True Ruler of Nature

Verses:  Matthew 8:23-27

My thoughts about the verses:

Many of us talk about Mother Nature.  Our mind has grasped that there is a power that controls the environment around us.  We believe because we want to think that there is a calming power in the world.  Many believe that Mother Nature will be there directing the world as we walk among the nature around us.

We need to remember that God is the ruler of the world.  There are many aspects of God’s presence in the world around us.  All we have to do is look around.  When you look at the flowers, animals, other people you will see the power of God.

There are several times in the Bible in which nature was controlled by God to prove that the power of nature lies within God.  Think about the flood that came and reshaped the world and environment around us.  Think of the story of Jonah.  He ran and God called on the storm to bring him where he needed to go.  Imagine the power of God to send a big fish to carry Jonah. 

This story is very important to us.  Jesus shows us all that he is not only human but God.  Imagine being on a boat and storm comes upon the boat.  Imagine the panic of everyone in the situation.  Jesus used this moment to show them that he had the power to calm the sea.

When we read this story we need to remember the things that Jesus wanted us to learn about the power he possesses.  First is that Jesus has the power to control the world around us.  Second and probably the most important part is the fact that Jesus is both human and God.  Jesus has been with God since the beginning of creation.  We have to remember that we need to look at this story as a miracle in which Jesus wanted us all to know.  We needed to see that Jesus is the ruler of the world.  Jesus has the power to save us.  He not only saves us from things that happen in the environment.  Jesus can save us from our sins.  The cross is the element used to lead to the death of Jesus.  Just think about this the cross was made of wood.  This wood was under the power of Jesus.  Yet, he allowed it to lead to his death.

Prayer:

We praise you God for your love.  We worship you Jesus because of your love.  We thank you for giving us the gift of life.  We praise you for the beauty of the world around us.  Help us to always remember that you are the ruler of the world.  Help us let go of our fear and live a life that is based on your love.  In the name of the Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted that Jesus has the power to control the world?  Have you turned your life over to God?  Are you willing to accept that Jesus can save you from the power of the world and life if we only trust him?

Why do We Put Conditions on Our Service to Jesus?

Verses:  Matthew 8:18-22

My thoughts about the verses:

We are all guilty of putting things before serving God.  We know we need to follow Jesus and fulfill the calling on our life. Yet, we put conditions on serving Jesus.  We might say I have to do this or that before I can follow God with all my heart and soul.

Think about this a moment what if Jesus had said not now.  Let me do these things before I go to the cross.  What if the cross never happened because of this selfish act?  None of us would have ever been saved from the sins that we have done in our life.

We have to remember to put God first.  It is not what we collect on Earth that makes a difference in the end.  What is important is what we do to spread the word of God to the world. 

We need to remember that we need to follow Jesus’s example.  We need to refrain from putting conditions before the service of God.  We have to remember that God will get us through things that are happening.  Therefor we do not have to worry about the future.  Instead we need to concentrate on serving God without placing the needs of the world first.

Let us look at it this way.  When we put conditions on our service we are putting our fears before serving God.  We need to understand and accept that God wants the best for us.  God doesn’t want us to suffer yet we have to let go of things and let God take charge.

While we are letting God take over our need of fears we must turn our life completely over to God.  You must remember inside that we must put our service to God first.  We need to stop worrying about the future hear on Earth.  Instead we need to worry about our life in the next world.  When you share the Good News with others you are changing lives forever.

There are many ways to spread the word of God.  Some people become preacher, teachers and other religious leaders.  These people are motivated and inspired by God to reach out to a large group of people all at one time.  There are also those that work in homeless shelters, work with victims of domestic abuse and other jobs that reach out to a group of individuals all at once.  Others reach out to family and friends and through their love and acts of kindness lead them to Christ.

It doesn’t matter how you serve God.  The most important thing is to serve God with all your heart.  Make sure that you put the service of God before anything else.  Know that God will be there to get you through the struggles of life.  Therefore out God first and your life will change forever.

Prayer:

Dear God we love you.  We praise you Dear Jesus for all you have done in our life.  Help us to always put your first.  Help us walk away from the stress of this life.  Help us live with serving you first.  In the name of the Risen savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Do you put other things before God?  Are you ready to step away from your fears?  Are you ready to put God first?

How has Jesus Helped You Today?

