PROPER FOCUS

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” He asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Matthew 24:1-2

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Mark 13:1-2

Some of His disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

Luke 21:5-6

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We live on a planet where there is no shortage of grandeur, sites that are awe-inspiring and memorable to witness. In fact, we have even ranked and labeled significant places, calling them “The Seven Wonders of the World”.

There’s only one problem with our habit of doing this. We misguide our amazement. Let me explain.

For starters, just ask yourself, “Did these wonders simply emerge on their own or did the Lord have a hand in creating the things I am marveling over?”

The truth of the matter is that all natural things have come through the work of the great Creator and there is glory and wonder to be found in all created things, not just a select few. In fact, there are astonishing works that occur every day that we too often take for granted like a baby being born. From a single fertilized egg, a human being is formed in the womb of a woman, emerging into the world after nine months of development. It’s an absolutely incredible work of God and yet we so often fail to give Him the credit. We do so because we fail to have the proper focus, giving the creation more homage than the Creator.

This isn’t just a present day problem. For as we see in today’s scripture passage, Jesus’ disciples were completely captivated by a man-made structure, more so than the God who made the structure possible. Look again at these words here found in Mark’s Gospel:

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”  Mark 13:1-2

Note here how the disciples were proclaiming their amazement at the temple construction, praising its outstanding features. They used words like “massive” and “magnificent” in Mark’s Gospel. In Luke’s account, they comment on the “beautiful stones”. Their complete focus was on the edifice and not the Edifier.   

Well, Jesus intervenes in this scene of worldly admiration to bring what must have been received as bad news by the disciples. For as we see, He tells them that the temple would one day be destroyed. All the massive stones would be thrown down as the temple structure collapsed. The great buildings that once inspired wonder and awe would end up in a pile of rubble.

Such is the cycle of worldly things. They exist for but a season and then they are no more. This is why we shouldn’t worship them but the Lord who endures forever. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He, the great Originator of all things, is the only One worthy of our praise.

So how do we carry this out? How do we direct our admiration to the Lord at all times?

It’s easy if we have the proper focus, a focus that is centered on Him and Him alone. For example, the disciples could have just as easily said to Jesus, “Look how great our God is, for only He could play a part in building such a majestic temple for us to worship Him!” Note how the emphasis is on the Lord and how it was by His will that the amazing temple was made for His people to bring their adoration and praise to Him.

We should make every effort to be intentional in giving our Lord all the honor and glory for the things of life, big and small, that speak to His creative greatness. It will come easy when we put Him first and see that everything astounding in creation originated through the work of our great Creator God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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NOT IN PART BUT IN WHOLE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Mark 12:41-44

As Jesus looked up, He saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Luke 21:1-4

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How much should we give in tribute to our Lord?

That is a question that nearly every believer seeks an answer to.

Why do we ponder such a question?

Because there is a constant battle, a tug of war if you may, in play for our resources: our time, talent, and treasure.

On one hand, we have the world. It wants us to invest our time, talent, and treasure on what it has to offer. It seeks to convince us that true fortunes in life are found within it, fortunes that can be held onto and stored up for our own gain and benefit.  

On the other hand, we have the Lord who desires that we store up treasures in heaven through all that we do, using all that we have. This requires that we give away what we have to serve others and bring honor and glory to the Lord who has provided. It’s a sacrificial approach towards applying our time, talent, and treasure.

Jesus was fully aware of these two competing factions and so He addressed them during His Sermon on the Mount, His first extensive formal teachings. Here’s what He had to say:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

The key to how we handle our time, talent, and treasure lies in where we incline our hearts. If we are tilted to the world, then our hearts will be attached to earthly treasures. If we connect our hearts to the Lord, seeking to carry out His will and way, then we will seek to store up heavenly treasures that endure and cannot be taken away.

Need an example of someone in the Bible who wasn’t concerned about storing up earthly treasures?

Take a look at today’s scripture passage from the Gospel of Mark.

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12:41-44

Here we find Jesus assuming a place where He could observe people making offerings to the temple treasury. People would enter the court and place their offering in one of a series of wooden boxes which had funnel-shaped attachments where people would insert their giving.

