Posts Tagged ‘ acts 15 ’

Tweets & Rants 1 February 2013: Matthew 10:21-42; Acts 15:22-41; Psalm 24; Exodus 1-2

thinks we should be compelled by God’s abundant, intimate, and detailed love for us to love Him in return. Mat 10:30 @WeeManWest

wants his walk to line up with his talk in such a way that the people he encounters can’t help but glimpse Christ. Mat 10:32-33 @WeeManWest

loves it when Satan’s plots backfire and instead wind up multiplying the work that Christ is doing in this world. Act 15:39 @WeeManWest

thinks that if we had a renter in our property who rebelled against our lease we would boot them out, yet God doesn’t! Psa 24:1 @WeeManWest

Matthew 10:22 Jesus makes it clear that those who believe in Him and follow Him will be hated by all people, this extends even to siblings and parents. We shouldn’t be surprised when we are hated especially if we are living righteous lives. The righteous life is an insult to this world who would rather destroy the righteous than be made righteous themselves and have freedom from their slavery to sin.

I struggle with the fact that apparently so many of us who claim to follow Christ don’t live righteous enough to draw the ire of the watching world. We look more like they do than like our Christ.

Matthew 10:22 Do we really endure? How often do we stop at compromise with this world? I believe this is a message of hope, not despair. Christ is assuring His people that if they are His they will endure and be saved. Such is the mark of His people.

Matthew 10:28 We should not be afraid of those in this world who seek to take our lives for righteous living. They only speed up our reward. They have no power over our soul…unless we do fear them and leave the faith. How often do we alter or omit what God has commanded us because we are fearful of those who have power only to harm the body but not the soul?

Matthew 10:30 God intimately loves us. He knows everything there is to know about us in detail and yet He still loves us. Why can’t we trust in a love like that? He loves us vastly more than we love ourselves. I have no clue how many hairs are on my head. Yet, He knows.

We should be overwhelmingly compelled by God’s love for us to love Him in return and so often all we return to Him is spite. Then on top of spite we blame Him for our problems and treat Him with disdain and ignore Him…yet He still loves us like this?!

Matthew 10:32 I don’t believe this is referring to lip service alone. I believe we acknowledge God before men as we live by His laws in our daily lives lived before them. Are we obedient to Christ and His law? People are watching our lives.  It is no good for us to claim the name of Christ and live totally backward from Christ. Such is not truly acknowledging Christ before men.

Does our walk line up with our talk? If it doesn’t then we are not truly acknowledging Christ before men.

Matthew 10:34 Herein lies the expectation. Jesus didn’t come into this world to make peace with it through compromise. He came to make peace with it by conquring over sin and Satan. Sin will cause divisions, conflicts, wars, etc. All one has to do is establish righteousness in the midst of sinful people.

We tend to snarl up at holy people rather than emulate their lifestyles. Jealousy and back-biting tend to flow from our hearts rather than true compassion.

The Gospel turns the world on its head and sets the household at war within as the constant conflict is over whether our King approves of how we are living. These battles even rage between husband and wife.

Matthew 10:38 BREAKING NEWS: None of us are worthy of Christ…that is the whole point. We will have conflict rather than peace because we are sinners in need of a cure. Only when we die to ourselves and our sinful nature will we find peace with God.

Matthew 10:42 I believe this text is one of the most taken out of context passages in Scripture. The context is that God will surely reward those who receive and care for righteous people. This is not implying that our service to Christ is bound up in giving cups of cold water.

Just as God promised Abraham that He would treat people with blessing or cursing depending on how they treated Abraham and his seed (Genesis 12:3) so also this treatment now extends to those who follow Christ who is Abraham’s seed (Galatians 3:16) and the heir of the promises made to Abraham.

This is further assurance to His people that He will be the final judge of men’s works. Not the court systems of man that are filled with sinful people, but the sinless, righteous Judge will make the final decision on these people.

Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t give a cup of water to help others (Matthew 25:35), I’m just saying that this particular verse is dealing with how other treat followers of Christ.

Acts 15:29 What the Jerusalem council decided was quite simply that circumcision, and by extension keeping the whole of the Law, is not necessary for salvation. However, they did see fit to give the Gentiles some moral guidance as to how their walk should change as followers of Christ.

Acts 15:39 Satan sought to use John Mark as a divide to prevent the further mission work of Paul and Barnabas. Yet God defeats Satan’s plot and instead uses the issue with John Mark to send TWO mission teams out instead of one.

