<\/p>\n
John 6:22-71; Mark 7:1-23; Matthew 15:1-20<\/strong><\/span> John:<\/strong> Wow\u2026 verses 28 & 29 in John chapter 6 are so beautiful and simple that I think it is easy to miss the strong meaning behind this conversation between the crowd & Jesus \u2013 \u201cThey replied, \u201cWhat does God want us to do?\u201d Jesus told them, \u201cThis is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent.\u201d\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Check out that very last sentence.\u00a0 This is what God wants you to do.\u00a0 Believe.\u00a0 That\u2019s it.\u00a0 It\u2019s that simple.\u00a0 Believe.\u00a0 Not give away all your money to the poor.\u00a0 Not do thousands of good deeds.\u00a0 Not become a perfect person over night.\u00a0 Just believe.\u00a0 Believe.\u00a0 Yeah, okay, maybe God will ask you to give away some money and do good and become better person after you believe\u2026\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 But the key is first and foremost to Believe.\u00a0 Do you Believe in Jesus, the One whom God sent?<\/span><\/p>\n And verse 35 is so powerful as well \u2013 \u201cJesus replied, \u201cI am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Jesus saying he is the bread of life is similar to him saying he is the Door or the Vine.\u00a0 Bread is a beautiful metaphor that Jesus supplies divine nourishment to us spiritually.\u00a0 For me, this verse also reminds me of The Lord\u2019s Supper in our churches today.<\/span><\/p>\n Okay, so John chapter 6 verses 53 through 58 are some verses that get interpreted several different ways \u2013 some saying these verses speak of the Lord\u2019s Supper and some saying they speak only of faith in Jesus because the Lord\u2019s Supper had not yet been instituted by Jesus at this time.\u00a0 I think the key for us to focus on is that Jesus is our nourishment \u2013 our literal spiritual food if we have faith in him. It is interesting to note that many disciples turned away from Jesus after this teaching.\u00a0 I love Peter\u2019s reply to Jesus in verses 68 & 69 after Jesus asks if the Twelve will leave too \u2013 \u201cSimon Peter replied, \u201cLord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life. We believe them, and we know you are the Holy One of God.\u201d\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 True words indeed Peter.\u00a0 True words indeed.\u00a0 If not Jesus, to whom would you go?\u00a0 Does anyone else have the words that give eternal life?<\/span><\/p>\n Bible.org\u2019s commentary on our John chapter 6 readings today titled \u201cThe Bread of Life\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Mark:<\/strong> How very interesting that today\u2019s readings in Mark are about \u201cClean and Unclean\u201d \u2013 based on all of our Leviticus readings recently about this subject.\u00a0 Today we read about Jesus confronting the Pharisees about their \u201cown traditions\u201d.\u00a0 I read in NIV Study Bible and OYB Companion commentaries that after the Babylonian exile (we\u2019ll read about this late this year in the One Year Bible), Jewish rabbis began to make meticulous rules and regulations governing the daily life of people.\u00a0 And that these rules were added to God\u2019s law and essentially elevated to the same sacred status by the Pharisees.\u00a0 In 200 A.D. these traditions of the elders were put into writing in the <\/span>Mishnah<\/span>.\u00a0 I think what Jesus gets at here in this chapter is that the Pharisees were allowing the \u201crules & regs\u201d to overshadow the spirit of God\u2019s law.\u00a0 They were not honoring their parents because of the practice of Corban \u2013 giving $ to the temple.\u00a0 Which is a good thing\u2026 but at the expense of a great thing of caring for your parents?\u00a0 \u00a0I know we all could probably go round and round on what is the greatest good \u2013 how should we spend our time and our money and our lives.\u00a0 I like that Jesus basically takes us to the heart.\u00a0 What is the heart of the matter?\u00a0 No matter what the matter is \u2013 taking care of your parents, giving to your church, following God\u2019s laws, receiving God\u2019s grace \u2013 what is the heart of the matter?\u00a0 \u00a0One thing that I have been so blessed to learn over the past few years is that the condition of our hearts matters.\u00a0 Immensely.\u00a0 The motives of why we do something \u2013 anything \u2013 matters.\u00a0 Immensely.\u00a0 We are called in Proverbs to \u201cguard our hearts, for it is the wellspring of life.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0If we do not care for the state of our hearts, we can become very regimented or insensitive in our thinking and doing.\u00a0 We might even get to the point in verse 8 of this chapter where Jesus quotes from Isaiah \u2013 \u201c`These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away.\u201d\u00a0 How is the state of your heart today?\u00a0 Is it close to God?<\/span> Jesus continues to speak about the importance of what is in our hearts in verses 20-23 today \u2013\u00a0 \u201cIt is the thought-life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person\u2019s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 I think this takes us back again to the Sermon on the Mount \u2013 where Jesus teaches us in one example that yes, it is wrong to commit adultery.\u00a0 But, if you commit adultery in your heart, it is just as wrong.