11-2-2018 Take It Through The Week

Monday – 2 Chronicles 29:5 In the Old Testament, the Levites were the ones who were called to prepare the people for worship and also to lead them in worship. It is important for us to remember today that worship is not to be taken lightly or not to be treated as the last thing on our list. It is not something we stop our lives for it is the thing we live for. It is what makes life make sense. So we are to come prepared to set aside everything that encumbers us. Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of Yahweh. Set this time aside, prepare for it. Prepare to meet with Him. Long to know Him. Make each time we worship the Lord together, the most important part of your week. Remove everything impure from the holy place. Before worship, examine your heart. Ask God to show you anything that is sin. Confess it to Him and because He is true to His Word, He will forgive you and cleanse you. Then worship the Lord. The unified, pure worship of God’s people together, is pleasing to Him. And there is nothing more important in this world than our prayers and praises ascending to His throne. Read Rev. 5:8-9.
Tuesday – Psalms 92:12–15  The Lord is just; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. And because He is just, because He is my rock, because there is no unrighteousness in Him, He will not leave us the way we are. He knows us completely and loves us unconditionally. The purpose of the Cross of Christ is to make us ready for the Kingdom of Heaven. After we are made clean by the Blood of Jesus, we will be sanctified (set apart) for the whole rest of our lives. By the time we are old, we should be made completely new. We should not get old and grumpy, we should be old and grateful. We should be ready to see Jesus and happy in the hope of seeing the Lord. At the end of this life, we should be ready to start real life. The righteous thrive like a palm tree and grow like a Cedar tree . Planted in the house of the Lord, they thrive in the courts of our God.  Don’t you love the Word thrive? It is not just living, it is growing and expanding and living to the greatest possible degree. That is what happens when He is our rock. Even in our old age, they will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green. But notice, this thriving life is attached to Him, not to us.
Wednesday -Matthew 13:33  Ever seen 50 pounds of flour? That is a lot of flour. Why did Jesus say the Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds of flour until it spread through all of it? In our days of modern convenience, we miss the meaning of this parable. To grind 50 pounds of flour would be a huge amount of flour. It would be far too much for one family to use in one day. Mixed with yeast it would expand and when baked it would make dozens of loaves of bread. Now, remember there were no food preservatives like today. The bread would have to be used or it would ruin in only a few days. All the neighbors, everyone around would be offered bread because that much is far too much to allow to go to waste. So let’s add another passage of scripture to our thought process. Read Matt. 4:4. When Jesus talks about bread he is actually talking about God’s Word being bread and the only thing that can change our lives, from the inside out. In Matt. 13:33 Jesus is talking about the urgency of the Gospel and the need to share it. The massive quantity of bread the woman is making communicates that anyone and everyone who hears the Gospel may eat and there will always be plenty to go around. So you and I, we are bread distributors. Our job is to spread the Good News of the Gospel to all in our neighborhoods and everyone in our vicinity. And it will satisfy all who are it is given to, forever.
Thursday –  Luke 24:39 Jesus had no need to show off His resurrected body. Jesus had told them He would rise from the dead. By the time Jesus makes this appearance to Thomas, many had seen Him and testified to His resurrection. Jesus had already  established by appearing to many witnesses that He had indeed risen from the dead. When Jesus finally appeared to Thomas, it was specifically for Thomas’ benefit. To meet Thomas’ needs and to meet Thomas where He was. Look at My hands and My feet, that if is I Myself! Touch Me and see…  Why would Jesus go to that length to restore Thomas’ faith? The first reason is because Thomas was the farthest away, the most skeptical of the Apostles.  God still communicates His love to the most sinful and skeptical. The second reason is because Jesus loved Thomas, and knew his heart. Because of the way Jesus cared for Thomas we know there is no end to Jesus’ love and to the understanding Jesus has for our needs. He understood Thomas and He understands you and me. Touch Me and see is extended to you and I, as well. Take a few moments and think about Jesus. Ask Him to touch you and bless you. Ask Him to draw you close to Him. Think about your favorite bible verse about Jesus. What does it tell you about Him?
Friday – John 15:2 God is pretty serious about believers bearing fruit. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit, He removes.  Do I believe we can lose our salvation? No. But the Bible teaches that any believer that will not change the way they live and set their sights on Jesus, never really was a believer. It’s a bit more complicated than that and a longer conversation, but it is impossible to be a true believer and live like the devil. We live to produce fruit…period. We produce more fruit by being pruned. You may have experienced it. If you haven’t then you will experience it. You will encounter a situation where you are challenged. The challenge will always come down to, “do I choose me or do I choose God?” Under trials,  you will have to choose to give up more of yourself to Him. Be ready for it. If you allow God to be God, then you will produce more fruit. If you make yourself God, then God will discipline you. Read Hebrews 12:5-6. If you resist God’s pruning then He will give you a spanking. Why? Because He loves us enough to make useful to Him. It can happen the easy way or the hard way. Pray with me. Lord Help me to product the fruit you want in my life. Fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit. You are God and I am not. I need more of you and less of me. May the people I meet see You in everything I do. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
Saturday – 2 Corinthians 4:16–17 Christians don’t give up. We don’t quit. We keep on serving and loving others in the Name of Jesus. However we are all subject to the same things. Knees that are wearing out. Hair that might be falling out or turning gray. …our outer person is being destroyed. Yes, we all will feel the sting of time. But because of Jesus, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.  It may not feel like it’s momentary. But in terms of eternity anything in this life will fade into… momentary. And I long to actually find out what weight of glory means. But it has to be pretty awesome. Keep on keeping on, it won’t be long.