The Stone

PRAYER: I need You to order my steps in Your Word LORD.   I want to live my day to day pleasing You LORD.  You've helped me so many times, boldly and with love.  I ask that You don't stop.  I need You more than water.  Be with me my God and don't let me lose sight of You when making any decision.  Be with me and let Your Spirit take charge over me.  In Jesus' name, amen.

MATTHEW 21:33-46- part 2

THE PARABLE OF THE TENANTS:

• emphasis on verses 42- 44

Jesus is still speaking with the chief priests and the elders of the people who questioned His authority: 

⁴² Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 

'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

⁴³ Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.  ^{44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."}

First, thank you, for each word of encouragement that you send my way.  I'm so thankful for each one of you and grateful that the LORD has connected us in some way and will keep us connected through His Word.

In today's emphasized verses, Jesus refers to himself as "the stone rejected by the builders."  Although Jesus was rejected by many of His people, His purpose was to become the cornerstone of His church-which is you and me (not the physical building).  A cornerstone is defined as a stone that forms the base of a corner of a building, joining two walls.  An important quality or feature on which a particular thing depends or is based.  Doesn't this describe Jesus?  Jesus used this metaphor to show that one stone can affect people in different ways, depending on how they relate to it.  Ideally they will build on it, many, however, will trip over it.  But tripping over it isn't that bad.  When we trip over things, we come to realize that they are there, and when broken into pieces all we need is someone Great to put us back together again.  We have to come to God broken, knowing we can't do this on our own, that we need a Savior to save us.  And at the Last Judgment God's enemies will be crushed by Christ, the "building block."  He will become the "crushing stone."  

Jesus offers mercy and forgiveness now and promises judgment later.  We should choose Him now and grow in His ways of love!

WHAT IS THE "STONE" IN YOUR LIFE? 

Religious?

PRAYER: Father God, You are so good!  You are so faithful!  You come through exactly when I need You.  And this is because You are always here.  You're always with me.  You're always watching me, looking after me.  Thank You LORD.  It's so good to know that I serve the most powerful God that exist.  The only God that exist.  You love me!  How special I am because with all that is going on in this world and with different people; You have more than enough time for me.  You're so great!  You're amazing!  You get all of my glory and all of my praise.  Even when I'm thinking about doing wrong, You're right there to direct me into the right way.  Forgive me, for my mistakes, as they were no way to despise You.  Just a reminder that the flesh is a powerful thing that I have to always keep in mind.  Thank You for listening to me.  Thank You for being my strength during my times of weakness.  I love You LORD.  Thank You for choosing  me to worship, honor and praise You.  In Jesus' name, amen.

MATTHEW 21:33-46- part 1

THE PARABLE OF THE TENANTS:

Jesus is still speaking with the chief priests and the elders of the people who questioned His authority: 

³³ "Listen to another parable:  There was a landowner who planted a vineyard.  He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.  Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey.  ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.  ³⁵ The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.  ³⁶ Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.  ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them.  'They will respect my son.' he said.

³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son they said to each other, 'This is the heir.  Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.'

³⁹ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.  ⁴⁰ Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"   

^{41 "He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."}

⁴² Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 

'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?

⁴³ Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.  ^{44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."}

⁴⁵ When the  chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them.  ⁴⁶ They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Most of you have been reading the Good News for a while now, and some of you are church participants, so I'm sure you got what this parable was about as soon as Jesus began telling the story.  This is a good thing, because it tells you about YOUR growth in the Word and the Spirit; as things begin to reveal themselves to you without having to wait on an "official" explanation.  I'm happy for you!  It's an amazing thing.

The main elements in this parable are (1) the landowner-God, (2) the vineyard-Israel, (3) the tenant farmers-the Jewish religious leaders, (4) the landowner's servants-the prophets and priests who remained faithful to God and preached to Israel, (5) the son-(you know)-Jesus, and (6) the other tenants-the Gentiles.  Jesus was exposing the religious leaders' murderous plot.

