Author: AdminYearGrace3405 (Page 2 of 24)

Matthew 14:22 – Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. ²³ After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.

²⁴ Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. ²⁵ About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!”

²⁷ But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”   ²⁸ Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”   ²⁹ “Yes, come,” Jesus said.  So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.   ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

³² When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed. (NLT)

This week we continue in Matthew 14.  Remember, Jesus had heard of the death of his friend John.  He then tries to go to a remote place to be alone.  He found a large crowd and spends time healing their sick.  Then, when they became hungry, he challenged the disciples to feed them.  They bring to Jesus what they had, and when Jesus blesses the meager meal, they then have more than enough to feed the multitude. 

So, consider that day from the disciples point of view.  They witness Jesus healing many people.  That’s pretty amazing!  They witness Jesus blessing five loaves of bread and two fish, which then feeds thousands!  That’s even more amazing!  Now in this passage, Jesus sends the disciples back across the lake while he remains behind.  Sometime later, when the disciples were caught in a storm on the lake, Jesus comes walking towards them on the water.  What an amazing day it had been!

Now consider Peter.  He had seen so much that day, and now he sees Jesus walking on the water towards him.  He is not sure of what he is seeing, so he asks Jesus to ask him to walk to Jesus on the water.  Jesus does.  Peter does.  When Peter realizes what it was he said, and what it was he was doing, he starts to sink beneath the waves. 

Have you ever felt like Peter?  We get excited about Jesus.  We get excited about a ministry. We jump in and get involved. Then, we see some wind and waves (criticism, financial obstacles, etc.), and we ask ourselves, “Why did I ever jump into this?”  This happens when we, like Peter, take our eyes off of Jesus.  If we involve ourselves in the ministry of Jesus, we have to maintain focus on Jesus.  If we really want to feed them (last week’s post), then we have to stay focused on the one who calls us to feed others. 

Today, let us not only involve ourselves in the ministry of Jesus, but let us also stay focused on Jesus.  Jesus will see us through! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 14:15 – That evening the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”   ¹⁶ But Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary—you feed them.”   ¹⁷ “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish!” they answered.

¹⁸ “Bring them here,” he said. ¹⁹ Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. ²⁰ They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. ²¹ About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children! (NLT)

Today’s reading picks up where last week’s ended.  Remember, Jesus had just heard of the death of his cousin John, and he had tried to get away to a remote place to be alone.  When he arrived he was met by a large crowd, and we are told that he had compassion for them, and healed their sick (Matthew 14:14).

After some time spent healing the sick, the hour was getting late.  Jesus’ disciples wanted Jesus to send the people to their homes so that they would not have a hungry crowd on their hands!  One of my favorite verses of Scripture is also one that I find tremendously challenging.  In verse sixteen Jesus says: “You feed them.”

In my years as a pastor I have often had people ask me something like, “Pastor, what can the Church do about …”  While I answer as diplomatically as possible, what I want to say is, “You do something!”  This is what Jesus tells us through this passage.  We are the ones to feed the hungry.  We are the ones to clothe the poor.  We are the ones to serve the needs of humanity.  This can certainly feel daunting, and like the disciples in this reading, we often feel inadequate for the task.  Like the disciples, however, we must offer up what we do have to Jesus.  If we have little time, we offer it to Jesus.  If we have little money, we offer it to Jesus.  If we each offer up our meager portions to Jesus, together we can reach the needs of the multitudes! 

Today, let us offer what we have to Jesus.  Let us do this knowing that Jesus will bless our efforts. 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 14:1 – When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about Jesus, ² he said to his advisers, “This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead! That is why he can do such miracles.”

³ For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias (the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip). ⁴ John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of a riot, because all the people believed John was a prophet.

⁶ But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias’s daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him, ⁷ so he promised with a vow to give her anything she wanted. ⁸ At her mother’s urging, the girl said, “I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray!” ⁹ Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders. ¹⁰ So John was beheaded in the prison, ¹¹ and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. ¹² Later, John’s disciples came for his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened.

¹³ As soon as Jesus heard the news, he left in a boat to a remote area to be alone. But the crowds heard where he was headed and followed on foot from many towns. ¹⁴ Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. (NLT) 

In this passage, Jesus hears some disturbing news.  His cousin and friend has been murdered. We are told that as soon as Jesus heard this disturbing news, he left for a remote area to be alone.  We should notice how his time away went for him.  As soon as Jesus stepped off the boat he notices a large crowd – and he has compassion on them.

