Jesus follower

January 15, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:38-42 OBSERVATIONS People want proof before they believe something, yet often even proof will not convince them. In order to accept something as proof, there needs to be an openness to the evidence. Jesus had performed countless miracles, yet here the religious leaders demand proof. Jesus is not reluctant to give…

January 14, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:33-37 OBSERVATIONS We saw from Leviticus 1-7 that God takes sin seriously, and here jesus proves it again. “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” Yikes, every empty (careless) word? Jesus point here is that our…

January 13 2013 SCRIPTURE: Psalm 16 OBSERVATIONS David is not sinless, but he is sincere. He genuinely strives to honour and obey God, and He is genuinely thankful to God for guiding and supporting him through his life. God has been good to him, and he is thankful. Now he is going through a crisis, he…

January 11-12, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Leviticus 1-7 OBSERVATIONS What a lot of blood and guts. What do we do with all these sacrifices? First of all, I am ready to admit that I find all of this disturbing. I could not be a priest, I would not be able to kill all those animals. At the same…

January 10, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:30-32 OBSERVATIONS To claim to follow Jesus, yet not join Him in His mission to restore God’s kingdom (through words and deeds of loveand mercy), is to work against Jesus. To do nothing is not an option, it is to do something in the wrong way. If we are not working…

January 9, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:22-29 OBSERVATIONS Matthew’s point in writing this gospel is to show that Jesus is the Son of David, the promised Messiah. This was what people were sensing when Jesus did what He did. They knew the prophecies, they saw the miracles, they heard the message. Yet for some reason the religious…

January 8, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:15-21 OBSERVATIONS My sense of Jesus is that He was not a trouble-seeker, not aggressive or militant or pushy (just saw a National Geographic special last night on an cult called the Aggressive Christianity Missionary Training Corps, so unlike Jesus). When they plot against Him, He retreats. He does not flaunt…

January 7, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Matthew 12:9-14 OBSERVATIONS This story follows the previous one, where Jesus has explained that God desires mercy more than sacrifice, ie keeping the Law is not the goal, but obeying the intent of the Law, namely mercy. Jesus points out that if exceptions are made for animals in distress, how much more…

January 6, 2013 SCRIPTURE: Psalm 15 OBSERVATIONS One of the struggles we face as Christians is how we balance God’s will (to be blameless, righteous, to speak the truth, to not wrong our neighbour, to keep our word, to help the poor and reject bribes) and God’s mercy (forgiveness for our failure and inability to obey…