Verses:  Matthew 8:14-17

My thoughts about the verses:

We often have a hard time answering this question.  How has Jesus Helped Me?  It’s hard because we do not know about all the things that would have happened if God wasn’t there.  It’s hard because we do not know what wouldn’t have happened if God wasn’t there.  We go through life basing how people help us by the reward we have because of something that their intervention directly led to. 

We cannot judge how God has helped us in this manner.  We can’t say this happened because God stopped this from happening in our life.  We cannot say that this happened because God allowed this to happen.  Therefor we spend most of our life not considering what God has helped us with this day.

It is only when we pray for a certain thing to happen or not to happen that we attribute it to God.  We are then willing to say that God helped me accomplish this goal.  We are willing to say God kept this from happening today. 

Yet, what we need to realize is that we do not have to have answered of prayers to see God’s work in our life.  The fact, that you are able to receive this today is a way of realizing how God has worked in our lives.  The fact that this was able to be written for you to read is a mini miracle.  The fact, that people from all over the globe are reading this today is a mini miracle.  In fact, everything that happens in our lives is influenced by God in our life.

Now hold on a second you may be asking how everything in our life can be influenced by God.  There are bad things that have happened does that mean God didn’t like me at that moment.  Everything is influenced because we are all part of God’s creation.  There will be both bad and good.  Yet, sometimes the bad is needed for the best part to be seen.  Other time bad just happens and we have an opportunity to turn it into good if we want to.

Cherish the moments that God has given you.  Thank God for the good things.  Ask God what you need to learn from events.  Look at your life right now and see what God is helping you with today.

Prayer:

We love you God.  We thank you for your grace.  We praise you for all that you have helped us with.  We ask you right now God to help us see your grace and love in all we do.  Help us acknowledge you today for the things that you have done for us.  In the name of the Giver of Life we pray.  Amen

Questions:

How has Jesus Helped You Today?  Have you thanked God for the mini miracles in your life?

Why Are We Not Willing to Accept Jesus Fully?

Verses:  Matthew 8:5-13

My thoughts about the verses:

Think about this a moment.  How often do we say that we trust you Lord to provide our needs?  In the very next breath we try to devise a plan to obtain what we just asked God to provide.  Is this truly depending on God to provide all of our needs?

Believers in modern day society and in days long ago had this same issue.  We want to believe that God can fix it.  Yet, we also believe that we have to help God fix it.  We feel that it isn’t enough just to ask God for help.  We have this urging deep down inside to show God or even help God meet our needs.

The centurion would be seen as an outcast of the Hebrew community.  In fact, he was most likely there to prevent rebellion from occurring in this part of the Roman society.  He was most likely despised and though ill of.  Yet, he does something that many of us throughout time have not been able to do.

Imagine how humbling it must have been for this man to come and ask for help with his servant.  He knew that Jesus had the power to heal.  He went straight to the person that could save the one that he cared for.  Yet, he also respected Jesus.  He felt as if he was not worthy to ask Jesus to come to his home to heal his servant.  He simply asked Jesus to heal him and his servant was healed.

It is what he says next that adds something that we need to think about when it comes to studying about the power Jesus possesses.  Think about this a moment.  The centurion comments that he too has people that he has authority over.  If he tells them what to do they will instantly do it.  If he tells them to go this place or the next they will go without questioning.  Yet, he humbly asks Jesus not to drop what he is doing and run to his house to save the servant.  Instead he simply asks if Jesus would do what others seemed as impossible and heal without being in the presence of the one that needed healing.  He saw Jesus as more powerful than the rule he had over people.

Jesus commented that he had faith.  Faith that was so strong that he would grant the request without questioning it.  He made it clear that there would be those of the Hebrew faith that would go into the next realm doomed.  He also made it clear that this man and his faith had established him an eternal life.  It wasn’t the centurions power that made him redeemed it was actually his acceptance of his weakness that led to his salvation.  His servant was healed and he was saved from the ultimate doom because of his faith.

Prayer:

We love you God.  We praise you for your healing powers.  We thank you for eternal salvation.  Help us have the faith of the centurion.  Help us remember that you can do all things.  In the name of the Most Holy we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Do you have the faith to trust God will fulfill your needs?  Have you asked God to take away the hurt and pain in your life?  Are you willing to have faith in God without having to physically see his work being performed?  Isn’t this what faith is all about accepting the power of Jesus without having to see the works of Jesus’s hand?

Jesus can be the Help Mate we all Search for?

