Joshua 1:8

"...[B]ut you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:8).

"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." (John 5:39).

"And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13).

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Matthew 16

The Pharisees and Sadducees Seek a Sign 

1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. 2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘ It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; 3 and in the morning, ‘ It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees 

5 Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
7 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “ It is because we have taken no bread.”
8 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? 10 Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? 11 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?— but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ 

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection 

21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him 

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 28 “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

6 comments:

  1. I think v.17 is why many claim Jesus to be a prophet, great teacher, or even the greatest man to ever walk the earth, but refuse to acknowledge that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God; it has not been revealed to them. We ought to be seeking, asking God to make His revelation known to us; that He will reveal Christ to us, in us, and through us every day, hour, moment.

    Personal reflection: What does taking up your cross and following Christ look like in your life? Are you taking the steps necessary to allow God to work this out?

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  2. Great distinction made - asking that God makes His revelation known to us, rather than giving us a sign. I'm definitely guilty of the latter. In much of my decision making in fact...

    Personal reflection... I'm definitely still a child in that respect. But I am going to do what you suggested and reflect back. Taking up your cross and following Christ is not popular. It's not even "fun" and it doesn't necessarily make you happy, but it most certainly brings joy. Looking back, am I doing this? Yes, absolutely. I have grown to become a wife (one that tries to be a decent one), a Mom of 3 who takes more pleasure in going to the zoo than in throwing back drinks and playing pool or cards.... Do I have a LONG way to go, absolutely. Because I'm still doing everything as if there is a point system going on. As if I do this task, and God gives me this, or I'll take time to do a bible study and that gets me off the hook for _____. Still looking at things the wrong way, but definitely working on it.

    Josh what does it look like for you?

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  3. Viewing our spiritual life as a point system...that's a great analogy. I have to say I too am guilty of this but from the other side; I know God doesn't owe me anything regardless of what I do, but I often think He's waiting for me to screw up so He can punish me...something I'm having to remind myself regularly is not true.

    For me, at this point in time, laying down my pride, my ambitions, and humbly pursuing God is what taking up my cross looks like. That may sound general and vague but I always feel like I have to prove myself to everyone (including myself). I'm still holding onto this notion that I'm ultimately in control of my life and I just need to put some things together, make a name for myself, blah blah blah... As Pastor Bill so often says, I just need to let go and let God - and believe that He does in fact have a plan for me.

    Anyone else?

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  4. Do you feel like you ever have been punished? I feel like I've screwed up a million and a half times (and continue) but God continues to shower me with blessings. I've always thought maybe that's where that whole "kill them with kindness" comes from...

    And yes you're being very vague here. And I know Pastor Bill says to let go and let God, but you also always talk about how it is a working relationship, and we are works in progress. I have troubles deriving what this actually looks like. I know that they're not totally contradictory, but it is hard to picture in every day life. I can honestly say that I don't know what it looks like. Even in our Monday night group, everything is left so vague when we talk. Very few specifics. I wonder if that's because everyone likes to speak/think philosophically or if it's because there is some shared confusion on what it looks like to really let God run your life.

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  5. Josh and Mary

    I read Matthew 16 yesterday and also Josh's initial comment and personal reflection statement. I unfortunately have been thinking about the following statement since yesterday morning:

    "Personal reflection: What does taking up your cross and following Christ look like in your life? Are you taking the steps necessary to allow God to work this out?"

    Then this morning I read the Crossroads Small Group Facebook page and Joel posted a link to an article regarding grace and holiness. After I read the articles Joel posted I went back to your bible study blog and read through your comments.

    I wish that Mary's last statement about any confusion regarding what it looks like to really let God run our lives was true but it is not. Your statement about speaking/thinking philosophically is absolutely correct. It is easier to think like this rather than actually doing what is written in the bible. Just as the missionary stated a couple weeks ago let there be no confusion about what our mission is in this life for it is written in the bible. We go through life using the excuse that we are trying to figure things out and we have our whole life to be transformed by God.

    I am the type of person that is not afraid to be challenged in what I believe. I also want friendships that go much deeper than the superficial how is the weather talk. I want to actually know what my friends and family are thinking, what problems are going on and what we can do for each other. The problem with this openess is that it makes us uncomfortable and vulnerable and not everyone is okay with that feeling.

    Here are my specifics of what is going on in my life:

    1. God has moved my family acorss the state of to a town of 10,000 people away from all my friends and family. During this temporary stay we had to live in a house that was substandard in our minds. We had to shop at Walmart for everything unless we drove an hour to Boise. We attended a church that was held in an old restaurant. The church members were not dressed nicely like we were used to and in my opinion were weird. God changed our hearts and allowed us to love these new people and find comfort in our new way of life.
    2. God allowed us to move back home for a short time and at first the world was right.
    3. God has moved us to Vancouver where he has continued to transform our lives. We found an awesome church and small group to attend. With people that are serious about doing what God has commanded us to do. Asking pointed questions about where we are at with our walk with God.
    4. For many years my hobbies have governed how I live my life. I would be gone almost every weekend riding motorcylces, hunting and fishing with no time left to do God's work. God has removed that desire from my life and allowed me to see the importance of redirecting my time and finances toward His cause which is saving those around me.
    5. Three years ago I brought up the idea of adopting a child for our third child. Becky would not even discuss adoption. Becky and I now openly dicuss and she has started the adoption process.
    6. Our travel trailer and motorcycles are up for sale. We sold a motorcylce in December and we donated the money to the Run for Life.
    7. Becky asked me yesterday morning if I was ready to start the process of getting a passport for our next missions trip.

    The confusion for me is only my desires getting in the way of God's desires for my life.

    Thanks for the pointed questions. I am sure that I will be okay today!!!!

    Shad

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  6. Thanks for sharing this Shad. It's awesome what God is doing in your life.

    "I wish that Mary's last statement about any confusion regarding what it looks like to really let God run our lives was true but it is not. Your statement about speaking/thinking philosophically is absolutely correct. It is easier to think like this rather than actually doing what is written in the bible."

    Here's what is written in the bible:

    28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

    29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

    I think how we approach God's Will for us is more that philosophical. It gets to the root of the motivation of why we obey God (pick up our cross). Our we motivated because we think we have to "do" for God? Or our we motivated by gratitude for what God has done for us?

    How does that look specifically? Its going to look differently for everyone. But the fruits of the Spirit should be there. We are called to die to ourselves. For me, every time I've tried to "be perfect", I've crashed and burned and given up. I've done it so many times. And each time I've heard God's Spirit say "it's okay Joel, I love you, have faith in Me." So I've learned to just live in God's Grace and Love for me each day. To me its all about the little things. Loving my wife, very hard to do. (KIDDING), doing the best I can at my work, loving others in my life who annoy the hell out me, talking to God every day about my shortcomings, smiling and loving others, loving my kids, do the small things in Jesus' name. If God calls me to do something "big", I need His Strenghth and Spirit. Because I know I can't do squat on my own. But in the end. He's done it all and I rest in that....exhale......

    Love all you guys...





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