Thursday, May 20, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Moms and mostly dads.
Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don't just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ's servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you're really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free.
Masters, it's the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them.
exasperate verb (used with object)
How Long Will This Take
Looking at the disciples and their journey with Jesus on earth, they did not get it! With a little ladder climbing here and hypocrisy there, Jesus surely has more patience than most.
One very telling passage comes to mind, let’s look at these other verses first. “Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.” “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests, Jesus knew Judas was not straight up with the group. He knew Judas would betray Him. Some even thought Judas was pilfering from the cash box, and Jesus knew it. The passage with the story that is of interest now is in Matthew the twenty sixth chapter.
Right after a woman anoints Jesus with oil, he refers to His burial.this is when one of the Twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the cabal of high priests and said, "What will you give me if I hand him over to you?" They settled on thirty silver pieces. He began looking for just the right moment to hand him over.
Jesus Knew Judas was a half a bubble off in his sincerity, and Jesus never said a word to anyone of their close friends. These thirteen men lived together, and knew each other intimately, the most casual observer knew they had problems, life kept showing up. Peter, one of the friends is referred to as Satan, when Jesus said directly to him, “get behind me Satan”. Given this type of group dynamic today, the leaders of a group would at least talk (gossip) about it. Dude did you know brother Jim was going to spread some lies about me, and I could end up in real trouble. Hey bro maybe we should dispense some church discipline his way before he messes the whole group up. Yea maybe we should have group meeting to discuss it. I don’t know, I am so hurt to think that he would do that to me after all I have tried to do for him. This Jim dude could give us all a bad name. Jesus said nothing, not one thing I know of, against Judas. No warnings to the others, no whining about being betrayed. I would at least have to whine to my wife about it, looking for a little, sympathy. or maybe just run Ralph down a little so I feel better. Jesus said nothing.
Let’s look at a few more verses. After sunset, he and the Twelve were sitting around the table. During the meal, he said, "I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators." Still no name!
They were stunned, and then began to ask, one after another, "It isn't me, is it, Master?"
Jesus answered, "The one who hands me over is someone I eat with daily, one who passes me food at the table. In one sense the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense that man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!"
Then Judas, already turned traitor, said, "It isn't me, is it, Rabbi?"
Jesus said, "Don't play games with me, Judas."
Well how long does it take, walking with Jesus before we finally get it? The disciples who walked with Jesus in person, had some character defects almost till the end.
We can learn a few things from our Master. Do not give up on anyone, and avoid the temptation to bad mouth your tough cases. You ask how long should I hang in there with a guy like Judas? Answer: the best would be to hang in as long as Jesus did with Judas. At least hang in till you hear God say enough. Remember that love covers a multitude of character defects, (sin).
Learning to hold our tongues should be front burner. and persevering to the end should be on the burner right next to it! God calls us friends Jesus calls us brother.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
How does this happen?
I wonder if there is a way to change the course of things, like a time machine, Just go back to the mistake,like with a word processor, update the file and your done. Have you ever built something so bad, so out of square, with no room for stairs, nailed together and taken apart so many times it won't stay straight, now you want to destroy what you have and start over. There is just no way to keep patching and tacking, and wedging, and bracing this thing anymore, it ain't guna work.
If you leave a few of these and one of those, and overlook this or that, it could be the thing from the past building that will always keep the new building from success. What we have is a mess and we need a tractor to remove everything so we can start over. Starting over again is what God may have in mind for those who come to him, the new birth language lends itself to such a picture.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
You could be more righteous than Nicodemus
Jesus Said that our righteousness must be greater than that of the Pharisees. These Pharisee guys prided themselves on being righteous, at least they had enough loop holes in the law to make them appear such, the truth is their hearts were and are far from righteous.
Then Jesus comes along and says our righteousness must be more than that. One righteousness is legal the other is heart or spirit righteous. When we do good because that is who we are, the law even with it’s loop holes has nothing to offer. If we try to find our righteousness in the law, we will become hard on ourselves, and hard on others. When we know the heart of a matter, the rules just don’t matter. Tell me I cannot have sex with anyone but my wife, and my response might be what are you talking about? I can’t find one good reason for going out on my wife. I love my wife not out of fear but out of unconditional love. Because the law that says an eye for an eye has been turned up side down by Jesus, I don’t need a rule to tell me to love my enemies. Because I have died with Jesus to the law of sin and death I can now walk in resurrection life. This life, eternal life, is centered on others with Jesus my Lord at the very center of all.
We can go beyond the do’s and don’ts when we have heart, when our priority is love, unconditional love, we don’t need ten commandments to understand how important our neighbor is. We realize that we must not hurt him but only love him. To consider his needs ahead of our own. To do to him what we want him to do for us.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
WHAT MUST I DO, OBEY
This is learned behavior. You can learn by punishment and reward, the better motivation would be to obey because of love.
What does obedience look like?
To obey is better than sacrifice, when we do what is asked of us we obey. Tell Arco “sit” when and if he sits, he is being obedient. The bible says we are serving who or what we obey. Plain and simple do what you are told. To be a person who is obeyed you need power and authority. Jesus has both. Police officers are feared not because of size or strength alone, the fear is of those who back the badge. So it is with Jesus disciples today those who have the power and authority of God, are those who understand obedience, and in humility do the work of Jesus.
The men rubbed their eyes, astonished. "What's going on here? Wind and sea come to heel (obey) at his command!"
Jesus speaks to nature and it does what it is told.
Authority is a principal that has been established by God. We are not talking about people here we are talking about the ideal the principal of authority is from God.
Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it's God's order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you're irresponsible to the state, then you're irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you're trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear. Do you want to be on good terms with the government? Be a responsible citizen and you'll get on just fine, the government working to your advantage. But if you're breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren't there just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping order, and he uses them to do it. That's why you must live responsibly—not just to avoid punishment but also because it's the right way to live. (Romans 13 The Message).
How can all governments be under God?
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If peace and order is the goal for man, what is my part?
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Learning Obedience
Learning Obedience: The bible speaks of Jesus becoming, or he became, this means Jesus did not come out of the womb swinging. Much like you and I He had to learn. How did Jesus learn to obey?
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While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God's Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him. (Heb 5:8 the message)
Explain trusting-obedience.
Jesus learned obedience by suffering, although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. How can suffering help me learn obedience?
Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Again it is to our advantage to obey. When I obey those in authority over me it is to my advantage because.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
How can I obey God, or is it even possible?
It is clear in scripture that Jesus was not born casting out devils and speaking in tongues. Just as you and I must become obedient so did Jesus.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
Jesus was becoming, learning to be obedient through suffering. The hard things in life are where the test is, they are also where the blessing resides. A piece of wood is the same as any other piece of wood when painted the same color, in the same shape you may not be able to tell them apart. Set them up to cross a gap, put weight on them and you will find out which one is oak.
The trials and pressure of life cause us to see what we are made of. Jesus said a house built on sand will fail be us that a house built on a solid foundation would stand, when? the wind blows and the rain comes and then you know who built on what.