Verses:  Matthew 8:1-4

My thoughts about the verses:

Imagine being in a place where you are considered an outcast for who you are.  You are not an outcast for what you believe.  In, fact you are an outcast just because you are different than others.  Your life is a living nightmare because people do not understand you.

This is the situation that the leper found himself in.  He was a reject of society not because of his life choices.  He wasn’t rejected by society because of the way he believed.  Instead he was on the fringes of society because of an illness that he could not control that had overtaken his body.

We have to understand that laws had been made early on to protect the society from leprosy.  There was no known cure and it would easily spread from one person to the next.  Therefor people were to be kept separate if they had illnesses so that it would not pass and kill out the community. 

We can accept that we have a prejudice against things that we are afraid of.  It doesn’t mean that we have a right to be prejudice it is just something that we tend to do when we are afraid of situations.  We put others that are different from us in a lower class of people.  This has happened so many times throughout history that it is hard not to miss.  Everything from the slaying of individuals because of their religious followings, to shunning of people who love people differently than us, to disregarding people that we feel are not as smart as we are.

We need to dig deeper into what is happening in this very moment.  The leaders of the society would definitely not be going anywhere near this person.  They would be afraid of getting ill.  How could they ever allow themselves to be exposed to potential harm?

Yet, the image we have is Jesus right there around the people that others feared.  Jesus wasn’t running away from them.  Instead Jesus was going near them.  He did not fear them because he knew deep down inside they had nothing he needed to fear.

You have to imagine the confusion that the leper was feeling.  Why was this religious leader coming near him?  Why was he not afraid of getting close to them?  Why was this man so much different from all the others that they had seen?

Why was this leper so important to Jesus?  Jesus could have healed anyone.  Yet, for some reason Jesus chose to heal this leper.  Looking this deep into the story we see the answer right before us.  Jesus healed this person because of his faith.  He healed the leper because the leper believed that Jesus had that power.  He believed that if Jesus chose to heal him he would be healed.

We have to accept that Jesus has this power in our life.  No matter what has made us feel less than important to God it can be released from those feelings if we only trust in God.  God doesn’t desire to separate us.  Instead, God wants us to be in close communion with us.  When we study the word of God what we discover it isn’t God that chooses to separate from us the chose is all ours.    Yet, if we go to Jesus asking for acceptance God will give us the acceptance.  God can heal us from all if we only ask God to do that for us.

Prayer:

We love you God.  We praise you Jesus for your sacrifice for us.  We praise you for saying yes to us whenever we come asking to be in communion with you.  Help us turn away the things of this world.  Help us walk closer to you.  In the name of the Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Have you accepted Jesus in your life?  Are you running away from God because you are afraid you will be rejected?  What do you need to turn over to God today?  Are you ready to walk hand in hand with the Risen Savior?

What Kind of Foundation Have You Built Your Life on?

Verses:  Matthew 7:21-29

My thoughts about the verses:

How many of us have sung the children’s song build your life on the Rock of Jesus.  The song makes the point really easy to understand.  Build your life without Jesus and it is destined to collapse.  Build your life centered firmly of Jesus and you will live forever.  This very simple song addresses a much bigger issue in our life.  The song speaks about our choice of which foundation we will live for.

We will decide that we are living in this world for the things that we can achieve.  We may act as if we are building our life on God.  Yet, this is only for outward appearances.  Instead what we are trying to get the best out of life.  We spend our life working on getting the next big thing.  Your life is not standing on a strong foundation.  Instead your life is standing on ever flowing sand.  You might seem like you have it all together.  Yet, at any moment the storms of life can come your way and knock the flimsy foundation right from under your feet.

People who turn their life over to Jesus have a much stronger foundation.  Their life isn’t about what they want.  Their life is about what God wants.  Their foundation is impenetrable.  The storms of life come and they do not wash away the foundation from under your feet.  In fact, the storms only make the foundation stronger.  We begin to trust the sturdiest of the rock more and are willing to do more for God.  We learn that the closer we walk to God the better off our life is.

Those that have accepted Jesus in our lives then are under the assumption that everything will go good for us.  We assume that since we have our lives planted firmly planted on the foundation of Christ that we will not have anything go wrong.  Yet, what we need to remember is that if you are strong in your love and obedience of God you are walking further and further away from the world.  The world wants us to feel hurt for its lost.  So it throws storms at us.  Yes there will be times that they will make us slip.  Yet, they will never make us fall off the foundation.  Each time we stand back up our feet will become more firmly planted in God.

