Summer in the Scripture Week 3

Being constantly aware of what Jesus is doing is something that I heard in Mark as I listened. He was consistently moving and going places and visiting people. In fact it seems that he was moving so quickly and doing so many things in Mark that the disciples had a hard time keeping up with him. One time in particular in Mark 8 this becomes especially clear.

Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah in verse 29 and when Jesus began to teach them what that would mean Peter immediately rebuked him. No imagine that, Peter has just admitted that he believes Jesus is God’s son and now he is rebuking Jesus for the things Jesus is teaching. I find this remarkable that even though Peter admits that Jesus is Lord, he still is not willing to submit to all that Jesus says.

The question that God struck me with as I listened was how often I do this in my own life. I know Jesus is Lord, but how often do I question what He is doing in my life and in this world. Not everything makes sense, but one thing does; if Jesus is Lord, then He is in control and knows what He is doing.

Peter was not alone, no one understood Jesus when he was on earth. However, now we have the Holy Spirit living in us to guide us to all truth. It is our job to pursue Jesus with everything we have and then submit to His teachings, His rebukes, and His direction for our lives.

Continue to pursue Him by listening as a church together to His word and as God’s words begin to be embedded in your heart God will bring you to a new level of living with Him.

Summer in the Scripture Week 2

When my son, Thatcher, was younger he loved listening to Mark. I think it is because it is filled with so much action. Jesus does something, and then he goes somewhere. Every night when we would put Thatcher to bed he would say I want to listen to “John Mark.”

I love the fact that our children are listening to the New Testament with us through this summer. It reminds of Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way that he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” This summer is a great opportunity to begin instilling lifetime principles and a lifetime love of the Scriptures in your children. Mark is a wonderful gospel to start with if you haven’t begun yet because it is so full of action.

One observation I’ve had so far this week that I had not seen in only reading the Scriptures is the intensity at which Jesus had in speaking to the Pharisees at the end of Matthew. He was passionate for the real truth of who God is to reach the people, and this passion caused him to be harsh to those who confused the truth with lies and traditions. Jesus had a holy anger about him that would not compromise the truth of who God is to those who truly love him. I pray that we will have that same passion.

Summer in the Scripture Week 1

As we begin this summer long journey through the New Testament we start with the book of Matthew. Matthew is written to Jewish people who were looking for the coming Messiah. Matthew’s message, “The Messiah has come and is Jesus!” Throughout this book you will hear that Jesus did things in order to fulfill what the prophets had written about Him. In the first two chapters alone Matthew does this five times. “For this was to fulfill what the LORD had spoken by the prophet. “(Matt. 2:15).

Jesus fulfilled over 300 Messianic prophesies from the Old Testament. These prophesies were not a few days, years, or months old either. All of them were centuries old; the very least was four centuries old. Matthew knows this and attempts to show his Jewish readers how Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, spoken of in the Old Testament; despite the fact that Jesus did not come as a conquering Messiah as many expected and hoped he would, but he came as the suffering servant of Isaiah to redeem the world back to God.

The Jews had not heard from God for 400 years. (If that were to happen today we would go all the way back to 1610, the year of the founding of Jamestown, the Americas first European colony!) And when God finally speaks, he cries as a babe in a manger in a small Mid Eastern town; however, the Father knew, and all of his plans for the Son came to be as they had been planned since before the foundation of the world.

Now to us who are awaiting our Savior to come, we only have to open the pages of history and the Bible to know that just as the Father planned the coming of the Son once, He has surely stated that Jesus will come again. However, beyond Jesus’ earthly return which is our hope, God has also said that He knows each of us closely and has laid out all of our days before we live the first one. The God who had the same power to fulfill over 300 Messianic prophesies in a few years in the life of Jesus now holds your life in His hands. He counts the hairs on your head and the moments in your life. The question now becomes, “Do you acknowledge his grace, mercy, love, and power in your life?” Do you see how God guides you to live each day? It is not to much for the God of the universe, who holds the world together, to hold you together for His glory. Just as the Father brought about the life of the Son so many years ago, God still continues to guide the world for His glory and the good of His people. I leave you with excerpts from Psalm 33:

By the word of the LORD the
heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
For He spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
The LORD looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
He who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in His holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.

