God will hear

psalm 6

David's obviously feeling pretty rough here. All he's got to hold on to is the fact that he knows God will hear his prayers. This isn't a positive thinking, everything is going to be alright, if you believe it you can acheive it sort of attitude, its based on fact. God will hear my prayer. Even if God seems to be absent or seems to not act, I can be confident of the fact that He is ther, He knows what's going on and He hears my prayers.

praying

psalm 5

are my prayers like David describes here? Cries for help, sighing, laying requests before Him in the morning and waiting in expectation for Him to act? Or are they just a formality, lacking perseverance? I need to be seeking God relentlessly, passionately and expectantly.

silent?

psalm 4

again, the idea of sleep seems to come up, not only the fact that its God alone who makes me sleep in peace (v8) but also that when I am on my bed I should search my heart and be silent before God. I don't spend much time examining myself before God or waiting in silence. I'm addicted to production, getting things done. I need to slow down and be silent before Him.

independance

psalm 3

I might think of myself as independent. I can look after myself, that sort of thing, but this psalm shows that the only reason I wake up again after being asleep is because God sustains me. Everything I do only happens because God allows me to do it. This comes in response to David thinking about how many enemies he's got. It's difficult to be scared of what your enemies might do when you get a clear picture of the fact that God sustains you in everything that you do. The only reason I'm not dead right now is because He has sustained me, so why should I fear?

fear

psalm 2

God is mighty and powerful. He can wipe out my "vain plans" in an instant. He can wipe me out in an instant. That is why my response to Him should be to "serve with fear and rejoice with trembling". Its not a fear about Him suddenly losing His rag and sending down plagues on me - its a fear and respect based on His awesome power and holiness. With that as the starting point, then we realise how big a deal it is that He still loves us and offers us forgiveness. Without that starting point then what's the big deal??

roots

psalm 1

delighting and meditating on God's law is what makes you grow and be fruitful. the bible can't be underestimated, neglecting it is like a tree not getting water - its going to lead to death, not growth. It also provides us with stability like the roots of the tree mentioned in this psalm. Without our roots in the bible, we can get blown around easily. With our roots in God's word, difficult conditions that come our way are not going to knock us over.

go

matthew 28

Jesus command to go and make disciples is a pretty big ask. Or at least it seems like that until you remember that He says that all authority on heaven and on earth is His and that He is with us forever. Those two facts are all we need to do anything He ask us to. He has the power to do anything and He is with us. There's no need to fear anything!

mocking Jesus

matthew 27

its easy to be disgusted when reading the accounts of people mocking, taunting and torturing Jesus and forget that i'm just as guilty. how often do I willingly turn my back on Him? If I had been there, I probably would have been one of the people cheering Him when He rode into Jerusalem and then shouting for His blood and saying "if you are the son of God, save yourself" about a week later.

I'm flakey and inconsistent when it comes to following Jesus. I talk a good game but then don't back it up with what I do. Fortunately the disciples were the same and Jesus still forgave and used them. Jesus, please forgive me and use me however you want.

extravagant

matthew 26

is my worship of Jesus extravagant and costly like the woman in this chapter? There are all sorts of good things that I could be doing, but am I going to let that get in the way of my worship of Jesus? that needs to be my number one priority.

now

matthew 25

I've got to be faithful with little things before God can trust me with bigger things. too often, I want to jump to the big things while treating the little things as if they don't matter - that's where I show my faithfulness.

I need to be doing God's will now, not waiting for some vague ideal time when I'm not as busy. the ideal time will never come. God's got things for me to do in the future and things for me to do now, so I should just get on with what He's got for me now.

ready?

matthew 24

this is the sort of stuff where people get obsessed with the end times and trying to work out what will happen and when. That obviously wasn't the intention of this teaching from Jesus as He says that no one except the Father knows when it will happen and also that it will come when we don't expect it. So He's not saying "try and work out all the clues so you know when its going to happen"

the main points Jesus seems to be bringing out are that we shouldn't act like we've got all the time in the world, taking it easy because Jesus could come back at any time. We should be making the most of our time now, not waiting for a better time. Also He talks repeatedly about false teachers and prophets who can't be trusted. This is worrying because it could be anyone. How do you know how to trust? The only way is to test everything against the bible, not just things that we don't like the sound of, to try and disprove them, but also things that we like the sound of, because that's more dangerous.

rebuke

matthew 23

the full chapter is a hardcore rebuke of the Pharisees. they don't do what they say. They say things for others benefit, to give the impression of holiness but Jesus, who sees the inside, only cares about the attitude of our heart.

God is the only true Rabbi, Father, Teacher. No one else can take His place in those roles for us.

If you exalt yourself, Jesus will humble you. Which isn't nice! Its much better to do it yourself first!

Are there little areas where I pride myself in keeping while ignoring much more important matters?

