Gossip and the Gospel James 4:11-12

We tend to have a habit of talking about others in a negative fashion. Sometimes we claim we have to say what we think or we would be dishonest, when often it is best if we just hold our tongues. We talk about others often to make ourselves look or feel better. In talking about others we often judge others. In Hebrews 4:11-12 we will see why this is wrong, and why it is not our place to judge some sins as worse than other sins.
Verse 11 starts with the statement "Do not speak evil against one another, brothers." This is a simple command. Do not do this. Do not speak evil against one another. It does not say "Do not speak evil against one another, brothers behind someones back but it is okay to do it to their face." The truth is talking about someone behind their back or to their face are both wrong actions and they both should be avoided. It also important that we realize that we are all guilty of this action, of this sin.

Verse 11 continues "the one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks evil against the law and judges the law." When we against someone else we are judging them. We would not be spreading this piece of juicy gossip or talking about or to this person in this way unless we felt like what they were doing was worse then what we were doing. In this way we make ourselves the judge! We are not the judge! And in fact we are no better than anyone else. The bible says in Romans 3:23 that "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." The means my sweet Mema who may appear to be the nicest person in the world is just as bad off and has fallen just as short of God's glory as a serial killer. We have no right to judge anyone.

Verse 12 makes a profound statement, that should stop us in our tracks and cause us to think: "But their is only one lawgiver and judge". I will go ahead and spoil the surprise, you and I are not that lawgiver. We are not that judge, and in fact when we act as if we are that lawgiver and that judge we are committing a sin, the same sin that Satan committed. We are saying to God that we are better than God and his law and his judgments are not good enough so we need to intervene and judge for God. How do you think the just judge of the universe feels about that?


Verse 12 the continues "he who is able to save and to destroy". Judgement's that you or I make are incapable of saving or destroying. The law that we make up for ourselves (that we then fail to keep, yet hold others accountable too) cannot save anyone even if they were kept. God is the one who can save and he is the one who can destroy. God is the one who shows grace and that one who will judge. Both of these things are important to remember. We cannot ever forget the justice of God. There will be people who God sends into hell for all eternity and the only difference between us and them is not that we are better but that we have been shown grace.
Which brings us to the concluding statement of this passage: "But who are you to judge your neighbor?" The answer is no one. The answer is: "I am not the judge, and I am no better than the person I am trying to judge. I am a lawbreaker who the judge has shown grace to." If we understand this Gospel, that Christ died for us while we were enemies with him, then we cease to judge others and instead we will share His Gospel with them and we will let God be the judge.

The Cause and Solution To All of Life's Problems: James 4:1-10

In this passage we will see the root issue that causes all of our fighting and strife. We will see the problem that resides in our heart that is constantly at work as we argue and fight with our fellow Christians. This problem, this sin, is at the heart of every single one of these problems, and it is a sin that we all struggle with. It is the sin of pride and selfishness.

Verse 1
James starts out this section of his letter by asking a question, and this question could be asked like this : "Why do you fight and argue?" Notice that the question is not "Why are you currently in this argument?" If it said that the reader might be able to explain away the fight as something that someone else caused, or give any number of excuses, but the more broad question allows James to get to the root cause. James then gives you the answer: "Is it not this, are you passions not at war within you?" Passions could be better translated desires. We all have desires that are waging a war inside of us. We have the evil and sinful desires of pride and selfishness, and we have the good desires to serve and worship God, and these two desires are always fighting inside of us. When the selfish fulfillment of our desires wins this war than is when we find ourselves fighting with other believers.
Verse 2
James gives an extreme example to prove his point. His statement is intended to shock, but it is true. We need to look no further than the Old Testament story of David and Bathsheba to see that people, even people who worship God, may kill to get something that they want that belongs to someone else. This is a common theme in murder mystery's. Notice he goes on though to explain that the same sin is what causes us to fight with each other. James wants us to understand that when we want something that belongs to someone else (covet, which is an act born in selfishness and pride) we are guilty of a big sin, a sin that can lead to murder .
James then tells us that if we need something, why do we not ask God for it? Why do we need to fight over things when God can and will supply everything that we need?
Verse 3
James does not want us to think that God gives us everything that we ask for willy-nilly though. God gives us what we need, not everything we desire. If we are asking for selfish reasons we cannot expect God to give us the things we are asking for. It is absolutely incredibly when we think about it that we would use our God given gift of prayer to ask selfishly for things we do not need, but we do!
Verse 4
Having this jealousy and being selfish is a serious matter, and it shows that we are friends with the world. James goes on to say that if you are friends with the world then you are God's enemies. This is not a place that we want to be at.
Verse 5
This verse balances out the last one. We are enemies of God's because of our selfish and prideful nature, but the God of the universe jealously desires and yearns for our souls. God wants us! For God it is not a sin for him to be jealous, he is not wanting something that he does not deserve he wanting something that is already His! But God wants us, and he yearns for us. How beautiful is this picture? We are enemies with God but rather than seeking our judgment and punishment he is yearning for us to come back to him!
Verse 6
Yes, God is a gracious God, a very gracious God, he gives us more grace than we could possibly ever comprehend. We will spend the whole of our Christian lives, and eternity, trying to understand the depths of the mercy, grace, and compassion of God. Then we read "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." If we want God's grace we need to be humble. If we think that we are good enough, smart enough, strong enough or spiritual enough to earn God's favor we better think again. Our admission of our need for God's help is humility, and thinking, or living, like we do not need God's help is pride.
verse 7
Our humble spirit will lead to our submission to God. If we admit that we need God then we will do what he says , rather than thinking we can do this on our own. Notice when we are humble and submissive to God we will find that we are capable of standing up to Satan, and that when we do, by God's grace he will run away with his tail between his legs.
Verse 8
Notice the series of events here, we humble ourselves before God in our spirit, which causes us to submit to him and do what he says, which causes us to draw near to him and then he draws near to us. Who wants to be near to the most powerful and gracious being in the universe? I can think of no better place to be!
The next sentence talks about washings and the original audience would of known he was referencing the ceremonial washings of the Old Testament. These washings were supposed to be symbolic of an inward change of heart and the living of a pure lifestyle. These washing were worthless apart from the actions of pure living, In the same way living a moral life is worthless apart form the humility which drives us to the cross of Jesus Christ. Living a moral life will gain us nothing apart from the salvation offered by the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We do not live a moral life so that we are saved, we live a moral life because Jesus saved us and empowers us to live that life.
Verse 9
This grace that we have been given is not a license sin. We should take our sin very seriously and when we fall into sin we should weep over it, not laugh over it. We far too often joke about our sin when we instead should be broken over it. Jesus died to free us from sin, yet we choose to live in it anyway. When we sin we should be driven to our knees in continual repentance.
Verse 10
We can choose to attempt to exalt ourselves, and find that we fail. We can live our lives proud of who we are and what we have done. We can laugh and joke and brag about the sins that we have committed. Or we can humble ourselves before God and be exalted by him. How are we exalted by him? He adopts us into his family. Why is this an exaltation? Because we become co-inheritors with Jesus of a perfect body, and a perfect eternity.


We fight and we argue. We have strife and problems. All of these problems are caused by our pride and selfishness. When we are prideful we are deceived. When we think we are good enough we are living a lie, and when we are humble it means that we see what we truly are, and we see who God truly is. The best way for us to stay humble is too constantly live with the Gospel on our minds. Understanding that our place as adopted sons of God comes only by the power of God.

New Direction: Summary of Last Night

Today launches a new chapter in this blog. I hope you used this blog in the past to get into a pattern of daily Bible study. If you are in need of a daily devotional, send me a message and I will help you find one. This blog will now be used for a different purpose. Every Thursday a post will go up with a recap of the lesson from Wednesday night.  That way you do not forget it. It is also something that you can read to keep up with us if you miss a week because you were sick or for other reasons.

Wisdom & Humility

Do you think you have life all figured out?

Do you think you are wise?

If you said yes to those two questions, I have news for you: You are not wise. I am not wise. I may display wisdom from time to time, and you may too, but neither of us are really wise. Those of you that said no to those questions are on the right track but then we must ask ourselves if we still act like we know it all by refusing help from others.

James 3:13-18 is a hard-hitting passage on this topic of wisdom-- what it is, what it isn’t, and what it brings to our lives.

Vs 13
James asks a similar question to the one I asked at the beginning of this post. Then he adds that if you are wise then you will show your works in humility. Being humble means recognizing when you need help, and making sure that you will not live your life for yourself but for others. It is the opposite of pride. You cannot be both wise and proud.

Vs 14
The point of this verse is that if you claim you are wise but have “bitter jealousy” and “selfish ambition,” you are not wise and are in fact lying if you say you are. These two things that James mentions are really big deals, but we are all guilty of them from time to time.  Bitter jealousy is when you really want something that someone else has and you cease to be content with God and instead think that you would be happy if you only had that one thing more.  Selfish ambition also stems from dissatisfaction, but it is when you selfishly pursue your own goals instead of the goals of God. You show this characteristic when you hurt others to get what you want.

Vs 15
These two things are not from God. This type of ambition is wrong, and jealousy is also wrong. James says that they are “earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” This list goes from bad to worst. It starts with "earthly," which has the idea that it is temporary and pertaining to the earth instead of heaven. The second one is “unspiritual” which has the idea that it hinders spiritual growth and in fact has the opposite effect of spiritual growth. The third part is that it is demonic. Satan and his demons were guilty of bitter jealousy and selfish ambition when Satan said that he could be like the God Most High and tried to overthrow Him. We essentially do the same thing when we exhibit this behavior because we are saying God and what He has given us is not enough.

