NTC day 21 - Sunday blessings

My memory verse for this week:
"Therefore, let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:13

NTC Day 21
Mark 13-14 and 1 Corinthians 11-13 (I read the wrong verses yesterday...those verses were supposed to be 1 Corinthians 8-10)

I will be brief this morning...no, really, I will! I did read the chapters for today, but have run out of time before getting ready for church. 

I am finding much enjoyment and challenge in this New Testament Challenge. It is both reassuring and convicting me at the same time. 

This morning, as I dragged my tired body out of bed and sat down in my chilly house to read, I am reminded how blessed I really am. 

I thank God for my busy life. I have so much to be thankful for...I hope I can BE thankful! When my back is aching, my bank account is low, when my eyes are drooping and I feel fatigue set in, Lord help me remember my blessings and be thankful I am alive to experience the trials along with the blessings.

As I read through the NTC and am challenged by what I am reading, (Today in Mark 13-14 Jesus talks about the difficult times ahead and his second coming and then we read the sad story of the beginning of the end of Jesus' life.) I am thankful for a way to reach out to others through this blog. Thank you, dear friends for reading and connecting and sharing with me. Blessings to you all today!

NTC Day 20 - Love is the greatest!

My memory verse for this week:
"Therefore, let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:13

NTC Day 20
Mark 11-12 and 1 Corinthians 11-13

Love...In Mark 12:29-31 Jesus once again answers the question about what is the greatest command...it's all about love, loving God and loving your neighbor. And later in 1Corinthians 13, known as the "love chapter," we learn about what love is. With so much time spent on teaching us about love, why is it that we spend so little time REALLY loving anybody?

When Jesus is talking with one of the teachers of the law about the greatest command, he first uses the words of one of the most sacred Jewish passages, called the Shema, (meaning "hear".) The Jews to this day use this passage to begin each synagogue service.

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' (Mark 12:29, 30 NIV)

And, as we have read, Jesus goes on to say that we are also to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Do you think that if we are really loving God with all we have...heart, soul, mind and strength...wouldn't we have no other choice but to love others even more than ourselves? It is easy to SAY we love God, but it is not so easy to say AND act as if we love God or others MORE than ourselves. God knows this and this is why loving and knowing God is a process and takes time and training.

1 Corinthians so far has been hard for me. It seems to be a lot about HOW we should act and behave and things we should and shouldn't do. Some of it makes perfect sense, even in today's culture, but some things just don't seem to make sense. And, as I mentioned yesterday, it seems we as humans, we as the church...or we as whatever denomination we choose to be, seem to "cherry-pick" which of Paul's teachings we believe to be important enough to follow.

For example, 1 Corinthians 11 deals with the roles of men and women. There are some denominations that follow this particular section strictly...the man is the head and the woman is to submit to the man. In some churches, men and women are strictly separated and women hold no leadership positions within the church at all. Paul goes on to discuss hair and head coverings. Some denominations follow this practice and the women don't cut their hair. Some cover their heads at all times, some do not. This is the part that confuses me...these parts of Paul's words seem like religious PRACTICES to me. Are we, as Christ followers to follow ALL the practices Paul discusses?

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul discusses spiritual gifts. God has arranged in the body (church as a whole and in each individual church) to have members with different spiritual gifts. In this way, God employs diversity to produce unity. It takes all of us and all our talents and gifts to keep the body strong!

But, chapter 13 goes on to explain, no matter the gift, they are all worthless without LOVE! This is the famous "love chapter" that is recited at many weddings. It explains exactly what love is. I think we should all read those words every day, or better yet, commit them to memory and recite them every day.

Whatever denomination you belong to, whatever gifts and talents you have, you are expected to treat your neighbor (EVERYONE YOU MEET) with love. 

