Month: July 2024

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Teachers Listen Up!

The Psalms

Matthew 5 When I began teaching I never understood the commands of God but now as I look back,I can see how His hand has been upon me since then. In my study time I came across two verses that are critical for every teacher to memorize and rehearse and have been in my “arsenal” since then: 

So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [Matt 5:19] and If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.[Mark 9:42] 

These words are not just for teachers of little ones, they are also for those who teach any age group. If you are a teacher, take heed and memorize these words as a way of protecting yourself and the ones you teach. When I was young, the very first verse I learned was Psalm 119:105 and that truth is still relevant today and more so for teachers.

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Advocate

Pray for the fathers of our children

Psalm 68 This verse: “and an advocate for widows” has always been a comfort for me when my Dad passed away. I knew then that God would always be there for my Mother and He proved Himself true. For many years she was a widow but remained strong and always involved in ministry. What a praise that is! 

Secondly,this part of that same verse: “He is a father to the fatherless” is also a comfort. When we are “parentless” we find great comfort knowing that God is our Father. The Apostle John wrote the words of Jesus: “go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” [Jn 20:17] This was the first time Jesus said “your Father.” We now have that blessing. God is “our” Father and He is a father to the fatherless as the psalmist wrote.

So if you are a widow or you are parentless, you can trust that Jesus will always be there for you in any situation. Do you know Him? Remember an advocate stands in place of us. Jesus is our advocate before the Father and the Holy Spirit is our advocate revealing truth to us that we may not sin. 

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How to win over temptation.

Matthew 4 Temptation and Repentance

Jesus faced the onslaught of temptation from the evil one. Satan is clever and begins his temptation of Christ when he is at his lowest point physically and spiritually. We too face this same temptation when we are at our lowest and are the most vulnerable. That is why we must stay close to the Lord 24/7, 365 days a year. Satan may not be omniscient but he has his demons who work for him and they can follow his orders. We must be on guard. Jesus knew that the only tool that works against Satan is the mighty word of the Lord and He utilized it. He knew scripture and could recall the exact words to be used as he sword of the Lord. Scripture memorization is key and we must use it as part of our weapons. In Ephesians we are given the weapons that will win: Stand firm therefore, by fastening the belt of truth around your waist, by putting on the breastplate of righteousness, by fitting your feet with the preparation that comes from the good news of peace, and in all of this, by taking up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God) (Eph 6:11-16) 

Sometimes we are successful but other times we are not. When Jesus passed the test by Satan, He then picked up the message of John the Baptist: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” That is what we need to do when we fail: repent and do not rehearse the failure but claim the power of God and seek His face. Stand up! Stand firm! 

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God Speaks

Matt 2 Throughout the OT and now in the NT, God often spoke to those He was going to bless in some way through a dream. God used a star and then a dream to the Wise Men of the East about the birth of Christ. That message was received with mixed reviews from the city of Jerusalem and the King. After learning from the OT scriptures that, yes a king would be born,the agitated king sent them to find this mysterious “king.”  The world today is receiving news of the King the same way. Some accept it as truth and go and worship this King. Others receive it as nonsense and ignore it. Some are ambivalent and they too ignore it. But, to those who search the scriptures and receive HIM as the Word of God who became a man and lived among us, they are the ones blessed. 

When you heard the news of the birth of Christ, how did you react? Have you gone and searched for him as the Wise Men did and then bestow precious gifts upon Him or did you ignore the news and go on your way. Or worse did you do as Herod and seek to kill Him? Now God has given us the scriptures to search and in them we will find the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. 

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Jesus…Savior!

Repent and Believe

Matt 1 Salvation

Matthew, the Jew who recorded the life of Jesus wrote: “he will save his people from their sins.”  Every Jew was aware of his sin and obediently took his sacrifice on the Day of Atonement to the Temple. The Hebrews author reminded his readers that even though they had done this , it needed to be done over and over again. Now Matthew sheds new light on this problem, earthly sacrifices will never save us from our sins, but this Jesus, birthed through the Holy Spirit, will do just that.  

Today, stop and consider this precious gift of salvation through the Son of God, Jesus Christ who gave His life to save us from our sin. 

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Blessings

Count blessings

Psalm 65 “How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts.” [Ps 65:4] We use the word blessing so casually but the psalmist rightly points us to the truth of this word: it is God that blesses and He blesses those whom He has chosen. In the NT we read that we were chosen from the foundation of the world. Stop and consider the word chosen. That means that God specifically took time to observe and wisely choose those upon whom He would place His favor. Note too that God not only chooses but places them near to Him so that they can dwell within His court. One day we shall stand before His judgment seat and will we hear well done thou good and faithful servant or I never knew you. 

Where will you and I stand? What will we hear? Take time today to ponder this thought: you were chosen before the foundation of the world and He has placed His favor upon you. 

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The Fool

Be wise

Proverbs 15 Continuing on with the theme of the wise vs the fool and zeroing in on the prodigal son from Luke; Proverbs repeatedly shows that the foolish don’t usually know they are behaving foolishly. (Bryan Mc. Woodcreek sermon). It seems that the fool is one that determines he is wiser than God and he knows better, but in the end, he is left bereft of any points of wisdom.  In Proverbs 15  “A fool rejects his father’s discipline, but whoever heeds reproof shows good sense.”  In the parable of the prodigal we see that truth in living color!  

In this parable, the son wants nothing to do with his father and rejects all the blessings that have been bestowed upon him and in essence he says, he wishes the father dead so he can have his inheritance and do as he wishes. The father yields to the son and he leaves with all of the wealth, but because he is a fool, he finds that the world is harsh and unforgiving. He thinks he is wise but soon finds out that the wisdom that he thought he had was nothing in comparison to what his father has. Sooner than later, he finds that once his wealth is gone, so too are his so-called friends and he finds that the only place left is with the pigs. 

Solomon in crafting this chapter is hoping to teach his son this truth just as the sermon pointed out: the fool does not realize he is a fool. Is there hope? There is! One must yield to God for as the chapter tells us: welcoming correction is a mark of good sense. [MSG] 

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