Vs 16
Where these two things exist there will be “disorder and every vile practice.” You can probably think of situations in your life where problems were caused due to jealousy and this ambition. You can probably think of times you were jealous or ambitious in this way and you lost friends and caused all sort of pain in people's lives. In truth, these two things can cause a world of hurt in other peoples lives and can cause you to do all sorts of things that are wrong.

Vs 17
The wisdom that comes from God is wisdom that brings peace and is pure. This list of things is filled with good things that we want, but it takes humility and a focus on doing things for God’s glory rather than our own.

Vs 18
We will get what we sow. If we plant grass seed we can’t expect to get pumpkins. If we sow jealousy and such things then we will reap those same things. If we sow wisdom we will reap peace.

It is important that we find our satisfaction in God. Every time we go against God we are saying that He is not enough. In my best moments I find my complete satisfaction in God and in so doing I find joy. If we look for contentment in anything else we will just continue to look. We will always be one thing away from contentment and we will become bitterly jealous of others and our ambition will hurt so many people. We need to realize that God is all we ever need, and in him we can find satisfaction.

Resurrection Sunday: April 8th: He is Risen! Matt 28:1-10

In the moment of what appeared to be God’s greatest defeat he achieved his greatest victory. Jesus died, but he did not stay dead. Oh he arose from the dead. We have reason to celebrate today, because our God is great. Jesus was killed, executed in fact, he gave up his own life but he did not stay dead.
Oh Jesus died, and he died so that we would not have to, but he came back to life. He was resurrected. This is the basis of our beliefs. If Jesus did not rise from the dead then we have nothing, if he did then he is God and his sacrifice is worth everything.
I ask you this morning is your life found in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus? Is this where your hope is found? Is this where your joy is found?
If not repent and turn to him, believe in Jesus and you too will enjoy eternal life with him.

As the song in Christ alone says:
“There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory
Sins curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From a life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell, no scheme of man
Could ever pluck me from His hand
Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I stand”

Saturday April 7th- Hope Seems Lost Luke 23:50-56

Jesus was dead. Killed like a criminal. Darkness seems to have one. Satan, sin and evil seem to be victorious.
Has God lost? Will man and God ever be reunited? Will every person be eternally separated from a holy God?
Satan has killed God’s son.
Imagine for a moment the disciples hiding in a room somewhere. Struggling with the fact that their friend and the person they believed in and trusted has died. Think of how they may have been questioning their faith saying to themselves “How could this happen”?
It is difficult for us to imagine how dark this day must of been for the disciples and other believers in Jesus. Their mentor, the person who they believed to have been the Christ is dead. They had pretty much not understood any of Jesus’ statements concerning his coming death and resurrection. So here they are concerned, worried, afraid. Understandable so. It seems as if God has lost.
But, Sunday is Coming.

Black Friday April 6th- Trial and Execution

Matt 26:57-27:26 (trial)
Jesus was tried, by multiple people. It was a joke of a trial honestly though. Accusations were made, and Jesus was ultimately killed for claiming to be the Christ (Messiah), which he was. So he was executed for telling the truth.
Furthermore the Roman authority (Pilate, the regional governor) found nothing wrong with him at all. Thought he was completely innocent, even tried to release him, but the crowds wanted Jesus to be crucified.
Matt 27:27-54 (execution)
And Jesus was crucified. He was beaten and whipped, mocked, even had his beard plucked. He was nailed to a piece of wood to die a slow death through blood loss and asphyxiation (suffocation). Jesus, the king of kings, the messiah was bleeding to death, and soon he died. But with his death some other things happened, that should give us hope on this dark day. Vs 51 says “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” The curtain separating God from the world was torn in two. Oh that promise of hope, the significance of this act should not go unnoticed. The temple was no longer needed, man, through the actions of Jesus Christ has access to God without a priest other than Jesus Christ!

Thursday 5th- Last Supper and Garden of Gethsemane Matt 26:20-35 and 26:36-46

These two events are both important so we must deal with them both on this day.
The first event is the passover meal that Jesus has with his disciples, it has been famously called the Last Supper. In this mean Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper or Communion which connects him directly to the passover lamb. This is because Jesus will shortly become the passover lamb where in because of his sacrifice the wrath of God will passover those who believe in him.
The second event is the garden of Gethsemane. This should all momentarily take us back to another garden. The garden of eden where Adam does exactly what God told him not do. Here we see the exact opposite from Jesus who says in vs 39: “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus agonized over his coming death, but he did the will of the father. Jesus succeeded where Adam failed. We all fail like Adam, but Jesus succeed and lived the righteous life for our sakes and this is proven by his statement “not as I will, but as you will.”

April 4th: Wednesday: The Plot Matthew 26:3-5

At this time people start to plot to kill Jesus. Why, because he called them out. He called out their fake religion and challenged them to live for real before God not before men. He was disturbing their place of power and authority by being truthful.
Did you know that truth and doing the right thing can get you in trouble? Sometimes people do not like to be confronted with their own sin, especially when they think they are good, and even more so when others think they are good. This is why we need to avoid the idol of being liked and thought well of by others, and why we need to make sure that in the church the glory goes to God and not a man.
Because of the truth that Jesus had been spouting they were going to try to kill him. They knew the crowds liked him so they conspired behind closed doors and we’re going to try and do it in a way that did not make the crowds angry.

Tuesday-April 3rd: Jesus answers questions and teaches in the Temple Mark 12:13-44

Jesus has made quite a lot of people mad, by saying certain things and doing certain things. A lot of these question that he is asked are designed to trap him so that they can accuse him of a crime and kill him. If you read closely you will realize that Jesus realize what they are trying to do and often turns it around on them. When you read this passage you may have noticed the three questions Jesus was asked. His answers are phenomenal, perfectly answering the questions so that in the end no one is even willing to ask him any more questions. Which is when Jesus does two things: 1. He asserts his authority and 2. He humbles the scribes and the pharisees.
1. He asserts his authority by simply quoting the Old Testament, and claiming that he is greater than David. King David was Israel's greatest king. King David called the messiah Lord, and Jesus had claimed to be the messiah multiple times. He is asserting his authority before he moves on to humble the scribes.
2. He begins to humble the scribes in two ways. In verses 38-40 he claims that they are all show with no substance. This is a glaring condemnation. They do their religious actions so they are seen by others and that is all they seem to care about. The second way that he humbles them is points out an old widow lady, and says that her small offering has more significance because she gave all she had whereas the Pharisees may have given a lot but they still had a lot more, and they only gave so that they would look good in front of others.

Jesus had a lot of negative things to say about the purely religious people who were acting in this manner only so they could be seen in front of people. Is your belief, and the good things you do, done for this reason? Jesus had harsh words for these people as we have seen in this passage, he also called them a “brood of vipers” in another passage. Pray and ask God to reveal to you the truth of your religious practice and if you are like the pharisees repent and turn to him.

Monday- April 2nd Temple Clearing Mark 11:15-17

We often picture Jesus as this mild mannered guy who went around saying cliché things. We often rob Him of his dignity and his masculinity. Jesus said hard things, and he called people out on sin on multiple occasions. Mild-mannered is not a word I would use to describe Jesus. We can definitely see that in this passage. People are buying and selling, and exchanging currencies in the temple. The temple was supposed to be a holy place where people came to worship God, but now as Jesus says in verse 13 “but you make it a den of robbers.” Jesus violently runs out the people buying selling things in the temple, this of course upsets people, and offends others, but it was the right thing to do.

Palm Sunday April 1st Triumphal entry- Matthew 21:1-11

Palm Sunday April 1st
Triumphal entry- Matthew 21:1-11

Jesus is greeted as a prophet and king as he enters Jerusalem just a few days before he will be executed, by the same crowd as a common criminal. this crowd recognizes that he is from God but if we look at verse 11 we see that they just think he is a prophet. It is not enough to view Jesus as a prophet, he must be viewed as the son of God and the savior of the world.
It is believed that they were celebrating Jesus entry into Jerusalem because they believe at this time Jesus would become their political savior. Thankfully Jesus did much more than become their political savior.
Jesus came riding in on a donkey rather than a horse. He came in riding humbling not prepared for battle or war. Jesus will come again, and that time he will be riding on a horse, ready to judge the nations.

March 31st: Mark 11:1-6: Jesus needs a Donkey

Jesus will soon enter in to the city of Jerusalem for the last time. He will enter into peacefully, but as its king. Jesus is the king of Jerusalem, for he is the king of all. Jesus accurately predicts what the disciples will find and they bring back the donkey to him.
I want you to prepare your hearts today. This coming week we will walk through the last week of Jesus' life, and see his death and resurrection. Let us be humble and learn from Jesus last words with his disciples before his death and let us glory in the Cross of Christ and his death and resurrection.

March 30th: Mark 10:46-52: THe Blind Man Who Wouldn't Give Up

This blind man showed tremendous faith. He would not give up. He kept calling for Jesus over and over again. Jesus did not answer him at first. If he had given up after the first time he would have stayed blind. But Jesus healed him because his faith was shown in his tenacity. He knew Jesus could heal him so he kept on asking. Even when other people told him to stop he continued on knowing that Jesus had the power.
Let our faith be like this so that we may find help in God.

