04 Sunday Mar 2012
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When Jesus told the parable of the two sons in verses 28-32, He was talking about the Pharisees. The interesting thing is that this parable applies to us too. How many times have we said that we would pray for someone or give to someone and failed to follow through. Jesus expects us to reflect His image and purpose here on earth. When we fail to follow through, we fail Him and His purpose in our lives.
03 Saturday Mar 2012
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Here is another verse so many of us take out of context; verse 16, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” The verse talks about non-Jews having equal access to the Kingdom of God as Jews. Somehow we love to use this verse as some sort of “get to the front of the line” verse. It is important to know what Jesus is saying and why he says the things he says. For this verse we must remember that Jesus died for everyone, not just a select few. It is not up to us to figure who to impact, but to remember we are a reflection of Him in all that we do.
02 Friday Mar 2012
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I often read verse 21 and jump to a conclusion that Jesus is simply talking about money, Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” If you aren’t careful you can miss the first few word in the passage “Jesus looked at him and loved him”, even when God corrects us He really does love us. I equate this to my kids and how there are times it breaks my heart when I have to take corrective action, but I never stop loving them. How much more does God love me and how much more does it break His heart?
01 Thursday Mar 2012
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I know we often take this verse out of context, but I love what Jesus says in verse 26, Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” The truth is there are a lot of things that are impossible for us as imperfect humans. With God there are no impossibilities. He is the creator of the universe and as such He can do anything and everything. We need to remember that we do not stand alone. When we think we cannot do something, we need to remember that with God anything is possible.
29 Wednesday Feb 2012
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We all sin and we all mess up on a regular basis. Forgiveness is very easy to accept but not always easy to give. Jesus makes it clear that forgiveness is not something we are to give once; it is something we need to give on a regular basis. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” When we repent God forgives us endlessly, the least we can do is forgive others when they repent to us.
28 Tuesday Feb 2012
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I love Jesus’ prayer in the second part of verse 41 and 42, “Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent Me.”” Even Jesus gives all the glory over to God. How much more do we need to do the same thing. In everything we should realize that God deserves all the credit and glory for all we have and do.
27 Monday Feb 2012
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Ok, I’ll be the first one to admit that I don’t fully get the parable of the Shrewd Manager. To me it seems like the manager did something wrong and cheated his master out of what was rightfully his. It’s not until we get down to verse 13 that we start to understand where Jesus is going, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” The point is that money can either be used for personal gain or to further the kingdom of God. In this case, the servant was able to use money to gain influence for himself and, more importantly, for his master. When we use what God has given us to advance His influence, we are being shrewd. It is less important how much money or influence we have and more important how we use it.
26 Sunday Feb 2012
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This chapter focuses on the lost and the joy it brings to Jesus when the lost are found. The parable of lost son is a great illustration of what it is like for God when those who are lost are found. The interesting thing to me in this story is about the older brother. It wasn’t until recently that I understood Jesus was talking about the Pharisees. Here they are, people who have followed the law and Jesus comes along and changes everything; even allowing Gentiles to receive salvation. Verses 31 shows the love The Father still has for His chosen people, ” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” The important part of this parable is that they story does not have a real ending. The story is still being written and Jesus is still waiting for the lost to come home and His chosen people to know He still loves them.
25 Saturday Feb 2012
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In verses 28 – 30 Jesus paints a very clear picture of what happened when we do not count the entire cost of following Him, “28 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ Too often we will say that we will follow Christ no matter what, but the reality is that we don’t really know what that truly means. We must be prepared to experience difficulties when following Jesus, but we also need to realize we are never alone. More importantly, our eternal reward is worth it.
24 Friday Feb 2012
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I love Jesus’ description of the kingdom of heaven in verses 18-21, ” 18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.” 20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” The kingdom of heaven is so much more than any of us could ever imagine. We tend to limit God and His greatness, but the reality is that He and His kingdom are limitless!
Daily Devotion 