Exodus 8:1-9:35 + Matthew 19:13-30 + Psalm 24:1-10 + Proverbs 6:1-5
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Old Testament – Today in Exodus chapters 8 & 9 we read about many of the plagues! I’ve got to say, for some reason the plague of frogs really resonated with me in today’s reading. I’m not sure why – but for some reason I could really envision frogs being everywhere… and how disgusting this would truly be…
An interesting thing I read in a commentary today is that the plagues were direct attacks on the Egyptian “gods”. For example, the Egyptians had a god named Hopi, who was god of the Nile river. Hopi couldn’t stop the river from turning to blood. They had a cow-goddess named Hathor, who couldn’t stop the livestock from dying. They had a sun-god named Amon-Re who couldn’t stop darkness from coming over the land. (in tomorrow’s readings). God’s plagues were going after these false gods – and showing to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and the Hebrews too I think, who the one true living God is, was, and forever shall be. Did you ever stop and wonder if there were masks out there that depicted the various plagues of the Exodus? Me neither. But they exist! 🙂
Chapter 8 verses 18 & 19 stand out: “Pharaoh’s magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed. And the gnats covered all the people and animals. “This is the finger of God!” the magicians exclaimed to Pharaoh.” The magicians tricks were beginning to fail! They realized that God was creating the plagues with their exclamation, “This is the finger of God!” God’s name & fame was becoming known. Have you seen or experienced the finger of God in your life? Below is a super-sized image that will give you an idea of the grossness of the plague of gnats:
Chapter 9 verse 16 is powerful: “But I have let you live for this reason–that you might see my power and that my fame might spread throughout the earth.” In the New Testament, Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:17, which we’ll view in context here from Romans 9:14-18 – “What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” Wow… great stuff in this Roman’s verse… it does not depend on our desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. Do you believe in God’s mercy? Will you relinquish any of your own desire or efforts over to God’s mercy? As you probably have seen by now, I’m trying to cover many of the plagues in today’s readings with images… so now I give you pharaoh and the flies! 🙂
Exodus chapter 9 verse 20 is also powerful, as we read about some Egyptians beginning to believe in God: “Some of Pharaoh’s officials believed what the LORD said. They immediately brought their livestock and servants in from the fields.” How about us today? Do we believe what the Lord says? Like these Egyptians in this instance, do we then also immediately do what the Lord says? In verse 27 Pharaoh finally confesses his sin: “Then Pharaoh urgently sent for Moses and Aaron. “I finally admit my fault,” he confessed. “The LORD is right, and my people and I are wrong.” Though he doesn’t stay repentant for long. How about us – do we confess our sins to God – and then not stay repentant for long? Can we instead confess our sins to God and make a complete U-turn – go completely in the other direction and not look back? Below we have the plague of hail – and I guess that fire is from the lightning strikes.
Bible.org’s commentary on the plagues of Exodus titled “The Finger of God” is at this link.
New Testament – Today in Matthew 19 we read some challenging verses about the Rich Young Man. I have read some commentaries say that we don’t need to take Jesus’ words literally that each of us must sell all of our goods and give to the poor. However, these words in context to this rich young man were indeed to be taken literally by him – and he knew it. He wouldn’t do it. Jesus called him to do this, I think, because the young man’s “stuff” was an impediment to his relationship with God. Perhaps the young man literally valued his stuff more than God. So – while the commentaries say that we don’t have to take Jesus’ teaching to this young man literally, I do think we should keep in mind that Jesus may ask of us something along these lines. Jesus may ask us to pack up and become a missionary. Or maybe he’ll ask us to leave a high powered, high paying job, to go serve the poor in our town. Or he may ask us to not spend our money on luxury items, but to invest in micro credit loan programs in third world countries. So – while this may seem like Jesus was asking a lot of this rich young man, keep in mind that Jesus asks much of each of us. And really, Jesus simply asks us to follow him. Will you follow Jesus? No matter the cost? No matter what you have to “give up”? Will you follow him? Below is a painting by Heinrich Hoffman from the late 19th century of Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler:
Bible.org’s commentary on today’s readings in Matthew chapter 19 titled “Wealth and the Kingdom of Heaven” is at this link.