You need to remember most of all.  Your reward in choosing God as your foundation is not found here on Earth.  Our reward is found in the gift of everlasting life.  The gift of everlasting life is one that we do not deserve.  The gift is nothing that we have earned.  The reward (gift) of everlasting life is freely given to anyone that will turn their life over to God.  Asking Jesus to become your savior sets your feet on the solid foundation of Salvation.  With that placement you receive the gift of salvation that Jesus went to the cross for you to have.

Prayer:

Dear God we love you.  We praise you Jesus for the gift of salvation.  Help us to accept you in our life.  Help us to build our lives on the foundation of God.  In the name of the Risen Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

How willingly are you to accept Jesus in your life?  Is this a challenge that you are afraid to take?  Do you believe that you really do not need Jesus in your life?  Is today the day that you plant your feet on the everlasting foundation of God?

Do You Know how to Tell if Someone is a False Prophet?

Verses:  Matthew 7:15-20

My thoughts about the verses:

We need to start with the two types of trees in this world.  There are trees that bare great fruit.  Think about it we get our best apples, oranges, and so many different great blessings from healthy trees.  These trees are designed by God to bare the fruit that brings sustenance to the world.  The second tree does not bare good fruit.  Many times the fruit that they do produce is dangerous for consumption.  Many do not even bare fruit at all. 

This picture really shows how a tree from a distance can look cool or unique.  Yet, if you know the story of the honey locust you would found out how dangerous is to the environment.  A honey locust can reproduce at rapid rates.  As they grow their thorns can start being a barrier for animals and their grazing fields and water.  This eventually creates a strangulation type of feel for that area of land.  Many farmers try all they can to get rid of them so that they will not affect their livestock or wild animals.  In some locations there are so many honey locust (for example Australia) that they have changed the landscape and grazing land of many animals.

Trees that produce good fruits provide sustenance.  They provide a safe environment for the animals.  The good trees cannot produce bad fruit.  It may go bad on the ground but that only happens because we do not collect it.  Yet, the fruit that comes from a good tree will never produce fruit that isn’t up to the standards of God.

People are much like these two kinds of trees.  The first group will seem as if they are doing the right things.  Yet, they are not representing God in fact they are leading people away from God.  This group will lead people to believe in things that are full of flawed hope.  They seem as if they know what they’re talking about.  Yet, instead of leading people to God’s salvation they lead them down other paths.  When you think of these leaders you can think of many leaders of cults.  The people will believe that what they are saying is the true words of God.  Yet, if you look at many of these cults the leader eventually decides that their cover is coming off. 

Many have led their people to perform mass suicides.  I am reminded of the Jonestown Suicides.  The people had come to follow Jim Jones because of his charismatic behavior. Yet, when things started to fall apart he began teaching his people to prepare for the end.  The taking of their lives was a further statement of their love of God.  In 1976, many of the followers went along with the suicide when things went wrong for Jim Jones.

Then there are the healthy trees.  They teach people about love.  They mold people to follow God because of the gift of salvation and peace that they have.  They are not building a cult for their own reward or satisfaction in life.  Instead, they are leading others to follow the Living God.

I think back to one of the most important leaders of the Christian community Paul.  Paul believed that Christians were blaspheming the God that he loved.  Yet, through the power of a miracle he comes to see that Jesus is the True Savior.  He then attempts to spend the rest of his life reaching out to those in the world who were Gentiles to teach them the love of God.  Yes, he was creating a following.  This was not a following for himself but a following for the One Living God.

We have to remember to look closely to the trees (leaders) that enter our life.  We have to decide their heart to determine if we should trust them.  There are many leaders who seem to be doing things with their life being focused on God.  Yet, if you look closer they are only doing things that benefit themselves than God.  Therefore, we need to always must be careful who we choose to follow.

Prayer:

We love you God for all you have done in our lives.  We thank you for sending people to lead us to your love.  We ask you dear Lord to help us choose the right people to follow.  Help us follow those that love God and are not acting like they love God to only get personal gain.  In the name of the Living God we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Who are you following?  Are you following someone that is leading for their own gain?  Are you following someone because they want you to grow closer to God?  If you are following a wolf in sheep’s clothing what do you need to do today?

What Path Do You Choose in Your Life?

Verses:  Matthew 7:13-14

My thoughts about the verses:

God gives a choice in our life.  We can choose to follow God or we can walk without God.  Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice by going to the cross.  The Sacrifice of Jesus fulfilled the promise of the Hebrew Scriptures.  All we must do is accept Jesus in our life.

