Being Sent

November 20, 2010

The life of Jesus. Read Today: Jesus ascends toward Jerusalem; Matthew  21:1; Mark 11:1; Luke 19:28

Mark 11:1 (International Standard Version)
1  When they came near Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples on ahead

We have established over the last few devotionals that the priest were out to kill Jesus. We know that the followers of Jesus are in danger as they want to kill Lazarus as well.  In the midst of all this, Jesus sends two disciples on ahead to Jerusalem.  He knew what was coming, they did not. I am sure they had heard the stories but when Jesus told them to go, they went.  

In my every day life, Jesus tells me to go and do things.  I do not always respond like I should because I fear embarrassment.  Is embarrassment worse then death? Why am I so timid compared to the disciples?  

I need to be more like them and not let things bother me, but do as Jesus tells me to do.


Read for next time: Two disciples get a colt; Matthew 21:1-7; Mark 11:1-7; Luke 19:29-35

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Ring Side Seat

November 10, 2010

The life of Jesus. Read Today: Jesus discussed by Jews and Priests; John 11:55-57

John 11:56 (English Standard Version)
56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?”

Jesus, in the eyes of the people,  now has a problem, does He go to where they want to kill Him, or does he break the Hebrew law of not going to the Passover Festival in Jerusalem (all males who could get there were supposed to go).  Jesus did not really have a problem with this, he knew that the cross was on the way.

The people were looking for two reasons. They wanted to see the miracles that He did. They also wanted to see the confrontation between Jesus and those in authority.  What ever happened they wanted to have a ring side seat on what was going to take place.

If I start to do what Jesus wants me to do, there will be those who will want a ring side seat as well. I know this as people close to me have called me a phony for what little ministry I do.  Like Jesus, I have to keep a focus on the end of things and not on the present.  Sometimes that is very hard to do.  

Read for next time: Jesus in Bethany; John 12:1

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Your Mind

December 22, 2008


Years ago, before I was a Christian, I smoked a pipe. I thought I looked dignified, and it satisfied a need to do something with my hands. To some degree it gave me that nicotine fix that people sometimes need. When I became a Christian, I knew somehow that I should give up smoking, I just had no desire to. I did not take it to church and smoke outside or anything, I wanted the comfort of an old friend.

A few years later I had a child. Again, smoke bad, child good, but could not give up. One day a few months later I was doing some stuff around the house and my wife looked at me and said, are you going to smoke these or do I just keep dusting them. It was then that I realized that I had not smoked a pipe full in at least a month. It was not a conscious effort on my part, it was just that I had not had the desire.


Hebrews 8:10 ASV
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, And on their heart also will I write them: And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people:



To this day, it is my belief that God took that desire to smoke away from me. At the time in question, I had taken a deep interest in studying and understanding the Bible. As I drew near to Him, He put His will into my mind.

If you are finding an old habit hard to break, take some time to draw near to God. It cannot hurt.

Read through the Bible in historical order
Today
Hebrews 7:1-10:39

Tomorrow

Hebrews 11:1-13:25
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Plan B

April 11, 2008

Samuel was the one chosen by God to be king over Israel. He had a choice to follow the rules or not follow them. God had made it clear which one He preferred . Yet somehow, even though he had been given the answer, Samuel flunked the test. All he had to do was do what God said in his laws. He did not and then when Saul finds out:

1 Samuel 13:13-14 ESV
(13) And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
(14) But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you."

This was not the first time that Saul failed I am pretty sure, but it was not the last. Saul would fail again and it would be even more dramatic when it happened.

But notice that God has already set in to motion Plan B. God always has a Plan B. Why? Because we as humans have a choice to follow Him or not. When you choose to follow Him there is no need for Plan B. Now I would rather be God's Plan A, but I can handle being Plan B (or C, D, E, F, etc.). What I never want to be is Plan R because that would mean to me that I rejected God's plan.

God's plans for your life are not always easy. They are always the best however. Be a person after God's own heart.


Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
1 Samuel 13:1-14:52
Tomorrow
1 Samuel 15:1-17:58
http://tinyurl.com/24beby for a daily reading tool

Seek first God

March 25, 2008

Have you ever gotten God to bless you after really seeking Him in something. I know I have. And it gets sometimes to be common that we will continue to get what we need when we seek Him. After a while of that, we might get cocky. We might think we know what the Lord wants us to do. The children of Israel though that way at least. God had told them to not to make a treaty with any of the people of the promised land, to kill them all. So one day some people came to them with a story:

Joshua 9:7-14 CEV
(7) The Israelites replied, "But maybe you really live near us. We can't make a peace treaty with you if you live nearby." The Gibeonites said, "If you make a peace treaty with us, we will be your servants." "Who are you?" Joshua asked. "Where do you come from?" They answered:
(8) (SEE 9:7)
(9) We are your servants, and we live far from here. We came because the LORD your God is so famous. We heard what the LORD did in Egypt
(10) and what he did to those two Amorite kings on the other side of the Jordan: King Og of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, and King Sihon of Heshbon.
(11) Our leaders and everyone who lives in our country told us to meet with you and tell you that all of us are your servants. They said to ask you to make a peace treaty with our people. They told us to be sure and take along enough food for our journey.
(12) See this dry, crumbly bread of ours? It was hot out of the oven when we packed the food on the day we left our homes.
(13) These cracked wineskins were new when we filled them, and our clothes and sandals are worn out because we have traveled so far.
(14) The Israelites tried some of the food, but they did not ask the LORD if he wanted them to make a treaty.

It looked like a good story. Notice however, verse 14. They did not ask the Lord if He wanted them to make a treaty. That was a big mistake.

Now do not get me wrong. I am not saying that you have to ask God what clothes to wear each day. That is taking seeking God's will to an extreme. But for almost all of the big (and some of the little) ones, it is time to get asking God what He wants. I am sure that the world would be a better place if we sought God in what we did in our lives in stead of assuming that we know.

Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
Joshua 9:1-11:23
Tomorrow
Joshua 12:1-15:63
http://tinyurl.com/24beby for a daily reading tool

Being used by God

March 8, 2008

A few months ago, my pastor in a sermon tried to say that someone could not be walking with the Lord but that the Lord could still use him. I was a little bit skeptical but I took what he said on faith and let it go. I knew that somehow God would reveal it to me one way or the other. Today's reading has two little sentences in it that seem to be there just as filler. Everything in the Bible is put there for a reason.

To start with, go back a few days readings and you will find the story of Balaam. I had always assumed that he was a man of God that had gotten away from the Israelites, or that God had revealed Himself to Balaam somehow. Anyway, Balaam is called to curse the Israelites but God will not let him. In fact the Spirit of God takes over and he blesses the people instead. At the end of the story he returns to Midian.

We do not hear from him for a few chapters, and even then, his mention is so brief.

Numbers 31:8-16 KJV
(8) And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
(9) And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.
(10) And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.
(11) And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.
(12) And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.
(13) And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.
(14) And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
(15) And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
(16) Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.

Balaam gets mentioned twice here. Once in verse 8 as he is mentioned that he is killed with the 5 kings. The other is in verse 16. The people of Israel were lured to turn to a false god. Why? Because Balaam had given the Midianites council on how to get them not to follow God.

Balaam was not the God fearing man that I thought he was. He as just a person that was in the place that he was and was used by God. God can use anyone to get His will met. I am sure that He would prefer to use Christians. He does not have to. Jesus even pointed out to not stop those who were not from Him but teaching in His name. He knew that only good could result.

I guess my pastor was right. I know that if I fail in what God has called me to do, someone else can step in. I also know that I will face God in the end and have to justify it. How about you? Is some non-Christian doing your job?

Read through the Bible in one year in Historical order
Today
Numbers 31:1-32:42
Tomorrow
Numbers 33:1-34:29
http://tinyurl.com/24beby for a daily reading tool

A Bird in the Hand...

December 1, 2007

Genesis 26:2-3 NET
(2) The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you.
(3) Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.

Why did Isaac want to go down to Egypt. He wanted to go because that is where the food was. There was a famine in the land and they needed to live. The natural told him to go where he could provide for his family.

The supernatural on the other hand told him to stay put. If he would do what God told him to do, the promises of Abraham, his father would be given to him.

Tough choice. Do you stay put because God told you to stay, or do you jump for what you think is the best deal?

Life is full of those promises and they put you where you are today. For my money, listen to God, for He always provides.

Clue Bat from God

November 16, 2007

Romans 9:22-23 CEV
(22) God wanted to show his anger and reveal his power against everyone who deserved to be destroyed. But instead, he patiently put up with them.
(23) He did this by showing how glorious he is when he has pity on the people he has chosen to share in his glory.

