Do You Know the Scriptures or the Power of God?

Prayer: Dear LORD, let Your people be encouraged today, because You are with each of us and will never leave nor forsake us.  Thank You Jesus, amen! 

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Mark 12:18-27 (NIV)

Marriage at the Resurrection

¹⁸Then the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. ¹⁹"Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and have children for his brother. ²⁰Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²²In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³At the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"
²⁴Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. ²⁶Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? ²⁷He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"

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Do you know the Scriptures or the Power of God?  Not knowing both of these gives us much room and opportunity to live in error.

After the Pharisees and supporters of Herod failed to trap Jesus, the Sadducees stepped in with a question they were sure would stump Him.  They might have used marriage in the question, but their question had nothing to do with it; it was about the doctrine of the resurrection.

For brief context of the situation here, the Sadducees did not believe in life after death because the Pentateuch (Genesis-Deuteronomy) had no direct teaching about it, and the writings of Moses were the only Scripture they followed.  But Jesus is no fool!  He knew the Scriptures and the Power of God, and He was ready to point out that Moses' books supported the idea of eternal life.  Jesus quoted from Exodus 3:6, above in verse 26, to prove that there is life after death.  God spoke of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob years after their deaths as if they still lived.  God's covenant with all people exists beyond the separation of life from these bodies.

Now, what life will be like after the resurrection is far beyond our ability to understand or imagine (Isaiah 64:4; 1 Corinthians 2:9), however, instead of wondering what God's coming will be like and who we will be married to or who we will see; we should concentrate on our relationship with Christ right now.  Why?  Because He is our future.  The ONE thing we do know is that we'll be with HIM.  We learn to love and trust Christ now, not then!

If you read Jesus' response to the Sadducees a few times, you may begin to see that He didn't really answer the Sadducees' question.  What He did do was refuse to answer their riddle and fall into their trap, by answering them with what they needed to know; He made them clearly aware of the ignorance they lived in, He let them know Who God IS, and He spoke the Truth/the Word in its right context.

Do you see how powerful Jesus was (and still is)?  He NEVER let go of God.  He NEVER did it His way.  He ALWAYS stayed on mission.  We should never believe just because Jesus was perfect, that we can't strive towards this perfection.  No, we won't get it right all of the time; maybe not even a majority of the time - but ARE WE AT LEAST TRYING...AIMING?  As the Scripture instructs us to (2 Corinthians 13:11).

I'm amazed every day as I learn more and more that all of this (what Jesus was able to do), is available to us as well.  We don't have to be trapped in the same old foolishness we find ourselves in all of the time.  What do we need to do?  We need to rely appropriately on the Scriptures (not using it out of context or manipulating it to fit what we want); and the power of God -  His HOLY SPIRIT.

It's time to pray...

Give to God, What is God's

Prayer: Heavenly Father, whose image we are fearfully and wonderfully made in; show us how to give You all that we are and all that we are created to be.  In the Name of Jesus, amen.

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Mark 12:13-17 (NIV)

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹³Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words. ¹⁴They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵Should we pay or shouldn't we?"
But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." ¹⁶They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"
"Caesar's," they replied.
¹⁷Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."
And they were amazed at him.

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Sent by the religious leaders, two groups that normally had nothing to do with each other, joined together on a mission to bring Jesus down.  The Pharisees (primarily a religious group for ritual purity) and supporters of Herod (Jewish political group that approved Herod's compromises with Rome), thought they had the perfect question to trap Jesus.  But Jesus answered wisely, once again exposing their self -interest, hypocrisy, fear and wrong motives.  Jesus said that the coin bearing Caesar's image should be given to Caesar.  But what belongs to God? 

We, who are created in His image... We belong to Him.  YOU belong to God.  Our life belongs to God.  YOUR life belongs to God.

Are you giving God all that is rightfully His?  Not many of us can say yes to this question...  You may have accepted Jesus into your heart, but have you given Him your life?  All of it?  Not just Sunday mornings; every day.  Not just when things are going wrong, but when things are going right.  Not only when we're in a relationship, but when we're single as well.  Not only when we're with believers, but when we're with everyone.  Not when we have everything we want, but when we have everything we need.  Not in our timing, but all of the time!  Let's make a decision and commitment today; and every day:

Give your life to God-YOU bear His image.




