January 15

GENESIS 31:17-32:12

MATTHEW 10:24-11:6

PSALM 13:1-6

PROVERBS 3:16-18

Jesus brings a sword.

In Matthew chapter 10 we find Jesus saying some things that always got me to scratch my head.  I understood some things but others seemed a bit harsh.  Verse 34 says "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." That verse and the verses that followed always had me wondering and thinking.  Until I finally understood what Jesus was talking about.

In the time of Jesus the people thought Christ came to give them wealth and power in the world.  Christ says "no" He did not come to give temporal peace or an outward appearance of peace.  Peace with God- yes. 

Then Christ says he came to bring a "sword".  I understand that to be the sword of the Word.  That same sword which His disciples fight against the world.

Then verse 35 really blows my mind.  "For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, a man's enemies will be the members of his own household."

I realize something else, the effects of peaching the gospel is not the fault of the gospel, but of those who do not receive it.  

When some people believe the things that are spoken and some do not, the faith of those that believe condemns those that do not believe, and, therefore, they have enmity against them that believe.

Christ tells His disciples what they would suffer, and these were hard things to deal with.  But if they, if we, could bear these things, then we can bear anything.  

I love how Christ deals with His disciples very fairly and faithfully, he tells us the worst that can happen in our following of Him, so we can then count the cost and see if we would truly be faithful to Him.

January 13 & January 14

GENESIS 28:1-29:35

MATTHEW 9:18-38

PSALM 11:1-7

PROVERBS 3:11-12

GENESIS 30:1-31:16

MATTHEW 10:1-23

PSALM 12:1-8

PROVERBS 3:13-15

The 12.

When He had called His twelve disciples to Him: The main feature of this list is its diversity. Jesus chose His disciples from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences. About all they had in common was it seems that none of them were privileged or from backgrounds of high status. 

This is in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 1:26-29: For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

God calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things.  I've always felt that passage in Corinthians was talking specifically about me.  

Jesus did not only call the twelve. He also gave them power to do what He had called them to do. The same principle holds true today: whom God calls, God equips. The equipping may not be completely evident before the ministry begins, but it will be evident along the way.

These twelve (excepting Judas, of course), have an important place in God’s plan of redemption, including some particular role in the future judgment (Matthew 19:28), and in the founding of the church (Ephesians 2:20). The Bible promises that their position and work will be remembered through eternity (Revelation 21:14).

This is the first and only time in Matthew that the twelve are called apostles. “The word apostle literally means one who is sent out; it is the word for an envoy or an ambassador.” (Barclay) 

“Called here for the first and last time apostoloi, with reference at once to the immediate minor mission and to the later great one.” (Bruce)

There are four different lists of the twelve in the New Testament. Here in Matthew 10:2-4, and also in Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:13-16, and Acts 1:13. 

In these lists, Peter is always listed first and Judas is always listed last. The two pairs of brothers (Peter and Andrew; James and John) are always listed first. In the lists they are arranged in a way that suggests that they were arranged in three groups of four, each with a leader.

·      In each list Peter is first mentioned, followed by Andrew, James, and John.

·      In each list Philip is fifth mentioned, followed by Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew.

·      In each list James the son of Alphaeus is ninth mentioned, followed by Thaddaeus/Judas brother of James, Simon the Zealot, and Judas.

They are called disciples in Matthew 10:1 and apostles in Matthew 10:2. “It is worthy of notice, that those who were Christ's apostles were first his disciples; to intimate, that men must be first taught of God, before they be sent of God.” (Clarke)

January 12

GENESIS 26:17-27:46

MATTHEW 9:1-17

PSALM 10:16-18

PROVERBS 3:9-10

Confidence in God.

Psalm 10:16-18 The Lord is King forever and ever; The nations have perished out of His land.  Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.

The Psalmist began this Psalm with almost despair in his times of trouble; he ends with calm confidence in the reign of the Lord as an eternal King.

