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Posts Tagged ‘Matthew 19’

The Bigger Picture

Posted in God's Plan, James, tagged , , on April 30, 2011| Leave a Comment »

King Herod … had James, the brother of John, put to death by the sword. – Acts 12:1b-2a

James was one of the three (Peter, James, John) disciples in Jesus’ inner circle, but shortly after the work began he was eliminated, having made little known impact. The Letter of James in the Bible is thought to be from Jesus’ brother, not John’s

Jesus had to know this ahead of time, so why invest the time in the disciple James?

I think this points to the fact there is a bigger picture to our purpose than what we can accomplish in this life. We have eternity to serve Christ.

Jesus said to them, You can be sure that when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne in the New Age, then you twelve followers of mine will also sit on thrones, to rule the twelve tribes of Israel. – Matthew 19:28

They had a bigger purpose, and so do we.

Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? … we shall judge angels” – 1st Corinthians 6:2-3

Prayer:Thank you, Jesus, for showing me my purpose is more than what I can accomplish for you here. Help me to live with the bigger picture in mind.

Sound Bite: I have a bigger purpose than right here right now.

-fritz@langgang.com

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Concession vs. Intent

Posted in Christ, Divorce, Peace, Pharisees, tagged , on March 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

 

He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. – Matthew 19:8

Jesus turned specific questions into life principles. That’s one reason the Bible is so applicable today, the issues may change but the principles don’t.

The religious leaders of Jesus day came to trip him up with the hot topic of what circumstances allowed divorce but Jesus pointed to the broader principle of God’s intent.

My kids pull this on me all the time – what will dad allow me to get away with? In contrast, my wife is interested in what I want, I love that about her!

Peace with God is like that. It only occurs when we act upon what God wants, not what he will allow.

We can start today, now, regardless of our past.

Prayer: Lord, help me to follow what you really desire for my life, not just what you will allow me to get away with. Amen.

Sound Bite: “God’s intent is better than his concession”

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Swinging Pendulums

Posted in Leadership, tagged , on August 4, 2010| Leave a Comment »

“Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” – Jesus (Matthew 19:27b-30)

Jesus daily encountered a literalist mindset. When he told the crowd he was the real bread from heaven, that they had to eat his body and drink his blood, they went wild thinking he was implementing a new form of cannibalism. The context of his statement clearly showed otherwise.1

We, in our culture, have swung the other way to the point we don’t take anything he says literally.

Jesus taught there is an actual, touchable, noticeable change coming to this world – what he called “the regeneration”. Those who “spiritualize” this miss the point of why we remain here in this life; why we continue to have struggles and work through our problems.

Jesus is taking real human beings as leadership material and engaging them in an apprenticeship program. We who follow Christ were chosen to have real responsibilities in that coming renewal. All the apostles knew this and believed it literally.

“It is a faithful saying: … If we suffer, we shall also reign with him…” – 2nd Timothy 2:11a, 12b

Don’t spiritualize it to the point of irrelevance; live like it, expect it. Appreciate the privilege!

– fritz

1 – John 6:30-60

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