As a pastor, sometimes I can log in some long hours in the course of a week.  At my church we have two Sunday services, plus Sunday evening activities.  By the time Sunday night rolls around, I can be very exhausted!  Yet a pastor I have to be ready to answer any calls from church members in need, even when they come on a Sunday night when I am emotionally and physically exhausted. 

I am, however, not unique. We have all been in similar situations.  Maybe you have received a call from a friend in need at a time that was not good for you.  You may have been exhausted, or you may have had other plans.  The lesson we can take from this passage is that being a compassionate Christian can be challenging at times, but we are called to be like Jesus, therefore we should always be ready to be compassionate.  We do need our down time.  We do need time to recharge, but as those who seek to be like Jesus, we must often lay our desires aside, and willingly serve the needs of others.

Today, let us not let our own agendas keep us from being compassionate to others.  Let us seek to be like Jesus, and serve when the need arises. 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 13:53 – When Jesus had finished telling these stories and illustrations, he left that part of the country. ⁵⁴ He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” ⁵⁵ Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. ⁵⁶ All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” ⁵⁸ And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief. (NLT)

For those who have lived most or all of their lives as part of the Church, this is a familiar story.  Likewise, for those who have lived most or all of their lives as part of the Church, there is a great lesson to be learned from this passage.

First let us consider a historical lesson.  It would appear that Jesus must have grown up in a very normal way, unlike some of the stories that we have in apocryphal books that describe him performing miracles at a young age.  The people of Nazareth knew Jesus, and knew his family.  Because they had not witnessed anything amazing in the past, they were unwilling to see or hear anything credible in Jesus’ ministry. 

Second, let us consider a spiritual lesson. The people of Nazareth had grown so accustomed to Jesus that they were unwilling to see Jesus for who he truly was.  Sometimes we in the church are the same way.  We sing to Jesus, we even pray to Jesus, but are we truly expecting anything from Jesus right here and now?  Do we truly marvel and learn from Jesus’ teaching, or do we simply gloss over the Gospels as if they were some ancient stories that don’t really apply to our lives in our modern world? 

Perhaps, a second spiritual application can be found from what the people said in verses 55-56: “Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. ⁵⁶ All his sisters live right here among us.” Could it be that unbelievers look at Christians and say to themselves: “Can Jesus really be anything of value?”

Let us learn from this passage that we do have the very Word of God.  If we live by it, not only will our lives be noticeably different, people will notice something of Jesus.  Today, let us live as if Jesus really does matter.  Let us live in a way that allows others see a difference in us. 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 13:44 – “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. ⁴⁶ When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it! (NLT)

In this short passage Jesus teaches about the kingdom of Heaven.  Matthew is the only Gospel writer to use this term, the other three Gospels have Jesus speaking of the Kingdom of God.  Why would Matthew use Heaven instead of God?  Matthew’s readers were Jewish Christians, and Jews would avoid writing and using the word God if at all possible.  Out of sensitivity to his readers, Matthew uses Kingdom of Heaven. 

The concept, however, is the same in all four Gospels.  Kingdom life is something that begins now, and we don’t have to wait for death to start experiencing Kingdom life.  Jesus told his followers many times that the Kingdom was near. In Mark 12:34, Jesus told a teacher of religious law that he was not far from the kingdom.  Kingdom life begins when we live under the authority of God, and in a relationship with God through Jesus.

In today’s reading, Jesus tells us that in all of life there is nothing that is more valuable than Kingdom life.  The first man comes across a buried treasure in a field.  Perhaps he had been working in the field.  Finding buried treasure was not uncommon in those days, as people had no safe place to keep their valuables.  When someone who had buried something of value died, or was removed by an invading army, their treasure was lost for the ages unless someone happened upon it.  The second man was a pearl merchant, and he was searching for something of value.  As a merchant, he probably had many fine pieces of jewelry, but when he discovers this one priceless pearl, he sold everything he owned in order to obtain it.

These two short stories not only tell us that Kingdom life is priceless, they beg the question: What are we willing to give up in order to live in the Kingdom?  Are we willing to give up our agendas, and adopt God’s?  Are we willing to lay aside selfish desires, and seek only the will of God?  Kingdom life is not only worth more than our own desires, kingdom life is more rewarding!

Today, let us lay aside our selfish desires and seek to live in the Kingdom.  It’s not just Good Stuff, it is Priceless! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Psalm 47:1 – Come, everyone! Clap your hands!
Shout to God with joyful praise!
² For the Lord Most High is awesome.
He is the great King of all the earth.
³ He subdues the nations before us,
putting our enemies beneath our feet.
⁴ He chose the Promised Land as our inheritance,
the proud possession of Jacob’s descendants, whom he loves.