Raising Obedient Children

I found the following post on another blog that I follow and thought I would share it with everyone. These are some great tips and insights when it comes to parenting and discipline. Hope you enjoy. You can find the blog here: www.theresurgence.com/

Here are a few ways that we are trying to raise obedient children:

1. We are confident in our God-given parental authority.

God has set parents in place as the authority figures in the lives of children. Hebrews 12 speaks of how discipline is actually a privilege of being a son. Don’t fear that your child will resent your discipline. On the contrary, they will soon realise that it is a sign of your love for them.

2. We never count to three.

The counting-to-three routine undermines your authority and places your child in the driving seat. You are training them that, essentially, obedience is a negotiation and they can determine the timing of their obedience. Train them to think, “I must obey straight away.”

3. We model it ourselves to authority figures in our lives.

Several times a year there is a clash between what my “boss” is asking me to do and what my family and I would like to do. I always seize these opportunities to explain to my boys that I must obey my boss straight away and with a good attitude, and that although I would much rather spend Saturday morning with them, I must obey my “boss” and go to that meeting.

4. We try not to exasperate our children (Eph. 6:4).

Avoid petty rules. Pick your battles. Be merciful and compassionate. When you are in the wrong, say a sincere “sorry” to them. Also, make sure that you are giving them sufficient attention so that they are not compelled to rebel just to get some time and attention from you.

5. We use appropriate forms of punishment.

We discipline mostly for three D’s: disobedience, disrespect, and destruction (of property or your brother’s nose). Punishment must be proportional to the offense and also proportional to the child’s stage of life. If it is not then you will find that you exasperate a growing child. Also, the mode of punishment must be what will best help the child. Different parents have more “faith” in some forms of punishment than others, and different children respond differently to different forms of punishment. I acknowledge and respect that, although we have had continued success with the primary biblical form of disciplining children with a wooden spoon on their chubby bottoms.

6. We are convinced that it really is worth the effort.

The joy of parenting increases dramatically when you have obedient children, and most importantly, you are equipping your children with the vital life-skill of obedience, which will stand them in good stead in their obedience to God, life, at school, and in the workplace.

Finding Purpose

Being a leader, and trying to be a leader who lasts, I am reading a book entitled Leaders who Last by Dave Kraft. I’m only a couple of chapters into the book, but I’ve already gleaned a great insight that I think many need to hear. We have all heard that we were created with purpose. Rick Warren has made sure that we were purpose driven in all aspects of our lives. However, in reading Leaders Who Last I realized that while I have a purpose I could not succinctly in one sentence tell someone what it is. One writer said it like this, “A purpose statement is, in essence, a written down reason for being. Jesus’s mission helped him decide how to act, what to do, and even what to say when challenging situations arose. Clarity is power. Once you are clear about what you were put here to do then ‘jobs’ become only a means toward accomplishing your mission, not an end in themselves.”

The Happy Place!

I love the end of that statement. Your “job” may not be a purpose, but God gives it to you as a way of accomplishing your purpose. That mundane drive to work in that drab office where the break-room reeks of burnt popcorn is not your purpose, not your drive, not your reason for living, it is merely a God-given means to accomplish your God-given reason for living. What we must do is find what that purpose is. But how? So many of us know we need to find our purpose, and that we need to be clear on why we are here. Mr. Kraft offers the following list of steps to help get us started in the right direction:

1. Record Bible passages God has applied to your life.

2. Reflect on how God has used you in the past.

3. Determine what you are passionate about.

4. List your known gifts and strengths.

5. Delineate what you have excelled at in your work experience.

6. Define what action words best describe what you like to do.

7. Write down what you enjoy doing during your free time.

8. Reread all of your answers.

9. Take note of common themes.

10. Write down key words or ideas that repeat.

11. Summarize those key words in a short, energizing statement about yourself.

Finding your purpose is not an easy one step process. It will take time in prayer and meditation. However, while it is not an easy process I must say that it is worth the struggle to live and walk in the steps that God has designed for you. Remember, your job is not your purpose, just a means to accomplish your purpose. So what is your statement; what is your purpose? What guides you through decisions you make on a daily basis? I would encourage you to find it, and then spend the rest of your life glorifying God by living in that purpose. As Dave Kraft says, ” When you are plugged into Jesus and have a clear, defined purpose, it will create a sense of joy and enthusiasm in your leadership role and responsibilities.” And also your life.

Buy this from Amazon Today!