Psalm 24:1 The earth and all that is in it, including rebellious mankind, are God’s property. It is His to do with as He pleases. How many of us with rental property and a tenant would linger long with a tenant who destroys our property and violates our lease? Yet our merciful and compassionate God lingers long with us working diligently to bring us to repentance.

Psalm 24:4 We need to see and be certain from Scripture after Scripture that the common theme is that we are not worthy of God. Something has to happen to make us worthy. We don’t have clean hands, nor a pure heart. We have lifted our souls up to falsehood and sworn deceitfully.

We are not worthy to ascend the hill of God and stand in His holy place.

We are not worthy of being blessed and having His righteousness poured out on us in salvation.

Yet, if we seek Christ, if we follow Christ in repentance from our wickedness, then the salvation He earned for us through His clean handed, pure hearted pursuit of truth will be imputed on us.

Psalm 24:8 Who is this King of glory? None other than Jesus Christ. May our hearts open like these ancient gates and allow Him His rightful place on the throne of our existence. As Psalm 24:1 states, we are His property and owe Him the due allegiance. He purchased us with the blood price and is worthy of anything and everything we can offer Him.

Exodus 1:11 The plan of Pharoah is the enslavement of the Israelites. Satanically inspired leaders will always seek to enslave the masses mentally, emotionally, and physically in order to diminish the threat they hold against their power.

Our leaders have done the same. I’m not talking about the President and Congress, but about the shadow mongers who are rightly a League of Shadows who use wealth and influence to get the President and Congress to legislate their agenda of enslaving the masses. God will have His reckoning!

Exodus 1:12 Let this biblical principle sink in: the more we are persecuted the more we prosper. God multiplies us in our persecutions.

Exodus 1:17 The midwives feared God and instead of obeying Pharoah they obeyed God. What a statement of bravery and courage that they would defy one with the power to take their lives because they feared the One with power to destroy their souls.

Exodus 1:20-21 God dealt well with the midwives for their acknowledgement of Him and their fear of Him more than of Pharoah. He gave them families because of their faithfulness to the people of God as Genesis 12:3 states that those who bless His people will be blessed.

Israel continues to grow strong in the land of Egypt.

Exodus 1:22 I believe with all of my heart that people and institutions that place themselves are war with babies will eventually find themselves at war with God Himself.

Pharoah seeks to have male Israelite babies killed for the second time now. He sees it as a means of controlling the population of the Israelites (Exodus 1:9) whom he sees as a threat to the nation.

I’m amazed at how blinded we have become to this tactic in our modern day. Satan still attacks babied, he has just started his assault earlier (in the womb) in what we call abortion. What a perilous perch we stand upon as a nation as we murder the innocents for the gods of convenience, license, and greed. God will have His reckoning on our nation just as He had His reckoning on Egypt.

Exodus 2:3 It’s sad how few Israelites even balked at Pharoah’s command. I wonder how many Israelites cast their male children into the Nile to their deaths in compliance with the Satanic authority of Pharoah?

Yet this one, just like the Egyptian midwives, defied Pharoah. When she could no longer hide the child she made a waterproof basket for him. She placed him in the basket among the reeds in seeming hopes that the reeds would keep the basket from overturning.

This one mother sought to preserve the life of her son and she would be rewarded by God for her faithfulness.

WE who call ourselves followers of Christ should take great care to the going along with the ways of this world instead of spending our time being light to dark and exposing the deeds of darkness for what they are.

Exodus 2:14 Moses sought to impose his own timing on God’s will for his life. Moses would indeed deliver the Israelites, it just was not the time. Moses needed some character development.

He could not deliver the Israelites as a prince of Egypt. He needs the humility of a shepherd.

Exodus 2:22 Gershom means foreigner and Moses said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

Exodus 2:25 God knew. In every trial or struggle you have endured please understand that God knew and was working out your deliverance. He knows us intimately!