March 29th Mark 10:41-44: The Other Disciples

It turns out that the other disciples were not better. They were upset at the two disciples for asking, because they were beat to the punch. They were upset because they wanted those positions and thought that they should have them instead of those two disciples.
Jesus turns the whole thing on its head saying that the great ones are the servants. In so many ways we can see this is the life of Jesus, who became a servant. He died for others, this is our example. If you want to be a leader for Christ then you need to be a servant.

March 28th: Mark 10:35-40: Wow...

Wow.. the nerve of these two disciples. Can you imagine? They come up to Jesus and ask if they can be the ones that are in charge in the coming kingdom of God. They want positions of honor. They are not concerned with the honor of God or of Jesus at this moment. They desire power and honor for themselves. Jesus explains that those positions have been prepared for someone else after asking if they will drink the cup, meaning suffer what he is going to suffer.
These two disciples hearts were not in the right place. They were focused on the wrong things and needed a change of heart. Are we concerned with God's glory or our own?

March 27th: Mark 10:32-34: Jesus Fortells His Own Death and Ressurection (again)

This is not the first time Jesus has foretold his death and resurrection. He does this to comfort his disciples who will before too long see these things happen to Jesus. They will be frightened and for a period of time lose hope. They will be found hiding for fear of being executed themselves as followers of Jesus Christ. One of Jesus' closest followers will find himself denying him three times all because they failed to listen to Jesus when he told them these things.
In this passage he goes into quite a bit more detail of what is going to happen, yet they are still surprised when these things go down.

March 26th: Mark 10:28-31: The Reward

Peter points out the obvious. The 12 disciples had done what Jesus asked the rich young man to do. Jesus says that they will be rewarded far beyond what they have given up. Remember the call to follow Jesus is the call to die to self and be willing to die for Him. The call to Christianity is not an easy call but it is a worthwhile call. This is what Jesus is saying here. Yes as Christians we may give up things, we may suffer hardship and we may fight against persecution, but we will be rewarded. We find peace and friendship with God in this life and will be able to fulfill our eternal purpose in heaven for all eternity.

March 25th: Mark 10:26-27: Salvation is Impossible

The disciples are thinking if rich people cannot be saved then who can be saved? And Jesus' response is beautiful "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God." The point Jesus is making is that it is impossible with man for anyone to be saved. We are so dead in our sins that no amount of good and right living could ever save us. It is impossible. But with God the rich and the poor can have salvation. With God the horrible murder can be saved. With God the rebellious teen ager can be saved. With God the self righteous person can get saved. With God the impossible can happen and a human being can be saved from damnation.

March 24th: Mark 10:23-25: Eye of a Needle

A little context may help here. Rich people were the spiritual leaders of the day. They taught that if you gave a lot of money to the temple and the poor you were more likely to gain access into heaven. They essentially thought you could buy your way to heaven. So apparently the disciples believed this as well, so they were so surprised when Jesus said it is difficult for rich people to get to heaven.
There has been quite a lot of disinformation spread about this next statement of Jesus. A camel cannot fit through the eye of a needle. It is simply not possible. For this reason some people have wanted to make this a gate instead of a literal needle, but the point is that it is impossible for people to buy or earn their way to heaven.

March 23rd: Mark 10:17-22: Rich Young Man

We like to pick on this guy. He asks Jesus what he needs to do to have eternal life. And then he claims he has kept all the commandments. So Jesus says sell all of your stuff and come follow me. The guy does not do it. He likes his stuff. Plain and simple the guy loved his stuff more than Jesus. This means that he had broken the commandment to love God. God asks for our love above everything. He commands that we love him in this manner. We should be willing to leave everything we have to follow him.

March 22nd: Mark 10:13-16: Being Like a Child

Humility. Jesus is saying that we need to admit that we are like children before we can begin to truly have faith in God. If we look at ourselves and think that we have it all under control then we will not realize our need for God. We have to be like children who readily and obviously need someone else to take care of them.
The truth is we need someone else to take care of us. We need God, and like children we need to admit it.

Mach 21st: Mark 10:1-12: Marriage and Divorce

In this passage Jesus teaches on marriage. He emphasizes that marriage is a covenant, meaning an unbreakable promise. He is essentially teaching that divorce is wrong. When we look at scriptures teachings on marriage we quickly realize that divorce is not an option for Christians except for in the cases of unfaithfulness. Even in the case of unfaithfulness there should still be a desire for reconciliation on the part of the innocent party. Marriage is supposed to be forever and we should go into marriage recognizing this, not thinking well if it doesn't work out I can always get a divorce.

March 20th: Mark 9:42-50: Sin is a Big Deal

Sin is a big deal. We like to brush aside some sins and say that those are okay sins and declare other sins to be bad sin. Of course it ends up being the sins that we commit are not the big sins and the sins that others commit are the big sins. In reality all sin is big. Every wrong act is an act of rebellion against God who deserves nothing but our love and obedience. To ensure that we understand how big a deal sin is Jesus uses some very drastic examples of what we should do to stop sin in our lives.
He says if your eye is causing you to sin pluck it out and if your hand is causing you to sin cut it off. This is clearly an exaggeration for the sake of making a point. But maybe their are things we need to cut or pluck out of our lives that are causing us to sin. Maybe their are certain things that we can do to ensure that we do not sin in a specific area that we are struggling with. Sometimes it takes drastic action that will cause us pain and suffering, but sin is a big deal and we need to treat it like it is a big deal.

March 19th: Mark 9:38-41: Disciples Get Jealous

Someone else is casting out demons in the name of Jesus. The person who is doing this is not one of the 12 disciple but is someone else. It seems to be working though. He is successfully casting out demons. The disciples are upset by this. Jesus quickly calms them down, and essentially explains that if they are doing his work they are doing the right thing.
Sometimes we get caught up in competition with other Christians. We want our church to be the biggest and the best so rather than advancing the kingdom of God we only advance our small portion of it. This is simply not the way things should be. We should want to expand God's kingdom not our own kingdom. This means that if another church is growing because they are preaching the gospel we should not be jealous we should rejoice along with them knowing that people are being added to the kingdom of God.

March 18th: Mark 9:33-37: Who is the Greatest?

Past John Piper once said "If you are standing on the edge of the grand canyon thinking of how great you are you are pathological." His point is if you are seeing or near something that is awe inspiring yet you are thinking how great you are then their is something wrong with you. I would say this also applies to the people who has been following Jesus.
Did you catch what this passage says? These disciples are arguing about who is the greatest! They have been following Jesus around and seeing him do all of these things. They heard his preach his sermons like the sermon on the mount where he talks about humility. Of course none of them were the greatest, Jesus is the greatest. And Jesus uses an illustration of a child to show them that need to have humility.
Really I think we are far too often like the disciples. Rather than focusing on the glory of God we are instead focused on our achievements and on how good we are. If our eyes and hearts are fixed on God then our pride will be demolished and we will find joy in our worship of him.

March 17th: Mark 8:30-32: The Disciples are Confused (again Part 2)

Jesus says it rather plainly. It doesn't get much more plain than this: “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” They were confused though. Why? Ill give you two possible reasons, which I think are both the case:
1. They were still expecting Jesus to over throw the Roman government and set up his kingdom on earth.
They had yet to figure out that Jesus' true mission was of much greater importance than freeing the nation of Israel from its bondage to Rome, instead Jesus was going to free them from their slavery to Sin. If he was going to be a great political leader then he couldn't die.

2. I think they may have been in denial a little bit.
They had grown close to Jesus and they were not sure what they would do without him and because of this they did not want to hear anything about him dieing. They wanted him to continue leading them and continue teaching them.

The truth is if they had been able to get over their bias they would of found Jesus death a much less traumatizing event. Rather than it seeming like it was the worst possible thing that could of happened they would of realized instead that it was God's plan all along and that Jesus would not stay dead.

March 16th Mark 9:14-29: "Lord Help My Unbelief

This is a very interesting passage where Jesus' disciples are incapable of casting out a demon, and so Jesus ha to do it. But I really want to focus on the mans statement in verse 24 "I believe; help my unbelief!” This should be the cry of every Christian. We believe in God but their are many areas of our lives where we do not act as if we believe in God or where we falter in our beliefs in God. These areas need to be minimized so that we can act in true and complete faith. This will always be a process and it is something that we need to ask God for help in. We should all be praying "I believe, help my unbelief."

March 15th: Mark 9:9-13: The Disciples are Confused (again)

Jesus was a little cryptic at times when he told parables, but he often explained those parables to his disciples. Hid disciples has trouble understanding some things though. It seems as if they never understood him when he told them he was going to die, or when he said he was going to rise again. It is almost as if the moment he started talking about these things they closed their ears and did not want to hear it. Jesus told his disciples on many occasions that he was going to die and rise from the dead, yet they were all surprised when he died, and then when he came back. In this passage they are confused by the fact that Jesus told them not tell anyone about his transfiguration until he came back from the dead.

March 14th: Mark 9:2-8: The Transfiguration

Can you for a moment imagine seeing Jesus glorified? This is one of our many hopes. To see Jesus fully and completely as he really is. These two disciples had been with Jesus for a while now but they had never seen him in his glory, but only in his frail temporary body on earth. To see him in his glory along with two old testament saints must of been a shocking and thrilling experience. It is funny, the passage actually says that Peter did not know what to say, so rather than saying nothing he had to fill the silence with something, and suggested putting up three tents, one for each person. The main problem with this is that Peter was treating all of three of these people like they were equal, when they are not. It is clear the God was correcting peter with his voice from heaven making sure he understood that Jesus was his son, and that he should be listened to.

