Philippians 4 Life Lived in Christ our Lord

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise — dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Our joy comes from our Lord, it is in the joy we find in Him that we are strengthened.

Paul continues to thank the community of believers for their support but tells them through the strength that comes from the Lord he is able to be content in all circumstances and do all things. For us as well that strength is available.

In ending our journey through the book to the Philippians let us always remember:

Our Lord desires us know Him.

He is not just a remedy for sinfulness but a Treasure; our Treasure.

A Treasure for which we should be able to give up all for, enabling to live for the Fathers glory, just as our Lord did.

Being in a relationship with is the only source of joy in our lives.

A joy that is not dependant on circumstance. Not a sensation or thrill.

It is only in our Lord and through the Spirit that we can rejoice even in suffering.

Philippians 3 Life lived to Know our Lord

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 

More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 

Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ — the righteousness from God based on faith. 

My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a protection for you.

Watch out for “dogs,” watch out for evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh.

To know Him and love Him is the best reward of choosing to follow our Lord. To know Him and walk Him through life is the wisest decision any of us can make.

Our Father will always respond to a heart that hungers after Him. We must never forget that it is not just our doing but our Father works in us as we learnt in Chapter1. 

Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

Our Father takes hold of us through Lord as we get to know Him and fall in love with Him more and more. We are not alone in this journey. Our Father also provides for us a community (church) to grow and partner with in this journey of ours.

Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you. In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained. Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame. They are focused on earthly things, but our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to subject everything to Himself.

Philippians 2 Life lived in humility for the Father's Glory

Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage.
Instead He emptied Himself
by assuming the form of a slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man
in His external form,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death —
even to death on a cross.
For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow —
of those who are in heaven and on earth
and under the earth —
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Lights in the World

Our Lord is the greatest example of life lived in humility.

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Our Father is at work in all of us to produce in us both to desire and to work out His good purpose.

We are called to humility and to following without complaints and we will be a light in the world we live in.

Philippians 1 (Life invested in the Father's Glory)

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Our Lord desires us to know Him.

He is not just a remedy for sin but a Treasure; our Treasure.

A Treasure for which we live for. Through His Spirit we are enabled to live for the Fathers glory, just as our Lord did.

Being in a relationship with our Father becomes a source of joy in our lives.

A joy that is not dependant on circumstance. Not a sensation or thrill.

It is only in our Lord and through the Spirit that we can rejoice even in suffering.

Philippians 1

Paul starts this book in thanksgiving to the people in Phillipi who as his partners in the gospel had assisted him.

He continues to tell them of his love for them and that he continues to pray for them even though he is now in prison.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

As gospel carriers we learn that this journey we are on will have up and downs; even very tough times.

Paul teaches to us look beyond our circumstance but to lift our eyes and look upwards for our Father is at work.

He celebrates his imprisonment for Christ is known and has advanced the gospel, some have gained courage from Paul’s experience and are now confidently teaching and preaching. Others are jealous and preach out of strife and envy but Paul is not disturbed for the Lord is being proclaimed.

What does it matter? Just that in every way, whether out of false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice because I know this will lead to my deliverance through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honoured in my body, whether by life or by death.
Living Is Christ
For me, living is Christ and dying is gain. Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work

Note:

For a while we are going to re-journey through messages from years before. I recently started working again although part time . I also have moved and again and I am struggling to be consistent in blogging. So we will be rejourning (apologies)

Away maybe 2 months

Hi there

 Family needs have take me away from home.
Access, equipment and time not the same.
I will be back blogging in July

Thank you
Sipokazi Mahlangeni

Triumphantly Risen (Matthew 28)

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.

Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
The Gospel According to

What a triumphant ending.

This is the good news we carry and are to share, our Lord came and conquered death and sin for us.

Truly Son of God (Matthew 27)

And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.”

Jesus stood before the governor. And the governor asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He answered nothing.
Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?”

But He answered him not one word, so that the governor marvelled greatly.

Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”
They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”
Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?”
But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”
When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.”
And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.”

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, 

“Truly this was the Son of God!”

“Truly this was the Son of God!”

