Matthew

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Misunderstandings

Gen 21:25-26 Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized. And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.”

Misunderstanding can ruin a relationship just as quickly as a slap to the face.

Abraham was holding a grudge against Abimelech, for something Abimelech knew nothing about.

They eventually did resolve this misunderstanding.

How many times do you get angry when someone misinterprets what you say or misdirects your intentions?

Better yet, how many times do you misunderstand someone else?

Give others the benefit of the doubt and let God do a work to clear things up. And remember that you shouldn’t spread rumors about what you do not fully understand.
It would have been easy for Abraham to tell all his friends about how Abimelech was such a thief and a scoundrel and Abraham would have been wrong.

Today you have a marvelous principle from Jesus on clearing up relationship problems.

Matt 18:15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Of course, there is the old-fashioned “forgive and forget” and don’t bother bringing it up!

Abba, there are instructions for all relationships in Your word. YES&AMEN

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Deceivers and False Christs

Paul, Barnabas, and Mark began traveling from town to town preaching the word of God. Many heard that message and were saved.

Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, Acts 13:6

Bar-Jesus can be translated son of Jesus. He may have claimed some kinship to Jesus Himself.

He was very belligerent towards Paul and Barnabas when it came to their presentation of the Gospel.

Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” Acts 13:9-11

Paul rebuked this false prophet and pronounced a curse upon him.

Jesus said,

“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” Matt 24:4-5

For someone to be convinced that a minister or prophet is Christ would mean the deceiver would perform Christ-like miracles and deceive many. His methods and mannerism’s are very convincing.

One thing you must remember – no matter how realistic a false prophet may seem to be, it is not Jesus the Savior.

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.” Matt 24:23-26

Jesus will not return here or there. He is coming back in the same way He left. (Acts 1:9-11)

Abba, I want to be closer to You and know so much about You that I may teach others Your and teach them to recognize deceivers and counterfeits. YES&AMEN

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Get Ready!

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” Acts 26:28

Almost carries no weight.

In my lifetime as a minister I have come across people that almost want to get saved.
They do but they don’t.

They like the idea of going to heaven but they aren’t willing to give up their current lifestyle to do it.

It’s like a game of monopoly to them with a “get out of hell” card!
It doesn’t work that way.

Jesus talks about the “almost” believers.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matt 7:21-23

God doesn’t play games. He’s not going to just pat someone on the shoulder and say, “Oh, I’ll let it slide this time!”

The words that Amos told Israel are words that each of us need to heed –

Prepare to meet your God, Amos 4:12

Abba, give me the wisdom to help others prepare to meet You. Eventually, each of us will! In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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Believe the Unbelievable

Here is an interesting scripture,

Remember Lot’s wife. Luke 17:32

Jesus spoke those words and it adds validity to the story in Genesis where Lot, his wife, and daughters were fleeing from the judgment of God on Sodom and Gomorrah.

But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. Gen 19:26

I know that sounds impossible but even Jesus did not dispute it.

Jesus did not dispute the Jonah story. In fact He said,

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matt 12:40

The fact is the wild and fantastic unbelievable stories of the Old Testament are very believable in and of themselves; but more so because the Savior believed them.

To me this makes all of the New Testament believable and to be expected.

1 Thess 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

While that sounds utterly fantastic and many doubt that it will occur, if the Bible speaks the truth about the past then it speaks the truth about the future.

Believe it!

Abba, I believe the word. Guide me to live according to what I believe. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN!

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Little Children

I am surrounded by children. I have my 12 year old granddaughter, 9 year old grandson, and 10 month old grandson living with me.

Each of them have something in common – they depend on me.

Each of them are in a daily learning process. Haylee and Braeden may go to school every day and learn the three R’s; but the youngest is learning the basics of how to crawl, stand, and the meaning of the word “No!”

I’ve watched how Braeden will do just about anything he is told to do, while Haylee wants to resist it and Dawson is learning the meaning of the word “No!”

All of them are dependent on me for transportation. I provide the means, the way, the gas, the insurance, and I usually determine the route.

I buy the food for the house. I pay for the roof over their head and all the utilities to run the home.

Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt 18:3

I feel that God wants you to be totally dependent on Him for everything – like little children.

He wants you to learn from the Bible, obey Him, and depend on Him to lead you where you need to go. He will give you what you need.

Abba, You are my Father. I depend on You for assurance and safety. Please tell me what I need to do today! In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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The Next Shemittah – 5

This is my conclusion on the meaning of the shemittah.

The Law demanded the release of debt every seven years.

Deut 15:1 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.

The one indebt did not have to ask or beg for this release. It was given to the indebted at the end of the seven years by Law.

Likewise, we as Christians should be releasing those that are in debt to us. To say it better – Christians should be forgiving those that have sinned against us. It should be given without waiting for the offending party to ask.