Yesterday, we talked about disciplining those members of the church who are living immoral lives. If God wants the church to do that, there are those within the church who have the gift of teaching, wisdom and discipline. It is THEIR job to deal with that issue and to deal with it in LOVE. Since love is kind, that issue should be treated with kindness as well. The rest of is in the church should NOT be involved in that delicate issue...we should act in LOVE to that brother or sister in Christ and treat them with patience...not dishonoring them...not reacting in anger and not keeping record of their wrongs...we should not delight in their evil ways, but show them the truth and we should protect them, give them hope and help them to persevere through their difficult time and through their sins.  THAT is real love!

All that is HARD for us because it doesn't come naturally...it comes from God because God IS love! We need to rely on him to help us to show that kind of love to the people in our lives and in our church.

NTC Day 19 - Help me with my unbelief...

My memory verse for this week:
"Therefore, let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:13

NTC Day 19
Mark 9-10 and 1 Corinthians 5-7

"I do believe! Help me overcome my disbelief!" (Mark 9:23)

Faith is never perfect. It is often mixed with unbelief. Sometimes you need to realize what you don't know or understand so you can search for the understanding you need. That is the case for me today. I have found such peace and joy while reading the NTC in the past few weeks. I am constantly finding new things in verses I have read many times. Today, while still finding joy, my heart is troubled by how much I still have to learn.

I write these messages everyday as my way of reaching out to the world and spreading the good news of God's plan for the salvation of his beautiful human creations who have such messes of their God-given lives. 

While I just speak what is in my heart, I realized once again that I have SO MUCH TO LEARN! I am not a pastor...I really do not have the training to teach anyone about God's word. What if what I say and how I interpret what I read in God's word is wrong? So, dear friends, please take what I say with a grain of salt. (Funny that I use the word salt. Mark 9:50 talks about salt being good, unless it loses its saltiness...I don't want to lose my saltiness!)

All week long, (and really the theme of my blog) I have been talking about how we are not to judge one another. Well...1 Corinthians 5 talks all about how the church is to exercise spiritual discipline over those who claim to believe in Christ. Paul says that claiming to be Christians while continuing to live an immoral life is degrading and wrong and might put their testimony in question. 

Paul goes as far as saying that the church is to hand those Christians who are living immoral lives over to Satan so their sinful nature will be destroyed and they will be moved to repent and be saved. 

I have to admit that I am troubled by this because it sounds like the church is given the right to turn sinners away from the church...we are ALL sinners aren't we? I thought all sins were sins...it didn't matter the type? 

I don't like the thought of "cherry-picking" from the Bible...taking and putting into practice only the parts I like and disregarding the parts I don't like. I do believe that the Bible, ALL OF THE BIBLE is God's word and he breathed his breath into the men who wrote all parts of it. So...I have a lot to learn about how God feels about sins and immoral behavior and what God considers immoral behavior. 

Just like the man in Mark 9:14-32, I have faith, but it it isn't perfect and I need help with my unbelief.

What I do know...we are treat all others with love. Jesus said that besides loving God, this was the greatest commandment. So, perhaps this love comes into play with HOW we discipline those believers in the church living in immoral ways....how we treat them...how we judge them...

I have a lot to learn...

NTC Day 18 - judge not

My memory verse for this week:
"Therefore, let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:13

NTC Day 18
Mark 7-8 and 1 Corinthians 3-4

I think I picked a good memory verse for this week's lessons because over and over in God's word this week, I have read about how judging others is NOT what God wants us to do!

In Mark 7, the Pharisees are once again judging Jesus and his followers...and trying to bring them down by bringing up the fact that they are are following Jewish traditions, such as the ceremonial washing of the hands before eating. They have already questioned the things they had eaten and who they were eating with. Jesus explains that it is not what goes into our bodies that makes us unclean, but what comes out.

An unclean heart produces things like evil thoughts, greed, sexual immorality, theft, adultery, malice, deceit, lewdness, slander, arrogance and folly. 

Jesus is trying to get the Pharisees and the listeners around to understand that if we follow God's commands instead of getting so wrapped up in our religious traditions that we lose sight of God's commands. And, using those traditions to judge the worthiness of a person is an act of judgement which is saved only for God, not man. 

