2.05.2010

Matthew 9 & 10

I was drawn to point out just 3 verses in Chapter 9: 20-22. Usually we focus on the woman's faith; and what a great faith it was. However, in our Thursday morning study we were challenged to view these verses a little differently. Rather than focusing on the women's faith, look at Jesus' availability: as He walked through the massive crowd, the tassels of His cloak would have been very easy for her, or anyone, to touch. All she had to do was reach out.


2.04.2010

matthew 7-8

Three things jumped at me this morning:
1. Don't look for shortcuts to God. The way to life -- to God -- is vigorous and requires total attention. I'm a shortcut guy, so this challenges the way I do things. Loving God and loving others with no strings attached isn't just going to happen in my life. It takes time.

2. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Wow. We are an entertainment-oriented society and are trained to follow people with charisma. God is more interested in character.

3. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. Knowledge doesn't lead to the Kingdom. We can know a lot about God and His word and still not know Him.

2.03.2010

Something that jumped out at me and something I prayed for.

While reading Matthew 4, the story of Jesus calling the first disciples jumped out at me. We often make a big deal about the disciples’ response to Jesus’ calling. “At once they left… immediately they left”. We also point out that Jesus called them while they were mere fishermen… he can use anyone.

What amazed me is that Jesus looked at these fishermen and saw potential.

This is often opposite of how I view people. I see all the reasons they would be bad for a task, job, or opportunity. I tend to be skeptical of people and their abilities. Maybe I think I am being smart or safe.

My prayer is that as I interact with others throughout my day, I would have the eyes to see great potential in mere fishermen.

2.01.2010

the stories of Jesus

MMCC-
Today is the day we begin reading the stories of Jesus - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. One of the best resources we have online to do this as a community is YouVersion. We've created a group/community at YV for this very thing. We can make notes, tag passages, ask questions, etc. But to make it valuable, we need YOU to get into it. Join us now here:
http://youversion.com/groups/mmcc