2013
02/01
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Tweets & Rants 28 January 2013: Matthew 10:1-20; Acts 15:1-21; Psalm 23; Genesis 50

must be more attentive to the people of peace that Christ brings into my life for His own kingdom purposes. Mat 10:11-13 @WeeManWest

is thankful that salvation is not about our ability to completely follow God’s law, but instead it is about grace! Act 15:10-11 @WeeManWest

believes if we don’t get what we want we get unhappy, whiney, and complain until we get what we want bc we’re selfish. Psa 23:1 @WeeManWest

is certain that contentment in Christ leads us to see every circumstance as green pasture beside still waters. Psa 23:2 @WeeManWest

Matthew 10:1 Jesus begins to share His authority with His disciples. He gave them the authority to cast out spirits and to heal all diseases and afflictions. Jesus didn’t have to share His authority but He chose to share it with His disciples. Maybe He was laying a principle for stewardship upon the early believers that they would know best to share the authority they would have with others.

Jesus was beginning to lay the foundation for His ministry surviving His death and departure. More pastors would be wise to do similar things in their own ministries.

Matthew 10:5-15 The disciples were given this authority and sent specifically (Matthew 10:6) to Israelites. It was time for the Jews to either believe or remain in unbelief.

What will we think when it comes time for the church to do the same thing, to believe or remain in unbelief?

The disciples were given this authority and given a specific (Matthew 10:7) message. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. The brunt of Jesus’ work was so focused on this kingdom. Some places its called the kingdom of heaven, others call it the kingdom of God. The kingdom is what Christ came to establish.

It was said to be “at hand” because Jesus was surely laying its foundation and would soon die and come back from the dead to establish this ever-growing, ever-lasting kingdom that no dominion shall defeat.

Jesus’ principle was simple and specific (Matthew 10:8) that the disciples had freely received this authority and should freely extend the authority. They were not to be profiteers in the kingdom of heaven. This should cause all who are doing “works” under the authority of Christ to pause and make certain they are not given to filthy lucre.

They were to go and take nothing with them on their journey (Matthew 10:9-10) but their trust in the provision of Almighty God. In certainty, doing the work of Christ was to be their food and their drink as it was Christ’s.

They were sent to specific (Matthew 10:11-13) places of which they would find a man of peace, someone prepared for them by the Holy Spirit. Please be amazed at how this gospel works and should transform our lives. We are to seek where Christ is at work and follow Him in His work. The people of peace will be spiritually prepared for us whether they realize it or not. Our task is to be dilligent in finding people whom we see the Holy Spirit working among.

They were given a specific (Matthew 10:14-15) means to deal with those who despised and rejected their message. They were to follow the common tradition of their day of shaking the cities dust from their feet as they left. We do a similar thing today when we drag our feet to figuratively remove the foulness of a situation from our lives. Such a measure was not to be done lightly for it would mark such place for the judgment of God.

They were sent with a specific (Matthew 10:16) warning and advice. Have you ever seen sheep among wolves? Helpless, defenseless, sentenced to death! Wolves see sheep as a food source and will hunt them down and kill them without mercy! The disciples were to expect the same treatment from those they were being sent among.

They were told to be both wise and innocent meaning that yes they would have to be clever, like the serpent in the garden was clever. Yet in their cleverness they were to be innocent in that they were not to delve into the realm of deception or detention or death in order to make converts.

Jesus describes that yes indeed His disciples would be hunted by men, and imprisoned by men, and taken to trial by men…but yet that their testimony would stand….that in that day God Himself would speak through them to their adversaries.

We should follow the specific things Christ leads us into and be undeterred by the terrors of those who seek to silence our message in evil ways.

Acts 15:1 We see here how difficult the breakaway was going to be for even within the church a contingent existed that believed that obedience to the covenant of circumcision was necessary for salvation. I’m certain that they had in view God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14), especially Genesis 17:14 which said, “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

The real question is: Can we belong to God if we don’t keep all the Law and Covenants?

I believe that answer is yes. While this covenant made with Abraham was a circumcision of the flesh, the true circumcision is the one made without hands (Colossians 2:11) in our hearts. This circumcision is alluded to in the Law (Deuteronomy 30:6) and in the Prophets (Jeremiah 4:4) and is said to be fulfilled in the New Testament (Philippians 3:3) .

Acts 15:9 Peter here argues from his own experience (Acts 10:44-48) in evangelizing the Gentiles. They, the uncircumcised, had received the Holy Spirit just as had the circumcised. Peter saw this as evidence that among the Gentiles who don’t have God’s law that God didn’t require physical circumcision before including them among His people.

This marks for us the difference between the physical seed of Abraham and the spiritual seed of Abraham. The physical seed of Abraham were marked in their flesh on the 8th day. The spiritual seed of Abraham are marked in their hearts on the 8th day (their new beginning in Christ).

