Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

Over the past few months, I have been dealing with a company that is not doing or providing any of the services they said they would upon purchasing their product.  Sound familiar?  Promises made at the sales table to get you to buy what they are selling, while saying yes to every question you ask, then later “gaslighting” you is becoming so predominant, most of us develop trust issues with all companies. 

We look for someone, anyone, to tell us the truth, but it is getting harder to find.  We look into their eyes looking for some form of honesty; but find only blank gazes for they know not what they are doing.  Sigh.  All we get are empty promises.

Empty promises made by all kinds of people, in and out of the “church,” are bad, sinful behaviors that have been around for ages.  People who lie to us fall into our “enemy category” and become people to avoid because we allow them to rob us of our peace.  Love, mercy, and grace are not usually on our agendas when relating to “enemies” who hurt us deeply.

Jesus addresses these problems in the “Greatest Sermon on Earth”! 

Matthew 5:33-48, The Message

Empty Promises

^33-37 “And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.

Love Your Enemies

^38-42 “Here’s another old saying that deserves a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

^43-47 “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

⁴⁸ “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Above all, as believers in Jesus, our true, God-created identity is in Him!  To live out our true identities we must “grow up” as one who thinks, talks, and walks like a member of His family.  To become like Jesus in his Kingdom of God thinking, we pray for help and He gives it to us generously—as promised!

The company I spoke of required a lot of praying on my part to deal with them without losing my identity in Christ.  Resolution didn’t seem to be in sight until I gave generously, expecting nothing in return, with knowing God would take care of the rest.  Yesterday, the issue was finally resolved, mostly in their favor, but my peace is restored.  Peace is priceless. 

Jesus taught us to pray for our enemies, those who Satan uses to spitefully use and abuse us, hurt, and demean us, for a reason—to regain His peace in a fallen, broken world so we do not lose our identity with Him.  Keep the communications lines open at all times!

Empty promises, gaslighting, along with narcissistic behaviors that make us wonder who we are and question what we should be doing all come from our real enemy who is working overtime to destroy our identity with God.  He does this by first distracting us from God. 

Jesus’ sermon clarifies how we should respond as Kingdom of God thinkers.

• The enemy confuses with empty promises and placates us with pride.  Jesus gives peace that passes all understanding and teaches us to be humble.
• The enemy hates.  Jesus loves friends and enemies—without conditions.
• The enemy rushes to judgement.  Jesus, who has every right to judge, came to save us.
• The enemy is tight-fisted with resources.  Jesus is generous beyond our wildest dreams.
• The enemy abuses us.  Jesus abides with us, filling us with power, wisdom, and love.

Take Note:  Our “enemies” are used by God to refine us, knocking off the rough edges, so our identity with Jesus is more defined! We become more like Jesus as we listen to Him while trusting and obeying His Spirit.  Our identity in Christ fleshes out as we begin to develop His character and bear the fruits of His Holy Spirit.  And what are those behaviors we grow into and what does our identity look like in Jesus?  Paul created a list for greater understanding—

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”  Galatians 5:22-26, NLT

If we identify with Jesus, we behave differently, in unexpected ways by worldly standards.  We go the extra mile, give of ourselves generously without thinking what we will receive in return.  We love graciously as if our lives depended on it, while walking humbly with God.  Jesus is who matters to us most.  Jesus changes everything about us as we identify with Him as our Savior and Lord of our lives.

Lord,

Your promises are true.  We can depend on your relentless, unconditional, unchanging love for us.  What you say, you will do.  Who we are is who you are in us.  Lead me on, Lord, lead me on…Great is your faithfulness, Oh Lord.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

And I’m singing “Promises” by Maverick City—

God of Abraham
You’re the God of covenant
And of faithful promises
Time and time again
You have proven
You’ll do just what You said

Though the storms may come and the winds may blow
I’ll remain steadfast
And let my heart learn, when You speak a word
It will come to pass

Great is Your faithfulness to me
Great is Your faithfulness to me
From the rising sun to the setting same
I will praise Your name
Great is Your faithfulness to me

When the seasons change
You remain the same

God from age to age
Though the earth may pass away
Your word remains the same, yeah
Your history can prove
There’s nothing You can’t do
You’re faithful and true

Though the storms may come and the winds may blow
I’ll remain steadfast
And let my heart learn, when You speak a word
It will come to pass

Great is Your faithfulness to me, oh
Great is Your faithfulness
From the rising sun
From the rising sun to the setting same (I will praise Your name)
I will praise Your name (oh, praise Your name)
Great is Your faithfulness to me, yeah, yeah (oh, oh)

Your faithfulness, it never runs out (yeah)
It never runs out
Oh-oh, Your faithfulness
Oh, it never runs out (it never runs out)
It never runs out (it never runs out)

I put my faith in Jesus
My anchor to the ground
My hope and firm foundation
He’ll never let me down, no
I put my faith in Jesus
My anchor to the ground (my hope and firm foundation)
He’s my hope and firm foundation (He’ll never let me down)
He’ll never let me down, oh, I put (oh)
I put my trust (faith) in Jesus (yes, I do)
My anchor to the ground
My hope and firm foundation (my hope and firm foundation)
He’ll never let me down (He’ll never let me down)
Never let me down…

My parents had a saying.  “Just because you can doesn’t make it right.”  Growing up in a world where many want it their way and will do most anything to get their way, these words began to make sense.  Legal documents are written in complicated language, created by lawyers who know legalese well and are written primarily and solely for their client’s advantage.   Lawyers work to remove all loopholes, making it difficult to impossible to oppose.  But does that make it right for all parties involved?

Jesus clarifies and extends the thinking of the crowd gathered on the mountain on matters of the heart, mind, and soul. He begins with what the world has said to them previously.  He understands what they already know and then our Master Teacher takes them higher in their thinking—to Kingdom of God thinking.  He teaches people what God thinks with how to live to please God.  This life for God is a matter of our hearts.  The Message puts these same words in our language so we can understand more readily what Jesus was saying then and now to us.