March 13th: Mark 9:1: They Would See the Power of the Kingdom

The people who are listening to Jesus at this time would see Gods kingdom come in with power. . All of Jesus closest disciples, except for Judas, saw Jesus ressurection and saw the day of Pentacost in Acts 2. Gods kingdom is revealed, with power, in both of those instances. Acts Chapter 2:2-4 says "Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them." That is the kingdom of God coming in power. Later on the day of Pentacost Peter, who just days before had been a fisherman, preaches the gospel. The response of the crowd is amazing Acts 2:41 says "So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added." 3000 people came to know Jesus because of the message that was proclaimed. That is the power of God's kingdom revealed!

March 12th: Mark8:34-38: Jesus Calls His Followers To a Radical Life

We tend to forget that crucifixion is a bloody agonizing torturous execution. We are so far removed from the act of crucifixion that we often think of it terms of a necklace or something similar. What Jesus said you should take up your cross and follow him, he did not mean that you should wear a crucifix. He was saying you should die to yourself. You should take up your method of execution and follow him. You deny yourself, and you should be willing to die if you want to follow Jesus. We take being a follower of Jesus so lightly but it is a radical call to be different. We get upset when we face the smallest amount of persecution, for instance of someone makes fun of us for a moral stand, but we should be prepared to die for Christ. Paul says something similar in Philippians 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." We having nothing to lose and everything to gain by serving Jesus, even if it means our death.

March 10th: Mark 8:31-33: Peter Puts his Foot in His Mouth Again

Jesus says something Peter does not like he. He says he is going to die. This shows that Peter did not fully understand what it meant for him to call Jesus the Christ. Peter must have been expecting a violent overthrow of the Roman government rather than the much more amazing salvation that is offered through Jesus death and resurrection.
In this passage Jesus predicts his death and resurrection to which Peter responds by rebuking Jesus.(Not a good idea to rebuke God). Jesus says in response to Peter “Get behind me, Satan! For you bare not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” This is a rather stern comment by Jesus, but Peter needed to hear it. God had a plan and Peter needs to not get in the way of that plan. Peter still only sees dimly, he realises who Jesus is but he fails to see God's glorious plan. We, like Peter, need to make sure that our thoughts are on the things of God and that we are not hindering his work.

March 9th: Mark 8:27-30: Who is Jesus?

There is no question more important than this one. The most important question that can be asked of anyone is who do you think Jesus is?
In this passage Jesus asked his followers who other peyle think that he is. They give him the varying responses of the crowd. The people think that he might be a prophet or some other man of God. He then asks his disciples directly, "Who Do You think I am?" and Peter responds "You are the Christ."
Peter says that Jesus is the Christ, this means the promised and anointed one that God said he was going to send into the world to save his people.
Jesus is God's son, and the saviour of the world, he is also the master of everyone and everything. Who do you say Jesus is?

March 8th: Mark 8:22-26: Jesus Heals a Mans Eyes In Stages

Jesus is actually using the healing of this man as an illustration. Of course Jesus could of just healed this man's eyes completely in one moment, but he doesn't. Because he doesn't their has to be a reason. The reason is because it perfectly illustrates what is going on his disciples spiritual lives.
His disciples have been given sight by faith to see certain things. They follow Jesus around and apparently believe but in so many ways they are still blind. They rarely understand what it is that they see Jesus do. Jesus is showing them that they partially see and that one day they will fully see through a miracle of God.
For us to truly understand God takes action on his part. We need to ask him for understanding.

March 7th: Mark 8:14-21: The Disciples are Worried About Food

This is almost comical. The disciples have seen Jesus on at least two different occasions make food practically from thin air and feed thousands of people. Yet here they are worried about not having enough bread. Jesus is actually trying to teach them something by using a loaf of bread as an example but they are too caught up in the fact that they only have a small enough piece of bread that they miss his whole point.
Jesus was trying to tell them that the actions of the Pharisees and the actions of Herod are causing the people of Israel to do bad things. But rather than listening to what Jesus is saying they are fixated on this idea that they do not have enough to eat.
Often we are so worried about what is going on in our life to listen to God in his word. We know God will take care of us so let us trust in him so that we can focus on what he has to say to us.

March 6th: Mark 8:1-13: Apparently the Pharisees are Blind

As w have seen in this book Jesus has been doing some incredible things. He has healed so many people of many different illnesses. He has stopped the storms and the waves. He keeps doing miracles. These miracles are important because it shows that he has power and authority. They in essence act as signs pointing to the special position Jesus holds as the messiah and as a God in the flesh.
Apparently the Pharisees missed all of that. They missed all of these things that Jesus had done. Including the feeding of a ton of people with a small amount of food. Imagine that sight as Jesus is break bead and passing it around it just does not run out. The Pharisees have the gall to ask Jesus for a sign proving that he is the messiah. The truth is he has given them plenty of signs, they just need to open their eyes.
How often do we miss the obvious from God?

March 5th: Mark 7:31-37: Jesus Heals a Man's Hearing

Jesus had done some incredible things so far in this book. This one seems as if it is not that incredible. But it truly is. This man had been unable to hear, and he also was unable to speak, at least much. This was rather typical at the time. If you cannot hear it is very hard to communicate. Currently people learn sign language so that they can communicate to other people, but if you do not know that then you must learn to read lips or find some other method of communication.
Jesus healed this man in both ways. After Jesus healed him he could hear and he could speak just fine. This of course radically changed this man's life. His quality of life would of sky rocketed, and he would of been able to find more productive work to do and would of been able to communicate with others.

March 4: Mark 7:24-30: Jesus Casts out a Demon....From Far Way

Jesus is just walking in between two places and a non-Jewish woman comes up to him asking that he would heal her daughter. Jesus says that he has come for the children, referring to the Jews and that they need to get his help first. The woman pleads with Jesus and Jesus heals her daughter from a distance.
The important thing here is that it shows that Jesus was here for all people, not just Jews. Jesus came to this earth to save all of mankind. He came to earth and died that all men, speaking all languages, people of races, might come to know God through the work of Jesus Christ. This is why we do missions in far away places, and this is why we should spread the gospel in our area to all different types of people. Jesus came for all, and we should spread his message to all.

March 3rd: Mark 7:14-23: What Defiles?

Jesus says something that is going to get him in trouble here. Their was the good law of God that God had given to Moses in the wilderness, but this law had been ignored and exchanged for a the law of the Pharisees. The law of God given to Moses was intended to set apart Israel, and make them different, and then point them to their need for a saviour and their inability to keep all of the law perfectly.
Jesus right here says that you are not defiled by what you eat. What you eat just goes into your stomach. Your sin issues are what defile you and they come from your heart.
The outward appearance is not what matters to Jesus. What matters to Jesus is that you are acting right, and that your attitude is correct. Sin is always a heart attitude problem that then manifests itself in an outward action. Let us check our hearts to make sure they are in line with the heart of God.

March 2nd: Mark 7:1-13: Jesus Calls Out the Pharisees

We are going to the Pharisees, Sadducee, Scribes and Priests try to call Jesus us out on certain things throughout the rest of this book. These were the religious leaders of the day and they did not like all of the attention that Jesus was getting, because they wanted that a attention for themselves.
The had added to God's word and made specific rules up that they made other people follow. This is called legalism. Jesus called out the Pharisees on keeping their own tradition but not keeping the law of God.
The Bible says that we are supposed to honour our parents and part of this means to take care of them when they die. The Pharisees had a tradition that you did not have to help your parents and take care of them if the money you would of used to help them had been set apart for God. This is of course something that is not right. How often do we replace the law of God with our own rules?

March 1st: Mark 6:53-56: Jesus Causes a Stir

You know how famous people get mobbed by fan sometimes? It can get really annoying for them and their family because how many people gather around them and annoying them asking for autographs or pictures with them? Well in some ways Jesus was a celebrity he had caused quite a stir because of all the healing that he had done. He was healing people all over the place. He also was known as a teacher and preacher and people came to hear what he said from the surrounding country side.
Jesus was different and people knew it, which is why they gathered around him, and came to hear him speak. Do we recognise Jesus as different? Do we listen to him when he speaks?

February 29th: Mark 6:45-52: Jesus Gets Some Time Alone With God and Stops the Wind

We are a proud people as human beings. We think we have things under control. We think we are strong enough and powerful enough to handle everything on our own. We, of course, are not. God often has to smack us a round a bit so that begin to rely on him instead of on ourselves. If we look at this passage closely we will see that Jesus went away to be alone with God.
This is something that we all need to do but how often do we really get away, and get alone with God? Where we spend time in his word and prayer?
Oh, by the way, Jesus as awesome. He walks on water, and stops the wind in this passage, you and I cannot do that. So if Jesus needed to get along with God don't you think we need too?

February 28: Mark 6:30-44: Jesus Shows Compassion

In this passage, Jesus shows compassion in three different ways.

1. Jesus wants his disciples to get some rest. This shows that He cared for his disciples and understands that rest is important. You sometimes hear well-meaning Christians say, "The devil never rests, and neither should we." Well, thankfully we do not get our model from the devil but from God, who rested on the seventh day of creation. It is important that we find time to rest when we are serving God, and it glorifies God when we rest because we have to trust in Him.