STOP PUTTING ON THE IMAGE OF THIS WORLD; IT IS NOT WHAT WE ARE CREATED FOR.

Jesus = Foundation

Worship in song today!

I like to provide the words so you can claim the Truth in song! 

Praise Him with me!

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Mark 12:1-12 (NIV) part 2

The Stone the Builders Rejected (v.10-12)

(Jesus speaking) ¹⁰Haven't you read this scripture:

" 'The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
¹¹the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

¹²Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

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Jesus referred to himself as the stone rejected by the builders.  Although He would be rejected by most of the Jewish leaders, He would become the cornerstone of a new "building," the church (Acts 4:11,12).  The cornerstone was used as a base to make sure the other stones of the building were straight and level.  Likewise, Jesus' life and teaching would be our (the church's) foundation.

Question is:  Is He Your foundation?  Or is it money?  That man or woman in your life?  Your family?  Your job? Money? Your so-called "purpose"? 

Our number one purpose is to praise our King, and through any assignments that are given to us, the purpose remains the same; to bring God's Glory.  So I ask all of us again, Is Jesus Your foundation?  If He isn't, today is your day to turn that around.  My personal desire for all of us, is for Jesus to be our everything!!!!   Don't you desire that?   Let's pray...

Prayer: Jesus, like our worship song declares - You are my firm foundation, the Rock of my salvation and I put my hope in Your Holy Word.  I put my hope - through my actions - in Your Holy Word.  Thank You Jesus.  We rejoice in You today and every day.  Amen!

Fear God or man?

Prayer: Almighty God, allow this Word today to plant and/or water the seed that you have created for each of us.  And as it is only by Your power, watch over it to make it grow within us.  As believers together we are Your temple.  Your Spirit dwells in and among us.  I pray that we strive to keep Your temple holy.  For Your Word declares that You will destroy anyone who destroys this temple.  Deal directly with the blatant and hidden sin.  Do not allow us to ignore it or gossip about it.  Destroy the yeast determined to grow and demolish Your people.  May we each take off the robes that have collected the defilement of this world and receive the new clothing of righteousness, peace, joy and faith through our LORD Jesus Christ.  And may we journey with You into the Glory of Your Kingdom.  You have given us a trust, may we prove ourselves faithful and contenders for the faith; that we may always bring forth Your Truth and Your Light.  I rebuke the deception of compromise; may we endure what is difficult and uncomfortable as long as it honors Your Name.  You are a Holy God, compassionate and a Good Master.  The title master has been tainted by humans; but it is a Holy position that You carry.  Thank You for being our Father, the only God, from whom all things came and for whom we live.  Thank You for the one LORD, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.  O God, You are our God and may we earnestly search, thirst and long for you each and every moment of our lives.  In Your holy Name, Jesus we pray.  Amen.

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Mark 12:1-12 (NIV)

The Parable of the Tenants

¹(Jesus) then began to speak to (the religious leaders who had just questioned His authority) in parables: "A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. ²At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.
⁶"He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
⁷"But the tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' ⁸So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
⁹"What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰Haven't you read this scripture:
" 'The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
¹¹the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"
¹²Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.

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It has been a while since we've read a parable, so to refresh our memories let's revisit what they are and why Jesus spoke in parables.  These stories were illustrations that used something familiar (remember the context of the time and you'll also noticed that the images and words used are all throughout the Old Testament) to help the people understand something new.  This method of teaching compels listeners to discover Truth for themselves.  The message gets through only to those who are willing to listen, receive and be moved to righteousness.

In the Parable of the Tenants, Israel, pictured as a vineyard, was the nation that God had cultivated to bring salvation to the world.  The religious leaders not only frustrated their nation's purpose but also killed those who were trying to fulfill it.  Among many evil motives, a self-serving nature caused the religious leaders to ignore the welfare of the very people they were supposed to be bringing to God.