How backwards the chief priests and Pharisees were.  When they learned Jesus was talking about them, instead of repenting right there-they continued to plot against him.  They didn't fear God at all, instead they feared the crowd.  What is this?  Do you fear people?  Do you care  what they think about you?  Are you afraid of being labeled religious?  I deal with this a lot.  People want to label me religious.  I've hated when people called me religious, because I know I'm not following a religion.  I don't do what I do to feel good or to be labeled a good person.  People who don't know God, don't get this.  I don't go to church to be forgiven and  I don't do what I do so that God will love me or to say that I'm better than anyone us.  God loved me first.  Because of the fall in the beginning, I am more prone to sin than to walk away from it- and I continue to struggle and make mistakes daily.  But I AM SAVED!  Praise God!  I have a relationship with God!  I talk to Him, I give to Him  (in comparison to all that He provides) a small portion of what He has given me, I desire to learn more about Him, I desire to share Him with other people because the grace and glory that has been over my life deserves to be shared.  Now I'm at the point if you want to call me religious-go right ahead, because I know the God that I serve is real.  I know that my life does not end in earthly death.  I know I am blessed continuously because the God that I serve is so generous.  And He's loving, so He is also continuously CORRECTING me.  I have God-centered and God-honoring relationships in my life.  No words from any human about my faith will put me down.  A person can judge me all he/she wants, it does not matter.  I love Jesus and I will continue to grow and mature in relationship with Him and others.  I can't ask for anything more.  How about you?

In trying to reach us with His love.  God finally sent His own Son-out of love for each one of us.  Jesus' perfect life, His words of truth, and His sacrifice of love are meant to cause us to listen to Him and to follow Him as LORD.  If we ignore God's gracious gift of His Son, we bypass that God wants to save each one of us and have a relationship with us; sadly, we reject God Himself.

ARE YOU SAVED?

AND IF YOU'RE SAVED, ARE YOU GROWING?

Will You or Won't You

PRAYER: LORD I need Your help (begin to call out what you need help in). I cannot do this on my own.  I don't want to do this on my own.  I desire Your guidance and presence in everything that I do.  Please don't let me do anything without You.  Forgive me for allowing confusion in my life by contemplating the wrong desires.  The path of life should lead me upward and keep me from the grave in serving You.  I thank You for honest testimony, I thank You for Your mercy on Your children, I thank You for supernatural healing in our bodies LORD, I thank You for bringing certain things to light that at the time may hurt or seem negative to us-but in the end it is saving us and pointing us into the right direction.  The direction You have purposed us to walk in.  Thank You for the trials, the pruning that we receiving in order to bear more fruit for You.  I love knowing Your Word, dear LORD.  I love that Your living Word lives inside of me.  You are GREAT and greatly to be praised!  Hallelujah.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

MATTHEW 21:28-32

THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS:

Jesus is still speaking with the chief priests and the elders of the people who questioned His authority: 

²⁸ "What do you think?  There was a man who had two sons.  He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'  

²⁹   'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.  ³⁰ Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing.  He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did what his father wanted?"  

"The first," they answered.

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collector and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did.  And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe." 

What about you?  Which son do you think did what the father wanted in the parable told by Jesus above?

I have to admit, I often feel like the first son in the morning.  God calling me to wake up at a certain time and me saying, "No" and then talking myself into getting up because I have made a commitment to not only sharing the Good News but starting my day off with spending quality time with God.  But often, when that alarm goes off-or when I wake up on my own at 6 or 6:30a (sometimes 5a ha!), all I want to say is "No, let me sleep more!"  Can anyone relate?

The son who said that he would obey and then didn't, represented the people of Israel in Jesus' day.  They said they wanted to do God's will, but they constantly disobeyed.  They were phony, just going through the motions.  It is dangerous to pretend to obey God when our heart is far from Him because God knows our true intentions.  Our actions MUST match our words.