2. Jesus had compassion on the crowds, so he taught them things. This is one of the highest forms of compassion someone can have. Jesus knew these people needed to turn from their sin and turn to Him, so He taught them about those things. If Jesus had just healed them and done other miracles without ever telling them the truth of the human condition (alienated from God because of sin) and the solution to the condition (which is found in Jesus Christ), then His compassion would have be ineffectual.

3. Jesus cared about the physical needs of the crowd around Him. He knew they were hungry so He found a way to feed them. Feeding them allowed Him to strengthen their faith by providing the food in miraculous way.

Jesus showed compassion in these three ways, and we need to make sure that we show compassion to others in these same ways.

(Note: Sorry about several days without a post.  As you all know, I had a baby and kind of forgot about this in the midst of all the craziness. If you would like to hear more about Cordelia Mae, go to my wife's blog at www.feathersinournest.com.)

February 23rd Mark 6:14-29: It Can Be Risky To Speak Truth

Sin, at times, needs to be confronted. If we know of someone living in sin then we need to lovingly tell them that they are living in sin. Well that happens to be what got John the Baptist killed. He called Herod out on his sin, and then the king arrested him. John was righting in calling the king out in his sin, but he paid the ultimate price for doing what's right. Strangely enough Herod was worried that Jesus was John the Baptist resurrected. Herod was so impacted by the truth that John the Baptist had said that he lived in fear of his return even after he had killed him. People may at times respond to confrontation of sin in a harsh and negative manner, but their is always hope that they will respond in a different way than Herod, and that way is repentance.

February 22nd: Mark 6:7-13: Jesus Sends Out His Team

Splitting up, and going separate ways is often the best way to spread a message. Jesus paired off his disciples and sent them out teaching and healing and casting out demons. This does a couple of things. The first is that it allows his message to be spread more rapidly a group of people split up can cover more ground than a group of people who stay in one places. Second it prepares them for the work that they will be doing when Jesus is gone. Jesus is making these twelve men into people who can spread the message of the Gospel once Jesus is gone. This was his model, raise up men who can change the world when he is gone. These 12 men do in fact turn the world upside down after Jesus ascends into heaven. They also ended up using Jesus model and trained others to do the work they were doing, this is the best way to evangelise the world.

February 21st: Mark 6:1-6: It has to Be Hard To Be Rejected in Your Home Town

Every where Jesus went crowds followed. People listened to him and were in awe of him and what he said. Except for in his home town. In his home town people were more sceptical. In some ways that makes sense. He lived their his whole life and it had to be strange for them to see him doing this great miracles now. Also there may have been some jealousy. Well I grew up with Jesus why can’t I be the one travelling around preaching and healing. Because of their lack of faith he did not do many miracles. I think part of this issue is comfort. These people were comfortable with Jesus before he started his ministry, so that is how they still view him. We need to make sure that we do not get too comfortable with Jesus and his sayings and instead continue to let them impact our lives.

February 20th Mark 5:34-43: Jesus Is Greater Than The Bad News

Jesus has been delayed from reaching Jarius' daughter by healing the lady who was internally bleeding. At the beginning of this passage today, they get bad news. Jarius' daughter has died. This bad news makes Jarius upset, but Jesus tells him to have faith. Jesus knows even though Jarius daughter is dead, that he has the power over death.
Jesus arrives at the scene wear everyone is morning for this little girl. Jesus tells them that she is merely sleeping, and he raiser her from the dead.
The incredible power of Jesus overcomes death. Jesus is greater than any bad news, then any negative event. Let us cling to him as we go through bad things knowing that He can get us through them.

February 19th Mark 5:21-34: Jesus Heals a Woman

Jesus agrees to heal Jarius daughter and begins to follow him to his house, but on the way crowds press up against him. A woman who is ill touches just the garment of Jesus because she wants to be healed. Instantly she is healed. Her medical condition is fixed. Jesus knows that she has been healed and looks around for the person who has been healed. She is afraid and hiding but Jesus finds her. He simply tells her she has been healed because of her faith. Faith in Jesus healed this woman’s condition, because she acted on that faith and reached out and touched Jesus. May we have faith like that as well!

February 18th Mark 5:14-20: Jesus Gets Told To Go Away

So Jesus just cast a demon out of a man, but the people of this area do not care, they are only upset that when the demons left the man they went into the pigs and ran them off the cliff. The truth is that pigs were considered unclean by Jews and they should not of been keeping them any way. This is a trivial issue that they are being distracted by. Rather than being in awe that this formerly possessed man had been healed they are instead upset that they have had a loss of profit. The man who has been healed of the possession in the only man who respond correctly. He wants to follow Jesus, but instead Jesus tells him to tell others about him. The man listens, and does what Jesus said.
We have been healed of our sin, and we can respond like the formerly demon possessed man or the towns people. One did what Jesus said, the other ran him off.

February 17: Mark 5:1-13: Jesus Casts Out More Demons

The purpose of a demons possession of a human being is ultimately to destroy something that God has created, specifically to destroy something that bears the image of God. Remember demons were cast from heaven when they follow Satan, who thought he could be better than God, instead of listening to God. Demons purpose is to destroy the work of God, and to battle God and his angels, thankfully in the end they have no chance of victory. The man's demonic possession cause three results: 1. He was superhumanly strong, 2. He was isolated from other people and 3. He was causing self harm. Man was not created by God to live in isolation, so that is one way in which the demon was harming the man, who bore the image of God. But notice, that this demon has absolutely no power in the presence of Jesus. His name indicates that there were many demons, a legion was large division of soldiers in the Roman military. Interestingly enough the man who is possessed by a demon has no choice but to kneel before Jesus, and the demons are cast out of him by the power of Jesus. We have no reason to fear demons, for the we are indwelt by God, who has more power than demons could ever dream of having.

Mark 16th: Mark 4:35-41: The Sea Does What Jesus Says

I do not know about you, but when I was a kid I would often hold my hand up in an attempt to stop wind. This may of been shortly after I watched Star Wars and would often try to use my force powers. Anyway, it never worked. I could not stop the wind. It just kept on coming. It would blow as if I did not exist.
Guess what? Jesus had control of the wind and storms. They did what he said. So in this passage today, the disciples and Jesus are on a boat. A vicious storm that is apparently very frightening to these fishermen who were following Jesus. When Jesus awakened from his rest, he calmly tells the wind and waves to stop, and they do. His disciples were shocked and awed by his power. But he questions their faith. In our lives it is often similar, each time God does something for us that is great we respond in awe, but we each time something bad happens to us we go back to worrying. God is in control, he has the power, and he helps us, let us trust him.

February 15th: Mark 4:26-33: It Starts Small

Here Jesus gives to pictures to help use understand the growth of His kingdom. Both use the illustration of growing plants. There are a couple main points that I want to point out from these two parables:
1. In the First Parable the Farmer plants the seed, and water the ground but does not actively make the plant grow. This is true of Gods Kingdom, God is the one who makes it grow, it does not take human action.
2. In the second parable we see that the kingdom starts small. This is true, God's kingdom started with a handful of individuals who caught on fire for God. Then it grew. Gods can use small groups for his glory and for the expansion of his kingdom. We just need to be willing.

February 14th Mark 4:21-25: Don't Hide It

Jesus tells another story, another one that is easy to figure out. It is pointless to turn on a lamp and then cover it up with a box. It would not cast any light, and you would not be able to see anything by it. The same is true with the sayings and teachings of Jesus. Jesus is saying things that need to be repeated and live out, not things that should be hidden under a box. If we have faith in God do not hide it. Put it on display, show it off. Live it out, and speak truth about it. It is a waste of the light to hide it, and it's a waste of God's light to hide your faith.

February 13th Mark 4:1-20: Jesus Tells A Story with a Meaning

Jesus like to explain spiritual realities with common place stories. Since he was in a society that had lots of sheep, and farms he used the type of stories that his hearers would understand. It is similar to a preacher today using an illustration that his audience understands. Sometimes we have trouble understanding Jesus’ illustrations because we live in a different time period, but this one is not too hard to understand, especially since he takes time to explain it to his disciples.
It is important to realize that all of the different types of people mentioned all heard the same word. They all heard the truth of the Gospel and they all responded in different ways. Which soil condition describes your heart? You should pray and ask God to make sure that you are the soft, good soil!

February 12th Mark 3:31-35: Jesus’ True Family

Sometimes we think about how cool it would of been to live during Biblical times. To be alive and see Jesus do his miracles. Maybe we think it would be cool to be one of Jesus’ half-brothers or some other nearby spectator of his life and miracles. The truth is we are just as close to Jesus as they were, since Jesus is not bound by anything, since he is God. Notice what this passage is saying. Those who do the will of God are the siblings of Jesus. We are his family if we listen to him and obey him. This is pretty cool. We have seen the power of this man. We have seen his authority, who wouldn’t want to be considered his brother?