Some of the image that many Christians have about a vengeful God come from verses like this. What they do not look at is what follows at the end of it. He patiently put up with it. I know that in my life I am not patient with the people that I have to deal with. I often joke that I want to get a big inflatable bat and hit them over the head with my 'clue bat'. Some support questions that I have to answer over and over again, and all from the same person. I do however try to take my cue from this verse and patiently put up with them.

God loves up and shows us His glory. He will do it over and over again. Eventually though, He speaks to us in His Word, or people come across our path to give us the advice. Sort of like a gentle 'clue bat' from God. Eventually, He will have to let us go. That is not His choice. He wants us to work with Him. Take some time to listen to what He is saying. Nothing hurts worse that a 'clue bat', especially one from God.

Do Something

June 25, 2007

Ever wonder if something you felt like something you were supposed to do was of God or not and you just stalled on it, waiting for God to speak. I got a clue for you, go do it.

2Ki 7:3-5 JPS
(3) Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said one to another: 'Why sit we here until we die?
(4) If we say: We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Arameans; if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.'
(5) And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Arameans; and when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no man there.


The King of Aram had Samaria of Israel under siege. They had gotten down to boiling children in Samaria to eat so they could survive.

The three lepers had three choices.

1. Do nothing - die
2. Go back into the city though they were unclean - die
3. Go into the enemy camp - they had food, maybe they would be taken prisoner and live, maybe they would die.
   

So two of the three choices they die and the third one is a fifty-fifty chance. Rather than sit there and die, they took there chances.

And that is often what God wants us to do. Take our chances. What is the worst thing that you can do if you take a chance for God. I will tell you, it is fail. But remember something. If you do not know failure, you will not know victory either. Think on this. Basketball great Michael Jordan has the record for most winning baskets at the end of the game. That is a great record. Did you know that he also has the most missed baskets at the end of a game that would have won it also. He took the chance, and we need to as well.

--Translation Information
1917 by The Jewish Publication Society (JPS)

God's Spit

June 24, 2007

Have you ever been out working on a summer day. You went to reach for a drink of water and found it to be lukewarm, not cold. While it will quench the thirst, it does not taste good. That drink is a lot like a lot of us. God has a plan for us, and he wants us to follow it. God wants us to make a choice for Him. It made it so clear to the church at Laodicea.

Rev 3:15-16 GW
(15) I know what you have done, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot.
(16) But since you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth.

I can sit and do nothing, or I can try to find out what His will is for my life. Or, I cannot submit to Him at all. Not submitting to him means I am cold. Submitting and doing what he asks, that is hot. But when we submit to him, and then do not do what he asks, we are lukewarm. God just wants to take that and spit it out, it does not please Him at all.

So are you cold or hot? I know none of these readers are lukewarm? Or are they?

--Translation Information
GOD'S WORD

Copyright © 1995 by GOD'S WORD to the Nations Bible Society. All rights reserved.

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http://www.godsword.org

May 19, 2007 - Child like faith

May 19, 2007

Luk 9:48 KJV
(48) And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.


Jesus spoke to His disciples to explain a very simple statement that should have been easy to understand. When someone accepts a child and helps them, then he helps Jesus and by association he also helps God.

But is it just a child. Personally I do not think so. Do not take it as Gospel, I do not know. But I would think that it is anyone who has child like faith. What do I mean by that? Have you ever watch a dad with a young child up on a jungle-jim or something like that. Daddy will tell the child to jump and though they may think about it a moment or two, they will jump in to dad's hands. They have faith in a dad who will not let them get hurt. We need to have that faith, the child like trust, that God will not let us get hurt when we jump into His arms and do what He asks. When someone helps us to do what He asks, then they also are helping Jesus and by association, Jesus. We also need to look for thoseopportunities to help those who are doing God's will.

May 10, 2007 - On earth as it is in heaven

May 10, 2007

Luk 11:2 KJV
(2) ... Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.


God's will be done. Interesting. Why if God wants His will to be done does He not do it? For the same reason that He made man in the first place is the reason. Man was made to worship God freely. If He wanted us to turn to Him automatically then He would have made us angels. While angels must have some degree of free will (Satan did try to do things his own way), they were made to serve God. Man was meant to have free choice in what He did. He could turn to God or turn away.

That does not mean however that God does not want what is in heaven here on earth. He put Adam in a perfect place to start with. It was only when Adam turned to Satan that earth lost its perfection.

We can have heaven on earth, at least in our little corner. We just need to love one another as He loves us.