Psalms – Psalm 24 is a beautiful Psalm! Check out this brief snippet of commentary on this Psalm from bible.org: “The Israelites have returned from a battle with the Canaanites. They are proceeding up to the sanctuary on the holy mount to give praise to Yahweh for the great and mighty victory in battle, carrying with them the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of Yahweh’s presence with them. As they approach the gate, they are met by the Levites who function as gatekeepers. It is their part to ask who may enter the sanctuary of the Lord; and it is the priests’ part to answer with the stipulations from the Law. Whoever meets these qualifications may enter and fellowship with Yahweh… The psalm then concludes with the worshipers calling to the gates to make way for Yahweh to come in to His sanctuary, for why should the King of Glory stoop to go under a doorway? ” This quote is from, and there is much more commentary on Psalm 24, at bible.org. (also, any Chris Tomlin fans out there will definitely recognize this Psalm – on his CD “Arriving” I think the 2nd or 3rd to last song is called “King of Glory” based on this Psalm – it’s the best song on this overall fantastic CD in my humble opinion! 🙂
Proverbs – Proverbs chapter 6 verses 1 through 5 were intriguing to me. I guess my first thought was that getting our own selves in debt is bad enough – but then to be a guarantor for our friends debt? Well, these verses certainly warn against doing this. Let us avoid debt!
Worship Video: Today’s readings reminded me of Mandisa’s song “Overcomer:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8VoUYtx0kw
Do you want to become an Overcomer? Click here to Overcome!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” Matthew 19:29 NIV
Prayer Point: Pray that you will place your relationship with Jesus and spending eternity with Him above all else.
Comments from You and Questions of the Day: Based on the Proverbs verses today about debt, does anyone have debt-relief resources, websites or books you could share with everyone in the Comments section below? I’ve heard Financial Peace University is good and I hear there are some other good Christian financial management / debt relief books & seminars out there. I’m personally not that familiar with them – well, I did run sound once at a church for a 4 hour session on one of these seminars once, and it was quite good…. it’s amazing how wise it is to get out of debt and to save $. I’ve often heard that it is wise to give 10% of your income and save 10% of your income with each check that comes in. What’s your reaction to this type of formula? Also, what verses or insights stand out to you in today’s readings? Please post up by clicking on the “Comments” link below!
God bless,
Mike
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BLOG READERS HISTORICAL COMMUNITY COMMENTS:
======= Ramona:
Exodus 8:1-9:35
Irrational, Illogical and Unreasonable, that is the mental state of the latter Pharaoh. That is the state of someone’ mind who is in sin, in this case, deep in sin. According to the writer of Proverbs, he is a fool because a fool cannot be reasoned with or even see reason (Prov. 12:15;17:10,16;26:12).
The first time we see these three character flaws in the Pharaohs is when the order goes out to have all the male infants killed. From a business and economic point of view that is a stupid move. Egypt’s economy was based on slave labor thus the death of all the males would over time deplete your work force. Now we see the current Pharaoh, or it’s the same ole’ Pharaoh, but now he is an older fool, actually increasing his own people’s misery, the people he is suppose to be protecting. I don’t know but I hope if I had had an up close and personal relationship with a bunch of frogs, I trust that I would begin thinking about the power, or precisely the lack of power my gods, were showing and rethink my belief systems. And if asked for a timetable to get rid of said frogs, I wouldn’t say tomorrow, I would say, “Right Now! Thank you very much.”
Now regarding God hardening Pharaoh’s heart bear with me as I use an illustration. In Biblical Text, both Old and New, soil and or the ground has been used as simile for the heart of man. We find this in the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:3-9,19) and in the Prophets Jeremiah (4:3) and Hosea’s (10:12) writings. God can either harden your heart, like Pharaoh, or soften your heart, like the Apostel Paul, based on the condition of the soil and the environment you allow yourself to live in.
Two people can have a garden separated only by a fence. One person constantly “works” the soil and keeps it watered, the other does not. Seeds are sown in both patches of land. When the sun (Son) comes up and it is in the heat of the day, the seeds sown on the soil that is worked will produce a crop of what has been planted, but that same sun (Son) will cause the unworked unprepared ground to harden further giving the birds a firm table to eat from.
Regarding the Rich Young/Old Ruler (He could be anyone of us no matter our gender). Please note that Jesus did not recite to him the entire 10 Commandments. The Commandments are broken up into two parts, man’s relationship with God, man’s relationship with each other. Jesus only gave him the Commandments that dealt with man’s relationship with each other not the ruler’s relationship with God, that relationship with the one that was off. If you don’t have the first half of the commandments down pat, you will not be able to do the last half. Keeping that in mind if you go back and reread the story again, you will find a deeper meaning to what Jesus was trying to teach that young man.
Grace and peace,
Ramona
======= Debby:
Mike,
In your weekly edition you said:
The significance of Passover was that God was introducing the concept of a sacrifice…..