Scripture Fulfilled (Matthew 26)

You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

“All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:
‘I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.”

And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.

Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.”
He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter,

“What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy.
So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then He came to His disciples and said to them,

“Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”

“Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?”
In that hour Jesus said to the multitudes, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me? I sat daily with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not seize Me. But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.”

Scripture fulfilled, as we near the end of this gospel our Lord once again reminds us that He came and fulfilled scripture just as He did in chapter 1.

Commitment to the Father’s plan is the lesson for us. Our Lord was not taken by surprise by anything but submitted and committed to the Father’s plan.

Closed Door (Matthew 25)

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
   “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’

And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Kindness, gentleness, humility and generosity are the characteristics our Lord desires in us who have chosen to follow Him and are His gospel carriers.

While they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

If you are reading this and have not yet decided to commit your life to Christ I would ask you to do so immediately.

The door will not always be open. You do not have to understand all or even believe all but know this the Lord Jesus came for you and died for you.

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Every time I have heard someone talk on the talents parable they have always talked about money. I wonder though, we all have things we are naturally good at. When we exercise those natural gifts in the service of our Father and His Kingdom we grow to even to do more. But we all start with what we are comfortable in. I say this because towards

For the kingdom of heaven is ……….
You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

Be Aware Be Ready (Matthew 24)

No One Knows the Day or Hour

Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

“Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars.

See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The Great Tribulation
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.
“Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

The Coming of the Son of Man
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

No One Knows the Day or Hour

Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Under and what kind of leader are you (Matthew 23)

Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 

For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. 

They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called “Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 

Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 

‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ 
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 
And, “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ 
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Jesus Laments over Jerusalem
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Be true to the Word, stay true to the Word at all times.

All Invited (Matthew 22)

 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.

“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

In this chapter our Lord deals the invitation to the kingdom, taxes (no excuse), resurrection(our God is not of the dead), His Lordship(David calls Him Lord?) and a heart committed to the Father.

Two portions I have chosen for us to dwell on.

All human kind is invited, each and every single one who walks on this earth gets the chance to choose Kingdom or not.

This reminds of the scripture that our Father can raise up stones to praise Him if we will not.

We the ones made into His image have the invitation and we don’t have to be perfect and we are welcomed with open arms.

Love the Father and submit all you are and have to His Lordship and love all around in His name.

“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 

By What Authority (Matthew 21)

Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”

I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: The baptism of John—where was it from? From heaven or from men.

“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

I apologise for the gap in posts, my uncle who we had been praying for to get better passed on during Easter, we have had a hectic week. I apologise for not blogging.

The first account is of the disciples witnessing a miracle and the Lord answers that we too can perform the same miracles if we believe and not doubt.

The most important lesson is bearing fruit, we too if we are not planted and active in the service of our Lord will wither and die when we do not bear fruit.

We do not die physically but in our hearts, it is incredible to be part of something so much bigger than you, to act in faith knowing the outcome is not dependent on you, but belongs to the Lord on whose authority you step out in faith.

The second account I have chosen to highlight in this chapter is of the religious leaders of the time questioning the Lords authority.

We know the authority we stand on, my caution is that we do not take the authority and make it ours.

Lest we be left behind those people we thought we were so much better than because they did not act in a way that pleased us or in a way that we thought they should have.

“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.

Triumphantly on a donkey (Matthew 21)

The Triumphal Entry
​

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”

All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
“Tell the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your King is coming to you,
Lowly, and sitting on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’
Hosanna in the highest!”

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”
So the multitudes said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee

Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”

And Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,
‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have perfected praise’? ”
Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.

Servant Heart (Matthew 20)

Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

The first 14 verses continue on what we talked about yesterday, the first will be last and the last will be first in the Kingdom of heaven. 

The Father in heaven has the right to decide.

Our Lord proclaims the suffering and death ahead and at the same time warns His disciples that they too will go through the same.

And an account of blind men being healed is recorded.

Today I want us talk about the servant hood.

You will remember when we started to journey through the gospel by Matthew our Lord fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy of the Lord servant. 

Again the issue of status and positions is raised up by the disciples.