February 11th Mark 3:22-30: Accused of Being Demonic

Jesus has stepped on some toes because he has made people feel uncomfortable in their self-righteousness. The truth often has that effect on people, and no one has ever spoken the truth like Jesus. He has made a lot of enemies and as we saw yesterday, even his family thinks he is crazy.
In today’s passage Jesus is accused of being possessed by Satan. The Scribes were saying that is how he cast out demons, because he himself is possessed by one. Jesus turns this around on the people, saying that that does not make any sense, why would Satan want to cast out demons? He goes on to give a story about how if you want to rob a house you should tie up the man who lives in it first. The point is that Jesus is casting out Demons because he has power over Satan, in a sense he has tied him up.
Jesus then says something cryptic about an unforgivable sin. We have to understand this in context. This unforgivable sin is the sin of continuing the claim that Jesus’ actions were caused by demonic possession. If you were living at the time of Jesus and continued to claim that his miracles were caused by demon possession then you are blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

February 10th Mark 3:13-21: Appointed Apostles, Called Crazy

Jesus is gaining followers. There are those people who came to him because they wanted to be healed, and did not care for much else. Jesus still had compassion on those people. But these twelve men that he took up on the mountain were different. Yes they had their problems as we all we know, and one of them was even a traitor, but they were special. They were called by Jesus and given very special abilities and authority. They were to go out and preach and they also had the power to cast-out demons. Remember these 12 people, they play pivotal roles in this book, and many of them are also mentioned in the book of Acts. Almost all of them were killed because they believed in Jesus. (and one of them has an awesome name!)
The second thing that happens after this is Jesus’ family accuses him of being out of his mind. The God of the universe in human flesh is being accused of being insane because he is doing the work of his Father. Being persecuted by the outside for doing the right thing is expected, but being called crazy by your family is not. Jesus suffered, thankfully he suffered for us.

February 9th Mark 3:7-12: Jesus has Compassion

It makes perfect sense that Jesus would draw a crowd. He was doing crazy things. Like healing people, casting out demons and teaching people in ways they had never heard. This shows that the people had faith. They came to Jesus because they knew nothing else could help. They needed him so they went to him and they were helped by him. Because Jesus had compassion and love and mercy. He wanted to help these people.
The application of this is two fold. The first question is, do we have faith like these people Do we turn to Jesus when we need help? The second is do people come to us knowing we have compassion when they need help? We are supposed to emulate Jesus in everything that we do, so we should be known for our compassion and our willingness to help others.

February 8th Mark 3:1-6: Jesus Shakes Things Up

Jesus liked to shake things up a little. We already saw this when he ate with the tax collector and when he allowed his disciples to gather a little food on the Sabbath. He did this because people have a tendency to be self righteous and hypocritical. The Jewish leaders thought of themselves as righteous because they kept specific tenets, that they made up concerning specific laws though their heart was not in it. They did these things so that other people would see them as righteous rather than in true obedience. So here we have Jesus healing a person on the Sabbath. The Pharisees said this was wrong. Jesus asks a very pointed question in verse 4 “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” The point was that it is not wrong to help people on the Sabbath. Jesus was showing them that their self righteousness was of no value, they cared more about their man made law than they did about the fact that Jesus was going to heal this mans hand. Do we ever get caught up in things like this? Do we ever find ourselves trusting in our righteousness instead of Gods?

February 7th Mark 2:18-28: Jesus Questioned

Jesus answers a couple questions, both of them asked in a kind of legalistic why do you not do this attitude. The first is why did his disciples not fast. Fasting is when someone would not eat for the purpose of greater focus on prayer. Fasting is not bad, but in a lot of ways fasting had become bad over time. People would use it as a way to show how holy they were. They would openly declare that they were fasting and rub it in other peoples faces. Jesus gives a great answer to these questions explaining that while he is alive why would his followers fast? The second question is concerning the Sabbath. The Sabbath as to be God days of rest, but the Pharisees has turned the principle of rest into a series of very specific legalistic rules. They would say how far you could walk and what you exactly could or couldn’t do on the seventh day of the week. Jesus gives a historical example of David eating the food from the tabernacle and claims that the Sabbath was made for man. In other words doing what they were doing was not breaking the Sabbath, It also shows that Jesus is saying that he has authority over the law and the Sabbath.

February 6th Mark 2:13-17: Who Jesus Came For

Bad people are the ones who need Jesus. We might be like the people in this chapter who questioned why Jesus would have a meal with a tax collector. Tax collectors were Jewish individuals who were working for the Roman authorities. They would often skim quite a bit off of the top, essentially stealing from the people. You think people do not like IRS agents now well Jews absolutely hated tax collectors and though of them as evil. Yet Jesus called one of them to be his follower. Look at Jesus statement in verse 17, he says “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but the sinners.” The God of the universe came to earth as a human for the sinners. The catch is we have to admit that that is what we are to be saved by him.

February 5th Mark 2:1-12: Authorty to Forgive

We have all heard this story before. The paralyzed man is lowered through the roof by his friends to be healed by Jesus. These men had tremendous faith This is usually the main point of the story taught in Sunday School, since I know you have heard that I want to take it in a slightly different direction. The scribes and pharisees (the Jewish religious leaders who thought they were better than everyone else) were not happy with Jesus’ statement that the mans sins were forgiven. Jesus read their thoughts. You should be careful around Jesus. Jesus tells them in verse 10 why he did it this way “But so you may know that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” What the Pharisees were thinking is actually true, only God can forgive sins, thankfully God is right in front of them. Jesus has the authority over the natural over the supernatural and the authority to forgive sins.

February 4th Mark 1:23-45: Not All Talk

We all know a person who is all talk. He talks junk and smack like he is good at something, rubbing it in every ones face but in the end that person is not good at what they said they were good at. Jesus is not this way. Jesus spoke with authority and then backed it up with action. If he had of stopped at just speaking with authority their is no real reason for people to believe him. Notice in verse 25-26 he cast a demon out of a person, showing how big his authority really is. Reading through the rest of the chapter you realize that he healed many different illnesses, from fevers to skin disorders to more demon possessions. His healings drew people to him because they realized he has the power and authority over both the natural and the supernatural. Let us not forget that the God we serve has the power and authority over these things.

February 3rd Mark 1:16-22: Spoke With Authority

Jesus, being God, spoke with authority like no one has ever spoken before. At the time in Israel no one spoke with authority. In times past their had been men like Elijah and Isaiah who would says “This is what God says” but in the time of Jesus the teachers of the people (called Rabbis) would say “Bob said this about this but Steve said this.” They would not say anything with authority. Then Jesus comes along and says “Follow me” and teaches with authority why? Because he has the authority. So people listen up. He empowers fishermen to become teachers and preachers and in faith they follow him hoping to become fishers of men. When Jesus speaks he speaks with authority and we should listen up.

February 2nd Mark 1:9-14 Jesus Begins to Preach

Mark wastes no time. He tells very short versions of most of the stories about Jesus compared to the other authors who give more detail, but Mark is packed full of information and stories about Jesus. In these six above verses there are really 3 different stories that are told about Jesus.
The first is his baptism. Jesus is baptized by John the baptist and when this happens God speaks from heaven. God speaking from heaven reinforces Johns statement from last week that someone greater than him was coming. The son of God is greater than John.
The second is the temptation of Jesus. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. Mark does not give us the detail, though the other Gospel accounts do, but still mentions it. Jesus was tempted yet his did not sin, but he understands what it is like to be tempted.
The third is that he starts preaching. In verse 15 Jesus says “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!” You know what Jesus is saying here? God has been making promises since the beginning of time that he would send someone to help you. He made it to Eve immediately after she sinned. He made it to Abraham, and to David and to the people of Israel as a whole. Someone would come and save them. Jesus is saying right here that it is Him. Believe on him. He calls us to do the same thing. To repent, turn from our sin and turn to him.

February 1 Mark 1:1-8: Know Your Place

This will be a little bit different than last month. Instead of reading a whole chapter only read the portion that I mention. I may quote some of it but not all of it in the devotional. Make sure that you are also praying along with reading God’s word.
At the beginning of the book of Mark we see that John that baptist is preaching and baptizing people. If you look at this passage he sounds a little crazy actually. Eating locust dipped in honey, bet that is delicious.
Any way if you read veres 7 John says “Someone more powerful that I will come after me, I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of sandals.” John was referring to Jesus. And John knew his place. He knew that Jesus was greater than him and that his job was to prepare people for Jesus. The question is do we know our place? Do we realize how much greater Jesus is than us and are we striving to make people ready for him?

Proverbs 31: A Godly Woman

I want you to take a moment and think about the woman described in this passage.

Women, does this in any way, shape, or form describe you? If it doesn’t, this should be a model to you. Stop emulating the people that might be cool, stylish, or attractive. Instead emulate this woman who is a hardworking woman, who made a great wife for this man. She is of extreme value to him and to the kingdom of God

Men, does this describe the girl you're looking for in the future when the time comes? If not, then you need to reevaluate what you are looking for. You might be looking for a girl that is stylish or pretty, but if she is not morally upright and hard working, is that the type of girl you want to spend your life with? Or are you looking to just have fun at the expense of a broken heart? Test yourselves men, and save yourself for a woman like the one described in this passage.

Proverbs 30: Gods Words are True Words

I lie sometimes. In fact I am a liar. As are all humans. Even the greatest human who has ever lived is a liar. The only person who has ever lived that is not a liar is Jesus. Why? Because Jesus was perfect because he was God. The rest of us are liars. That is kinda depressing isn’t it? You know that you are a liar, but we forget that everyone else is. Of course we should strive for honesty. Everyone might let you down, but God will never let you down. If He says it, He is going to do it. We say something, and we might not do it for many reasons. Maybe we wanted to do it but couldn’t. Is their anything God cannot do? Nope. Read verse 5 “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”
WOW! We can depend on God. He means what he says, and he has the power to follow through. He is our shelter, he is our refugee.