God had already introduced the concept of a sacrifice and, though not said directly, I believe this may have been the reason God was displeased by Cain’s offering.
Genesis 8:21, especially Genesis 22:7-13 and other times of altars and sacrifices in Genesis/Exodus pointing forward to Christ’s sacrifice.
Thought: why are the Israelites (Jews) not still offering sacrifices today if the promised Saviour has not yet come?
Debby
======= Ramona:
Debby–If you “Google” the words, “Temple Sacrifice” you will find many useful sources. I will post the link of one I just read and which is not to extensive, http://www.beingjewish.com/unchanged/sacrifices.html. There are a few which are very lengthy.
May I ask those who are new to reading through the Bible to exercise patience as many of your questions will be answered as we read the bible. When I began reading through the bible 17 plus years ago, I didn’t do it with a group and I didn’t have the money to purchase commentaries, so I either made mental notes to myself or asked God why. Everyone of my questions were answered in the scriptures, though it may not have been in the time frame I wanted but the answers appeared at the right time.
Ramona
======= Ann:
Jesus was adamant that people keep his commandments which are ‘not grievous’, saying “If ye love me, keep my commandments” and making other statements about our need to obey. Why would he do so if after his death on the cross the Law, the Ten Commandments, would be done away? He never made any suggestion that they would be optional!
Also, if the Holy Spirit is supposed to be our guide and helper, it seems to me that he would be the one to enable us to keep the commandments. Instead, some churches today teach us that since we can’t keep the commandments, we are excused from trying very hard, which makes Jesus a liar and the Holy Spirit a fraud! How can this be?
Thank you.
Ann
======= Ramona:
Ann,
I don’t think anyone has posted that we don’t have to keep the Law. The point is when one is in Christ and has a relationship with Him, the one who came to fulfill the Law, we through Christ keep the Law. There is no way that we can keep the Law and the Law is more than the 10 Commandments. The Ten Commandments are like our bodies’ skeleton, there are other Laws (muscle, sinews and flesh) that hang on that skeleton.
By the way, scripture says that you just can’t break one law for there are at least 613 laws. If you just break one, even if you rationalize that out that it was a little one, a “white” lie one so you can justify yourself, the text says you have broken ALL 613 of them.
If indeed you [really] fulfill the royal Law in accordance with the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as [you love] yourself, you do well. [Lev. 19:18.] But if you show servile regard (prejudice, favoritism) for people, you commit sin and are rebuked and convicted by the Law as violators and offenders. For whosoever keeps the Law [as a] whole but stumbles and offends in one [single instance] has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.
(James 2:8-10 AMP)
When we get to the part of the Pentateuch that describes all the offerings and sacrifices one had to present, burnt, sin, guilt, wave etc. we will see that the Temple Alter was just one big “barbeque.” (Folks that is a joke).
Jesus is our sacrifice once and for all, it is when we come to understand not only what Jesus has done for us and realize He is all that we need, then our fleshly desire to steal, commit adultery, fornicate, covet, etc, will fall away and we will rest in what He has done for us.
Also I need to correct a word. In my comment about the Rich Ruler I wrote:
“Jesus only gave him the Commandments that dealt with man’s relationship with each other not the ruler’s relationship with God, that relationship with the one that was off.”
It should have been:
“Jesus only gave him the Commandments that dealt with man’s relationship with each other not the ruler’s relationship with God, that relationship WAS the one that was off.”
Ramona
======= John:
Mike’s ?
re: giving
Psalm 24:1
“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,..”
That is the way I see it.
If you are blessed above average then, in my opinion, one should make note of the following comment.
“Proportionately: In the New Testament, set amounts of compulsory giving (as in the tithe) have been replaced by the grace principle of voluntary, purposeful, and proportionate giving. The new standard for today is “as He may prosper” (1 Cor. 16:2),….”
– from bible.org link in Mike’s commentary
I like the “guidelines for giving” (scroll down) and the explanations given at this link.
John
======= Roslyn:
The analogy of “the little children” is a beautiful imagery for me. We’ve lost much of our innocence if not completely as we, our thinking and our lives, get more complex and/or complicated. We’ve forgotten to be humble, in fact we don’t even know how anymore. We refuse to be flexible, receptive and response for we have gotten used to the comforts and routine of our daily lives. Our curiosity, spontaneity, and open-mindedness have all been set aside for as adults we seem to “know everything” or we have become “experts” at something.
Indeed, unless we become like “little children,” we’ll never see God’s kingdom or partake of it here on earth!
Roslyn
======= John:
“God helps those who help themselves first”
I found out a few months ago, that this is not from the Bible. I was shocked.
GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES – “Some faith adages roll off the tongue, like ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ But the saying is not biblical and, in fact, violates a primary scriptural teaching that only God determines a person’s destiny, according to religion analyst George Barna (the phrase) is an ancient proverb that shows up in the literature of many cultures, including a 1736 edition of Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac.
As opposed to:
Jer 17:5 (NIV) This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.”
Prov 28:26 (NIV) He who trusts in himself is a fool…
John
======= Veronica:
Re: “God helps those who help themselves first”
You’re 100% right John. Those who help themselves usually end up with more problems. I remember hearing the proverb “One man’s words are breath to another’s nostrils” and I read proverbs trying to find it, as proverbs of the Bible were the only proverbs I knew of at the time. And as you can see my name being Veronica many have asked if I was named after Veronica who had wiped Jesus’ face. I looked that up and it is nowhere in the Bible.
Did anyone notice how the Egyptian magicians only made matters worse by copying the plagues rather than making them go away?
Veronica
======= Dave:
Hey Guys- before leaving the notion of “God helps them who help themselves”, God asks Moses “what do you have in your hand?” when Moses frets about getting in front of Pharoah (a staff). Jesus asks “What do you have?” when the disciples fret about feeding the thousands (some fish and loaves). It seems that, sometimes, God expects some initiative and action on our part before showing His glory. Of course, He doesn’t need us to bring His Kingdom, but He has taken the risk and chooses to work through broken man. I find that when I pray for those in need, I hear God telling me “Try doing something yourself. You can offer a word of encouragement, money, or whatever is needed. I’ll meet you there. ” Have a blessed day!
Dave
======= John:
Dave
Good point.
To me it is about orientation. If we are oriented initially towards God in prayer and thought, and then take action – that is no problem.
If we are oriented inward, toward ourselves, take action and expect God to jump in with help. Well, he may or may not, depending on his soverign plan. the problem is leaving God out of the equation in the initial phase.
If Christ is the example, we know that He kept the Father in the initial phase of any situation. He constantly prayed in the Will of God, and did nothing the Father did not tell him or allow him to do. (sort of a paraphrase from gospel of John and I am sure we will talk more about it when we get there.)
Of course our communication is not as highly tuned as Christ’s, but the example of praying and consulting first should be the object lesson.
John
======= Jeff:
In reading the wonderful parable of the Rich Young Man, Matthew 19:16-17 says “And behold, one came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do that I may obtain eternal life?” Note: The young man didn’t say what must I believe?; or how can I obtain the faith necessary to get eternal life”? The young man said “what … must I do?”… and Jesus said to him “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” My sense is that One refers to God, life refers to eternal life, and commandments refers to the 10 Commandments.
This is a very direct instruction by Jesus telling us to act in accordance with the commandments. Doesn’t this requirement conflict somewhat with the notion that we are justified by faith alone (i.e. saved by God’s grace through the faith He gives us)? Uh oh. Here we are again with the faith versus works questions.
I guess what I’m thinking now is that the “justified by faith” that Paul uses in Romans 3:28 & Galatians 2:16 seems insufficient. Paul’s saying in Ephesians 2:8-9 that “we are saved by God’s grace through faith” seems more complete and more truthful but still seems to fall slightly short of the mark. Personally, I feel more comfortable saying “we are saved by God’s grace through our active faith.” “Active” conveys the idea that if you have faith, we can’t help but respond in service to God and in trying to lead a more righteous life (we won’t suddenly become perfect and without sin, but we’ll have the grace to keep on trying).”
And thankfully we don’t need to strive to be perfect. In verses 25-26 later in the same parable, Jesus’ disciples asked “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” There’s God’s grace!!
Your comments please.
God’s Grace to you,
Jeff
======= David:
The story of the rich young man provides a poignant contrast between God’s grace and self-reliance to satisfy the requirements of God’s perfect law.
As Jeff highlighted above, this man asked “What good things must _I_ do to get eternal life?” Not “How can I be saved?”, let alone “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner.” The young man had a watered down understanding of God’s expectations, and had deluded himself into believing that he was actually meeting the law’s demands.
If we insist that our actions be judged objectively on the basis of the law apart from God’s grace, the law crushes with requirements that we cannot meet.
Conversely, when we recognize the full weight of the law and see how there is no way we can measure up, we fall before God pleading for mercy. “Lord, there is no way I can meet your requirements. Cover me with Christ’s righteousness.” And when with humility and repentance we ask Him to save us, he freely does so.
