“And (Jesus) said, verily I say unto you, Except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Jesus’ disciples must have been surprised at what he told them about becoming “as little children.” They probably noticed that children loved Jesus and that Jesus loved them. From what I can see in the New Testament, children flocked around Jesus and He took up time with them. Jesus saw qualities in little children that we do not need to lose as we get older. I am reminded, however, that there are two sides to this story. In many ways it is good to be like a little child, and in other ways it is not so good. Jesus encourages us to be childlike, but He never encourages us to be childish. What I want to do in this article is to differentiate between them. What does it mean to be childish? First it means to be totally selfish. For example, if one little child sees another child with a toy, he will want that toy. They might be surrounded by a mountain of toys, but they want that particular toy because someone else has it. In that child’s mind, all of the toys in the world are his or hers. We can laugh about it when it is about children, but it is not so funny when such selfishness is shown in an adult. Second it means to think that you are the only person in the world. Little children have not learned/accepted that there are other people in the world who are just as important as they are. For little children, it is always about them. That is why they need to be trained early to relate to other people. This sort of behavior might be understandable in children, but it is not understandable in adults, but there are many adults who act like everything is all about them. This is true in every aspect of life, and, sadly, it is true in churches as well. Third, it means to throw temper tantrums in order to get their way. Some children will get in a rage when things do not suit them. Parents try to quell this in their children. Children have to be taught that this is anti-social behavior. Sadly, there are adults who never learn not to throw temper tantrums. This is real sad when this behavior is displayed in churches. There are other traits of childishness that we could write about, but these are enough to remind us that we should not be childish. What does it mean to be childlike? First, it means to be trusting. Little children approached Jesus as a friend, as someone that they knew loved them. In the process of growing up, children have to be taught not to be so trusting that they can be taken advantage of, but it is a trait that does not need to be eradicated. When it comes to our relationship with Jesus, we need to trust Him just as the little children who surrounded Him did. They just sensed that Jesus had their best interests at heart, and that they could take Him at His word. This is a childlike trait that all of us need to cultivate. Second, it means to be teachable. The old saying that “one is never to too old to learn” should apply to us throughout life. This is particularly true of our relationship with Jesus. It is also true in our knowledge of the Bible. I have learned over the past fifty years that the Bible always has something to teach me. I know that I need to approach Bible study with an open mind and an open heart. Third, it means to be humble. Jesus said: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” We should never get to a point in life that we do not humble ourselves before God. I haven’t even scratched the surface of what it means to be childlike or childish. I hope that I have written enough to help you differentiate between the two in your own life. Bro. Joe
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"And (David) appointed certain of Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God Israel. 5. Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemariamoth, and Jehiel, and Matithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obededom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals.”
What is there in this text for us that is worth a few minutes of our time? What I saw here was that David appointed these men to do daily and continually what we should do. These musicians were sent to the tent where the Ark of the Covenant was housed to serve God. They were sent “to minister (serve) before that Ark of the Lord.” They were to use their musical gifts and talents to serve the Lord on a daily basis, just as God has given us gifts to serve Him daily. Jesus saved us and gifted us to serve Him in conjunction with our gifts. What does it mean they were to “record”? A study of the word translated “record” here can also mean to make “petition,” interestingly, however it can also be translated to "celebrate.” If there is one thing that the world needs from us today is to use our gifts to celebrate the Lord as a witness to the world. “Celebration” can many things. It can mean to really celebrate in our worship services. But, more importantly, it can also mean to live joyfully for Jesus before people in our daily lives. We should have attitudes of celebration. They were also to “thank…the Lord God of Israel.” We have also been called to use our Spiritual gifts in a spirit of thanksgiving. In order for us to do this we need to have thankful hearts. I remind myself of this often. Really and truly, when I count the blessings in my life, I have to be thankful. I remind myself of this when I get in a funk – come on you know what I mean – and have a difficult time praying. The old song is true: “Count your many blessings name them one by one and it will surprise you what the Lord has done." They were “to….praise the Lord God Israel.” I don’t know how these musicians sounded, or how their music praised the Lord, but I can imagine Asaph clanging those cymbals in a joyful praise of the God that he served. We don’t have cymbals to clang, at least that I know of, you might have cymbals in your church, but we do have hearts full of love and thanksgiving for the Savior who gave His life for our salvation. I hope that this message of thanksgiving has been a blessing to you and has prepared you for this special time of Thanksgiving. Bro. Joe "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven(yeast), which a man took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."