Acts 15:10 No one in all of history aside from Jesus Christ has been able to keep the Law. Why would we now ask people to keep a Law that no one has ever been able to keep and say that in their keeping of it is their salvation? Such makes no sense and this council was wise in finding it so.

Acts 15:11 All of mankind is either saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus or falling short of grace by their own efforts. We cannot, through good works or great compassion earn our way into God’s presence. We must humbly come as unworthy sinners seeking His grace.

Acts 15:16-17 We see that James applied what was going on to the prophecy in Amos 9:11-12. Jesus Christ was building His temple among men and amazingly enough the Gentiles are included. Amen and Praise the Lord!

Psalm 23:1 Can any of us truly say this? I’m afraid so many of us want this, or want that, and will be unhappy and whiny and full of complaint until we get what we want. We are so selfish and self-motivated in all we do.

Why can’t we be content in Christ and content with Christ?

Contentment see whatever lot or circumstance you happen to be in, so long as you are in Christ and with Christ, as green pastures next to still waters.

Psalm 23:3 Christ restores our soul and leads us into His righteousness. He does all this for His name’s sake. God doesn’t work in this world to make our names great but to make His own name great. When we come to Christ our life purpose should be to make His name great, if it isn’t, we are chasing idolatry.

Psalm 23:4 What comforts us? With what was David comfortable? David was only comfortable with the presence of God.

We have trained ourselves to be comfortable. We are comfortable with a good job, nice house, dependable car/truck, pleasant lawn, solid alarm system, powerful gun, various cable channels, great love life.

Yet, are we comfortable with God? Are we comfortable just being in God’s presence or do we allow all these other things we are comfortable with keep us from sitting in God’s presence?

I think that many of us would rather find our own solutions and timing and then ask God to bless our craftiness. Then when God resists we get frustrated and discontent and begin lodging complaints about what is fair or not fair, then we pretend that what we really need is more prayer. If we prayed more then God would bless our plans on our time. Instead, God withholds His blessings because He is only going to bless His plans and His timing.

Here David is walking in death’s shadow. He spent a LOT of time running and hiding from people who wanted to KILL him! What was David’s comfort? The very presence of God brought him comfort.

Can any of us really say the same thing?

Psalm 23:5 I believe that in our chase to capture the American dream we have forgotten that we dwell on the battlefield.

This world isn’t our home! We live daily in the presence of our enemies, just as the sheep we daily accosted about their head by flies that would lay eggs in their ears and noses. The shepherd would anoint their heads with oil that would be a salve to ward off the flies.

We so desperately need the salve God offers us in the midst of our enemies. He prepares a table for us and fills our cup to overflowing.

Do we notice or are we too caught up in what we see that we don’t have? We should be satisfied to dine with God, our Creator, in the midst of the battlefield as our enemies bear down on us.

Instead we are discontent. We are not happy with what we have an where we are so we leave the table and try to make our own table instead.

When will this stop?! When will we learn to be satisfied with God alone? Our satisfaction is always God plus wealth or God plus health or God plus food or God plus clothing or God plus shelter.

Why can’t we, like David the shepherd be content with God alone?!

Maybe we really are just that selfish that instead of seeing our Shepherd and His oil and rod and staff we instead focus on the flies and the wolves!!!!

We are so unworthy of the abundance that God has blessed us with in just His willingness to be present in our lives and yet He gives us so much more and we are still not content. Woe unto us for we shall never be satisfied!

Lord, by Your grace, grant us contentment with Your presence that we may focus on You alone and see how truly blessed we are in just having You.

Psalm 23:6 Whether we dwell in a castle or are totally exposed, if we are in Christ we dwell in His house and will dwell with Him forever.

Genesis 50:3 I can’t help but wonder if this was one day for each of his descendants?

Genesis 50:15 Joseph’s brothers were still bothered in their conscience for how they had mistreated Joseph. Now that their father was gone they feared Joseph’s reprisal.

Only in our conscience can our guilt eat away at us. Let us therefore be diligent to do nothing that will cloud our conscience with guilt regarding any other person.

Genesis 50:20 Joseph understood and was content with the plan, purpose, and timing of God. He held not grudge nor ill will toward his brothers. He saw their evil act as divine providence.

How challenging it is for us to see evil things done to us as divine providence guiding and preparing us for God’s plan, purpose, and timing for our lives.

2013
01/29
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