I see an important lesson of the story being that salvation does indeed require perfectly keeping the law—but that “there is only One who is good” (vs. 17). Left to ourselves, salvation is impossible, but “with God all things are possible” (vs. 26). It is Christ’s goodness which satisfies the demands of the law, and not our attempts to be good.
Interestingly, wealth has the tendency to encourage self-reliance—which is always at odds with the kind of relationship God desires with us. (Hence the reason it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven in vs. 23.) It was for a specific reason that God gave the Israelites manna for only one day at a time (Ex.13:19). He wants our explicit trust in all things, including our salvation, rather than proud self-reliance.
David
======= Anka:
Pharaoh’s heart…In Egypt,pharaoh himself was considered a god,in spite of God showing him and the Egyptians that He was the only God by displaying His power against their gods,few of them repented.
This brings me to the verse,many are called,few are chosen.Like pharaoh,many repent for a season yet refuse to follow God.I’m not even sure repent is the right word…repentance is to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life…Pharaoh felt God’s power,knew he couldn’t compete with it but gave it his best shot and lost.There are many who refuse to acknowledge God’s will as supreme,refuse to give their ways even though they know it’s wrong….satan has seen God’s power but is still convinced he can beat it…isn’t that what’s at the back of our minds when we refuse to walk according to God’s plan…When you see such display of power and refuse to bow to God’s sovereignty…it’s pretty obvious there’s nothing that will convince you.God gave even pharaoh a chance…maybe pharaoh was made pharaoh for this purpose because God saw before hand that his heart would never accept God’s will….I believe yes,God has the power to change our hearts,but that would be violating our “rights”to free will wouldn’t it.I pray daily for God to work in me to will and do of His good pleasure….not my will but God’s be done.My will rises up from my sinful nature,my selfish and stubborn heart,my limited wisdom….I’m sure I’m better off doing God’s will.
God bless you all
Anka
======= Pat:
Something about the fourth and sixth plagues in chapter 9 really confuses me!
As all the livestock belonging to the Egyptians were killed by the fourth plague, the Plague of Livestock, where did the livestock referred to in sixth plague, the Plague of Hail, come from?
9:6 “All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died.”
9:19-21 “Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every man and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die. Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. But those who ignored the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field.”
It wasn’t the livestock of the Israelite slaves because 9:26 states, “The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.”
If any of you have an explanation for this or a good commentary on this, would you please share it?
Thanks bunches and God Bless!
Pat
======= Lesley:
To Pat’s question above about the livestock … I wondered this, too!
I checked the verses on the NET Bible, which offered this insight:
With the plague on the cattle, where is says “all livestock” died … “The word “all” clearly does not mean “all” in the exclusive sense, because subsequent plagues involve cattle. The word must denote such a large number that whatever was left was insignificant for the economy. It could also be taken to mean “all [kinds of] livestock died.”
Also, with the plague of hail, the Lord referred to killing all “animals.” So this would include dogs, cats, etc., whereas the earlier plague focused specifically on cattle, horses, donkeys, camels and “herds.”
Still confusing. But I hope this helps!
To Mike’s question about debt …
Pro 22:7 states: The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
I know there are debates on tithing in the OT versus NT. But I think it’s clear that Jesus expected his followers to give to the poor.
People who over-spend and are in debt simply cannot give to the poor or support their churches. They are too busy paying off their credit cards! Also, as Proverbs states above, people who are in debt are slaves to that debt … they must focus their energies on getting out of financial servitude, rather than serving the Lord.
Dave Ramsey (the guy who does Financial Peace University) has a great radio show and web site (www.daveramsey.com) that talks about these principles. He encourages a Christian approach to money management … save, rather than spending with credit cards; pay off debt; save for retirement; and – most importantly – create true wealth so you can GIVE to others!
If you’re interested, check out the “baby steps” section of his web site.
Lesley
======= Cherie:
Pat,
Excellent question!
‘As all the livestock belonging to the Egyptians were killed by the fourth plague, the Plague of Livestock, where did the livestock referred to in sixth plague, the Plague of Hail, come from?’
I didn’t know the answer – but I found this explanation in today’s commentary…
Some have asked, “If all the cattle died here, how, then, can we later (vss. 10; 20-21) read of other livestock which is killed in the thunderstorm?” Hannah (p. 113) suggests (1) hyperbole or (2) only all the animals in the field were killed. A better suggestion may be that the Egyptians purchased cattle from another country. To allow some time for the Egyptians to begin to recover from one disaster, only to lay them low again, is of much greater economic consequence.
Isn’t God amazing!?
Cherie
======= Mae:
The readings from Matthew are really powerful!
