STRONG PROFESSION IS NOT ALWAYS SINCERE

Hi everyone....think of the bold promises you've made to the Lord before and the many times you've failed to follow through.  Have your past inabilities kept you from making statements anymore?  Is that what God wants you to learn from these expectations?

STRONG PROFESSION IS NOT ALWAYS SINCERE

Matt. 8:19-20  "Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

The issue of commitment is one to be evaluated very carefully.  The scribe here was an authority of Jewish law and a close ally of the Pharisees.  As such he would have broken with his allies had he become one of Jesus' true disciples.  He knew a decision like that would be costly, and thus he might have been testing Jesus' reaction to his words.

Normally the scribes were teachers, not followers of other teachers.  And one such as this man would have been reluctant to follow a rabbi like Jesus, who was not from the scholarly class, not educated in a rabbinic school, and not loyal to Jewish religious traditions.

For this scribe to address Jesus as he did was quite out of the ordinary and probably impressive to the apostles and the crowds, since he issued the claim as a Jewish leader.  It's not certain that the man ever really believed in Jesus, but he probably felt sincere in his own mind with what he professed.  He was likely just as convinced as Peter that he would always follow the Lord (Matt. 26:33, 35), but neither could be sure about that, as Peter's temporary denial illustrates.

Unlike today's evangelical church, always eager to instantly embrace a prominent person who professes Christ, Jesus knew that every strong profession does not necessarily translate to strong commitment.  Hence He compared His living situation to the foxes and the birds as a testing of the man's true dedication, which ought to be a self-examining device for us too.

more to come...

JESUS CHRIST'S AMAZING MINISTRY

Hi everyone! Today is my Grandma Perla's Birthday! She is the one who writes the devotions I post. She is amazing and I LOVE her!!! Okay here's the devotion for today!

   

Think of all the things that are truly amazing about Christ.  If you were asked what you love the most about Him, what would you say?  You never want to be at a loss to share the specific ways He makes life distinctly abundant.

JESUS CHRIST'S AMAZING MINISTRY

Matt. 8:17  "This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:  "He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases."

Even excluding the miraculous healings, Jesus' ministry was unprecedented and amazing.  "Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks" (John 7:46).  The man born blind, whom Jesus healed, told the Jewish leaders, "Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.  If this man [Christ] were not from God, He could do nothing" (John 9:32-33).

When Jesus healed the paralytic, the onlookers "were awestruck, and glorified God" (Matt. 9:8), and after He expelled a demon they said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel" (v.33).  When He stood before Pilate, Jesus did not say a word in His own defense, "so the governor was quite amazed" (Matt. 27:14).

Everything about our Lord was astonishing, excellent, and humanly beyond explanation.  It is hard to understand how anyone who witnessed His preaching and miracles, or has even just read about Him in the gospels, can still refuse to accept and obey Him.  Some are drawn by His charisma and power, and they marvel at the things He taught and did, but they still take nothing to heart and don't believe.  Sometimes they are willing to call themselves Christians, but they need a commitment that is more than superficial- one that perseveres in faith to the end.

more to come...

THE CONVINCING NATURE OF JESUS' MINISTRY

Hi everyone......how do you think you would have responded to the ministry of Christ, had you been there to witness it firsthand?  Are the reasons for doubting Him today any different than they were then?

THE CONVINCING NATURE OF JESUS' MINISTRY

Matt. 8:17  "This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:  "He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases."

Jesus Christ died for the sins of all who trust him, yet believers still sin.  By His resurrection He conquered death, yet Christians still die.  He overcame suffering and illness, yet believers still have pain and disease.  Jesus' main purpose in the atonement was to conquer sin and death, not just to conquer physical suffering.  That latter fulfillment is still in the future (Rom. 8:22-25; 13:11).

It is hard to argue that Jesus' healing ministry and crucifixion now mean that Christians should no longer expect illness.  If that argument is true, then we would expect not to die-but that's false.  Again, the gospel is all about forgiveness from sin, not deliverance from disease (1 Peter 2:24).

In view of the convincing nature of Jesus' healing ministry, it's hard to understand why anyone who heard or saw any of those miracles would not receive Him.  It is especially hard to fathom that God's own people, with all their special blessings-the law, the prophets, the covenant-would mostly reject the Son of their God.  But from the outset of Christ's incarnation, John speaks of this rejection: "Those who were His own did not receive Him: (John 1:11).

Any denial of Jesus flies in the face of the facts, whether such unbelief was by people in Jesus' day or skeptics today.  As His healing ministry progressed, the proofs of His divinity, power, mercy, and goodness became obvious beyond contradiction.  They all demand a saving faith in the one true Savior and Lord.

more to come...
 

JESUS HEALS PETER'S MOTHER-IN-LAW

Hi everyone.....among all religions, none has a higher view of women than does Christianity.  And yet, it's fair to ask ourselves if chauvinism is present within our hearts.  Christ honored women.  So should we.

JESUS HEALS PETER'S MOTHER-IN-LAW

Matt 8:14-15  "When Jesus came into Peter's home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.  He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and waited on Him."

