Matthew 9:24

He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him.

Personal Challenge

Have you ever been in a situation where you are criticized and ridiculed for your belief in Christ and your trust in God? I have. It is not enjoyable, but it is to be expected. The more that we strive to be like Christ, to walk in His footsteps, hold true to His teachings, then the more resistance we will encounter, the more we will be ridiculed. Sometimes this ridicule comes from people within our own Christian circle, people that we have worshipped and served with. Even Jesus received this behavior, so why should we expect anything different? Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Exodus 36:3-5

They received from Moses all the offerings the children of Israel brought for all the works for making the holy place, and they continued bringing him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the wise men who were doing all the work of the holy place came, each according to the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the work the Lord commanded us to do.”

Encouraging Words

God has a will and He created each of us with a will. He gave us freewill so that our choice to love Him and follow him would not be forced. When we choose to align our will with His, great things will happen. In this case, those building God’s temple had to proclaim that the offerings needed to stop because they had too much already. We need to constantly seek God’s will and be willing too adjust ours to align with His. Glory be to God!

Matthew 9:2

Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

Personal Challenge

What have we done to the Christianity that Jesus and His disciples spread throughout the world 2,000 years ago. Here in the USA, we have made it in the image of ourselves, rugged, independent, and standalone. Throughout many of the miracles that Jesus performed in the healing if the infirm, we see the power of the faith of others contributing to the healing process. We need each other. We need a Christian community that is striving for theosis or deification, becoming in the image of Christ. We cannot do it alone. We cannot do if by focusing on the rubrics, or the traditions, or the number of services that we are participating in. All of these things are external and informative about the church and God. We must be focusing on Christ, being like him, doing what he is asking us to do. Only this way will our churches become transformative and changing us into the image of Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Exodus 34:14

(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord God, a jealous name, is a jealous God),

Personal Challenge

This is one of those challenging verses that we find in the Old Testament. Isn’t jealousy a passion? Aren’t the passions what cause us to sin? God loves His children so much. He entered into multiple covenants in the Old Testament. He always wanted to protect them, and us, from those things in the world that will pull us from Him and into painful situations. As any loving father, He is jealous for the protection of His children. He knows the pain that will occur by worshipping false Gods and strives to keep us true to Him, for our own good. So, what are the false God’s that we are worshipping today? Our possessions? Our political party? Anything that causes us to take our eyes off of God, is another god. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy!

Matthew 8:23-27

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Personal Challenge

Sometimes I must ask myself, “Do I really trust Jesus?” He is always present in our lives. Sometimes it feels like He is napping over in the corner, but He is still present. The question is never whether or not He can calm the storms in our lives. It is whether or not I believe He can. If he was sleeping in the boat during the midst of the storm, He must have been confident that nothing was going to happen to Him or His disciples. It is my faith in the stormy times that weakens, not His ability to be the Lord over the storm. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on my the sinner!

Exodus 19:5-6

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be a special people to Me above all nations; for all the earth is Mine. You shall be to Me a royal priesthood and a holy nation.’ These are the words you shall speak to the children of Israel.

Encouraging Words

Whenever God enters into a covenant, He designates the other party as special and set apart in His sight. He did that in this accounting of his covenant with Moses and the nation of Israel. He continued to do this throughout the old testament as He confirmed His covenant through His prophets and kings. He established a new covenant through Jesus, one that goes through the remainder of eternity. What is our part of His covenant, if we choose to be a part of it? We are to obey His voice and keep His covenant. In this new covenant, our responsibility, our covenant with him, is if we want to be called His children, then we must love Him above all, even life itself, and to love our neighbor above ourselves. These two actions are the fruit which our commitment to Him will be measured by. Lord, have merry! Lord, here mercy! Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Matthew 8:13

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Encouraging Words

Too many who profess to be Christians look to God to be their vending machine in the sky. Put a prayer in the slot and out comes whatever we asked for. God’s activity in our lives is based upon our willingness to work synergistically with Him. As He tells the centurion in this passage, the level healing of the centurion’s servant is commensurate with the level of the centurion’s faith in what God can and will do. God wants us to be working with Him, not just asking Him to take care of our wants and needs. Glory be to God!

POWER AND WISDOM

1 Corinthians 1:22-24

For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Personal Challenge

Power and wisdom are two things that mankind has been pursuing ever since Adam and Eve chose to eat of the forbidden fruit. The end results of this pursuit are always the same, separation from God. Christ left behind the glory and power of heaven in order to become a man. He lived a lowly life instead of some princely life in order to humble himself for us. He died on a cross in order to defeat death. It is no wonder that so many see His life as a stumbling block and foolishness. It is through Him and His actions that we can find life. It is through life in Him that we receive power and wisdom to be His disciples. Glory be to God!