⁵ God has ascended with a mighty shout.
The Lord has ascended with trumpets blaring.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises!
⁷ For God is the King over all the earth.
Praise him with a psalm!
⁸ God reigns above the nations,
sitting on his holy throne.
⁹ The rulers of the world have gathered together
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For all the kings of the earth belong to God.
He is highly honored everywhere. (NLT)

Psalm 47 was written in celebration of a king’s victory, but it is also prophetic in that it looked forward to the Messiah’s reign and rule.  Verse one indicates that all people – not just the Jews – were invited to shout to God with a joyful praise.  The people were told to clap their hands.  Clapping hands was and is a way in which to celebrate, but it can also be used to draw people’s attention.  Likewise, our praise of God should draw attention to God.  Drawing the attention of people outside of the church as we praise God inside our churches might be difficult, but we are to live a life of praise.  Our praise of God should not be reserved only for our times of corporate worship, we should be ready and willing to praise God at all times and in all places.

Verse three tells us that our great king – our Messiah – has put our enemies beneath our feet. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12 – “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.” Our enemies are not flesh and blood. They are not of this world.  Quite often we live as if our enemies are the people we work with, or even people within our own homes.  Not so!  We need to seek strength to overcome these difficult relationships through Jesus, for Jesus has put our true enemy beneath our feet. 

Verse eight reminds us that God reigns above all.  I have a friend who, when hearing bad news will respond with, “Well, at least God still reigns.”  We must always be mindful that God reigns.  No matter what troubles we face, our Lord is king above all, and our enemies have been defeated.

Today, let us be ready to praise God at all times.  Let us praise God confidently, knowing that our king has defeated our enemies, and our king reigns! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 13:10 – His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?”  ¹¹ He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. ¹² To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. ¹³ That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see.  They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.   ¹⁴ This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah that says,   ‘When you hear what I say,
you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
you will not comprehend.
¹⁵ For the hearts of these people are hardened,
and their ears cannot hear,
and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
and their ears cannot hear,
and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
and let me heal them.’

¹⁶ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it. (NLT)

In the verses that come before today’s reading, Jesus had just told the parable of a farmer scattering seed upon the ground.  In today’s passage, his disciples wanted to know why Jesus used parables.  Jesus explains that he taught the way he did so that those who were truly seeking would discover the truth.  In verse twelve Jesus states:  “To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge.”  I believe that there is a great lesson here for Christians today who seek to share the message of God’s truth with others.

The lesson is that not everyone is ready to receive God’s truth.  Perhaps we should note that we cannot just walk up to our friends who do not have a relationship with Jesus and say, “Jesus saves,” and expect them to believe this truth.  God’s truth does, indeed, save.  God’s truth does offer to us our ultimate healing, but not everyone is ready to receive this truth (verse 15).  Our challenge is to develop relationships with those who do not know God’s truth.  We develop relationships with them so that over time we can share the Gospel.  We must be careful in how we speak this truth.  As we develop relationships, we will be able to find opportunities to use events in life to gently reveal God’s truth. 

We are blessed because we have heard, and we believe (verse 16).  Yet we know that we are not blessed so that we can keep God’s truth to ourselves.  We are blessed to share this truth.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:20: “We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.”  As those who are ambassadors for Christ, we should take our lesson from Jesus.  Jesus knew that the ‘spiritual soil’ had to be cultivated within a person in order to fully understand God’s truth.  Let us be aware of this and let us do our part in cultivating the spiritual soil of those who are ready to listen.  They may not be able to understand the full message at one time, but cultivating soil often takes time and effort.

As Christ ambassadors, let us always be ready to give that time and put forth that effort. 

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 12:43 – “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. ⁴⁵ Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”

⁴⁶ As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. ⁴⁷ Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.”

⁴⁸ Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. ⁵⁰ Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!” (NLT) 

In today’s passage, we have two difficult teachings of Jesus.  In the first teaching, in which Jesus spoke of a multitude of evil spirits returning to a person, Jesus was not just pronouncing a judgment upon of those in his day.  Jesus was speaking a word of warning to us all!  Our spiritual lesson is to remain on guard, remembering that in this life we will always be in a spiritual battle.  When we overcome an obstacle of life, we often become comfortable.  However, we must remain ready.  1 Peter 5:8 tells us that our great enemy prowls around like a lion, looking for someone to devour.  When we are feeling comfortable and at ease in our Christian walk, we have opened the door for evil.  And evil won’t come creeping back in, it will come roaring in like a lion! 