If David wrote this Psalm (especially during a time of persecution from Saul), the words the Lord is King forever and ever would have special meaning, recognizing the reign of God even over the troubled and dysfunctional reign of Saul.

He then says that the nations have perished, remembering the past victories of God against the cruel enemies of His people (in this case, the Canaanites who occupied His land).  This gave the Psalmist greater confidence regarding the present help of the Lord.

You have heard the desire of the humble . . . You will prepare their heart . . . You will cause Your ear to hear: This continues to express the calm confidence of the Psalmist. God will not abandon the poor and needy, but will help and bless them.

“David does not say, ‘Thou hast heard the prayer of the humble;’ he means that, but he also means a great deal more. Sometimes, we have desires that we cannot express; they are too big, too deep; we cannot clothe them in language. At other times, we have desires which we dare not express; we feel too bowed down, we see too much of our own unrest to be able to venture near the throne of God to utter our desires; but the Lord hears the desire when we cannot or dare not turn it into the actual form of a prayer.” (Spurgeon)

I love the phrase "you will prepare the heart" the Psalmist reminds us that the spiritual preparation of the heart is a great gift, an answer to prayer, and a mark of God’s blessing. 

“Surely none but the Lord can prepare a heart for prayer. One old writer says it is far harder work to raise the big bell into the steeple than to ring it afterwards. This witness is true. When the bell is well hung you can ring it readily enough; but in that uplifting of the heart lies the work and the labor.” (Spurgeon)

The Psalmist ends with assurance of God’s justice applied to the wicked. What began with a sense of despair in times of trouble has ended with calm confidence in God’s justice and victory.

This is our hope and our faith in God.  Be blessed today!

January 11

GENESIS 24:52-26:16

MATTHEW 8:18-34

PSALM 10:1-15

PROVERBS 3:7-8

Jesus in Ministry.

As we see Jesus in ministry I find it so intriguing that as Jesus increased in popularity He did not follow the crowds or even seek to make them bigger. In some ways he seemed to avoid the great multitudes that followed Him.  

In verse 19 it says: Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”  

With the miracles associated with the ministry of Jesus, following Him might have seemed more glamorous than it really was. Jesus perhaps received many spontaneous offers like this.  I can see many people wanting to be in Jesus' "entourage."

Jesus' response was very unique.  He says "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

Jesus often responds to things and people with what seems like the oddest answers.  I can't imagine what I would've thought if He had said that to me.  But as I think about it I can see the picture that Jesus is trying to paint.  

Jesus didn’t tell the man “No, you can’t follow Me.” But He told him the truth, without painting a glamorized version of what it was like to follow Him. This is the opposite of techniques used by many evangelists today, but Jesus wanted the man to know what it would really be like.

The reason this man turned away from Jesus was because Jesus lived a very simple life by faith, trusting His Father for every need and without reserves of material resources. 

This is just the kind of thing that would make Jesus more attractive to a truly spiritual man. Here is a man who lives completely by faith and is satisfied with few material things; I should follow Him and learn from Him.

Let that be our life and prayer, to follow Jesus no matter how un-glamourous it is.  The truth of the gospel is the cross.  We will find out soon enough in the gospels how hard following Jesus really is.  This walk and journey is tough, but if our God is for us, than who can be against us.

Be blessed today saints!

January 10

Genesis 23:1-24:51

Matthew 8:1-17

Psalm 9:13-20

Proverbs 3:1-6

Trust in God.

Proverbs chapter 3 gives us, perhaps, the most famous portion of the book in verses 5 and 6.  For good reason, many have remembered the words of Solomon in this Proverb.

I love verse 3, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart."  Never forfeit love and faithfulness, but live up to them, preserve them, and be an example of them.

We keep what is most important to us in our hearts, Solomon is saying, take pleasure in applying these things to your life.  These should be an extension of who we are, we should always love and we should forever be faithful.

