I am currently in a BSF study in the book of Matthew. It is a real good study, though I seem to be missing more times than I had planned.

An interesting thing was right at the beginning. We took time to go through the lineage that is at the beginning of Matthew, and there were a couple of interesting points:

1) There are some key women in Jesus’ lineage that are actually pointed out (whereas they typically aren’t, due to Jewish tradition of heritage through male). Rahab the harlot who helped Joshua at Jericho was Ruth’s Mother in Law. Ruth, of course, was David’s Great Grandmother.

2) We always refer to Jesus as the Son of David, and refer to his lineage to David and other great men like Jacob, Isaac and Abraham…but have you ever noticed that some of his ancestors were Terrible men? (note the capital T) Rehoboam, and Abijah, his son, did all types of bad things as king (see 1 Kings 14-15), Jehoram, Uzziah (2 Kings 8)…etc.

take away what you would from this, but I liked the fact that God’s Word places significance on great men and women alike, even though in those days, women were not placed in such high honor as men. It shows me a God who stands by his Word which teaches that “we” are His children, and he loves us all.

Also, even though you may come from some terrible ancestry, or have had a bad past, etc. God still has a plan for you, can use you and loves you!

Its a pretty good lesson, from what seems (at first glance) a pretty mundane piece of scripture!

Did you ever think about this…or have someone ask this?

In Matthew 24:14 (NIV) it says, “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come”, which infers that everyone must hear the Gospel before Christ returns. Mark 13:10 (NIV) also says, “the gospel must first be preached to all nations.” How could it be preached to everyone, when someone is born every 5 seconds, and there are still people who are dying who have never heard in remote locations…?!?

Well, its not an easy one to answer, but at this point, what I believe is that God reveals Himself to people in 2 different ways.

First and foremost is through the Gospel of Christ, and the acceptance of that Gospel. This is really the only way to God that we should worry about, as it is our call to spread the Gospel through the world, as the body of Christ.

Second is through some revelation from God, that only He knows how it works. This is based more on Romans 1:20, which says “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” This implies that no man has an excuse as God is evident in His creation. Since we know God knows the hearts of men, He knows who has seen and understood.

So what about the person grown up on the South Pole with a tribe of wolves…see the second way above, and I will leave that to God.

For everyone else, I/we should be doing what we can to let others know of Him, and the good news!

I am not sure where I heard this, but in re-reading it, it makes a lot of sense. Anyone can say, God is Good, but how do we see his goodness. 3 ways are mentioned below:

1) God’s Mercy is his Goodness to those in distress.

– How often have you been in distress? For me…alot! Seems like I always have some issue that I would like God to take care of for me, whether physical, emotional or spiritual. …and you know what? His Mercy has always been there, if not to relieve my burden, at least to help me endure it.

2) God’s Grace is his Goodness to those who deserve punishment.

– Pretty obvious here. God’s Grace is what allows us to be saved from the punishment of hell. This is the most obvious and greatest display of God’s Grace.

3) God’s Patience is Goodness to those who continue to sin.

– I am a Christian, and I still do wrong. I still sin. I still deserve punishment, but God’s Patience is there , understanding, forgiving and His Spirit is there to help me learn and do better.

So is God Good? Yes! Do I love Him for it? Yes! Does he love me? Yes! Do I deserve it? No! Does that matter to God? No!

He loves me for who I am, and I love Him for that.

“When someone says that they are not into worship, it is not true! Everyone worships something, the question is, what are you worshiping?!”

The word “worship” is prone to interpretation, but per a Webster definition, worship is, “extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem <worship of the dollar>” I thought the last point was interesting, which is the most common worship that most people in the world do, including committed Christians. It is hard not to worship something like a dollar, that is such a requirement or need in our culture.

If it’s not money, is it a person, or is it work, or is it some type of fun hobby…?

Time to put the focus and worship where it needs to be.

Not sure when I caught this phrase, but it is one of ’em that will make you think:

“You’re friends may know you are a Christian, but do they know that you are committed to Christ?”

An ABC News poll found that 83% of America claim they are Christian. A Barna survey in 2006 found that 77% say they are committed to Christianity, though 20% read the Bible, 5% ar in a Bible study and 51% believe Jesus sinned.

Obviously, there are a lot of so-called “Christians” around. The term is used so generically, it is sad (but that is for another discussion…) Is you faith in Christ distinguishable from the pack? It should be! We should stand out! We should not blend in to the crowd. Christians are a dime a dozen, someone committed to Christ is rare.

Think about how you act on a daily basis. What take your time? What do you like to talk about? What do you like to do? Are any of these Christ centric? If not, then you are just like the millions of other people who do not put Christ in the forefront of their minds, and everything they do. I am not pointing fingers though, as I also struggle, and probably am worst than most. In fact, I find it hard to write here every day, as you can tell from the posting dates.

Fact is, we could all do with a little more focus on Jesus and a little less focus on everything else!

I believe it was during a sermon by Living on the Edge Speaker, Chip Ingram; he was talking about work, either at home, or for someone. He had this qute, which struck me:

“If I approached my job the way I approach Jesus, I would be broke or fired!”