Matthew 19:14&15 “But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left. ~ I’m so happy Jaden (my son) is joining Sundayschool, that way he gets to know who Jesus is. I really want Jaden to go to Jesus and in his sweet little ‘kid-way’ he truly is!!!! Jaden talks about Jesus and that’s just so adorable! The other day he said “Mommy? Jesus lives in my heart, right? That’s a good thing! Jesus can’t live in my stomache, because there’s all my food!”. I love how open and pure the love is that Jaden has for Jesus. He doesn’t really understand it yet how it works, but he’ll learn to.
Matthew 19:30 “But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then”. I know people who come to church every Sunday, which I’m really happy about. Because in my opinion they really need God’s word. I know, I’m not the one to judge them and they don’t have responsibility towards me. But even now when they come to church every Sunday, they care so much about status. Need to have the big new Mercedes, their designer clothes, expensive 12 course dinner with the finest wines and champaignes. It’s just so hard for me to understand WHY wealth stays number 1 for them? We keep hearing it over and over again, we also know about demon mammon … Even with Christmas they wanted to rent a castle, including caterers and housekeeping. I mean …… Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Isn’t that about something else? We can celebrate Christmas homeless underneath a bridge … I just don’t get it! I’m so passionate about Jesus Christ … and sure, I like having a job, I like having a car … my husband will be a manager soon instead a senior engineer … sure, we’re happy about it. But I don’t want him to use his elbows and smack everbody down the ladder while he’s climbing up. And he’s not like that at all. He’s just being patient, doing his job and knows that he’ll be rewarded. Status, money, being rich … that’s not what we are aiming for in life. And it hurts me that other people are going blind for their wealth …
Mae
======= Carissa:
Can we confess our sins and make a complete U-turn… Sure, It’s not always easy though. There are examples from my life where it’s ‘easier’ for me to denounce some things than others. The awesome thing about it is it gives me a REAL conscience–not just Jiminy Cricket sitting on my shoulder to answer to! So, I can put myself in Pharoah’s shoes on some occasions but untilmately, I do know what is right and what I need to go to God for strength to fight against!
I really appreciated the New Testament tale of the rich man today too. Really brings home how much I enjoy and admire things that I have or things that I want.
Carissa
======= Jenny:
man, that Pharoh is stubborn! About the rich young ruler in matthew, we dont know what he did. i bet he thought it over a lot. i wonder wat he chose. But it shows how it is so hard for a wealthy person to enter in heaven b’cos they trust in their wealth. Or a very intelliegent person may trust in their knowledge but have no fear of the Lord n no wisdom. Success, fame, wealth, power…all these things are warned about because we can trust in them and not the true living God. The poor, the down and out, the crippled, the sick…this is who /jesus ministered to. they saw their need for Him! Of course the poor and needy and middle class still may reject Christ.
Point is, we all at one time have had something as our god. God will let us know individually wat it is n say, forsake that, put it aside n follow me. What consumes us? What do we live for? What do we think about most? (i do believe even ppl can becomes gods in someone’s life) a few times i’ve been sharing with nonbelievers and they were open…then next thing, they met mr/mrs right and the person loses interests in seeking God, cause they know have their wonderful bf/gf to distract them n be their god. I have seen this happen quite a few times in ppl’s lives n its sooo sad. they get so wrapped up in this person, they are no longer open to the things of the Lord.
I also ave seen many devout believers compromise and date a nonbelievers. They compromise more here and there, next thing I hear they are living with this person out of wedlock. When I see them they are unrecognizable, they are back in the world, they talk like nonbelievers (cussing), they act like worldly ppl (drinking, sexual activity). They gave it up! For what? a relationship that kicks God out of their hearts and they risk the danger of walking too far from the Lord. NOT worth it! It hurts me, I have seen this happen to many believer friends.
If God says leave a realtionship, b/f, g/f…leave!!!! Just leave. I have had to do this, its very painful yes when you love the person, but God said, leave this! You cant be with hIm and serve Me. So i obeyed God…it hurt like crazy for about a year (my first love) but today I’m grateful! I found him on myspace like 10 yrs later, he’s married, a drunkard, pot smoker. THANK GOD I obeyed Him!! I’m so glad thats not me married to him!!!
If God is telling you to leave an ungodly b/f, g/f…do it! Obey Him, deny yourself. Look at what Christ went through. You will be blessed. Its so worth it to obey, no matter the cost now.
Jenny
======= Arielle:
Jeff
This is how I looked at it.