Through the centuries, most male Jews have displayed much prejudice toward women, as evidenced by the old prayer, "Lord, I thank Thee that I was not born a slave, a Gentile, or a woman."  But here Jesus, just as with the leper and the gentile centurion, shows mercy and compassion to an outsider-a woman-someone not favored by the Jewish establishment.  He cuts through the unscriptural attitude of proud Jewish men to demonstrate again that physical health, race, status, or a person's sex gained no advantage with Him.

When Jesus arrived at Peter's house with some of the disciples, Peter's mother-in-law was ill, and Mark adds, "immediately they spoke to Jesus about her" (Mark 1:30).  Luke the physician notes that she had "a high fever" Luke 4:28), though none of the narrative says what caused her illness.  That the fever was high suggests she was seriously ill and maybe in danger of death.

Christ once again responded without delay and healed Peter's mother-in-law immediately.  She was not only a woman but also a Jew, which means that although the Lord had warned the Jews about presuming upon salvation,  He had not completely forsaken them, as ministry to Peter's relative powerfully showed.  The fact that salvation was available to faithful Gentiles did not mean it was now unavailable to faithful Jews.  Peter later wrote, "God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.....In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice" (Rom. 11:2, 5).

more to come...

HEALINGS AND EXISTENCE OF DISEASE

Hi everyone....the question is not whether or not Jesus can heal, but rather why He chooses to sometimes withhold the healing we seek.  When He does what eternal purpose might He have in mind?
HEALINGS AND EXISTENCE OF DISEASE
Matt. 8:16-17  "When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.  This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: " He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases."

Jesus performed healing miracles for reasons far more profound than to wipe out all disease, which did happen in Palestine while He ministered.  First, He healed to personally participate in humanity's suffering and illness.  He knew people's inner feelings of agony, bewilderment, despair, and frustration because of disease, and He wanted to sympathize with our weakness" (Heb. 4:15).

Second, Christ healed people because He experienced the awful effects of disease's root cause, sin.  He could not see the pain of disease and death without feeling the sting of sin and evil that brings death to everyone.  Sin and sickness both operate as effects of the Fall, and only divine power can cure either.

Third, our Lord "took our infirmities and carried our diseases" as a preview of His kingdom's most wonderful elements - the permanent removal of sin, sorrow, and disease (Rev. 21:1-4).  His redeeming work to remove the penalty and guilt of sin for His own would be complete.  Just as with His transfiguration, in which He pulled back the veil over His flesh and gave three disciples a glimpse of His divine glory, Jesus gave those healed and all who witnessed a gracious preview of His eternal kingdom.

more to come...have a restful weekend and a good worship.

A TESTIMONY TO THE JEWS

Hi everyone.....how would you describe your spiritual state after a season of great accomplishment or at the culmination of a long struggle that has ended in victory?  Is this a time when you deliberately focus on the basics of Christian faith, or when you decide to take a break for a while?

A TESTIMONY TO THE JEWS

Matt 8:4  "Jesus said to him, "See that you will tell no one, but go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Following times of greatest blessings and triumph, our Lord often tests us to see if our faith is obedient.  In the case of the cleansed leper, Jesus commanded him to fulfill the ritual requirements of the law and let the priests attest to his healing (Lev. 14)..  This responsibility had to precede any celebration of his newfound health or telling others about his cure.

Perhaps Jesus told the man not to tell others of this healing so that people would not merely give adulation to Him as a miracle worker.  Furthermore, He would not have wanted this event to encourage any speculation that He was a political deliverer.  Christ was still on His period of humiliation, and any exaltation of Him by the crowd would have been premature within the Father's plan.

However, the major reason for Jesus' command to the healed man to respect the Mosaic  requirements was to testify to the crowd, particularly the Jewish leaders.  He blasted their hypocrisy, superficiality, and unscriptural methods, but He did not want to communicate that He had no regard for God's law at all.  When the priest declared the man healed-and the evidence would be obvious-it would allow Jesus' miracle to be verified by the Jewish establishment.  That would give added weight to His credibility as Messiah, as One who "did not come to abolish but to fulfill" (Matt.5:17).

more to come...

JESUS' TOUCH AND INSTANTANEOUS HEALING

Hi everyone....are there certain people you are wary of touching-either by physical embrace or even eye contact?  What gives us the right of being too good or polished or educated or privileged to look lovingly into the face of another, to offer ourselves and our acceptance?


JESUS' TOUCH AND INSTANTANEOUS HEALING

Matt. 8:3  "Jesus stretched His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing, be cleansed."  And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."

The Mosaic law forbade the Jews from touching lepers, because they were unclean and would expose healthy people to ceremonial and physical contamination.  But lepers, in their social ostracism, yearned for even a brief, up-close contact with another person beside a fellow leper.

Jesus could have healed this man, with just a single word, but He made a point of touching him.  This action was truly amazing-not in a spectacular, sensational manner, but simply because the Son of God would lovingly reach out and reach down to touch an outcast as no one else would.