The man who planted the vineyard is God; the vineyard is the nation Israel; the tenant farmers are Israel's religious leaders; the servants are the prophets, priest and leaders who remained faithful to God; the son is Jesus; and the others are the Gentiles (non-Jews).  By telling this story, Jesus exposed the religious leaders' plot to kill Him and warned that their sins would be punished.

Now here's the killer!  The religious leaders got the message, but instead of fearing the visible image of the invisible God standing before them; they continued to plot against Jesus.  And to add to this, they instead feared the crowd (man) and waited until another time to arrest Him.  What kind of sense does this make?
But, let me ask a more important question of all of us:  Are we hearing the message clearly and choosing to ignore God too?  Are we instead living a life where we fear man?  Are we choosing to live a life that is all about SELF?  In any situation?  Has God clearly told you that you're heading down the wrong road, making the wrong decision, hanging with the wrong people, remaining in the wrong situations, that you're not living righteously... and you are not moving towards correction?

Let us not ignore God, because trust me - HE IS SPEAKING!

Are you listening, receiving and being moved to righteousness?

Take some time to pray...

Look At Jesus...

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we come to You today, to pray with Your interest in mind; Your Kingdom at hand.  For all things come from You through our LORD Jesus Christ.  We trust You to bring a Word that will stir our hearts, educate our minds and motivate our spirits to obey You and live an awesome life with, and in honor of You.  In Jesus' Name.  Amen

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Mark 11:27 -33 (NKJV)

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

²⁷ Then (Jesus and His crew) came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him. ²⁸ And they said to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”
²⁹ But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one question; then answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things: ³⁰ The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.”
³¹ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’”—they feared the people, for all counted John to have been a prophet indeed. ³³ So they answered and said to Jesus, “We do not know.”
And Jesus answered and said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

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The religious leaders were not looking for the truth; they were looking to trap Jesus, in order to get rid of Him, because He was undermining their authority.  One of the many things I love about Jesus is shown right here, in these verses.  He didn't argue and He didn't force what was right (I mean, the proof of the Word was HIM), to those who were not looking to really listen and receive.

When you are sharing your faith, which of these block out your message and cause it to get lost in debate and emotion?

I encourage you to read over these verses more than once today; to first, get to know who Jesus is; how He responded; what He repeatedly came up against.  And then, in these reads,  allow the Spirit to reveal to each of us, how we are to incorporate Jesus' example from these verses into our own lives.

While on earth, Jesus was amazing and He still is.  Let's really soak up all this good stuff, that He has provided for our growth in relationship with and in representing Him.

Move Mountains

Prayer: I just want to praise You with my hands lifted up; out loud with my voice; with the smile on my lips; with the actions that I make; with the thoughts that I think.  I just want to praise You, dear LORD.  You are so awe-inspiring!  Thank You Jesus.  Thank You for the freedom to praise You.  Amen.

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Mark 11:20 -26 (NKJV)

Have Faith in God

²⁰ Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. ²¹ And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”
²² So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. ²³ For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. ²⁴ Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
²⁵ “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. ²⁶ But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

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The kind of prayer that moves mountains is prayer for the fruitfulness of God's Kingdom.  It would seem impossible to move a mountain into the sea, so Jesus used this illustration to show that God can do the impossible.  What are you asking for in your prayers?  How many of our prayers are about us?  "LORD, I need this!"  "LORD, I want that!  Where are the prayers about God's Kingdom?  I'm guilty of it; asking, sometimes begging for things I think I need, things I think will make me happy - without any regard to what's good for His Kingdom.

Seriously, does it make any sense to pray about anything else but the Kingdom of God, the Will of the LORD Most High?

God will answer prayer but not as a result of our positive mental attitude.  What does the Word say?

1. You must be a believer. 

- How can anyone pray/ask in Jesus name, and not believe in Him? (John 14:13,14)
       2.  You must not hold a grudge against another person. (Mark 11:25,26)
- Does it make sense to ask for, and expect favor in spite of our mistakes; yet we can't forgive ______ (whoever that may be) for theirs against us?

       3. You must not pray with selfish motives.
- Our prayers are often motivated by our own interests and desires.  We like to hear that we can have anything.  But Jesus prayed with God's interests in mind.  When we pray, we can express our desire, but we should want His Will above ours.  Check out Jesus in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36); then let's check ourselves to see if our prayers focus on our own interests or God's.