The two paths LEAD to a life of peace or one of destruction.  We can choose the path that we want to walk.  In fact, when we first start going through life we are heading down the path of destruction.  Our lives have no positive destiny. We may think that we are doing well yet, it’s our final destiny that we are talking about.  We have to remember we are choosing where you when you pass from this world to the next.

We need to understand that the path destruction is easy to follow.  We can walk down this road and never see the path to a good life.  We have to make a decision when we are walking down this path. We must decide if we are going to accept Jesus in our life or if we are going to do it alone. 

Anywhere along the path you can decide to get off the path of destruction.  Think about it this way all along the path of destruction are paths that lead to an end everlasting of life.  Yet, many of us will keep walking down the path without ever choosing God as our Savior.  Even though the Gates are there to change our final destiny we will miss the doors because we walk through life staying on the path of destruction because we think we are well off. 

Yet, there are those that see the path that leads to everlasting life.  They realize that all they have to do is step off the path of destruction and go through the gate of life.  It is that moment that they realize that they need Jesus in their life.  Their whole life is changed.

Now, I want us to remember that just because you choose the path of everlasting life doesn’t mean that you will have a perfect life.  Many people believe that God has left them because they are not getting rewards because of trussing Jesus.  Yet, what we miss is the gift of salvation for the moment that we transition from this world. The gift (reward) is the best thing that any of us can be given.  It truly means that the next life will be better than the current one. 

Prayer:

We love you God.  We thank you Jesus for your sacrifice on the cross.  We thank you for putting the path of righteousness in our path.  Help us leave the road of destruction.  Help us choose you in our life.

Questions:

Which path are you on?  Have you chosen to follow Jesus?  Are you ready to accept Jesus in your life? Will you who have accepted Christ help other find the pathway to righteousness?

How Do You Treat People?

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Verses:  Matthew 7:12

My thoughts about the verses:

I love this picture because it shows that even animals love their young.  They protect them.  They make sure that they provide food for their young.  They teach them how to survive in the wild.  When you see images like this you can definitely see what love is all about.

The question that we need to ask is how we treat Jesus. Are we outside the loving embrace of Jesus?  Do we love Jesus?  Are we walking through life without loving God like a child would a parent?

It does matter how you answer these questions.  If you walk in a tight embrace with Jesus then you have the gift of salvation in your life.  In turn you become a child of God.  Jesus protects you from the world.  Simply when you have Jesus in your life when the struggles of the world come you have a parent that will help you through.  You will have the love that you need.  The only thing that you need to do is accept the love of God.  Amazingly when you love God you are filled with an inner peace that you cannot explain.  You know the strength of God in the good and bad times.

Now what happens if you do not love God?  Firstly, you will never truly any peace or serenity.  You may think you are but with the love of God in your life you would the true chaos that you have been in.  There is no direct communing between you and God.  You may have friends that are there.  Yet we also know friends that will not be there.  We miss the fact with God our best friend is right there loving us and helping us.  Yet, without the connection of God you will live without the love of Jesus in your life.

Next big Question is how we want people to treat us.  Do we want people to dislike us?  Do we want people to fear you?  Do you want people to mock you?  Do you want people to not love you?

This is an easy question for us to answer.  None of us want to be treated with disrespect.  We want people to love us.  We want to feel safe around people.  We do not want people to mock us or bully us.

We have seen how animals interact with each other’s.  We have seen how we should love Jesus.  WE also learned that when you love Jesus we are loved back.  Now we can answer the question of how do we treat others? 

We need to show people love.  Love comes in many forms.  Loving society is a way of presenting a demeanor of peace.  It is a way of showing peace to others.  Love doesn’t mean that we have to be everyone’s best friend.  Instead we must recognize that you do not know who fellow children of God are.  You also have to remember all individuals were created in God’s image.  When we do not love others then we are not showing love to the one that love us.

We need to not bully or mock others.  This is one of the most important things that we can do.  When you are not bullying someone you are not disrespecting them.  You are not putting someone down because of the way they look.  You are not bullying for the way that they do things.  In that moment you are showing the other post that they are respected to you.  We have to remember that you can hurt them for the rest of life when you bully or mock others.