“You have heard it said…but I say to you…” begins our journey to know God more and to realize exactly what He wants us for us.  God wants us to reach higher, love greater still, so we can be more like Him in our behaviors.  It begins with what is in our hearts.  Blessed are those who listen and obey.  God brings out His best in us in the process of learning to walk in His ways.  The road is harder but the reward is much greater.

Matthew 5:21-32, The Message

Murder

^21-22 “You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.

^23-24 “This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.

^25-26 “Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you’re likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won’t get out without a stiff fine.

Adultery and Divorce

^27-28 “You know the next commandment pretty well, too: ‘Don’t go to bed with another’s spouse.’ But don’t think you’ve preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those ogling looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt.

^29-30 “Let’s not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here’s what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump.

^31-32 “Remember the Scripture that says, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him do it legally, giving her divorce papers and her legal rights’? Too many of you are using that as a cover for selfishness and whim, pretending to be righteous just because you are ‘legal.’ Please, no more pretending. If you divorce your wife, you’re responsible for making her an adulteress (unless she has already made herself that by sexual promiscuity). And if you marry such a divorced adulteress, you’re automatically an adulterer yourself. You can’t use legal cover to mask a moral failure.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God’s love and care for us dives much deeper than our sins that entangle us.  It’s not about covering our sins with legal documents but it is about the condition of our hearts.  Our sins, not in part but the whole, are removed completely, to be remembered no more, from a repentant, sincere heart.  Selfish whims lead to moral failure.  Jesus died to remove our sins.  Jesus rose again, defeating death, to give us hope of life forever with Him!

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

There are no legal “loopholes” to search for in Scripture in order to obtain God’s love, mercy and grace without repentance.  Confessed sins, in Jesus Name who paid the debt of our sins, is the only Way to reconcile with God and mankind.  With the power of His Holy Spirit working in us; we stop looking for ways to justify our sins as we discover how that behavior only complicates our lives.  Avoid the “coverup” way of life at all costs!  It doesn’t look good on we who say we believe and follow Jesus.

Lord,

I confess my sins of wanting life to be better when it is me who needs to be better at hearing your Voice above all others and follow you.  I confess of worry and wonderings that block my view of You and Your will for me.  I confess my replays of my sin in my mind and remember that you don’t remember for you have forgiven me completely!  Thank you, Jesus for reconciling us to our Father God through your work on the cross.  Thank you, Holy Spirit for guiding my thoughts to higher places today.  Keep me focused on you all day long and into the night.  You are my hope.  You are my blessed assurance.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen.  I believe.

“What color is the sky in your world,” the math teacher would say to me.  As a young student I loved to daydream and wonder why things worked the way they did or why people acted the way they did in the classroom.  The teacher would awaken me and call my attention back to the lesson at hand so I would know enough to pass the next test with flying colors.  I wasn’t a bad student, I just liked to think about and question the things of life.

Jesus awakens his crowd of followers who have scaled a mountain to sit and hear him speak to them.  By now in Jesus’ ministry, He is growing in popularity.  Watching Jesus heal the sick has brought them out of curiosity; but now what He says is engaging and helpful, like nothing they have ever heard!  People are hanging on every word this man of humble means has to say. 

Jesus is different than the other Teachers of the Law who wear all the “right” clothes.  Jesus speaks, not as the proud, judging teachers at the local Synagogue who admonish every move people “under them” make with a “new rule,” but as a Person who seems to know them, knows the questions they have had but were afraid to ask and knows their hearts!  This “knowing” draws all people, even the skeptics, to this man, this new prophet of God, who speaks with simple clarity in ways they can finally understand.

“He speaks and the sound of His voice, is so sweet the birds hush their singing…”

Matthew 5:13-20, The Message

Salt and Light

¹³ “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

^14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

Completing God’s Law

^17-18 “Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God’s Law or the Prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s Law will be alive and working.

^19-20 “Trivialize even the smallest item in God’s Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won’t know the first thing about entering the kingdom.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus came to be and give Light, the Light of Truth, to the dark, sinful world.  Jesus calls on His followers—all who believe Him and decide and commit to follow Him, to be His Light, too.  In fact, He tells us, “This is why we are here”—to reflect His Light with all the God-colors of His character!  I would imagine this would include talking and walking with God so that we become more like Jesus who showed us who God is and what He will grow in our lives. 

I had a friend from Texas who went to college in the city of Nacogdoches.  She had a definite southern accent.  When I was around her, I picked it up without thinking and would say certain words just like she said them.  I would come home after time with her and my parents would say, “You’ve been with Anita, haven’t you?” 

We become who we are with and talk to most often. We begin to speak like them, walk, and even think like them. 

The more we spend time (commune) with God, speaking in the Name of Jesus, His Son, the more we become like Him.  We reflect His Light.  Our lives shine brighter and brighter as all the God-colors of His character begin to grow in us, dispelling all the dark deeds we used to think about and do. 

God’s Holy Spirit helps us!  Paul gives us a list in Galatians 5… “the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”  Paul even ends the list with, “against such there is no law”, meaning there is no rule from God that will stop us from being like Him!  No one in God’s thinking will tell you, “Stop it, you’re being too kind!”  There is no punishment for being too loving and generous!  There is only reward for seeking first the Kingdom of God and being Kingdom of God thinkers and doers.

I confess.  I am a “salt-alcoholic.” I will bypass a candy bar if you give me a bag of chips. I salt everything until I get my food to taste they way I like it, uh huh.  I love that God wants us to be salty in this world, bringing out the best of all the God-flavors of His character, as well!  I get it, Jesus, I really do!  In fact, I want to be sensationally salty, growing with the flavor of God so others will see You in me!

“God’s Laws are alive and working!” Jesus IS the Law in summation so He has not come to destroy Himself but to flesh out The Law of God in front of all who will believe, listen to understand, with a decision to trust and obey.  So, Jesus completes The Law.  Jesus brings all things of God together.  Jesus gave us a Helper, God’s Holy Spirit, who changes our minds and transforms our thinking.