One of the reasons we are journeying through the Lord’s Word is that we can learn to adopt His attitudes and character into our lives as His followers.

Yesterday we learnt that being humble is a character of a gospel carrier.

Today we learn that serving is the heart of following our Lord and carrying His gospel to all around us.

If we don’t humble ourselves we can never serve anyone.

We have to die to self to become useful to our Lord in His Kingdom.

Walk in humility (Matthew 19)

When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?”
So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.

But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Our Lord continues to address the people teaching and healing them.

In this chapter He first addresses marriage, divorce and celibacy.

He then continues and talks to a rich man who is saddened by the prospect of losing all his possessions.

Last He talks about the difficulty of the rich to enter His Kingdom.

When we choose to walk with our Lord we choose to belong to the Father.

All we are and all we have is the Father’s. I mean our person, possessions, gifts and talents.

If we happen to hold anything more important than our Lord and serving Him then the Kingdom will be a struggle for us.

Our Father is not against us being wealthy, but, when that is what we define ourselves by then it controls us and we become slaves to it and self-pride governs our behaviour. If we are slaves to anything other than the Father then we cannot truly commit to His teachings and live for Him.

But it is not all lost for we must remember what our Lord then says, for us as men this is impossible to do on our own but with the Help of the Father nothing is impossible. 
When we walk in the Lord’s power we are able to do things that we would not be able to do, become people we never imagined we could be.

The first will last and the last will be first. Even in the Kingdom we are warned about pride. 
We should never assume positions, allotments and rewards because we chose to walk with our Lord. Only the Father has the right to decide that.

The first will be last and the last will be first.

Walk in Trust, Love, and Forgiveness (Matthew 18)

Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 

This chapter begins with the disciples asking who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

Our Lord answers if we become like children in our faith, trust the Father and obey Him we are first in His Kingdom.

He then continues to share 4 different stories :

We are to love one another, and be kind to one another.

We are to forgive one another, no matter how many times and whenever there is sin we should address it.

We are to care for the lost, and go out of our way to reach those we know are lost.

We do not have the right to un-forgiveness.

We as our Lord’s followers are to relate to one another in this manner, loving, forgiving, compassionate and forgiving.

Walk in Faith (Matthew 17)

This is My beloved Son.
I take delight in Him.
Listen to Him!

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.”

“Then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”

In this chapter our Lord goes out to pray in anguish and the Father’s affirms Him.

An account of Him, healing a boy is recorded.

He predicts His death.

Then He pays taxes.

In our journey we should always rely on the Father, in times of trials seeking Him in earnest in prayer affirms and strengthens our walk.

We don’t do the Father’s work in our own strength but in faith we trust for His will to be done.

Our walk is not exempt from the governing powers of the countries we live in but we belong to the Father first and are free.

The Father's plan (Matthew 16)

“Watch out and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

“You of little faith! Why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000 and how many baskets you collected? Or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many large baskets you collected? Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread?” Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the yeast in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The religious leaders of the time demanded signs whilst the signs were happening around them. Our Lord asks how can they see weather patterns but not see the signs of the Father in Him and all that was happening. In arrogance they elevated themselves but the Lord humbled Himself. Their self-importance blinded them.

They were more concerned about what they wanted to happen.

Even the people following our Lord at the time started to be influenced by the teachers of the time. They started disregarding what had happened and the Lord had to remind them. Don’t you know that the Father provides for you?

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!”
And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven.

“Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns, but man’s.”

The Father reveals to Peter who the Lord is, the Messiah the Son of the Living God but when our Lord starts telling them about His death Peter says it cannot be so.

If indeed you are the Messiah then no one should be able to kill you was what Peter was saying. Its not that different from the Pharisees for they say if you are the Son of God then you should not hang with sinners, you would not be born a carpenters son, you would obey the laws like we are even the ones we thought should be added.

But our Lord came to fulfill the Father’s plan, not to fit in or live up to anyone expectation. He came to set us free and that plan required that He go to those in in despair and give them hope and that plan required that He would give up His life for us.