The best way to live life is to treat others the way you want to be treated.  This is a lesson that people have been taught since the beginning.  Yet, for many this is a hard challenge.  Peopled that have been hurt by other often began distrusting others.  We become afraid that people will hurt us so we put up a wall to defend ourselves. They wall causes us to mock or bully others.   That wall causes us to hurt others because we start thinking that people will hurt others.  Make it a point each day to focus on showing people respect.  You will soon find that when you do this you will heal yourself from any pain you have.  People will start respecting you because when you do not respect or bully others you are actually showing them the love them love. 

Prayer:

Dear God we thank you for your love.  We thank you for giving us everlasting live.  We thank you for treating us fairly.  Help us show others love.  Help us not mock or bully others.  Help us to show people the respect that we all deserve.  We ask all these things in the name of the Holy Parent.  Amen

Questions:

How do you treat others?  What do you need to do today to show others love?

Do we have the Faith to ask God for Your Needs?

Verses:  Matthew 7:7-11

My thoughts about the verses:

As a society in general we want the best for our children.  We believe that our children are a blessing from Heaven.  Many of us can never imagine hurting a child no matter what.  Therefor we have to accept that this scripture focuses on this knowledge.

Jesus teaches us two lessons in these verses.  The first lesson that we learn is that we need to treat others with respect.  We are to treat our children and others with love and dignity.  We have to accept that we are responsible for the welfare of those that we support.

We are to provide our loved ones with their necessities.  It goes further than that we are to show respect and dignity to those that are less fortunate.  We are to help people as we are able.  Simple things as a smile have a way of providing a warm glow in people’s life.  We have to provide these needs so that people can live in a state of happiness.

Think about it this way. What would you say if someone mistreated a child or someone else?  Would you step forward and tell them what they are doing is wrong?  See our conscience requires us to be true to the Spirit that lives within us.  So it is no wonder that we who are Children of God fight for those that we see are hurting. 

The second lesson that we learn is that God will provide more for us than anyone else in our entire life.  Who else would give their child up for the lives of others?  This is a sacrifice that we cannot understand.  What we have to come to accept that God will provide all our worldly needs if we allow God to.

All that is required of us is to have faith.  We have to understand that when we call upon God’s name God will provide our needs.  God is ready to give us all we need.  Yet, we have to be willing to come to God and accept what God is willing to give us. 

We are not to act surprised when God gives us what we are asking for.  Essentially what we need to do is trust and has faith in God.  Every time we put our faith in God we are given what we need and desire.  The next time you are worried about the future simply ask at the door of Heaven and you will receive.  This is the promise God has given to us.

Prayer:

We praise you God for your love.  We thank you for the sacrifice on the cross.  We praise you for providing all our needs.  Dear God we ask you give us the Spirit to help those in need.  We ask you to help us accept what you are willing to freely give us.  Help us each day walk closer to you.  In the name of the Savior we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Do you trust Jesus?  Do you have faith that God will give you all you will ever need?  Will you help others that are hurting?  Are you willing to reach out in the society and take a stand against the injustice of the world?  

Are you being Foolish with the Gifts God has given to You?

Verses:  Matthew 7:6

My thoughts about the verses:

God has given us many gifts.  We need to look at those gifts and determine if we are using them wisely.  God wants us to use our gifts to benefit the work that has been laid out before us.  When we choose to use our gifts foolishly we are wasting our energy and time.

Think about this a moment has you ever tried to debate an issue with someone whose mind is made up.   Think about that person that believed that your point of view was so off base that they will not listen.

Writing this I am thinking about those that have said that being Gay is an unforgivable sin.  They have taken future scriptures and declare that it is proof that being Homosexual is a sin.  Yet, there are others adamant that they are in the wrong.  That being gay is not sin because if you put in historical context of the scriptures you will find that being gay is not a sin.

There are so many other issues that have divided congregations and denominations.  Think back to the past and such divisions that occurred over things like baptism, communion.  These are the basic traditions of most denominations in the world.  Yet other denominations have been divided over music, color of carpet, even the hiring of new staff.

We have to use the gifts that God has given us wisely.  We have to remember that God wants us to share the good news.  When we come across a situation that becomes a heated debate we must ask ourselves if we are using our gifts wisely.

At the same time there rises another issue and that is should we stand up for what we believe.  The answer is simple we must stand up for the causes and beliefs that we share with fellow Christians.  We cannot lie down and allow people to hurt others with their fear mongering.  We have to be the people that help those that are hurt by others.  Think of it this way you cannot in anyway allow social injustices be the norm.  This in itself is a way of using your gifts unwisely.

