Week 38 - Matthew 16:6

“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Life Application Study Bible, NIV footnotes:

Yeast is put into bread to make it rise, and it takes only a little to affect a whole batch of dough.  Jesus used yeast as an example of how a small amount of evil can affect a large group of people.  The wrong teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees were leading many people astray.  Beware of the tendency to say, "How can this little wrong possibly affect anyone?"

Jesus is talking about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees here but it also reminds me of my attitude.  There's a saying, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."  That is so true.  My attitude is contagious.  When I'm a happy, cheerful mother, usually I have happy, cheerful children but on the contrary if I wake up grumpy, it can quickly affect my entire household.  It's always good to be on guard.....be on guard for false teaching, attitudes, sin creeping into your life, your tongue.....the list goes on!

BE ON GUARD!

Week 37 - Matthew 15:4

For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’

This is a reference to Exodus 20:12:  Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

NIV, Life Application Study Bible Footnotes:

This is the first commandment with a promise attached.  To live in peace for generations in the promised land, the Israelites would need to respect authority and build strong families.  But what does it mean to "honor" parents?  Partly, it means speaking well of them and politely to them.  It also means acting in a way that  shows them courtesy and respect (but not to obey them if this means disobedience to God).  It means following their teaching and example of putting God first.  Parents have a special place in God's sight.  Even those who find it difficult to get along with their parents are still commanded to honor them.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus talks about this command as he's teaching about inner purity.  The following is that entire section -- Matthew 15:1-20

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” 3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.'”

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”  Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

May you seek to honor God with your whole heart!

Week 36 - Matthew 11:29

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Life Application Study Bible, NIV, Footnotes:

A yoke is a heavy wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of an ox or oxen.  It is attached to a piece of equipment the oxen are to pull.  A person may be carrying heavy burdens of 

1.  sin, 

2.  excessive demands of religious leaders, 

3.  oppression and persecution, or 

4.  weariness in the search for God.

Jesus frees people from all these burdens.  The rest that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the end of all labor.  A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

Week 35 - Matthew 10:26-31

So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Life Application Study Bible, NIV footnotes:

Jesus said that God is aware of everything that happens even to sparrows, and you are far more valuable to him than they are.  You are so valuable that God sent his only Son to die for you (John 3:16).  Because God places such value on you, you need never fear personal threats or difficult trials. These can't shake God's love or dislodge his Spirit from within you.

But this doesn't mean that God will take away all your troubles.  The real test of value is how well something holds up under the wear, tear and abuse of everyday life.  Those who stand up for Christ in spite of their troubles truly have lasting value and will receive great rewards.

Fear God, not man!

Week 34 - Matthew 9:38

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

We have a THEREFORE.....therefore we need to look at the verse or verses preceding this one. 


Matthew 9:35-37 says:  Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 

I think my favorite part of this passage is "he had compassion on them."  I'm so thankful Jesus looks on me with compassion and that there's nothing in my life that he doesn't understand.  No matter what I'm going through, I can take it all to Him. 

 
Life Application Study Bible, NIV footnotes: 

Jesus looked at the crowds following him and referred to them as a field ripe for harvest.  Many people are ready to give their lives to Christ if someone would show them how.  Jesus commands us to pray that people will respond to this need for workers.  Often, when we pray for something, God answers our prayers by using us.  Be prepared for God to use you to show another person the way to him. 

 

Pray for workers.  Pray for compassion.  Pray for ways you can show the Lord's compassion to others.



Week 33 - Matthew 7:15

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Life Application Study Bible, NIV footnotes:

False prophets were common in Old Testament times.  They prophesied only what the king and the people wanted to hear, claiming it was God's message.  False teachers are just as common today.  Jesus says to beware of those whose words sound religious but who are motivated by money, fame, or power.  You can tell who they are because in their teaching they minimize Christ and glorify themselves.

I like the rest of that passage.  It reads:

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.  Matthew 7:16-20

Footnotes:

We should evaluate teachers' words by examining their lives.  Just as trees are consistent in the kind of fruit they produce, good teachers consistently exhibit good behavior and high moral character as they attempt to live out the truths of Scripture.  This does not mean we should have witch hunts, throwing out church school teachers, pastors, and others who are less than perfect.  Every one of us is subject to sin, and we must show the same mercy to others that we need for ourselves.  When Jesus talks about bad trees, he means teachers who deliberately teach false doctrine.  We must examine the teachers' motives, the direction they are taking and the results they are seeking.

The thing that I would add to these footnotes would be to evaluate all teaching in light of scripture.  If we are familiar with scripture through reading, studying and meditating on God's truth, we are more apt to have open eyes to false teaching.

Week 32 - Matthew 7:13-14

Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.

Life Application Study Bible, NIV, Footnotes:

The gate that leads to eternal life (John 10:7-9) is called "narrow."  This does not mean that it is difficult to become a Christian, but that there is only one way to live eternally with God and only a few that decide to walk that road.  Believing in Jesus is the only way to heaven, because he alone died for our sins and made us right before God.  Living his way may not be popular, but it is true and right.  Thank God there is one way!

JESUS IS THE GATE!!