah gives us a glimpse of the kingdom that will never be destroyed as Daniel prophesied about in Daniel chapter 2. The messianic kingdom will be led by a king riding…
“Dreams”
DISCUSSION Reading Zechariah is a wild ride. Like life it is not always linear. The flow of thought is hard to follow, but the theme remains the same throughout. Life doesn’t fit into neat orderly patterns. Zechariah asks us to look above the chaos and hope for the coming kingdom, which will motivate faithfulness in the present. Zechariah is divided into two main parts, chapters 1-8 and then 9-14. In…
“Foolish Priorities”
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Consider your ways. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD’”. – Haggai 1:2-11 Sheshbazzar, “the prince of Judah,” was the first governor Cyrus appointed over Judah when he allowed the Jewish exiles to go home in 538 BC (Ezra 1:8–11). We know nothing about him other than that he…
“He Will Quiet You With His Love”
“The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV There is a beautiful verse in the Old Testament book of Zephaniah that talks about God singing over his people; and it is the only place in the Bible where this thought is expressed in this unique way. Prior to…
“You Must Stumble before You Can Dance”
“I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected”. — Habakkuk 2:1 NKJV God says: Never ignore your struggle with how I do things. Ask every question that rises in your heart as you live in this world. But prepare yourself to struggle even more with My response. You must stumble in confusion…
“Breaking Our Yoke”
“ Now I will break their yoke from your neck and tear your shackles away.” – Nahum 1:13 God wants to break and destroy those things which afflicted his people and are a bondage to them. There is a similar prophecy in Isaiah, “In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck; the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat” (Isaiah 10:27). God longs to see his…