“If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done. I assure you: There are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

We are also called to live for the Father's plan and that give up our lives, the right to demand what our lives should be like. We are called to live for the Father’s plan.

Be aware of your heart (Matthew 15)

These people honour Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.
They worship Me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commands of men.”

“Listen and understand: It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Reminder:

The goal of this blog is to get us reading and learning more of our Lord in His Word for ourselves. In this way we also learn who we are in Him and what it means to follow Him. Not from what others say or what others wrote.

This is the way to build relationship with our Lord. Many are misled because they don’t know the truth for themselves.

Please make and take time to read every book and chapter as we touch on it. 

Disagree with or challenge any of the thoughts at any time should you feel differently.

This is not a daily devotional and should never replace reading the Bible.

In this chapter our Lord admonishes the religious leaders for diluting the Word; to suit their needs.

He goes on to warn them and therefore us about the sneakiness of our hearts. I put up the reminder up there again because a lazy heart will always be looking for the shortest way to ticking a box. But they will always be ignorant, misled and even manipulated to the extent of being abused.

When we chose to follow our Lord that is not what He intended for us, but to gain our Lord or live in the purpose of our salvation, we are the ones who have to make the effort of not being spectators but partakers. As co-companions with our Lord we also should always check our hearts and the motive of our teachings as we go about sharing His gospel. Never alter His Word to gain acceptance, or popularity. It is important to know the truth and to stand on it even if it makes us unpopular.

Another trap of the heart is pride, being further along than others in this journey of becoming like our Lord does not make us superior to those we share the gospel with or anyone around us.

“Listen and understand: It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Available (Matthew 14)

They don’t need to go away,” Jesus told them. “You give them something to eat.”
“But we only have five loaves and two fish here,” they said to Him.
“Bring them here to Me,” He said.

Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s You,” Peter answered Him, “command me to come to You on the water.”
“Come!” He said.

Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt.

What can we learn from our Lord with the feeding of the 5000, our Father, is our provider. 

No matter how impossible we think it is our Father is able to overcome and provide more than we will ever need.

A friend looked at it from a different angle that if you are willing and avail yourself the Father will take your five loaves and two fishes and do miraculous things with it. Avail your life, time, talent and resources and the Father will work extraordinary things with your ordinary life.

As followers of Christ the Lord is always with us through the Spirit.

We should never be afraid but even if we stumble in fear our Lord is always near to lend us a hand to take the next step.

Peter is a great example of how we can mess it up in journey carrying our Lords gospel to all around us. But our Lord is always near to guide us back and restore us. We will read more of Peter’s story when journey through the gospel by John.

Let us avail ourselves to the Father in every way we can, even when we think we cant be of use to Him, let us trust and step out in faith with courage and confidence.

Becoming Seed; Kingdom Character (Matthew 13)

You will listen and listen, yet never understand;
and you will look and look, yet never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown callous;
their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts and turn back —and I would cure them.

When we choose to follow our Lord, we transition from being people described in the scripture above.

With the help of the Spirit and through the Word:

we  listen and understand; 

we look and perceive

our hearts become teachable; 

we are eager  for the knowledge of our Lord

Our Lord reveals to us the secrets of the Kingdom as His followers but the kind of root it will take in our lives is up to us.

Listed below is our shallowness or receptiveness.

When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. 
This is the one sown along the path.

And the one sown on rocky ground ;— 
this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

Now the one sown among the thorns — 
this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

But the one sown on the good ground — 
this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown.”

I must admit at different stages of this journey in becoming Christ like I have identified with all four.

What should encourage us the most is that the seed our Lord sows into us, when we let Him, He will look after it and nature it and we in turn become the seed He sows.

“The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; and the good seed — these are the sons of the kingdom.

The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the Devil.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness.

They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Anyone who has ears should listen

What kind of Kingdom are we partakers of?

The secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know.

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field.

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.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field; that a man found and reburied.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a large net thrown into the sea. It collected every kind of fish.

As fellow companions and partakers of this Kingdom in our Lord let us learn and adopt.

I would encourage you fellow Christ follower to go and read about this Kingdom for when we know the character of what we are part of, I believe it would be easy for us to walk and live in that character.