Like the shemittah it should be automatically given.

Once the loan holder released the loan through the shemittah, he no longer had to worry about the debt owed to him. He did not have to worry about foreclosing on someone and ruining their life.
What a blessing it was to release someone’s debt.

And when you release someone through forgiveness, you no longer have to sit around ponder and grumble about it. You know longer have to feel wounded. You can be freed by releasing forgiveness.

How many times should you do this?

Matt 18:22 Seventy times seven.

Abba, I have been offended and I have forgiven. I have offended and pray I am forgiven. I do this release and receive this release in the name of Jesus. YES&AMEN

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The Next Shemittah – 4

Peter inquired about forgiving others involving the number seven, which is the number of years to forgive debt in the year of release – the shemittah.

Jesus replied and also involved the number seven.

Matt 18:22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Then Jesus tells a story about a certain king

…who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. Matt 18:23

Why would someone want to settle the accounts?
It could be because a shemittah year was at hand and he was looking to recover the loan before he was required by law to release the debt.

In the story it says the king

…was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. Matt 18:27

Released him, loosed him, forgave him the debt certainly sounds like shemittah.

You are in debt to sin. It has demanded a high price for you – death!

Jesus is the Shemittah! He is the One that can release you, loose you, and forgive you of that debt.

I do not know what will happen at the end of the next shemittah, which is September 13, 2015.

But I do know that putting your trust in Jesus will give you the peace and hope through any problems.

Abba, I am blessed that I have been released from sin’s debt. I will trust You to care for me no matter what happens. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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The Next Shemittah-3

As I mentioned in an earlier devotion, for me the spiritual meaning of a shemittah release is rooted in forgiveness.

With this thought in mind it will totally change the meaning of what Jesus taught Peter about forgiveness?

Matt 18:21-22 “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

It has been said that the Rabbi’s taught that forgiving someone three times was sufficient. I have found where a Rabbi Yosi may have taught this in the Talmud using the example of Joseph and his brothers as the backdrop.

But what I find interesting is that seven and multiples of it are used.

Seven is one shemittah. Seventy is ten shemittah. And seventy times seven is 490 or seventy shemittah.

What if Peter was not just talking about forgiving someone seven times but seven years!
A shemittah!

Then the response of Jesus is not to forgive someone 490 times but seventy shemittah’s or 490 years. That would mean your whole life!

Forgiveness is not an option – it is a lifelong lifestyle!

Matt 6:15 If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Abba, my forgiveness from You will become my forgiveness for others. I release them and free myself from any grudges. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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The Next Shemittah – 2

A study of the shemittah will reveal that it contains three releases.

First the release of debt.

Deut 15:1 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.

Second is the release or rest of the land.

Lev 25:2-4 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.

And third is a release of your faith and dependence on God.

Lev 25:20-22 ‘And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years. And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest.

Can the U. S. possibly fall under the curse of God because we have not held to this principle?

More likely, I believe the U. S. falls under the judgment of God because we have not upheld the principles of Christ and the truth’s of which this nation was founded on.

To me, the spiritual implication of a shemittah is in forgiveness. There is no real forgiveness outside of Christ. Even those that call themselves Christian’s often struggle with truly forgiving someone.

I constantly hear things like “I’ll forgive but I’m not going to forget!”
That is not a release! That is clinging and holding onto the trespass.

Jesus said in the model prayer,

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Matt 6:12

As for the U. S., our problem is not a government problem. It is a people problem. If Christians would have risen up in 1963 with fasting and prayer and stood their ground – then prayer may have remained in schools. It has been downhill ever since with one thing after another, including the government sanctioned right to kill the innocent unborn.

A release of forgiveness is not bound by law but is given by the heart that has been changed by the release and forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus.

Abba, I pray that I can shemitah anyone in debt to me, especially those that need my forgiveness. In Jesus name, YES&AMEN

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Don’t be Piggish on the Foundation

Last night the unusual happened. Our speaker at church had given testimony and read from God’s word.

It was wonderful.

She then said she wanted to read from another book – a children’s book of bedtime stories.

She picked it up and thumbed over a few pages.
“Once upon at time,” she began, “there were three little pigs!”

She went on to tell the story of houses of straw, wood, and brick.

Then she wanted to tell of one more story of a house.

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭24-25‬

The funny thing to me is during the Three Little Pigs I found myself saddened by the plight of the two that were eaten by the big bad wolf.
Then I remembered how much I had enjoyed baked ham earlier that afternoon.

I have built my house on the foundation of Jesus Christ, the Rock.

I am not concerned about the foundation. But I am taking great care at what I build on it. (1 Cor 3:10-13)

Abba, You are my Rock. In Jesus name, help me to build rightfully on the Foundation. YES&AMEN