Salt and Light—God-flavors and God-colors—illuminating and seasoning the world in need of His saving grace.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

Lord,

Cleanse my heart, transform my mind, refresh and feed my soul while restoring the joy of your salvation in me so I can be salt and light today, better than yesterday or the day before.  Make me more like you every day I live on this earth.  May your beauty be seen in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known…

Fill my cup, Lord
I lift it up, Lord
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul
Bread of Heaven, feed me ’til I want no more
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole

Matthew 5:1-12, The Message

You’re Blessed

^1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

³ “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

⁴ “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

⁵ “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

⁶ “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

⁷ “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

⁸ “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

⁹ “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

¹⁰ “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

^11-12 “Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When we come to the end of what we think we control, we are blessed when we realize that Only God is truly in control. He loved us before we first loved Him.  He knows how our current frustrations and temporary circumstances will pan out.  And He knows our hearts and fills them when we ask to be filled.  This “filling” controls our appetites for wanting more than we need while blessing us with God’s character traits.  This filling comes with calling for the help of God’s Spirit. This is God’s blessed assurance.

Those days when we feel those closest to us, those we thought we could depend on to love us unconditionally betray us; we feel so lost.  Then when we realize there is One who never leaves or betrays us, always loves us no matter what others think we are, what we have done, or been accused of.  The One and Only offers love that is relentless, unconditional, unchanging, and unshakable.  God never turns His back on us, never leaves us, and is faithful to forgive us as we turn to face His Son who forgives us of all our sins—our sins, not in part but the whole, to be remembered no more!  This is the blessing!

When we care and are still rejected, keep caring because the blessing comes in the obedience of showing God’s compassionate love to all people whether they receive what you have to give from God or not.    

To be content is a daily work of offering ourselves to God, asking what He wants. God’s Holy Spirit then guides us to what is true, what is right for us to do at any given moment with what is necessary for us in our maturity and growth.  The blessing is realized when we see the fruit bearing of His labor of love in us.  (See Galatians 5 for the list of fruits of God’s character traits.)

Lean into these “blessings”, described by Max Lucado as “Sacred Delight”;

“Sacred delight is good news coming through the back door of your heart. It’s what you’d always dreamed but never expected. It’s the too-good-to-be-true coming true. It’s having God as your pinch-hitter, your lawyer, your dad, your biggest fan, and your best friend. God on your side, in your heart, out in front, and protecting your back. It’s hope where you least expected it: a flower in life’s sidewalk.

It is sacred because only God can grant it. It is a delight because it thrills. Since it is sacred, it can’t be stolen. And since it is delightful, it can’t be predicted.

It was this gladness that danced through the Red Sea. It was this joy that blew the trumpet at Jericho. It was this secret that made Mary sing. It was this surprise that put the springtime into Easter morning.

It is this sacred delight that Jesus promises in the Sermon on the Mount.

Nine times he promises it. And he promises it to an unlikely crowd:

‘The poor in spirit . . . those who mourn . . . the meek . . . those who hunger and thirst . . . the merciful . . . the pure in heart . . . the peacemakers . . . those who are persecuted . . .’.

It is to this band of pilgrims that God promises a special blessing. A heavenly joy. A sacred delight.”

Who we are, how we respond to life stuff good or bad, reflects the measure of what is in our hearts.  We are blessed if Jesus is Lord of our hearts, minds, and souls. 

Lord,

I pray all the readers of Your Word with me today realize all your blessings as a sacred delight from you all day long and into the night.  May we wake tomorrow and the next with you on our minds first of all.  This world has nothing to offer, nothing that satisfies our real longings when compared to you.  And now we know why—because it is You we long for most. Where we are now is not our final home.  Who we are is still a work in progress.  Continue working on me. 

In Jesus Name, Amen

Like the woman at the well
I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy
And then I heard my Savior speaking
“Draw from My well that never shall run dry”

Fill my cup, Lord
I lift it up, Lord
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul
Bread of Heaven, feed me ’til I want no more
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole

There are millions in this world
Who are craving
The pleasures, earthly things of gold
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord

Fill my cup, Lord
I lift it up, Lord
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul
Bread of Heaven, feed me ’til I want no more
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole
Here’s my cup, fill it up and make me whole

(By Richard Blanchard; Fill My Cup, Lord lyrics © Word Music, Llc)

Not long ago, I had a question asked from a ministry student who asked that I be her mentor.  Her question was more a frustration and she already knew the answer but she still needed to say it out loud.  “Why am I going through these spiritual battles with those I know and love along with some very challenging circumstances in my life after saying yes to the call of God?”  While I’m thinking of my response, and remembering this passage right here in Matthew, telling us of the three part test of Jesus, Son of God, before He began His mission to save us from our sins, she answered her own question— “It’s a test, isn’t it?”.  Why, yes, it is dear friend.

As a former teacher, we know that well designed tests are great tools of the teaching process.  We assess what the student already knows so we can design our curriculum to address what they need to know.  God uses tests in our own lives not to see if we will “hold up” under pressure, but to teach us how to respond to what the world will consistently present in front of us.  Fortunately, as believers in Jesus, God’s Holy Spirit lives in us to guide us to all truth, to comfort us when we falter, to convict us of sins that will cause us to spiritually crash later.  When we come to a place of decision between right and wrong, God’s Holy Spirit will lead us to what is right and best for us.  Tests will also bring out the wisdom of God’s Word that has become a part of us while teaching us what we still need to learn. 

Tests are not meant to rank us, (thank you, God!), but to help us to know more and sin less.  “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, says Paul to all believers.  No one escapes the tests that God allows in our lives to teach us.  Tests keep us humbled before God.  Tests remind us that we are all in need of a Savior.  We all need the Lord to guide us to what is right.  We are not perfect but perfectly forgiven with help to grow and mature in His ways.