Proverbs 29: Where Does Justice Come From

We all know people who have gotten away with wrong doing. It seems like the government is powerless to stop certain people from doing wrong things. This is a very sad state of affairs, but the truth is that the government cannot doing everything and cannot stop every crime. But there is One who sees, and One who knows and One who judges. Verse 26 says “Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the Lord that man gets justice” We can know that with God justice will be served. We also know that God is gracious and has forgiven all of those who call upon His name. Maybe we should extend the same grace to others?

Proverbs 28: Running Away When No One Is Chasing

I remember one year during spring break a group of friend and I went on a spring break trip. We went down to the Outerbanks (Duck if I remember correctly) and we spent a couple days their before we went north to Baltimore (went to a concert) and then headed further north to the suburbs of NYC. Well anyway we thought it would be cool if we got some fire works and set them off on the beach, which is not allowed in Duck. So we found a fireworks store that sold us a really large firework from a back room. It was supposed to fire off 20 times. So we bought it. We went out to the beach late at night and we fire it off. The very moment the first one went off, we all started running. It shot up in the air probably about three stories, and made the beach look like daylight as each of the 20 shots went off. We were not being chased, but we ran anyway. The first verse in this chapter says “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”
When you are doing what is right, you do not need to hide it. When you are acting wickedly that is when you hide what you are doing. We were doing what was wrong, and ran from absolutely nothing. We could have been without fear if we had not been guilty of doing something wrong.

Proverbs 27: Listen to the Right People

There are certain people in your life that are going to help you going forward. They are going to help you to as you go forward in life. Their are other people who are in your life that are going to drag you down, and make it so that you can not progress forward in your Christian life. Verese 6 says “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” Your friends are going to tell you painful truths at times. They know when you are straying from the path, and when you are doing wrong things. They will tell you this. And you may get offended. These are faithful wounds though, they are wounds that you need. Your enemies, those who will drag you down, will tell you that everything is okay, and that you are not doing anything wrong. You need to determine, now, who is who, so that you can listen to your true friends and grow because of it.

Proverbs 26: Are You Really Just Joking?

How many times do we say things that we really mean and then say that we were just kidding? How many times have we been hurt by something someone said even though they said they were just joking? Verses 18-19 says “Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!” If we trick other people in mean ways, and play vicious practical jokes on them but then claim we were just kidding, does that absolve us of our wrong doing? The answer is no. We should not be mean to each other even if we claim it is in jest. I am not saying that practical jokes are wrong, I am merely sayin that we need to be careful and make sure that we do not take it to far.

Proverbs 25: Seeking Your Own Glory

Have you ever eaten to much sweet things and gotten sick? I know I have. Even worse is when you eat to many sour candy’s and your mouth and tongue are raw and read and hurt for days. Yeah, I used to have a self control issue when it came to sour candy (yeah...used to...). It is true if we eat to much of something it can often times make us sick. Well Solomon uses this as an illustration for people who are seeking their own glory. Verse 27 says “It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.” We get sick if we eat to much honey, we also get sick in a different way if we are seeking our own glory. We get spiritually sick. We were designed to seek glory for God, not glory for ourselves.

Proverbs 24: Do Not Celebrate an Enemies Defeat

We often forget how radical Christianity is. Jesus says in Luke 6:27-28 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” This is different then what everyone else in the whole world tells us. Proverbs says something very similar in this chapter, verse 17 says “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.” Do not rejoice when something bad happens to your enemy. You can be satisfied when justice is served, but at the same time it is not time to celebrate, instead you should pray for that individual. Jesus said for us to love our enemies. This may be one of the hardest things that is asked of us, and it is one of the things that makes following Jesus such a radical adventure.

Proverbs 23: Do Not Envy Sinners

Sometimes we look at other people who are living life for themselves and we envy them. We think that they get to do whatever they want. It appears as if they are having fun and doing whatever they want. Their fun is short lived though. We can envy sinners quite easily. We can envy the rich thief or the individual who seems like he is having a lot of fun doing bad things or we can find out satisfaction in our God. Verse 17 of this chapter says:
“Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all day.”
It is so easy to get into the mindset that what they have is better than what you have, but this simply is not true. God is good, and he not withholding something good from you, but merely showing you what is best. There are times when Vera may reach for an electrical outlet and I will tell her no. She may or may not listen, and if she does not listen I pick her up and move her. Often she cries when I do this. She thinks I am withholding something good from her. I am not. I am protecting her. It is the same way with the commands of God. God created us. He knows what is best.

Proverbs 22: Are You a Generous Person?

Are you a generous person? Do you help others with your money and time, or do you tend to do things for yourself most of the time ignoring others? It is important that we are generous and generosity comes in many different forms. You can help an elderly individual with her yard or give clothes, food, or money to those less fortunate that you. You can help a struggling classmate with homework or help them prepare for a test. Is your life marked by this? Or are you stingy, rarely helping others? Verse 9 says
“A generous person will be blessed,
for he gives some of his food to the poor.”
You should help out others and you will be blessed.

Saturday Video: Goodness Vs. The Cross Sermon Jam

Proverbs 21: It is Wise to Make Plans

It is important to make plans. Ultimately our plans may have to change because God is in control but planning for our future is still wise. It makes sense to plan for college by getting good grades in high school It makes sense to think through actions rather than rushing into them. Verse 5 of this chapter says:
“The plans of the diligent lead only to plenty,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”
We should not obsess with the future, but we should not ignore it either. If we plan for our future we are much more likely to succeed than if we rush into things and live only in the here and now. Consider what it is that you want to do for God in your future and then work toward it now.

Proverbs 20: Alcohol Can Be Dangerous

Many people drink alcohol in todays society, but it is not always a wise action. People drink to escape from life but it often makes their situation more difficult. I know that as a teenager it is a big temptation to party and drink to be cool, or because it looks like fun, but it is very dangerous. Listen to verse one of this chapter:
“Wine is a mocker and strong drink is a brawler;
whoever goes astray by them is not wise.”
Alcohol will promise one thing and give another. It often changes how you act and who you are, causing you to do things you never would of done had you been sober.

Proverbs 19: Do You Lie to Get Out of Trouble?

When I was younger I remember often finding myself caught in a sin, and I would often attempt to lie to get out of trouble. Very rarely would this work. It was often pretty obvious that I was to blame, and that the cat did not break that lamp, teapot, or other household decoration. It did work sometimes, but God knew.
Verse 5 says:
"A false witness will not go unpunished,
and the one who spouts out lies will not escape punishment.”
The key is confession and repentance not lies. Admit to your faults, and then repent of them. We see that God values honesty, and in reality so do people, let us strive for honesty then.

Proverbs 18: Patiently Listen

I have a problem listening sometimes. I find myself answers questions that have not been asked. In the TV Gameshow Jeopardy contestants can buzz in before the question has been completed when this happens they almost always get the question wrong because they were not answering the question that was being asked.
Verse 13 says:
“The one who gives an answer before he listens –
that is his folly and his shame.”
Listening to others is a big deal. It is something that we should not forget about. It is something that we should practice and work on.

Proverbs 17: God is Just

Proverbs 17:15 says “The one who acquits the guilty and the one who condemns the innocent –
both of them are an abomination to the Lord.”
God is just and he cares about justice. The person who condemns those who haven’t done anything wrong is an abomination (detestable) to the Lord. Furthermore those who let the guilty go free are just as bad. God is a just God who values Justice.
How then can we find grace with God? God is just and if God is just then we know that we deserve punishment. 2 Corinthians 5:21 gives the answer: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” God punished Jesus in our place. He became sin for us, he took our place. God is a just God and some one had to be punished, but He made away through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, showing both Justice and grace.

Proverbs 16: Your Motives Matter

Some people like to think that as long as their actions are right they are okay. For instance if they tell on someone for doing something wrong they think that is good even if the main reason they did it was to see that person get punished because they do not like them. There are many times where we do good things so that we will feel good about our selves or look good in the eyes of others. The second verse of this chapter says:
“All a person’s ways seem right in his own opinion,
but the Lord evaluates the motives.”
God evaluates our motives, and our motives matter to him. Are we doing right only to look good? Or do we do right when no one else will even know?

Proverbs 15: How Do You Use Your Tongue?

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me."
You may used these words in the past as someone was saying mean and hurtful things to you, and it simply is not a true statement.
The words that we speak can really hurt people. If we speak out of anger or frustration we can cause damage to people emotionally. We can all think back to a time where someone has said something that really hurt us, and as we think about it it hurts us all over again. We have forgiven them, and they apologized, said they did not mean, and tried to take it back, but once words have been spoken they can not be taken back or unsaid. But you can also remember a time when someone has said something encouraging, and it is something that propelled you to do better, or live better. Verse 4 says
“Speech that heals is like a life-giving tree,
but a perverse tongue breaks the spirit.”
This is what we should want from our speech. We should want to heal people with what we say.

Proverbs 14: Who You Hang out with Matters

Many people do not realize how much their friends influence them. It is important that your close friends are friends who are going to uplift you rather than tear you down. It is almost always easier to tear someone down than it is to lift someone up. If you are hanging out with people who party and drink and disobey their parents that will rub off on you and it will become more and more difficult for you to not succumb to temptation. Listen to what verse 7 says:
“Leave the presence of a foolish person,
or you will not understand wise counsel.”
If you're spending a lot of time with foolish people, people who are doing wrong and stupid things, then you will find yourself unable and unwilling to listen to advice that people give you. You will not understand it because you will see these other people temporarily “enjoying” their foolish activities. Get away from them.