     4. Your request must be for the good of God's Kingdom.
- I challenge you to go through the entire Bible to find a time when God moved in opposition or without the purpose of advancing His Kingdom.  If you can find this, please let me know!  But I'm confident that you won't.   God does not work against Himself or without purpose.  NEVER!

*it's so important to seek who God is; to know down to the core of your soul and spirit*

To pray effectively, we NEED faith in God, not faith in the object ( job, person, circumstance) of our request.  If we focus only on our request, we will be left with nothing if the request is not fulfilled.

Faith in God!  Not in what we desire, is where we need to get family.  Faith in God for the fruitfulness of His Kingdom; not our own.  Don't forget we are heirs to His Kingdom; and this is where nothing is impossible.

WE MUST PRAISE

Jesus, angry?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, we praise You for the fresh Word that You offer to us every day.  It's so awesome to receive holy revelation that is consistently relevant.  LORD, we pray that Your Word is taught correctly, and by the leading of the Holy Spirit at all times.  That we adhere to Your Word responsibly at all times.  Please forgive us, if we have ever led any one in the wrong direction; and correct us, in order to bring us collectively to the right path towards You.  For I pray that our eyes all focus on Jesus at all times, and let Your Glory overtake this earth.  In the mighty Name of Jesus.  Amen.


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Mark 11:15 -19 (NKJV)

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹⁵ So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹⁶ And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. ¹⁷ Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”
¹⁸ And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. ¹⁹ When evening had come, He went out of the city.

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I challenge you to read these verses in every version/translation of the Bible.  Why?  Because many will teach a lesson on these verses and tell you that Jesus was angry; but as you begin to engross yourself in the Word, you will observe that the Bible is real clear to express what Jesus is feeling, when He is feeling it; and here "anger" is never written.   Go a little bit deeper and read the other Gospels; Matthew (12:12-17), and Luke (19:45-48), not one of them record that Jesus was angry; and John doesn't even mention this occurrence. 

You or I would maybe get angry if we saw all of this religious and ungodly activity going on in God's House; but Jesus was simply focused on taking care of His Father's business.  Jesus took a stand for God's Word; and He didn't have to be angry or stirred by anger to do this.  Jesus saw all kinds of wrong operating in His Father's house; and instead of passively allowing it to continue; He took a strong stand not only againstit - but took action in removing it.

As believers, we don't have to get angry - but we should be moved to bring God's light to unrighteousness, trying to pass itself as righteous.  Jesus took a stand that not only got people's attention; but also, didn't turn the people away.  Verse 17 tells us, he began to teach them, giving them the TRUTH, removing the lies, deceit, injustice and darkness of sin.

There are so many lies within ourselves and around us.  It's time to take a stand and clear all of this mess out.  Seriously, we should be uncomfortable in the unrighteousness that simply chills with us each and every day.  Whether it's our own thoughts and actions, or those of other people; we need to follow Jesus' example and make it clear that these things do not honor God and are not of God.  But the only way to bring the Truth is to know the Truth; so we have to know this WORD!   So that once we clear, we can teach and fill it back up with God's Truth.

As we take our stands, we again need to remember how Jesus did it.  His actions got people to listen;, the only ones recorded in the Bible in turning away from Jesus, were the religious leaders who waited to kill Him for killing their profitable religious game.  So be conscious of your actions; let them emphasize moving people to listen; not turning them away.  Enlighten; don't destroy - and do all of this without compromising God's Word.  Unfortunately, believers care but are often passive about these important issues, or they go to the other side of the spectrum and begin to operate in hate, while contradictorily "representing" God's Kingdom; and then, many don't care too much about God's justice at all, they are overly concern with personal insults and petty irritations.

First, let's begin to STOP accepting the compromises.  Just because it's done; does not make it OK nor right.  Take a stand and be ALL IN for God.  Make sure your "stand" is directed toward the right issues, and handled by the leading of the Holy Spirit, in a matter worthy of God.  God is glorified when His children don't only seek for Him to have their backs; but live to have His "back" as well. 

It's time to pray...