-WHICH SON ARE YOU?-

 

Authority

I hope everyone had a lovely 3 day weekend!  Let that rest take you into a productive and good week. - Best

PRAYER: Thank You LORD for making me who I am.  Thank You for bringing the gospel into my life.  It really is the living Word.  Helping me in ways that only You understand.  And I'm so thankful.  It is powerful.  It is the truth.  I hold tight to it.  LORD, show me the right opportunities to share Your Good News with others.  By Your Spirit, healing someone from pain, dropping supernatural understanding and enlightenment into their lives, introducing Your Son to someone or reminding someone of the good God we serve.  For I have to remember it is not only about me-it is about loving You and loving others as myself.  Sounds easy enough, but LORD we definitely need You to forgive and look past human folly and mistakes and to remember the God we serve who loves us unconditionally.  Jesus wasn't surrounded by perfect people and yet He loved them anyway-even the one He knew was going to betray Him.  Thank You, LORD, for Your great example.  I desire to follow.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

MATTHEW 21:23-27 part 2

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS QUESTIONED:

²³ Jesus entered the temple courts and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him.  "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked.  "And who gave you this authority?" ²⁴ Jesus replied, "I will also ask you one question.  If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.  ²⁵ John's baptism — where did it come from?  Was it from heaven, or from men?"  They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?  ²⁶ But if we say, 'From men' — we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet."  ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."  Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things." 

In Jesus' time, as it is also today, people looked for the outward sign of authority--education, title, position, connections.  But Jesus' authority came from who He was, not from any outward and superficial trappings.  If we are followers of Christ, God has given each one of us authority.  We can confidently speak and act on His behalf because He has authorized us.  You know this authority by reading the Word.  Do you know what your authority is?  Are you exercising your authority? 

-GOD'S AUTHORITY VS. WORLDLY AUTHORITY-

TRAP

PRAYER: Thank You LORD, this is it.  I desire to enter in to a new level of trusting You.  I don't want the worries of this life to be my concern.  I want to be concerned with whatever concerns You.  I can rest assured that everything concerning me is being handled by You, the Almighty.  LORD, may I operate today and every day with Your mighty discernment.  Thank You for Your everlasting knowledge and wisdom.  I will hold tight to Your Word in every decision that I make.  Thank You LORD, this is it.  Thank You for bringing me this far, and providing more to come in my future.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

MATTHEW 21:23-27 part 1

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS QUESTIONED:

²³ Jesus entered the temple courts and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him.  "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked.  "And who gave you this authority?" ²⁴ Jesus replied, "I will also ask you one question.  If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.  ²⁵ John's baptism — where did it come from?  Was it from heaven, or from men?"  They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?  ²⁶ But if we say, 'From men' — we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet."  ²⁷ So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."  Then he said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things." 

The Pharisees demanded to know where Jesus got His authority.  If Jesus said His authority came from God, they would accuse Him of blasphemy.  If He said that He was acting on His own authority, the crowds would be convinced that the Pharisees has the greater authority.  But Jesus answered them with a seemingly, unrelated question that exposed their real motives.  They didn't really want an answer to their question; they only wanted to trap Him.  They are so blinded by this desire that they missed the Truth standing in front of them.  Jesus showed that the Pharisees wanted the truth only if it supported their own views and causes.

Today, people are very funny with God for the same reasons.  They don't want to be obedient because it doesn't agree with their own sinful desires, views, causes and lifestyles.  So many people are looking to throw Him by the wayside because the world is their god for thinking, He's not going to agree with it.  He tells us to transform our minds.  The thing is, if God placed it in this book (Bible) that we're studying, He meant it.  We should desire this Truth like the food we eat to live.  God is God- and a good God at that.  We need to stop trying to fit Him into our image, and start living as He has commanded us to live.

STOP TRYING TO TRAP JESUS - HE'LL NEVER BE WRONG.