Matthew 4, The Message

The Test

^1-3 Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: “Since you are God’s Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”

^5-6 For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, “Since you are God’s Son, jump.” The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: “He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won’t so much as stub your toe on a stone.”

⁷ Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: “Don’t you dare test the Lord your God.”

^8-9 For the third test, the Devil took him to the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth’s kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, “They’re yours—lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they’re yours.”

¹⁰ Jesus’ refusal was curt: “Beat it, Satan!” He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: “Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”

¹¹ The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs.

Teaching and Healing

^12-17 When Jesus got word that John had been arrested, he returned to Galilee. He moved from his hometown, Nazareth, to the lakeside village Capernaum, nestled at the base of the Zebulun and Naphtali hills. This move completed Isaiah’s revelation:

Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali,
    road to the sea, over Jordan,
    Galilee, crossroads for the nations.
People sitting out their lives in the dark
    saw a huge light;
Sitting in that dark, dark country of death,
    they watched the sun come up.

This Isaiah-prophesied revelation came to life in Galilee the moment Jesus started preaching. He picked up where John left off: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”

^18-20 Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.

^21-22 A short distance down the beach they came upon another pair of brothers, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. These two were sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their fishnets. Jesus made the same offer to them, and they were just as quick to follow, abandoning boat and father.

^23-25 From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now they were under God’s government, a good government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives. Word got around the entire Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with a sickness, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. More and more people came, the momentum gathering. Besides those from Galilee, crowds came from the “Ten Towns” across the lake, others up from Jerusalem and Judea, still others from across the Jordan.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We are tested.  Jesus gives us the examples of how to respond to tests from the one who wants to destroy us or at least distract us from God.

1. The Test of Physical Need and Want versus the love of God.  “You’re hungry, you can fix it,” says the devil. Satan knows exactly who Jesus is and will consistently battle him with full force, using all his age-old tactics of lies and deceit.  I am wondering if the devil used the same lines he used on Adam and Eve?  Maybe to Jesus, “Do you really think God would want you to go hungry?” which is akin to how he deceived Eve with, “Do you really think you will die if you eat this fruit?  And we all know how it went down with Adam and Eve!  (If not and you need a reminder, See Genesis 3).  Jesus prevails his first test with “Man does not live by bread alone.”  Spoken by One who is the Bread of Life! 

Satan knew to attack in Jesus’ weakness but Jesus was made strong by His Father in Heaven whom Jesus relied upon with the power of God’s love in Him. 

God’s Holy Spirit taught Paul a similar lesson after Paul prayed for a “thorn” in his life to be removed.  Paul relates, “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”  2 Corinthians 12:9 We seem to listen more intently to God when we are weakened of our own resources.

• The Doubled Tests of Pride.  “Because of who you associate with, you can jump of this building and be caught in mid-air!”  Sometimes, when people lift up pastors and staff as super heros of the faith, we begin to think we can scale walls and leap off tall buildings and fly like Super men and women!  Satan works overtime to distract us from God by filling our minds with pride that leads us to behaving arrogantly—if we allow it.  Jesus did not allow it.  “Beat it, Satan!”

Philippians 2 explains how Jesus came to live among humans on earth as Son of Man and Son of God simultaneously.

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
    he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.”  Philippians 2:5-11

Our pride and arrogance has no place in Kingdom of God thinking and behaving.

Pride worships self.  Jesus clearly and emphatically tells Satan (and reminds us) worship is reserved only for God.

“Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness.”

We learn from these tests that Satan knows God and His Son well.  He also knows scripture so he can use it to manipulate us by twisting the truth to his advantage.  When our enemy cannot destroy us, he will consistently work to distract from all that is God. 

Therefore, Know God.  Know the Enemy.  Know who and what we have available to help us.  Know the weapons to use against the enemy:

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.^”  Ephesians 6:10-18

“The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs.” 

“So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.”  James 4:7, MSG

Lord,

Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh, and feed my soul while restoring the joy of your salvation powerfully at work in me.  I’m yours. Fully and unreservedly yours.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Matthew 3, The Message

Thunder in the Desert!

^1-2 While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called “the Baptizer,” was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”

³ John and his message were authorized by Isaiah’s prophecy:

Thunder in the desert!
Prepare for God’s arrival!
Make the road smooth and straight!

^4-6 John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life.

^7-10 When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and flourishing? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.

^11-12 “I’m baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama—compared to him I’m a mere stagehand—will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”

* * *

^13-14 Jesus then appeared, arriving at the Jordan River from Galilee. He wanted John to baptize him. John objected, “I’m the one who needs to be baptized, not you!”

¹⁵ But Jesus insisted. “Do it. God’s work, putting things right all these centuries, is coming together right now in this baptism.” So John did it.

^16-17 The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus, who had no sins to repent, came to John to be baptized showing the world that He had come to restore a relationship with God that centuries of unrighteousness had broken.  This was a “sign” that we will be reconciled to God by Jesus, His Son. 

It pleased God that His Son was on track with His mission!  “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” 

The prophets told the world they lived in of the promise of the Messiah and now He has come to save them from all their sins.  How will He be received?  There will be mixed reactions.

Do we really believe what God says about His Son and His mission to save us really real?  Our hearts with resulting behaviors will answer this question. To say we believe is not enough.  John points that out to the Pharisees, Teachers of the Law, Sadducees and other religious leaders who are used to getting what they want when they want it.

John, the earthly cousin to Jesus, knew his mission well and obeyed God in preparing the way for Jesus’ mission to save the world of all sin now and for all in the succeeding centuries to come for all who believe.  The baton has been passed.  All is well.  God is pleased with both John and Jesus.

Why? –All because of God’s love for us.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

Believe, really believe and be saved forever!  Rejoice and be glad for what God has done to save us!

Lord,

Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole.  Thank you for your Holy Spirit that guides me.  Forgive me when I think my way is better.  Thank you for pulling me back on the path when I am distracted by the pull of the world.  Thank you for loving me the way you do and teaching me how to love others.  I believe.  I yours.  I love you with all my heart, mind and soul. 