As Jesus watched He saw many rich people approach the boxes and put in large amounts of money but it was a widowed woman that really caught Jesus’ attention as she went to the offering box and put in two very small coins, the extent of what she had. Realizing and opportunity to teach His followers something important, He called them and elevated the poor widow’s offering over the giving of the rich people.

Why?

Because she had not just given a portion of what she had like the rich but rather had surrendered everything, even though she was living in poverty (You’ll recall that widows in Jesus’ time often were left destitute with no one to care for them once their husband passed away). The widow was most interested in storing up treasures in heaven through sacrificially giving to the Lord before herself.

Through her actions, the widow provides a human model of what a divine Jesus would do Himself. For our Savior didn’t concern Himself with the treasures of the earth. Rather, He willing offered up everything that He had, to include His very life, for the benefit of all mankind. Here’s what the Apostle Paul had to say about what Jesus did as he wrote to the Christians in Corinth:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9

As Paul reminds his readers, Jesus surrendered everything. He died on the cross with nothing to His name, except the love of His Father and the promise that death would not be the end but just a glorious eternal beginning. He was rich, one with God, His Father, and yet He chose to become poor so that through His poverty, dying a criminal’s death at Calvary, He could bring the riches of heaven to all those who place their belief, faith, and trust in Him.

Jesus and the poor widow gave in whole, not just in part as the rich givers did. We need to do likewise, holding none of our time, talent, or treasure away from carrying out the Lord’s purposes for our lives. For when we do this, and only when we do this, will we ensure that we are storing up treasures in heaven and paying proper tribute to Jesus who showed us what sacrificial giving looks like.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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THERE WILL BE A RETURN

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.”

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Matthew 23:33-39

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Israel was a mess as Jesus entered into His final days before being brutally beaten and crucified on a cross. Of course, the nation always seemed to have a love-hate relationship with the very God who chose them to be His people. Over and over again, He delivered them from harm and always provided what they needed when they needed it. And in return, the Israelites too often responded with disobedience, complaining, apostasy, or a combination of all three.

Yet despite their sinful, woeful behavior, God still wished to save them. He had provided advance word through the prophets that He would send a Savior Messiah for His people to deliver them once and for all.

How did the Israelites respond to God’s goodness, grace, and generosity?

They rejected God’s very own Son, Jesus, and didn’t stop there. For they decided to completely eliminate Him, an action Jesus fully knew as He finished up His venomous condemnation of the Jewish religious authorities. Look again at His words here as we wrap up the 23rd chapter of Matthew:

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.”

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

First, Jesus provides a summation of how wicked Israel had become. They had become evil, slithering around like snakes and vipers while looking for people to attack and poison with their sinfulness. God tried to communicate with His people. Like in the parable of the tenants where the landowner had sent servant after servant to try and get the tenants to provide what they were expected to produce only to find them get abused or murdered, God’s servants sent to the Israelite people to provide guidance and direction were all rejected, flogged, or killed. Jesus made sure the present generation knew that the weight of God’s judgment would be upon them for their wicked behavior.

In the second paragraph, the tone of Jesus’ words shifts to remorse. He uses the word Jerusalem here but He is really to speaking to Israel at large and it’s obvious He held love for the nation and its people. This only added to the sadness Jesus felt in His heart over how spiritually dead the people were, so spiritually dead that they could not even discern that He was who He said He was, the prophesied Messiah who had come to save them from judgment. In fact, you’ll recall that Jesus actually wept before He entered Jerusalem for what He knew would be His last time (Luke 19:41).

Like a mother hen loved and labored hard to protect and raise her chicks, so too did Jesus love the people of Israel but unfortunately, the feelings weren’t mutual. For while Jesus entered Israel’s capital city for His final week to the cries of “Hosanna!” and “Blessed is the King of Israel!”, many in Jerusalem would be demanding He be crucified just five days later. The Israelites were about to do the unthinkable. They were about to murder the very Son of God.

Now, that could have been the end of God’s plan for His people I guess. God could have just said, “I offered you salvation through my Son. You rejected it. You have no place with Me.” But that’s not what happened. For the people of the world, both Jew and Gentile, would not see the last of Jesus on that fateful day at Calvary as Jesus drew His last breath while nailed and hanging on a cross.