Laws are as important as having faith. Laws show us what we need to do to live a life that is pleasing to GOD or in short how to live a righteous life. It helps humans differentiate what is right and what is wrong or what is pleasing to GOD and what is not pleasing to GOD. If laws were not there we would have started making our own laws and said this is how we need to live. Who are we to say what is right and what is wrong? What is right to someone might be wrong to the other person.
But just because we have the laws to follow does not mean we can be saved either. We can only be saved or put right again with GOD, only if we are born again in CHRIST (Last Adam) and washed off the sin we inherited from the first Adam.
That promise of salvation was in the scriptures long time ago. It was told in the Old Testament time and time again that a messiah would come to save us. Therefore, those who ‘Believe’ in this ONE PROMISE and hold onto their faith (very important!), be it people from the past (people before CHRIST) or present (All the people after CHRIST, including us) or those who are to be born in the future will definitely be saved by the grace of GOD.
CHRIST knew where the rich man’s heart was, He knew he did not fully believe in the promise or have faith in the truth and that he blindly followed the laws to a righteous living. Hence the second question to the rich man about leaving his wealth. It was only a test I think. The story of the rich man I guess is to show us or help us measure our faith. Is our faith in CHRIST strong enough to let go of our worldly possessions. We just don’t realize all that we have Is from GOD
Just a quote I thought I’d share also:
“For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17”
Arielle
======= John:
Jeff and Arielle,
Arielle – Great comments and spot on. One thing to add about your comments on OT, present and future believers. At the point that the person’s heart was right AND they believed righteousness is imputed on them (saved).
In Hebrews Abraham was a believer when he left Ur (Mesopatamia). His faith was still childlike (like a “baby (new) Christian”, and it wavered (Egypt experiance), but Abraham never lost his imputed righteousness. God will bring a believer along and there will be stumbles, but he will never forsake us or leave us once we make the original commitment to believe. We are his sheep and He knows us – even if our faith wavers or we go off the path. God will lovingly bring us back, or perhaps chastise us into returning, but we can never be separated from the Father after a true conversion. (Rom 8:38)
This will be reinforced all through the Bible and I will try to remember to keep pointing out God’s unwavering commitment to believers.
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Jeff
Let’s look at the conversation.
You are correct the man asked what he had to do to get eternal life.
IMPORTANT: Jesus was not teaching how to obtain eternal life. Jesus was answering the question given the parameters the rich young man laid out. What can someone do to obtain eternal life (heaven). Obey the Law (commandments).
That is true. The Problem is NO ONE can do it. The Law was never meant to save, but point out God’s standards for perfection. Everyone has sinned (even the young rich man) –
“There is none righteous,not even one” (Romans 9:10, Psalms 14:3, 53:3)
Only one did not sin
(break the Law) and that is Christ.
The Law is meant to show how inadequate we are, and make us ask the question – ‘there must be another way’ – enter the gospel and believing and receiving Christ.
There is no way the rich young man loved each and every fellow man as himself. This is an internal command that takes the kind of heart we do not have before becoming a believer. Even then God has to keep working in us to bring us to the point where we can follow that commandment.
Christ knew the young man’s heart. Arielle is correct – this is a test. Christ is saying – OK you say you love your neighbor as yourself – go and sell all you have and give it to him what is yours.
IMPORTANT: Christ says “If you want to be perfect…Note: Man is not now perfect, but if he wants to be, then there are two conditions for him. Give up your riches (the most important thing in his heart) AND COME FOLLOW ME. This would be the belief part as Arielle referred to in her post. The first prioritizes the man’s heart and puts God first, the second takess an act of faith and belief. If the man did those two things he would be perfect (righteous) in God’s eyes.
The man did not, bit he may have later as a lot of commentators think this man was Mark (Gospel writer). We will pick that up in later gospels.
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NOTE: The thing I had to give up in my in my heart was my incredible Pride. I believed intellectually and prayed to God for salvation and Christ intellectually – But I was not saved. It was not until the point where I got down on my hands and knees, sobbing, and screamed out “I Can’t do it, you win, please God take over my life and do with me as you will, I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior”. It was AT THAT extremely humble and submissive moment that I KNOW I was saved, and the things that happened in that room that night in 2004 only God and I know about – but it was real, palpable, and accompanied with a great feeling of peace, joy and happiness.
I was blessed. Not everyone gets such a real and dramatic conversion. What happened that night allows me to never entertain the thought of doubt about salvation. I have strayed,been angry at God, disobeyed, and distanced myself from the Father, but I have never doubted His existance, His Promise, and my role as His sheep.