In Jesus Name, Amen

After living in this world for seventy plus years, I’m learning I cannot always trust what people say to me.  (I know, right?!)  You have probably discovered this, too.  It only takes a small amount of time on earth to realize that trust is precious and can be broken by those you love and care about most.  Trust is broken when lies are told and lataer discovered.  Trust is broken when those you think have your back are really putting you down behind your back.  Trickery, slander, deceit, pretension, and lies are all characteristics of our real enemy, Satan, and we fall for it.  Satan, was kicked out of heaven for wanting to take God’s place as God.  As we know, that didn’t work, so he continually torments, tempts and lies to God’s people and everyone else God has created, telling them they deserve more than what they are getting in order to discredit God by discrediting God’s Holy Spirit who lives in us upon rebirth. 

The moment we say yes to Jesus, we enter a battle with the one who hates Jesus.  So we must diligently see to know God, know His Word, know to whom you belong and can trust unreservedly but also know your enemy and don’t be surprised at this attacks on your being as he uses others to do his dirty work.  Be a “wise guy” who sees the Star of Truth and seeks to find Truth in the person of Jesus Christ. 

John, Jesus’ beloved disciple, helps us to decern truth from fiction:

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.” (1 John 4:1-6)

As we begin our new study of the gospels, beginning with Matthew, we realize how important and good it was to camp with the prophets before diving into the New Testament.  ALL that the words given to the prophets by God will now be fulfilled in Jesus, His Son.  The words of the prophets connect the old with the new.  We reach back in time and now we will see how it all plays out as God leads.  Every detailed of what God said He would do is fulfilled in His Son, Jesus.

“God with us” has come to earth and moved into the neighborhood of humanity as Son of Man and Son of God.  Jesus will be mentored by Joseph, his father on earth while being guided by His Father in Heaven.  God will provide for this unique and amazing journey in ways that surprise even Joseph and Mary, his devoted parents on earth.

Battles with the enemy begin right now.  Herod is used by the enemy to hunt down the Child with intentions to kill Him who came to earth to save us.  Spoiler alert:  Satan does not win.

Matthew 2, The Message

Scholars from the East

^1-2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory—this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”

^3-4 When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified—and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well. Herod lost no time. He gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

^5-6 They told him, “Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly:

It’s you, Bethlehem, in Judah’s land,
    no longer bringing up the rear.
From you will come the leader
    who will shepherd-rule my people, my Israel.”

^7-8 Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, “Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I’ll join you at once in your worship.”

^9-10 Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!

¹¹ They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.

¹² In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country.

* * *

¹³ After the scholars were gone, God’s angel showed up again in Joseph’s dream and commanded, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him.”

^14-15 Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: “I called my son out of Egypt.”

^16-18 Herod, when he realized that the scholars had tricked him, flew into a rage. He commanded the murder of every little boy two years old and under who lived in Bethlehem and its surrounding hills. (He determined that age from information he’d gotten from the scholars.) That’s when Jeremiah’s revelation was fulfilled:

A sound was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and much lament.
Rachel weeping for her children,
    Rachel refusing all solace,
Her children gone,
    dead and buried.

^19-20 Later, when Herod died, God’s angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt: “Up, take the child and his mother and return to Israel. All those out to murder the child are dead.”

^21-23 Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother, and reentered Israel. When he heard, though, that Archelaus had succeeded his father, Herod, as king in Judea, he was afraid to go there. But then Joseph was directed in a dream to go to the hills of Galilee. On arrival, he settled in the village of Nazareth. This move was a fulfillment of the prophetic words, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We learn…

• Every prophecy about Jesus’ life on earth is fulfilled.
• Wise guys with seeking hearts found who they were looking for and worshiped Him.
• God speaks and Joseph obeys immediately as if God and Joseph are working in tandem, in complete unity of Spirit.  I love that, don’t you?
• God spoke to Mary who treasured all these happenings in her heart forever.
• God provided gifts from the scholars so Joseph, Mary and a toddler can immediately make the journey to Egypt!  Where God guides, God provides!
• The enemy is defeated by our all knowing God.

Reaction to Jesus’ birth was mixed. The wise men came to worship Jesus, while King Herod tried to kill him.  Mankind will always have a choice to make.  What’s your choice?  Life in Jesus who made it possible for us to have an intimately loving relationship with God, our Father in Heaven who says we are more than enough to come and live with him forever?  OR Satan’s way that leads to death because of living in ways against God—the views of this fleeting world of betrayal, envy, jealousy, lies, deceit, cover ups, scandal, distrust, hate…all things opposite of God?  There is no middle ground to stand on.

Two choices.  Choose to be a wise guy!  Seek the Savior!  When you find Him, bow down before Him, believe that He is Truth, repent of sins, and be saved to live forever with Jesus.

Just as God said…happened.  Our trust builds when we continually see truth fulfilled.

Lord,

Thank you for coming to earth, leaving the throne of heaven, to come down as a human baby with caring, God-devoted parents to oversee and care for you.  You trusted them as they trusted you.  Wow, just that thought alone is amazing to me.  Trust is so precious and can be broken so easily here on earth.  I trust in you, Jesus, for all my life with nothing held back.  You are God and I am not.  You accept me, save me and make me whole to receive all you want to give that will help me grow even more deeply in love with you.  Your love, mercy and grace are truly amazing.  There is no one like you!

Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh and feed my soul, and restore the joy and peace of your salvation at work in me.

In Jesus Name, Amen.  I believe.

There is a chorus of my youth I still recall when challenging situations overwhelm me.  Just singing a few lines lifts my thinking to a higher, more realistic perspective of the circumstance—God’s perspective.  So, let’s talk about Jesus!

Let’s talk about Jesus, the King of kings is He,

The Lord of lords supreme, through all eternity. 

The great I AM, the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Door,

 Let’s talk about Jesus more and more.