Leaven is often mentioned in the Bible as a bad thing, but, as in this case, it sometimes also used as a good thing. Jesus' point in this short parable is that when we are saved, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and starts a growth process in our lives. Of course I cannot mention all of the growth that the Spirit starts in our lives, but I want to share a few with you. When you read them, see how you are growing in them. It is growth in faith. Jesus told us that "faith as a mustard seed will move a mountain." It does not take a mountain of faith to move a mountain. Behind faith, we have the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. Look back on your life and see how you have grown in your faith. The Holy Spirit's power cannot be diminished; only you can diminish your growth in faith. It is growth in the word - the Bible. As we read the Bible, it works through our lives and grows us in ways that we cannot understand or explain. The Bible is not a book of magic; rather it is a Spirit empowered treasure that can bring growth in our lives. If you will increase the time that you spend in the Bible, you will experience growth in your Christian experience. It is growth in Christian works. In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul wrote that we are not saved by works, but by "grace through faith." But in verse 10 he adds: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. "Good works" do not have to be earthshaking. They can be, and often are, but they can also be using your God given talent to sing in the choir, teach a Sunday School class, or offering words of encouragement for discouraged people, etc., etc., etc. It is growth in the love of Jesus. It was God's love that brought Jesus into the world: "For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son...." (John 3:16) It is His love that we should show the world by our behavior. Are you growing in the love of Jesus? This is a short list of areas of growth in our lives that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives, but like leaven, He works through our lives to make our lives better Bro. Joe “The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, it is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
I thought of the word “absurd” when I read John 5:10. What had happened was that Jesus healed a man who had been a cripple for thirty eight years. He was lying there waiting for the waters of the pool to be moved by an angel so that he could get in the water and be healed. He was unable to get to the water, so Jesus just simply told him to “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” This is not what is absurd. What is absurd is that the Pharisees’ main concern was that the man picked up his bed on the Sabbath. Forget that he had been healed of an infirmity that for thirty eight years had kept him from the enjoyments of life. That is absurd. This was something that Jesus had to contend with more than once. Perhaps you remember the time when Jesus healed a demon possessed man who lived among the tombs, and ran around among the tombs naked and raving like a maniac. Well, Jesus removed those demons from the man and the townsfolk saw him he was “clothed and in his right mind.” Good news, right? Wrong. Jesus had cast the demons, by their request, into a herd of pigs that were nearby. The demon-possessed pigs ran into the water and were drowned. As it turned out, the people were more concerned that the pigs had drowned than they were that a local menace had been healed and able to function as a normal human being again. They cared more about pigs than they did about people. That is absurd. This kind of thinking is called “legalism.” Jesus pointed out the absurdity of legalism in Mark 3:1-4: “And (Jesus) entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there with a withered hand. 2. And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day; that they might accuse Him. 3. And He said unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. 4. And He said unto them, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?” The legalists couldn’t answer that, and Jesus proceeded to heal the man. God never intended for His laws to make us callous in the face of human suffering. Jesus’ question, “Is it lawful to good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil?” seems to say that it would have been evil not to heal the man rather than legalistically ignore him. I guess the main point that I want to make here is that being a Christian should not make us callous about human suffering around us. If we really want to be like Jesus, we will not turn a blind eye to the needs all around us. We will listen for the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit and obey Him in all of these matters. The problem with legalism is that we are often legalistic about things that human beings have said about God’s laws, ignoring God’s intentions in what it really means to obey His laws. Jesus Himself did not come to be religious. He said of Himself that He came to serve, and that He expects the same of us. When asked what the most important commandment was, Jesus said that it was to love God and to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” Let us pray that our commitment to obey Jesus will not make us callous to loving our “neighbor as ourselves.” Let’s not be absurd in our dealings with people, and let’s rejoice when God uses us to be a blessing to a fellow human being. Bro. Joe "“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. 5. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.”
The last two verses of Psalm 100 tell us a lot about thanksgiving. For a Christian, being thankful is not just a nice gesture; rather, it is a Christian necessity. We should “be thankful unto Him." We should be thankful because of God’s eternal goodness towards us: “For the Lord is good.” In what ways do we see His goodness? He is good to us. When Jesus walked on the earth, He revealed God’s goodness to us. Everywhere He went, Jesus did good to people. Those who were blind were enabled to see. Those who were deaf were enabled to hear. Those who were lame were enabled to walk. The Lord has been good to me, and I imagine that you can, or should, say the same. This brings Isaiah 53:6: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.” We should be thankful because of God’s everlasting mercy. A good definition of mercy is “loving kindness.” This means that God’s mercy toward us has no limit. God has mercy on us in spite of our sins. 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a lively (living) hope.” Romans 5:8: “But God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God’s mercy should be contagious. That means that since God has been so merciful toward us, we should show that mercy to other people. (This is easy to write, but it takes real faith to accomplish it in our daily dealings with people.) We should be thankful because of God’s enduring, and eternal, truth: “and His truth endures to all generations.” God’s truth is everlasting and ever present. We cannot deny the Ten Commandments, because they are God’s truth. We cannot deny the truths given in the Lord’s Prayer because they are eternal. We cannot deny the validity of the “Golden Rule,” which tells us “to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.” We cannot deny the truth given in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We cannot deny that if we will sincerely accept Jesus Christ by faith, He will forgive us in spite of our sins. Are you a thankful person? You have every reason to be thankful! Praise God and thank Him. Bro. Joe ‘Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. 6. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how to answer every man.”
“Masters give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that you have a a Master in heaven. 2. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.”
“Is not my word like a fire? Saith the Lord.”