John
======== Chris:
For me, the 2nd 10% was easy. That was mine and I thought it “guaranteed” the security I wasn’t going to get from work. The 1st 10%–the first fruits–well I was pretty much agnostic at the time and money was my god, so that was mine, too. (And in my wallet it would stay.) It wasn’t until I trusted in Jesus (in my late 40s) that I WANTED to give back to Him and I finally understood that it was only through the gifts He had given me that I was able to breathe, work, love, earn and live. So I experimented … to see if I would miss the money, and to my surprise and excitement, I didn’t. Instead, I got joy. Oh, some months are leaner than others, but we always make it. It’s not the legality of the tithe, but the desire to tithe. It has given me a wonderful freedom. I pray I will never tithe because of the law, but that I will always tithe because of the heart. (One of my children taught me a great lesson on this when she tithed on a gift I gave her. My first thought was ‘I’ve already tithed on that money. You shouldn’t too.’ — Was I ever wrong.)
Chris
======= Jennifer:
I think the story of the rich man asking about what he can do to get into heaven and Christ gives this list and then says follow the commandments. He replies that he does this, but really the first commandment is the most difficult. Put no Gods before God and if this young man did this he would not bow to wealth, but give it to God. I am always checking my own motives and careful to know that it is very easy to begin to serve modern idols, than to God. How do I spend my time, what do I allow into my life, etc. Sometimes we are like Pharaoh and the idol is ourself. In his belief system he was God and sometimes we think of ourselves in that same way.
Jennifer
======= Steve:
For me what stood out in today’s readings was Exodus 9:27-28 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. “I have sinned this time,” he said to them. “The LORD is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones. 28 Make an appeal to the LORD. There has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t need to stay any longer.”
This has a familiar ring to it. We call out to God in the midst of the big crisis but the intensity of the call dissipates as relief arrives. Pharaoh keeps changing his mind about letting the Israelite’s go each time the slightest relief appears. Like Pharaoh we want control of our lives, we want to call the shots and be in charge but God knows this and puts us in situations we have little or no control over. Pharaoh’s decisions are based on what will protect his kingdom keeping him in power. Jesus teaches the opposite leading us (like the Israelite’s) away from bondage, fear, stubbornness and into the vulnerable open space of green pastures where we find rest in Him.
Steve
======= MItch:
Time running short today – so –
Would like to comment on God hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Used to struggle over this and think – is God playing with a stacked deck?
I get Ramona’s point. However, consider this: all unsaved people would have hard hearts without God’s Grace. (Grace being getting something we did not deserve). Therefore God simply withheld His Grace from pharaoh and the ruler of Egypt went to his natural, prideful state in complete “self” mode. When Pharaoh receives God’s Grace – he is less of an ogre. God wanted to make a point and pharaoh was used to make the point – by God simply allowing the man to be his true sinful self.
People saved have been given a new heart and are transformed (born- again). The Grace we get (that we don’t deserve) helps us follow Jesus and walk humbly with God.
Mitch
======= Barbara:
I would advise everyone to become debt free. Dave Ramsey is founder of Financial Peace. However you must be careful you do not spend big bucks on materials. Do it yourself. Especially credit card debt. It will eat you alive. I have been debt free for quite sometime. You actually have more money than you have ever had when you are not in debt to another. And it is Biblical as our scripture today tells us. Jesus was a prime example. He and the disciples and Paul did not borrow from others or get in debt to perform their ministries
Barbara
======= Dee:
I don’t really know any debt services. But, I do like the tithe 10, save 10, invest 10, spend 10.
Ex 8:1-9:35
Today is more plaques, we get frogs, lice(which I didn’t remember those)-another translation called then gnats, and flies! All 3 yuck to me! Oh also boils and last but not least hail, thunderstorms and hail. Ouch!
You would have thought his own officials would have begged him to let Israelites go! Pronto. But no!
Then Pharoah after hail and lightning actually confessed he had sinned unto the Lord-for them to go! But it didn’t last long–
The end of Matthew today got to or spoke personally to me. I have struggled in my spirit in conflict with my coworkers, my spouse, my child about this Covid stuff- I don’t feel in my spirit like it’s good idea- and I believe it’s discernment from the Lord. I am standing firm but its I believe that is why these verses spoke to me so-I am giving up-others beliefs for u Lord- your conviction-I believe it is right and where u lead Lord I follow.
Psalm 24:1-10
I love this too Lord. The earth is definitely yours and no matter what man does- it still is yours and you have final say.
Proverbs 6:1-5
What I got out of that is don’t let others pull u down – Some will trap u and if not careful u enable them Love u Lord.
Dee
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