Yesterday we concluded our study of the prophets of God with Malachi who had last word in the Old Testament.  Then God was silent for about four centuries.  The Messiah (the One who would come to save), announced and foretold by the prophets, is now ready to come after this long silence.  

The Messiah does indeed come but Jesus does not come with the expected regality fit for a king with a formal ceremony or even a pompous procession deemed necessary for proud and noble royalty.  He comes as a helpless baby born to a couple who love God but are of lowly means.  Joseph is a carpenter and his “espoused”, promised wife to be is a teenager.  Jesus, Messiah, our Savior, and Lord, is born in a stall as farm animals look on.  He is wrapped tightly in cloth strips to keep him warm and secure by his loving mother.  Then Mary, with the help of Joseph, placed him carefully in a bed of hay covered with blankets.

We will talk about Jesus more and more by beginning with the account and eyewitness of Matthew.  But first, let’s gain an overall knowledge of the New Testament as a whole by reading Eugene Peterson’s introduction which is worthy of our attention before diving into Matthew:

“The arrival of Jesus signaled the beginning of a new era. God entered history in a personal way, and made it unmistakably clear that he is on our side, doing everything possible to save us.  It was all presented and worked out in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  It was, and is, hard to believe—seemingly too good to be true.”

“But one by one, men and women did believe it, believed Jesus was God alive among them and for them.  Soon they would realize that he also lived in them.  To their great surprise they found themselves living in a world where God called all the shots—had the first word on everything, had the last word on everything.  That meant that everything, quiet literally every thing, had to be re-centered, re-imagined, and re-thought.”

“They went at it with immense gusto. They told stories of Jesus and arranged his teachings in memorable form. They wrote letters.  They sang songs.   They prayed.  One of them wrote an extraordinary poem based on holy visions.  There was no apparent organization to any of this; it was all more or less spontaneous and, to the eye of the casual observer, haphazard.  Over the course of about fifty years, these writings added up to what would later be compiled by the followers of Jesus and designated ‘The New Testament.’”

“Three kinds of writing—eyewitness stories, personal letters, and a visionary poem—make up the book.  In the course of this writing and reading, collecting and arranging, with no one apparently in charge, the early Christians, whose lives were being changed and shaped by what they were reading, arrived at the conviction that there was, in fact, someone in charge—God’s Holy Spirit who was behind and in it all.  There was nothing accidental in any of this, nothing merely circumstantial.  They were bold to call what had been written ‘God’s Word,’ and trusted their lives to it.  They accepted its authority over their lives.  Most of its readers since have been similarly convinced.”—Peterson

Peterson seeks to bring the Greek language of the New Testament to our everyday lives’ thinking, using our language structure, so that we truly understand what was happening then and gain perspective and understanding of why Jesus came to earth to reconcile us to God.  Jesus cleared the path, The Way, the Only Way, to God so we could establish our individual relationship with God.  It’s personal and it’s forever! 

Now, let’s talk about the line of David from whom Jesus is born.  Matthew, a devout Jew, wants us to know the lineage of the Messiah.  He begins there…

Matthew 1, The Message

The family tree of Jesus Christ, David’s son, Abraham’s son:

^2-6 Abraham had Isaac,

Isaac had Jacob,

Jacob had Judah and his brothers,

Judah had Perez and Zerah (the mother was Tamar),

Perez had Hezron,

Hezron had Aram,

Aram had Amminadab,

Amminadab had Nahshon,

Nahshon had Salmon,

Salmon had Boaz (his mother was Rahab),

Boaz had Obed (Ruth was the mother),

Obed had Jesse,

Jesse had David,

and David became king.

^6-11 David had Solomon (Uriah’s wife was the mother),

Solomon had Rehoboam,

Rehoboam had Abijah,

Abijah had Asa,

Asa had Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat had Joram,

Joram had Uzziah,

Uzziah had Jotham,

Jotham had Ahaz,

Ahaz had Hezekiah,

Hezekiah had Manasseh,

Manasseh had Amon,

Amon had Josiah,

Josiah had Jehoiachin and his brothers,

and then the people were taken into the Babylonian exile.

^12-16 When the Babylonian exile ended,

Jeconiah had Shealtiel,

Shealtiel had Zerubbabel,

Zerubbabel had Abiud,

Abiud had Eliakim,

Eliakim had Azor,

Azor had Zadok,

Zadok had Achim,

Achim had Eliud,

Eliud had Eleazar,

Eleazar had Matthan,

Matthan had Jacob,

Jacob had Joseph, Mary’s husband,

the Mary who gave birth to Jesus,

the Jesus who was called Christ.

¹⁷ There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David,

another fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile,

and yet another fourteen from the Babylonian exile to Christ.

The Birth of Jesus

^18-19 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they enjoyed their wedding night, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.

^20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic revelation to full term:

Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).

^24-25 Then Joseph woke up. He did exactly what God’s angel commanded in the dream: He married Mary. But he did not consummate the marriage until she had the baby. He named the baby Jesus.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Eugene Peterson…Intro to Matthew;

“The story of Jesus doesn’t begin with Jesus.  God had been at work for a long time.  Salvation, which is the main business of Jesus, is an old business.  Jesus is the coming together in final form of themes and energies and movements that had been set in motion before the foundation of the world.”

“Matthew opens the New Testament by setting the local story of Jesus in its world historical context.  He makes sure that as we read his account of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we see the connections with everything that has gone before.  ‘Fulfilled’ is one of Matthew characteristic verbs: such and such happened ‘that it might be fulfilled.’  Jesus is unique, but he is not odd.”

“Better yet, Matthew tells the story in such a way that not only is everything previous to us completed in Jesus; we are completed in Jesus.  Every day we wake up in the middle of something that is already going on, that has been going on for a long time: genealogy and geology, history and culture, the cosmos—God.   We are neither accidental nor incidental to the story.  We get orientation, briefing, background reassurance.”