Proverbs 13: Living Beyond Your Means

The Bible speaks to how we spend our money in the book of Proverbs. We can live beyond our means, spending our money to impress others, or we can live within our means, saving our money, and using our money to glorify God. Many people as they go off to college get credit cards, and they rather quickly build up debt on these cards. This makes life very difficult later on. Verse 7 says:
“There is one who pretends to be rich and yet has nothing;
another pretends to be poor and yet possesses great wealth.”
You can pretend to be rich, and spend money in an unwise fashion. Or you can live as cheaply as you can, and then you may find that you accumulate more money. This makes even more sense when you realize what should be done with that money: You should use it to glorify God.

Proverbs 12: Sometimes It is Best Not To Speak

When I was younger I had a tendency to speak on a subject even when I knew nothing about it, just so that I could fit it or join in a conversation. Sometimes it worked, I guessed right, or the other people did not know anything about the subject either, so I was able to sound smart. Most of the time though, I found myself in a horrible situation where I had been caught making up things to sound smart. I of course got routinely made fun of for these incidents, all because I would open my mouth when I shouldn't have.

Surprisingly enough the Bible speaks to such things like this in verse 23: “The shrewd person conceals knowledge, but foolish people publicize folly.”

I was publicizing folly, and boy, was it obvious. If I had kept my mouth shut, no one would have known that I did not know anything about the topic at hand. That is what this verse says. How often is it better that we keep our mouths shut?

Proverbs 11: Honesty is the Best Policy

It can be a temptation to cheat, whether in school or at a job. Opportunity may arise where you would be able to get away with doing the wrong thing, stealing money, or taking your friend's answers on a test, and you need to be determined before hand how you will respond to such a situation.

In verse 18 of this chapter Solomon says: “The wicked person earns deceitful wages, but the one who sows righteousness reaps a genuine reward.”
Also, in verse 1 he says: “The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but an accurate weight is his delight.”

Being honest is very important and it is something that God values very highly. He hates (or detests) dishonest dealings, and he delights in honest dealings. This means that you should keep all of your dealings as honest as possible whether in work or in school.

Proverbs 10: Do You Enjoy Making Wicked Plans?

There can be a certain thrill to scheming, as you make up your plans to trick your parents and others as you engage in behavior that you should not. Some people find this enjoyable.

Verse 23 of this chapter says: “Carrying out a wicked scheme is enjoyable to a fool, and so is wisdom for the one who has discernment.”

So fools enjoy wicked plans and wise people enjoy discernment, but what is the end result of each option?

Verses 24-25 say: “What the wicked fears will come on him; what the righteous desire will be granted.
When the storm passes through, the wicked are swept away, but the righteous are an everlasting foundation.”

Whenever you are scheming, you may be worried that you will be found out. Sometimes you are, but God always knows about your scheming, and your fears will come true. The wicked will not be able to weather the storms whereas a righteous wise person’s foundation is secure.

Proverbs 9: How Do You Respond to Correction?

This is a very important question that we need to all answer.  How do you respond to correction?

I know in the past there have been times when I found it difficult to be corrected.  I was prideful, and I was wrong, and ultimately I needed to be corrected.

If you find that it is difficult for you to listen to correction then you are not wise.  This is not to say that every single time you are corrected the other person is right, but you should consider what the person is saying, and make the necessary changes if he is right.

Listen to what Solomon says in this chapter in verse 8: “Do not reprove a mocker or he will hate you;
reprove a wise person and he will love you.”

If you try to correct a mocker, an unwise person who preys on others, they will not be happy with you and will actually hate you. If you reprove a wise person, he will appreciate it.

Are you a mocker or are you a wise person? How do you respond to correction?

Proverbs 8: Do You Value Wisdom?

Wisdom is the ability to know what is right and wrong, and to know how one should act in certain situations. Is this something you value? Is this something that really want?

Verse 11 of this chapter says:“For wisdom is better than rubies, and desirable things cannot be compared to her.”

Rubies are very precious stones which are worth a lot of money. A single ruby is worth thousands of dollars, and was of even greater value at that time. Solomon is telling us that we should value wisdom more than we value money or material possessions. Why? Well, if you think about it, you can have all the money in the world, but if you do not know how to use it wisely, what is the point?

Saturday Video: Matt Chandler on Prayer

Every Saturday I will post an inspirational video. Today's video is on prayer. I hope that all of you are praying as you read your Bible each day. If you are not let this video be an encouragement to talk to God in prayer.

Proverbs 7: You Will Find It If You Look

We often put ourselves in a position that will cause temptation and lead to sin. We allow ourselves to be put in situations with people of the opposite gender where we are going to be tempted to sin sexually. In some ways it is like we are looking for sin, or at least trying to see how close we can come to it without falling into sin.

This does not only apply to sex, but in other areas as well. For instance, some people want to go to parties where a lot of people are drinking, yet they say they do not want to drink. This is getting dangerously close to sin. This chapter is written so that we would avoid sexual sin. It is written so that we would avoid even being tempted by such sin and instead would flee it. It might appear to be fun at the time, and sin can be seductive, but we need to run away from it.

Verses 8-9 say, "and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house."

The man is heading to the prostitute's house. He is seeing how close he can get to sin, and in the end he falls into it. Let us not be like him, but instead flee from sin.

Proverbs 6: Take Right and Wrong Seriously

Proverbs 6:20-21 says, “My child, guard the commands of your father and do not forsake the instruction of your mother. Bind them on your heart continually; fasten them around your neck.”

You have been taught right from wrong, many of you by your parents. You should listen to the wise instruction you have been given and take it very seriously. “Bind them on your heart continually” means that you should always remember them and make sure that you do them. “Fasten then around your neck” has the idea of making sure that you take them so seriously that it is like you have them with you all the time.

Proverbs 5: Sex, Gods Way

Sex is good, as long as it is done God's way. Notice in verse 18 it says, “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in your young wife.” You should rejoice in your spouse and celebrate your spouse when you get married. That is sex God's way, but there are other ways that are not God’s way and are wrong and lead to destruction.

Notice the beginning of this chapter where it says, “For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her seductive words are smoother than olive oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (verses 3-4). The wrong way is to have sex with anyone to whom you are not married. If you continue on reading you will see that verse 8 tells you to stay away, and not even to get close to this type of sin. The best way to do this is to not put yourself in a situation where you might start to think sexual thoughts, and in this way you can avoid the temptation.

Proverbs 4: Walking in Darkness

We all know what is like to get up in the dark and have to go to the bathroom, only to stub your toe five times on the way. We know that walking in the dark can be dangerous, and this is the illustration that Solomon uses to describe living life like the wicked do: “The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness; they do not know what causes them to stumble” (vs. 19).

When walking in the dark, you do not even know what it is you just kicked. (Was it the cat or a stuffed animal?) Living a sinful life and following sinful men is dangerous and will cause damage. In contrast, walking righteously is described like this: “But the path of the righteous is like the bright morning light, growing brighter and brighter until full day” (vs. 18).

Proverbs 3: Are You Wise in Your Own Eyes?

Some people think that they are wise. They think they are just doing fine without any input from anyone else, whether that other person be God or an older human being. They scoff at someone trying to help, and instead think they can live life on their own, in their own way, and they are wise in their own eyes.

Proverbs 3:7 says, “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.” The essential point of this verse is that wisdom comes from God, not from us. If we fear (respect) God and turn from evil, then we will have wisdom. Notice though, that we have to listen to what God says.  We are not wise, but He is.

Proverbs 2: Where is Your Wisdom Coming From

What is influencing your opinion on things? Where are you getting your ideas about what is valuable? Where are you turning when you need to know what is right or wrong?

Some people turn to the media. They look at the values that rich and famous people have, and they assume that that is the correct way to live, and then they try to live that way. 

Proverbs 2:6 says, “For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.”

Wisdom comes from God. If we look anywhere else other than to God to figure out how we should live or what we should do, then we are looking in the wrong place.

Seriously consider where your wisdom is coming from. If it is coming from anywhere other than God it is not coming from the right place, and you will not be living wisely.

Proverbs 1: Is this for You?

Proverbs 1

Is this for you?

Is the book of proverbs a book for you? This question is answered in verse 4.

The author of Proverbs (a king named Solomon) says, “to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—” (ESV)

Now I’m not saying you are "simple," but you are a youth. Discretion and knowledge are important things. They help us know right from wrong and good from bad.

This book was written so that you, a youth, might know how to live your life.

So how do we gain wisdom or discretion? King Solomon also answers that question:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (ESV)

So, fear (or reverent respect) is the beginning of this knowledge of good and evil. Our options are simple: we can know God, and respect Him and begin a journey towards wisdom, or we can despise wisdom and instruction and be labeled a fool.

So I hope you join us as we go through the book of Proverbs, and gain wisdom that can only come from God and His Word. Every day in January we will read a chapter of Proverbs, and their will be a short devotional thought on this blog.

I hope you will join us on this journey into wisdom!

(note: This is the same post from January 1st last year.  The others will be new, but I could not find a better way to start the Good Book Before Facebook Challenge than this!)