Read and think how can I be like that for our Lord is our standard and example.

not my will but Your Will Father (an apology)

One thing remains, one thing remains,
Your love never fails, never gives up, 
never runs out on me.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look fully at His wonderful face.
and the things of this world will grow strangely,
in the light of His glory and grace.

I apologise for not posting in the last week and not even giving a reason. Bendiyiqumbele iNkosi, i was sulking and a bit unhappy with our Lord.
My uncle who has been in hospital because of renal failure had cardiac failure as well last week.
He has been in hospital for over a month and we were just starting to think he would wake up when he had this set back last week. 
He is dear to me and to us all but this set back is truly scary and I apologise to the Father and to you all for shutting off.

Today Richard spoke on when our Father does not answer pray the way we want Him to and when sometimes He says no. 
He spoke on our Lord's prayer in Gethsemane "not my will but Your will Father"

That is a difficult prayer to pray especially when it might mean loosing a loved one. My family and many in our circle are praying and trusting the Father for my uncle's life but we also realise that the answer might not be what we want. 
For when we say Your will Father, we realise that in this case it might mean loosing him. Father i pray you help us to see You and turn to You even when the answer is not what we want.

I would like us to carry on journeying through the gospels to get to know our Lord and to learn from Him how to follow Him and be His gospel carriers. I will post again tomorrow starting from Chapter 13. 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look fully at His wonderful face.
and the things of this world will grow strangely,
in the light of His glory and grace.

Servant of the Lord (Matthew 12)

He will not break a bruised reed,
and He will not put out a smoldering wick,

I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent.

For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

“What man among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out? A man is worth far more than a sheep, so it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath.”

Mercy, merciful is our Lord.        

The religious leaders of the time sound as if they never understood the character of the Father. In this instance they are fighting with Jesus because they picked and ate fruit on the Sabbath and later Jesus heals a paralysed man. Our Lord demonstrates that love, compassion, and mercy are far more effective in drawing people to knowledge of the Father.  We also as gospel carriers should always be careful not to be harsh and so rigorous.

Loving our Lord is not in rules we make to prove how much we love the Lord and impress others.

I find it funny the leaders in this chapter were in the presence of the Word but they needed to impress Him with their knowledge of the Word. It is easy to think we would not be like that but in our journey we also must not be so blinded that we would miss our Lord in our presence as we work so hard to show we are His followers.

Our Lord the Servant proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah.

Here is My Servant whom I have chosen,
My beloved in whom My soul delights;
I will put My Spirit on Him,
and He will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not argue or shout,
and no one will hear His voice in the streets.
He will not break a bruised reed,
and He will not put out a smoldering wick,
until He has led justice to victory.
The nations will put their hope in His name.

Let us as our Lords followers be known to not break a bruised reed, nor, put out a smoldering wick just as our Lord did not. We were also vulnerable and unsure when we came to the Lord.

Promised Rest (Matthew 11)

“Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.”

For John did not come eating or drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

Our Lord rebukes an indifferent people. People never pleased nor satisfied always asking for more. Their expectations and demands are ever changing and he rebukes them for this is a lack of faith. Even when miracles were performed in front of them they failed to believe. What was promised in scripture is fulfilled but still no faith.

We followers of our Lord, His gospel carriers, will find ourselves being questioned to prove our hope and belief.

Opinions from the world on what we should dress like, talk like, places we should be, what we should be eating or not, who we should associate with, etcetera-etcetera should not influence us as we go about sharing our Lord’s good news.

When we read this chapter our Lord is angry, and annoyed for how could the people not see but He praises the Father for He knows what He came to do He has done.

Ours is to carry and share the gospel, walk with people and love them and we would also have fulfilled what our Father’s will.

We will find ourselves tired and annoyed too sometimes but we must learn from our Lord find rest in  many believe or don’t  understand the Father’s will is done and

We must seek to obey and share the gospel as our Lord has instructed and we will find the rest promised.

Peace in the knowledge that we have obeyed our Father and done according to His will.

“I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure. All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal Him.
“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”