In Mark 8, the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign from heaven. Verse 12 says that Jesus sighed heavily and asked WHY people need signs from heaven as proof of God. He was frustrated with them and with others around them. They just weren't getting it! There were miraculous signs all around them, but their hearts were hardened so they couldn't see and accept them.

Again, even the disciples didn't get it! Jesus again had compassion on the large group of 4 thousand around him listening to him preach...they were hungry. He once again uses a small amount of food to feed the many, right in front of the disciples' eyes. But later, when they were in a boat and Jesus warns them about the "yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod," the disciples took what he said literally and thought he was talking about their one loaf of bread in the boat. They STILL didn't get it! They were seeing and witnessing the miraculous signs from heaven but didn't understand.

As I read this, I begin judging those disciples. I think, "Come on! He just fed 4 thousand people with a few loaves and fish! He just healed a deaf man! He just brought a little girl to life! He has healed hundreds of people! Do they not see who he is???"

But, as I turn that judgement on myself, would I have seen? Putting myself in the shoes of the disciples, would I have been able to understand that Jesus was God? Would I have been able to understand his sometimes cryptic lessons? Knowing myself, I probably would have taken Jesus literally too, and worried about that one loaf of bread in the boat.

Jesus begins teaching his disciples about his coming suffering and death. Peter takes Jesus aside and argues with him. Peter thinks of Jesus as the Messiah, but doesn't understand, or doesn't WANT to understand that in order for the Messiah to save us, he has to suffer and die FOR US. 

Jesus says, " Get behind me Satan!" I have read these words he said to Peter before, but I never realized before that Peter was in a way tempting Jesus not to suffer, much like Satan tempted Jesus in the desert. 

Jesus goes on to say that if we want to be his followers, we must take up our cross and follow him. (my memory verse from last week!) Exactly what did he mean by taking up our cross. I used to think that this meant we must deal with those things that trouble us and give them to God in order to move toward forgiveness and salvation. But, reading this today, I realized that it could mean something much deeper. 

Pick up our cross...Jesus had to carry the heavy beam to his cross...he had been condemned to death. If we are to carry our cross...that means we are already condemned to death! He says to follow him...he died on his cross, but was raised again in heaven...if we follow him, we die and are raised. In order to save our eternal lives, we must die to our physical lives, as Jesus did.

Wow! That is pretty deep stuff for an early Thursday morning! I'm not sure I was ready for those revelations. 

That cross carrying and dying to live stuff sounds pretty personal...like it is between God, Jesus (whom I am following) and me. No wonder Jesus and Paul talk so much about not judging others!  There's not time to judge others...we should be spending all our time figuring out our own crosses to bear!

In 1 Corinthians 3 and 4, Paul is speaking to a church that had been quarreling amongst itself about religious philosophies. Paul explains that he planted the seeds by teaching the words of Jesus, Apollos and other teachers watered those words with more teachings, but it is God who makes them grow. 

WE are the church. If we build it on a good foundation, the word of God and the teachings of Jesus, but we try to continue building it on religious traditions and false teachings, and then judge each other and fight with each other about it all, then our church will fall. God won't make something grow that isn't built on his pure word. If our work and our teachings are pure and of God, then he will make it grow.

As we have read in these New Testament readings so far, Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God, and then love people (your neighbor.) If we truly do those two things, then judging others will become a habit less and less. If we continue to love God and love people, we will find ourselves serving others more and more. When we stay true to loving God and loving people, then our church will grow. 

Does this make us wonder why our church, Christianity, has been on the decline? Does this make us wonder why Christians are looked at as judgmental hypocrites by those outside the church? If it doesn't...it should.

NTC Day 17 Our human-ness hold us back...

My memory verse for this week:
"Therefore, let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:13

NTC Day 17
Mark 5-6 and 1 Corinthians 1-2

Almost all the problems we have in this life and caused by our human-ness. We are afraid, we worry, we lack faith, we are greedy, we doubt...all of these characteristics lead us to judge others, act in hateful manners, gossip about others and act in other despicable manners....all because we are human.