\u00a0 Because if you commit adultery in the heart, you have essentially defiled your own heart.\u00a0 And from the heart could come the actual act of committing adultery \u2013 which would then shatter several lives.\u00a0 But it all starts in the heart\u2026.\u00a0 \u00a0So \u2013 the good news?\u00a0 Jesus can heal our hearts!\u00a0 Jesus is in the business of heart-healing!\u00a0 Maybe in your life, you might need to refocus a little bit less on some external actions and start focusing on the state of your heart?\u00a0 \u00a0Maybe by focusing on what\u2019s going no inside your heart, the external actions will ultimately change?\u00a0 \u00a0Maybe allow Jesus to heal your heart \u2013 and then your external life will be healed as well?\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure you can go about this the other way \u2013 trying to work from the outside back in\u2026\u00a0 I think you may need to start on the inside first and work your way out.\u00a0 But don\u2019t do this alone \u2013 let Jesus walk this healing path with you.<\/span> Matthew:<\/strong> In Matthew chapter 15 today we read about Jesus confronting the Pharisees on their \u201cage-old traditions.\u201d\u00a0 I read in Zondervan\u2019s & Tyndale\u2019s commentaries that after the Babylonian exile (we\u2019ll read about the exile late this year in the One Year Bible), Jewish rabbis began to make meticulous rules and regulations governing the daily life of people.\u00a0 And that these rules were added to God\u2019s law and were essentially elevated to the same sacred status by the Pharisees.\u00a0 In 200 A.D. these traditions of the elders were put into writing in the <\/span>Mishnah<\/span>.\u00a0 I think what Jesus gets at here in this chapter is that the Pharisees were allowing the \u201crules & regulations\u201d to overshadow the spirit of God\u2019s law.\u00a0 They were not honoring their parents because of the practice of <\/span>Corban<\/span> \u2013 giving $ to the temple.\u00a0 Which, giving $ to the temple is a good thing\u2026 but at the expense of the great thing of caring for your parents?\u00a0 \u00a0I know we all could probably go round and round on what is the greatest good \u2013 how should we spend our time and our money and our lives.\u00a0 I like that Jesus basically takes it to the heart.\u00a0 What is the heart of the matter?\u00a0 No matter what the matter is \u2013 taking care of your parents, giving to your church, obediently following God\u2019s will, receiving God\u2019s grace \u2013 what is the heart of the matter?\u00a0 \u00a0One thing that I have been so blessed to learn over the past few years is that the condition of our hearts matters.\u00a0 Immensely.\u00a0 The motives of why we do something \u2013 anything \u2013 matters.\u00a0 Immensely.\u00a0 We are called in Proverbs to \u201cguard our hearts, for it is the wellspring of life.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 If we do not care for the state of our hearts, we can become very regimented or insensitive in our thinking and doing.\u00a0 We might even get to the point in verse 8 of this chapter where Jesus quotes from Isaiah: \u201c`These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 How is the state of your heart today?\u00a0 Is it close to God?\u00a0 Does your heart yearn for Jesus?<\/span> Jesus continues to speak about the importance of what is in our hearts in verses 18-20 today: \u201cBut evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 I think this takes us back again to the Sermon on the Mount \u2013 where Jesus teaches us in one example that yes, it is wrong to commit adultery.\u00a0 But, if you commit adultery in your heart, it is just as wrong.\u00a0 Because if you commit adultery in the heart, you have defiled your own heart.\u00a0 And from the heart could come the actual act of committing adultery \u2013 which would then shatter several lives.\u00a0 But it all starts in the heart\u2026.\u00a0 \u00a0So \u2013 the good news?\u00a0 Jesus can heal our hearts!\u00a0 Jesus is in the business of heart-healing!\u00a0 Maybe in your life, you might need to refocus from some external actions and start focusing on the state of your heart?\u00a0 \u00a0Maybe by focusing on what\u2019s going on inside your heart, the external actions will ultimately change?\u00a0 \u00a0Maybe allow Jesus to heal your heart \u2013 and then your external life will be healed as well?\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure you can go about this the other way \u2013 trying to work from the outside back in\u2026\u00a0 I think you need to start on the inside first and work your way out.\u00a0 But don\u2019t do this alone \u2013 let Jesus walk this healing path with you.\u00a0 Let Jesus tattoo your heart with his healing love!\u00a0 (very interesting name of the theater in the image below, based on our Genesis readings today\u2026 \ud83d\ude42<\/span> Bible.org\u2019s commentary on today\u2019s readings in Matthew chapter 15 titled \u201cJesus and the Traditions of the Elders\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span> and \u201cThe Faith of a Canaanite Woman\u201d<\/strong> is <\/span>at this link<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n Worship Video:<\/strong>\u00a0 Today\u2019s readings reminds me of the fantastic Matthew West song \u201cMore!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \n
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