Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.

Matthew 5:3, New International Version
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Matthew+5:3

My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course.

~ Proverbs 23:19, NLT

John 7:
Exposition
John 7 starts with the rejection of Jesus by his own brothers as they prepare to go to the feast of the Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Jesus kept away from the Feast of the Tabernacle. Jesus's time had not yet come, so he decided to keep in Galilee and not travel to Judaea. Some of Jesus's own disciples did not believe in him.


There is evidence for the deity of Jesus -- good, strong,
historical , cumulative evidence; evidence to which an honest
person can subscribe without committing intellectual suicide.

-- John Stott

It was compulsory during the Feast of Tabernacles for all Jewish males within 22 miles of Jerusalem to be in the Temple at the time of the Festival. So Jesus could afford to opt out as he was quite beyond that boundary in the Galilee. It has been commented that there was atleast six months of ministry involved between John 6 and John 7.

Jesus said to them, "The right time for me has not yet come. Any time is right fo ryou. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I keep telling it that its waysare bad. You go on to the festival. I am not going to this festival, because the right time has not come for me." He said this, and then stayed on in Galilee. John 7:6-9.


Then Zebedee's wife came to Jesus. Her sons were with her.
The mother bowed before Jesus and asked him to do something
for her. Jesus said, "What do you want?" She said, "Promise
that one of my sons will sit at your right side in your
kingdom. And promise that the other son will sit at your left
side in your kingdom."

-- Matthew 20:20-21 (ERV)

Why did Jesus go alone to the Temple during the Feast of the Shelters? in secret? obviously because he did not want to attract attention. But he went to the extent of knowingly putting people off the scent, so as to speak, by telling his brothers that he would not be coming to the Festival. One lesson we can understand from the attitude of the ruling authorities to Jesus's absence at the Festival was their active quest for him. Jesus was not the first person to come out of the Judean desert so as to speak claiming a following and preaching liberation in the unsettled times in Palestine during the Roman occupation of the region. They were fully ready to confront him over his projected aspirations to lead the people against the Roman occupiers of Palestine. Its interesting to note in this context the varied opinions that people had about Jesus, as regards his purported ability to lead the people in the face of their joint exploitation at the hands of the Jewish authorities as well as the Roman authorities. As usual the first thing that the Rabbinical authorities had to ask Jesus was where he got the authority to speak as he did, as he was obviously a man without training and 'the right caste.'Verse 18 is crucial here: 'A person who speaks on his own authority is trying to gain authority for himself. But he who wants glory for the one who sent him is honest, and there is nothing false in him.'


Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to
offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God --
this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to
the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's
will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will.
-- Romans 12:1-2
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Romans+12:1-2





Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the
people whose God is the LORD.

Psalm 144:15, New International Version
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Psalm+144:15

Time waits for no man!

The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing!!

O Lord, you show mercy to those who have no one else to turn to!!!
Hosea 14:3 (TEV)

Those who doubt most, and yet strive to overcome their doubts,
turn out to be some of Christ's strongest disciples.

-- Selwyn Hughes

Reversal! WHAT JESUS DID! -- http://www.heartlight.org/

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Reversal!


"So the people that have the last place now will have the
first place in the future. And the people that have the first
place now will have the last place in the future."

-- Matthew 20:16 (ERV)


KEY THOUGHT:
Reversal! When God settles all the accounts, then things are going to
be valued by his standards and not the world's standards. The people
whose hearts are yielded to him will be recognized as his children no
matter their lack of rank or riches in worldly society. Those who
recognize their grace at being included in God's Kingdom will be given
places of honor. So our goal as disciples is to value things now as God
will later. Our job as disciples is to keep searching and including the
lost, the last, and the least in the Kingdom and not just those who can
bring us some outward benefit. Remember, God doesn't look at us the way
people do. People look at the outward appearance, but God knows our
hearts.


TODAY'S PRAYER:
O Lord God, your grace to me is marvelous. Your promises are thrilling.
I can't wait until you send Jesus with power and show things as they
should be and reward people based on their character, their hearts, and
their gratitude for your grace. To you be all praise and honor and
power and glory belong, both now and forever. In Jesus' name. Amen.
c/o WHAT JESUS DID! -- http://www.heartlight.org/

Follow God's example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like sweet perfume to him.

Ephesians 5:1-2 (New Living Translation)
Provided by Christ Notes

“The seminary years are a time of journeying, of exploration, but above all of discovering Christ. It is only when a young man has had a personal experience of Christ that he can truly understand the Lord’s will and consequently his own vocation”

Pope Benedict XVI, Address to Seminarians (World Youth Day 2005)