“Matthew provides the comprehensive context by which we see all God’s creation and salvation completed in Jesus, and all the parts of our lives—work, family, friends, memories, dreams—also complete in Jesus.  Lacking such a context, we are in danger of seeing Jesus as a mere diversion from the concerns announced in media.  Nothing could be further from the truth.” –Peterson

Yes, it’s personal.

Lord,

Thank for allowing us to study, to dive deeper still into your Word along with what you have led others who know you who talk about you more and more!  I could talk about you all day long.  I love to learn more.  Give us wisdom, insight and understanding so that your message in us is spoken through us with clarity as we talk about you more and more and more…

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen!

… God of Abraham
You’re the God of covenant
And of faithful promises
Time and time again
You have proven
You’ll do just what You said

… Though the storms may come and the winds may blow
I’ll remain steadfast
And let my heart learn, when You speak a word
It will come to pass

… Great is Your faithfulness to me
Great is Your faithfulness to me
From the rising sun to the setting same
I will praise Your name
Great is Your faithfulness to me

… When the seasons change
You remain the same

… God from age to age
Though the earth may pass away
Your word remains the same, yeah
Your history can prove
There’s nothing You can’t do
You’re faithful and true

… Though the storms may come and the winds may blow
I’ll remain steadfast
And let my heart learn, when You speak a word
It will come to pass

… Great is Your faithfulness to me, oh
Great is Your faithfulness
From the rising sun
From the rising sun to the setting same (I will praise Your name)
I will praise Your name (oh, praise Your name)
Great is Your faithfulness to me, yeah, yeah (oh, oh)

… Your faithfulness, it never runs out (yeah)
It never runs out
Oh-oh, Your faithfulness
Oh, it never runs out (it never runs out)
It never runs out (it never runs out)

… I put my faith in Jesus
My anchor to the ground
My hope and firm foundation
He’ll never let me down, no
I put my faith in Jesus
My anchor to the ground (my hope and firm foundation)
He’s my hope and firm foundation (He’ll never let me down)
He’ll never let me down…

The song, Promises by Maverick, is playing in the background as I read God’s message through Malachi that tells what His people can count on happening when Jesus comes with healing and forgiveness, along with judgement for the wicked.  God’s Son of all that is right, came the first time to earth to show us how to love God back, how to have a deep abiding relationship with him, along with how to love each other—all while on a mission to save us.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  (John 3:16) Then, when God says, Jesus will come back a second time to judge who belongs in His Kingdom and who does not.  We can count on—accountability!

Malachi 4, The Message

The Sun of Righteousness Will Dawn

 ^1-3 “Count on it: The day is coming, raging like a forest fire. All the arrogant people who do evil things will be burned up like stove wood, burned to a crisp, nothing left but scorched earth and ash—a black day. But for you, sunrise! The sun of righteousness will dawn on those who honor my name, healing radiating from its wings. You will be bursting with energy, like colts frisky and frolicking. And you’ll tromp on the wicked. They’ll be nothing but ashes under your feet on that Day.” God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.

⁴ “Remember and keep the revelation I gave through my servant Moses, the revelation I commanded at Horeb for all Israel, all the rules and procedures for right living.

^5-6 “But also look ahead: I’m sending Elijah the prophet to clear the way for the Big Day of God—the decisive Judgment Day! He will convince parents to look after their children and children to look up to their parents. If they refuse, I’ll come and put the land under a curse.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Elijah is not John the Baptist according to Bible scholars but might be one of the witnesses who stand firm in Jerusalem while others mock and abuse them in the “last days” before final judgement by Jesus, the sun of righteousness who will dawn.” Our hope in Jesus will be finally realize in full just as He said it would.  Believers in Jesus who follow and wait expectantly can count on it!

“Turn or burn” was preached almost exclusively as I was growing up in the “old days” (Fifties and Sixties).  I wanted to hear more of the benefits of following Jesus, loving Him, sharing in the joy of knowing him with others.  But as Jesus said, “in this world you will have trouble” but the words that immediately follow are “take heart, I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33)

So, the fact remains, who do we choose?  (To do nothing is also a choice made.)  How will be live our lives here?  Who will we follow?  Truth or lies?  Our answers to these questions we must deal with daily lead to life or death forever.   All of creation is eagerly awaiting the return of the Savior, expecting to be delivered from the bondage of sin (Check our Romans 8:18–23). We too should be expecting Him and, while we’re waiting, tell others about Jesus! For the arising of “the Sun of Righteousness” will mean either burning or blessing according to our passage: blessing to those who have trusted Him, burning to those who have rejected Him. 

I guess the question is, can we handle the heat that will result from our bad behaviors? Do we dread or anticipate with joy the coming of Jesus?  Do we put our faith and hope in Jesus who helps us love like He loves?  Do we seek to think like Jesus so we will be more like Him?  In the end, when Jesus comes back, I am sure I will prefer His blessings.  Some like it hot, I do not.

Believe and be saved forever—Count on it!  Leave fear behind and follow Hope!

Lord,

Your message is clear.  To love you back is the best for us.  To have faith in the One and Only who can be trusted and can be counted on in good times and bad is a “no brainer”.  I love you, Lord with all that is in me.  I know that I can count on you for all of life here that prepares me for there with you forever. 

“I put my faith in Jesus
My anchor to the ground
He’s my hope and firm foundation
He’ll never let me down…”

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, I believe!  Yes, and Amen!

I think it is safe to say these rhetorical questions have angrily or bitterly come from our lips more than once in our lives:  What am I doing wrong, why won’t this work?   Why won’t life work for me? Why do I feel this way about myself?  Why am I grumping to those around me?  Why does God seem so far away?  Why can’t I hear him?  Why do others treat me with hate in their hearts?  What did I do to them?  What will make life work for me and not against me? 

“How have we wronged you, God?”  “How do we come back to you?”

“Glad you asked”, says Malachi with words directly from God.  God tells His people through Malachi exactly what they are doing wrong with how to correct it.  God addresses their disobedient behavior by reminding them that HE never changed but they have.  “Return to Me, so I can return to you.” –God  

And then God tells them how.   