The next time you feel as if you are wasting your breath trying to change someone’s mind realize that you are using your gifts wisely.  At the same time if you are helping others that have been hurt realize that you are sharing your gifts wisely.  Do not be afraid to share your story with others when it comes to times that you were treated unjustly.  Remember there is always someone that needs to hear your story so that they can be healed.

Prayer:

God we thank you for loving us.  We praise you for giving us many gifts.  Help us to use those gifts to help others.  Help us dear Savior to ensure that we use our gifts wisely.  Help us know when we start using our gifts foolishly so that we can change our ways.  In the name of the Guide of Life we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you using your gifts wisely?  Do you need to start using your gifts wisely?  What one thing that you have to step away from because of the foolishness that you are wasting your gift on?

Do you Judge Others?

Verses:  Matthew 7:1-5

My thoughts about the verses:

It is so easy to criticize others.  We can see their flaws.  We often share what we see wrong with them.  We judge them because they are not living a Holy life.

Yet, do we judge ourselves.  Do we look at our own life and see what we are doing that is not holy?  Are we willing to admit that we have our own faults? 

These questions are much harder to answer.  We look at our lives and say that we do live a Holier life than other people.  We think that we do better than others.  It is harder to criticize our faults than it is others.  We do not want to admit that we have faults.

Yet, this is exactly what we need to do.  Instead of judging others we need to look at our own lives.  Are there things that we need to change in our own life?  Are we live fully in the light of the Lord?  Have we fallen into our old ways?

One sign that you are living outside God’s will is when you do judge others.  How ironic that the one sign that we miss is when we consider others are less than worthy of God’s love.  We need to think to ourselves are we judging without looking at our own lives.  Many times we will see that we need to fix something in our own life.

Amazingly what we often see as a major issue in other people’s lives we miss the major issue in our own life.  We have to fix our faults before we can ever try to help others.  Noticed it isn’t judging other faults.  It is actually helping others overcome the things that are leading them from God.  Yet, if we do not fix our own short fallings we can never help others overcome theirs. 

Remember that as you judge others they are also judging you.  They are seeing all the things that you have done.  Instead of taking your advice as a helpful situation they see it as sharp criticism.  In fact they see it as a stab in the back because they see the things that you need to change.

We have to come to the point that we work with others.  Instead of judging others we need to look at our own lives and fix what we need fixed in our own life.  We need to turn away from judging.  There is only one Judge of the World.  Jesus is the only one that can judge us. 

Prayer:

We praise you God for your love.  We thank you for always being there with us in our life.  We praise you for your guidance in our life.  Help us to not judge others.  Help us look at our own lives and change the things that we do that fall short of your glory.  In the name of the Holy One we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Are you living a life that you are proud of?  Are you evaluating what you need to change in your life to walk closer to God?  Are you judging others?  What do you need to change today to make your life closer in line with the will of God?

Do You Have The Faith of Birds?

Verses:  Matthew 6:25-34

My thoughts about the verses:

You might think this is a funny question to ask.  What do you mean do I have the faith of a bird?  How can this be an important part of studying the word of God?

Let us look at it this way birds do not worry.  They know God will provide what they need to survive.  God has given the ability of flight to travel to go to where food is.  God has given them the ability to blend in to the environment.  God has given them the water they need to survive.  God has given them the knowledge of how to build places of shelter.

Birds do not stress out about survival.  Even though they live a lot of their life flying to new food sources and new places to build nest they know God will provide the way.  It is amazing to think that there are a lot of things birds have to fear yet they do not fear the necessities of life.

Do we have those fears?  Many of us live our life in a mind of poverty.  We do not believe that God will provide our simple needs.  We spend a lot of time trying to meet those needs.  Yet, we do not put our faith in God. 

We have to come to the understanding that God will provide our needs.  What we must do is give ourselves truly to God.  When we give our life to God we will not have to worry that God will not provide our needs.

Honestly all of us at one point have fallen into that state of fear.  We try not to but we begin worrying so much that we step away from the sheltering arms of God.  We try to solve our problems on our own.  We struggle because our faith in God is faltering.  We all start fearing our needs will not be met at one point of time.  We do have a way of reclaiming the gift of God’s provisions for our life.