The second difficult teaching in this passage has Jesus seemingly overlooking his close family members.  Not so!  Jesus was not overlooking them, but including all who seek to do the will of God.  The Word of God tells us that we are “temporary residents and foreigners” of this world (1 Peter 2:11).  In other words, our true home is with God.  Just as our true home is with God, our true family members are those who seek God’s will.  We need not reject our earthly families, for they are God’s gift to us, but we are members of a larger family.  Perhaps, in light of this, we should all start trying to get along a little better! 

These two short teaching can be connected spiritually.  We should remember to stay alert, for the evil one comes like a lion to devour – and, we should always be ready to encourage and support our brothers and sisters in our struggle to stay alert, for we are all members of God’s family. 

Today, stay alert, and help your brothers and sister to stay alert, as well!

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 12:33 – “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. ³⁴ You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. ³⁵ A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. ³⁶ And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. ³⁷ The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” (NLT)

In the verses that come before this passage, Jesus has just told us that if we are not actively working with Jesus, then we are actually working against Jesus (verse 30).  How can we know if we are working with Jesus, or not?  We know by the fruit we produce.  Years before the Apostle Paul would write of the fruit of the Spirit, Jesus spoke of the fruit we produce.  Good trees – which represent the people who are working with Jesus – produce good fruit.  In this passage, the fruit of which Jesus spoke were the words that we say.

Jesus said in verse thirty-four: “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.”  The words that we speak reveal what is truly in our hearts.  If Jesus controls our hearts, our words will reflect Jesus.  We must daily consider our words, and we must do so in every circumstance.  Writing about the words we use, James wrote: “And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:10)

Does this ever describe us?  Do we sing praises to God when we worship with our Church, but later in the week we curse others?  Are there times when the words we use destroy instead of build up?  We must remember that what is in our hearts determines what we say.  Sometimes, we need to do a little work on our hearts!

Verse thirty-seven from today’s passage is powerful: “The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”  James, the brother of Jesus, also wrote: “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” (James 2:19-20) The words of both Jesus and James tell us that a true relationship with Jesus will change things about us.  Our words will be different.  Our actions will be different. These changes may not radically transform us overnight, but we can measure our walk with the Lord by the changes in our lives.

Today, let us measure our Christian walk.  Let us be mindful of the words we use at all times, and our actions, as well.

Posted by Ramón Torres

Matthew 12:22 – Then a demon-possessed man, who was blind and couldn’t speak, was brought to Jesus. He healed the man so that he could both speak and see. ²³ The crowd was amazed and asked, “Could it be that Jesus is the Son of David, the Messiah?”

²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”

²⁵ Jesus knew their thoughts and replied, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A town or family splintered by feuding will fall apart. ²⁶ And if Satan is casting out Satan, he is divided and fighting against himself. His own kingdom will not survive. ²⁷ And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. ²⁸ But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. ²⁹ For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.

 ³⁰ “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me. (NLT)

In this passage Jesus heals a man who could not see or speak.  Truly a miraculous event, one for which we should praise God!  The depth of the healing that Jesus offers to each and every one of us, however, goes much deeper than the physical.  Jesus speaks of this healing at the end of his response to those who questioned where it was that he received his power.

Using an analogy of a strong man, Jesus tells us that his authority is to heal that which Satan seeks to destroy.  Jesus says in verse twenty-nine: “For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.” We must recognize that we are the goods that Satan has plundered, and Jesus has come to our rescue!  In this fallen world in which we live, we are often easy pickings for Satan.  A difficult day, an unkind word, some bad news – all of these and more weaken our spirit, allowing Satan an open door to control our hearts and minds.  When this happens, we become Satan’s plundered goods.

We live out each day on the front of a great spiritual war.  Left on our own, our defenses are not strong enough to win the war.  We need someone stronger than Satan, and Jesus is that strong man!  Jesus healed the demon possessed man to show us that he is stronger than the powers of darkness.  While we know that Jesus’ death for our sins has opened to door to eternal salvation, Jesus makes it clear that the door is open for us to win the battle against evil right here and right now.

To win our current battles, we cannot retreat.  Jesus makes this clear in verse thirty: “Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.”  If we remain neutral in our spiritual warfare, we have retreated.  We must not only be with Jesus spiritually, we must be working with Jesus spiritually.  If we do not actively work with Jesus in our spiritual battles, as Jesus says, we are actually working against Jesus.

Today, let us not merely walk with Jesus in spirit, let us work with Jesus.  Let us work with Jesus through prayer, through staying in God’s Word, through praise and worship, through Christian fellowship.  There is nothing in our lives that must stay under Satan’s control! 

Posted by Ramón Torres