For we know the rest of the story. He rose from the tomb three days later, made numerous appearances so that people would know He was very much alive, and then He ascended to the heavens where God placed Him in a place of authority over everything in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

The life of Jesus never ended and neither does the life of anyone who places His faith and trust in Him. That is what we call the good news of the Gospel. For their will be a return, a time when Jesus comes back to the earth and when He does, it will be as the Judge of all people. Every person will be held accountable for the way they lived and there will be two possible outcomes:

1. Those who placed their belief and hope in Jesus will be saved and ascend with Him to the new heaven and earth to abide in a new city. What city? You guessed it, Jerusalem, a new Jerusalem where the new residents would ever proclaim praise for Jesus saying, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

2. Everyone else, those who rejected Jesus and His offer of salvation will earn eternal damnation. They will live forever in torment and agony, wishing they could die but never perishing.

Now, I don’t know where you stand today as you read this but I pray you are counted in the number of the redeemed, those who have committed their life to the only person, Jesus, who can save it. If you’re not in that number and have turned away from Jesus in your life up to now, please do not be counted in the number of those who will receive eternal suffering on the day Jesus returns. Make your decision right now to turn from your sins and receive the Savior who died to cover the cost of them, the very Savior ready to receive you into the family of the saved with loving, open arms.

For as Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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WOEFUL BEHAVIOR (PART 8)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!”

Matthew 23:29-32

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today is the last devotion in a series of eight based on woeful behaviors Jesus connected to the Jewish religious leaders of His time. Up to now, we have read about how the Pharisees and teachers of the law had led others away from salvation in Jesus, taken advantage of widows, placed more emphasis on material things than holy ones, surrendered following broader ways of righteousness in exchange while concentrating on minute details of the law, and putting on a false external appearance when they were really wicked, greedy, and self indulgent on the inside. Over and over again, we read Jesus calling the Pharisees and teachers of the paw “blind” and “hypocrites” because they wore spiritual blinders, unable to see they were dead inside, and requiring their followers to be obedient to the Lord when they weren’t willing to be so themselves.

In the end translation, Jesus shows us how we’re supposed to be by showing us how not to live while exposing the sinful, woeful behavior of the Jewish religious authorities.  

In today’s final devotion, we find Jesus pointing out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and teachers of the law one more time before moving onto a summary condemnation we will cover tomorrow. Look at the reproachful words of our Savior here:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!” Matthew 23:29-32

What was the hypocritical behavior highlighted here?

First, it’s important to remember the role of the prophets in Old Testament times.

These men were nothing less than special messengers, hand-selected by none other than God Himself to be spokespeople. Go back to Moses and you can see there was a procession of important leaders (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, etc) who communicated the very words of God, acting as His mouthpiece while providing the Israelites words of direction and guidance or foretelling of things to come. These men were held in the highest esteem by the Lord who commissioned them to serve Him.

And yet, not everyone held these prophets in high esteem for as we read in today’s scripture passage, they were murdered by the very people they were tasked to communicate with, those who were the descendants of the Pharisees and teachers of the law Jesus was addressing.

How do we know this?

Because the Pharisees and teachers of the law admitted it through their own words, words quoted by Jesus:

“If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.”

On one hand, the Jewish religious leaders were looking as if they wanted to honor the former prophets, building them tombs and decorating their graves, but inside they were contemplating how to murder Jesus, the greatest Prophet ever sent by the very God they claimed to serve. This is why Jesus closed by saying:

“Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!”

He fully knew what dwelled in the hearts of His adversaries and understood He was in His final days before they would see that He was put to death. In the end, the Pharisees and teachers of the law would be no better than their ancestors. As the old saying goes, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Unfortunately today, there are people who had ancestors who committed sinful acts and then rather than conscientiously choose to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, they carry them on. Wickedness gives birth to more wickedness, resulting in perpetuating waves of transgression, sometimes of the severest forms.

Through His words, Jesus is encouraging us to learn from the woeful behaviors of those we are following and not to repeat those mistakes in our own lives. If we allow Him to be our guide in everything we do, we can ensure that we will be able to fully meet His expectations.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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