When we go into deep prayer and submission of our life to God we are able to overcome our fear.  We learn that God wants us to have a successful happy life.  It is up to us to stay in fear or to humbly turn our lives over to God.  When you choose to give your life fully over to God you will soon realize that you will have your needs met and will be happier than you have ever been in your life.                                                                                                                                                          

Prayer:

God we thank you for giving us all our needs.  We thank you Jesus for giving us the gift of everlasting life.  We thank you for loving us even when we stray.  Help us to live a life of faith.  Help us live like the birds and flowers knowing without fear that you will provide all our needs.  Help us overcome the poverty mind set.  In the name of the Giver of Life we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Do you have the faith of a bird?  Do you know God will provide all your needs if you only trust God?  Are you ready today to stop worrying about things of this world and focus wholly on God?

Who do You Serve?

Verses:  Matthew 6:24

My thoughts about the verses:

This is a very simple question.  We have to remember that we can only serve God or the things of this world.  If we choose to serve the world our life will be full of unhappiness and a lack of peace.  When we serve God we feel love, peace and happiness.

See you have to choose who you want to follow in this world.  You cannot choose to serve God and the things of this world.  They are the opposite of each other.  If you choose to serve God you will not want to do things that are against the Spirit that lives within us.  If you choose to serve the world you are turning away from God.

See you cannot in any situation choose to serve two things at once.  When you do this you are living in a constant state of unhappiness.  One day you will lean toward one way of life.  The next day you may lean toward the other way of life.  No matter what you will never be totally happy because your life will be in chaos.

We have the choice to serve God or the world.  We can desire to do things that reward our Spirit.  We can also choose to collect the things of this world.  In the first situation it isn’t about what you own instead it is about a feeling deep inside of you.  In the second situation it is always about gaining more and more things. 

We have to remember that Jesus wants us to lean on him and build our wealth on serving God.  Yet, if we do not listen to God our life is in disarray.  We are constantly fighting our Spirit.  Those that have chosen God have to realize that if you are working against God your spirit will constantly ache deep inside.

Now we also have to realize that since God created all of us there is a spirit within us.  Yet, if you have not accepted God you do not have the guidance of God in your life.  Those that have accepted God have the power of God guiding them and leading them in the way of light.

The choice is yours you cannot live with your spirit divided.  You cannot serve the world and God at the time.  God is ready to accept you into the fold.  Yet, the choice is yours. 

Prayer:

O Holy God we praise your name.  We bow down to you and ask for your guidance.  We worship you for you are the giver of life.  Help us to choose to have you as the master of our life.  Help us not fall into the desires of the world.  In the name of the Giver of life we pray.  Amen

Questions:

Who do you serve?  Do you spend your time serving God?  Do you spend your time serving the World? Are you willing to spend your whole life serving God? The choice is yours are you ready to make than choice today?

Are you Healthy or Unhealthy in Spiritual Ways?

Verses:  Matthew 6:22-23

My thoughts about the verses:

It is easy when you first read this that we think God is talking about the Health of our body.  Yet this is not what these verses are addressing.  Instead it is the Health of our Spiritual side of life.

Think of it this way the more time that you spend with God the healthier your Spirit will be.  We will see the light of God in others.  We will also feel with the light and love of Jesus.

When we spend our time focusing on things other than God our Spirit is unhealthy.  When we lose sight of the ways of God our view is not able to find the light of the Lord.  We also cannot focus on God.

Think of it like this if you are saved you have a healthy Spirit.  When you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior then your Spirit is unhealthy.  This is not this simple a matter.  What we have to realize those that have accepted Christ can also live unhealthy.  We can live without our life focusing on God.  In this situation even though we are saved our Spirit though saved is also unhealthy.

We can recover from this unhealthy Spirit when we start focusing on Jesus.  When you turn your life around and accept God your Spirit becomes healthier.  When we start focusing on living in a Godly way we become healthier.  We can quickly go from an unhealthy Spirit to a very healthy Spirit.

Prayer:

God of love we thank you for your love.  Jesus we thank you for giving us the way to have a healthy Spirit.  Holy Spirit we thank you for helping us sees the light of God.  We know that we will never be completely healthy until we turn our lives over to you.  Help us dear God give our life over to you.  Help us dear Holy Spirit to live our life every day in the ways of God.  Jesus helps us see the light that comes from accepting your sacrifice.  In the name of the Light and Guider we pray.  Amen 

Questions:

Are you ready to be healthy?  Are you tired of being unhealthy? Have you turned your life over to God?  Is today the day that you start becoming healthy in the name of the Light?