And then the famous words in verses 5 and 6, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Trust God in all of our ways, in all of our life.  Every aspect of who we are should be placed in God's hand.  We must believe that He is able to do what he promised and that He is wise to do what is best.  

The problem is that so often we say we trust in God with our mouths but our actions tell a different story.  Another problem we have is that we trust God with some things and not others, but Solomon is saying trust in the LORD with all of your heart.

Whatever you fear the most reveals what you value the most, but there is another side to that statement, what you fear the most reveals where you trust God the least.  What are your biggest fears?  What worries you the most?  What keeps you up at night?  What stresses you out?  Give that to God, trust Him with it and He will guide you.

My prayer and desire is this, that we would truly trust in God with ALL of our heart and never think that we have obtained enough knowledge to figure things out on our own.  

Don't worry God is in control!

January 9

GENESIS 20:1-22:24 

MATTHEW 7:15-29 

PSALM 9:1-12 

PROVERBS 2:16-22

Abraham and Isaac.

After a long period of time, Abraham and Sarah are blessed with the arrival of their son, Isaac.  Perhaps, not at the time they would have set, but God is always punctual to His time.

After he had been blessed with his promised son, after all the difficulties he had gone through, after all the hardships he had endured, God tested Abraham's faith.  

I could not imagine what must have been racing through Abrahams mind.  Doubt, fear, sadness, confusion, yet through all that he was obedient to God.  Scripture says that Abraham got up early the next morning to prepare himself to sacrifice his son.

That is unparalleled obedience, Abraham doesn't wait, he doesn't stall, he doesn't delay, he wakes up early and saddles his donkey.  Side note, those that do the will of God should do it with all of our heart and with quick responses to God's command.  Those that delay lose time and their hearts are hardened.

This story is a symbol of what is to happen to our Lord Jesus Christ.  Note a similarity in verse 6, Abraham obliged Isaac to carry the wood for the sacrifice, the same way Jesus carried His own cross.

Now, after Abraham had prepared the altar he was ready to go through with it, with the same resolution of mind, and after many thoughts in his heart, he applies himself to completing the sacrifice.  And what seems to be a tragic story takes a sudden turn when the sky clears up, the sun breaks out, an Angel of God appears, and Isaac is rescued.

I've learned a few things in this story, 1. God desires that we love and obey Him more than anything on this earth.  2. God's time to help and relieve His people is when they are brought to the greatest extremity   The more imminent the danger the more wonderful the deliverance.  3. The best evidence in our fearing God is our being willing to serve and honor Him with what is dearest to us.  

Obey God, give up what he asks of you and find comfort in Him.  

January 8

GENESIS 18:16-19:38 

MATTHEW 6:25-7:14 

PSALM 8:1-9 

PROVERBS 2:6-15

Wisdom.

Today, I want to rest in the book of Proverbs.  A book full of wisdom and insights that we can live by.  A book that we should not gloss over, but read with attentive ears and open hearts.  

Proverbs gives us foundational goals in our walk with Christ.  Those goals are fearing God and the knowledge of God, and in the pursuit of those two goals we should desire wisdom.  Proverbs 2 gives us a glimpse of where we find wisdom and how we may get it.  

The beginning of this chapter tells us that if we are looking for wisdom, truly searching after wisdom, that we would understand and find the knowledge of God.  In verse 6 scripture says that the Lord gives wisdom.

I find it intriguing that this is the same day we read in Matthew  to ask, seek, and knock, Solomon and Jesus are in agreement that if we would search after God for something we will find it.  

And one of the things that we fail to ask God for is wisdom.  We must recognize that not only is the Lord wise himself, but he gives wisdom to those who ask.  

So, no matter where you are in your life look for Gods wisdom.  For everyday tasks as well as life changing decisions, you need the wisdom of God.  And the best news is that if we would search for it, he will give it to us.  

As you continue to read scripture pray for wisdom concerning His word.