If God created us, why didn't he take that human-ness out of us? It is said that God doesn't make mistakes...well, doesn't it seem that the human creation is one big mistake? Adam and Eve couldn't even last in the garden without making a mistake. Why would God make us with the ability to make so many mistakes?

If he made us perfect, we wouldn't need him. We would be so full of ourselves, we wouldn't feel the need to reach out and connect with our creator. No, God doesn't make mistakes, and he even created a plan to save us from ourselves. Through Jesus, all of our many mistakes can be forgiven and we can come to him in the perfect form he wants us to be.

Through God's word, we see all the mistakes that his people have made through the centuries. People's human-ness keep them from seeing God right in front of them.

In Mark 5 we read of Jesus saving a severely demon possessed man from the legion of demons within him. He allowed the demons to go into a herd of pigs, and then sent those pigs into a lake to drown. Instead of being overjoyed by this miracle, they were afraid and asked Jesus to leave. For one thing, their greedy selves worried about the loss of financial gain from the destroyed herd of pigs, and they also feared the powerful force at work that they didn't understand. Their human feelings kept them from further benefits of Jesus' power.

The people of Jesus' hometown also allowed their human feelings to send Jesus away. They were also amazed at Jesus' wisdom and power, but because they had seen him grow up and where he came from, they didn't want to think he was any different from themselves. Because of their disbelief, Jesus refused to do many more miracles in that town and quickly shook their dust off his feet and left.

Even the disciples, who saw ALL of the miracles of Jesus and heard his teachings...they did not really get it either. Think about it...they were probably the only ones to really see the miracle of feeding over 5 thousand people. They knew what they started out with and what they ended up with. But, shortly after that incident, they were filled with fear when they saw Jesus walking on water, thinking he was a ghost. Their human minds allowed their hearts to remain hardened to the fact that Jesus was really from God.

In 1 Corinthians 1:18-19, Paul says that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those being saved, it is the power of God. Some Wise people who study science and math through the centuries have had real problems believing in God and his promises and his miracles through time. Our human-ness doesn't want to believe what we can't prove.

Today, there are many who don't believe for just that reason. Paul goes on in 1 Corinthians 2 to explain that he didn't preach from a wise man's perspective, but through the Spirit of Christ. If someone listening to him, didn't have the spirit in him, he wasn't ready to listen.

Instead of making those of us who do believe give up speaking about what we believe, I think that means we are to keep talking...not ramming our thoughts a d beliefs down anyone's throat and not judging those who believe differently...but understanding their human-ness and our own as well. I speak from my heart, and I believe that some will hear me and like what I say enough to reach out to God for themselves....working through their own human-ness to accept the gift of Grace he offers to each of us.

NTC Day 16 - Don't allow obstacles to get in the way...

My memory verse for this week:
"Therefore, let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:13

NTC Day 16
Mark 3-4 and Romans 16

In the Mark readings today, we hear again about the work Jesus did in healing and teaching. We also still see those Pharisees accusing and plotting against Jesus.

They were with Jesus when a man with a withered hand came to him. The Pharisees knew Jesus COULD heal (they believed in his power) but they wanted to see if he WOULD heal on the Sabbath, thus breaking one of the laws. What they couldn't see was that by the act of plotting to kill Jesus on the Sabbath, they were just as guilty of breaking that law as Jesus was.

Why is it that many of us are so willing to condemn others for their sins and not see our own sin blaring in front of us...that message is just as relevant today as it was when Jesus was alive!

Mark 3:27 - When accused of being possessed by Satan because he drove out an evil spirit, Jesus said that Satan cannot drive out Satan. He spoke of how no one can rob a strong man's house and steal his possessions without first tying up the strong man. Jesus was doing just that...tying up Satan's power by freeing his people...freeing the person from being possessed by Satan's spirit.