Malachi 3, The Message

The Master You’ve Been Looking For

“Look! I’m sending my messenger on ahead to clear the way for me. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Leader you’ve been looking for will enter his Temple—yes, the Messenger of the Covenant, the one you’ve been waiting for. Look! He’s on his way!” A Message from the mouth of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

^2-4 But who will be able to stand up to that coming? Who can survive his appearance?

He’ll be like white-hot fire from the smelter’s furnace. He’ll be like the strongest lye soap at the laundry. He’ll take his place as a refiner of silver, as a cleanser of dirty clothes. He’ll scrub the Levite priests clean, refine them like gold and silver, until they’re fit for God, fit to present offerings of righteousness. Then, and only then, will Judah and Jerusalem be fit and pleasing to God, as they used to be in the years long ago.

* * *

⁵ “Yes, I’m on my way to visit you with Judgment. I’ll present compelling evidence against sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who exploit workers, those who take advantage of widows and orphans, those who are inhospitable to the homeless—anyone and everyone who doesn’t honor me.” A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

* * *

^6-7 “I am God—yes, I Am. I haven’t changed. And because I haven’t changed, you, the descendants of Jacob, haven’t been destroyed. You have a long history of ignoring my commands. You haven’t done a thing I’ve told you. Return to me so I can return to you,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

“You ask, ‘But how do we return?’

^8-11 “Begin by being honest. Do honest people rob God? But you rob me day after day.

“You ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’

“The tithe and the offering—that’s how! And now you’re under a curse—the whole lot of you—because you’re robbing me. Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams. For my part, I will defend you against marauders, protect your wheat fields and vegetable gardens against plunderers.” The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

¹² “You’ll be voted ‘Happiest Nation.’ You’ll experience what it’s like to be a country of grace.” God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.

The Difference Between Serving God and Not Serving Him

¹³ God says, “You have spoken hard, rude words to me.

“You ask, ‘When did we ever do that?’

^14-15 “When you said, ‘It doesn’t pay to serve God. What do we ever get out of it? When we did what he said and went around with long faces, serious about God-of-the-Angel-Armies, what difference did it make? Those who take life into their own hands are the lucky ones. They break all the rules and get ahead anyway. They push God to the limit and get by with it.’”

¹⁶ Then those whose lives honored God got together and talked it over. God saw what they were doing and listened in. A book was opened in God’s presence and minutes were taken of the meeting, with the names of the God-fearers written down, all the names of those who honored God’s name.

^17-18 God-of-the-Angel-Armies said, “They’re mine, all mine. They’ll get special treatment when I go into action. I treat them with the same consideration and kindness that parents give the child who honors them. Once more you’ll see the difference it makes between being a person who does the right thing and one who doesn’t, between serving God and not serving him.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?  Glad you asked…

God condemned Israel’s complacent and contemptuous attitude toward him. The priests withheld their best animals from the sacrifice, and the people got tired of waiting for the Messiah.  We can learn the most from God when we give him our undivided attention.  God will give us all the answers to our questions when we lay down our agendas, be still before Him, let go of all that is bothering or distracting us and just listen.

When we wonder why God seems far away, we must pause to realize who changed.  God does not change.  Who moved?  God is always present.  Mm, must be us.

Warren Wiersbe comments,

“The first prophecy in the first paragraph refers to our Lord’s first coming in grace and mercy, but the prophecy speaks of His Second Coming in judgment. When He comes, He will prove that God is just by purifying his people and judging rebellious sinners. Jesus Christ is the “messenger of the covenant” in that He fulfilled all the demands of the covenant in his life, suffered the penalties in His death, and rose from the dead to usher in a new covenant of grace.” 

John the Baptist ministry is foretold…

The name Malachi means “My messenger,” and the messenger referred to in this statement is John the Baptist. Speaking of him, Jesus said, “this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You’ ” (Matthew 11:10; see Mark 1:2 and Luke 7:27). The image is of people preparing a way for the king to come, leveling the roads and removing the obstacles so that the king might enjoy an easy and comfortable trip. John prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus by preaching the Word to the crowds, urging them to repent of their sins, baptizing them, and then introducing them to Jesus.

In the Law of Moses, God had provided three ways for people and things to be cleansed and made acceptable to God: water, fire, and blood. Jesus blood paid for our sins forever.  And He will come back to claim His own who believes and follows Him.

God does not tolerate the abuse and humiliation of His created by His created.

Since God made and owns everything, He doesn’t need anything that we can bring Him. But He is pleased when we obey His Word and bring our gifts as an act of worship with grateful hearts.  “Paul taught grace giving in 2 Corinthians 8–9, which is certainly beyond 10 percent. Many Christians feel that if believers under the old covenant brought their tithes, how could Christians under the new covenant begin with anything less?” –Wiersbe 

Give generously and gratefully.  “Bring ye all the tithes” and offerings into the storehouse so others may benefit from our collective giving.”  Give often without hesitating to think what you will get from giving.  Give with no strings attached.  Give because God gave His Son to save us. 

What can we possible give that God does not already have?  Ourselves.  “Test Me in this…” says the God of all, over all, and in all.  Our giving is growing us to be all that God requires of us as stated by Micah, the prophet…

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 

When we act, love, and walk with God we become more generous givers like God, we think more like Jesus while relying of the power of His Holy Spirit living in us.  Everyone who believes benefits from God’s Spirit reproducing His character in us which bears His holy fruits of righteousness…see Galatians 5.  We cannot do life with Jesus who changes everything!

“…you’ll see the difference it makes between being a person who does the right thing and one who doesn’t, between serving God and not serving him.”

Lord,

My desire is to be who you created me to be and do what you say.  May the power of your Holy Spirit teach me, lead me, challenge, and convict me to do what you say with gratitude in my heart.  I choose to follow you.  I love you because you first loved me!  There is no one like you, God.  I trust in you alone!  Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh and feed my soul, and restore the joy of your salvation at work within me.  I know you are not finished with me yet!

In Jesus Name, Amen