Isn’t that the truth. Every day I come in to work, sit down, and apply myself t what I need to get done. I admit, sometimes I get distracted, but overall, I have a very strong work ethic. Even Lynn does not like to call me at work, as I have a hard time talking, while working.

Now parallel that to my Christian walk. I apply almost no time to it. I am in a state of constant distraction. I never really apply myself, or sit down and spend time with God or in the Bible. There is always something else I am doing.

The question: “Which is more important?” I think I know the answer.

Lord, help me to apply myself to knowing you, and your doing your works.

One other point from yesterday…

It is not our responsibility to change the hearts of men. All we have to do is to tell someone about Christ. Whether they accept, criticize, mock or ignore…it is nothing that we can make them do. It is about the Holy Spirit moving them to a place to accept Christ.

Based on that, why are we scared to witness? All we need to do is state the facts, and our job is done. Seems simple enough… Odd’s are, it is one of satan’s #1 jobs to make us think witnessing is scary, since we are all nervous about doing it.

How about “resisting the devil” and acknowledge what witnessing really is; nothing more than a freindly chat about what we know. How much easier can it be?

Shouldn’t our first statements when we meet someone be, “Hey, what’s up? Where do you work? Got a family? What do you believe? Has anyone ever told you about Jesus? No? Let me fill ya’ in!”

The world sure makes it seem we are prying, but it is not! What we believe should be part of our normal conversation, as it is the most important thing to know about anyone!

Easy for me to say, hard for me to do…I am going to try and focus on the easy!

Praise God!

Yesterday at Church, our pastor brought up the story of Jesus casting out Legion from th man. Based on what he said, a legion generally consisted of a large group of soldiers, from the Roman times. In this case, the demons used it and mentioned the they “were many”. This means that this guy had a whole bunch of demons residing in himself, such that he could break iron and chains. This was one nasty fellow, who needed help!

The pastor brought up how when the demons were put into the pigs, the pigs had an even lower tolerance for the demons, and they committed suicide. Interesting to think that we are able to live with demons, but animals have no tolerance for them, even pigs.

Alternatively, a good question brought up was why didn’t the demons just control the pigs and use them? Well pigs are not really useful to demons, as man is. The whole goal of demons is to ruin God’s creation, and corrupt man. Since they were not in a man, and could not use him for their purpose, the pigs were just a part of creation they could destroy, otherwise useless.

Finally, I did think it was instesting that the demons had to ask prmission to go to the pigs. They could not just switch out themselves. This makes you recall satan asking God about Job and getting permission to do his worst.Â

Can sata do anything without God’s permission? Maybe the reason that people are so useful is that we have a free will, given by God, and satan can use that to do his bidding without “permission”. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think anything happens without God being in total control, but can satan just do what he likes, when he likes? I think not.Â

Don’t be a tool for satan to use. In James 4, it says, “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you”. You don’t have to fight satan, or beat him, just resist. In that same passage, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” What an awesome thing. Resist the devil, and draw near to God. Wouldn’t all our lives be 200% better if we followed this simple plan?

At BSF this week, during discussion, when asked about Debt, one of the guys pointed out that:

“Debt restricts God’s ability to use us for His purpose”

I thouhgt that was a real good statement, ’cause say we are in debt to someone for $25k in Credit and other things… Most of our time will be focused on eliminating that debt (time), worrying about the debt (mind) and paying off the debt (resources). If our time, mind and resources are focused on the debt, how can they be used by God? Sure, we are supposed to pay off the debt, but the key is not to get into debt in the first place. If we really trust that God will provide for us, this should not be a problem. Of course…easier said than done…

Also, during the lecture, it made me think about God’s love. We can never repay God’s lov for a couple of reasons. First, He paid the ultimate price on the cross, and if we were to pay that price, we would be dead…plain and simple…no coming back to finish paying the debt. Why would we need to finish you ask? Simple, God has continued to show His love for us every day since… There is not enough time (period) for a person to repay the love of God!Â

…BUT…

It doesn’t matter. He does not need repayment, he does not ask for it, or require it. All he asks for is our love, and our obedience.Â

What a great God!

Finally, have you ever heard the statement, “you reap what you sow”? Well, it seems that most wise statements have their origin in the Bible, and this is no exception. Unfortunately, they lose some of their “punch” over the years… In Gal. 6:7-8, this verse starts out with, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” When you read the whole verse, it gives a little more clarity. God will not be tricked, mocked or deceived. He knows your heart and your actions, and you will reap what you sow! A little scary…or comforting, depends on how you look at it!

After a sermon today about suffering, it made me think about how people argue over suffering and adversity, and whether or not these come from God or He allows it to come.  After thinking a while, I am not really sure it matters. If it is all part of Gods Will, then it really doesn’t make a difference. God has the ability to keep it from happening, so if as Christians we do suffer adversity or suffering, it is probably for our own good, or for some reason that only God knows. The comforting fact is that as Christians, He is in control, and we can rest in that fact during these trails and tribulations.

The biggest example suffering in the Bible is Job, IMHO, and I think that Job was righteous man, and yet went through tremendous suffering. Some may ask why? I would say that this is on of those times where Job did not know the reason. Now long after Job is gone and with God, his story has not only become a part of the living Word of God, but has been the perfect lesson for more people than anyone else in history.

God’s plan is perfect!