Last week we talked about how it takes training to live the way God wants us to live. Everyone we meet might be on a different level of training, so we have to be careful how we treat them. Jesus' famous parable of the planting of the seeds illustrates this well. Some hear the word but just aren't ready to believe. Some hear, and want to believe, but they haven't had the training to make it stick. Some hear the word and believe, but are not strong enough to trust God when things get tough. And still others hear, believe, trust and therefore produce a good crop of results for God. Whatever place you are in that continuum, you shouldn't judge others...but continue your training and learn to trust. Even the disciples, who heard all the parables Jesus taught, had Jesus explanations of those parables...they didn't trust enough and were afraid in a storm. 

The church is the place for us to support each other and build each other up. In Romans 16, Paul mentions many people of the early church, both men and women, all who had worked hard for the Lord. He also warns that we should be careful not to allow Satan to work his way into the church, causing divisions and obstacles in the good work that we do for God. All the good that we do, building others up, loving others, telling others the good news...these are all to be done for the glory of God, the ultimate purpose of all things.

NTC Day 15 - Love more, judge less

My memory verse for this week:
"Therefore let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." -- Romans 14:13

NTC Day 15
Mark 1-2 and Romans 13-15

I know there are those who don't like the reading 2 chapters in one book and skipping ahead to read 3 chapters in another book, but I am really seeing the parallels in Jesus' teachings and the words of Paul. 

In Mark 2:17 we hear again the words of Jesus saying that he didn't come for the righteous, but for the sinner. My study Bible explains this as a self-righteous man doesn't realize his need for salvation while an admitted sinner does.

The Pharisees were all about "the rules." They worked hard to follow all the rules, tried to make sure that everyone else followed the rules and persecuted those who didn't follow the rules. They didn't worry about their need for salvation, because they were sure they were doing as God wished by following all the rules. What they didn't see is they needed a savior as much as the ones not following the rules.

The Pharisees get a bad wrap throughout the New Testament. They were the rulers and teachers of the Jewish community. Reading it today, it is easy to truly dislike those Pharisees who were trying to trip up Jesus, his disciples and then Paul in later years. We get fed up with their "holier than thou" attitude. 

But, reading Paul's own words in Romans 13, we see that those Pharisees were in place to protect the people, even from themselves. They got so hung up on the rules because they thought they were doing what God wanted them to...they thought they were right, even if we can see now that they were doing it in the wrong way. Paul says that we are to submit to the ruling authorities because they are established by God. He says that of course we are to obey God first, but our rulers were put into place by God to protect society. Civil authorities are ordained by God to maintain order. We are to pay taxes, respect and honor our rulers. As Jesus said, give to Caesar what is Caesar's but give God what is God's.

Wow! In Romans, Paul was talking about the Jewish leaders and Roman rulers of the time...but do you think we are to do the same in this day and age? BIG QUESTION!

Many Christians today are conservatives and do not like, respect or show honor to our more liberal President. Many claim he is not a Christian... I have heard Christians making racial slurs against him. I have heard many hateful things about President Obama, and also about most of our other congressman, Senators, governors, etc. IF WE TRULY BELIEVE IN WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS WE ARE TO DO...do you think those actions are how we as Christians are to act?

Yes, I also get fed up with how corrupt it seems our government has become, but if God ordained them to be our civil authorities...we at least owe them respect, even if they don't earn it.

Paul goes on in Romans 14 to state that we are not to judge others. Romans 14:10 says that God will do the judging. While there are bound to be times when we see weaker Christians acting in ways we don't agree with...Paul says we are to keep our thoughts between us and God. (Romans 14:22) 

 Romans 15:5 wishes for a spirit of unity to be with believers of Christ. While I don't think this means we have to agree on everything, it does mean we are to agree to disagree in LOVE and not judgement.

Through the words of Jesus and the words of Paul, God is trying to teach us how to live a more peaceful existence in this earthly life. I don't think we listen to those words of wisdom enough or put them into practice enough either. Imagine what our world COULD be like if we each judged less, respected each other and LOVED more!!!