The Lord bestowed instantaneous healing:  "immediately his leprosy was cleansed."  When He touched the man's defiled body, his disease simply disappeared.  (Christ could have chosen to heal in stages, as He sometimes did [Mark 8:22-26; John 9:6-7], but there was no necessity to do so.)  The picture for the eyewitnesses would have been dramatic.  A bent-over, withered derelict, with skin ravaged by scaly, ugly sores, would suddenly stand up, his limbs were now perfectly normal, his face smooth and unscarred, his eyes clear and bright, and his voice strong and confident.

Modern medical science, with all its wonderful expertise and abilities to cure, can never equal the miraculous restoration Jesus provided.

more to come...have a wonderful restful weekend and a good worship.

DIFFERENCE IN WITHSTANDING THE STORM

Hi everyone...Those who are foolish in planning and preparation are often foolish as well in their assessment of the damage.  Why do some whose lives are falling apart not seem to notice?  How can you help one you know?

DIFFERENCE IN WITHSTANDING THE STORM

Matt. 7:25, 27  "The rain fell and the flood came, and the winds blew and slammed against the house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.....The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against the house, and it fell -and great was its fall."

Everyone's religion, whether true or false , will be tried one day.  that test will determine with great finality who are the wheat and who are the tares-in other words, the unredeemed will be revealed from the redeemed.  When the storm of final test comes, those houses are on the bedrock of Jesus Christ and His Word will be spared "from the wrath to come" (1 Thes. 1:20). However, those whose houses are on the sand will not be spared, but like the goats in Jesus' prophesy of the end times, "will go away into eternal punishment" (Matt. 25:46, Rev.20:12,15).

The house of the wise man-the life and ministry of the genuine believer-is spared because he has built carefully and faithfully, with a sense of substance and divine importance. After obediently doing all that God commands, he humbly realizes he was only doing his duty (Luke 17:16).

The house of the foolish man-the life and ministry of the pseudo-believer suffers a devastating judgment from the storm and is destined for eternal punishment.  Because of this inevitability, everyone who claims to be a Christian must carefully heed James' words:  "Prove yourself doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves" (James 1:22).

The greatest difference between "wise" and "foolish" resides in what promise from God they can claim.  To the wise He says, in the words of the hymn, "Though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no, never forsake!"

more to come...

DISCERNING FALSE PROPHETS: SEEING THEIR CONVERTS

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, my internet was down. Anyway, Enjoy!!

Hi everyone.....discussions like these often get us labeled as haughty and narrow-minded.  How do you handle these kinds of accusations?  Why will some people never understand your concern for the church's purity?

DISCERNING FALSE PROPHETS:  SEEING THEIR CONVERTS

Matt. 7:19-20   "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will know them by their fruits."

We can spot false prophets by the kind of people they attract.  Their converts will have the same kind of superficial, self-centered, unbiblical orientation as they do.  Of this sort of attraction Peter says, "Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned"(2 Peter 2:2).  Many folks gravitate to false teachers because those men propagate what the majority of people want to hear and believe (cf. 2 Tim.4:3).

God has not ordained false prophets, but within His will He allows them to exist.  And it is within His purpose that false factions develop.  "For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you" (1 Cor. 11:19).  Factions often attract followers of false teachers.  And in a sense, this protects genuine saints by separating the chaff from the wheat in the church.

Ultimately, the Lord makes sure that the converts of false prophets, who do not bear good fruit, get cut down and thrown into the fire of judgment.  Peter says they are "bringing swift destruction upon themselves" (2 Pet.2:1; cf. Jer. 23:30).  A watchful, discerning, vigilant believer, armed with the Word of truth, will be able to isolate false teachers and withdraw from them, because he or she  "will know them by their fruits."

more to come...

Have a restful weekend and a good worship

GRANDMA PERLA'S DEVOTIONS

FALSE TEACHERS ARE DECEPTIVE

Hi everyone....what constitutes false teaching today?  Why do such philosophies continue to find room to work in hearts and minds, even of believers?  What can we do to keep them away from our churches?

FALSE TEACHERS ARE DECEPTIVE

Matt 7:15  "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."
 False prophet are most dangerous because of thier deceptive nature.  We can easily recognize and defend against an enemy that poses for what it is.  But when the enemy appears as a friend, it is much harder to defend against.

Heretics and apostates make no claim to biblical truth and are recognizable.  But deceivers disguise themselves as true shepherds.  They give the appearance of orthodoxy and claim to teach the truth, but their intent is to deceive and destroy God's people.

Paul explains this phenomenon:  "Such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.  No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.  Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds" (2 Cor. 11:13-15); 2 Tim 3:13).  Such false prophets are demonically deceived, convinced that their perverted, distorted views are correct.  They are so steeped in falsehood that darkness seems to be light, blackness white, and error truth.

This calls for genuine discernment.  But how is this best done?  It's by realizing that such men show themselves by what they do not say - they seldom affirm the great doctrines of the faith, but rather ignores them.  In our day of confusion and indifference, we need to pray and vigilantly "test the spirits to see whether they are from God....Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God" (1 John 4:1,2).
more to come...
Grandma Pearla's Devotions