This is the story of resurrection morning. Jesus had said before that he was going to be crucified and be raised on the third day before any of this had ever happened. This plan to save God’s people had been put into motion all the way back from the beginning. Jesus even told his disciples in Matthew 20 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.” He knew that since sin had entered the world through Adam that the sin barrier had to be broken before we could have a relationship with God through Jesus and that he was the only one that could break down that barrier. We see in this chapter that the Pharisees and the Scribes knew this. They knew that if the word got out about Jesus’s resurrection that everyone would recognize him as the promised Messiah that was said to come so they tried to spread lies and confusion to the people. It was necessary for him to show himself alive to everyone who had seen him killed so that there was no doubt that he the Messiah had come. In Acts 1 it says he walked the earth for 40 days after his resurrection before he ascended to heaven. This proved that he had power over death. (Acts 1:3 “After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”) This is not just another story or a fairy tale this really happened and the Bible is recorded history all the way back over 6000 years ago showing us how everything that God created led to us having a relationship with him through Jesus. Love y’all! Have a great day!
Author: Gary
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1 Corinthians 9:1-27
In this Chapter Paul is preaching to the church of Corinth during his ministry in Ephesus. This church was known for their sexual immorality, pagan temples, social status competition, legal disputes, and pride in personal rights and freedom. This sound pretty familiar? You might as well say Paul is talking to us. He quotes from the law of Moses “Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Meaning that God thinks even animals that work should be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. If God thinks that an ox should be able to enjoy the fruits of its labor how much more do you think that we as humans should? And how much more do those doing spiritual work deserve? Even though God declares this, Paul goes on to say that even though he has every right to be paid a good wage and live a fruitful life because of his works he denies it because he knows people will look at him like he is trying to make a profit off of God. Even though he knows that he is not doing that he cared more about disqualifying himself to be able to share the gospel with those that would judge him for living a prosperous and fruitful life. He understood that more people would listen to him if he got down on their level and did not preach from his high horse. The same is true today for us. When we share Jesus with someone most people don’t want to hear about how holy and how blessed you are. They want to know when life got tough how did Jesus get you through, or how did Jesus give you the strength to grow through the same struggles that they are presently going through. Although it is not a sin to have much and to have many benefits from your labor, if your main goal is to stack up your rewards here on earth you will miss the whole purpose of this God given life that we have been given. Jesus is our example and if anyone deserved to live like a king on this earth it was him, the king of kings, but he didn’t. He knew that to reach his people he had to be where his people were at. The two greatest commands are to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. It is impossible for us to do this if our life goal is to work hard enough and long enough to separate ourselves from society and reach a point to where we don’t need anyone. We should never reach a point to where we think we are better than anyone else. If God himself can come down and live on our level we should be able to humble ourselves to help anyone that God calls his child. Which is everyone. Love y’all! Have a great day!
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Genesis 26:1-35
One of the first things I notice in this chapter is Isaac does the exact same thing to the king of the Phillistines that his father Abraham did. He lied and said that his wife was his sister because he feared the Phillistines would kill him and take his wife. Once again the king Abimelech of Isaac’s time period was furious because he was deceived and could have been cursed by messing with God’s covenant bloodline. So the saying still goes “like father like son.” Also, we see the continuous disregard for God’s will from Esau. He disregarded the covenant command by God not to take wives from pagan nations. Just like today we shouldn’t get married unequally yoked. (2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.”) This is another example of why the birthright of the covenant went to Jacob and not Esau. Jacob nor Esau were perfect. The difference is one chose God and one chose the world. The constant pattern of good vs. evil. Daily we are faced with the same choice. Do we choose Jesus with our choices or do we choose the world with our choices? We should always constantly reflect on this. It is easy to be blinded of the importance of the smallest decisions and choices we make. They are huge! We should choose Jesus in our decisions today and everyday. Love y’all! Have a great day!
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Amos 5:1-27
Amos starts off in this chapter lamenting sorrowfully for Israel. He looks at them and sees what they do not see. He sees that God has seen enough and that they are blinded by their own lusts of the flesh. They have changed the locations that were meant for worshiping God and to be kept holy, into places for their own prosperity and their own gain. They have began to use God at their own convenience. They know they want God on their side, but they only want it for their own benefit. God hates this. God relays through Amos that he has seen enough and judgement will surely come. He also warns those that think they are right with him but are not. He says that they will be looking for the day of the Lord but will see darkness when he comes. Jesus uses this same language in Matthew 7:21-23.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name? ’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!” We should be very careful to not mock God with our worship, tithes, and offerings. We should always prepare our hearts with repentance and obedience out of love in our hearts and not just because it’s the right thing to do. The condition of faith that comes from our hearts is what God desires. He doesn’t need for anything in this world that we can give him other than the giving of ourselves to him and that is a daily choice. Jesus Christ will be our Lord and savior if we will let him. God created the pathway to him through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. All we have to do is walk down that path with him holding our hands all the way to the end of it. Love y’all! Have a great day!
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Genesis 25:1-34
In this chapter the covenant line of Abraham continues through Jacob. Esau is a picture of the free will that God has given to each and every one of us. Just like Esau we were all born children of God and meant to inherit the kingdom of God and to belong to God’s family. Just like Esau, we can trade that birthright for temporary and physical things that the world tempts us with. God knew from the beginning that Jesus would come through Jacob. Esau selling his birthright also represents how we inherit the kingdom of God not through who we are but through faith and the grace of God. Jacob chose to cherish and hold what was most important to him, which was to belong to the family of God and Esau chose to comfort himself with the temporary fix that the world could offer. Every one of us are faced with the same choice everyday. We can choose to comfort ourselves with the things of this world and make all of our decisions based on that, or we can cherish and fixate our eyes on Jesus and know that his gift is everlasting and will last forever. This world will never satisfy. It will always leave us needing and wanting more. Its purpose is to distract us from what really satisfies us and gives us peace which is Jesus. I pray today that God helps all of us to look at the past and the downfall of man to give us wisdom to not fall for the same temptations that this world has to offer. I love y’all! Have a great day!
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Genesis 24:1-67
In this chapter I recognize Abraham’s servant and Rebekah’s family the most. You can tell that they greatly feared the Lord. First, Abraham’s servant knew with all confidence to trust the God of Abraham because he had seen the favor that the Lord showed to Abraham and that God was with Abraham. Every single thing that happened in finding Isaac a wife was done through prayer and waiting on God to answer those prayers. Every decision was made by God in this choice and no decision was made by man. The whole situation was what God had intended for Isaac and God’s will was fulfilled through the ones seeking God and waiting to be led by him. Rebekah’s family also feared the Lord and did not hesitate. When Abraham’s servant told them the process God had led through him and showed them how God led him to Rebekah, they replied saying that they had no choice but to follow the will of God and what his plans were. In our lives we should fear God in the same way. If God is leading you to do something simply do it and trust him. Also, if we get to a crossroads and don’t know which way to go we should stop, wait, and pray that the Lord show us where and what he wants us to do. Sometimes we know God’s will immediately and it hits us right in the face like Rebekah’s family and we should be ready at all times for that to happen. Also, sometimes we have to pray and wait for God to give us an answer like Abraham’s servant. Moral of the story is when we give our lives to God one of the ways to show and do that is to let God make all of our decisions and live our lives for his purpose and not our own. We should live our lives everyday to fulfill his purpose. Love you! Have a great day!