Some people see themselves as wretched, some see themselves as beautiful. Jesus shows us we are both. (adapted from Shane Claiborne - Irresistible revolution

all out

matthew 22

continuing on with the idea from yesterday of the Pharisees (or the church) not just automatically being in God's favour because of who they are - the original guests of the wedding in the parable treated it as though they could do whatever they wanted and the invitation would still be open to them. Jesus says that is not the case.

"many are called but few are chosen"??? Is that the elect?

I love Jesus but is it with all my heart, all my soul and all my strength? Am I going all out for Him? Get to know me and its fairly easy to find out things that I love - lisa, west, music etc. How long does it take for someone to find out that I love Jesus?

power

matthew 21

the same people welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem as a King are shouting for His crucifixion in a weeks time. Do I pay Jesus lip service on a Sunday (or on a monday) and then turn my back at other times?

Would God's house, the church in Hartlepoo today, be called a house of prayer or a den of thieves?

Do I recognise the power of prayer? if I did, I would be praying more often and more fervently, with faith that Jesus answered. Instead, I tend to reesort to prayer only after I've tried and failed to sort something out myself. That's the wrong way around. Everything needs to come from a place of prayer.

We (the church) have no exclusive right on Jesus and His kingdom, just because of history or longevity. God can, and will, take it away and give it where it will bear fruit, as He says in verse 43.

fair?

matthew 20

the parable of the workers seems unfair at first glance. But what do I know about what's fair and what isn't? I want to always be given a second chance but I want justice when anybody else does anything wrong. If I was in charge of what's fair then the world would be pretty messed up. The workers had agreed to work for a set amount and, as Jesus says, its really none of their business if the boss decides to pay an equal amount to someone else who hasn't done as much work.

Jesus doesn't just give me what's fair, if I got what I deserved I'd be kicked out of His prescence. What He gives me is undeserved grace, and if I start to look around and wonder why other people are given the same thing, then I've started to think I've earned that grace, which I didn't. God is free to bless anyone as and when He sees fit and I'm not in a position to pass judgement on it!

Jesus response to a bit of unrest between the disciples about power and who-deserves-what, is to tell them that leadership in His kingdom is about service. Leading isn't about telling people what to do, its thinking "How can I serve these people? How can I bless them?" and then doing it.

cash

matthew 19

sometimes things can become the accepted norm (giving the certificate of divorce in this chapter) that were never part of God's plan but people have come to accept that "that's the way it is". Are there any areas in my life were I've settled for something less than God's ideal plan just because that's just what everybody else is like?

Jesus knew that the man who approached him was wealthy but, more importantly, that his wealth was a barrier between him and God. We sometimes tend to think that poor= righteous and rich=unrighteous but that is not true. There are righteous poor people, people willing to work hard who just don't have much money, but use what they have got as god would want them too but there are also unrighteous poor people - unwilling to work or wasting their money, and spending the little that they've got on their own selfish desires. Equally, there are unrighteous rich people, who might get there money at other people's expense or spend their money selfishly but there are also righteous rich people, who use their wealth to bless others and please God.

The issue is not the amount of money but the attitude. Unfortunately, money is an area where those bad attitudes are commonly revealed. The man was unwilling to give it up to follow Jesus. Are there any things that I am unwilling to give up for Jesus?

growing up?

matthew 18

Jesus says we should humble ourselves like children. Children recognise their dependance on others. Pride doesn't stop them asking their parents for help, or for something they need, or about something they don't know. We need to be like that in approaching God.

I have been forgiven a huge debt by God, something I could never pay off myself. I need to remember that when I am finding it difficult to forgive others.

faith

matthew 17

The faith that can move a mountain is not a will power, positive thinking, if I believe I can achieve sort of thing. It's confidence in Jesus power. the people in previous chapters who Jesus describes as having great faith are people who just believed that Jesus could do what they were asking. When we recognise his authority and power we know what He can do and ask for it in faith.

Stretch my faith Jesus.

on the attack

matthew 16

The knowledge and understanding that Jesus is the Son of God is not something we work out for ourselves or understand becasue someone explained it to us. It is revealed by God. I need to pray that God will reveal more of himself to me, and that He would reveal Himself to people who don't know Him yet.

"The gates of hell shall not overcome against the church". Gates are a defensive tool, trying to keep something out, not attacking. That means that the church is (or should be) on the attack against hell, not defensive. Its easy to get in a defensive mindset, thinking that I'm under attack and the best I can hope for is Jesus defending me. But actually, I should be on the attack, with Jesus, against the powers of the enemy, taking ground back, reclaiming things that he has stolen. If I'm on Jesus' side then I'm on the winning team.

Peter goes from confessing who Jesus is, to being called Satan in a short space of time. Jesus says that His mind was on the things of men, not the things of God. I want to keep my mind on the things of God and I need Jesus' help for that.