This text was written in reference to false prophesies that were being uttered in Jeremiah’s day. The words of the false prophets were meaningless and bereft of power. The false prophets were merely saying what the people wanted them to say. Their words had no fire in them, whereas Jeremiah’s prophesies were like a fire. When the word of God is truly preached, it will be like a fire. John Wesley once told the preachers of his day that if they wanted to set the world on fire, they had to get on fire themselves and the people would come and watch them burn. This is still true today. Fire consumes everything in its path. I remember seeing a movie years ago that was warning against the danger of forest fires. A man threw a lighted cigarette out of his car window. The cigarette landed in dry leaves and began to burn. The fire did not go out until it had destroyed miles and miles of crops, houses, and anything else that was in its way. The fire of sin is like this as well. It needs to be replaced by the fire of God’s word. It is a beautiful thing to see the fire of God’s word cut loose in a church. It has a tendency to change people’s lives for the better. We need to set Bible fires loose in our homes, our churches, our schools, and our watch then burn. Fire also purifies. The fire of God’s word is not like the fire that burns up houses and crops. It is like a fire that purifies and cleans things up. When God’s fire sweeps through churches, homes, schools and communities, it does not destroy, but it builds up what needs to be built up and cleans up what needs to be cleaned. Let’s take, for example a man whose whole life has been wasted on profligate living. Just use your imagination and you can picture what the sins of this man would be. One day a Christian witnesses to him, he sees the light, listens to the Holy Spirit and accepts Christ as Savior. He begins to take the word of God seriously, and the fire of that word begins to burn out all of the old dross and he becomes a new man. Without the fire of God’s word, this would not happen. The world is in dire need of the fire of God’s word today. To a lot of people, probably the majority of people, sin is no longer seen as sin. If over 50% of the people say that something is no longer sin, then it is no longer sin. I call this “morality by polls.” The Bible calls sin, sin and thus it will ever be. I want you to understand though that the Bible is not just hard on the more visible sins. It covers all sins. These would include false pride and self-righteousness. Jesus was the hardest on the Pharisees whose prevailing sin was self-righteousness. The fire of the word of God will help us to clean sin out of our lives. In order for a fire to take hold someone has to light it. This is why it is so important for God’s people to read the word of God daily. It should not be out of the question for a Christian to read through the whole Bible each year. They at least need to read the New Testament through each year. I know that some of the Bible is more exciting than other parts of it, but it is all God’s word and is all important. I know when “they begin the begats” that it is not as exciting as when God divides the Red Sea for the Israelites. Frankly, I have my favorite parts of the Bible too, but I read it all. We can’t be on fire for something that we know nothing about. The fire of God’s word is not evident in our lives when it is gathering dust on the shelf. The Bible’s fire is not as evident in our lives when it is used as decoration for the coffee table. It will be evident when we read it and heed what it is telling us. Light a fire in your life today and get busy setting the fire by turning to God’s word which is “like a fire.” Bro. Joe For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”
I want to focus our thoughts on this text on the words, “but by love serve one another.” We have been called to serve the Lord. But how do we serve the Lord? The paradox is that God does not need for us to serve Him, but we need to serve Him. There is nothing that we can do that will add or take away from God. He is totally secure within Himself. But God knows that we need to serve Him. Our service to God/Jesus will ultimately make a difference in our lives and in the lives of other people. God does not need us, but He has made us so that we need Him. Paul wrote, “but by love serve one another.” Serving God is rooted in our love for all people, and It is especially rooted in our love for fellow Christians. Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” We are in fellowship with each other, and this fellowship is crowned with the love that we have for each other. We should not primarily serve out of a sense of duty, but we should serve out of a sense of love. This is how Jesus served, and it made a difference in the lives of the people that He touched. It is our duty to serve, but it is also our pleasure to serve and it is our privilege to be used of God to serve others. We should not only serve out of a sense of love, but we should enjoy the service that God leads us to do for others. At this point, you might be asking, “but what is this service that I am to render?” It is whatever God leads you to do at a particular time. This service might be to just say a kind word to a lonely person. It might mean visiting a lonely elderly person in a nursing home. It might mean going on a mission trip to another state or another country. In other words, there is no limit to the forms that our service can take. Whenever we serve we need to keep the admonition of Psalm 100:2a in mind: “Serve the Lord with gladness…” We are not to serve the Lord grudgingly. We should be glad that God is willing to use us in His service. One thing that we need to remember is that, ultimately, serving God means to serve and minister to people. No matter what form your service might take, it will benefit other people. I joyfully remember this when I preach. All we need to do is to look at the ministry of Jesus in the four gospels. His teachings and His miracles benefitted people. Indeed, the sacrificial death of Jesus was for the benefit of people. This is why Jesus calls us to serve Him by ministering to others in His name. In John 13, Jesus did something that totally surprised His disciples. He washed their feet. The Creator and Savior of the world washed the dirty feet of His disciples. If Jesus, the Son of God, can stoop to wash people’s feet, we can stoop to do whatever we need to do serve Him – and do it lovingly and gladly. Bro. Joe “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”
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